"Again, again!"

We've been spending a lot of time at Liam's FAVORITE place on earth - the park. He runs wild and free, going up and down the slides, over and over again. And the second his feet hit the ground, he yells "Again, again!"

And his name is...

Alexander Don Wortley

We had to choose a name before we left the hospital. It was down to two names and time was running short. So Don and I did what anyone does when faced with a life-changing decision and flipped a coin for best out of three. The other name won 2 out of 3. As we were getting ready to fill out the paper work, we both changed our minds. And that's how Alexander Don came to be!

Alex is named after both of his Grandpas and his Dad. "Alexander" is Grandpa Wortley's middle name and "Don" is Grandpa Jessop's middle name, as well as his Dad's middle name.

Here is a link to a digital birth announcement video from the hospital. Note - Alex was not a happy camper for these pictures, so the video keeps repeating the pictures in different colors. Ha ha! He is still a cutie though! 

Brothers meet for the first and second time

After the baby was born, Don rushed home to pick up Liam and my mom to meet the new little guy. But Liam was more interested in my pizza and cool bed with buttons. He may have paged the nurse a few times ... whoops! 

Let's try that again. Two days later, Don brought Liam and my mom to the hospital to bring me and the baby home. This time Liam was slightly more interested in his brother. He did manage to hold still enough for a few pictures and a sweet kiss.

And he also managed to steal the baby's blanket and get one last ride on the bed.

Baby no. 2

It has been a while since our last post. Things have been busy around our house preparing for the arrival of baby no. 2

He arrived yesterday at 1:52pm weighing in at 6 pounds 8 ounces and 19 inches long. We are so excited to have him in our family. 

  

Motor Skills

Liam had a cast on for 6 weeks and it didn't slow him down one bit! Here are some action shots of him running around the house.

Finally, I had to put him on the floor and snap a few shots while he was still (for a split second). Love this grin!

Liam's cast is now off and he is running and climbing on everything. Oh dear ... needless to stay I'm pretty exhausted. But we wouldn't have it any other way and LOVE our extremely active, playful, curious, determined Liam!

The Cake Off

Liam turned one in January and we celebrated with a Cake Off with some friends in our ward. Liam's FAVORITE thing to do is take a bath, so Don made a bath themed cake in honor of Liam's big day, complete with a mini rubber ducky and bubble cake for him to destroy.

It was a fierce competition, with two other delicious cakes entered in the mix by the Brodegards and Pearsons.

Liam really didn't know what was going on, but loved playing with the balloons.

Then it was time to destroy his cake ... but he was more interested in the rubber ducky.

After we took away the duck, he slowly touched his cake.

And this is about as much as he destroyed it... the stinker! I know if he was all alone in a room and found that cake on the floor that it would be in a million little pieces everywhere. Guess he was just a little shy that night.

Happy birthday, sweet Liam!

Oops!

Yesterday I slipped on some ice and Liam and I both fell very hard. I was holding him in front of me (facing me) and I fell face forward (with him falling backwards). Liam ended up with a broken leg (double tib-fib fracture), most likely from my body weight landing on him.

Close-up of one of the fractures (the squiggly grey line in the bone. OUCH!)

I have never felt more horrible in all my life! But I also feel incredibly blessed, as it could have been much, much worse. Liam hit his head extremely hard on the ice/cement, and didn't sustain any other injuries aside from his leg. Also, baby #2 and I are just fine, even though I landed on my stomach. I ended up with just a few sore, bruised knees. 

Liam was such a champ during the whole ordeal, bless his little heart. We were shuffled from pediatricians and radiologists at our local hospital to a specialty children's hospital in St. Paul to see a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. Luckily, he didn't need surgery and he is now sporting a bright blue full-leg cast for the next month.

Waiting for the doctor

What color will he choose for his cast?

Excellent color choice, Liam!

I'm so thankful Don was able to leave work to be with me. Let's face it ... I was an emotional DISASTER! 

Wish us luck as we embark on a month of trying to keep a very busy toddler immobile!