The Tortoise and the Hair

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack in postings--it's been a tad hectic with the move and then getting used to our new home (and a brief visit back to our old one to check on things). Plus, I have an energetic 5 month old who just LOVES to play! And, hey, I would rather play with him than be on the computer. BUT he is in his new jumper toy and is having a blast with that, so that gives me some 'free' time to post.

What a contraption, eh? I swear it's safe. :)

So, besides being entertained in his new toy, Liam has been practicing crawling! Okay, okay, maybe not so much *crawling* as...well, I'm not sure what to call it! Watch and see for yourself:

Yes, it's a loooooong video. And a bit painful to watch at times, but sometimes you have to go backwards in order to go forwards! :) Our little tortoise will soon be a hare!

Speaking of "hair", you may notice Liam sporting a new 'do'. Momma got out the scissors and cut off all of the beautiful curly locks (boohoo!). Alright, so they weren't so curly (unless they were wet) and they were more "wisps" than "locks". But, who would have guessed that under all of that dark hair was a tow-headed boy genius?! (well, we knew about the boy genius part) So our little blonde-haired, blue eyed boy is ever the more stunning due to the trip to the barber.

And on to other news:

So, Scott is enjoying his job--it's keeping him busy, but he gets home at a decent time and gets to see us and play! and hang out! It's awesome. We are in the throes of house hunting. Although we are trying not to be since we don't want to find our dream house just yet! We need to sell the other one first.

Well, as with any toy, it can only entertain a child for so long...so Liam and I are off to get the mail!

Hope all is well!

love,

b

Happy 5-monthiversary Liam!

Happy 5-monthiversary little guy! Hope you have a wonderful day! (maybe we'll go buy a toy! yay, toys!!)

Quick update: we're settling into our temporary apartment in Carmel, north of Indianapolis, Indiana. Our house in Buffalo Grove is up for sale (no bites, yet) and Scott is enjoying his new job with Forsythe Racing (Paul Tracy's team) in the Champ Car Series. Yesterday we bought a new car--a silver Mazda Speed3, fully loaded (nice!) and today our new bed is being delivered (king sized mattress--super nice!). Yes, things are good!

Today Liam and I are going out shopping for some new sheets for the bed and a little 5-monthiversary present.

Hope all is well with everyone! I'll write more later when I have more time!

love,

b

4 months of wonder and joy!

Happy 4 monthiversary little boo! We love you!

This is Liam wearing his new outfit from Great Aunt Marie! Thanks Aunt Marie! Get well soon--we are thinking about you!

love,

b, s, l

For Sale: House in Buffalo Grove!

New Adventures

Well, this year is in its last few weeks of being and a new year is on the horizon--one that will bring big changes to the Raymond household. Scott was offered a job in Indianapolis with Forsythe Racing (Paul Tracy's team), so we are packing up and moving! We have lived in our little now-fixed-up home for 20 months and we are leaving it behind for a bigger house with a yard! The cost of living in Indianapolis is much much less, so we are happy to get more bang for our buck. Scott's deal includes moving expenses, which is lovely, so we'll be looking to get this place packed up and shipped to our new home, once we have one!

But as we pack up and head 'south', we are moving away from such good people that we have been lucky to befriend. Sheri, Nancy, Stu, and all of the crew, past and present, at Baker (oh yeah, I resigned last week--otherwise, that would be one crazy commute!), the Newman-Haas wives, Scott's colleagues, and my dear friend Anna and her son Ben, who became our weekly rendezvous partners at the greatest child-friendly spots around town. :(

This past week, Scott and I have been meeting with realtors, doing some last minute renovations on the house and Scott has been finishing up at Newman-Haas, writing a manual on "how to be Scott Raymond" so they can continue on in their engineering ways without too much difficulty. (although, we all know they will be completely useless without Scott...heh heh...any bets that Forsythe will win the championship next year?)

Even amidst all of the busy-ness, Liam, the little champ that he is, has been gung-ho in learning and laughing as always. His latest tricks are playing with his toes and blowing zzerberts (AKA raspberries). He's so gifted.

With all of the cold weather, it was bound to snow--and snow it did!! Here's Liam in his snow suit experiencing his very first taste of the cold stuff.

Such a good little Canamerican. Speaking of which, we applied for Liam's Canadian citizenship on Friday, via mail, so hopefully soon he will be a little card-carrying Canadian! We received his American passport last week, so our trip to Ottawa over Christmas is good to go. We will be in Ottawa from the 19th to the 3rd and we are so looking forward to spending some time with our families and we would also love to have the chance to catch up with all of our old friends! We are planning a short overnight trip to Montreal on the 21st, if all goes well, so stay tuned Montreal friends for some fun plans!

Well, I believe my little guy is awake from his nap. Ha--I was supposed to be doing laundry during this break...ah well. Laundry schmaundry. Clean clothes are over-rated.

Happy Weekend! Stay warm!

love

b

The Littlest Fish

Liam went for his first swim yesterday! And LOVED it! We went over to the hotel where Megan and Alen and Aidan were staying and dove into their nice, warm pool! Liam is sporting some fine swim trunks from Cath's friend Bethany (thanks Bethany!) and is swimming around like a little fish! He loved the water and kicked like an Olympic freestyler. I think we've found a new thing to do on the weekends! All we need now is a nice warm pool to dive into! :)
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
love,
b

Thanks for friends, family and fun!

Thanks to Megan, Alen and Aidan for trekking down to "Chicago" (AKA Buffalo Grove) to help us celebrate American thanksgiving! It was wonderful to have our two families united in fun! We are sure that Aidan and Liam will become fast friends...even if Aidan was a little wary of Liam and Liam would smile at anything that moves, so it was hard to tell whether this friendship was developing its firm foundation or not! See our slideshow for some pics of our time together. (we also did something special that isn't included in the show, but deserves its very own posting!!)

We wish Megailen all the best on their trip home (please no delays, please no delays!).
Love,
Becky