Weekend Fun!

THIS WAS SAVED TO MY DRAFTS...SO IT WAS 2 WEEKS AGO!

This weekend was great!  We are cherishing every MOMENT (more than normal) with Ashton before the baby comes.  Saturday we took him to visit Santa at Maplewood Mall.  With the reaction of last year still fresh in our memory, we were sure Ashton would cry, but to our surprise he did not!  He didn't smile for any of the pictures.  When we asked him to smile he would blink his eyes(something he just started doing a few weeks ago).  Notice in the picture he has quite the grip on Santa's fingers!

Sunday we were celebrating Christmas with my parents, brother and SIL, grandparents and the kiddos.  In the morning we took Asthon out to play in the snow and he did enjoy it.  He generally likes being outside anyways and resisted coming inside even though his cheeks were frozen!  Here are some pictures that I captured of the weekend. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's getting soooo close...

...for Baby Girl Williams to enter this world!  In these last few weeks I ask that you pray for me, Drew, Ashton, the baby, an easy transition into our new routine, my patience...I could keep going!  Last night I asked Drew if he was ready for this and of course he said yes.  We both are and we both feel more prepared than with the birth of Ashton.  But, I am finding myself worrying about and stressing over how Ashton will adjust more than anything.  Any advice from moms and dads with multiple children is welcome!  I am very excited, though, for Ashton and him becoming a big brother!  He is such a joy and brings laughter and smiles to our lives!

I will leave you will a few random pictures of the last couple months or so. 

 

...Well, I guess just two.  Computer is not cooperating!

Fall Fun!

We ventured to the pumpkin patch this year with Ashton.  It was more than just a pumpkin patch; they also had a petting zoo.  Ashton LOVES dogs and cats so we thought this would be a fun outing for him. 

It was our intention (well, my intention) of keeping him in the stroller.  I didn't want to have to worry about him getting some disease/sickness from touching the animals and this was my way of trying to control the situation.  I know, how ridiculous does that sound?  ...I'm working on that!!!!  Anyways, Ashton was out of the stroller as soon as we entered the gates.  He thought it was pretty cool having some of the animals eat out of his hand.  If you could have heard the screeches (happy screeches) coming from his little body, you would have been on the floor with laughter!  It was very cute!

After the animals it was off to pick our our pumpkins!  It was a great fall day with the family!!

 

 

Our Creator

About a month ago I was out with the girlfriends having dinner.  The topic of my unborn baby came up.  I remember back to that conversation and saying "I hope she looks like this or doesn't look like this...blah, blah, blah."  Who am I to be picky or want her to look a certain way?  She will be beautiful just the way she is because God created her in His image!  My sister in law actually reminded me of this, unbeknownst to her!  We were up north this past summer with the family and Maria was going to take some pictures of her kiddos.  I overheard her say to her son, "you don't need to wear that to be handsome" (speaking of a tie or something) and then she asked her son why that statement was true.  He replied because God made me handsome in His image.  Wow!  Thanks Maria for constantly living God's Word.

Progress

Drew has been busy working on the baby's room.  He loves projects and this was no exception.  It turned out GREAT!!!

 

 

Since these pictures were taken we have added to the bedding (skirt, sheet, and bumper).  Now it is up to me to find some decor for the walls (although I would like to make some thing), garbage basket, clothes hamper, lamp of some sort...the list could keep going!!

 

I have definately not taken as many progress belly pictures with this pregnancy as I did with Ashton.  I will leave you with the only two I have done so far. 

 

 

 



15 months (a month ago!)

 

 

 

 

Thank you, Maria, for some wonderful pictures!  We absolutely love them!!  Some facts about Ashton at 15 months old:

 

-32" tall

-24 lbs. and 9 oz.



-Favorite food: grilled cheese - I sneak veggies in there :), yougurt, BBQ chicken
-Favorite fruit: bananas, peaches, kiwi
-Least favorite food: cottage cheese
-Words he is saying: wow, da-da, mom, cheese, fishies, go
-Favorite thing to do: play outside
-Favorite book(s):  First Words Picture Book - Where is Baby's Valentine - Let's Go to the Farm
-Sleeps from about 6:30pm to 6 am with one nap in the morning (we try the afternoon naps but for the most part he just sits in there and talks to himself!), needless to say, he is very tired by bedtime.
-Drew and I got new bicycles and a "pull-behind" rider for Ashton - he has the BEST time back there
-Loves to give kisses and is starting to cuddle with us more!  He went through a little phase where cuddling was not so much his thing : (
-Ashton is a very energetic and happy boy!  We fall more in love with him and his personality every day.  He is such a joy to be around and is grow up to be a wonderful little boy!

I am reminded

So on the way to drop off Ashton at my mom and dad's house (she watches him on Thursdays while I work), I heard a song, one that I have heard before, and it shed some light on my previous couple of days and previous blog post.  It is by Steven Curtis Chapman and the song is called "Do Everything".  The first couple of verses and chorus go like this:

You're picking up toys on the living room floor for the 15th time today

Matching up socks

Sweeping up lost cheerios that got away

You put a baby on your hip

Color on your lips and head out the door

While I may not know you, 

I bet I know you

Wonder sometimes, does it matter at all?

Well let me remind you, it all matters just as long

As you do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you,

Cause he made you,

To do

Every little thing that you do 

To bring a smile to His face

Tell the story of grace

With every move that you make

And every little thing you do

No matter how monotonous my days at home may seems, I am living for the Lord.  As the lyrics remind me, I need to bring a smile to His face with every thing that I do; even though it may be picking up Ashton's toys, cleaning his high chair tray, wiping a runny nose, laundry, making dinner, etc.  Each day is a gift and I need to treat it like that.  Ashton doesn't know the difference between what we did one day versus another.  I am humbled that I get to experience such change in Ashton day after day.  He is truly a gift!  Everything is so new to him; he is constantly learning.  I am learning to not get caught up in the daily routine and be excited for what each new day brings.   

 "Little stuff

Big stuff

In between stuff

God sees it all the same"

God's grace is something God does for the benefit of His people just because He loves them, not because of something they have done to earn it.  In my day to day life, I have to realize that God is here to help me and I need to accept His help and His grace.  These are beliefs and values that I want to instill on our children and I hope, by the grace of God, it will be accomplished!

In writing this post, I saw something on Facebook totally made sense to me and is said perfectly:

you will never have this day with your children again.  tomorrow, they'll be a little older than they were today.  this day is a gift.  breathe and notice.  smell and touch them; study their faces and little feet and pay attention.  RELISH THE CHARMS of THE PRESENT.  enjoy today, mama.  it will be over before you know it.  (jen hatmaker)

Before...and...After

 

I swear, half of my day is spend cleaning up!!! 

Fun Weekend

What a great weekend this was!  Nothing particular about it made it stand out, but I would have to say one of the better ones in a while.  We have some friends who are getting married next month so Saturday was the bachelor party so Drew was off doing that and I was at the bridal shower.  The bachelorette party was also yesterday but I stayed home with Ashton...and let's face it how much fun would a pregnant lady be down in Minneapolis for a bachelorette party!?  Anyways, Ashton and I had a nice afternoon and evening together.  He decided to call it a night around 6:30 or so (actually that is the time he typically goes to bed for the night)!  To my surprise, I actually got to sleep in!  Ashton still gets an A.M. bottle and he went back to bed until 7:45; that NEVER happens!!!  We met my mom at Key's for some breakfast so that was a nice treat.  Drew got home and we ended up going out on the boat on to Forest Lake for the afternoon, which was really fun!  It was such a great day and Ashton did so well out there!  We ended the evening with a little pool time at Grandma and Grandpa's.  It was a fun filled weekend; needless to say we are all a little wiped out from all the sun!

Catch Up!

I know I had promised to post pictures of Ashton's birthday, but I just have one for you : (  This is from his party about a week later.  His actual birthday (well, the day after - if you read the previous post you know what I am talking about) we captured with on his grandma's phone.  I need to get them from her!

It was a great day for a party; a little warm, but I will take that anyday over rain!  Grandma's, Grandpa's, Great's, aunts, uncles, and cousins help us celebrate are sweet baby boy turn 1!  I think I have mentioned before, but I cannot believe how fast that year went!  We were really busy is seemed like!  We will be busy for the rest of the year as well because Mid-December we will be welcoming our newest addition to the Williams' family!  I am about 14.5 weeks along and we could not be more excited!  We can't wait for our family of three to grow!!!

On a completely different note, I took some pictures last night of Ashton in the bath and thought I would share because they are so dang cute (I think)!

Not Quite the 1st Birthday We Had Imagined!

One year ago (yesterday) our sweet baby boy was born!  "Can you believe it?"  is what I heard quite a bit this last week or so.  My response to that was, "Yes and No!".  The year went incredibly fast, yet I feel like it went slow enough to enjoy our first year together...if that makes any sense.  Typically, Ashton goes to my mom and dad's house on Tuesday and she watches him for the day over there but she is out of town and we had to resort to good 'ole day care.  In a bind, we have brought him before but I think this was only his 4th time going there.  I didn't call and check in at all; I thought if I haven't heard from them, then everything is o.k.!  I picked him up and it was.  He had a great day they said besides the fact he only slept for 30 MINUTES ALL DAY LONG!!!  This is NOT normal.  When I am home with him he will sleep any where from 1.5 to 2 hours twice a day.

Our plan last night was not to do anything really huge for Ashton's birthday as we are celebrating with the family in a week or so.  But, I did buy a couple of cupcakes, candles, and a balloon and Drew's parents were going to stop by and see him.  I wanted to get a family picture, I wanted to sing Happy Birthday while the cupcake was on the tray of the highchair...on his actual birthday.  That did not happen....none of it!  Ashton fell asleep on the way home from daycare, I carefully took him out of his car seat and he stayed sleeping on my until 5.  At that time we were going to have dinner and that is when everything fell to pieces.  Ashton threw the biggest tantrum I have ever seen him throw (actually he never throws tantrums).  I thought maybe he bit down on a cheerio and it hurt his gum.  I thought the screaming and kicking would pass.  Well, it didn't for about 30 minutes until Drew got home.  By that time I was such a mess because I could not comfort my child.  I did not know what to do.  I did not know what he wanted.  And this is not the way I pictured his 1st birthday to be.  I was upset to say the least. 

It was about 5:30 at this time and we decided that he was extremely tired so we put him in his jammies, made a bottle, and we were going to put him to bed.  That is exactly what he needed/wanted.  He wanted to be held, and loved, and drinking a bottle, and put to bed.  Mind you I am still crying this whole time (I have been on a emotional roller coaster lately)!  As Drew and I were kissing and hugging sweet Ashton before putting him in his crib we did manage to sing Happy Birthday and we got the biggest smile from him and at that moment everything was o.k.  Drew reminded me that Ashton will not remember his 1st birthday so if we celebrate it a day late; who cares?! 

So that is what we are going to do.  Celebrate his 1st Birthday a day late, take a family picture, play with the balloon, sing, and eat cupcakes!  I will post pictures later!

He's on the move!

We have been working with Ashton trying to get him to crawl or at least get him to stay on all fours for longer than a second!  Well, mission accompolished!!  Today Ashton made a new record for himself; almost across the living room floor.  He has to be bribed with toys, but whatever will do the trick! 

Also, we celebrated his 9 month birthday a couple weeks ago!  The doc said he is very healthly and growing well.  We were very happy to hear that. 

At 9 months:

19 lbs 10 oz

28 1/2 inches long

Favorite book:  Thomas and the Hurricane (not mine!)

Recently started sleeping on his stomach

LOVES his stuffed monkey - he will hug and kiss it all day long if we let him

Knows "pat-a-cake" and will start clapping when it is sung

LOVES bath time - the other night I was getting him out of his high chair and he was grunting towards the sink (Grandma Williams give him baths in the sink).  It wasn't bath night so I walked away and we headed towards the bathroom.  He saw the tub and went nuts when I walked out the door.  He was so heart broken that he couldn't go swimming...so we gave him a bath and he had so much fun playing in there!

Love to eat: bananas, blueberries (although we were just told probably not the best to give to him because the skin could get stuck in his throat), yogurt, peas, carrots, ... he basically loves to eat everything so no complaints in the food department! 

Can't believe Ashton will be 1 year old in a couple of months!  Were did the time go...now on to planning his party!





His First Month

So, I had the idea that I would store pictures of Ashton by month on the computer.  I was doing really good then it fell by the way-side.  Last night I was looking through "June 2011" and though I would share some pictures.  It seems so long ago that Ashton was a newborn.  BTW, I was cleaning out his dresses and putting away all of his clothes that were too small....there were A LOT of them!  Anyway, there are the pictures...

I can't believe Ashton will be 9 months at the end of February!!!

My favorite little man!

I don't really have any thing specific to share on this post...just pictures of my cute 'lil baby!  Ashton is growing so much and so fast.  I cannot explain how much love I have for this little person.  Other parents will say the same, I am sure!  At the end of the month Ashton will be 8 months old (already : ( )  It's bittersweet; I love my little baby but he is quickly turning into a little man!  Cuddle times are far and few between - he is 110% from sun up to sun down...literally.  He wakes up at 5 or so and goes to bed around 7.  It seems like the days we don't have to be out of the house early he is up early and the days we have to leave at 7 am he is still sleeping!  



SUCH a good eater!  Favorite:  sweet potatoes, turkey, applesauce, bananas





Ashton was sick last week and he attention span was pretty short.  Dad tried everything and anything to keep him entertained.  Pulling Kleenex out of the box did the trick for a while!  What is it with the Williams' putting things on their head!?