Shillig #5 Family

Best Cousins

2012-02-05T17:47:00.000-08:00

We tell these two that they are best cousins... of course we usually say that to them in trying to get them to stop fighting. They have a love hate relationship... but when it is is full of love it is amazing. They love chasing each other, playing lions and tigers, racing cars, and wearing their cowboy boots, because they are "same, same"! (Uncle Jake bought them these cute little matching outfits, and it is William's favorite outfit and he always asks to wear it?

We are also still working on potty training, and William is learning to hold it longer instead of going every twenty minutes. Of course he has now started coming into our room about 4am to get his diaper changed (because he isn't quite ready to potty train at night).

It is amazing how much William is developing, I love seeing him, change, learn and grow. Although his vocabulary is growing, we are still working on pronunciation, because he can sometimes be difficult to understand. We love this little man and the relationships he is learning to develop with his cousins.

Gracie

2012-02-05T17:14:00.000-08:00

Gracie will be 8 months old in 5 days! Where has the time gone? I think back to when William was this old, and it is definitely different. Gracie has a completely different temperament and personality. There is rarely a time that she is unhappy, and she is always full of smiles for everyone. Guaranteed if you are having a bad day, she will brighten it. Her eyes are seriously always alight and sparkling with love, excitement, and pure happiness.

Gracie isn't crawling or rolling around yet, she is simply happy to be put in one place roll over once or twice, scoot backwards a bit, and do a few push-ups, in an attempt to perhaps crawl. This totally reflects her personality of contentment; easy going, and happy.

Gracie is getting about 6 teeth in right now, her first ones. She it a total champ, and just a little more fussy. She is chewing on everything as a result, she loves sucking on her finger and toes, and prefers them to a pacifier, but I definitely try to put a pacifier in her mouth so she doesn't suck her thumb.

Gracie also started to clap this week. When others clap she watches for a few moments and then will clap. When you say "yea" she claps... it is so cute and you can see how excited and proud she is because she gets such a reaction from us. She is also saying "mama", "dada", and "baba". She started saying mama first, it made me so happy! She also loves sitting, and is starting to want to stand when I hold her. When she is laying on her back she wants to sit up and totally holds her head up and tries to sit up.

We love you Gracie Girl!

Our Christmas Vacation.

2012-01-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

We were fortunate enough to go to my parents for Christmas and spend 10 days there. It was so relaxing and wonderful to be with all of my family. We had not all been together for Christmas in over 3 years... and since then there has been 3 new additions to the family.

My parents had the idea to build a little play room off of the main family room for grandkids. It was a total surprise for us when we got there, and William loved it. He had his own little door (which used to be smaller and lead to the wood pile), and he could open it and have people come play with him, or he would close it and quietly play by himself. It was so perfect because it kept William contained, we knew where he was, and it was close to the main part of the house so we could always hear him or keep an eye on him. The room is complete with a toy shelf, and even a small TV and DVD player that hangs in the corner. It is honestly so perfect and will be enjoyed for years to come by more and more grandkids. I am always amazed with my dad's ability to build and created things, and my mom's creative eye.

William loves his Papa, who introduced him to Donald Duck, and William couldn't get enough of him.

My oldest brother Nate and his wife, Carissa are expecting their first child at the beginning of April, and they are having a girl. It was fun to see them both interact and play with Gracie, you could see their excitement for their own baby. While home Carissa and I made bows and flowers for our girls and Gracie so wonderfully modeled them for us.

Every Christmas Eve we open PJs that my mom has made. She always does such a fun job, and this is just a shot of William in his enjoying some homemade Apple Juice that my mom had made.

Gracie and I took a break from running errands to eat, and decided to have a little picture time while we waited a few extra minutes.

Gracie got some good naps in with her Uncle Ryan.

William enjoyed snack time with Uncle Dallin

Gracie had some baths in the kitchen sink

We all went bowling and William enjoyed showing off.

My two older brothers and dad modeling their new PJs.

William loved bowling. He tried it a few times without the ramp and the ball still rolled... but very slowly.

We enjoyed some time in downtown Seattle and walked along Pike's Place Market and stopped to try a cup of some World's Famous Chowder... and it was sooo good.

More bowling, sorry these pictures are so scrambled.

We went out to eat at this amazing Asian cuisine buffet. It was so good!

A group shop at the restaurant, one with me in it, and the next one with my dad.

This was part of our Pike's Place Market walk. We stopped at the cheese shop where you can see them making it and try some samples. It was really good.

Window Shopping

Costco shopping, and Gracie's first time sitting in the actual seat.

More pictures of the amazing play room.

William loves his Nana and Papa... thanks for the amazing time!

Holy Rusted Metal Batman!

2012-01-15T14:41:00.000-08:00

I am so behind on this blog... so there is just a random assortment of pictures in no particular order... and now the first batch of pictures

My father-in-law celebrated his 60th birthday on Dec. 19th.

William and Gracie had a doctors appointment and William was fascinated by it all and even practiced opening his mouth and saying, "aww"

Gracie started solids, which has resulted in many blowouts. So, if you are squeamish, quickly scroll down. One Sunday she had a wonderful blowout right at the very beginning of church, on a day that I just so happened to forget to pack extra clothes, and right before I needed to teach a lesson... it was a good combination and Gracie wore a diaper for the rest of church.

William enjoyed playing with his cousins. They loved the kitchen set and proceeded to pretend eat all the food. I love it when William plays pretend.

We enjoyed our ward Christmas party.

We decorated for Christmas and William loved the Santa hats and wore them to many places.

We learned a new game called "Quelf" that Kurt and Amy Shillig introduced to us... and Luke had to put on some stylish lipstick.

Amy had to put on a mask or something, and William wanted to try too... Can you notice how much fun the kids had while we played games?

4 Generations

2011-12-11T23:11:00.000-08:00

On our way home from UT, we stopped by Luke's Grandpa's house for some dinner. It was also their first time meeting our kids. Of course we had to snap some pictures, it is four generations after all.

Top: William Edward Shillig Jr., Luke, William Thomas Shillig
Bottom: William Edwar Shillig Sr., Gracie, and Grandma Carolyn

An Attempt at Some Pictures

2011-12-11T22:53:00.000-08:00

There were some fields near Larkie's (Luke's sister) house that I thought would look good for some family pictures. So we got ready and went over to take some, as soon as we got out of the car, William tripped and face planted into the sidewalk. Needless to say the pictures were practically over before they even started. We did get a couple of pictures, and I still need to play with some of the coloring, but it was quite difficult working with William so we tried to make it quick.

Family TImes

2011-12-11T22:15:00.000-08:00

We went to UT for Thanksgiving this year and enjoyed spending time with family. My mom's side had their annual reunion at Bear Lake, and after we were able to visit my dad's side of the family and then we headed down to be with Luke's sister and parents.

Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures because my kids got sick, and then so did I... our vacations this year have not been super successful, but we have still enjoyed them, being with family, and we have made the most of them

We walked to the park and William was insistent about riding this trike, too bad he didn't know how to pedal.

This was up at Bear Lake, my kids crashed as we were packing up to leave, I guess it doesn't help when they were both sick.

Gracie enjoyed playing with her second cousin, who is about 3 or 4 months older than her.

Gracie and Grandpa Bill. I just love her crazy hair

Visiting Family

2011-12-11T21:59:00.000-08:00

On our way up to UT to visit family, we stopped in St. George to spend time with Luke's cousin and his family. They have a boy who is about a month younger than William, and then they have a set of twins. William and Kurt got along really well.

While the big boys worked on putting together a green house the little boys watched and tried to mimic their daddys

Even the neighbor kids enjoyed watching

And Gracie enjoyed sitting outside and watching all the action too.

Trespassers Beware

2011-11-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

I learned how to load and shoot a gun the other day. Living on a farm in the middle of nowhere and being by myself a majority of the time Luke thought it would be a good idea. We shot at clay pigeons and for my first round I hit two out of the air. I was so surprised. When we were all out of pigeons Luke told me to unload rounds as quickly as I could into that barrel, and this was the result. The kick threw me off a little bit but I hit it a couple of times. If you listen closely you can hear Luke in the beginning say, "trespassers beware"... haha.

Smiles

2011-11-06T18:39:00.000-08:00

My happy girl that will be 5 months old in 4 days

William playing with the dinosaurs that Nana sent him for Halloween

I love Gracie's eyes in this picture.

The kids chillin' while I coached my soccer practice, this is one of the few times that William sits still at practice, when I bring fish crackers for him

Gracie was smiling at Grammie. She is always full of smiles for everyone.

Hair Stylin'

2011-11-06T18:20:00.000-08:00

I put Gracie's hair in a little pony and tried different bows on it. Her hair is probably long enough for pigtails too.
Little girl had just had a nice blowout.

Ward Halloween Party

2011-10-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

Gracie Girl was just plain worn out by the end of the night, but she looked so cute in her little ladybug outfit.

My Prince Charming. He kept in character all night, the kids loved it. By in character I mean accent, crazy talk of kingdoms, knights, carriages, etc. And yes I made his outfit, with left over fabric and spray paint.

The only shot of William we got in his full dwarf outfit because he refused to wear his hat and beard. It was so cute and I was so sad. And seeing this picture I am reminded as too why I wear side-bangs.

William got his face painted and asked for a fish without being prompted and then sat still the whole time. For a kid that doesn't stop moving at all I was very impressed for how well he sat for this.

The ward party was so much fun. we had a bean bag and ring toss, a three legged race, a cupcake walk, fishing, facing painting, and even a chili cook-off. I won 2nd place with a white bean chili!

Little Elf Ears

2011-10-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

Luke loves this picture of Gracie. he says it looks like she has cute little elf ears.
(She is dressed in the boy onesie because she needed to be in red for her Halloween costume later)

You Can See the Love in Her Eyes

2011-10-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

I love babies, the innocence and genuine love and happiness they have for others. I love these two little kids and I can't wait to see how their relationship grows and devlopes as they grow. I can't wait for them to start really playing together.

Roll Over

2011-10-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

So I thought I had these pictures in order, but apparently not.

Anyways, Gracie has been rolling over for a few weeks now, and I think she is liking tummy time a little more because of it. (She use to hate tummy time)
Sometimes she takes her sweet time rolling over and just sits there on her side looking around.

We love this happy little girl!

Cuteness All Around

2011-10-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

Gracie had just woken up from her nap and when I went over to get her this is what i found.

We did some blanket forts at the house, this one was the second one we built, the first one William kept hitting his head

Fort #1

I know this picture is fuzzy but I just couldn't get over Grace's scared face when William went to hold her.

Weekly Wrap-Up

2011-10-09T21:33:00.000-07:00

I am now trying to get back into the habit of blogging every Sunday, to keep up on what we have been doing. I'm still loving life being at home with these to cute little kids. William seems to be becoming more of Mama's boy, and when he wakes up a little early from a nap he becomes rather clingy and just wants to be held and cuddled for the first 10 minutes. But they are both as cute as ever and I love watching their little personalities develop.

William has not liked getting his picture taken recently, but he is more willing when he is sitting next to Gracie. He is so cute with her, he asks to hold her, and when I lay her day William will go and snuggle up next to her, talk to her, and give her hugs and kisses. When she is crying he says, "Oh, Gay-ie" and then proceeds to f ind her pacifier and shove it in her mouth, which sometimes only creates more crying. At least he tries to help her and we have moved beyond him stealing her pacifier and running away with it in his mouth. By finally taking his completely away he stopped taking Gracie's.

And now that I bring up the pacifier situation... for posterity's sake I'll share how we did it. At a little over a year we started limiting the pacifier to only at naps and bed time. I told Luke that we would break him of the pacifier by 2. Well the big 2 was fast approaching and I was dreading it. Luke put him down one night and just didn't give William his paci. I was gone, but apparently he cried for it for almost an hour (judge if you want, but what is worse letting him cry it out... or letting the paci phase drag out for who knows how long, 4? I don't think so). Anyways, Luke did most of the work there, he is definitely more patient (or stubborn ;) than I am. I still was struggling with taking the pacifier away though, and did it every once in a while at bed time. At naps I justified to myself that naps were so short, and it helped him get to sleep sooner. At 5 in the mornings he will climb into our bed and ask for his paci- and I am no morning person so I would give it to him to get an extra hour of sleep. Luke was getting frustrated. By William's second birthday William was limited to early morning and nap time paci sucking time. One morning Luke voiced his frustration, and I finally bit the bullet that I was dreading and just didn't let him have his paci... and now William has been paci free for just over a week (it is 2 weeks past his birthday). William will still ask for his pacifier every now and then when we lay him down, but we say "no" and he doesn't protest. He doesn't steal Gracie's paci anymore, and the only time he had a paci in his mouth this week was when he found Gracie's laying on the couch and just popped it in. I was across the room and saw him do and and immediately said, "William give me the paci please" which he did without hesitation. The whole pacifier thing has actually been a lot easier than I thought it would be, thank goodness. And if you read this whole drawn out experience, good-on-ya.

In other news I am coaching a U-14 co-ed soccer team. I bring the kids to practices with me and on this day it was really cold and one of the players gave William their jacket to wear. He didn't protest to this jacket like he does every other one... he must already be an Arizona boy because he hates layers. He'll get used to layers soon enough though, it is getting colder here in the mountains of California.

Just the cute kiddies playing together. William loves this new car her got for his birthday.

I love this facial expression... part anger, part curiosity. William doesn't like getting his picture taken very oftern

Birthday Boy

2011-10-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

We celebrated William's second birthday a week late during conference weekend. William definitely understood what was going on more this year than last. He loved opening presents, having happy birthday sung, and even blew out one of his candles all by himself... he was having a bit a trouble with the other one. It was fun having family around for his birthday. William loves playing with them... he is definitely one of those kids that craves interaction with other kids.

Of love this picture of him showing his daddy what he got.

This present was a hit, he loves this thing. it doubles not only as a basketball hoop, but he loves hiding under it too. I think he misses his tent that is packed away because we don't have the room. (note to self, pull it out and put it out once a week).

William was the only one that didn't look for the camera, he was loving that cake too much.

You can see the anticipation on his face for that c.ake, he was already licking his lips. To bad the frosting melted to one side so it didn't turn out as cool as I wanted

Football Games

2011-10-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

pictures

2011-10-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

Getting Settled

2011-08-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry, no pictures again...

We are getting settled in Frazier Park at the farm (for those that don't know that is Luke's parents house.) We have rented our home in Arizona out in order to enable us to figure things out. Luke knows he wants to do additional schooling so he is looking into classes and tests he would need to take for whatever profession he decides upon... we having been narrowing down options and are currently looking into something in the medical field, ie, DO, chiropractic, etc. In the meantime he is helping his dad coach football at the local high school, working as a substitute teacher and doing other odd jobs. It is an adjustment, but we are loving being close to family and getting away from the heat of Phoenix.

Gracie was 10 weeks old yesterday (okay so I started this post awhile ago, now she is almost 12 weeks). I can't believe how the time flies. She is the best little baby ever. I remember being so scared for a second child, but she has seriously been amazing. She started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks from about 10pm to 6am. Talk about amazing... and that was without keeping a strict schedule. She hardly ever cries, and she has started talking back to us... I love it. She is always full of smiles, and I love to see her eyes light up. This might sound weird but she is a good burper. William often got fussy because he couldn't get the bubbles out, but Gracie has no problems there, we call her our little lady for this reason ;) She has such a cute little heart shaped face that I love to watch while she sleeps because she makes the funniest facial expressions. Speaking of sleeping, she often sleeps with her eyes partially opened. A couple of weeks ago I asked Luke to check and see if she was asleep yet and he said no, her eyes are still open... I double checked because she was being so quiet, and sure enough she was asleep. I love cuddling with this little girl and playing with her thick long hair. She is so sweet.

William has hit the terrible two's it seems... of course that is somewhat understandable considering all that has changed recently in his life. Sometimes he likes to act like a baby and has started the fake crying thing. He still has his pacifier at night and when we are laying with him trying to get him to go to sleep (he is in a big boy bed now) he will spit his pacifier out and then fake cry for me to put it back in. I think he does this because he sees all the attention sister gets and sees that she gets her pacifier when she fusses. We are slowly getting back to working on the whole potty training thing. I have been doing some reading up on it... and I plan to start working with him rigorously next week after we get some big boy underwear... wish me luck. His vocabulary is expanding all the time. I love having him say his personal prayers and trying to get him to repeat what I say. It makes me smile to hear his interpretation of what we are saying, and it helps me to know what sounds he has trouble with. It is so cute to hear his tone change when he is saying a prayer. He has been trying to say Gracie and sister... but it is still unclear to basically everyone else. He says, carry, cuddle, hug, paci, up, down, doggy, cat, cow, moo, woof, haha (for a monkey sound), milk, please, water, juice, bubble, milk, show, nana, papa, grandpa, drink, food, more, eat, bana (banana), car, go, out, in, night night, and more that I can't think of. He understands a lot more, and I love to watch his language abilities expand each day, now we just need to work more on clarity. He is so fun and loving... even if we need to work on him not hitting. We love that little guy.

Gracie Girl

2011-08-01T19:29:00.000-07:00

Is 6 1/2 weeks old and so cute. She is an amazing baby. She hardly ever cries, sleeps 8 hours at night, and loves to cuddle. It is amazing how easy the transition has been from having one child to having two. William does very well with her except for the occasional rough play... he loves to give her kisses and hugs, and hold her for brief intervals. We love this little girl, her easy going attitude, beautiful blue eyes, sweet smile and wavy hair. It is interesting the difference between Grace and William when he was a baby, Gracie is not as rigid and doesn't hold her head up as much... where William was always so stiff. They enjoy their pacifiers though, and if one is not in Gracie's mouth she will immediately find her hands (so we always try to have the pacifier on hand to prevent her from becoming a thumb sucker. I've always maintained I would rather have a child addicted to a pacifier rather than their thumb, because you can always take away the pacifier... speaking of we will soon begin the painful process of breaking William from the pacifier, which he still has a night, I know he is almost 2... but my goal is by his second birthday he will no longer use it.) Anyways, moving on... I'm loving having a little girl, she brings a softer and sweeter spirit. I can't wait to see how her personality develops more as she gets older... but for now I am definitely enjoying sweet baby time.

Nead Family Pictures

2011-07-31T22:58:00.000-07:00

Blonde, Blue-Eyed, and Beautiful... with the exception of my Dad's red hair and Luke's green eyes, we are so diverse ;)

Pictures From Gracie's Blessing

2011-07-12T15:59:00.000-07:00

Both sets of my Grandparents were able to make it.

William loves his sister

A 4 generation picture with my dad and his dad.

A picture of Luke with his brother Jake

Gracie with her Great Grandma Nead

With her Great Grandma Jewett (my maternal g-ma)

All those that were able to take part in Gracie's blessing.

A 4 generation pic (maternal)

Overall it was a Good Weekend

2011-06-30T11:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend we were excited to spend with Luke's family... For the Shillig Family Reunion 2011 in Las Vegas, NV. We left around 8am on Friday to drive on up. A little after 9:30am, while I was driving, we started to hear a strange noise. We pulled off the road and popped the hood, only to find that the main belt had slid off and was caught... so no more driving for us. To top it off, we were in the middle of nowhere with no cell service, no AC (because we couldn't keep the car on), and a newborn baby and toddler... not a good combination. Shortly after pulling off the road some guys that were part of the transportation services and picking up trash pulled off to see if they could help. After a brief conversation they said they would drive up the road and try to call AAA for us. We waited for about a half hour for them to return and when they did we learned that they didn't have the information necessary to give them, and they couldn't give us a ride to get it because of a work policy.

Okay, so we were back to square one, and we had already spent a half hour outside in the 100 degree weather (and no one else stopped during that time to see if they could help) . After that we decided to hitch hike until we could get some cell service. We then started to walk up the road for about 15 minutes, thumbs out, two babies, and no one was stopping... I was somewhat amazed by this. Finally a trucker stopped to give us a ride, and while he was clearing out his cab another man stopped with his 4 year old daughter... he even had a spare car seat in his car. So we all climbed in and I held Grace on my lap. We ended up riding with him, and when we finally got cell service we still couldn't figure out how long it would be until we got our car working... it was then that Jason, the man who had given us a ride, told us that he could take us the rest of the way to Vegas, because he would be passing through there anyways. We took him up on the offer because it sounded like the best option, especially because it would get the kids out of the heat and in a stable setting.

When we arrived in Las Vegas, Jason dropped us off at a McDonald's and William enjoyed playing in the play space while we waited for Grandma and Grandpa to pick us up. When we finally got to the condo Luke and his parents took a quick break and turned around to go back to the car, while I stayed with the kids. They got the car towed to a repair shop in Kingman, and got home about midnight that night. It was a long first day... but we are so grateful for the kindness of strangers and to have family that was close enough to help.

Saturday went a lot better. We enjoyed spending time with family, Luke was able to go to the temple with his family, and go swimming with his family and William. That evening we were able to bless Gracie. My parents and both sets of grandparents were there, and one of my brothers, and then all of the people from Luke's family that were able to make it to the reunion. It was a wonderful experience and Luke gave a beautiful blessing. We ended the night with dinner, dessert and games.

Sunday we enjoyed a yummy breakfast and we were able to go to Church as a family. Unfortunately I started developing some symptoms for Mastitis (if you don't know what it is, don't worry about it), I did need to go to the ER to get some antibiotics for it though so it didn't get worse. If I had been at home with these symptoms I would have had no idea what to do, but my wonderful mother-in-law knew what was going on and was kind enough to take me... when we got home we enjoyed playing games, telling stories, and just enjoying each others company.

Monday morning my in-laws got up early without Luke and I knowing, and picked up our car. (I married into such an amazing and charitable family). We then went to watch my sister-in-law do the sky jump, and then drove down the strip to the Bellagio. While there we walked through the gardens and then enjoyed the wonderful buffet... yum! That evening we enjoyed more games and socializing... but by that time our numbers were dwindling because families had to go home

Tuesday we got up, packed, enjoyed another wonderful breakfast, and then headed out for Kingman to talk to the mechanic, because now our car is making a new noise... one thing after another right? When we got there the man said it sounded like the blower for our AC was having problems, and he wasn't going to do anything about it. So, we got on the road again after picking up some food. shortly after leaving Kingman I started to drive... and about an hour later we realized that something was wrong, and we were no longer on the right route home and to top it all off our AC stopped working. We don't know who missed the turn off... between eating food and changing drivers, but that mistake added another two hours to our drive. Argh!

Our kids did amazingly well, and William just started getting restless the last hour of the drive... but we finally made it home all in one piece, had bath time, and got the kids to bed. It had been a exciting, adventurous, and very tiring weekend, and we were all exhausted. We are so happy to be home, safe and sound.

Sorry there are no pictures.... my camera is no longer working either.

Making Things Pretty

2011-06-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

My mom came to town for Gracie's birth and to help out. While she was here she worked on a few projects, and helped me to complete a few of my own. She is very talented and creative, and totally inspires me.

Let's take a look back at one of my Goodwill finds at the 50% off sale... Yes, that's right, the beautiful orange velvet chair that Luke was skeptical of it ever looking nice.

I tore that thing apart, sanded it down and painted it, and then my mom got her hands on it and did the rest... now it is beautiful, and updated. I love it!

I also love the fabric, which we found at a place that sells fabric by the pound... score!

Now moving on to Gracie's room. I painted it green and we added this cute chandelier, which will hang above the crib when we put it in there. William is still using it right now though, but in about 3 months he will make the transition to his big boy bed... we didn't want him to feel put out at the same time that we brought Gracie home.

This is opposite the crib wall. You will recognize another Goodwill 50% off sale find in this dresser, which was sanded down and painted. It doubles as a changing table too, the pad is just not on it in this picture. We also have some little hooks for bows, which is so fun! I got this project done awhile ago, it has just been put all together in the past 3 weeks.

And this is the final project that we did to cover the half-moon window. We took some foam board and covered it with batting and fabric, and then hung it. It was such an easy project and works like a charm. I got the idea for that project here.

1 Week Old- Photo Shoot

2011-06-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

Gracie is a week old today, and we had a little photo shoot. We still want to do some more photos, especially with William, but the little man is running a fever right now so we are trying to keep him away from Gracie, which is kind of hard.

It was hard to narrow down all the pictures, so obviously I posted a lot. These are all untouched, enjoy!

What's in a Name?

2011-06-13T09:35:00.001-07:00

For the past 4 months we were referring to this little girl as Leila. But... let's go back.

When we first got married I found out that Luke only wanted to name our children after ancestors. I liked the more unique names and I was a little skeptical, especially since it is really hard for me to like any girl names. I agreed, however, and when we found out that we would be having a girl I hunted for names. Seeing Truelove in my family tree did not make me any more confident in being able to find a name. Then I discovered that it didn't have to be a direct line, there were sibling names as well. This is how I stumbled upon the name Leila. We were pronouncing it Layla, but I later found out that she went by Lee-i-la. Oh well... after much convincing Luke finally agreed. Every once in a while, however, other names (or the same ones) were introduced... but we could never agree. About a week before Grace was born my dad asked, "so is her name for sure going to be Leila?", and I replied, "well, we can't agree on anything else, so probably." My Dad's response was, "don't let that be the reason why you name her."
Somehow my dad knew...
It was only 2 days later when Luke asked me again how I felt about the name Leila, and I said my mind kept on going back to the name Grace (a name that had been proposed by me several times). And then Luke and I talked about how referring to her as Leila somehow didn't fit, and when we prayed for her we usually referred to her as baby girl, because it sounded better. Luke then said, I like "little Gracie". Since the name felt right to both of us, we went with it.... of course we sometimes slip up and call her Leila, but Gracie totally suits her. Although I still love the name Leila, Grace is more fitting for this little girl.

My great-grandmother's name was Grace. She lived to the ripe old age of 99 years, so I was able to meet her and enjoy the wonderful talents she possessed. Among them was her amazing ability to play the piano, something we all enjoyed when we visited her. She was not a member of the church, but she raised my Grandpa Nead, who joined the church as an adult and has raised an amazing family who are strong-willed people with amazing testimonies and giving hearts.

Grace Shillig

2011-06-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

This makes me happy. William was sitting on the bed and held his hands out to hold his little sister. He even gave her a couple of kisses. So cute.

Her first bath, and we all got to be there for it.

This little girl has some hair! She was freshly bathed in this picture.

We got a little family shot in. William wouldn't let go of his balloon. It was his little sister's gift to him. He saw Grace, said "baby", saw the balloon behind her, said "boon", and went for the latter.

Gracie getting her first bath

2011-06-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Grace Shillig

Today the Luke and Kaylene Shillig family have done a great job at welcoming their newly born daughter Grace into the world. She was born at 6 Pounds and 14 ounces, measuring at 20 inches long, and she was born at 1:20 P.M. Here are a few pictures and videos from the aftermath.

These are just some rough pictures that I took on my phone the second after everything happened, after nanna got to the hospital she made sure that she took a plethora of additional photos.

Look at the pipes on that girl, actually she is a lot calmer than William was which is hard to imagine.

Daddy daughter time, the sad part is though that I don't have a picture of Kaylene and Grace together. I am sure we will have plenty more opportunities for one though. I do have some video that I wasn't going to put up but now that I see that we currently lack mommy and baby together on this post I will put something up.

I love how cute this girl is, I think she takes after Kaylene's side big time and that Grace looks a lot like her Great Grandmother Nead, but everyone else thinks she takes after me. We will see, I thought William was the spitting image of me when he was born and within a couple of weeks things did a 180 and now I am completely convinced that William is a carbon copy of the Jewett side.

I am going to wait on posting video until we get home because the internet at the hospital is taking too long.

Pictures From the Father and Son Campout (about a month ago)

2011-06-06T10:11:00.000-07:00

This was William's first night away from his mommy... and he got to try many new things. He got to play in the muddy bog.

He got to shoot arrows

Eat dirt and be really dirty all weekend

This picture just makes me laugh. Poor little guy was stealing all the tent stakes and getting in trouble.

This is what the Arizonan's refer to as a lake.

Our Soccer Player

2011-06-05T15:29:00.000-07:00

Luke enjoys playing soccer twice a week at the local park with all the Hispanics. No joke, he is the only white person there, so his Spanish skills definitely come in handy. Luke loves it. We were able to go and watch him play the other day. Everyone's families usually come and have a nice set up where the little kids play on one side and the wives and older men set up chairs and enjoy the game.

William wanted to get right in on the action. He loved passing the ball around with the guys. They were pretty impressed with his mad skill ;)

William was right in the middle of all the action before the game started. I had to take him to the playground so that they could play. He got a little upset about that until he made friends with all the kids at the park.

William's First Love

2011-06-04T21:53:00.001-07:00

William has fallen in love. Her name is Kylie, and she is a little older than him. They enjoy swimming together, playing, chasing each other around the house, and watching movies together. I snapped some pictures of them watching a movie together the other day while we were playing games. Kylie was totally putting the moves on William ;)

Too cute!

Peanut Butter

2011-05-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

William is a picky eater. I am constantly struggling to add variety to his diet because he doesn't stray from what he knows. I have recently found that if he has something to dip his food in, he will eat it better. In the picture below he was enjoying apples and peanut butter, but he just started eating the peanut butter straight instead. This is similar to how he eats a PB&J, he opens up the sandwich and eats the insides, leaving most of the bread behind.

Darn kid! It's a good thing he is so cute.

William Helping With the Garden and Kaylene and I eating

2011-05-22T16:15:00.000-07:00

Here is William working on taking manure from our neighbor so we could put it in our garden.

Here is William walking back from our little job we gave him, I had to record him because I thought he looked so cute carrying his bucket all by himself.

This is Kaylene and I when we went out to eat for my birthday, it is kind of hard to compare the size of the two meals on the video because I didn't put down something that you could use to scale for size, but her plate of food is Ginourmous compared to mine.

Baby Shower

2011-05-22T15:28:00.001-07:00

I had my baby shower yesterday, hosted by the wonderful Miken. It was so nice of her to volunteer to throw me one. She served a yummy breakfast with monkey bread, fresh fruit, and some egg dish. It was so good. I didn't pull my camera out until the very end when some of the women had already left... darn. But it was so nice to enjoy a morning with good food, friends, and cute little gifts for our little girl... who will hopefully be arriving in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks to everyone who came and helped me to celebrate.

Luke Had a Birthday, Shout Hooray!

2011-05-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

Today is Luke's 27th Birthday! We started off our day by heading out for a little shopping spree for plants. We looked at Walmart, Home Depot, and also a local nursery and Luke found what he wanted to add to his garden. The pictures are a little out of order, sorry...

William enjoyed Daddy's ice-cream cake, per Luke's request. I looked up how to make an ice-cream cake online and found something so good and so easy. It has an Oreo crust, with a Blue Bell mint ice-cream middle, whipped cream top with chocolate fudge on top. Yum!

We did have Hana today, so we kind of celebrated at home with just us. But because Hana's dad is the head chef at a nearby hotel, we will enjoy a nice dinner out later this week... thanks to that little connection. Luke is excited about that.

Here is a picture of some of Luke's expanding garden. He has another planter box full of herbs, and has put together another box to plant more plants. Today while we were out we got a grape plant that we will plant along our back wall, a blueberry plant, and some more herbs that Luke wants to start using more of. he is super excited about it, and he has been watching gardening videos since making these purchases. He also enjoyed the time he had to talk to other gardening enthusiasts.

Here is cute picture of William, enjoying the leftover watermelon rind from dinner.

Father and Sons Camp Out

2011-05-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

This was a video from William and I when we went on a Father and Sons camp out. It was fun, and we have a few more pictures but they are on someone else's camera so we will try and get them up asap. William had lots of fun and slept fairly well, but he had a phase where he missed mommy and kept calling her name out like she was around but unseen.

2011-05-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

I am 36 weeks! We are finally in the home stretch. One more week and this little girl is free to come whenever... just please don't come late.

Luke set William up with his guitar and he had fun picking the strings. That child has a better ear for music than I do, pretty sure if I was trying to play it it wouldn't sound as good as when William plays it.

William got a haircut this last week. It is one of the better cuts I have ever given him, thanks to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse playing on the computer. That child sat perfect for me the whole time.

Videos of William

2011-05-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

I just got a new phone with a camera on it so I started taking video of William in a more spontaneous environment. See what you think.-Luke

Easter

2011-04-25T14:56:00.000-07:00

Easter morning William enjoyed opening his basket. His favorite was the little rake he got to help his daddy in the garden.

William also enjoyed hunting for hard boiled eggs. He collected quite a few, and his competition was his Aunt Audrey, Aunt Elliana, and his daddy. Later in the day he hunted for candy filled eggs with a little friend, but he got side-tracked and stopped picking eggs up when he realized what was in them.

We snapped a quick family picture after church. William loved playing with the new soccer ball that Luke got for Easter from his parents.

William helped make the frosting for the carrot cake, helped lick the beaters that is. Yum!

We loved having family visit, and we can't wait to see them again in a couple of months.

Easter Egg Decorating

2011-04-25T14:53:00.001-07:00

William enjoyed decorating Easter eggs for the first time. We got many cracked shells as a result.

Mesa Temple Easter Pageant

2011-04-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

Every year the Mesa Temple puts on an Easter Pageant. There are hundreds of performers and thousands of people that gather to watch the pageant. It is a two week event offered for free to the community. It highlights different events in Christ's life, emphasizing his final days. You have to go early to get a seat, and while you're waiting the performers walk around in their amazing costumes for pictures, and to help introduce Christ's gospel to those that come to experience the pageant.

It was William's bedtime and the poor child was pretty tired.

A picture looking back at the stage.

My mother and father-in-law

William enjoyed spending time with his Aunt Audrey who leaves on an 18 month mission this week for Panama City.

Fun With Family

2011-04-25T14:10:00.000-07:00

Luke's parents and two of his sisters came to visit this past week for Easter. We love having family visit, it was so much fun to have them here and do activities with them.

While they were here we went to visit Luke's Uncle Mace and his family. It was so much fun. We enjoyed spending time with them, swimming, playing on the trampoline, and eating some nice BBQ. William had fun getting used to the trampoline.

William loved playing in the water. He wanted to get in on all the action and he didn't want to miss anything. Everyone was playing basketball and he kept getting a ball and trying to throw it into the hoop. Even though his lips were turning blue and he was quivering, he flipped out every time we tried taking him out and warming him up with a towel. He loved playing in the pool.

Grandpa Bill's little namesake

Of course the family enjoyed getting in on Luke's yoga time

Random William Photos

2011-04-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

William enjoyed running around with this towel on his head and getting into the drawers. He was in a much better mood than this picture shows.

He is getting good at listening. When he is throwing fits we put William in time-out in the corner, recently when we ask if William needs to go to time-out, he stops and walks over to the corner and then continues to "count", say "ah-done" and then get up and play. He doesn't stay in time-out for that long, but it allows him to stop and think about his choices, and the fit stops... I'm good with that. he is such a good child.

I made this hat for William awhile ago, but he didn't like wearing it. He has been really good about wearing hats lately though, and I put this one on him, and flipped up the bill to put his glasses on, this was the result... he didn't really like the glasses

William likes being like his daddy and he ran around with this lava-lava that his Aunt Elliana put on him. He thought he was so cool, and he had so much fun.

Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-16T18:09:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Buckeye Easter Egg Hunt. They have been having this event for 13 years now. It was not only free, but fun! We enjoyed pancakes served by the Buckeye Fire Department, and an Easter hunt for different age groups. Luke had to stop William from stealing eggs from other kids, because he is already a pro.

As you can see he got a nice little haul for himself.

He wasn't super fond of the Easter Egg Bunny

He did enjoy playing on the playground with all of the other kids though. Where ever there was a lot a people William always found himself in the middle of them, he loves hanging out with everyone.

We had Hana today as well, and she enjoyed the 5-7 year old hunt. The field was packed with kids and eggs, they counted down from 10, and as soon as they hit zero there was a swarm of kids that cleared the field in under a minute.

There were a lot of kids and a lot of eggs, Hana was sad that she didn't get more, but with so many kids it was hard.

Little Home Updates

2011-04-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

So I couldn't make a post without including a pic of William. So here's the little man playing some indoor soccer with his daddy. It is kind of a fuzzy picture, but we cut his hair pretty short.

This is our new bedspread. White and simple. I traded a quilt with my mom and got this in return, thanks mom! The headboard probably needs to come down a little bit, but it will do for now. Luke thinks the headboard looks a little ghetto, it may be because it is put together with cardboard and a wrinkled curtain panel. I stole some pillows from the couch downstairs to add some accents, and then we made a floor lamp into a table lamp by cutting the wiring and taking out some pieces. Eventually we will paint the master and make the headboard more refined, but the little changes definitely make a big difference in my eyes. One step at a time.

I added another chair to the table. It will be the last one for awhile. We have the highchair on the other side and I have a feeling that will be there awhile. One day I will probably get a bench for that side.

And I painted the stools black. Like I said, just some little home updates, but it is the little things that helps to make it into a home, one small step at a time.

Just Some Cuteness

2011-04-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

We got some bar stools from some awesome friends, and William loves them. He is still getting used to climbing up and down, and gets a little scared sometimes, but I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before he becomes a pro... Now the question is, do we paint them black or blue?

Hanging out with Hana during snack time and homework time.

William liked trying on Hana's cowgirl hat.

William enjoys playing with his dinosaurs.

Mommy Training

2011-04-05T19:45:00.000-07:00

We have kind of started the whole potty training thing... kind of. In the morning if we remember to put him on the potty we do. Recently we got the actual little potty and it is in the kitchen (awesome location, I know) but it seems to give him a visual reminder. Anyways, William will go over and sit on the potty sometimes and then get up and "flush" it. He is fully clothed when he does this. I thought he was just playing, but one morning he sat on the toilet and proceeded to push and mess his pants. TMI maybe? Anyways, I still had to change his diaper afterward. So apparently William is all potty trained, but Mommy isn't. We need to work on the whole the communication thing. The potty training process has just begun, and we're taking it slow and easy. No pushing... yet.

Thrift Store Find(s)

2011-03-27T15:28:00.000-07:00

If you haven't figured this out yet, I shop at Goodwill, and the deals are amazing with their 50% off sales. Call me crazy, but I find good stuff there for a mere fraction of what it would cost me normally. And shopping there has made me even more frugal. If I go into a normal store i often balk at the prices. Call me cheap, but it isn't easy. It is definitely hit and miss, and many of the things I find requires some elbow grease (at least in the furniture department). So let me introduce you to two new finds, one will steal the show. I found another chair to go at the table. After I paint it, it will fit nicely, and for the price tag of $1.50, I couldn't be happier.

Now lets get a closer look at this orange velvet chair. Show stopper, right? Like my husband you may think this in a bad way. When I brought it home to Luke, I said don't worry, it will look pretty one day. He replied, "Honey, I don't think that thing will ever look pretty." Ha! We shall see. All I need is some time, paint, and some fabric and it will be fabulous. Trust me... and if you don't... to bad. What also makes this thing amazing is its $6 price tag. While I was waiting for the guy to take it to the back for me to pick up after shopping, I kid you not, 3 different people tried buying it too. See, I'm not the only crazy person.

I have already started the makeover process too, right now it is sitting naked on the back patio. So stay tuned, hopefully within the next couple of weeks I can show you my vision for it.

Busy Boy

2011-03-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

William loves doing whatever mommy and daddy do, be that gardening, digging, raking, painting, unscrewing things, in this case he decided to sweep the floors for me. Thanks buddy, you are always so helpful ;)

He of course always loves it when daddy gets out his guitar and plays. He loves music, and he even has a new toy to enjoy. Our neighbors were cleaning out their garage yesterday while Luke was working on the cars, and they gave us a couple things, among them was a little play electric guitar. Score! William loves that thing and can be entertained by it for long periods of time.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Visit

2011-03-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

My Mom's parents came for a visit! It was so fun to see them. They drove down from their home in St. George and stayed for an extended weekend visit. We loved having them here, especially William. We enjoyed good food, fun games like Hand and Foot and Pinochle, and just spending time together.

William was Grandpa's little buddy. Wherever Grandpa went, so did William... on walks, to the park, out to the car, around the house. He loved it, and he especially loved when Grandpa gave him horsey and airplane rides.

Finished Table and St. Patrick's Day Art

2011-03-15T13:33:00.001-07:00

Here is the long awaited table. I have mentioned this piece a few times in my posts and it is finally done. I still have one more chair and a bench I want to add to it, but that will come in time. I love how it turned out. Obviously there are still many imperfections, dings, uneven paint in parts, and some weird looking distressing, but I don't care. I am happy with how it turned out. I am not a perfectionist by any means, when I want something done, I go and do it and live with the little mistakes, and learn for the next time. The table is a huge improvement from what it was. I got started on it one evening by using wood filler to fill in the border on the table top. It was a huge carved out line that got anything and everything stuck in it, and was totally not practical and kind of gross. So I filled it in and the next evening I had Luke help me move it to the back patio, where the magic takes place. After sanding it down I then brought the chairs out, sanded those and then got to work on painting them. After letting them dry for a day I distressed them and brought them inside. Happy day!

In other news, St. Patrick's Day is this week. I have never done much for it, but I had Hana (the girl I nanny) all day yesterday and I thought it would be fun to do some little art projects. For one of them we made some hats. William helped draw his hat by scribbling all over it with a pencil, you can't see his contribution because the crayon kind of covers it. As you can see he was so excited to wear it ;)

We also made some little rainbow mobiles with paper plates and paint. Fun stuff!

Tummy Comparison

2011-03-13T19:14:00.000-07:00

My dad sent a picture of me at about 7-8 months pregnant with William and my thought was, I'm going to look like that in about a month. This started me thinking about how I looked when I was pregnant with William at this stage. These are the pictures I found. I feel like I am carrying Leila lower than I did William. but I seem to be about the same size. It will be interesting to see more differences as this pregnancy progresses

Some Afternoons

2011-03-13T15:11:00.000-07:00

William enjoys a little snack of crackers and juice on the stairs.

Then he helps mama with the dishes, or just plays in the soapy water and gets it everywhere.

And then realizes he's still hungry so he sneaks into the fridge to find some more to eat. In this case he got celery.

Playdate

2011-03-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

This week we had play group at our house. William loves having friends over and going to friend's houses. They enjoyed playing with dinosaurs, in the tent, with the balls, on the toy piano, with the shape ball, and they especially loved playing with the peanut butter play dough (totally edible). Okay, so they liked sneaking a few bites of it mostly.

For some reason they all like the stairs, and if one person goes over there then they all follow.

All the boys playing with the play dough (just so you know this table got a makeover this week, and I'll be posting a picture of it after some distressing and after I bring it inside... there are some chairs too.)

26 Weeks

2011-03-06T14:03:00.000-08:00

I finally took a belly shot... and yes, I'm getting rather large. That didn't stop me from enjoying some tuna, apples and avocado though when I was uploading pictures (don't hate it 'til you try it, it was sublime).

William was helping Luke in the yard again, and he was hungry. (it may be that it was past his breakfast time) anyways, he enjoyed gnawing on a rock and sucking the dirt off of it until I discovered what was happening and brought him in to eat pancakes and bananas, yum!

Notice the random bits of furniture in the background, our yard may look a little trashy right now but we are making some progress inside. Luke is making progress outside too, he is clearing the numerous amounts of gravel to start his garden.

DIY Dresser

2011-03-03T17:32:00.000-08:00

So we have a Goodwill about 5 minutes away that has a 50% off sale every other Saturday (I think all the Goodwill stores have this sale). I have taken up the habit of dropping in to look at what they have in an effort to furnish our house without dropping a ton of money. I love decorating, and re-purposing something to make it nice and new is fun for me. About a month ago I scored a table for $15! And I have slowly been collecting chairs for it (it will kind of be eclectic). I have yet to refinish the table... but this past Saturday I picked up this amazing dresser that I couldn't wait to get started on. It is solid wood and a hefty piece of material. When we brought it home the drawers wouldn't come out, so it was pretty heavy to move. Once we got it onto the back patio I started sanding away.

I finally figured out how to take the drawers out too, I had to take off the back and then unscrew the locks on them. Also, I found the missing handle after taking off the back, which means I don't need to buy new hardware- bonus! It was kind of annoying, but I just took the locks off so I can pull the drawers out anytime I please. Where you see the two doors, there are just 2 more drawers behind them. After sanding it down I painted it with leftover paint from painting the house- making it a really cheap dresser with just some elbow grease. I also spray painted the handles to make it look more modern, and feminine. After distressing the edges for that shabby chic look I was finished!

This beauty is going to go in the baby girl's room (Leila as we are all referring to her at our house:) It is way more dresser space than she'll need for a while, but the low dresser will be multi-functional as a changing table too. Right now the dresser is still sitting on the back patio until we get another set of muscles to help move it upstairs.

And of course I can't post something without a few pictures of this cute little guy. He loves getting into everything! He actually made this face the whole time for the camera... too cute! He was also very helpful while refinishing the dresser. He wanted to paint when I was, and he made a nice little mess all over himself. He also loved using the screw driver to try and help me as well. He just loves feeling all grown up and helpful whenever Luke and I are working on something. He loves to be involved.

Notice one of his eyebrows is raised a little, that trait is passed on from Papa (my dad).

17 Months and 3 days

2011-02-27T18:25:00.000-08:00

Is how old this ball of energy is. He is so full of personality and fun and always making me laugh. He has started to fake laugh, but then he ends up laughing at himself after-wards and just gets us laughing, which repeats the laughing cycle. I apologize for the food in his mouth, he was enjoying some homemade bread.

Such a mischievous little boy. Since he has been sick lately he has started to whine more :( now we are loving that. With the whining we are able to try to get him to communicate more by forcing him to use simple words or signs to tell us what he wants. Hopefully that will help to break him of this newly formed habit.

In this picture I told him to say "hi", so he waved to me. He is also getting his two eye teeth in right now, notice the slobbery fingers and runny nose.

On Friday Luke's school had a family dance, so we picked up Luke from work and danced for a little bit. William was getting into it, he sure loves music and dancing... and stealing cookies from people. This oreo was the 2nd cookie he took from someone, you would have never guessed that he ate a really big dinner right before.

William enjoyed getting into our garbage cabinet and taking out the recycle. At least it was just the recycle ;]

On a sad side note- my camera, that I have had for over six years, was damaged. I have no idea what happened to it, it was in a safe place and when I went to upload pictures-boom! The screen no longer works, it just lights up with a big black/cracked spot in the middle. So sad. It is still usable, but I can't seek what I am taking a picture of.

It's Going Around

2011-02-20T13:54:00.001-08:00

Over a week ago on Friday, Luke came home sick, and progressively got worse through the weekend, and even took Monday and Tuesday off. He had an awful cold, chills, and a fever that got so bad he finally gave in to taking medicine (if you know Luke you know he doesn't take medicine). We knew it would probably only be a matter of time before both William and I got sick, we just prayed it wouldn't be as bad.

Thankfully I just got the cold and had a slight headache for an evening. No fever or chills, thank goodness. William was not as lucky, after getting a cold he also got a fever, and he has proceeded to sleep in bed with us off and on throughout the week, whine continuously throughout the day and take two naps a day. It has been quite pitiful. When Luke got home the following Friday after bringing home the sickness, William could not be consoled and he didn't know what he wanted. His fever seemed to spike again, so we readied him for bed, gave him some medicine, put a damp clothe over his head, and laid him down to cuddle with daddy and his favorite blanket. Both boys soon fell asleep, and remained this way until we took William up to his bed.

Here's to a better week without illness and a happier little boy. Apparently this sickness is going around, our neighbors, friends and associates have all been going through something similar as well. Between Luke working at a school and William going to nursery it was only a matter of time. (yes, nursery. Luke and I are primary teachers and so they made an exception for William to go to nursery just a little early. He loves it and does so well with. His teacher said he is more prepared than some kids that are actually 18 months, which is nice for both them and us.)

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

2011-02-12T17:43:00.000-08:00

As I was sweeping the floors yesterday William was up on the couch. All of the sudden I heard a crash of metal and wood and William. Immediately William started to cry and when I rushed over I found William's head looking like this. The bruising had already started, bumps were already forming, blood was starting to come, and there was a little dent in his head. Yep, it was a hard hit.

Now William has had little bumps and bruises before, but never this bad. First things first, comfort boy, get him some milk, Ibuprofen, cheese, and then a movie going. Then proceed to hold down the poor boy and ice his head at 20 second intervals. After doing this a sufficient amount of times (or as many times as this screaming child would allow me- since this part was even more painful than the fall apparently), then cuddle the boy.

Thankfully we were able to get the bumps to go down and from being too extreme.

This is what we found the next day. A little bit of bruising and a nice scab forming.

Later that day I realized how William fell off the couch. He was jumping on it and bouncing onto the pillows, which provided too much bounce and he lost control, tumbling off the couch and into the chest.

Baby Girl

2011-02-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

I had an ultra-sound this week to check up on our little girl. There was one abnormal result that is called Echogenic Intracardia Focus (which can be a soft marker for Down's Syndrome) Of course all of the other markers are normal, indicating that she should be a perfectly healthy little girl. There is always that concern, however, but we are so excited to have her sweet and perfect little spirit join our family. As I write this now she is busy kicking at her mama and getting her energy out before bed time.

I love this profile shot. Her mouth was moving when the picture was taken, and it looked like she was sucking on her thumb.

This is the face shot. I always think it looks so weird and alien like from this view. I much prefer the profile.
The ultra-sound technician said she is weighing in at exactly 1 lb. I can't believe this pregnancy is more than half over. It has gone by so much faster than the first (of course it helps that Luke has been in the country for all of it).

We still haven't decided on a name. I am totally in love with the name Leila, (it is a family name and everything- one of Luke's qualifications for names), but I have yet to convince Luke. He said maybe I could wear him down so I have started to refer to her as Leila, and unless Luke can introduce something better, the name will probably stick. Wish me luck ;)

Big Brother

2011-02-10T19:50:00.001-08:00

William is definitely growing and maturing. As I went to pick him up today I was struck by how heavy he is getting. He has always been such a skinny boy, and it's nice to know he is growing a little. He amazes me all the time, he has started to repeat words we say, and is picking up on more words and using them all the time. Some of the words are food, eat, bottle, bubbles, ball... It is also fun to watch him play with his toys and become more creative or better at using them for their specific purpose. He is also getting good at pretend play,we see this when he eats and drinks in his play kitchen. He also loves to hide in his tent. When he needs a diaper change or a bath he runs to hide in there and is completely quiet while we walk around pretending to look for him, and then giggles like mad when we find him. He is also getting better at some of his sign language, and he loves to sing and is picking up more of the signs for songs as well (like popcorn popping & if you're happy and you know it) William loves music and he loves to dance. I nanny a girl and for a game we played freeze dance. When the music was playing William was rocking out and dancing with us, and when we stopped the music William stopped with us, it was so fun to watch him. Some of his moves include getting low and bouncing, clapping his hands, walking in circles, and bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. Such a cutie.

He is getting so big. This is his little monkey pack (leash) that his Nana Pam sent him, he loves wearing it around and cuddling to it. He is such a good cuddler, he even pats and rubs your back when he gives hugs.

William's new thing is helping with the dishes. He is always pushing the chair up to the sink to play with whatever is in there (I guess this will help me to keep it empty as much as possible).

I'm excited to see how William adapts to being a big brother.

This was a bonnet that William tried on. It was used in a book report of the 6 year old girl I nanny. William loves it when she comes to play and finds things she does to be hilarious. Of course he is learning to share both toys and attention, and he is doing pretty well with both. It will hopefully help a little with the transition to having a little sister. I just make sure to spend some more special one-on-one time with him on the days that she comes to play.

Hangin' With Friends

2011-01-30T14:16:00.000-08:00

The other day William had some friends over to play. They enjoyed playing by each other, sometimes taking toys from each other, giving hugs, drinking each others' juice, hiding in the tent and sitting by each other on the stiars. (Don't you love how William is the only one not looking at the camera, that's because he was flirting with someone elses mommy;)

It was so cute to watch these 3 interact and learn from each other.

Oh No! I have a Bear Bum!

2011-01-30T14:12:00.000-08:00

William was experiencing a little diaper rash this week so we let him air out a little bit. It didn't stop him from running around and playing soccer with Daddy.

(and yes, he is only wearing one sock)

Another Project

2011-01-30T14:03:00.000-08:00

I have been seeing some pretty cute things done with old piano music, and I wanted to do something with it too. This is going to eventually be our music corner complete with a piano, so I thought it would be the perfect place to put it.

So, with a little bit of modge podge, a piece of cardboard, old piano sheets, and some distressing ink I made the plain music circles. I'm thinking of adding some letters or a quote on them. I used a hot glue gun for the flower and didn't use modge podge.

An Athlete in Training

2011-01-30T13:59:00.000-08:00

William will definitely be an athlete. We went to the park with friends the other day and between the football and soccer ball William couldn't get enough. He is doing pretty good at kicking the soccer ball around because Luke wont let him pick it up... he has even started to kick some basketballs because of this. When we were tossing the football around William would follow it from person to person until they let him have a try. He loves being active.

Homemade Bread

2011-01-23T17:33:00.001-08:00

I finally made a bread that my husband likes! I have tried for the past couple of years to make something worthy of his standards ;) among them is comparing my bread to my sister-in-law's, Caroline. Try as a might nothing would quite measure up. I tried a certain bread recipe for awhile, but to no avail, and when I switched over to another it still wasn't right... but then I had the idea to do something that I often do with recipes -improvise and combine- And since I already had the ingredients to both breads, I use it all. To some it may seem like quite a few of ingredients, but I find it makes more moist and flavorful bread.

So....... with a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, I made some bread that my husband enjoys. (and when I asked him how it compare's to Carolines he fortunately/unfortunately couldn't remember because sadly we no longer live close to each other).

8 1/2 cups- flour (white or wheat- I tend to do 2 white and the rest wheat)

2 cups- high gluten bread flour

1/2 cup- oatmeal (optional)

3 T- dough enhancer

1 T- salt

3 T- yeast

Mix these ingredients together in your Bosch, then add

1/2 cup- olive oil

1/2 cup- honey (do the honey after the oil because then it doesn't stick to the measuring cup)

3 T- soy liquid lecithin (I do both the oil and this because it makes for more moist bread, you can pick some up at a health foods store)

Turn on your Bosch and start mixing while adding 4-5 cups hot tap water, you don't want the dough to be too dry and you don't add any more flour. Let the dough knead for 10 minutes then use Pam spray on your hands and counter, pull it out and divide into four even pieces to make 4 loaves of bread or whatever else you want to make with it. Let the loaf rise for 10 minutes and then pop it in the oven. You can freeze the dough if you want, just spray the inside of a bag and put in the dough. When you pull it out to cook it make sure to put it in the fridge a day ahead of time and then let it sit out at least an hour before you cook it, as it will be doughy if you don't.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Giveaway!

2011-01-19T11:45:00.000-08:00

So I follow this really fun decorating blog called House of Smiths and they are having a giveaway for a Silhouette machine that does tons of stuff like making fun vinyl cut-outs and such. If you want to enter you should check it out HERE. http://bit.ly/f7pz6v.

Projects

2011-01-16T13:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I decided to go through our storage boxes in the garage and get them organized and figure out what to keep or get rid of. I had boxes and stuff strewn throughout the room, and William made himself comfortable in this little wicker doll chair. Too cute!

I also painted this little kitchen set, so it could work for both boys and girls. I had it as a little girl when it was pink and white, and I loved it; my mom also had it when she was a little girl. I even have my old play food and dishes... like a whole pizza, a sandwhich, and little tea cups. These projects definitely brought back memories as I went through them. It is fun to have these toys from my childhood to pass down to my kids to enjoy.

When my parents were here for Christmas my mom showed me how to put the picture on the backing, and then my dad and mom put the frame together... I love how it turned out! And I finally hung it up this week.

90% Sure

2011-01-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

It's a Girl!!!

So today I had a doctor's appointment and they ordered the official ultra-sound for 4 weeks out, but I asked if we could take a quick peek to see if we could tell what it would be before I left my appointment. As the doctor was looking he pointed out the legs and said, from what I can see it looks like... "a girl", I finished. As he looked from more angles he became more certain that it would be a girl, and so did I. The doctor said he had been wrong before though, and we could get a better picture when we have more time, so he said he was 90% sure it was a girl, and I'm pretty convinced myself. We are so excited! I don't have any good ultra-sound pictures to show yet, but I'll post the official ones in 4 weeks when I get them.

William is 15 1/2 Months Old

2011-01-11T19:36:00.000-08:00

And a little busy body. Anytime I take him anywhere he always has to explore. When I put him down people say, don't worry there's not much he can get, they don't realize he finds everything... like tape, pens, cords, phones, books... like a said, a busy body. He keeps me going though.

William has the ability to bring a smile to anyone's face, whenever I take him out and he sees someone, he stares and smiles at them until they make eye-contact with him, and then he grunts or growls (this is how he flirts).

It amazes me how he is starting to pick up on things and really develop. He signs food, more, all done, milk, please, and he blows kisses. He says dada, mama, nana, papa, thank you, all done, up, no, 'ere go, ball. The animal noises he does are elephant, dog, fish, and sometimes cat. He knows how to point to his nose, and sometimes his eyes and mouth.

He is kind of a cuddler, when he gives hugs he pats your back, he gives awesome open mouthed kisses... he has started throwing toys down the stairs. When he climbs up onto the table he scolds you with his finger, 'cause that's what mommy does to him. He pushes the chairs around so that he can climb up on or get into more things. When we are heading down stairs we count to 3 and he slowly jumps into your arms and laughs as you carry him down. He makes grunt noises when he is trying to count to 3 to throw a ball to you. He loves playing pick-a-boo behind doors, blankets, couches, etc.

We have started taking William to nursery because he just runs everywhere in class if we don't, at least he can pretty much make it through sacrement, but we are still trying to improve there for sure. He can be in nursery if one of us are there, so Luke and I rotate every week. He is a total champ, and I am impressed with how he is pretty good at following directions. Of course there is still a little bit of a gap in sitting still during lesson and singing time, but I'm hoping he'll be good when he officially begins nursery.

It amazes me how quickly he seems to learn and grow everyday, and I'm excited to watch him continually develop.

I know he does other things too, but I can't think of them right now.

We have a similar picture, but William is only a couple months old in it, we took this one last week.

I cut William's hair pretty short.

Snapshots of our Christmas Break

2011-01-01T09:57:00.000-08:00

On New Year's Eve we had a few couples over to play games with the family and enjoy an assortment of dips. I forgot to snap a picture of the whole group but we got a family shot before everyone left, there flight was early the next morning.

We went to a western town where they had donkey rides, bull riding, a train ride, a stage coach, gold panning, a shootout, a blacksmith shop, and other attractions to see. It was a cold day though.
Poor Dallin didn't have many clothes, and carried William for some warmth.

I love this picture of William.

hanging out with Uncle Ryan

Christmas 2010: Part 2

2011-01-01T09:31:00.000-08:00

Our second Christmas of 2010 we opened presents, had our traditional breakfast of omelettes and muffins, played games, and the guys even went golfing.

William loved this ball, and he also loved these whirly bird things. He doesn't quite have the ability to make them fly by himself, but he'll take it up to you and motion to you how to do it by rubbing his hands together. Grandpa was teaching him how to do it.

William got an electric toothbrush with Thomas the train on it in his stocking, and he loves it.

It was a fun second Christmas.

Our Missionary

2011-01-01T09:09:00.000-08:00

My little brother, Dallin, returned from his mission December 29th, 2010. He served a full time, 2 year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Las Angeles, CA, speaking Korean. He served in Korea town for the majority of his mission where he taught people about the restored Church of Christ, shared his testimony of the Savior and the power of His atonement, and did service for those around him. This is an unpaid ministry, which you must save up your own money to do. You don't go home for two years, you don't call home except two times a year, you can only write once a week. A missionary dedicates himself completely to the Lord's work, and doesn't spend time on things like movies and music. An individual who decides to serve a mission volunteers to go where ever the Lord sees fit. I am so grateful for the example that my brother set in serving a mission for the Lord.

We were so excited to see him. Even our cousin Jeremy was able to see him. He returned a year ago to the day that Dallin did. He is now married to a cute girl named Ashley. Luke, and my older brother Ryan were waiting at the cars because they hadn't found parking.
It was Dallin's first time to meet his nephew. There were two additions to our family during Dallin's mission, William and our sister-in-law, Carissa.

3 Years of Marriage

2011-01-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

Luke and I celebrated another anniversary. We were married December 29th, 2007. This year, to celebrate, we went out on the 28th and went to the Phoenix Science Center. While there we enjoyed an exhibit on race, and also enjoyed looking at other things like how the body functions. We even got to watch an open heart surgery... not in real life of course

This was a stomach, and every time a kid went down the slide it made tooting noises... totally kid humor but it made us laugh.
After the science center we got some Mexican food and then hit up the movie, Tron. Luke had seen the first one and wanted to see the second one, I wasn't expecting much so I thought it was pretty good, but Luke was expecting more so he was somewhat disappointed.

Overall it was a fun day. A lot has happened this past year of marriage. We have both finished our undergraduates. We moved to AZ, Luke started his first real full time big person job, and started his Master's, we bought a house, are raising a busy little boy and expecting another baby... wow it has been an eventful year. I can't wait to see what the coming years bring.

Christmas 2010: Day 1

2011-01-01T08:43:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year we didn't wake up to find full stockings, or to open presents... Santa didn't come. You see, we had a deal worked out for him to come the following week.

So, instead of opening presents and enjoying our traditional meal of muffins and omelettes, we just had the muffins.

We instead went to a fun little park where William enjoyed chasing these duck like birds.

We enjoyed the sunshine of the afternoon.

William enjoyed playing soccer with a basketball (we train them young in our family for soccer ;)

We even enjoyed a hike

and the breeze of the wind when we reached the top of the hilltain

And the sunshine for those from dreary Seattle.

Christmas Eve

2011-01-01T08:32:00.000-08:00

Followed by a day of Luke and my Dad working on our Tempo, we had a dinner full of twice baked potatoes, ham, broccoli salad and fruit salad... yum. Then William enjoyed a bath followed by opening his first Christmas present

Look at the concentration.
It was the traditional pajamas of course

We then continued on in the tradition of reading Luke 2 and writing out our gifts to Christ for the coming year. For this we think of a habit or attribute that needs improvement and then make a committment to work on it the coming year. We then put our cards in a white stocking that hangs on the tree.

After putting William down we did something totally un-traditional. We played some black jack, yep, my dad taught me how to gamble. Don't worry, we used dried noodles to make bets. After cards we watched "The Man from Snowy River". This didn't go with tradition at all, we usually would watch, "It's a Wonderful Life" or "White Christmas", but we didn't. It was still a very fun evening that we got to spend together.

The Railroad Park

2011-01-01T08:18:00.000-08:00

Leading up to Christmas we went to a Railroad park in Scottsdale, and enjoyed touring some trains, experiencing the history of the railroad in AZ, and riding a little train to see the Christmas lights.

We were waiting in what seemed like a short line to see Santa, but it was taking forever, so we left... it was past William's bedtime, and probably Luke's too.
Riding on the little train. The wait for the big train was 2 1/2 hours. No thank you. We still had a fun time.

Enjoying the lights

During Break

2011-01-01T08:01:00.000-08:00

Grandma and Grandpa Nead came down to visit and William enjoyed helping them unpack

William liked sharing his food with Grandpa
William loved playing at Home Depot

Why were we at Home Depot you asked?

My brother Ryan bought a house in Mesa, and its a fixer upper. So we helped to spruce it up a little bit. While the boys worked on fixing the piping, tiling, and redoing the bathroom, my mom and I, with some help from Luke, sanded and repainted the Kitchen cabinets, and refinished the hardware. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the before, but if you can imagine a a dirty whitewashed and old color, then you'll get the idea.

The After

My Virtue, My Vice

2010-12-30T12:00:00.000-08:00

My Virtue, My Vice is a new book written by Chelsea Baum (a pen name), who happens to be a friend of mine. This book just came out and I am really looking forward to reading it. The book is about Chelsea's life and her rebellious years as a teenager and young adult. She had a troubled life and takes us through her journey and how she came to know that she is a daughter of God and truly loved by Him. It is amazing to hear her tell stories about her experiences, and in listening to her it really testified to me the idea that even one lost lamb/soul is of importance to our Heavenly Father.

Chelsea says she felt inspired to write the book in the hope that she could help others to make a positive change in their lives. So go check out the book and remember that repentance is real, Christ atoned for each one of us, and you are a daughter of God and loved by Him.

Go to authorhouse.com/bookstore for more details on the book.

Playing with Daddy

2010-12-23T11:10:00.000-08:00

It was laundry day and Luke was taking down the laundry, William had a fun ride down with it.

William is very indepent, he usually refuses to have someone feed him. I guess he has to learn somehow, it just makes a fun mess.
Luke was clearing space for his garden, and William was helping him dig. I love the concentration on his face.

Santa Clause

2010-12-19T18:35:00.000-08:00

He wasn't sure what to make of Santa.

We couldn't get a smile, but at least he wasn't screaming and crying.
Luke tried to get him to crack a smile.

William was excited to go to the Christmas party.

He likes to play cars and crash them into each other.

Here he is making his car noises

Yesterday...

2010-12-16T15:19:00.000-08:00

During dinner time, no less, we were waiting. It had been a long day (notice Luke's forced smile and William's restlessness). We held out though, and when we got home William was so excited to show you all some pictures...
The proud big brother loved admiring his new sibling.

Let's get a closer look.
Yep, we are expecting a wonderful new addition to our family. We don't know what we are having yet, since we are only 15 weeks along, but we are so excited. I am due June 12th.

While waiting we got my first pregnant shot of this pregnancy.

William's Room

2010-12-16T15:13:00.000-08:00

When my mom was here we worked on another project that I forgot to post on here. We decorated this little man's room

The cute crib with quilts made with love, by his Grandma Pam. The painting was done with love by me, and then I added a fun "W" to even it out.

Not only did we paint the room, but we also sanded down and painted the dresser blue. I love how it turned out, what makes it awesome is we got it for free from some friends.

Little Sneak

2010-12-05T14:52:00.000-08:00

While I was making dinner the other day William got into the opened pantry and proceeded to rearrange it. Only when it was too quiet did I go and take a look. This is what I found, the theif caught red handed with an opened nutrigrain bar. The little sneak had opened it all by himself because apparantly, he was hungry.

Creche

2010-12-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

Growing up my stake did a Christmas Creche. What is a creche you ask? It is a display of nativities. The stake that we are in also does a creche, and I dragged Luke to it, (which he appreciated after getting there).

Our stake's creche had on display over 300 nativities from all over the world. We saw some from Germany, Africa, Asia, Mexico...from practically everywhere. They ranged from origami (seen below), to medal, to both intricate and simple wood carvings, stone, children's toys, paper mache, and many other types. I love going to creche and looking at the many different nativities depicted from around the world, all showing the one simple, but magnificent scene.

I admired these wisemen that are so intricately dressed, and then laughed when Luke pointed out that one wiseman is carrying oils labeled, "essential oils".

Something else that we also enjoyed was an ongoing musical program that displayed talents from a variety of church's in our area. We listened to some violinists, a singing pianist, and also a children's Episcopal choir. This for me was a new experience because of the new songs I heard. They brought a smile to my face, and then I thought about how they would react if they listened to some of our primary songs.... popcorn popping anyone?

The creche is a three evening affair that will continue to have different music groups perform, will include a live nativity, and then conclude with a broadcast from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and follow with the First Presidency Christmas Devotional this evening. It was such a nice way to begin December and officially kick-off the Christmas season.

A Tired Little Boy

2010-11-30T11:12:00.000-08:00

William was exhausted from his fun week with family. He got off his normal schedule... and after eating lunch the day after they left, he fell asleep within seconds after finishing his lunch.

Thanksgiving and Family

2010-11-30T10:26:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving we had the Shilligs over from CA. It was so much fun to be surrounded by family and enjoy their company. Mom and Dad Shillig stayed at our home with their four youngest children, Audrey, Kailie, Isaac, and Elliana. Kurt and his family stayed at a nearby hotel. While here we enjoyed playing games, soccer, football, mafia, and cards.

William loved all the attention from his Aunts and Uncles

After a delicious Thanksgiving dinner and another football game, Luke jumped into a 58 degree pool with his Uncle Mace.

I shot this picture on the way home from the football game. I thought it was so cute, Grandpa and two of his little grand-daughters.

Three of the four boy cousins all born in 2009.

This was the only shot I could get because they were running around everywhere. The whole group that gathered at Uncle Mace and Aunt Jeanne's house for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. Thanks again Turner family!

The second football game.

William was all ready to play some flag football. He loved trying to get in on the action.

William loved swinging on the swings with his Aunt Audrey, he cuddled right up to her.

While at the Turners we enjoyed playing games outside. William loved playing around, he even loved their dog, Rifle, except when he was attacked with kisses.

Luke had sword fights with his cousin Tommy and his nephew Emmitt.

A picture after the first football game.

William loved playing with this cup.

Some Happenings

2010-11-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

I had a box of yummy Fuji apples that needed to be used before they went bad, so I decided to make applesauce by myself for the first time. I left a few apples to make something else with, and William got into them. He probably took bites out of half of them. He loved walking around with them and putting them into different places... I think I found them all.

Me, making the applesauce. Luke really liked it, and I thought it was pretty good too, I made it nice and chunky.
William discovered oven mits.

We had just finished dinner, and William was still thirsty... this is how he got it.

My snot nosed child loved running around with these HP glasses. He was a little sick this past week, and passed it on to Luke and I.

William likes having books to look at. He climbed up onto the rocker and I put the blanket on him and gave him some books to read. He enjoyed it for a few minutes before he was off to find something else to get into.

The Cookie Monster

2010-11-06T14:23:00.000-07:00

William helped me make cookies yesterday. Well, he more like sat and enjoyed watching and eating the chocolate chips. He was having a good time, and then it got oh so much better when he got his hands on the measuring spoons and a canister. Let's just say this little man may be a drummer someday.

These last pictures are just some I took last week. (I don't fix the red-eye anymore because for some reason my computer also turns them cartoonish when I do.)

The Bedroom Set Before and After

2010-11-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

So, I already showed you the buffet table, but I thought I would show it again so you could kind of see what it looked like before. You will notice that it is the only piece that we changed the handles on.

This is how the desk turned out. We kept the same handles on it, and didn't do anything to the chair.
Here is how the nightstand turned out

This is what all the finishes looked like before. It has a greenish finish. We spray painted all the furniture expect this piece and the head&foot- board. These pieces will eventurally be an antique white, and the room will be the same green you find on the accent wall in the kitchen, but for now they will stay like this.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

We started our Halloween festivities off at the ward Trunk or Treat. We dressed up as a cowboy family. Luke and William even had some awesome handle bar mustaches.

This picture was taken at the end of the night after the stache had faded and when we were getting William ready for bed.

Sheriff William, the law in these here parts.

My boys sporting the stache.

Today we enjoed a yummy pumpkin chili and cornbread dinner with some friends.

Life is good.

When My Mom Comes to Town Beautiful Things Happen

2010-10-31T20:00:00.000-07:00

This past week my mom came for a visit. She had planned on flying but then decided to drive two days to bring me my bedroom furniture (that also happened to be hers when she was a little girl), and also some other pieces, including my parents old living room couch. Yeah, my mom is crazy and wonderful...

Then to top it all off my mom worked her butt off while she was here painting.

William loved it! Not only did he get to play with new things, he totally loved his Nana time.

This is a before picture of the family room, to give you an idea of how bare bones it was.

A picture of my awesome mom, hard at work painting the ceilings. She is like the energizer bunny, she just kept going.

The new family room, all painted and decorated. I love the color, it is still growing on Luke. He told me he came to terms a long time ago that he would live in a rainbow house (after seeing my parents house and seeing my room, which I painted purple in high school- what can I say, my mom and I love color!)

Another angle of the family room with the couch my parents kindly gave us. Also, just a funny little tid bit, that chest was made by my mom's high school boyfriend.

The beautiful new kitchen colors.

And a look at another project we worked on... sanding and spray painting my old bedroom furniture. I love how it turned out. I will add another post later showing you the before and afters. This dresser had become my new buffet table. We weren't able to paint this room... the ceilings are way to high, and we were exhausted.

Thank you so much mom and dad for helping to make our house a home. I love you!

And next time you visit mom, no projects! ;)

Our State Fair is a Great State Fair

2010-10-19T21:26:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday we went to the state fair. Of course we had to check out the livestock, and they happened to have a petting zoo. William loved it, he followed the goats around, and met a kangaroo, a donkey, and a pop bellied pig. We also enjoyed part of a hypnotist show and other attractions.

In other news William had his 1 year check up today, he is a bit under the weather so he wasn't immunized today... but his stats are in. At 12.8 months:

Weight: 22.4 lbs. (36%)

Height: 31 in. (77%)

Head Circumference: 18.9 (86%)

So our little man is a tall skinny boy. Compared to his last stats he is definitely growing.

Saturday = Family Day

2010-10-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

This Saturday was very enjoyable. It has been a long time since we've been able to spend the whole day as a family. The morning started off with William waking us up, so we brought him into our room to roam around. The only problem with this was Luke forgot to close the door to the bathroom, and so......

This is what happened. Notice the toilet brush?

Don't worry, he took a bath right afterward.

Later that morning we went for a family walk to some nearby small farms. William got to see some cows, a bull, Billy the goat, and Lady the horse. We even fed Billy some carrots.

We then headed to the park to play and then came home to put William down for a nap. I then gave Luke a hair cut, and then we switched and he gave me one. Yes, you read that right, and I am very impressed with how it turned out, so hold your breaths in anticipation.... to come in a later post.

William also enjoyed listening to Luke play the guitar.

Later in the afternoon we headed to a splash park with some friends to play. William was not a fan, but Luke enjoyed himself. We then had a fun picnic while the dads played a little soccer. Although our day was busy, it was fun to just hang out with the family.

Exploring

2010-10-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

William is making himself comfortable in his new surroundings, and lovin' all the room and different cupboards and drawers he can explore.

We made some rice pudding and William loved it, and kept coming back for more.

The first time we let William out in the backyard he went straight for the rocks, and didn't even notice the (dead) grass. He was throwing them everywhere.

We try teaching William his letters, but he much prefers to wear them around his neck.

And, of course, William is always getting into the cupboards.

Childcare- A Home Away From Home

2010-10-06T14:06:00.000-07:00

This is not another overcrowded day care center. I am opening up my home for a few additional friends.

I have previous childcare experience, I am the mother of an energetic 1 year old, and I also have a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from Brigham Young University.

We have a fun and interactive curriculum, that encourages learning and imagination!
We enjoy circle time, where we learn about the weather, our moods/emotions, and enjoy stories. We also have fun with outdoor time, art projects, learning shapes, the alphabet, numbers, and colors.

You will also be sent pictures once a week of your children participating in the many fun activities we offer.

Nutritous meals and snacks will be provided, and a meal lplan is available at the beginning of each week.

I am open M-F from 7am to 5pm.

I am enrolling children from 2 months to 5 years.

I charge $100 a week/child.

Please send me an email at @gmail.com or call me at 206-437-2992.

Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you and metting your child.

We Moved!

2010-10-01T15:10:00.000-07:00

And we are getting settled in. I just have a few pictures, because there is really nothing to show yet. Since we've moved about 8 times in the under 3 years that we've been married, we haven't acquired any furniture. It will be a process, and one that I'm kind of excited for. In the meantime I'll just give you a sneek peak, and add stuff as I complete projects (which may be a while)

William is 1!

2010-10-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

William turned 1 year old on Friday, September 24th. We celebrated his birthday the weekend before with some friends.

William wasn't quite sure what to make of all of the attention, but he sure loved the ball that he got for his birthday. He loves all of his presents, and has more church books to play with thanks to his Grandpa Tom and Grandma Pam. William had some friends that were kind enough to help hom open his presents, because he really didn't get it yet.

He also loved his balloon and walked around with it for a few days.

William is as cute as ever. Walking everywhere, getting into everything, loves screaming and running around, and is constantly making us smile. He is always saying "uh-oh", raising his hands and saying "ah-done" when he is done eating, says "hi dada", raises the phone to his ear and jabbers away (he loves phones and remotes because they light up or make noise). When you ask him what sound an elephant makes, he blows and makes the sound with his mouth. Today he pretend fed me from a bowl with a spoon. He is always changing and growing and I love to
watch him develop and learn everyday.