Christmas at the Powers!

A Special delivery from Grandma and Grandpa Homan!! Thanks so much!

He couldn't watch those Buckeyes win the National Championship on the 7th without sporting some OSU pride! Thanks Grandpa Bob and Rene!

All decked out for the morning! We took him places with the hat and everyone loved the antlers.

Giving us a little smile.

Christmas Eve.

We were truly blessed with all of the presents! Brian could barely contain himself until the morning.

Christmas eve and Liam is ready for bed. We loved just sitting and listening to Christmas music and looking at the tree.

Christmas Eve with mommy!

The toy drive. There were over 200 volunteers to help walk the kids through the toys to pick out lots of goodies!

This past week and last weekend was just a wonderful time for us in Los Angeles. It was busy, but full of lots of good things. I truly love the season of Christmas the most in the whole year.

Last Saturday was the Toy Giveaway at church. We partner with another church and raise money to buy presents and/or have them donated for a big giveaway for the kids in the neighborhood. It is never advertised, but for years now, they come! Last year the church served around 600 kids. This year, I believe it was more! My friend Shalom basically runs the organization of this event for months leading up to the day. It was our first year to volunteer and experience the shear mass of toys and kids receiving toys. It was quite a spectacle! Enjoy the pics.

Sunday Sara finished up her shopping and Monday was one of the most relaxing Christmas Eve's I can ever remember. We listened to music, watched a movie, cooked, played with Liam and just enjoyed each other. At the last minute we decided not to attend a Christmas eve service, but instead stayed in, cooked a simple dinner (that we used our China on for the first time!), prayed a lot, read the Bible, and prayed some more. It was thoroughly enjoyable and special and a wonderful memory as our first Christmas eve as just us. That night when I woke up to feed Liam at about 1:30am, Brian said "Can we open presents now?" He was such a kid! He begged me over and over again to open them before the morning. He did open one on Christmas eve. I suppose I gave in a bit.

Christmas morning Liam was awake and happy as we opened presents. He is really going to enjoy all of the fun things his grandparents, great grandparents, and aunt and uncles sent him! We dressed him up in his garb and took lots of pictures. We had fun opening up presents and taking our time and enjoying our family time. It was wonderful and such a great time! He got fun books, DVDs, play things, clothes and lots of love from all his family. Thanks!

In the evening we had a potluck style Christmas dinner at our friend's house. There were about 13 people there and it was fun and enjoyable.

Enjoy the pictures and the video! We are truly blessed and want to thank you all for your thoughtfulness! What a joyous rememberance of our Savior we had this Christmas.

hustle and bustle!

This week has been great - it has been a little cool and little rainy and feeling a lot like Christmas! Monday we accomplished the feat of shipping all of our family's presents to arrive in time for Tuesday. It is great having had most of our shopping done over a week before Christmas. There have been many years we have been making last minute trips out, but hopefully not this year. And in LA I have found that it is truly crazy everywhere at this time.

I went to a cookie exchange party on Wednesday which was my first and very fun too. We are going to be helping with a toy drive at our church this Saturday. Toys will be given out to many many kids! I think last year about 600 kids received toys from the drive, and this year it is expected to be much more! Much planning has gone into this event and it all culminates on Saturday. Should be a good time for all.

Well Liam has been kind of like a night owl this week. Since he is spending more time awake during the day (hopefully during the day) I am just now realizing that it is important to have him on some kind of schedule. This came about when all this week he has not fallen asleep before 10pm. That is not a bad time, but the night before he was wide awake until midnight. That is not cool. So, I am trying to keep him up more during the day to help with an earlier bedtime. Easier said than done! He is asleep in the swing now as I write...

But overall he is doing well and growing and growing more. He is also smiling more and looking at things that hold his interest. It is fun to see him change - I realize it is happening all too quickly! He is getting better at controling his head and hopefully will continue to gain that strength with each day. Sleeping is still not predictable and last night he only went 4 hours between feeds. Oh well, it is hit or miss with long sleeps. However, he is such a joy to watch and care for and I feel very blessed.

So eventhough our tree is turing brown and is very brittle, we have fun presents underneathe! Brian can be just like a kid as he pleads with me to open presents before Tuesday. He says
"it is so long until Tuesday. I can't wait!" How fun. :)

Hope everyone is getting things done well and enjoying their days. I hope we all take the time to remember and reflect on the magnitude of God's greatest gift to us.

A couple of smiles for you!

This video is the best I can do now for smiles! He smiles when he doesn't have a camera in his face, which makes most sense! Please excuse the crazy talk by me and if the video isn't as clear as the last one. Enjoy!

Much to share...

Wearing some of the gifts from Miss Lisa and Aunt Amy! Thanks Ladies!

Griffith Park and the Getty Villa

At the Getty Villa in Malibu with Beth and Jason

Hello everyone!

I know it has been a little while since posted, but we have been busy! Our friends from Columbus Beth and Jason came and visited over the weekend. It was supposed to be rainy much of the time, but it ended up being just a spectacularly clear and beautiful (yet quite chilly too!) weekend. What a blessing. On Friday we just hung out in the afternoon, and then met them up in Pasadena for some yummy dinner (Liam behaved so well!). Saturday we went to the beach and all of the way up to Malibu and later in the evening went to a Christmas party. On Sunday it was Sunset Blvd and Griffith Park with fabulous views. We had a great time just reconnecting and laughing and exploring LA. It had been awhile since Brian and I got out so much, but it felt good and Liam did great. The car sure does lull him to sleep :)

Sunday night was also a special night. We had Liam dedicated at church. There were three other little ones being dedicated. Our pastor prayed over each of the kids a prayer that reflected the meaning of each name. It was beautiful and very good. Dedication is just an open acknowledgement that we are going to raise Liam in a godly way in the church and those that are close to us and in our lives in the church committ to helping him along the way as well. It was a nice time.

Liam once again has a little cold, but so does Mommy! I usually don't get sick, but I think that the persistant lack of sleep has finally taken a noticeable toll on my body. However, just this week, Liam has been sleeping 5 1/2 - 6 hours at a stretch at night! Yay!!!!!! I have had about 7 hours of sleep each night this week. It has been wonderful. He still sleeps a bunch during the day, but is slowly spending more time awake. He had a doctor's appointment on Friday and he weighed 11lbs 9oz. I am sure he is now just about 12lbs. Catching up, for sure! He gained about 3lbs in one month.

On Monday, two little fun gifts found there way to our home for Liam!! I finally got out to pick up the package from Miss Lisa at the post office. May I say, Lisa, that I LOVED the card (I read it to him) and loved the fun gifts. He definitely needed a Christmassy colored blanket, warm too since our apartment is freezing. And the hat looks really really cute on him. And the burp cloth, bib and booties....so cute! I tried so hard to get some good pictures and even a video that day, but I will post only one picture right now, since he didn't really cooperate. Look for more, especially a video in the coming days of him in his garb. Also, Aunt Amy sent a little onesie that he wore for about 2 hours (before he peed on it) of which a picture is posted too. Very timely for me, I must say! What thoughtfullness from both of you ladies! He is ready for the holidays, thanks to you both.

Well it is pretty chilly out here still and the apartment doesn't warm up very easily. Lows still in around 42-44 each night which is chilly in a drafty apartment. But we keep the bedroom nice and warm. We are busy shopping and even got out to the Grove shopping area on Tuesday night which was really fun for us. That is my favorite place to shop. Plus they were blowing snow off the roof (fake snow that still "melted") and it was so fun to walk through. I loved it, and will need to go back for sure. We are hanging in there and are enjoying our family at this time. Our tree is already pretty brittle (oops!) so we will be leaving half of it on the floor by the time Christmas comes around. Oh well. Last year we lucked out, but apparently not this year.

Hope everyone is well. I will be hopefully posting more videos soon since everyone commented that they liked the video. Look for one shortly, hopefully by tomorrow.

Tis the Season

Liam is kind of smiling at Daddy!

Bringing in the tree and Liam and Mommy waiting outside in the cold!

The decorated tree and Liam all bundled up in the chilly morning apartment.

We love December and getting ready for Christmas in the Powers' household!! This past weekend was actually a rather chilly one, which made it perfect for finding a great tree at the HomeDepot downtown. Actually, by the time we made it over there, the sun was setting, and it was actually pretty cold! But, it made it feel much more like Christmas to be cold. We picked out a lovely Douglas Fir (which smells amazing!) and decorated that night, had some yummy dinner, and just enjoyed the start of the season. We hope that the needles decide to stay on long enough, but after looking at some on the tree skirt, I am not quite so sure. We decorated with our few ornaments that we have given each other or have been given over the years of our marriage. We just have a handful non-ball ornaments, and are enjoying the gradual growth of them over the years. Liam has two on the tree now - a pair of shoes with his birth information on it, idea compliments of Lisa Racek. And another one for this year. My mom always had little ornaments that had our names and the year inscribed on them when we were little. I thought I'd start the same tradition with Liam.

So, now that we have begun such a busy season, we are trying hard to take the time out to enjoy it and not be overwhelmed by any of it. We want to remember what Christmas is all about, admittedly hard in our culture sometimes. But I think this year more than any other, I have had a glimpse of the humanity of Jesus incarnate. I am amazed as I hold my little boy in the wee hours of the morning or while he cries as he tries to poop, that Jesus too was a baby. He was completely dependent upon Mary and Joseph, and he also acted like a baby in all the various ways babies act. Born a baby and yet a King. Amazing...

Liam is doing great. We have his 3 month check up this week, though he is just now a little over 4 weeks post term. He is spending more time awake, though sometimes his awake periods are coming during the night for about an hour and a half (eek!). He has started to smile and just this morning he has smiled several times at me without me working too hard for it! What a gratifying thing, a baby's smile. He still doesn't have much of a schedule, still isn't super fond of his crib, and still loves to be held. He is a great baby though, and we adore him. Brian often comes home from work and immediately wants to hold him and play with him. He is a great dad and continues to be a fabulous husband, as he helps me in the night if I need a break from an overactive baby. He is good at getting Liam to fall asleep.

This weekend my friend Beth from college and her husband are coming to visit! I am so excited as I haven't seen Beth since my wedding. I am really looking forward to laughing with them and catching up.

A video of Liam!

We took this with our digital camera - not super clear but easy to upload for you to see! Hope you can see it. Enjoy!

Refreshing Times

Brian with Liam Saturday morning.

He's working on that head control! He actually does a really good job, and is getting stronger and stronger.


With uncle Robert. Liam loved the way Robert would hold him!

Just chillin'. He sure does have some funny looks with those furrowed eyebrows.

Doing the "Robert bounce."

The Holidays are among us! And we are excited for the coming weeks. Our last visitor in the month of November, my brother Robert, left this past Monday night. It was a great visit with him as I don't get to see him that often. He really liked meeting Liam and Liam sure did enjoy the bouncing walk that Robert perfected during his time. I am so thankful that Robert came as I enjoy my friendship with my bro.

The rest of this week has been really nice for 3 of us to just relax and refocus a bit on some goals we have as a family and just spend some good quality time together. Brian took off Wednesday and we got ready for Turkey Day. We went over to a friend's house for the holiday and shared a meal with about 30 other people. There was lots of good food and conversation. And Saturday we ventured out to do a little shopping for Christmas. It has been a low key weekend. Next weekend we are doing our Christmas decorating, which I am really looking forward to. It has been chilly here recently at night (lows into the upper 40s). Since we still don't have our pilot lights lit for the two heaters in our apartment, and since Brian is a little weary of the safety of them, we bought a radiator type space heater. It worked really well in the bedroom last night. And, I didn't have to double bundle and put a hat on Liam. He stayed nice and toasty.

So, about that little boy....he is getting bigger and bigger! He is over 10lbs now (close to 10.5). He is sleeping pretty well at night, though at most only 4.5hours between feeds still, though that doesn't happen with any regularity. He still hasn't smiled at us on purpose, and though I know that won't come for a few weeks, I am waiting in anticipation all the time. I think, however, when I see him smiling during his sleep, that he has at least one dimple. I would love it if he has two, like me! We'll see.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. There is just so much for us as a family to be thankful to God for.

Other pictures...

November visits!

Like I said in the previous post, we have been really blessed recently to have our first family visits since Liam was born! It really worked out well to have the grandpas come out at this time because it allowed some time for Brian and me to get used to Liam and to get into a routine of sorts. Plus, Liam is older and bigger and more awake these days which was a real treat to the visitors! It all worked out in great timing.

First, Skip, or Pop Powers, stopped by for a nice visit. We had several nice evenings and even ventured out to Santa Monica and the Pier as well as lunch at an english pub. Liam did well, though by the end, he was over being in the car seat. It truly was special for this first time grandfather to be introduced to his grandson. And it was fun to see 3 generations of Powers' on the same sofa!

Next, Grandpa Bob and Rene made the long haul. And of course there were many oos and ahhhs when the met him. There was lots of holding which really allowed me to get out to do a few things by myself or even around the house. Liam sure does like to be held! It is sometimes hard to put him down. Oh well, I may have created a bad habit, but he sure is nice to hold. We had lots of chill time together and even enjoyed the OSU game on the computer. It was such a fun visit for me to introduce my dad to his second grandson. And of course Maureen was a fabulous help and already loves Liam to pieces, I can tell. It is amazing how many hours of entertainment looking at one little baby can provide.

Needless to say, many pictures were taken, and we just really enjoyed both visits. And tonight, I am picking my brother Robert up at the airport for a nice visit as well. We are so blessed!

So, Liam is now about 9lbs 5oz - WOW! He is more and more awake, and is looking bigger and bigger. We love catching him smile as he is drifing off to sleep, and I personally cannot wait for him to smile and interact with me.

Thanks to all who post comments and who take the time to keep up with us. I so enjoy reading them and hope that soon I can personally connect with you all.

Enjoy the pictures!

We're Still here

Hello everyone!

We have been so blessed by family visiting that we haven't had a chance to post anything new recently. We are all doing well. Brian's Dad's visit was fabulous and lots of fun, and currently my Dad and Maureen are out here for a couple more days for a fantastic and relaxing visit as well. We will have new pictures of Liam and family up shortly. He is getting bigger and bigger - about 9lbs now. He is also spending more time awake during the day and just looking around. He is the most precious little boy!

Check back very soon for more.

Due Date!

So today was officially my due date. Wow.

Last weekend, Brian and I made a trip out of the house (our first non-necessity trip) to Babies R Us to pick up a few things and then to a park to try out our new little stroller. We ended up buying a little baby scale to keep track of the weight of our little one. Well, news, he is now 7 1/2 lbs! A perfect birth weight had he stayed in. It will be fun to keep track of his weight.

We are all doing well here in LA. I also made another trip out of the house today to visit two friends who have also recently had kids - it was a wonderful difference from my days inside our apartment and I love sharing my experiences with other new moms. I am feeling more and more comfortable to leave the house and enjoy being mobile a bit more. I still am not quite ready to expose him to larget crowds, but with each passing day he will get stronger. He still has his cold, but according to the doctor, it could take 2-3 weeks for him to clear his congestion. We'll hang in there. Liam continues to eat well and look more and more chubby.

So, Liam is basically still in some preemie outfits people have bought for him and his onesies, but still can't quite fit into some of the newborn things his has. And unfortunately the one Halloween outfit we had didn't quite fit in length. I put him in it, but it didn't last long - his legs are too short still for it! We didn't do much for Halloween and nobody stopped by for candy, though we did here the USC students in our neighborhood get a little crazy.

Well, Brian took his test which was quite grueling. He will find out whether or not he passed in about 3 months - just long enough to forget he took it and then be surprised by the news.

Tomorrow Brian's Dad is making a trip to LA to see his grandson! And next week, my Dad and Maureen are coming out to visit. We are looking forward to introducing him to some other family! I think it is good that he is older - he is starting to be awake a little more during the day, but still acting like a newborn, and sleeping lots, hence all of my pictures.

Well, hope you enjoy some pictures!

News

So I am sure you all are aware of the California crazy fires out here. I just wanted you all to rest assured that we are all doing well - the fires aren't close to us to pose any danger. We do however, have a nice haze that makes the sun shine orange/red. Since I don't get out much these days, I only noticed the sun when it shone eerily orange into our kitchen yesterday. I am also trying not to expose Liam to the poor air quality, but it has been very hot recently, and I can't keep the windows shut all day. Hopefully the heat will let up later this week. I much prefer the cool weather, and it is more fun to dress Liam up in sleepers. :)

Well, Liam and Daddy both have colds this week. Miraculously, I have not had one, which makes me think I gave it to both of them! Who knows. Brian tried so hard all weekend to stay clean and not get around Liam too much, but come Monday morning, I realized as I was feeding Liam that he was pretty congested. So, I called the pediatrician and he said to do what I was already doing - suctioning out his nose, and loosening the secretions with saline drops and a humidifier. So, today he is doing better- he HATES having his nose suctioned, and cries a lot, but he will know some day, I do it because I love him. :) It has been somewhat hard to be a nurse during these questionable illness times. It is totally a blessing to be a nurse and have such knowledge of pediatrics as I do, but it is also a curse because my mind wanders down a path where every little symptom has Liam ending up at CHLA intubated in the PICU. I know, a little irrational, but nonetheless, the product of not much sleep, loving Liam to pieces, and seeing what I have seen in my job. So far, so good. I actually went to the pediatrician yesterday because he has continued to have a goopy eye which was a blocked tear duct as I thought, but also a worrying breathing thing, that I wanted the doctor to look at. He thought it was regurgitation, but we'll see. I am more relaxed after going. It was also my first real outing with just Liam!

Well, update and praise!!! Liam has been breastfeeding exclusively since last Friday. YAY! We have chosen on occassion to give him a bottle at night so Sara can sleep, but he is doing so well, and I am SO thankful and feel so blessed. I am feeding him much more on demand and he is eating about 11 times a day. He usually has this marathon feed in the early evening where he is eating every hour or less, but then he is naturally not waking up as frequently at night. However, I still set my alarm to wake up and feed him if he doesn't wake me up. He is growing and growing, and if I can, I will go to the Pump Station again and weigh him this week. He is still small, but looking much more like a newborn! His due date is next Thursday, 11/1. On a personal note, I will be glad when his due date has passed - it has been somewhat emotional to go through all of this before when we expected him, and I am ready to get past that date, though still with some sadness.

Please keep Brian in your thoughts and prayers as he is taking an engineering test this weekend. Since Liam came early, it has been very hard for him to study as much as he has needed. But, we just want to trust the Lord to help him pass.

Enjoy the pictures!