The Buckingham Palace

here and gone!

2010-01-04T16:30:00.002-06:00

Wow.. Christmas has come and gone and I haven't posted a single picture for you! I know you are very sad. No worries.. in the next few days I will get some up on the old blog for you.

Just to tide you over until I actually have time to post more pics... here is a great picture of Liam and his bff, Rob.

Polar Express

2009-12-15T13:27:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Grandma Teri... Liam has a new favorite movie!

The Polar Express!

Grandma had suggested we get Liam The Polar Express since he likes trains so much. I had never even thought of that movie, mainly because I think I have seen it once, and I probably slept through most of it - I tend to sleep through most movies.

Pol and I bought it this past weekend while we were doing our big Christmas gift buying and wrapping day.. big thanks to Costco actually having the regular old version.. everyone else only had the 3D version in stock. No way our little dude would sit there with glasses on and watch.

He loved every minute... except for the scary doll section I wouldn't let him watch.. no nightmares please.

He randomly got up and danced for this part... which cracked Pol and I up. I thought I would share. Enjoy. and the end run away part.. I have no idea.

Flour

2009-12-05T21:30:00.002-06:00

Liam still likes to help with the cookie making...

Lesson learned this time: Do not give him a bath and put him in his PJs before baking time!

Thanksgiving 09

2009-12-05T21:03:00.008-06:00

Sorry this post is so very late! I had forgotten my camera cord at my parents, and they were so sweet as to mail it to me! Then I realized, I didn't really take that many pictures, but here are the ones I have so you will at least get the idea.

Anna and Liam spent a lot of time together! Here they are playing with one of Grandma's nativity sets. Anna got the people and Liam played with the animals. Poor Josh got nothing.

As always, they enjoyed watching Thomas together

And they both love to watch the blog videos, so here they are making grandma watch with them.

These pictures are from when we put up decorations at our house...

Liam The Builder

2009-11-18T16:47:00.003-06:00

I know... I know... another video of Liam. What can I say, I like him. AND he likes him too. We have to watch these videos over and over so the more there are to choose from the less Pol and I have to listen to "Coat of Many Colors".

The weekends here have been perfect weather so Pol is working to finish up our fence. As you will see, Liam likes to help out.

Dancing to King George

2009-11-12T10:38:00.002-06:00

I am trying to pass down my love of country music to Liam. He watched some of the CMA's with me last night. I think I have also passed down my awesome dance moves.

This Is Halloween

2009-11-10T10:49:00.004-06:00

I thought you would actually want to see Liam in tiger action. He would usually say "Trick or Treat" before people opened the door, but he was pretty good about thanking them for the treat.

ps.. the cow at the beginning of the video, he would not go anywhere near, but got braver as time went on.

Halloween in MO

2009-11-05T16:07:00.010-06:00

For Halloween we went to Pleasant Hill and enjoyed a mini-vacation. I will spare you the details of me totally misreading our flight itinerary which resulted in missing our return flight. I will also leave out how after buying next day tickets to come home Southwest lost our luggage. Because those details are not important and did not spoil the great time that was had.

I will however give you details about Liam's Halloween.

First it started with a tractor ride. Okay, not really a ride, but he got to play on this tractor and that might have been the highlight of his weekend. It took some convincing to get him off the thing.

Followed by reading a book with daddy and grandma.

Time to transform into a tiger.

Off to trick or treat! We figured Liam MIGHT do one house. I mean trick or treating is really combining his two worst fears... 1. strangers and 2. food. Liam surprised us all and LOVED every minute of it. He was out for over an hour running from house to house and saying "trick or treat". Though, he normally said it before the people had opened their door.

Grandma Sarah helping him up the stairs.

Find the tiger game.

Aunt Stephanie and her crew

Grandma Sarah stealing Liam's Reece's Cups

Getting candy from Grandpa Buck

When we got back to Grandma Teri and Popo Jon's Liam starting giving them his candy rather than taking candy from them. quite funny.

Crouching Tiger

He discovered Kit Kats. And he likes them. A.LOT.

Few other pics from the weekend...

Grandpa George

Scary Charlie doll that scarred Leslie for life.

The family.

Buckingham men

Uncle Mike making Liam fist bump.

Old caboose

Time to say bye-bye.

Daddy.... Liam....

2009-10-23T21:27:00.002-05:00

2am last night:
Liam: DADDY!
Liam: DADDY!
Liam: DADDY, Come here!

Pol (laying next to me in bed): LIAM
Liam: DADDY
Pol: LIAM
Liam: DADDY, come here!
Pol: LIAM

Me: (thinking) well I guess Pol isn't actually going to get out of bed to see what Liam needs. So I get out of bed and cover Liam up and put him back to sleep.

Next Morning:
Me: Why didn't you get up and help Liam out last night?
Pol: What are you talking about?
Me: You know, when Liam yelled out for you and then you just yelled back?
Pol: Seriously, what are you talking about?
Me: You don't remember? You and Liam yelled back and forth to each other last night!
Pol: I have no idea what you are talking about

No worries people.. Liam is completely safe with Pol and I.

Cooking 101

2009-10-22T16:48:00.002-05:00

Booooo Yankees

2009-10-20T21:45:00.002-05:00

I have heard that one of the main things a parent passes down to a child is their love (and hatred) of sports teams. As most know, my mom LOVES the Braves and HATES the Yankees. My husband has also adopted this belief that the Yanks are evil... I think he had to in order to marry me.

I guess as part of his adoption into the world of baseball he had to find one player to dislike the most. That player is A-Rod. Pol has very strong opinions against the A to the Rod. Don't ask me why. Ask him. I tune him out when he starts rambling about why A is so terrible. I tend to think of other things while watching baseball... like why must they spit so often and I like the pinstriped suits better than the solid and those people look miserable sitting in the freezing cold, or those people look like they have drank enough beer to keep them warm.

I went out with a friend the other night and this is what Pol taught Liam in my absence. My mom will be so proud.

Orange-ya-glad we love fall?

2009-10-16T13:13:00.008-05:00

Last weekend we made it into our Fall for Pumpkins weekend. We carved pumpkins and went to a pumpkin patch. Liam loved it all. Except he did not love not being allowed to carve a pumpkin himself. And he was introduced to Snoopy via The Great Pumpkin. He loves Snoopy now.

ps: I never liked that scene in The Great Pumpkin where Snoopy is the Pilot... and I have realize why... it is definitely a boy thing. Liam would just stare (like Pol) at that portion... in awe. of snoopy. flying. his doghouse. really?

sorry, lots of pics. When your kid is so darn cute... you just can't help it.

trying to get him to pose where all the other good little boys and girls were posing so perfectly for their parents

We have no idea...

I want this one!

no wait.. this one!

Throwing stems at mommy is great fun.

Liam being disobedient and crossing the fence to the area where you have to pay to get in. mommy and daddy were too cheap and would not pay to cross over.

Loving to yell these days.

I mean, when you sit on a pumpkin what other face are you supposed to make?

awe.

I think here he is asking for fruit snacks

happy pumpkin boy

Carving the pumpkins!

Liam wishing he was sitting in Rob's lap.

helping me carve.

me stopping Liam from helping so much.. the spider almost lost a few legs.

checking out daddy's work!

Pretty cool!

Thankful for a fun weekend! (Liam wanted Rob to pray with him and daddy, not me!)

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-12T16:53:00.002-05:00

I will be posting more pics, but wanted to give you a little view of how much Liam enjoyed the Pumpkin Patch.

Gatlinburg

2009-10-08T11:42:00.003-05:00

Here is a little video to show you how much fun was had on all the rides in Gatlinburg!

Happy Day!

2009-10-07T14:53:00.003-05:00

Pol had a show last night (my birthday) and Rob was sweet enough to come watch Liam so I could attend.

I get embarrassed rather easily. This is one of those times.

Incognito

2009-10-04T12:30:00.003-05:00

Liam was trying to avoid the paparazzi while out in the yard today.

Hello Dolly

2009-10-02T20:52:00.010-05:00

I know you have all been waiting anxiously to hear about our trip to Dollywood. Rather than bore you with my writing... let's just get to what you all want, a story told through pics

Look out.... Anna has control of the car!

Anna and I rode most rides together.... here we are enjoying a few.

Here is what it looks like to try to feed our crew. Do you notice where Liam is? Oh, not in the picture... that's because he hates feeding time and he took off to watch another ride.

This is where I found Liam... watching the Elephant ride. He proceeded to say "ride elephant, ride elephant" for the next 15mins. Until we literally were climbing into the elephant and he FREAKED out and I had to remove him from ride clawing me and screaming. I know people were looking at me in that disapproving look of, why did that woman try to make that poor little boy go on that ride, he obviously does not want to go.

While I was torturing Liam with the elephant ride, Anthony convinced Granddaddy and Pol to take a ride on a spinning wheel that would have made me throw up.

Awe... Liam found a few rides that made him smile... ducky and bubblebees

I love this picture. It's such a family picture. Liam is concentrated on driving and Anna looks like she is telling Josh what to do.

so cute...

Waiting on the big black train to get ready to steam away.

Liam getting interviewed before the train ride.

Liam explaining telling granddaddy that 3 bowls of ice cream is not a proper lunch.

Here's the deal with the train. The ENTIRE day Liam would see this train going around Dollywood and he would yell he wanted to ride the train. He told us repeatedly about how he wanted to "ride the train". Finally at the end of the day we get on the train. You can barely keep Liam down he is so excited. THEN.... the whistle blows. It was LOUD. I mean LOUD. Liam - in Liam way - FREAKED - he clawed his way into my lap and held on as tight as he could. Then started yelling BYE BYE TRAIN (code: Liam wants to be done). We tell him he is stuck on the train because it's in motion. Finally his grip lessoned a little but he would not sit back in the seat. He did not enjoy his first real train ride. He would rather stick to the kiddy trains... not nearly as loud.

Liam rode these the most.... the cars!! He started and ended with them. Pretty sure Pol went around this track like 10 times.

just like the good old days....

Bye Bye Dolly... we had a great time!

Chop Chop

2009-09-24T12:58:00.005-05:00

So... This doesn't depict the haircut so well.. but gives you an idea. I buzzed Liam's hair. It's a ritual I like to do... let the hair grow long then buzz it off and start all over again.

Before (he's riding a train at OpryMills). Camera phones are amazing :)

After (blowing a kiss)

The Poo conversation

2009-09-23T11:40:00.005-05:00

Pol: Liam, did you go poop?
Liam: YUP
Pol: Can we change it?
Liam: YUP!

[Liam runs over to his changing table and Pol proceeds to change Liam's diaper]

Liam: BYE POO!
Liam [waving to the diaper]: SEE YA LATER POO!

Delta Dawn

2009-09-18T13:41:00.004-05:00

First. Go watch this video of Anna.

Second. Click below.

Third. Liam loves his cousin.

Ms. Alex

2009-09-17T15:21:00.003-05:00

I have discussed Ms. Alex on the blog before.. see below.. the daycare worker that wants to know Liam in 20 yrs. Now... as if that wasn't a creepy enough conversation, she has given me another reason to discuss her on the blog.

Ms. Alex: I had a dream about Liam the other night!
Me: (hesitantly) Really?
Ms Alex: Yes, but he was older. A teenager. And I was younger. Also a teenager.
Me: (to myself: oh no, where is this going? why is she telling me this? I hope my ears aren't bleeding already)
Ms Alex: I hope this isn't a premonition, but Liam had a girlfriend and they had lots of babies that looked JUST like Liam!
Me: (to myself: WHEW, you weren't the girlfriend!) OH really! Well let's hope that isn't true!
Ms Alex: Yeah, but all the little Liams were so cute!

This is where I gave Liam a hug and whispered to him to stay away from Ms. Alex. Not really, actually I really like Ms. Alex and I know she is great with Liam. He is for sure a fav of hers. The moment he gets there she pulls out all his favorite toys for him to play with. She doesn't really creep me out, but some things we can't help but think she should keep to herself. You know.. the generic.. I adore your son will do for us.

Like father, like son

2009-09-14T20:49:00.004-05:00

Here is what happens when Pol is left alone with Liam and the video camera (it explains so much):

Deep Clean

2009-09-14T11:38:00.006-05:00

This past weekend, Pol's mom graciously came to stay with Liam so that Pol and I could......

clean out the basement!

I know.. you probably thought I was going to say something fun there, like take a trip, but no, we had a weekend of pure cleaning. For those who have never ventured to the bottomless pit that is our black hole.. it is huge, and filled to the tipping point with CRAP. The weekend was dedicated to ridding ourselves of that crap. While Pol ripped out the old kitchen (I guess it was a second living space back in the day), I went through every box. I also ripped up the scary green carpet. It's still not perfectly clean, but it is MUCH better! After numerous hauls to the dump and with a garage sale this weekend we will be looking good! Liam might be allowed down there one day - though since I have told him a big scary monster lives down there he might not go.

OH, and I got to swing a sledgehammer for the first time, I missed my target the first few times, but then I finally ripped something apart. Did you know sledgehammers are really heavy! AND, walking from the basement to the loft.. is tiring. very tiring. my body hurts. a lot. perhaps I should do more physical activity every now and then!

Here are some pics.. they don't really do it justice because I didn't start taking pics until we had already cleared some stuff out.

Room 1:
Before (p.s., I had already cleaned out numerous items, before you could barely see the green carpet):

After:

Lots of the stuff on the right side will be hitting the garage sale or goodwill!

Room 2
Before:

After (this will get a little more clean once Pol puts the 3rd room back in working order and builds some shelves!):

Room 3:
There used to be cabinets here:

There used to be a wall here... but then the sledgehammer came.

He's so strong. (and no, he didn't actually sledgehammer the oven, though he wanted to)

Liam had a lot of fun with his grandma.. read a LOT of books. I think she wore him out.

For more details on the rodents we also discovered... go to:
polbuckingham.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday Granddaddy!

2009-09-08T20:55:00.005-05:00

Liam had a great weekend celebrating his granddaddy's birthday!

Veggie Stix

2009-09-02T12:31:00.004-05:00

I discovered something new... Veggie Stix. I like them. I will not lie, I don't LOVE them. You hand me a tortilla chip or a veggie stix and ask me to choose, I will choose the tortilla chip... with salsa... and a margarita. BUT if I were to choose the healthier option, I would go with Veggie Stix. These things are not so bad. AND I am eating veggies.

Even better...

MY SON WILL EAT THEM.

That statement alone is worth the overpriced bag (and you guys know how I feel about coupons and getting everything for CHEAP).

How did I discover these little yummies? Well, I love our church, and I mean I LOVE our church, but some of the moms there are a little bit more "green" than I personally am. Such as they love their veggies and shun the tasty flavor of meat (I do not). These moms also bring their children to nursery with their tofu dinners and their cloth diapers. I bring my kid to nursery with his generic brand diapers and his chocolate chip cookies and coke (haha.. I don't do that. Yet). I'm not saying one is good or bad, just different - okay, maybe my way is bad. This past Sunday I was watching this one little boy with these stixs and he was gnawing down on them as if he had been given a big bowl of french fries for the first time. And honestly, I wanted to gnaw down on them, they looked good! I asked the mom about them, and discovered you can get them at your grocery store (warning, they are pricey). I guess Trader Joe's does sell them for cheaper, but I rarely make it out there, so perhaps these will spur a special trip. I bought some at Publix, and Liam seriously ate them... AND ASKED FOR MORE. People.. that is a break through at our house. They are crunchy and look like french fries... so really... how could you go wrong.

Now.. I don't know a ton about looking at the side of a bag... (gasps from those who know my sweet mother is a dietitian). I have posted the nutrition facts for you to decide for yourself how "healthy" these are.

I like them.