Liam is NINE.

Nine years ago today, a nurse handed a terrified twenty year old girl an 8 pound 7 ounce, blonde headed baby boy.

Nine years ago God gave me my very first Mother's Day gift...

...and then I blinked.

and my sweet Mother's Day gift was nine.

Everyone told me how fast these years would go.

They were right.

I have to say, eight has been probably one of my most favorite years.

Liam THRIVED as an eight year old.

I loved 'eight' and hope I (and he!) love nine even more...

...although i'll take nine MONTH old baby Liam any day of the week ;)

Ow. ow. ow. OW!

In honor of Liam turning nine, I asked him what 9 facts about him were that he wanted people to know...

Starting with....

*que me stating the obvious*

#1. BASEBALL.IS.LIFE.

This boy loves baseball. When you ask him to tell you a little bit about himself, I promise you one of the first things he will tell you is that he 'is a baseball player'. 

...yes, that is Jurell Casey.. a defensive lineman for the Tennessee Titans, visiting Liam's classroom.

...and yes, that is him telling Jurrell Casey that he has played '10 seasons of baseball'.

...and I know this because it was on our local News Facebook Livestream and I watched it and nearly died when I heard him say it. haha! 

He loves it and I LOVE his love for it.  I tell him all the time that one of my absolutely favorite things to do in the whole wide world is watch him play baseball. 

This past season he was picked for our town's little league All-Star team and, ya'll, when I got the call from his coach telling me he was picked I UGLY CRIED.

He worked so hard and put in so many hours of practice to make that team.  I was so proud of him for accomplishing his goal.  It is definitely one of mine and his favorite 'eight year old' memories.

#2. HE LEARNED TO SKI THIS YEAR

Each year instead of lots of gifts that we KNOW the boys will never end up playing with, Tyler and I take the boys on a trip.

This year we took the boys skiing and they all LOVED IT.

Liam caught on so, so quickly and absolutely loved it. 

So now he's a 'skier' he says ;) ha!

#3. HE LOVES BASKETBALL!

For the longest time, whenever it came time for sports sign ups, it was all 'baseball, baseball, baseball' - and it still is, ha! He NEVER wanted to try anything new.

...until this year.  Liam decided to give basketball a go and he FELL IN LOVE with it.

My favorite, favorite, favorite part about him loving basketball was that, honestly? He wasn't the greatest player at first...

...I mean he'll even tell you that.

He just wasn't the best player on the court.

...or second best or third or fourth or....

So I wondered how he would fare playing a sport that he wasn't just 'naturally' good at (baseball came really easy to him...) and was SO PROUD that he enjoyed it anyway.

...it also probably didn't hurt that his team won the whole League ;)

Now I'm always catching him around the neighborhood shooting basketball and practicing dribbling.  SO, now he's *also* a basketball player ;)

#4.  He LOVES MATH!!

This kid LOVES MATH. 

...and he's REALLY good at it.  If I had a dollar for every time he walked up to me asking me to give him a 'math problem' just for the fun of it, I would have a lot of dollars ;)

Math. He loves it. And what's even more gross impressive is that he enjoys it.

*shutters*

ha!

#5. He LOVES Cooking Shows and cooking in general

This is my child that is always coming in the kitchen asking to help out.  This is the one that will sit through MULTIPLE episodes on the Food Network.

This is the one that tells me all. the. time. that he's going to be a professional baseball player and when he does...

...he's going to make LOTS of money and take me on a date to 'Hell's Kitchen'.

Haaaa! 

You know you've 'made it big time' in Liam's world when you're either famous enough or have enough money to eat at Hell's Kitchen ;)

#6. He is a PICKY EATER - but his favorite food is Sushi?!

I know. It's weird. The kid that can tell you all about the multiple ways to cook a duck probbbaabbblyyy won't be eating the duck?

You got me.

....to make it even weirder, this is my child who I use to have to BEG AND PLEAD for him to eat a bowl of macaroni and cheese (phew. We have come a LONG way!) but will scarf down two sushi rolls on the reg.
This year they studied Japan and a fellow student's parents brought in sushi rolls for the class.

...Liam said that this was one of the 'greatest days I've had at school in my entire life.' Ha!

Ask him where he wants to go for his birthday dinner, or any other day in general:  Sushi.

or...

#7. TACOS. Enough said. He would eat tacos every day if I let him.

Remember how I mentioned that I am anti-taco?

Until Tyler showed up in Liam's little world, this poor, taco-deprived child had never had a taco.

...and now. He wants all the tacos. 

Tyler and his bond was born from a taco... ha. kidding. sort of.

He literally could eat a taco every single day and never complain.  He would be living his best life.

He specifically requested a 'Taco Themed' birthday party. 

...honestly.

Give this kid a taco and he will love you until the day he dies.

#8. He collects rocks!

Liam has collected rocks for as long as I can remember.  If you're ever walking around where there is rocks (including, you know, gravel driveways...) you can find him with his head down looking for rocks.

...of course, over the years, this collection has proved detrimental to my washing machine as I have washed an entire rock quarry by way of Liam's shorts ;)

...we're getting better at that as the years go by!

At the beginning of year, the third grade class went to the 'Lost River Cave' in southern Kentucky and they got to 'mine rocks'....

You would've thought this boy had died and gone to heaven... #givemealltherocks

#9. He LOVES being a big brother

Liam has the most special little relationship with Lake.

He loves to read to him and just hug and kiss on him.

He is patient and gentle with him and is always making him laugh. I love their little relationship so much.

So I gave Liam a little birthday interview...

...I'm anxious to see how he answers these on down the road :) 

1. Who's your favorite person in the whole world? My mom and dad, Tyler and my brothers (...err okay, that was definitely more than one.. haha!)

2. What is your favorite color? Metallic Teal

3. What's your favorite television show? Pokemon and Beyblades and BASEBALL

4. What's your favorite outfit? Anything Under armor

5. What's your favorite song? Hot Girl Bummer

6. What's your favorite cereal? Apple Jacks and Fruit Loops

7. Who is your Best Friend? Hayden, Caelum, Callan, Easton L. and Easton B.

8. What do you want to be when you grow up? An international baseball player 

9. What do you think you are really good at? BASEBALL!

10. What was your favorite memory over the last year? Playing in the All-Star games

11. What would you buy if you had $1,000? Beyblades, Pokemon cards and buy FOOD!

12. Who is your biggest hero? My mom and dad and Tyler

13. If you could have one wish, what would it be? Have a sleepover with anyone I want whenever I want!

14. In one word, how would you describe yourself? Funny

15. What do you hope you'll get to do before your next birthday? Go to Uncle Dean's pool! (haha!)

God couldn't have picked a better kid for me to 'grow up' with.

Like I said, I was only twenty years old when I became a mom. 

Twenty.

...I look at twenty year olds now that I'm older and think, God, what were you thinking?!

...but he knew I needed him.

I had to 'learn' how to be a mom, like we all do, but when you find out you're pregnant at TWENTY, you gotta grow up, and grow up quick!

...and Liam had to go along for the ride.

...and I couldn't think of a better kid to ride alongside me. Liam is easy going, patient, and so so loving.  He is the best Mother's Day gift that i'll ever receive.

I love you so much Liam... Happy 9th Birthday!