Williamson Rant

Grandkid pictures June 2011...yes it is January

2012-01-08T08:55:00.000-08:00

These are some pictures I forgot to post. We took all of the Williamson side grandkids and for my mother-in-law's birthday made a collage. I will post the group shots and of course just my kids. I think they turned out great even if they were taken in June and it is already January! I'm still catching up.

All the girls! All the boys!
My kiddos

It's funny how everyone has changed so much! From cutting off Hannah's hair, to Ella having bangs now, to Zach getting glasses it's time for new one's! Of course before that we really need to have family pictures taken because our last family picture was when Jake was 18 months old. I WILL GET THIS Done....hopefully come spring time so we can be outside. These pictures are also almost overdated because we have two more grandkids coming into our family come March. My bro-in-law is getting married and she has two adorable girls! So, time to get more done dang it!

What time is it? It's Bean time...it's a vacation..

2011-12-14T17:38:00.000-08:00

It's that time again for a vacay with the Beaners. Are you tired reading about them yet? Too bad! We decided to meet in Phoenix since we figured it was October and the weather would be to our advantage. Within minutes of checking into our house, I almost stepped on TWO scorpions! What a way to start a vacation. I think one of the best parts of this trip was "the wager". Now, we met the Beans in Iowa where Jon and Aaron did Podiatry school together. This is where the wagers started. All because Jon was a Bears fan and Candace was a Packers fan. Every year they have a bet on who will win and whomever loses has to do something agreed upon. One year it was a NASTY shake...and not a good kind, it had everything in it that they could find in their fridge. He almost barfed...or maybe he did. It was so long ago I couldn't remember. This year the bet took on a new meaning. If the Bears lost, Jon would have to wax his chest, if the Packers lost, Jon would be doing her makeup "really bad" and posting pictures all over facebook. Not really a fair bet if you ask me, but I am not the one betting so it's all on them! Well, the poor Bears. It seems that they just can't catch a break when it comes to these bets. Oh gosh, it was so flippin funny! Poor Jon! I would totally put up pictures of the "wager" but I don't want to embarrass him. Let's just say we have it well documented and I really think I could do this for a living. Don't worry, the kids were already in bed when we started bring out the wax! We went to the zoo, went out for dinner, went to a GHETTO inside amusement park. The kids loved it, and didn't care that it really wasn't that great.
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On Saturday night we met up with the Freestone's. He also went to school with Jon and Aaron and we all lived in the same apartment complex. It was so good to see them and their not so new baby.

Can you believe all these children belong to only three couples?

Darrick and Rebecca

Zach LOVES Candace

Don't ask!

The other best friends

These two are seriously so cute together. They are little besties too! Don't you just love the picture Aliece drew?

Can't wait to do it again!

Welcome to the Family Ricky!

2011-12-14T17:34:00.000-08:00

My brother and Richard adopted a little boy Ricky. He is so cute and fits right in with my kids. The first time I met him he ran up to me and buried his face in my hair and wouldn't let go. He stole me heart right then and there. Welcome to our family Ricky!

Girls Camp Aug 2011

2011-12-14T17:16:00.000-08:00

My fearless Asst. Camp Director! LOVE HER!!

In August was our Girls Camp for our Church. I was called as Camp Director and I have to tell you I was SO excited! I always seem to miss the cutoff for going to camp when I work in Young Women's. I am either pregnant, just have had a baby, or moving to a different state. This year was my year and I was a leader, which was even better! I was looking forward to the crying, fighting, teasing and then of course the Make up testimony meeting where everyone is your best friend again camp. This was not how it went, it was amazing and my girls were THE BEST! I have to say sometimes I think we had a little too much fun, whether we were bombing other wards (we made paper mache bombs and filled them with candy and threw them into unsuspecting tents from other wards at midnight and 1 in the morning). We were indeed "The Bomb Squad". The camp theme were variations of SWAT team, 007, you get the idea. Justin Bieber was our mascot for the entire week of camp, he got "bombed" and his song was pretty much a constant staple to our dance parties. Of course these parties consisted of me dancing like a lunatic while the girls all laughed at me. Gotta love it! I even got the "I didn't know you could dance Sister Williamson, you know, for an old person". Oh man, I have now passed over to the dark side of ma'am, lady and no longer is it Ms. or Miss. Anyways, these girls were amazing and we had so much fun together, especially my Asst. Camp Director. We are two peas in a pod and seriously we were the loudest ward there, and of course the messiest. I can't wait till next year, I have already told them they better not replace me because I am going whether they call me or not.

Everyone together! Do you like our shirts?

Bieber getting "bombed".

You can't go anywhere without Jacob with these girls. This was also placed on the latrine door.

These girls seriously bring out the young girl in me. I sometimes felt like one of the young women instead of the leader. So here's to camp next year! Can't wait.

Zach's Birthday

2011-10-31T17:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday ZJ!!!

My Zach turned 7 in September...yes I know I am really late. I am actually writing this in December. DECEMBER?? I just can't keep up with the happenings of the family and blogging. Not enough time, or its just not a priority to me. We ended up going up to Santa Fe with our friends, the Reitz's, to visit El Rancho de las Golondrinas. The kids made these fun masks and it was fun trying to keep up with 6 kids running through the adobe homes.

These are our good friends, we met when we were all newylweds living in Lexington Apts. (which we named Mormon Manor).

Saying Goodbye is so hard...

2011-08-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

I recently was in an accident and we have to say goodbye to my trusted van. This van has been with us through it all. Our trips around the US, our different residencies, bringing babies home, hitting sidewalks, the milk spills, the soda spills, the throwups. You name it, this baby has been there. I know it's dumb, but I will miss you!

P.S. I couldn't put the whole picture up because my liscense plate was in few and since this is a public blog, I didn't want to do it!

Haircuts!

2011-08-28T13:54:00.001-07:00

Hannah has been begging me to cut her hair. She has been growing it out for awhile now and is tired of the tangles. I have been putting it off because her hair is so beautiful! Well, we finally did it! We cut 10 inches off to send to locks of love.

Everytime I looked at Ella I thought of Hannah when she was a little girl. So, I decided to do some bangs on Ella.

Lake Powell 2011

2011-08-10T14:44:00.001-07:00

My newphew!

My fishermen!

Francois!

Grandpa Williamson

Aunt Jean

Grandma Williamson

We actually got to Lake Powell this year! Jon's side of the family has gone every year for, well since forever. We were able to go the year before we were married and a few years after until we started having kids, moving to various places of the US and just not being able to make it! We were so excited to be able to go back again! WOW! Was it different than we were used to. It was probably because instead of it being laid back and carefree, no kids, and doing whatever we wanted. EVERYONE now had kids. It is now all about them and making memories! It was still a lot of fun, but a little more taxing. I don't think as a kid that you realize how much effort it is to go on a vacation or camping or pretty much to the grocery store without first PREPARING. Now, as an adult and mother to four beautiful children I have to say that vacations are not what they used to be. I know this will change as they get older and become more independent but until then we will just enjoy this stage in life. The kids had a BLAST and I found out Jake was a little fish! He loves to swim and swam almost all day long, every day! Zach was content sitting in his chair, fishing with a soda in his hand. He even caught two fish. The first one he reeled in and ran away when the fish showed up and the second he pulled to the shore and got a little closer. He was my little fisherman. Hannah and Aliece were inseparable, even sharing a tent together and swam all day long. Ella did so good and wandered around with some adult following her and found out she liked the water. It was so nice to be back and we can't wait to go next year.

Lemonade, Lemonade, get your Lemonade

2011-07-13T18:37:00.001-07:00

It finally happened. The kids have been begging to do a lemonade stand and mom broke. This "little" lemonade stand took a lot of work.....FOR MOM! The kids were in charge of making posters, making the lemonade, selling and everything HOWEVER, mom was right behind them "helping" them with everything. They did this with their cousins and atleast they had fun because they made NO money.

Our first and almost ONLY customer. Mom and Aunt were among their best customers buying everything a few times over.

They told Jake to stand in front and look cute...he got a litte tired acting cute. The one time he was dancing around, a customer came and he started yelling, "I did it! I did it! I'm cute!".

These little boys are trouble makers. Don't let the cute smiles fool you. All in all, they had fun and made a few dollars each. Of course, we started with them paying for their supplies, however if I made them pay they would have still owed me money because they didn't turn a profit. Chalk it up to life experience!

Happy Belated Birthday Hannah

2011-07-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

My Hannie turned 9 in May! She is such a sweet girl who is such a big helper to me. She reminds me of myself at times and not always the good times. I am so proud of this girl and who she is becoming. She is the first to do her chores and do them well. She really wants to start gymnastics but mom is a little slow in the get go and has to get her bum in gear. She just finished third grade and is such a nice friend to all her classmates. Hannah, I love you so much. Thank you for being a great daughter and sister.

Her cousins had a soccer game on her birthday which she wanted to go to. So, since it was her birthday and we had been promising her cousins we would go to ATLEAST one game we headed out for a double header. Hannah had a ball and she LOVES her cousins. Liece and Ash did so well and are little sport fiends.

This is my girl! Just like her momma!

Laying Down Roots

2011-07-13T17:15:00.000-07:00

So in preparation for summer, we have been working on our backyard. When we bought the house is was all rock! We (as in my husband and his brother) built a sandbox for the kids, we layed sod, made a garden and put up a swing set. Yea...I have no pictures of this, except for proof that we are indeed putting in grass.

Ella can be found here all day long. She loves watching the other dogs in our neighbors yard. We are waiting for her to fall because IT WILL happen. The kids had so much fun this day and were quite helpful. Zach is our little hard worker who wants to be involved in every single project that Jon is doing. Our poor little Hannah had an accident and fell head first off the truck onto the cement but luckily only had a few bruises and a few scrapes and a BIG bump. As a Williamson she has her Daddy's head!

Happy Birthday Jake

2011-07-13T17:08:00.000-07:00

Just because they are cute!

Here I find myself playing catch up again. Jake turned four in March. WOW! Four years old already and I look up at my calendar and find myself in July. This little boy loves anything to do with police. He is such a sweetheart. One thing I found out a few weeks ago is this boy is a fish! He loves to swim, he loves his sister and big brother. He is definetely my crazy little boy. He has the sweetest voice and I am serious when I say this little boy is a cuddler and kisser. Happy Birthday Jakey!

Beaner Vacation to Reno

2011-03-15T12:03:00.001-07:00

Look who we just saw!
We just got back from Reno, NV to visit our friends the Beaners. Honestly, I love these people! They are my family, the sister I never had. We fight like sisters, we love like sisters, and our kids love each other so much. When we first left NM we landed in Las Vegas and our next flight was postponed due to weather in Reno. (This was after we had loaded onto the plane and sat for awhile and luckily they let us get off.) It was one of the worst snow storms they had had this year and we were afraid they were going to cancel the flight. Not that it is horrible to be stranded in Vegas, but that's one less day visiting with the Beans. A few hours later we boarded again and were on our way. As we were arriving to Reno the weather was horrible. Our plane was all over the place, and poor little Hannah suffered. I thought she was going to puke all over and of course I will be honest I was no better. As we were preparing to land the plane suddenly pulled up and hit the gas because the wind was throwing us and we were not able to land. We were pretty much going straight up and then we evened out which made us all airborne for a few seconds. Luckily the kids were strapped tight, me, not so much. We circled that airport for about 30 minutes and we were finally able to land. I have never been happier to get off that plane. The boys slept through everything and Hannah and I made it without losing our lunch.

Since we were late getting there we just went back to their house and hung out and got dinner. The next morning we went to the Children's Museum and had so much fun. I think the adults had more than the kids. Between the dance, dance, dance and rock climbing wall, and the skinny mirror we were in heaven.

horrible picture, but you gotta love dance, dance, dance.

After the museum we went out to lunch and then went back to Beaners house to get ready for our double date. We went bull riding (fake of course) and went bowling and out to dinner. I am such an early bird and I was asleep pretty much during dinner. We ate late, around 10ish and I was SOO tired.

The next day we sort of hung out in the morning and then we got up and ready to go sledding. Zach was a maniac I tell you! He went down the big hills and loved it! Jake was timid and Ella just wanted to get out of the snow after awhile. Hannah had a ton of fun too going down with Ashlyn. The adults, gosh, of course we all tried to outdo each other. Luckily nobody got hurt!

The next day we went snowmobiling which I had never done before. It was so much fun and the kids LOVED it. I went a little crazy and almost threw Jon off the back. In my defense I did tell him to hold on and he didn't. This was our last day and then we were off to NM on the next day. I miss these people so much and I am excited that we get to meet still. Now we are plannning our next trip, hopefully before next year. Although we still have a girls weekend for Breaking Dawn to plan in November! Thanks for letting us come Beans!

Welcome to our Family

2011-03-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

Welcome Bryan Williamson to our family! We are finally a dog family. The kids have been begging for YEARS and good ole' mom finally broke down. He is pretty cute if I do say so. The first few days we were wondering why we got a dog because it was HORRIBLE! Poop and Pee EVERYWHERE! He is not fully potty trained yet but we are pretty much in love and is now part of the family.

We finally made it to the Natural Museum of History. I had been promising them for some time now, and when everyone was out of school we took the day to go. The kids loved it, especially the boys. Boys love their dinosaurs! The best part of the whole thing was the Volcano room. I remember as a child loving and being deathly afraid of it. Much to my dismay, the first time I saw it, it was not as cool as I remember. My kids however had the same reaction. They were so scared! It was great! It made me feel like a little kid again. We went through that part quite a few times!

Christmas Fun

2011-03-06T17:25:00.001-08:00

We did have a lot of exciting and unexpected changes that have happened recently. No, I am not pregnant! But we did buy a house. We closed in mid December and were able to spend our first Christmas in our new house. Christmas back in NM was great! It was pretty low key and we spent time with family. Enjoy the pics below!

The kids (Han and Zach) are involved in this singing/dancing thing called Sunshine Generation. They had their first performance and were so cute! Zach had a little solo and he was so darn cute!

Grandma and Grandpa Martinez were out of town for Christmas, so they came over and we celebrated early. We built gingerbread sleighs and the kids had a ball.

Tidbits of fun..and Halloween too

2011-03-06T17:08:00.000-08:00

How can you resist this face?

To go with the theme of catching up on birthday's, my niece turned 11! WOW! Can you tell what she likes? That's right the Cowboy's! My other niece also turned 5 and she LOVES pink. My nephew turned 7 and loves Army stuff. What little boy wouldn't? Have I mentioned I love doing this? Even if I yell and scream and it never turns out the way I want.

Halloween was great. Grandma and Grandpa Martinez came over and too the kids out trick or treating. Zach was an army guy, Jake was a black ghost and Hannah was...a witch for the fourth year in a row. Now you are probably wondering about Jake's costume. You see, I got Zach and Jake's costume at Walmart the previous year after Halloween for 90% off. Well Zach was fine, but Jake really wanted to be a ghost. So even though it was a GI Joe costume, I pretended it was a black ghost costume and he fell for it! Of course he is only three and can be talked into anything. Poor Hannah, she just decided to use her SAME costume because she didn't want to bother with picking something else out. My kind of girl!

And the cousins..

Vegas Vacay!

2010-10-30T07:34:00.000-07:00

VEGAS!!!!

We went to Vegas at the end of September and met up with the Beaners. We had so much fun and we missed the Beaners so much! Our kids were in heaven, playing with their friends and swimming, swimming, swimming.

So what did we do in Vegas? Two things....eat and swim. We went to the strip for a few buffets, and a lot of food. Holy cow!

This was hilarious!!! The boys each had to pick three or four things and make creations for each other to make. It looked NASTY but man did we have fun! Between the chaos of our children and worse, the LOUD and obnoxious adults we were a sight to behold. The waitress was ready for us to leave before we sat down!

Okay, seriously is this not what you expected? We went to the M&M store and saw this and of course had to take pics with it.

We also went to Circus Circus and let the kids play a few games and of course the adults get in on the action too. Candace and I went rock climbing and had a race, of course I don't have those pics. But darn it, she beat me! I want a rematch!

On our way home, we stopped by Hoover Dam and let the kids out.

We got home and we are totally ready for another vacation! We had so much fun! Thanks for meeting us Beans!!!

Birthday Fun!

2010-10-30T07:17:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Ella!

My little Ellie just turned one a few months ago! I can't believe she is already OVER one. She took her first steps a few weeks ago and is fast growing up. She is such a daddy's girl and her first word was in fact "dadda". Although "momma" came in second, but not for a good month of hearing dadda's name everyday, all day long.

Happy Birthday Zach!

Zach turned 6 September 3 and he had a little birthday party with family. Zach is such a sweet boy! He loves playing, playing, playing. Everyday he can be found playing outside, with "bubba" (Jake). I love this little boy! He genuinely cares about his siblings and has such a tender heart. I know I have mentioned Zach's love for K'Nex, he got a new package for his birthday and spent the next 3 or 4 days building this. That boy has such an imagination! Happy Birthday Zach!

First Day of School

2010-08-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

Things have been going well here in good ole' Nuevo Mexico. I have mixed feelings about the kids starting school, especially Zach who will be going full day. He of course, LOVED it and had no problem with it whatsoever. Jake kept asking to go pick him up because he was used to him being home with him. Even though these kids fight, man do I miss them when they are not with me!

The kids are doing well and have adjusted nicely. Hannah had joined a little song and dance thing that somebody in our ward does. My camera died the second I got there so I didn't get any pictures, and I am just waiting for somebody in my ward to send them to me. She did so good and had a little dance solo. She was so cute and I loved it! Jon felt tortured because he hates this kind of stuff and he knows it is just the beginning! We have kept pretty busy with the library and swimming. I am so proud of my Zach, who if you knew him, knows he has been afraid of water FOREVER. He can proudly hold his breath and dive under the water. He wanted to keep up with his cousin, so I think that really helped him get over his fear. Jake is the first one up in the morning, always at 6 or before, and sleeps pretty much all over the house. I wake up to find him, under our bed, beside our bed, in the hallway and on the floor in his bedroom. I'm fine with it as long as he doesn't wake me up. Ella is so good, getting over another round of teething and is sleeping again. HALLELUJAH! She is fast becoming a little girl and no longer a baby. She doesn't like to be left out by her siblings and has learned the screeching sound that her brother so kindly taught her. As for Jon and me, we are doing well. Jon is really enjoying his job and the people he works with. Although he says it feels weird to admit a patient to himself instead of his attending. I am keeping busy with all things that have to do with the kids and the house. I still feel like we are not here permanently, but it will sink in soon. Enjoy!

Part 2....

2010-07-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

The boys....

Jon's Dad!

Okay, so I ranted a little bit in the last post but it just tears my heart up. Anyways, we returned home on Sunday night and on Monday Jon's Dad flew in to help us drive the uhaul. On Tuesday night Jon had a banquet for graduation. Can I just say how proud I am of this guy? I can't believe it's over....and then I think, It's JUST BEGINNING! Here we go again, start over and keep going.
Here are some of the girls! Yes, we are pretty cute!

Now...Did I mention I am missing this girl here!

After the graduation we went home and continued packing because tomorrow was the moving day! Jon's Dad was awesome and he drove the Uhaul for us so Jon could drive the van with me. THANK YOU ROD!!!! The trip actually wasn't horrible. We prepared ourselves for constant crying and fighting and although we had our share it could have BEEN WAY WORSE. We are here in New Mexico again and we are loving being near family again. A few days after we got here was of course.....ECLIPSE. That's right! It's that time again! It was AWESOME! LOVED IT!

Another surprise came when one of my friends that I grew up with was in town for a few days and I got to see her again! I haven't seen Deanna since Hannah was 4 months or so! TOO LONG! She has four adorable little girls! She just had a baby and of course she looked BEAUTIFUL! Of course you have to know this girl to understand her gene pool! It was good to catch up with her and now that we live here, hopefully it won't be another 7 1/2 years before we see each other again!

We also reconnected with some old friends! This is the old crew from Lexington Apartments! We all lived in the same complex, all newlyweds and no kids! So long ago......hahahah. It was so good to see everyone. We went to the zoo for the music in the night...mostly we went to socialize.

We are missing a few people and a few kids! Darn it!

I think I am caught up! I know I probably forgot tons of stuff but oh well! As much fun as I am having, I still miss Michigan! Jon started last week and his new job comes with everything that goes with starting a new job. He is working hard and really enjoying it! I love that guy! I'll be better about posting now that we are settled in.

Part One.....

2010-07-15T17:35:00.001-07:00

I have been slacking when it comes to blogging. There has been so much going on before and after the move that I haven't blogged about. For starters, my birthday was at the beginning of the month. The big 3-0! That's right, I am officially out of my twenties and loving it! Jon surprised me with a get together at Buca De Peppo's with a few friends. I was actually TOTALLY surprised and thought it was awesome, especially since we had just gotten home from our vacation up north the week before. I really thought I would be sad to see my twenties go, but I'm not. Age is just a number right?

After my birthday was Zach's graduation from Kindergarten. He was so darn cute and I can't believe he is going to be a big first grader! This boy is such a sweetheart and cuddler. The things this kid can do is amazing, it seems he can build and take apart anything he puts his mind to. His recent love is K'nex's, which he builds amazing things just by looking at a picture. We love this little boy so much!

Zach's graduation was at the end of school and we were busy preparing to pack and sell the house. What??? Did you say sell the house? Yes! Our house officially closed the day before we left. We are truly blessed by this miracle. I say miracle, because in Detroit, with the economy the way it is, this truly is a miracle.

On the Monday before we moved, Ella started to get a fever, which I could reduce as long as we did Tylenol and IB profen every three hours. I figured she was teething pretty hard and it was a rough few days. I had done this before and I could handle a few HARD days of teething. By Friday, her fevers were not getting any better and I was worried about her being on that dosage of medicine for the last five days. I decided to just call the Pediatrician and see if it was okay. I talked to a nurse and she said I could continue for the weekend and see her the next week or they could see her for a sick appt today. Since we were moving that next Wednesday I wanted to be safe and and I wanted her seen. She just was not her usual self and I was worried about her fevers. Of course, I get one of the last appointments of the day and Jon stays with the other kids. The doctor did some tests, (I had to hold her down so they could put in her catheter, not fun!). The doctor thought she had a uti and told us we needed to get her blood drawn so we could be sure. Of course it is passed 5:00 and every lab is closed. They told me to take her to an ER, and they would take care of me from there. I arrived at the ER by our home and was turned away because they didn't want to stick an infant. I was crying, I admit. I had no way to contact Jon, because that morning I had dropped my phone in a big tub of water. I used the hospitals phone and told him I had to go to Children's Hospital and I didn't want to go alone. He called the Beaners and asked them to watch our kids, which of course they were in the middle of closing on their house. Not a good time, but of course they took the three of them right at dinner and bedtime and we took off to Children's Hospital. Now I have to be honest here, I thought...it's a UTI people why are we doing all this?! Give her some antiobiotics and let's go home we need to pack. I guess when this happens in babies it's not good because of what it can do to their kidneys. We get there and luckily we got into a room right away (thank you Jon, that's why I wanted you to come!) They took her blood (which I held her down again) and had to do another catheter and we waited for the results. Around midnight, we were preparing to go home, because Ella was already looking better(She got a shot of antiobiotics at her pediatricians appt.), and we got the news that her white cells were extremely high and she needed to be admitted. Not good timing! We were there for three days and were finally released the evening on Father's day. She's doing great and we actually have to get her some VCUG test to make sure that she doesn't have reflux but it's all good. She is just on Antiobiotics until we can get that test done. Now while I was at the hospital, I had a big eye opener. Jon had just done his rotation in Pediatric Ortho and came home with tales about children. And we aren't talking about happy tales. Well, we were put in a room with a cute little boy, no names, and I was able to see firsthand the tradegy of some of these kids. He was almost 1 and just so darn cute. I was there three days and no one visited him once. I was talking to his nurse and they had quite a few kids whose parents never visited them. He was in the crib crying and just wanting to be held and loved. The nurses were awesome there, they were constantly helping these children who had no one. They would take them on rounds, put them in backpacks and jumpers outside so they could have some interaction and contact. I wanted to bring him home with me. When Ella was sleeping I would go over and hold him and play with him. I would even bring Ella over and let them "play" together. I felt humbled. I thought my children were lucky because they always had someone with them, and would no matter what. But this little boy had been in here for the last three weeks and NOT ONCE had his parents visit him. It made me sad to see firsthand the neglect of these children. I'm not trying to be judgemental because sometimes you can't always be there. I understand that, there are some single mothers/fathers who can't constantly be there. I'm not trying to make anybody feel bad, but I just wanted to take this child home with me. It really brought to life these stories that Jon had always told me, and made them real.

Vacay up North

2010-06-12T16:27:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we took a little trip up North because we had heard how beautiful it was. We figured we've lived here for three years and we can't leave Michigan without seeing it. We rented a house on a lake, and it had a pontoon boat, kyaks (Which we never got to use) and a huge house with enough room for both families. That's right! All 7 of our children and four adults! I loved it! It was beautiful and the kids were in heaven! Well, it did not dissappoint. It was so beautiful! I have some mixed feelings about leaving because New Mexico has a different type of beauty. A beauty which does not revolve around water or anything green. We packed enough food to feed an army and ate almost NONE of it. Candace and I did not feel like cooking so we ordered in food and ate out. So much for saving money on food. The kids had a blast on the boat, fishing, swimming, running through the beaches and relaxing outside in the sandbox.

Isn't it pretty?

This is my favorite picture of the trip! These are my boys.

This is in Traverse City. After we left the farm house, we headed up to Traverse City and looked around a bit. We walked around and before we know it, it was 4:00 and we still had a four hour drive ahead of us. Instead we decided to be spontaneous and see if the Beans wanted to stay one more day. Aaron was almost, what did Candace call him, "A spontaneous moment killer", but he crumbled under pressure really fast and we went in search of a reasonably priced hotel room on Memorial Day weekend. We found the good ole Travel Lodge and went to the Beach and let the kids play and feed the baby ducks. We had so much fun and we were so glad to be able to go with the Beaners one last time somewhere. Enjoy the pictures!
This is what my boys are known for when getting in water. Yes, crying. They are super afraid of the water and I was so proud they even got in! Our first summer in Michigan, Zach would not even go near the water. When I signed the kids up for swim lessons he cried and refused to participate. By the end of the lessons he put his feet in. By summer #2, he was able to atleast put his feet in. By summer #3 he would wade in and have no problem as long as he could touch the bottom. So, I say he has come a long way and even attempting to get in the water is a big deal in this family. I only have a pic of Jake because I was laughing (yes, I am mean) and trying to get them both out of the water crying. I love my boys!

This picture does not do this dog justice! This dog was HUGE! Candace and I joked around that we found Jacob(or atleast a wolf) in Traverse City.

I refuse to post any pics of the adults on the water trampoline, although it was probably one of the funnest parts of the trip. Let's just say nobody deserves to see those pics! Not flattering, to anyone, on any angle. Thanks Beaners for a great trip!

Hannah's Baptism

2010-05-30T16:02:00.000-07:00

Hannah was baptized on May 22, 2010. It was so beautiful. It was a very small baptism with a few friends and was wonderful. I am so proud of her decision to be baptized. She is such a good girl and listens. She is also the cleanest kid you'll find. Her room is never a mess and she makes her bed every morning, unlike mom. She is such a great example to her siblings. After the baptism we went out to dinner at Chili's. She kept telling us she was embarrased because she had on a white dress and told us people were looking at her. love you Hannah!

Hannah's best friend, Ashlyn.

Hannah's baptism cake! She picked out the colors.

This is actually a cake that I made for my friend Lisa, who will be having twins at the end of August. It was a super busy week and I am caked out! It takes a lot of work into making these cakes and planning a baby shower and a baptism!

May Fun

2010-05-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

Easter was great! We had a little Easter Egg Hunt at our house in the afternoon and the kid's loved it! Of course who doesn't love searching for eggs filled with candy. This is posted a bit late, but it was very low key and nice. We had dinner with the Beans the night before and the kid's were out of control as usual. We loved it.

May was so busy and I can't believe it is over. Hannah's birthday was on the 7th and it was one of the easiest birthday's ever! The only thing she wanted was to have the Bean's over and have a Banana Cream Pie. That's it! No fuss, no games, just dinner and dessert and a sleepover. It was awesome and I can't believe my little girl is 8. Hannah is such a sweet girl who LOVES her baby sister. She is an avid reader and loves her friends. She is such a little momma and I usually find her "telling her brothers" what they can and can't do in my voice. She still loves Barbies and Webkinz.

Something I have been talking about constantly is my need to get to the zoo! I have been trying since Feb and the schedules finally worked out where we had a free Saturday morning. Something I really noticed while being there is the fact that we definitely had the most kids! Although I think 4 kids is a lot, it's not outrageous and the looks we get makes us laugh.

Reflections

2010-05-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

I recently saw a youtube video of someone named Stephenie from nieniedialogues.blogspot.com, it really made me reflect on its message. After each baby I work out, eat right and really struggle with losing weight. I have been doing p90x and 8 weeks into the program have only lost 3 lbs. Counting calories, working out sometimes twice a day and it really wears me out! It becomes my obsession. All day every day I count calories, I look at the food and decide if its worth putting in my body, I work out and see if I can squeeze in another work out somewhere else during the day. It becomes almost all I think about. And it upsets me. I'll be honest. I cry, I become mad but I still can't quite give up because if I do, I know it will just get worse. Now, when I read this I see a crazy person who is not living her life, her obessesion is living her. I don't feel like that person but sometimes I see a glimpse of her. My friends and husband always joke they like pregnant Bella because I become much more lax about what I eat and I don't stress. Hum...I do have four kids...hahhahah. Now what does this have to do with this woman you might ask? I remember hearing about her and being on Oprah but I never read her blog. Well, these last few days I have been going back and reading her blog and she is beautiful. Here is this woman who has been given this trial in her life, affecting every aspect of her life. She talks of her struggles with her physical health, how it hurts to hold her children. How she misses her beauty and who she used to be. Then, you see how she is growing into this beautiful person who is not taking for granted anything. You see her love for her Savior and Heavenly Father and how she credits them with her life and family. You see her accept who she is and her struggles and she knows she will have more struggles down the road. It made me ashamed. Here I am stressing out over something so wrong. I'm not saying its bad to be healthy, but there is an extreme. I will never be the size I was in higschool, I'm not a teenager anymore. My body has given birth to four beautiful children. I have so many blessings in my life. I have a beautiful and wonderful husband who loves me, stretch marks and all. Children who drive me insane and light up my life and I strive for that relationship with my Father in heaven and Savior. To be a better person, not to fit into a size 6. I was sharing this youtube video with my husband the other night and he said, "Why do you always watch such sad stuff that make you feel awful". I replied, "This doesn't make me feel awful in the way you think." It makes me search for the important things in life. When all is said and done, it is not the fact that I spent my days on the treadmill that are going to count. It is my relationship with my Heavenly Father. It is how I spent those days loving my children and teaching them. It is how I spent those days helping others and serving them. Yes, I am still going to work out. I want to be healthy and eat healthy, we are supposed to take care of ourselves, but I don't want it to be my life. I don't want to not play with my kids or take them somewhere because I need to work out.

Just because she is so cute!

2010-03-30T12:53:00.000-07:00

This is just because she is so darn cute!!

My girls!

!This was after Jake's birthday party. We let the boys stay up and they fell asleep on the bottom bunk together. My boys!

Happy Birthday Jake

2010-03-30T12:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Jake! I can't believe he is three years old!!!! A few random facts about Jake, for better or worse:

1. He loves Milk. No HE LOVES milk.

2. He plays with his belly button to calm himself down, to go to sleep, watching tv and pretty much anytime he drinks anything, ESPECIALLY milk!

3. He loves his little sister.

4. He likes to be naked and always puts his underwear on backwards (He learned this from Zach)

5. He cries a lot...okay I know this is mean and just a stage but let me honest. He CRIES a lot!

6. He gives the best sloppy kisses.

7. He loves to cuddle, and would probably cuddle all day with Dad if he could.

8. He is a horrible sleeper. You also can't put him in bed with you because he does not do well sleeping with you.

9. He was BY FAR my easiest child to potty train!

10. He loves Cars, Trains and Dora....(diego is okay but Dora is #1)

I love you Jakey!!!

We are alive!

2010-03-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

We have been really busy with trying to sell our house, keeping up with the kids projects, and trying to have fun. It snowed a little while ago and we all went outside and built a snowman. The kids are really going to miss all this snow, and yes, I am hoping it snows one more BIG snowfall to enjoy it.

Now that the weather seems to be warming up the boys are loving the outside again. I don't think we can ever live anywhere where there is no backyard.

Hannah recently lost another tooth and so we gave her a plastic bag to put her tooth in to put under her pillow. When we woke up in the morning we found out that Hannah had actually written a little letter to the tooth fairy. At first Jon and I thought she asked for a dollar and just put too many zeros, but when she woke up in the morning she came out and said the tooth fairy gave her only a dollar, and she asked for 10,000. We started laughing because, if the tooth fairy gave that much money I'd be yanking all my teeth out. Gotta love that girl!

And then there is Ella, who is such a sweetheart. Who wouldn't love a face like this?

Moving soon....

2010-01-16T18:54:00.000-08:00

For those who don't know we are very excited to annouce we will be moving back to Albuquerque, NM in June. Jon has accepted a job with New Mexico Foot and Ankle Institute. We are so excited to be near family again and the kids (especially Hannah) are excited to see Grandma's and Grandpa's more.

Christmas Break

2010-01-16T18:43:00.000-08:00

What have you been doing during the break?

My boys can be found drawing or painting almost everyday!

Snowball fights and making angels!

How cute is it when you come upstairs to find your kids cuddled up playing together?

And of course, Ella is rolling all around and getting too big!

Merry Be-lated Christmas

2010-01-16T18:26:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come and gone but I thought I would do a little catch up with the happenings of our household. On Christmas Eve, we made gingerbread sleighs. The kids had a ton of fun and couldn't wait to eat them as soon as they were done making them. But I told them that Santa wanted to see them first, so we put them on display for the big man. Christmas morning was a blast! Hannah woke up first and came into our room and crawled in bed with us and was going to wait for us to wake up, but I was so excited that I told her to go see if the cookies and milk were gone and if they were to come get us because that means Santa has come. Well...they were gone and so she went and got Zach and Jake to look and we all bundled downstairs. I love having kids on Christmas! They make this holiday so wonderful! After the presents were all done, it was time to do some cooking. After putting the rolls on, and making two homemade apple pies and two chocolate pies, my oven broke. The rolls had finished rising and the pies needed to be cooked, not a very good way to start the Christmas dinner but I can live with this. I call up Candace and tell her to make room in her oven for 3 dozen rolls and two apple pies and that we are coming over a little early. We get all the kids together and arrive at her house, only to find about 10 minutes after we get there, for Jake to start throwing up. We think it is because I am a bad mom and have neglected my children and he hasn't eaten ANYTHING except candy all day. I forgot to make him lunch because he was napping when everyone else ate. So, we think it's okay, and he runs off. He throws up three more times and now we have to leave. Who knows if its the candy or maybe he's sick. We leave to come home, put the kids to bed and go get McDonald's for dinner. And yes, I always made fun of McDonald's being open on Christmas and thought, "Who would ever eat McDonald's on Christmas?" Well, we are among the proud who ate McDonald's at Christmas. The next day he was fine, and everyone was fine. Sunday night started our rounds of everyone taking turns throwing up. It's not fun being up a sick kid, then you, yourself throwing up and then trying to nurse a baby. Talk about no sleep! Luckily it lasted only like 12 hours and we were all good again. So, Christmas was great but I'm still a little bitter that I spent all day baking and wasn't able to eat my spoils! Dang it! hahaha

Pictures!

2009-12-23T19:25:00.000-08:00

So, this year I was debating whether or not to take family pictures. I won't go into detail, let's just say it's vain and not really a good reason. I am also, if you know me, cheap. We went over to our friends' house, the Bean's, and took turns taking pictures in her house because it was too cold to go outside. You can't beat free and with a little work we were able to get a few pics. The kids didn't last long though and having 7 children running around not wanting to take pictures, and only wanting to play does not make it easy. I think it was pretty impressive that we actually got a few with our own children in it. And yes, I realize that I don't have an individual of Zach, let's just say he was tired. I'll get one of him later!

Hannah age 7 Jake age 2 1/2 Ella 3 months

Han's best friend, Ashlyn

Merry Christmas everyone!

New Moon...you saw me standing alone..without a tear in my heart, without a love of my own...

2009-11-20T15:03:00.001-08:00

Yes, you know I am an addict and I have the pictures to prove it. Last night was the midnight showing for New Moon. I have to be honest and say, I LOVED IT!!! I thought it was so much better than Twilight and I thought the acting was so much better. There is only one scene I didn't like, but I won't spoil it for everyone who hasn't seen it yet. Anyways, here are some pics and I won't rant and rave because, well, it's only interesting to me! I want to thank my baby for sleeping so I could go and my hubby who walked around with her until I was able to come home and feed her!!! She woke up at 3 and I got home at 3:30ish! Good timing I would say!

Can't wait for Eclipse!!!!!

Trick or Treat and Blessings

2009-11-02T15:55:00.000-08:00

TRICK OR TREAT, SMELL MY FEET GIVE ME SOMETHING GOOD TO EAT. IF YOU DON'T I DON'T CARE, I'LL JUST WEAR YOUR UNDERWEAR........

Yes, this is what my kids have been singing for the last few days before and after Halloween. Pretty gross huh? hahah Halloween was so much fun. We were so busy with Halloween parties, Jon's parents came to visit, and all kinds of fun. Hannah was a vampire and the boys were horses. They got WAY too much candy, which means we (Jon and me) have been eating WAY TOO much candy.

On Sunday, we were able to bless little Ella. She looked so beautiful and is such a great baby! Grandma and Grandpa Williamson were having a blast with the kiddos this visit and of course, fell in love with Ella.

Monday, the kids skipped school and we went to a museum and out to lunch before the Grandparents had to leave. I know I am biased but dang it, my kids are so darn cute!

Yes, I know, Jon wouldn't give me a good shot! He kept making funny faces but these pics are STILL going to get posted! We had a great time, Thanks for coming out Rod and Barb! OH YEA!! GUESS WHAT?..........New Moon is almost here? Are you ready?

First Day of School and Birthday Fun

2009-09-18T08:12:00.001-07:00

First Day of School

Hannah and Zach had their first day of school a few weeks ago. I can't believe my little guy is in kindergarten and I have a second grader! I am getting old! Anyways, we don't have a lot of pics because it's been a bit hectic around here. The kids are liking school and we are back to being busy, busy, busy between school, soccer, and another kid! My parents have been here for the last few weeks and have been great with the kids.

Zach had his 5th birthday and it was really low key, which was nice. We had the Bean's over and just had cake and ice cream because Ella was only a week old. He didn't care and had fun with his gifts. He is such a sweet boy with such a kind heart. He came up to Jon and me the other day and said, "Dad, I don't have a mean bone in my body do I?" He loves Ella so much and is constantly kissing her. He is loving Kindergarten and his teacher and right now he LOVES painting and drawing. He can be found EVERY DAY after school, asking if he can paint and draw. He also refuses to throw away his art, so we have a TON of it.

We have been having so much fun having another baby here and we call her Ponga. Don't ask me why, but that's how it goes. Here is a picture of her at 4 weeks old, isn't she darling? I know I am biased but she is so beautiful and so good! She is almost an exact replica of Hannah. It's funny, I think Jon and I only make one type of boy and one type of girl! Good thing they are cute! I actually wrote this post over a month ago but am just now posting it, so if the dates don't add up, that's why. Elle is almost 2 months old today and is sleeping at night. She only gets up a few times and I couldn't be happier! She is such a mellow, content baby, she even has Jon wrapped around her little tiny finger.

Here is a pic of her at 6 weeks! Anyways, the other kids are doing great. They are AMAZING with Ella and love her....maybe a little too much at times but they are very gentle. I'll be better about updating now that things have quieted down and we've gotten into a routine.

How Many Kids do you have?

2009-08-31T17:22:00.000-07:00

We'd like to welcome Ella Jean to our family. She was born on Thursday August 27, 2009 weighing in at 7 lbs 2 ounces and 21 inches long. Her birth was so different from ANY of my other three. Okay for all you people who LOVE to read about birth stories (like me) then read ahead, for those who don't...you're done! Just look at the pics and comment below! hahaha We arrived at the hospital at 6:00 am for my induction. At around 8:30 they started me on pitocin and then I waited. It was already so different because with my last I was already 6 cm dialated before I was induced and this one I was only 3cm and I was having NO contractions. My friend (Candace) was able to be there for my labor/birth and of course my hubby. We sat around talking until approx. 11:30 to which they broke my water because I wasn't really progressing. After my water was broken I decided to go ahead and get the epidural early because I didn't want to risk not getting one, because I USUALLY go fast once my water breaks. I do need to note that my nurse was HORRIBLE! She was not compassionate, nice or really helpful in any way. She did her job and didn't communicate with me unless it was necessary. I was so glad to have my friend and husband there to support me because I wasn't going to get it from her. Anyways, the doctor arrived 5 minutes later and Jon and Candace had to leave the room. The doctor then prepared for the epidural and they had to stick me three times! Holy cow! While they were finishing up I felt a really hard contraction. They told me to lie down on my side so the epidural could take effect. Anybody else know about this? I've had three other WONDERFUL epidural's and I NEVER had to lie on my side. So being a good patient, I layed down and my contractions were coming REALLY hard. I felt so much pressure that I felt I had to push and not to mention PAIN. Of course, they had excuses saying this was normal and the epidural takes awhile and everything is normal, a little pressure is normal. They also told me that the epidural is working and this is how it's supposed to feel. Jon and Candace show up after this and I am just TRYING to breathe through the contractions and waiting for the epidural to take effect, and yes I am crying. It was hurting so bad I look at Jon and tell him I HAVE TO PUSH. The nurse dismisses this request telling me once again this is normal and how epidurals are supposed to feel. Really? I've had three other one's and I HAVE NEVER FELT THE PAIN I FEEL NOW! Jon asks me if I want the doctor to come look into the epidural because it is obviously NOT working. I tell him, it's too late I feel her coming, I don't have time. Now.....I realize these next few minutes are a bit hazy, I don't remember them clearly and have asked Jon and Candace many times what happened but I will give you my version. I HAVE to push, I feel so much pain and pressure and I FEEL the baby coming down. I never knew what people meant when they said they HAD to push, your body automatically pushes on its own and when people tell you not to, it is almost impossible. I look at Jon and tell him again, I AM GOING TO PUSH. My nurse tells me not to push (big surprise)and Candace tells me to do what I need to do. I am not breathing through these contractions and, I am hurting and this stupid nurse won't listen to me. My husband is trying to calm me and hold my hand and telling me what a good job I am doing. I was SO CLOSE to telling my nurse to, "GET THE HE** OUT OF HERE". Yes, I almost cussed because I had enough of her. After every contraction, I am so whoozy and lightheaded I can't communicate and Jon and Candace tell me that my eyes are rolling in back of my head. I do remember them asking me questions and I couldn't answer them. I was just mumbling and couldn't get my tongue to work until a contraction hit and boy I could sure use my voice then. You might think that this whole ordeal is hours long, but really it has only been about 5 minutes at this time. Well, for the final time I tell them, I have to push and the baby is coming out. The nurse FINALLY looks down there and IMMEDIATELY says....can you guess? Don't push and yells for the doctor to be paged because this baby is coming. Really? You mean what I have been saying is true? Go figure! Anyways, a midwife comes in at this time and the nurse says she needs help, to which she says, I can't, I don't have permission under this doctor (insurance purposes) and I look at Jon thinking, you better get down there and deliver this baby because she is coming even if they don't want her to. Well my body had had enough and that's it, I HAVE to push. Chaos...chaos...somebody else shows up (I don't know who delivered me) and I push. Of course the person who delivers me isn't ready and doesn't have gloves but too bad! Ella Jean is born and for the love, I'm not going to lie it hurt really bad! Ring of fire? Yes, I now know what that is. In between my ramblings I do remember yelling at Candace that I felt like I was going to blow out my um...I'll use PG-13 language...bumhole. hahahah I do remember screaming when I pushed and screaming that I couldn't do it. Jon and Candace were so great during this and listening to me and encouraging me the entire time. I was really lucky to have them there, and really lucky that it was really fast. After Ella was born, I didn't get skin to skin like I did with my others. My bizsnatch nurse's fault. She put Ella off by herself and I tell Jon to go be with her. The nurse is doing...who knows what so I tell Candace to get Ella and bring her to me, she's my freakin baby and the nurse can go to....well...another room if she needs. I prepare to breastfeed her and the nurse comes in and in a loud voice says, NO NO NO NO...I NEED TO RUN TESTS. Ella is taken and guess what she does....she flippin takes her temp and then takes mine....that's it! She hands me the baby and before my placenta is delivered asks me about birth control and if...quote...are you ready? "Are you getting a tubal?" I look at Candace....did she really just ask me that? I, of course, say no I have other plans. Anyways, it took me almost 45 minutes to hold my daughter and nurse her. I wish my doctor was there, she's awesome and was planning on having Jon be a part of the birth and myself and was basically going to let us run the show, of course...it probably wasn't going to turn out that nice anyways, because I was in pain but oh well. I don't think THAT negatively of my experience. I'm not upset that the epidural didn't work, (though I wish it had) I wasn't prepared for the birth but it wasn't long so that's okay. The one thing that is upsetting was that one nurse who made my experience less than it should have been. My other three births were wonderful experiences and I have to say atleast I have a fun birth to talk about. I have a beautiful, healthy little girl and I am so thankful for that fact.

Happy Anniversary Babe!!

2009-07-28T18:52:00.000-07:00

I know I am a little late but I just wanted to wish my babe a Happy Anniversary! We celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary on July 16! 10 YEARS!! HOLY COW! I can't believe we've been married a decade already! We had so many plans for our big 10 year anniversary, and getting pregnant really threw those things out the window, especially being THIS pregnant. Oh well! We'll celebrate another year, and hopefully one day do something big. Jon's parents were in town and they babysat for us while we went out to dinner and a movie. Exciting huh? Well...it was actually great because I didn't feel the greatest and I didn't want to have to move very much. To start telling you about this day, I need to start back a few days while we were at the zoo. The zoo your thinking? Yes, this whole story begins at the zoo. On Tuesday the 14th of July we went to the zoo with Jon's parents and while there, we were exiting the kangaroo exhibit when I had to go to the bathroom. Surprise huh? hahah I tell Jon I am going and to watch the kids. I come back and look around to find.....only two kids running around him and his Dad. I ask where Jake is, and of course...He's around here...somewhere. I don't panic yet, but we start looking around and realize he is not there. We split up and I start walking/running calling his name. Several people ask me if I am looking for a blonde boy and point me in the direction he was running. Running? Darn it! There is no way I can catch up being this pregnant with a two year old running! As I keep running, people keep pointing me in the direction and finally one person says, "Over there, that lady has him". I run to him, who is oblivious and just smiling ear to ear, and the nice lady was taking him to a zoo worker to report the "missing child". Anyways, forward wind a few days to the day of our anniversary. That morning, we took the kids to the park and then McDonald's for lunch, and then come home for naptime. The older kids had quiet time, and Zach kept coming downstairs whining. Jon and his Dad were off at Home Depot and his mom and I were downstairs. I got fed up with Zach and yelled at him to go to his room and go to bed because he was tired. He goes upstairs crying and I just forget about it. An hour and a half later, Jake wakes up and so I go into his room and start looking for Zach. He's not in his room...he's not in our room, he's not in Hannah's room. I look outside thinking, he must have gone outside instead of his room. Nope! Not there either. Did I mention the front door is open? Okay, I call Jon because I am thinking, he's pulling a trick on me! He knows I got upset about Jake, and now he took Zach because it would be funny. I call him , and nope he doesn't have him. I get a little uneasy and call downstairs to Barbara and ask if Zach is down there. Nope. Okay, I go through every room SCREAMING his name and pulling up sheets and looking underbeds and outside and EVERYTHING. Jon gets home, and I am crying by this point. I can't find him, the door was open, and I really think something bad happened. He goes through all the rooms and closets and beds and outside and down the street and he can't find him. I am getting a little hysterical at this point, and he tells me to calm down because he doesn't want me to go into labor. I go back inside and look more and then (As my mother-in-law points out to me) start mumbling about having to change the kids sheets because they are dirty and I start to undo the beds to wash them. I realize then what I am doing and throw them down realizing I NEED TO FIND MY BOY not wash his sheets. All I can think about is that the last thing I did was yell at him. I go outside again and then I hear Hannah's voice, "We found him mom!" I rush inside and Jon has him in his arms, and he is....sound asleep. Mind you, we have all been SCREAMING HIS NAME for the last 15 minutes! Where did he find him? On our bed in our bedroom. Yes, the same bed that I had pulled all the covers off and didn't think to look under the pillows and pull them off. I can't stop crying....hormones right? We leave for our anniversary date in a few hours and I am just a basketfull of hormones and aching a little bit. We went to Benihana's for dinner, which I had never been to, and then went and saw the Harry Potter Movie (Jon is not a fan but I am!). It was a good night, but I fell asleep a few times during the movie, and I didn't feel that well and I was glad to get home to bed! We had a great week with Jon's parent's and I haven't uploaded the pics yet, but I will edit them in later. I am so lucky to be married to my husband. He is an amazing man and works so hard at his profession, his church calling and his home life. Thank you Jon for being the father to my almost four children and being a support to me during these 10 years! I love you!

New York Fun

2009-07-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

Uncle Brian's Cabin

In June, we were able to visit Jon's Uncle Brian's Cabin in New York! We had so much fun and the kids loved it! Hannah even got her first ride in a canoe (sorry no pics). We spent time hiking, canoeing, and swimming. I also am posting a BEAUTIFUL pic of me at 29 weeks! I told you I won't be camera shy! Love it or hate it!

2009-07-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

Family fun at the Zoo!!!

Father and Son Campout

To start talking about the campout is a little emotional for me. I am a complete wuss and I admit it. The Father/Son Campout was in June and Jon was all geared up to take Zach. We agreed to leave Jake because he is a little young and I worried about him sleeping and let me be honest, I worried about Jon taking BOTH kids, especially MY BABY. As the time drew near, and Jon started packing, little Jake went and got "his stuff" and was so excited to go on the campout with Daddy. Jon looked at me and said, "I can't leave him Bella, it'll crush him". So, we packed him too and Jon took off with the boys. Now...this is where I come on and I LITERALLY started crying as he was backing out of the driveway. Not that I didn't trust my husband, but because Jake is my Baby still (For another month and a half atleast). I was a wreck and my husband just laughed and said they would be fine. That left Hannah and me to have a TOTAL girls night for ourselves! We had so much fun together. I took her out to eat to Chili's and we were going to go to the movies, but decided to go rent Hotel for Dogs instead. We stopped off at the store and got treats and came home. We had a sleepover on the pull-out couch in the basement and stuffed ourselves full of candy and went to bed REALLY late...hahah like almost 10:30!!! The next morning we got up and we went to the library and by the time we got home the boys were home! I have to be honest, I had a great time with my little girl. And Jon, had a great time with the boys. AND YES, they all survived! hahaha Although, the guys were making fun of me because I DID CALL a few times to check on Jake.

Hannah's Birthday

2009-07-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH!!!

Hannah turned 7 in May and she had a total girl party. I have a few words to say.....It's all DRAMA!! I had one girl in particular who just cried almost the entire party...about EVERYTHING!!! We started off painting nails, and YES JON did the girls' nails too! I should have gotten a picture of him doing this, but I was a little busy! Anyways, I can't believe she is 7! Since I think it's fun here is a before and after of her! Look how cute she is!!

Hours old 2 years old 7 years old

Niagra Falls and Palmyra

2009-04-28T11:09:00.001-07:00

Last month we were able to take a trip to Niagra Falls and Palmyra, NY. Our first day we spent at Niagra Falls and we were able to meet up with Jon's Uncle Brian, who we hadn't seen in years! The kids LOVED it, especially the boys who wouldn't stop talking about the waterfalls. I was honestly a little disappointed! I expected these Long and Tall waterfalls I see in movies, and although the beauty of the Falls is undeniable, it wasn't what I expected. Jon thinks I am a dork and he LOVED them!

While walking along the sidewalk, Jon dropped our camera and broke it. Luckily we were able to save the few pics that we had taken of the falls and the family. But we didn't have a camera anymore and there was no way we were going to finish this trip with no pictures. The next day, we woke up to pouring rain and decided to head out as soon as we could to see the sights at Palmyra, NY. We decided to drive until we saw a Best Buy and we could pull over and see what they had. We had our trusty, aaahhhh what's it called! Dang it, I know I am going to get laughed at for this and I am too lazy to go upstairs and see what it is called so I will call it Automated Direction giver! We had just bought it, and didn't trust it yet, and therefore got lost a little but we finally found a Best Buy and a Target next to each other. Target had the best deal so we bought a new camera and decided to try to fill our children up with junk food that we had in the car and look at the church sites before naps and before the rain that was behind us. By the time we got to Palmyra it was around 12:30 or 1:00 and first we went to The Hill Cummorah. For anyone who has been there, we hiked up the Hill....not an easy task. We found out later that they don't allow people to actually HIKE the hill and you have to use the path provided. I barely made it up the hill....Man I am out of shape. Jon tried to give me an out and say...Honey, you're pregnant! You're carrying an extra child around....but I snapped at him and said, "Then why didn't you have any trouble carrying Jake up the entire way. You carried an EXTRA child too". Ohhh these hormones! Anyways, it was awesome being there.

This is PART of the dreaded hill....

If you can tell by this last pic, the sky is not bad but you can tell something funny is going to happen. We went to the Smith Farm next, and of course, fed our children MORE junk food to keep them going. First we went to the Sacred Grove. I have to tell you, it was awesome. But...I wish we went without kids! hahah Not all the time, but being kids, they didn't want to enjoy the feel and the spirit that was there and just wanted to keep running and seeing things. We were also able to go inside the Smith house, which was Hannah's favorite! During this time the weather was AMAZING, and no sooner had we finished and put the kids in the car the downpour came and we were finally able to feed the kids some good ole' healthy McDonald's! While we were there, I noticed this old man eyeing us and the kids. Usually this doesn't bother me because, to be honest, we get looks all the time with three kids and the fourth on the way. People are not shy at asking whether we are done after this or if I am going to get a hysterectomy after this baby is born. But this nice man had a gleam in his eye and after a little bit of time came over to us and gave each kid a dollar and said, "Here kids, this is because I won't see you on your birthday". He gave us a wink and walked out the door, where his wife was waiting for him. The kids were a little baffled but were excited to have money, (except Jake who had no idea).

Jon likes to point out that we were making funny faces in front of the Sacred Grove. Yes....that's me! If you also can't tell, I decided it was time to leave vanity on the backburner and take pics of me in it even if I am pregnant. Since this is most likely our last child, I wanted to document it because I rarely did with the others and now I regret it. SO bring on the pictures, especially when I get HUGE! I just think of the song, "I like em' big and chunky" from Madagascar 2! If I got the lyrics wrong, sorry!! You get the idea!

Well, after this we traveled to Rochester, NY here some of our friends live. Heather was my friend from highschool. We always had a blast together and sometimes got into trouble together. After a few years of marriage, Heather married Sean and moved into the same apartments as us and we had too much fun together. We hadn't seen each other in 6 years and I had never met ANY of her children!!! She had only met Hannah as a baby! It was past time!
This is my babe, Heather! The first night we got together for swimming at our hotel and burgers and some place. She has two daughters, Savy and Celi. I wanted to steal Celi who, is four months, because she was so stinkin cute! The next day we were able to meet at a really cool museum for children. I felt bad for Heather and Sean because our children were out of control. Needless to say, we were "Those Parents". We got, not one...but TWO "Code 66's". Which is, missing child. Yes....we couldn't keep track of our children. First Zach ran off and I found him in the train section. And then Hannah got lost, but she was smart and went to the gift shop and told someone she couldn't find her mom and dad. As I started to look for Hannah, a kind worker asked if I had a missing child. I told her no, Not yet, anyways. Let me look around. She kindly said, "Well we had a Code 66 child that was just called in." I am HOPING...no PRAYING it's not MINE...AGAIN. She asked what her name was and I go through the protocal of name, shirt she was wearing, looks....and of course they come on their little system and say, she say's her name is Hannah." I look at Jon and fess up, yes, that's my child. By this time, we were done! We all went for lunch at the cafeteria and then split up for naptime at the hotel. The evening was spent playing games and eating pizza at the Rigby's apartment! Thank you guys! It was so much fun!

This is us, in all our Royal Glory! We even MADE those crowns! How cool are we? And of course the boys, trying to act all cool! We had so much fun on this trip and can't wait to see Heather and Sean again. We promise it won't be ANOTHER 6 years!

Well, I think I have caught up for this post! YEA! Have a great day.

Jake's Birthday

2009-04-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby is 2! Jacob was born on March 28,2007 weighing 9 lbs 5.6 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. Many people won't admit when their child is ugly, but I am a realistic person and when he was born I immediately thought, "awwww I love him so much, look how ugly he is". Now, don't judge me too harshly, although I ABSOLUTELY meant it, I still loved him and thought him so ugly he was just the cutest thing. He was my biggest baby and from the moment we left the hospital he kept growing and of course getting cuter. I loved his rolls, his man boobs, and his cute face and most of all HIS MOHAWK!

What's funny is he is only 3 months old in the first pic and almost 4 months old in the second and third. He weighed 18 1/2 lbs at his 4 month check up and was just the cutest boy. I can't believe he went from this to...

this big boy who looks just like his older brother. He is skinny, no fat, hair shaved off and just the cutest thing. For Jake's birthday, we had the Bean's over and had cake and ice cream. He brings such a fun attitude and love to our house. He talks ALL THE time, and loves Cars and Firetrucks. Happy Birthday Jakey!!

Oops I did it again....time to Catch up

2009-04-28T10:28:00.001-07:00

Jake was crying one night and Hannah climbed in the crib to calm him down. When we came upstairs to make sure the kids were tucked in before Jonny and I went to bed, we found these cute kids together! She sure loves Jake!

So once again I find myself playing catch up with all that has been going on! I'll break these into segments. First off was our trip to NM at the beginning of February. It was so good to see everyone, it had been a year since we've been back to Alb, so it was so fun! We had tons of fun, going to the Aquarium, hanging out with friends, taking the kids on speed cars (I forgot what they are called), and just eating tons of New Mexican food. Here are a few pics highlighting our trip.

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The kids absolutely LOVED these cars!

Hannah and Grandma Mtz

Grandma and Grandpa Williamson and the kiddos.

This is at a museum in NM called Explora. At the top of the building they have a place to build log houses and this was HEAVEN for Zach! We spent the majority of the time out here, Hannah and Zach each built their own house.

My friend Teri and me! We went out WITHOUT the children! How great is that!

We had a ton of fun in NM and of course are already missing our family and friends. I'm so sad that we didn't get any pictures of our friends the Reitz's! We were so happy to be able to visit them and see Michelle's cute baby bump! Anyways, we can't wait to get back there to either visit or live sometime soon!!

I promised my friend Heather

2009-04-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

Okay so, here it is as promised! I have to do major updates from all the trips and fun we have been having but before I take time to do that we had our ultrasound today and.............................

It's a Girl!

Why do I feel so compelled?

2009-01-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

I was going over my thoughts on the last post and I was browsing through other people's blogs and realized something about myself. I feel the need to "be fair" and post pics of 1: all 3 of my kids 2: one of each of them separately 3: throw in a pic of jon or me somewhere in the mix. Does it really matter that EVERY child has a pic of themself on every post? No...do they notice? Yes! On one of my posts, I had only posted pics of the boys. I found out later on, through Jon, that Hannah was upstairs crying because SHE wasn't in any of the pictures. Are you kidding me? Anyways, just a thought and Random at that. Some of the new milestones and tidbits about the kids are: (this is basically for journal purposes and so I don't forget before it's too late, so you guys can all skip this)

Zach's pre-school teacher sent me an e-mail about what they had learned and talked about. This was about a month ago. I am going to just paste this from her blog (hope she doesn't mind)....
Today, when Davis and I were doing preschool, I asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up. Kaylie wanted to be a princess, Sleeping beauty. Leah wanted to be a teacher. Davis said he wanted to be an engineer. I asked him what engineers do and he said they build cars. Zach let out a sigh and said, "I want to be a dog." :) Hmmm... (When Zach comes over for preschool, he always lets me know that he needs to lie down on the floor and love Coco, the dog.)

This is Zach, he has persisently asked for a dog with a green leash for over 5-6 months now. This is not going to happen, until we finally give in, but not until after residency. This summer, the Bean's were over for dinner when Candace and Zach had a little talk. Zach (at the time) was in love with Candace. He used to have this huge crush on her and always asked when he could see her. One time Candace even asked Zach if he wanted to go on a "Hot date with her", and if he did he needed lots of money, Because girls were expensive. A week later, out of nowhere we were getting ready to go out with the Beans for dinner when Jon asked Zach if he wanted to go out with Candace? He gets this huge grin and then starts crying dramatically. We ask him why he is crying and he sobs" But I have no money". I can't believe he remembered the money! It was so funny and he often asked Jon for money to take Candace out. If you can't tell, Zach is at a fun age and one thing I want to remember is his love for Firetrucks! Or if you're Zach you call them Fire*ucks! hahah

Jake is so cute and now mimicking all kinds of words, good and bad. His favorite little stuffed animal is a PINK piglet. He has learned duck, duck goose and loves to play it. He jumps off of anything, some of the time landing on his face and laughs about it. He sticks his tongue out when he is concentrating or just plain playing around. He also inherited his brother's love for nakedness! I can't keep my boys dressed! The minute we hit the door, they start getting neked!

Hannah loves/hates school, depending on her mood. When I say mood, I mean HER MOOD. She is very loving towards Jake, who is her baby. She really is a little mom and some of the stuff that comes out of that girls mouth makes me rethink the things that I say as a mom! She's getting it from somwhere right? Her reading has really picked up and she loves it! She also has been asking for a journal and Santa provided a Hannah Montana journal for her. She writes in it often and tells me that it is private and she will tell me the things she writes that is everyday but her private thoughts she will keep secret. I told her that's a great idea and she can write anything she wants in it. She then asked me how to spell Colby(her latest crushes name). OH gosh, it's starting! She really is a loving little girl who loves to cuddle still and LOVES playing with barbies.
Last week I went to drop off Zach for pre-school when his teacher (who was Hannah's primary teacher) told me Congratulations. I said, Thanks! She then said, "Hannah told me you were having a baby a little over a month ago. She said her baby brother was this small (pinching her two fingers together". I know I looked a little dumbfounded because I told her, actually we just found out last week. She laughed a little and told me Hannah has been talking about for a LONG while now. Hum....maybe she knew something that I didn't at the time! A week goes by and Jon tells Hannah that I am having a baby. She didn't know and was so surprised. WHAT?? Wasn't she just talking about it with other people? hahah Oh well! She came up to me and asked, "Is it true?" I said, "Is what true". "Are you having a baby mom?" I, of course, say yes. She gets so excited and tells me it better be a sister because we have been sent a bunch of boys already. For the last few days since she has known she has been such a little helper. She tells me that when the baby comes I can give her chores so I can take care of the baby. She has also volunteered to help with the new baby and of course the old baby (Jake) but Zach is out on his own. Man, I love that girl! She even has already started talking to my belly and asks if it kicks yet. I told her it wouldn't happen till the baby got a lot bigger and she made me promise to tell her when it does.

Well, I guess this post is long enough for one sitting. So if you guys, skipped this, you missed an announcement and you have to read the whole thing to get it! Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Bells are Ringing

2009-01-01T15:36:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, I can't believe it is already 2009. Christmas was so much fun. Having children really brings out the child in yourself. (Not that I need more help)I love seeing my kids cute faces, opening their gifts and laughing. It reminds me of when I was a kid and the excitement just builds up and gets me more giddy. Hannah woke up first and came into our room (It was 7 not bad eh?), "The milk and cookies are gone, The milk and cookies are gone"! Jon tells her to go downstairs so she wakes up Zach and of course we hear sleepy footsteps going into our basement and then screams and running back up the stairs, not so sleepy this time and of course I jump out of bed as they tell me Santa came, Santa came! hahah All of us run downstairs and grab the camera. Oh.....now people seriously. I am looking at everybody's pics of them while they open their presents and their kids are dressed, their hair is done. The mom has makeup on??? WHAT THE??? Not us! We come down in whatever we went to bed in, and start snapping the pics! Not so pretty but...atleast it's us.

Later that evening we got together with the Bean's and the Vest's. We had so much food, but no pics! The best thing about that night is we actually talked the guys into playing games. It was a great night! We've been pretty busy this season, Hannah had her Christmas program. She was so cute! She is growing up so much, it makes me sad. This is a pic with her teacher, Mrs. Binge and one of her friends Morgan.

For Christmas Eve, we decided to make, in Zach's words,"The Best Cupcakes in the world". Well, here are a few pics of them. Notice Jake's contribution when our backs were turned.

I know everything is not chronologically in order but, oh well. The kids had a blast playing outside in the snow. This was the week of Christmas, so yes we had a white Christmas. Zach was the only one to actually stay outside and "help" me shovel. Hannah and Jake lasted all of 5 minutes. Right now, if you are squinting or double clicking to see if Zach is wearing pink gloves and hat, yes he is. That's what happens when you have an older sister.

Our Ward Christmas party was tons of fun. I had to shoot a few pics of the kids on Santa's lap, Jake was as usual such a carefree child and hopped right up on Santa's lap! Gotta love that boy! The ward also put on a skit of the nativity and Jon was a shepherd. He wore my bathrobe and so of course I had to take a pic of him! He looked so cute.

One of the last things we did this year was have Aunt Jenny from New Mexico visit us. We have been having such a good time. We were a little too ambitious and decided to visit Lake St. Clair, because Jenny really wanted to see it. Well....after driving 45 minutes, we got out of the car and of course it's -4 outside. The kids are freezing, I am freezing, and thinking, maybe this wasn't such a good idea. We rush to get a few pics and jump in the car again. So much for dressing warm, so we could walk around a little. Notice how happy the kids look? Well, I am finally ending this post. I have to stop doing HUGE posts! I hope everyone had a great New Years and Christmas.

Warning! Long post...sorry!

2008-12-02T15:49:00.001-08:00

WARNING: LONG POST!

I can't believe I have let time get away from me and so many events that I have not mentioned. Halloween was over a month ago and the kids had so much fun. For family home evening we carved pumpkins and tried to be creative. It was so much more work than I thought, and I wore out pretty easily, but the kids loved them! They had a ton of fun trick or treating and luckily they are still small enough to last one street and then be done. We had a ton of trick or treaters this year, and I ran out of THREE bags of big candy and had to dip into Jake's candy before I finally turned our light off to cut the treaters off. Jake actually LOVED the candy part more than Zach! Zach rode in the stroller asking me to push him up to the door because he was "SO TIRED" and Jake ran to every door grabbing the candy. Hannah was so sweet to take him up to the doors and watched out for "baby Jakey". She is such a little mom to him!

The next big event is of course.....TWILIGHT! I can't believe it's taken me this long to blog about it. I went to the midnight showing with Candace, Rebecca and one of Candace's friend Kelly. We had A BLAST! OH GOSH! I literally felt like one of the MANY teenagers there. We played games in the theater waiting for the movie to start, until the ushers told us it was against the fire policies to sit in the aisle. The movie began and...I was scared! I didn't have HIGH expectations because to be honest movies are NEVER as good as books. And was it? No, of course not! hahah But I LOVED the movie! There were things that I would have liked to have changed, I LOVED the actors, but on an overall I really enjoyed myself. Saturday morning I got up and went again with more people and had so much fun! After the movie, Candace and I went out to lunch and to the mall. I didn't get home until past 5 and it was a great Girls' Day out. While we were at the mall, we passed a Border's and they had lifesize cardboard cutouts of the characters and of course, us being the dorks we are, took pics with my camera kissing Edward. I accidentally knocked all the other characters over and the people who worked there came over and I just apologized and said, "Sorry, we just want to act like a bunch of teenagers for a little bit". He looks at me and Candace HOLDING her baby and laughs. I think they have been getting this a lot. Anyways, I don't know how to get the pics off my phone but if I do, I will just edit it in later.

Now, that Twilight is over, Thanksgiving crept back up. Jon's brother, Josh, came out from Minneapolis to spend it with us. The Beaners and the Kalcinich's (Sorry Ann, I know I spelt that wrong) came over and we had tons of food and fun. Josh was here for almost a week and the kids LOVED him, especially Jake. If you knew Jake you would know he HATES everyone. He took to Josh immediately and wouldn't leave him alone. Leaves me hope for when he sees the grandparents again.

The day after Thanksgiving was so much fun! Shopping, shopping, shopping! I have so much fun and do it more for the experience and the hussle and bussle than the deals that I got. Although I do take that into account. I am finally going to end this post. Most of you have probably stopped reading and just took a quick gander at the pictures. Don't worry I do that myself at times, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Picture Time!

2008-10-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

Here are our family pictures! Zach and Jake were NOT happy doing these, luckily we got a few smiles.

'Da Bears

2008-10-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

Jon and I were able to go to a Bear's game this last Sunday. If you know my husband you would know he is the the world's biggest Bear's fan. He has loved them since he was a kid, and even when they were horrible. We had so much fun together! The Bears won, of course, and the fans were so wild! Never having gone to a professional game (I have gone to MANY Lobo Football games in college though), I had a ball! Between everyone calling each other names and the screaming I was exhausted! We went and picked up the kids from our friend's house, THANK YOU ANN, and went home. Just wanted to share a few pics from the game.

Do you like Urlacher's butt?

And just because they are cute, this is what I found this last week when I went outside to check on the boys. Yes, I had just given Jake a bath!

I just realized I haven't taken any pics of Hannah because she has been at school. Oops! We took family pictures last weekend, so for my next post I will have my new family pics! YEA!

First Days of School and Birthday fun!

2008-09-07T11:35:00.001-07:00

Hannah's first day of school was on Tuesday and she was so excited! Now that the first week has passed, we are happy to report she loves her teacher and is loving school! I did tear up on Wednesday because it was the first day of ALL DAY school for her. I didn't even get sad when she started Kindergarten, but I did for 1st grade. Zach also started a little pre-school on Thursday and he LOVES it! He didn't want to come home on Thursday, and I had to pick him up and carry him out. hahah

School started which means, Zach's birthday! He turned 4 on Wednesday and Darn it! He's just so darn cute! Jon took the boys to Home Depot on Saturday morning (Zach's birthday party day) and they came home in these cute Home Depot aprons! I about died, they looked so cute! For months he has been talking about either a Teletubby cake or a Diego cake. So when we finally sat down to pick one, he ended up wanting a ball cake! hahaha Go figure! He got a new baseball glove and ball for his birthday, so it worked out that I had planned a sports theme when in reality it just so happened what I had! Here are a few pics of the cake and kids!

This last week has been so much fun but already it's getting busy! Soccer has started, school has started, and free time has been cut. I hope everyone is doing well and I'll update soon.

Campout and more!

2008-08-28T16:16:00.001-07:00

This last weekend we went on a campout with our church and the kids had a ton of fun. I mean, WE ALL Had fun! haha I swear, the preparation it takes for only ONE night seems like such a big ordeal for such a small amount of time.

Okay, and the best picture of all....are you ready???...okay...here you go.....

Okay, so this was no make-up, the day after camping....but do you notice anything? Why is it that we (women in general) look like crap and Jon (the men) look great! Doesn't seem fair does it? Oh well! This is me in all my glory! hahaha

Okay Candace and Rebecca do you remember this? We were trying to just take a picture and I didn't realize the movie was on. This was Candace's baby shower! It was just us three and we went to the mall and had California Pizza Kitchen and just looked through stores and then we shared A HUGE caramel apple. IT WAS GREAT!

Alright, not much going on because we are boring right now! Jon is working a lot. He is starting his last month (September) in Ortho and I CAN'T WAIT! It's not horrible, but he is working a lot and he is tired all the time. Hannah starts school on Tuesday, so I will post the first day of school pics next week.

Too obssessed

2008-08-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

Can I tell you how obssessed I am with the Twilight series? My good friend Candace and I pre-ordered a copy in February so we could secure ourselves a copy. At the time, Candace was trying to talk me into going to the midnight release party, and I KNEW that when the time came, we would be so tired, that sleep would be more appetizing than actually going at midnight to a teen release book party. hahaha How little I know myself. Last week we began preparations to...go to the release party and BUY the book that we had already bought off of Amazon. We were THAT desperate. Thursday came (The party was Friday), and I received horrible news. My husband had to work, he had to do his 30 hour shift, so he would be gone at night and couldn't stay with the kids. My heart broke, and then I remembered a few weeks ago one of the young women in our ward begging to spend the night at my house because we had "cool" movies and I was just like one of the girls. This got me thinking. What if I hired a babysitter to just stay and sleep here with the kids? Who cares that this book is going to cost me $100.00 after buying two copies of the book, paying the babysitter and getting dinner for her and US because I sure wasn't going to COOK anything, but I WANTED it that bad. Jon was all for it, Candace was all for it, I had to talk myself into it. I couldn't believe I would spend that money on a, what Hannah refers to as "just a book mom!". Candance, who just had her baby mind you on Monday, got home from the hospital on Wednesday and was GOING to attend with me with her 4 day old baby in tow, is as obssessed as I am. Then the reasonable Bella surfaced. I checked our delivery day, and most likely it would come on Monday. Could I wait two more days? TWO DAYS? That's it! Yes, yes I could. So, no I did not call the babysitter. No I didn't go to the release book party and yes I was in AGONY. Saturday came and Jon got home. We took the kids out for lunch and then put them down for naps. I proceeded to get online and check out...guess? Yes, more Twilight stuff. By about 6:30, Jon had HAD it. He told me to get out of the house and find the book and DO NOT COME HOME WITHOUT IT! I'll put the kids to bed, just Go! Please! I ran...Literally ran out of the house and went to Barnes and Nobles. Guess what? Sold out. Yup! I knew it! Serves me right. I casually went to Borders across the street because I was a glutton for punishment and walked in the doors and low and behold a shining beacon of light caressed my face as my eyes found what they had been looking for. Copies of Breaking Dawn ON SALE 40% off, if you are a Borders member. I, of course was not a member but I am proud to say that I am now! That's right I bought the book. I gleefully skipped, yes skipped people, out to my car and called my friends, Teri and Candace, that I had the book in my hand and I had to go because I was too excited and I had to drive safely home. Now, some of you are wondering where I am going with this story that could have been summed up in 4 words, "I read the book". I stayed up until 1:30 am and didn't sleep the rest of the night. I am not going to go into details because most SANE people haven't read the book in its entirety, so my thoughts, opinions and yes, discussions will have to wait for another post. But I HAD to blog that, "I READ THE BOOK".

Here is another one!

2008-07-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am jumping on the bandwagon because this seems like a lot of fun!

1. Leave a comment on my blog, one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Our fun in the summer

2008-06-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Hannah Hannah and her teacher

Life has gotten so busy, and we are having a lot of fun. Well, to catch everyone up on our happenings, Hannah graduated from Kindergarten. It was really cute and really short which is nice! haha Jon's parents came out the second week of June and we did all kinds of fun stuff. We went to the zoo, the library, the water park and played, played, played. The kids had so much fun and of course we did too! We also went out to dinner WITHOUT the kids on that last Friday night. It's so nice to get out with just adult sometimes. The kids' were so sad to see Grandma and Grandpa to go, but hopefully we will be able to get out there sometime. For those of you who know Jake, he HATES everyone except mom and dad. So, we were VERY surprised to see him LOVING Grandpa. Too bad I didn't get any pics of it! He is the only person he has gone to yet! Sorry Grandma!

June has been a good month. Jon was only on call for one week out of the WHOLE month! YEA! That's of course, after 5 straight weeks of call so it was time. We have been having so much fun. It being summer, we are taking advantage of going to the beaches again. The kids are LOVING it! Of course there is always the worry of sunburning! My kids? nope! ME! I am the sunburn queen and burn within 5 minutes of being in the sun WITH 50SPF! Can't win them all. Jon starts Ortho for the next three months, which we (him especially) are not looking forward to. Besides that, we are doing great. I can't believe that he will start his second year in a week! WOW! Time sure flies.

Zoo Pictures: Isn't this cool?

Waterpark:

Can you tell he loves Grandpa?

To top it off, I decided it was WAY past time to take the training wheels off of Hannah's bike. So, without further ado! Here you go!

Hope everyone is doing well and having fun this summer. Hopefully it won't be as long till my next post. Have a great day!

Birthday's, Floods and Sports

2008-05-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

Many things have been happening around here, and I haven't found time to blog about them. For starters, Jake turned one March 28! WOW! I can't believe he is already one.

He was such a funky looking baby! He was so big and chubby compared to all the other babies in the nursery. Here is he, now a One year old. He's only one, so of course we didn't have a birthday party but I did make a cake and we sang happy birthday to him! He ate two huge pieces, my first baby who loved cake at a year old. He looks SO MUCH like Zach it is eerie. His little personality is coming out and it seems like he's a little trouble maker.

Hannah has started soccer and she is so cute! She made her first goal a few weeks ago and she was so excited. I am already feeling like a chauffeur, she has practice twice a week and every Saturday are her games. I can't imagine when Zach starts up!

Our next fun experience was our house. I came home on last Thursday and went down stairs and our basement was under about 4-5 inches of water. We called our home warranty and they sent a plumber out and he cyphened the water out and unclogged our water sewer drain. Of course, our home warranty denied us because it was techinically an outside source (the drain was clogged with tree roots). I swear, we have tried using our warranty when our heater went out, our kitchen sink, etc and it has been denied. Of course they just sent us a bill to sign up for another year of home warranty. Yeah right! I'm going to pay for insurance then you won't cover anything! Sorry...had to rant a little bit! Anyways, we called our homeowners insurance and yea! They were great! We had flood damage insurance so we will be able to replace our carpet and our floor in the laundry room. We do have a deductible but it could be worse. Anyways, that night consisted of Jon and me pulling out the carpet and cleaning, cleaning and cleaning. Here are a few pics, I forgot to take pics of it under water...I was a little preoccupied! haha

Here are the pics of what the place looked like after we got out almost all the water. Pretty huh? Hopefully we will get everything worked out in a few weeks before Jon's parents get here. So....a few days later was Hannah birthday party. It was themed a Hannah Montana birthday party and she had a few of her friends over. She had tons of fun! Can you believe she is 6! Look how tiny she was.

Well, I'm sure I forgot tons but I got the fun stuff that has been going on. I am getting so sad that my kids are growing up but am so happy too! I look forward to the stages and as much as I LOVE babies, I LOVE sleeping too! Jake is almost weaned, I keep saying I am going to do it and I just give in! He will be 14 months at the end of this month and now is the time. I am looking forward to a little more freedom and just enjoying them! As Mother's Day was a few day's ago I am so thankful to be a mom to three WONDERFUL, BEAUTIFUL, SMART children. I wouldn't give it up for anything. I love their personalities, I love their kisses and hugs and tantrums...well..we'll think about that one. I love my mom and am thankful for her for being a great mom and for never giving up. Okay, enough cornyness. Hope everyone has a great day!

Aren't they cute?

About the hubby

2008-05-01T08:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, sorry Tonya! I am finally getting to this after being tagged awhile back!

What is his name? Jonathan Levi Williamson Aka: Jon or Jonny

How long have you been married? almost 9 years
How long did you date? We met in the end of Nov 98' and were married July 99'. So that makes it, 8 1/2 months.

How old is he? 31
Who eats more sweets? DEFINETELY HIM!

Who is taller? Jon....hahahah Atleast he is taller than somebody! J/K love ya!

Who can sing better? Let's just say we could both be on American Idol and be the one's they make fun of.

Who is smarter? Depends on what subject.

Who does the laundry? It's all on me!

Who pays the bills? me, me and me! When we first got married he did them, but once Hannah was born I took over the duties.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do, although I always end up snuggled up to him.

Who mows the lawn? We both mow the lawn, although Jon definetely does it more than me!

Who cooks dinner? Me! If Jon ever cooks, it is take-out!

Who drives? 99% of the time Jon.
Who is more stubborn? DEFINETELY ME!

Who asked who out first? Jon did, it was after a family home evening activity and we went to dinner with my friend and his friend.

Who has more siblings? He does.

Who wears the pants? I think Jon does more than me. We both have a say but I can NEVER make up my mind so I always leave it to him.

Who saves, who spends? I am definetely the saver! I would save EVERYTHING and not buy anything if it was up to me. Jon isn't a HUGE spender though either, if he spends it is a big purchase once a year or so.

What is one of his quirks? Hahahah Jon has RLS, so he is forever moving his legs and feet in bed WHILE he is sleeping. Sometimes it really keeps me up and I kick him so he will stop.

Who farts more? HAHA I DO! And mine stink worse too!
I tag Candace, Jennie and Jamie.

Jake Walking

2008-03-20T13:23:00.000-07:00

This isn't a very good video because it was hard for me to get one while trying to hold onto him at the same time...anyways...I can't believe how much he is growing up! This is for the grandparents!

I haven't posted pics in a little while. Here's a good one. This is what happens when you go upstairs for a few minutes and leave your boys alone with you coupons that you are cutting and organizing

Here is Zach all decked out. He looks like this EVERYDAY! the boy has to have his weapons.

Jennie and Candace, these are for you! THEY WERE SOOOOO GOOD!! Next time I will chop the pecans up though!

Well, that is about it right now!

Tag...although I didn't get tagged hahah

2008-03-04T18:48:00.000-08:00

20 years ago...I was in Ms. Lucero's second grade class. I remember Halloween because I wanted to be a witch and was so excited because my mom had bought "really cool" makeup that glittered and was green to put on me for the "walk around the school" where they judged your costume. I KNEW I was going to win, I waited and waited for my mom but she never showed. I walked around the school crying because now I wasn't going to win and didn't get to wear the makeup. I saw my mom while I was walking and I knew she felt bad, turns out my mom's car wouldn't start, she locked herself out of the house and couldn't get there in time and finally got a ride to the school. Reminds me of things yet to come for me.

10 years ago...I was a senior in highschool, about ready to graduate. I was the President of the Student Council, in honor society, in MESA, in an All-Star College Cheerleading group (which I was one of the youngest, still being in highschool, and loved being in plays and the drama club..well if you call it a club. I was excited to go to Prom, only to get basically dumped a week before prom because I didn't want him as a boyfriend. Come on guys, really, I just wanted to date a lot of guys! You should understand that! haha My 18th birthday was forgotten by EVERYONE, except my good friend Heather Jewell (Rigby now), and we ate tons of icecream at her house. After graduation, I took a trip with my friend Kat to Utah and also met Jon at the end of this year, and dear-johned my boyfriend (missionary). This year was so much fun!

5 years ago.. I had been married for almost 4 years and Hannah was a year old. We were just looking into Podiatry school and planning to apply for the next year and decided to go ahead and apply for this year and was accepted. We were making plans to move to Des Moines,IA. I was also working at Highpoint Sports and Wellness Gym in the Childcare so I was able to take Hannah with me. We hung out with the Reitz's and Rigby's almost every weekend and we miss them!!!

3 years ago.. We were living in Des Moines and Hannah was almost 3 and Zach was 5 months old. We found such good friends and loved living in Iowa. I loved the people and where we lived and all of my friends. I remember we lived next to this couple that was forever getting into fights and getting called the cops on. I even remember him sleeping in his car some nights! haha My life basically consisted of taking Hannah to pre-school, working out and hanging out with my friends.

1 year ago..We were getting excited to graduate and have a baby #3 and buy a house. I couldn't believe that we had lived in Des Moines for almost 4 years and I was so sad because everyone was leaving and we were moving farther away from family. I was feeling overwhelmed with the thought of three kids. I couldn't wait to move for residency and start this new chapter and of course move into a house!

So far this year..I have loved living in a house and painting and redecorating it. Hannah has started Kindergarten which has been so great! I feel like I constantly clean, clean, clean. I joined a gym and then quit the gym. I found Craigslist and started going crazy, bought new bunkbeds and a Bowflex. Had a hard time getting Jake on a schedule and getting through residency.

Yesterday..I woke up and got out the door by 8:30. Went to Rite-Aid, Walgreens, and CVS for rebate shopping. Came home put away groceries, put Jake down for a nap, worked out while the kids played, fed them lunch, took Hannah to school, went Grocery shopping at Meijer. Got home, put more groceries away. I ate lunch, took a shower, picked Hannah up from school, came home and put Jake down for his second nap. Started dinner, Jon got home, we ate...bath..etc..hahah WENT TO BED!

Tomorrow...Well it is supposed to snow, but on Wednesday's I babysit two little boys, except if school is out because their mom works for the school. So..watch two little kids, do laundry, clean...maybe. haha (okay, I am editing because I haven't posted this yet but we had a snow day so I didn't have to babysit. Instead, Candace came over and we rented Becoming Jane and had a total girl fest at my house while the kids went rampant. We actually got a whole hour to ourselves while we had everyone down for "quiet time". It was awesome! Thanks Candace!)

This year..I am DETERMINED to lose the baby weight. I refuse to have another baby while I am at this weight and even though we are done...haha RIGHT JON? I still want to get healthy. I want to read my scriptures more and spend time with the kids doing more stimulating things. READ BREAKING DAWN UNINTERRUPTED AND WATCH the upcoming movie TWILIGHT while having a girls only rule. I refuse to take my husband to watch this movie, it is a girls' only fest. I also want to have a date night regularly with my husband even if it means paying a babysitter.

Vacation to NM

2008-02-25T14:50:00.000-08:00

We were able to go back to NM for a week at the end of January. It was so nice to be back home and the weather was SUCH A TREAT! We had so much fun seeing our families and doing so much! We were only there a week so we had to crunch in as many people as we could in such a small time. Sorry all you NM friends if we didn't tell you we were coming! We didn't have a lot of time and our priority was to our family. We got in Saturday night and just ate and went to sleep. Sunday we went to Jon's family ward. We were all dressed and ready to go when I called Zach to go, I found him asleep on the stairs. Needless to say he didn't go to church that day.

After church we had dinner and a few friends came over to visit us! Karina and Rob and their kiddos came over, they were passing through and stopped by. Tons of fun to see them again, unfortunately they missed the kids because they had a sleep over at my parents house. The rest of the week was played out with both families, splitting time. It was tons of fun! We also snuck in a little time for friends. I got to see my friend Teri, ( I used to work at Allegiance with her) and the Reitz'. We also went to the museum, Explora! For all you people, this was SO MUCH FUN! Zach had a ball! I could just see his little mind working overtime.
This is at the Explora Museum! They had the coolest elevator! I can't believe I didn't take a pic of it!

These are our really good friends the Reitz's! Whenever we go to NM we ALWAYS go to Fuddruckers with them. We also were able to get together for an evening and have dinner at their house. They have a little boy, Asher who is so cute! He just turned 2. If you noticed, Zach had an accident and had to go around the rest of the evening in a diaper and shirt. Of course compared to Michigan, it felt like summer outside! haha We still got plenty of looks! Corey still spends an exhorbiant amount of money on these machines! Although, he ALWAYS wins! Lucky guy!

The Williamson cousins

My bro-in-law trying to act cool.

Grandpa and kids. Jon and his dad took the kids to the Crest, which is the top of the Sandia Mountains. It's really pretty there and it overlooks the entire city! It's really pretty at night. I took the day off and visited a few friends, Teri and Jess.
Teri and me. Yes, this is my sexy look! haha

Jon's brother and sister. Sorry guys, I had to put this pic up!

The day before we left we took the kids to Chuck E Cheese's with my parents and Jon's parents. This is my mom with Jake!

The kids were so ecstatic to see their cousins and of course their grandparents. Zach just followed Grandpa's around everywhere they went wanting to "help". I was really proud of him, he didn't break too many things this time either. Of course we won't mention the fan AGAIN! Yes, the same one. It was good to see Jon get away from work and relax again. We didn't want to come home at the end of the week but unfortunately Jon had to start his General Surgery rotation. Can I say EWW?? All you people who do this, YOU ARE CRAZY! You hear me ANN!! haha This is his last week of GS and Boy am I glad. We even got a babysitter for this Saturday to go out on a date! YEA! Any ideas people, besides dinner? I have kept really busy this month, while Jon has been gone. I decided to bite the bullet and paint the house. Of course I have only got the kitchen and my bedroom painted. It is a lot more work than I thought! I am taking a week off or so until I get the motivation to finish and pick out the colors I want for the other rooms. Jake also took his first step yesterday. I can't believe it, I just want him to stay my baby. Dang it, they have to grow up. Well, I finally posted about our trip, a month late, but better late than never.

How in the World Can He Hold it?

2008-01-19T07:29:00.000-08:00

Ode to the Toilet

There was a little boy who refused to go poo
how could his mom help him, what could she do?
She asked her friends from afar,
so many ideas she picked from a jar.
Mom gave up and just let it go
Before she bit off her big fat toe.
How can he hold it? All the day long
Like no big deal in a sad sad song.
He tries and tries to no avail,
not wanting to admit that maybe he did fail
but as the sun goes down and the diaper goes on
there is no problem that can be called upon.
Then one night out of the blue
He called to mom to look at his poo,
She got up and checked thinking the worst
and was so proud of her boy, his very first.

ENOUGH SAID!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

2008-01-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

So, Christmas is over! YEA!! But BOO! Hannah had her little Christmas program, which of course she was so darn cute. We had a good Christmas, Hannah was so excited this year and was up at the crack of dawn of course. She really wanted a Barbie the Island princess doll and HighSchool Musical 2 DVD. For the last few months all Zach wanted was a green water hose just like Daddy's! haha Well we finally broke down and got him one for Christmas. Jon had to work that day, so we all got up and opened presents and then the kids and I spent the day doing little projects, and playing with everything they got from Santa. I SCORED this year and Jon got me an automatic remote starter for the car! YEA! I am loving it in this kind of weather. This year I really missed having family around on Christmas. My mother-in-law came out for four days and she came just in time for the kids to get sick. Jake got the brunt of the sickness and is still sick. We finally took him to the doctor and is now on some antiobiotics. Can I tell you how much I hate having sick kids? He hasn't slept in three days...literally! Poor guy, he is doing a better today, but still all goopy. Oh well! I have been having to go to the dentist a lot. DARN YOU DENTISTS!

This is for you Candace....his waweehose.

Okay, so I started this post last week and am just now going to finish it. Jake is now better! YEA! I have been the happiest person in the last two days. Wanna know why? Jake has slept through the night for the last two nights! OH MY GOSH! This is the first time that all three of my children have slept through the night. I woke up at 5 happy and refreshed! I haven't had that much sleep in 6 years! No exaggeration! WOOHOO!

Look at these cute kids! Jake is just crawling everywhere, crawling up stairs, pulling himself up, letting go and cruising around the couches. I don't like it one bit! He is also...as you can tell, thinning out like crazy. We just had his 9 month appointment and he is 19lbs 6 oz! hahah At 4 months he was 18 lbs. I really thought that since he was so huge to begin with he would always be big, nope! He also has 6 teeth now! I can't believe he is 9 months! It makes me so sad to think he will be turning 1 in a few months. Anyways, I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It has taken me long enough

2007-12-14T15:21:00.000-08:00

So, over a month has gone by since I have blogged. I still haven't put any Halloween pics yet, so

without further ado...

So, I didn't dress up Jake but oh well! The kids had ton of fun trick or treating. Hannah actually loved passing out the candy better than getting it! This month has been loads of fun. My parents came out for Thanksgiving and stayed for two weeks! We had a ball, and the kids were in HEAVEN. My dad came out and basically worked the entire time, he did tell me next time he came out to have a list for him to do to the house! Sounds like a good deal to me! Maybe I'll get to painting next time! Anyways, Thanksgiving was great! We had the Beaners and my parents over and we actually PLAYED A GAME! YEA!! The kids were worn out by the end and they fell asleep immediately after the Beans left. Here is a pic o f Jake, being himself. He is totally a momma's boy, and is going through separation anxiety really bad. I finally have been letting him cry through the night. He actually was doing a lot better but then more teeth started to pop through. Our biggest trial right now is Zach. He STILL doesn't sleep through the night. We lock him in his bedroom with a baby gate and he gets up about 4-5 times a night on a good night. We are losing patience with him and out of ideas. I do put him in time out at 3 am and he usually doesn't get up again until 6 but this isn't "curing" it because he does the same thing the next night. Any ideas people? Anyways, we have had a good time over here. I had a whole list in my head on what I would write on and I am drawing a blank. Here are a few random pics from the last few months!

!This is Zach helping me rake up leaves! He is a big helper.Here is our pumpkin carving skills!

Don't worry next time I won't take as long to blog! I better go get these kids in the bathtub!

I've been tagged a billion times already

2007-11-09T17:28:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here it is. I have been tagged like a billion times already and since I haven't posted in awhile I figured I would go ahead and do this. I haven't uploaded the pics from Halloween yet, because they are on Jon's camera, but I'll get to it this weekend. These last few weeks have been SOOO busy. Poor Jon, he had a few days off and he basically took care of the kids while I did all kinds of projects. The only time I saw him and the kids is when he would come get me and say, Jake's hungry! hah I would nurse him and hand him over and continue on with my projects and doing errands! I have been refinishing my dresser and nightstand and painted them black. Yes, I have been addicted to black! ahah I got it from Natalie, I remember her and Rebecca going through a Black stage. I also redid my front room and FINALLY printed my family pics out and got new frames and Painted my old ones to match and made a new wall in my living room. I also...joined a gym! YEA FOR ME! When we lived in Iowa, the gym was my lifesaver and just such a part of my life that I really missed it here. After doing multiple calls and researching prices I finally bit the bullet and just joined one. YEA FOR ME! I am totally loving it again and it is putting me into a schedule. Something that I have had a hard time doing since we moved here. Last month Jon was on him IM(Internal Medicine) rotation, let's just say he is SO HAPPY that he chose podiatry. This month he is doing his ID (Infectious Disease) rotation and he actually lucked out. He got the VA here and it is supposedly one of the best schedules and the one that everyone wants before boards. He usually gets home between 5-6 which is awesome! I am just glad that IM is over! Anyways, here is my "tag".

The rules are you write 6 things about yourself and then tag 6 people and let them know on their blogs that they are tagged.

1. I have always known I DETEST running. I find it so boring but I have found that I LOVE walking! I don't know what the big difference is when you are doing it on a treadmill but oh well!

2. I am a complete SAP! I cry at the stupidest things and am an emotional wreck when I go to movies! Some commercials even make me cry because I find them so sweet. Hannah even comments, Mom always cries when she watches TV.

3. I once started writing a book, and got no further than page one. Periodically I think about writing one and laugh at myself because I am a horrible writer! Jon doesn't understand how someone who reads as much as I do has a hard time writing.

4. I used to never use a dishwasher because I found it easier to wash them by hand. It wasn't until we lived in Iowa for a few years that I caved in from pressure around me and used one and absolutely LOVED IT! Although, I still love to once in awhile do them by hand because I find it somewhat soothing, don't ask!

5. I used to want to be an accountant. I LOVED MATH with a passion! My favorite was Calculus. I know, I know...but I loved figuring out problems and finding the answer! Yes, I was a nerd in highschool!

6. Everyone is going to laugh but...my hair is almost 50 % grey if I don't dye it. Okay okay, maybe not that much but my sides are TOTALLy grey and my top is sporadically grey. Nobody believes me because I am 27 but when I let my hair grow out people start noticing and I get stopped all the time asking me my age! hahah

Okay here you go! I will tag, Candace, Michelle, Jennie, Heather, Courtney and Tonya!

This One is For the Boys

2007-10-22T18:10:00.000-07:00

I can’t take it anymore! My fellow brothers, in the past few months, I’m quite positive that all of you have heard a great deal about a certain vampire series entitled, “Twilight”. Our wives spend every waking moment dreaming of some guy named Edward and can’t seem to put the freaking books down. And I’m quite positive that none of you can stay awake long enough to find out what the series is actually about. I mean, come on, one can only fake interest for so long. In order to put my male counterparts on equal ground with the ladies, I took one for the team. After days of physical and mental preparation, a large dose of anti-nausea medication, and a hefty diet Pepsi in hand, I sat down and listened as Bella explained the books to me. She only had to start over twice: once because the phone rang and once because I had to be rushed to the emergency room after attempting to slit my wrists. Anyway, I thought I’d give a synopsis for all the fellas out there. And this one is for the BOYS! My first review is of the first book entitled, “Twilight”.
Bella is a 17 year old teenager that lives with her mother and step-father in Arizona. She gets sick of dealing with her mom and decides to move to the Pacific Northwest to live with her father who she barely knows. But hey, the grass must be greener on the other side, right? The town that her father lives in also happens to have a family of vampires. Now, I’m not quite sure how that works and forgive me for stating the obvious, but they are VAMPIRES! Is anyone else a tad concerned? I’m really not a fan of anyone sucking my blood and killing me or any member of my immediate family. All I can figure is that since they are living on the “Left” coast, this small town celebrates diversity and welcomes the family into the community with open arms. So what if someone turns up every once in a while on the edge of town sucked bone dry? It must do wonders for the town’s homeless population.
Bella starts at her new school where the vampire kids also attend. This is where she meets, sigh, Edward. Of course they are attracted to each other and after a short stent of the high school mind games, they begin hanging out. Now, I know what you guys are thinking. He is a 17 year old guy. He only wants one thing. Well, being a 17 year old vampire, one would deduce that he actually wants two things: sex and blood. But hold on! The author is LDS so Bella isn’t that kind of girl and either is Edward. Nor does Edward suck human blood. That’s right boys, Edward, the celibate vampire, doesn’t suck human blood. He only goes after animal blood. So if you’re the girl’s father, you’re probably going to be OK with this guy but watch your pets.
Bella and, Sigh, Edward, begin dating. Oh yea, I’ve got to address the age thing. Edward isn’t really 17. He’s like 200 years old. But he’s a vampire so he doesn’t age. Bella may be really attracted to the guy thinking that he is super smart but you’d look pretty smart too if you’d been repeating the same classes in high school for 185 years. And come on, she is 17. The first time he showed up at her house, I half expected a gentleman to emerge from the back room and say, “Hi, I’m Chris Hansen from Dateline NBC and we’re doing a story on adult male vampire sexual predators.”
Bella meets the vampire family and they all become friends. Oh, by the way, if any of you are big on the whole feel good, after school TV special of the week, the vampire dad is a Doctor. That’s right. This poor guy beat the odds and fought his way up from the mean streets of ghetto Transylvania to medical school. Take that Rudy. Anyway, the family and Bella meet up with some other vampires who aren’t so friendly. Long story short, one of the vampires goes after Bella to suck her blood. Bella tries to run but I have been informed by my wife that vampires can run really, really, really fast. Just as this dude is about to suck all of Bella’s blood, sigh, Edward shows up and wastes the guy. Luckily, Edward’s daddy is a doctor and is able to save Bella. A couple of blood transfusions later, all is well and Bella and, sigh, Edward are back together again. Any normal person would probably be ready to walk away from the relationship at this point. Come on, the dude’s friends were trying to eat you. I mean, if K-Fed and Brittany can’t make it work, what chance do they have? But then again, Bella isn’t exactly your run-of-the-mill, 17 year old chick. After all, she is dating a 200 year old vampire. So stay tuned for further reviews of these lame books from a guy’s point of view and stick a wooden stake in me, I’m done.

You're not even a good mom!

2007-10-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

So, I have been a little slacker with blogging, mostly because there has not been a lot happening that I feel would make a good entry. Nothing still has been happening, Jon is working his 30 hour shift today, Hannah went to school, I am still planning and making stuff for her Halloween party and I started potty training Zach AGAIN today. So, As I was thinking about something witty I could write about I came up with NADA! I was sitting on my couch re-reading Eclipse...Yes I know I am a DORK, and Hannah and Zach were playing way too rough. I of course told them to stop A BILLION times, and of course Hannah gets hurts and I say tough luck. She then tell me, YOU'RE NOT EVEN A GOOD MOM! and Runs away. Now, all you people with children not old enough to do this are probably crying in horror because this would be your absolute nightmare. I, on the other hand am laughing. Mainly because this is a new devolopment Hannah has started. I am either a BAD MOM, the WORST MOM IN THE WORLD,YOU'RE NOT EVEN A GOOD MOM, I HATE YOU! She does this atleast once a day, especially if Jake starts crying and I don't get him IMMEDIATELY. She comes to tell me Jake is crying and I say, Ok, thanks hun. Her response is, "You're a bad mom! Go get him right NOW! He's just a cute little baby!" A little bit overprotective of her Jake, but darn it, it's cute! I was a little put off the first time it happened but I figured it's good practice for when they are older and HATE YOU! Anybody else have this problem yet? Or is just my Diva daughter?
BTW....hate potty training. Most of you don't know I GAVE up months ago and figured he's three now and should start but man I hate it. Hannah was such a piece of cake compared to this. I remember somebody said, Potty training isn't hard you just can't be a lazy parent. I totally agree to a point. It is through laziness that I get tired of him peeing all over himself and everything along with cleaning up poop atleast 3-4 times a day.

Picture Time!

2007-09-24T17:51:00.000-07:00

Life has been REALLY hectic lately. A few weeks ago we had a plumber come out to look at our kitchen sink becomes it only drips water, after the visit and a quote of up to 3,000.00, we just put it on hold. The next week we decide to do some work on our furnace, just regular maintenance since it will be getting cold soon, well come to find out it is shot! We put in a call to our Good ole' home warranty just to get it denied and we will have to foot the bill of a new furnace. At the same time we decided to get the kitchen faucet done, because we NEEDED it. Well, after getting the news of the furnace, we decide to TRY to use our Home warranty for the faucet. So we cancelled one appointment and made it through our Home warranty people, they came out the same day and fixed it for 50.00! WOOHOO! I have also had some things at Hannah's school and dum...dum..I am the room mom! I am so excited! Another mom and I are planning the Halloween party for Hannah's class and the MAJOR plus is we can bring our other kids too! This last weekend we had Karina and Rob stay with us for a few days, which was fun and good to see her again...but I missed her kids! DARN YOU KARINA!

Jon's birthday was last Monday and we had a surprise party for him and Aaron. It turned out great and was tons of fun. Saturday we FINALLY broke down and took family pictures! I had one of my friends take them and I think they turned out GREAT! Now comes the hard part and choosing which one is best, So I need everyone's input! There were so many pics that I loved of the kids, don't worry I won't post them all because they are really only precious to me...and my family but I'll give you a taste! Hope you like them.

Mohawk..going..going..gone..

2007-09-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Jake's hair is a bit...styled shall I say. Last week I went grocery shopping at four different stores. (Monday is my Rebate shopping day as well as grocery shopping day), anyways, EVERY single store we went to Jake got called a girl. Now, I didn't think anything of it because heck sometimes its hard to tell what sex a baby is. It got sort of old after the first 3 stores but oh well. Today I had to go to the store again, and within seconds of us walking in, THREE different people commented on what a beautiful little girl Jake was. It was sort of funny this little boy said, MOM look at that boys' hair! The mom looked away embarrassed and said, Honey that's a little girl! She then looked apologetically at me, and the little boy said, Mom...that is a boy not a girl. I started laughing and walked away. Well, one lady said something that really stuck to me. She, of course apologized for calling Jake a girl and said, I'm sorry! The hair through me off." After that, I KNEW it was time to cut Jake's hair. The Mohawk was getting a bit ridiculous and big so I bit the bullet and did the best that I could with a 5 month old.

These are the results, not too bad. Still some rough spots but he was crying bloody murder and wriggling so I gave it a rest. I am still in shock that I cut it, but it needed to be done finally and he looks so handsome!

Zach's Birthday!!

2007-09-13T12:28:00.001-07:00

We had Zach's birthday on Saturday and it was so cute. We invited over a few of his friends and had hamburgers and hotdogs and cake and icecream. I can't believe he is 3 years old!!!!! He wanted a percy birthday cake, and he got some tools, bubble, truck and spiderman toy! He was thrilled. Anyways, here are a few pics!!!

Kindergarten and more....

2007-09-05T14:20:00.001-07:00

OH MY GOSH! LOOK AT THOSE EARS!

Hannah's first day of kindergarten was today! WOOHOO! She was so excited, and I was excited because she is ready to be out of the house. Well, first things first.....yesterday she got her ears pierced! That's right! She did so well...cried a little bit..it was so cute! It sure made me feel like she was growing up before my eyes. She had a great day today and is excited to go back tomorrow. We live within walking distance to her school, which is a plus and gets me a little exercise while I'm at it. Okay, next thing...I have been done with New moon and Eclipse for awhile now and I am so sad. I don't know what it is but I love these books! I am in love with Edward and Jacob. I LOVED Eclipse! I am definitely purchasing these books and re-reading them. I can't wait!

Man isn't she a little poser? She picked out her very own outfit, she loves pink!

Twilight

2007-08-30T07:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, so after hearing about this book over and over again, I decided to check it out. I requested it at the library and what seemed like FOREVER, it was finally in. YEA for me! I went yesterday at 4:30 to pick it up. I was apprehensive of starting this book for a few reasons, 1) there has been so much hype on this book that I was afraid I had built it up so much that it would fall short of expectations. This is what happened with My Big Fat Greek Wedding, after all the hype I watched it and was so let down! 2) What if I just didn't like it! haha 3) I have been having a hard time getting into books since Jake has been born because I don't have time to just sit and read. As I started the book I was hooked! I know this is a teen book (Young adult) and I still consider myself young adult so it worked out! hahah I LOVED IT!!! I actually had received the second book, New Moon first from the library and I refrained from starting it out of pure willpower. I loved the fact that the girls name is Isabella, I felt a connection with her immediately, somehow portraying myself into her. Not because I related to her...only because we had the same name! hahah Edward...oh where do I begin? How can you not fall in love with him? I can't wait to start the second book...today because I am addicted. My poor children, I will become a bad mother today while I read this book. Luckily I read Twilight after I put the kids to bed last night. Let's see if I can hold off on starting New Moon until tonight..not gunna happen! I'm such a sap! I am only hoping that I will get the third installment, The Elcipse, soon too so I don't have to wait! I have no patience when it comes to this! Anyways, I don't want to go into details about the book in case there are people who haven't read it yet but just wanted to let everyone know that I am hooked!

Camping Out

2007-08-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

(The family packing up and ready to come home and bathe!)

Friday night was the Ward Campout at our church. We decided to brave it out and pack up the tent, food and the kiddos. They have been excited and counting down the days since we told them. We had tons of fun, the kids LOVED roasting marshmellows....well they loved EATING them atleast. I hadn't had a roasted marshmellow in forever and to tell you the truth, THEY WERE AWESOME!!! The kids ran themselves raggid until bedtime and when it was time to turn in they were so tired, they fell asleep immediately. They did great....but I was unprepared! I WAS FREEZING all night. I didn't sleep more than a few hours...not because the kids were up, but because I kept fretting that they were cold, or Jake was cold and of course I was cold. I took a blanket to sleep with and gave it to Jake because I only brought him two small ones. Don't ask me what I was thinking, I think I got a little too excited to go. The poor people next to us, their little girl kept screaming ALL NIGHT LONG! They finally gave up at 4 am and got up! We got up, ate breakfast and went for a little walk to a nearby pond. All was going well, until there were wasps EVERYWHERE. They kept landing on Zach and Jon swatted them away and decided we better leave before we got stung. Of course, when do kids listen? We turn around to leave and Hannah starts screaming bloody murder. Yup! Her first bee sting..or wasp sting. Put some medicine and a bandaid and all is well. We packed up and came home and we are EXHAUSTED but had so much fun. Here are a few pics! Enjoy!

Two words=Man boobs

2007-08-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

Okay so all I have are two words....MAN BOOBS!

Jake just had his 4 month dr's appointment and he weighs 18lbs! I can't believe it! Well actually I can, because he is so heavy to carry around. He is teething like crazy and we are just waiting for the teeth to pop through, his gums are sooo swollen poor little guy. He's such a sweetheart and his rolls crack me up! After having two skinny babies, this little chunker is so darn cute.

I had to take a pic of Zach this morning all dressed up in his tie and first pair of dress slacks! I got the whole outfit at a garage sale for 2.00!!! Can ya believe it!

We had a little play date where the kids played in our backyard in the sprinklers. I LOVE HAVING A BACKYARD!
I know it's so corny, but I just think my kids are the cutest. I am so thankful that I have been given this opportunity to have these beautiful children in my life.

Anniversary, Sleepover and playtimes

2007-07-26T18:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, so our anniversary was on the 16th. Jon got me some beautiful flowers! I just wanted to post a pic of them because I thought they were so pretty.

The last few days have been hectic but lots of fun. The Movie theater here have free movies on Wednesday's that show kid movies, so we packed up and went to the movies. The movie was Flushed Away, which was way cute. The kids were great, except for two bathroom breaks, and having to ask a total stranger to hold Jake because my hands were full but it's a good thing that there are nice people out there to help out. After the movie we went to the Bean's for lunch and Ashlyn packed her bags to have a sleepover at our house. Boy, were the kids excited! All evening they played and played and I finally turned off the lights and told them to go to bed and within minutes they were konked out on the floor in our basement! They looked soo cute I had to take some pics.

They woke up early in the morning, but let me sleep in while they watched some cartoons. Jon ended up getting called in and so he missed the whole evening which consisted of painting nails, putting on makeup, doing hair and playing with playdough. Hannah has already asked me when we can have another one and I just need to sleep first before I even THINK about another one. They were great though and I don't have any complaints! These other pics I took because I was going through the pictures and didn't find any pics of me with the kids so Hannah helped me out and took these pics! I think she did a pretty good job.

This ended our fun few days when the Beaners came over for dinner for enchildas, beans, rice and enchiladas! YUMMY!! And I made homemade oreo's (which I got off of Erica's blog)!

Got Milk?

2007-07-26T18:09:00.001-07:00

Zach got the milk out, poured it into his cup and this is him with the finished product! Gotta love it!

Sometimes I feel like a COW

2007-07-18T05:57:00.001-07:00

BEWARE...CONTENTS NOT APPROPRIATE! haha Okay, so I know what you are thinking....Oh you look great for having a baby a few months ago. haha That is not what I meant. Let's not get on that subject, sometimes I just feel like I am nursing ALL THE TIME! Hannah has this song from Sesame Street...I'm proud proud proud to be a cow, I give a lot of milk....That's me! Jake is such a chunker all he does is eat! haha And no...he won't take a bottle. Sleep is something very foreign to me, and I wonder how a person goes on such little sleep and I still really feel alright. Oh well! He is also teething, which means lots of crying. I tell you, it's a good thing he's a cutie! I love tylenol, orajel and teething tablets, when they work atleast! haha Our other newest obstacle is potty training. Zach is doing GREAT! He loves to stand up and pee and gets most of the pee in the potty but refuses to poo in the toilet! I still haven't gotten him to go ONCE! Everyday we have poop in the underwear..what to do, what to do. Nothing I guess it will just take time. This just reminds me how much I hate potty training. If anybody has any ideas, please share! Hannah is just SOO INTO Hannah Montana. For those of you who don't know who that is consider yourself lucky! She is this cute girl (Billy Ray Cyrus's daughter), and has this little tv show on disney about her and anyways, she sings and Hannah loves it! To be honest though, her songs are very catchy and I find myself knowing all the words to the songs and dancing around too. You know it's bad when your kids aren't around and you find yourself watching Hannah Montana and singing along with her. It's time when I catch myself doing this that I immediately scold myself and laugh.Our anniversary was on Monday, but Jon was gone all day so we went out to dinner on Tuesday night. The Beans watched our kids...ALL OF THEM! YEA!! NO KIDS!! It was great! I can't believe we have been married 8 years! Where has the time gone. Just when I think that, I look at my 3 kids and say...oh yea..there it is. I still feel like I just graduated from highschool, then I look at my 3 kids, the crow's feet and um..shall I say few extra pounds and say...man I am getting older! I love it though, and woulnd't go back for anything.

My Look a Likes

2007-07-13T15:02:00.001-07:00

Zach Vs. Jake

2007-07-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know we sent this to a few people but I thought it would be fun to put on here also. About a month or so ago we were looking at Jake and thought, WOW he looks sooo much like Zach. Well below are pics of the kiddos at approx. the same age. Zach is 3 months and Jake is only 5 or 6 weeks but I think they look sooo much alike! What do you guys think? And can you tell which is Zach and which is Jake?

Jake and Zach

Zach and Jake
Okay so I guess I should have told you who is who. Here you go! We dressed Jake is the same clothes as Zach had in these pics! How fun huh? And Amber, no I didn't cut off his mohawk yet, I just wet it down with water for the pic.

Day at the Beach

2007-06-25T12:10:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was a full and fun weekend. The Eager's came down from Ohio to visit everyone up here. We had so much fun and the kids were so excited to see each other. Saturday we went to the Lake and spent the entire afternoon there. Hannah has found out she loves to swim and wants to take swimming lessons bad. Zach is a little more timid and stays to mostly making sand castles, although he has ventured out to getting his ankles atleast wet. Jakes LOVES the outside, I am afraid he might be just like Zach and never wanting to come inside. I am loving Michigan, the lakes are beautiful and makes a good day trip. There are TONS of beaches for kids to play and water galore. I am taking advantage of the water while we can, before the winter hits and the days of outside are gone for a LONG time. Anyways, after we left the Lake we headed home for a quick change of clothes and what we had hoped would be a small nap for the kids. They slept on the way home and woke up as soon as we got home and barely made it to the restaurant in time. We ate at Pei Wei's, which was AWESOME! I kept looking for Pay Day's, thinking that's a weird name for a Chinese Restaurant. We got home around 9:00 and the kids konked out. We had a great weekend with the Eager's and hope to see them soon again.

I have now decided that it might be time to cut Jake's mohawk. I can't committ myself to it yet, but I know the time is near. It is getting really long but I just love it, it's his signature. I can't go anywhere without atleast one person asking me how I style it. (Of course it's not styled, I can't get it to lay down). He just looks so cute with it, but I think in another month I will have to. I'll keep you posted.

Graduations

2007-06-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

Okay so it is official, we have two graduates in the month of May, Jon and Hannah. Graduation was a pretty hectic time, between moving, graduation and everybody being in town, we were just excited to have each event pass behind us. It was a lot of fun though having everybody here and celebrate with us. Our second graduate was Hannah. Okay, so I know what you're thinking, pre-school is not really a REAL graduation, but to a 5 year old it is. Hannah was so excited to wear her cap and gown and sing us her songs. Her little program was adorable, below is a picture of her with her teachers.

Since I am beginning this blog, I figure I should also mention that we added a new member to our family. Jacob Thomas Williamson was born March 28, 2007 weighing a whopping 9lbs 5oz. He is now two months old and going on 15 1/2-16 pounds! He is such a CHUNKER! I laugh because Hannah was 17 pounds at a year old and Jake almost weighs as much as she did at 2 months! Zach is still just such a boy. He is daddy's little helper and really wants nothing to do with mom. He is constantly outside from 8:00 in the morning until naptime and then he heads back outside until dinner and bathtime.

2007-06-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Jon has been after me to start blogging and I keep putting it off. To start things off, we have now officially moved into our new house. Did I say House?? Yes, we bought our first house, which I LOVE! It is so nice going from a little two bedroom apartment with three kids to a three bedroom house. We now live in Michigan where Jon is starting his podiatry residency at DMC. I miss Iowa a lot but luckily some of our friends from Med School moved here so we now know a few people here.