Adventures of the Williams Family

Ten on Tuesday

2012-02-13T22:00:00.000-06:00

1. Lincoln couldn't get his arm out of his sleeve the other day and said, "This is driving me crazy!" He soaks up phrases he hears like a sponge. Other fun ones? "I bonked my noggin'." "I'll be back in a minute. Wait here." and "I need to go check on Mason."

2. Mason. Is. Huge. I'm one wrenched elbow away from making the Great Carseat Switch.

3. Mason is also supercute (one word). Just so there's no confusion.

4. I've been hanging up pictures and stuff in the house. Nothing wrong with that. I've only owned the house for almost 5 years.

5. In my defense, it's probably the fourth iteration of a furniture arrangement in the living room, and we're in the middle of totally redoing Lincoln's room into a Cars room for the (two) boys.

6. I signed up on the Primary substitute list when they passed it around in Relief Society a few weeks ago. Now, I'm not saying that was a mistake, but I AM saying I've subbed 2 weeks of the 4 since that paper went around. Luckily, singing time is so much better than grown-up Sunday School.

7. Lincoln loves this shape app on my iPad. Unfortunately, it doesn't lock, so he can push the home button. I know for a fact he's gone into photobooth and taken pictures when he was supposed to be "reading mama's pink book."

8. We're practically counting down to The Hunger Games. Anyone want to come watch the kids so I can drag Tyler to the midnight showing with all the crazies?

9. I've been using my iPhone to take pictures lately. There's also a blogger iPhone app. One of these days, that will mean more regular blogging.

10. In case you missed it, I decided to start doing Ten on Tuesday posts. I'm hoping I can start working on it during the week and then just remember to publish it once a week. Wish me luck!

Top 10 of 2011

2012-02-01T21:30:00.000-06:00

We are way behind on updating our friends and family on our 2011 (and we have not updated our blog in some time). We thought a good idea for doing both would be to put together a list of the ten most exciting things that happened to us in 2011. While there were clearly some exciting things that happened to our family during the year, many of the most exciting things happened "around us:" Tyler's brother got married, Kelli's sister is moving to South Korea for a year, Tyler's dad was called to the stake presidency, Kelli's mom got a new job, and Tyler's sister was diagnosed with leukemia. Nevertheless, some exciting things happened to us as well. Here goes.

1. Lincoln's Birthday

In January, Lincoln turned into a 2-year-old! I made his cake, which I blogged about on my craft blog. He loved it. It has been fun to watch him turn from baby to toddler to little boy.

2. Great Blizzard of 2011

Also in January, we had a huge snowstorm. The town was shut down for almost a week. That's the way I prefer my snow - limited to one week of the year. Lincoln did not like the snow, but we thought it was pretty fun.

3. Road Trip!

Tyler's brother Jake married Courtney Edwards in March. To get the whole Williams clan out to Utah, we rented a 15-passenger van, piled in, and drove for 3 days. The kids (1-year-old Emmett, 2-year-old Lincoln, 3-year-old Gwen, and 5-year-old James) were amazingly well-behaved. But I'd still prefer not to repeat that drive for a while. Or ever.

4. Tornadoes and Power Outage

On April 27, 137 tornadoes were reported in the South. The whole of North Alabama lost power, and it took several days before we got it back in Huntsville. It was surreal to be in the middle of so much devastation and really only be inconvenienced. We felt so blessed to be spared the worst of it. We did a lot of cooking on the grill, played a lot of board games, listened to the radio, and went to bed when the sun went down. It was kind of nice to disconnect a little bit.

5. Cars 2

We took Lincoln to see his first movie in theaters this summer. It turned out to be better on the small screen, but at least he liked running in the halls.

6. Mason Arrives

On August 30, we welcomed Mason Bryce into our family. He arrived 5 1/2 weeks early because I developed preeclampsia with this pregnancy as well. He had to stay in the NICU for a while, but progressed quickly and was able to come home after only a week.

7. Tate Farms Trip

In October, we went up to Tate Farms to pick pumpkins and generally celebrate fall. It was a fun day-trip with Tyler's sister Angela and our niece Gwen.

8. Halloween

For Halloween, we dressed as Toy Story characters. Lincoln was Buzz Lightyear, and we dressed Mason as one of the little green aliens. Tyler had the clever idea for us to dress as Andy and Bonnie. Lincoln loved trunk-or-treating, and caught on pretty quickly to the concept of walking around and demanding candy.

9. Lincoln's Favorites

As Lincoln approached age 3, we started quizzing him on his favorite things. We like the idea of memorializing the things he likes at this age and figure this is as good a place as any. They are:

Drink - chocolate milk
Food - Eggos
Color - blue
Movie - The "monster truck movie"
Song - In the Leafy Treetops
Best Friend - "Baby Carson"

10. 90th Percentile

By his 4-month checkup at the end of the year, Mason was in the 90th percentile for both height and weight. He got his dad's head, which is off the charts. We may or may not refer to him, occasionally, as Gigantor. He. Is. Huge.

Here's to an exciting 2012.

Mason

2011-08-31T21:15:00.003-05:00

Update: Mason and Kelli are both doing well. Kelli's doctor let her go off the mag a little early and she is doing much better. She is able to eat again and is up and walking around. Best of all, she has been able to go up and see Mason. We have been together three times today. He is doing well. He is breathing on his own and seems to be doing a good job regulating his temperature. They have moved him to an isolet - a step between the first get-up he was in and an open crib. He is also eating pretty well. We have been able to give him a bottle twice and he guzzles it down. We hope that he will be able to get the IV out soon as a result. He also really likes the pacifier, which is one difference with his older brother. However, they look very much alike.

Thanks to all who have offered prayers and well wishes. We are so grateful that Kelli is on the mend and that Mason is doing so well. Our hearts break and sympathies go out to the parents of the babies in the NICU who are not doing as well.

Now for the fun part. Video of the first bottle Kelli got to give Mason.

And Second Time to the Rodeo Makes Four

2011-08-30T18:47:00.001-05:00

Announcement: We are now a family of four. Mason Bryce Williams was born via c-section on Tuesday August 30, 2011 at 12:20 pm at Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children. His due date was October 6, so he is 5 weeks and 2 days early. Nevertheless, he weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz and was 18 inches long. Kelli developed preeclamspia again, so yet another early baby - hence our second time to the rodeo. Lincoln was born at 36 weeks and weighed just five ounces more.

Mason is having a little bit tougher a time breathing than Lincoln did and is in the NICU. We anticipate he will have a several days' stay there, where Lincoln did not. He is making good progress, though. The big downside is that we have to go to him for visits and cannot keep him in our room with us. What is more, Kelli is on magnesium post-delivery for the high blood pressure. This means staying in the bed and only liquids for 24 hours (until tomorrow afternoon). As such, she cannot go see Mason until tomorrow. They did let her stop by on the way back from recovery. We are grateful that both Kelli and Mason are doing well and are excited to start our life as a family of four.

Mason is named for his grandfathers - indirectly. His middle name, "Bryce," is a combination of Brian (Tyler's dad) and Bruce (Kelli's dad). His first name, while continuing the historical theme, was also Papa Williams' nickname in high school. This apparently had something to do with a 70s musician famous for a song called "Classical Gas." Mason and Lincoln have wonderful grandfathers and Kelli and Tyler have amazing fathers. We hope that both follow in the examples of Mason's namesakes.

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and well wishes. We would appreciate your continued prayers for Kelli's speedy recovery and for Mason's quick progress, so he can come home soon.

Now for some pictures. These are all in the NICU. The "bow" on his head is an IV.

Mid-year Update

2011-06-06T20:49:00.006-05:00

With the year half over (almost), we thought it would be good to update those of our friends and family who read our blog. Kelli and Tyler are fine, so let's get to what's really important - the kids. That's right. I said kids.

Per our last post, we are expecting a new baby. We recently found out that we are having another BOY. We were kind of expecting a girl, so it's thrown us (particularly Tyler) for a bit of a loop. We have a name for a girl. We have no idea what to name this boy. Luckily, we have a few months to settle on one. We are excited and hope he's just like Lincoln. Because he's pretty great. And, besides, if we get two of those giant hamster wheels, we could probably power the house next time there's an outage.

Some pics from the ultrasound:

Lincoln used to throw his head back like that second picture. It's crazy how similar they already seem. Speaking of Lincoln:

Lincoln is growing up so fast. He will be two and a half next month. His language is exploding and he is learning his numbers and letters. He can count to 9 and amazes us every day with the things he has picked up. Some of our favorite things he does/says:

Anytime we leave his room at bedtime, he reaches out and says: "Wait, guys!" or "Wait, Ma!" or "Wait, Da!" or, my favorite, "Wait, Ma-Da!"
We have had colds recently and Kelli has had a cough. After one of her coughing spells, Lincoln called "Mom, you ok?"
Speaking of "ok," when Lincoln falls down, he almost always will hop up and say "I ok!"
Lincoln does not like to hold your hand. When you try (especially when he's trying to do something he shouldn't), he will jerk his hand away and say: "No! My hand!"

I'm sure that everyone thinks their kid is the cutest, but we just have a blast watching Lincoln grow and learn and say funny things.

We had another trip to the ER a couple Sundays ago. Lincoln had croup and was having a hard time breathing. He didn't like the breathing treatment they gave him at the hospital. He kept trying to take it off and would scream "I done! I done!" Poor kid. It helped though and he is doing much better. We did learn that, if you have to go to the ER, 7 am on a Sunday is the time to do it.

And some happier pictures. (We couldn't end with that one.)

News!!! And the Hospital

2011-04-09T20:38:00.000-05:00

It seems like we update this blog more when it involves babies and hospitals. I think that's probably because that's when people most want to know how things are going. So speaking of babies and news, we announced it on facebook (on April Fool's Day, cause that seemed fun), but for those who missed it, the Williams baby bump watch is confirmed. I'm due October 6.

And that's the news. Now, the hospital. I was in the hospital on Thursday. For anyone that doesn't know, I have chronic daily headache and migraine. When I'm not pregnant, I've found preventative medication that I can take that helps me manage them. But when I'm pregnant, I just take what I can and take it one day at a time, and some are better than others. I had a really bad migraine wake me up Thursday morning, and I couldn't even lay down because it hurt so much. So I was sitting up between 3:30 and 7:30 or so when I decided the medication I had wasn't cutting it, and I needed more help. My OB had said I could go in to the hospital for a shot of demerol when it got too bad, and I've never had to before (even with Lincoln), but I needed it Thursday.

I had Tyler take me in because I was hoping they could just give me the shot, it would start working, I'd be all loopy, and Tyler could take me home and then get to work about an hour or 2 late. Oh, I'm such an optimist. First, Dr. Petersen wanted me to stay for at least an hour so they could see how I responded. Which, of course, makes tons of sense. But an hour after the shot (which wasn't until we'd been there about 30 minutes), I had to conclude that the demerol did not even touch it. I couldn't believe it. Luckily Dr. Petersen figured out I was probably dehydrated, so they had to place an IV to give me some fluids. I sent Tyler to work then; I knew it would be a while before I left.

I was so dehydrated that it took them 4 tries before they could finally get the IV in, and they had to use the smallest needle they have, the ones they use on infants. I have no idea how it got that bad since I drink water like it's going out of style, but it obviously happened, so there you go. After we got the medication right and some fluids in me, I felt MUCH better. They finally let me go about 6 hours after I showed up. But it was worth it.

Then I had a migraine again yesterday morning, so I medicated with the new meds my OB had ok'd and stayed home and drank water until my stomach hurt to try to hydrate and avoid going back to the hospital. I feel much better today.

War Eagle!

2011-01-30T15:02:00.000-06:00

I give up. I wanted to do something cute and clever with this post, but since these pictures are from SEPTEMBER, that's obviously not going to happen. We got together with some friends for the first Auburn game of the season. Lincoln is right in the middle of their kids, 9 months younger than Hunter and 9 months older than Kaylee, so the three kids had a lot of fun. And we didn't plan it, but Lincoln and Hunter were twinners (It's almost inevitable when we're both such fans of Target, right?) in their Auburn jerseys.

You'd think we've stopped taking pictures of Lincoln or something since we've been so bad about posting. But appearances are deceiving, we definitely have some great shots from the last few months. We'll try to get those up in the next year or so...

Flip Video Fun

2010-10-28T07:26:00.001-05:00

We recently got a new flip video camera and took some fun clips of Lincoln. So, enjoy...

Lincoln, pretending to be asleep. Listen closely for the snoring sounds.

Singing, until, of course he notices the camera.

Showing us his nose.

And, finally, giving kisses.

It's Been a While...

2010-10-27T11:10:00.011-05:00

...since we updated this blog. So, I thought, at the very least I would post some recent pictures of Lincoln. This way, those who care can see how big he is getting.

Lincoln runs everywhere...

He runs to you...

He runs away from you ...

Sometimes he stops to check things out.

Or to tell you something....

He is very inquisitive and is really starting the jabber. Some of the words one can recognize are: mom, dad, CAR (he LOVES cars), juice, shoes (sometimes indistinguishable from juice), Mater, snack, milk, ball, button, sock, and I'm sure there are more. He likes to dance around and is pretty good at it (we'll get some video posted). He is so much fun. We could talk about him forever and think he's the best kid ever.

**I should add that these pictures were taken by a friend of Kelli's who is an amateur photographer. She does a great job. People local to the Huntsville area should check her out.

Aunt Jana

2010-07-27T10:07:00.006-05:00

My (Tyler's) Aunt Jana passed away this weekend after a several years battle with cancer. An obituary can be found here. Jana is my dad's older sister. They have a younger sister, Terri Lynn, who died from a brain tumor when she was a teenager. One sweet thought is that Jana and Terri have been reunited.

Jana was always a "good" aunt. She is a sweet, good-natured person, who was always kind. I can never remember a time when I thought she was mean or mad. She always had a smile and a kind word, even when you knew she wasn't feeling well. And she has an infectious laugh. It was always evident that she deeply loved her family, not only her husband, children and grandchildren, but her siblings, nieces, nephews and parents. Some of my earliest memories are of riding my big wheel from our house to hers (when I was very young we lived in the same neighborhood). I don't remember many details, but I remember that I liked the feeling of being there.

Jana was also a selfless person, often in the background quietly serving others. When Kelli and I got married, Jana had to miss the events because she needed emergency surgery to remove a tumor from her brain. As I recall things, this was when her cancer was discovered. Even though she was in the hospital, we still had a gathering that was planned for her house with my extended family and Kelli's family. The party went on and it was important to Jana that it still take place, and at her house. In spite of what she was going through, Jana was concerned that her situation not be a hamper on ours (mine and Kelli's) special day. I was touched by her concern at the time, and will always remember the kindness expressed, even though I did not get to see her on that trip to Utah.

While I know that she had reached the point in her illness that death was a mercy, she will be missed. I will miss her. I know her sweet family will. I also know that, for her, the separation will be brief until her family joins her, and she will await that time in a place of peace and rest. I know that, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can all live eternally with God and with our families. He is the resurrection and the life and those that believe in Him, though they are dead, yet shall they live (John 11:25). I am grateful for the example and love of people like Jana that I have been blessed to have in my life, and more grateful for the peace that comes from knowing that the separation imposed by death is a temporary one.

Dinner Time

2010-07-23T15:31:00.004-05:00

I've been hearing a lot about e-mealz and other resources that provide you with a weekly menu and shopping list. I love the idea! The problem is that after we (Tyler and I) both get home from a full day's work, the last thing we want to do is spend 40 minutes "whipping up a quick dinner." We have our old stand-bys (like tacos), but I really want to make an effort to add some variety to our meals AND make them a little bit healthier. I'm thinking the way that would work best for our family would be crock-pot meals. I would love to throw 5 ingredients (give or take, but no more than 10 minutes worth) in the crock pot in the morning and come home to a delectable smell and ready-to-serve meal .
Pretty much all I have in my crock-pot repertoire is black beans and taco soup. And those are blah by about try 3. I'm intrigued by this book, but they don't have it at my library, and I've had a bad experience buying a cookbook without looking at it.

I think that A Year of Slow Cooking, among other blogs, could be a good resource, but I'm really looking for recipes I can (quickly) throw in the pot on low in the morning and then be done with it.
Do you guys have any books or websites you'd recommend? I'm seriously considering compiling recipes and making this the subject of my e-book goal (#15), but I hate to reinvent the wheel. Any suggestions are very appreciated!

I Love Technology...

2010-06-20T16:51:00.004-05:00

...But not as much as you, you see.

Happy Father's Day, Sweetheart. I couldn't ask for a better eternal companion. You're my rock and my anchor in the storms of life. I love you.

This Isn't As Bad As It Looks...

2010-05-23T20:10:00.003-05:00

He went in to the office and walked out carrying this. Trying to get something out of it. An empty IBC root beer bottle. I literally ran around the house trying to find my camera to get a picture of this. Classic Lincoln.

Returning To The Scene Of The Crime

2010-05-18T14:10:00.006-05:00

Last week we went out to Utah to attend a friend's wedding. I'll give more detail in a later post. We were running late when we drove up, so Tyler stayed outside with Lincoln while I almost ran to slip in at the last minute. Luckily I made it, but Tyler had some time to kill. I was pretty bad about taking any pictures (I didn't even get one with Mardee!) on the trip, but at least Tyler got this one of Lincoln:

He's standing (and by "standing," I mean "sitting") at almost the exact spot we were standing on when this picture was taken 2 1/2 years ago.

It's crazy how quickly things change.

Watermelon Sugar Cookies?

2010-04-17T11:52:00.002-05:00

We LOVE the sugar cookies at Target. If you don't know what I'm talking about just from that statement, send me an email. Cause we need to talk.

So here's a warning for all you other sugar cookie lovers. When you see a box of mini sugar cookies that looks like this:

...and after you go through the initial horror of "what did they DO?!" you approach them a little closer and realize they used food coloring and sprinkles to make them look like little watermelons! Cute, right? And food coloring doesn't have as strong a taste as it used to, so you think, "hey, they're sugar cookies! What could go wrong? Let's give it a try."

Mistake! They also added flavoring! I am talking back-to-third-grade watermelon bubblicious taste! Yuck. That taste belongs only in bubblicious. I think the whole rest of the carton will end up in the trash. I didn't even finish the one I took a bite of. Moral of the story - stick to cookies that are cookie-colored (and flavored). And if you want to do a fun watermelon dessert (which I FULLY support), I have a great low-fat cake recipe that was a hit at a Relief Society event a few years ago. The trick is to have it look, not taste, like watermelon. Thank you. This has been deep thoughts by Kelli Williams.

March For Babies

2010-04-14T13:47:00.005-05:00

Crunch Time! March for Babies is THIS Saturday! Some background information in case you can't remember the details from last yea r - I've thankfully never needed the services that March of Dimes is committed to, but when Lincoln was born over a year ago, it was the end of a VERY rough pregnancy. I had preeclampsia for the last month of my pregnancy, so Lincoln had to come 4 weeks early. We felt SO blessed that he was healthy enough not to spend more than a 4-hour transition in the NICU, but I felt the immediacy of how many things could have gone wrong. It really opened my eyes. And I simply can't do much to help those families and babies who aren't as lucky, but I CAN walk a few miles (that's a blessing as well, come to think of it) for such a wonderful cause.
A few weeks ago I started toying with the idea of doing a giveaway on my craft blog in which you could get one entry for every dollar donated to help me reach my goal. But it doesn't quite seem right to try to make people buy into a cause, so I kept putting it off and putting it off. Now it's the eleventh hour, so this is the compromise I've arrived at: while I'll almost certainly do a giveaway one of these days, if I meet my March of Dimes goal, I commit to hosting a giveaway by the end of May. Otherwise, you'll just have to wait patiently :) (and don't worry, when I do, I'll post a note here to go check out the other blog). So, if you feel like this is a cause you'd like to support but you weren't sure how to, here's an easy way! Just click on my March for Babies link to the right -------> and donate however much you feel you can. I won't publish names or amounts; you have the option to leave a comment when you make the donation, though.
If you can post about this and get the wider blog world aware, that would be fantastic, too! Maybe other people can find someone they know who is walking that they can support. I also think the walks are at different times in different cities, so it's never too late to support this cause. The important thing is for the donations to get to the right place! Thanks! :)
Also, check to see if your company can match your donations. Mine does, so if yours doesn't and you want to see your donation go further, get me your info to make the donation in my name so my company can match it.
Enough babbling. I'd really appreciate y'all's support. Thanks!

This One's For You, Leserlee

2010-03-26T08:30:00.000-05:00

For those that find the title a little cryptic, I'll fill you in. Last fall, I mentioned on my facebook status that I had planted over 100 bulbs around our house. When questioned, I said most were daffodils and I couldn't remember the name of the others (they came in a box together). Les, who knows WAY more about plants than I ever even aspire to, really wanted to help me figure it out. Or maybe she's a little OCD like the rest of us, and it bothered her, too. I don't know. Either way, HERE is the plant, Les!

What IS it? And PLEASE tell me it gets bigger? Cause our house is small, but not small enough that all these tiny little dwarf flowers don't look ridiculous. (For those that have trouble following a double negative - the house looks ridiculous with all these dwarf flowers!) Maybe the hostas will save us. If I planted them correctly...

Photo Shoot @ the Corner of Lincoln and Williams

2010-03-25T09:51:00.005-05:00

That's right, kids, we headed over to downtown Huntsville, so we could do a photoshoot at the corner of Lincoln and Williams. I was hoping to get a decent picture of him with the streetsign in the background and his cute smile on his face, but man that kid was NOT in a smiling mood. And he really just wanted to watch the cars. It took him a little while to warm up to my friend Natalie who took the pictures for us. But how cute is this, really?

And, then, like I said, he just wanted to look at the cars.

But we still got some cute shots, and you can see them all in Natalie's facebook album here. Check back again in a few days because she told me she's still planning to put some more up. Yay! Thanks, Natalie!

HGTV and Craigslist

2010-03-22T15:54:00.002-05:00

This is just funny. Click the image so you can read the listing.

Spring Has Sprung

2010-03-19T10:20:00.004-05:00

The bulbs I planted last fall are blooming! I feel like such a success. But is it possible I got dwarf daffodils? These things are tiny, and all the others in the neighborhood are large and gorgeous. Do they bloom later their first year?

No sign yet of the hostas and the other whatchacallit-flowers (I seriously can't remember the name), but I'll keep y'all posted. Cause I know you're dying for updates on our landscaping.

I'll post some cute pics of Lincoln soon, cause let's be honest, that's why y'all are here. We've got some good ones, trust me. We've also added a few on facebook, so check the albums More Lincoln, Lincoln 2010 vol.1, and the mobile uploads (which I'll add right now) on the side ----> and let me know if you can't access them. :)

Tricks and Treats

2010-02-23T10:24:00.009-06:00

I really need to be better about keeping this up-to-date with some Lincoln stories. I'm SO that mom who when asked how her weekend was, says, "Oh, it was ok... Lincoln did the cutest thing!..." and then I'm off. I'll try to be better about doing that on the blog, as well.

So, these are some of his latest tricks (and treats):

He learned how to clap just the other day, and he thinks it is the funniest thing. He was sitting on Tyler's shoulders at the ward activity on Friday night and started clapping while he was watching people dancing. It was adorable! I tried to get a pic or video, but nada. I think that's the first time he spontaneously clapped. We've been trying to teach him for a while, so success was felt all around.

We also taught him how to "give 5," but he's not much of a performer so we can't show anybody! It's really cute, though. We say, "Can you give me 5?" and hold up our hand and he just starts slappin' 5s!

He's learned what "no" means, so now when he sees cords, for instance, he solemnly shakes his head and says "no no." He also does this when he gets to about the second step on the staircase at my in-laws.

He is VERY independent. He's all about finger foods. If we try to hold out a cheerio to put in his mouth, he leans his head back and reaches out to take the cheerio from us to put it in his mouth by himself. Some of his favorite foods right now are bananas, peas, carrots, corn, pears, goldfish crackers, graham crackers, teddy grahams, and cheerios. He also loves the little gerber graduates meat sticks. And he loves anything sweet or anything, at all, that you are trying to eat.

He's learning to drink from a straw, but sometimes he gets too much in his mouth, doesn't know what to do with it, and lets it just run out down his chin. So drinks get kind of messy. He's getting better though. He had his first kids meal at Wendy's on Saturday, and he really liked the chocolate milk. But we didn't have a bib for him, so we had to remind him to swallow and take the straw out of his mouth. I think he's been doing much better since then.

At the doctor's the other week he got his first series of 12-month shots. As a reward, the nurse offered him a sucker. He'd never had one before, but oh my word, he LOVED it! And he looked SO smug about it. I love that something so simple can bring such joy. I have a lot to learn from my little guy.

I already blogged about his obsession with diet mt. dew that he got from us, but seriously all the kid needs for hours of enjoyment is an empty soda can. I'm afraid he's going to hurt himself one of these days, but it's a losing battle to try to keep them away from him.

About three weeks before he turned one, he starting pitching a HUGE fit every time we put him in his car seat. We were confident that the next three weeks would be terrible until we could turn his car-seat around. But then he figured out that he could see his "friend" in the mirror on the headrest (that we use to see his face in our rear-view mirror), and he started getting this huge grin when we would put him in his seat! It still hasn't lost it's appeal, but we're wondering if this narcissistic impulse should be encouraged or not? It's so adorable, though. He even took his first series of steps toward the mirror! (One's been on the floor lately because of our flooring project.)

He LOVES shoes. We're not sure what it is about them, but he makes a beeline for the foyer and the shoes that are neatly stacked there... until he pulls them ALL down. I think part of it is the laces (remember he loves cords, too, that's why he's learned "no").

He is ALWAYS on the go. That's why I love this last of our monthly pics with the elephant:

We could NOT get him to hold still.

Which is about as funny as his 11-month pic where we could only get him to hold still if we let him hang on to a mt. dew can:

And finally, the kid is stinkin' cute in hats. At the store on Saturday we were trying a bunch of hats on him and admiring him. At first, he pulled them off, but we think that once he caught on that we were an appreciative audience, he was more willing to pose.

I think that's all for today. If I can manage these more frequently, the next updates won't be quite so long!

Felt House-A-Long

2010-02-18T14:02:00.003-06:00

If you follow my other blog, you may have seen that I'm participating in the Felt House-A-Long that Fireflies and Jellybeans is hosting. We're just starting week 1 (so if you want to do this with me, jump on the bandwagon!) which is Planning and Supplies. She has a great list of inspiration, but after starting my "sketches," I'm kind of at a loss. I'm wanting to do something fairly gender neutral so that any future female siblings aren't left out of the fun. Which means I want it to be easily modified, as well. For instance, I like the idea of window boxes, but right now they'll just have greenery - maybe later I'll add flowers.

So I've gotten this far, and now I'm stumped. It's kind of blah. Click on the image to see it enlarged if you need. Do you guys have any thoughts or advice? We're brainstorming here - no bad ideas. I don't know that I like having the SAME window on both sides, but I do like the idea of windows. I'll probably make fruit for the tree - It's just not on the sketch. And don't worry, the "leaves" on the tree will look MUCH better.

Does the portico over the front door look like a portico or just some random shape? Circular window on the front of the house - yes or no? One of the inspiration houses had a cute half-circle window in the door, so maybe a window in the door would be better? The back is BORING - what could I add that would reasonably be on a house? What else could I put on the sides? Does the grass look like it could be grass, or should I try for bushes or something?

I'm not wanting to make something super-intricate, so some general ideas to get the creative juices flowing would be MUCH appreciated.

Yesterday and Tomorrow

2010-01-27T10:35:00.002-06:00

Yesterday - Lincoln took his first step.
Tomorrow - Lincoln turns 1.

Where has the time gone?

WhimsiKel

2010-01-24T11:06:00.004-06:00

I don't think I've mentioned on this blog that I started another blog as well. It's more dedicated to craftiness (sewing, quilting, decor, clothing, whatever) than this one. Despite some posts, I do try to keep this blog more about our family (and by "our family," I mean "Lincoln") than about me and my hobbies. I mention this because I get a LOT more hits on this blog than the other one, and I'd appreciate if some of you with crafty inclinations would blog-walk on over and give me some feedback (here or there or an email. whatever.). I'm still getting a feel for it, and trying to balance the crafting with the family and the full-time job, but I'd love some feedback on things you might like to see over there and any hints for how I might be able to break that blog out into the bigger crafty blogosphere. I really do appreciate you reading my ramblings - I feel so loved when I get comments. :)

Green Kitchen Soap

2010-01-21T15:11:00.003-06:00

Am I the only person in the world who likes to coordinate their kitchen soaps with their color scheme? I don't think so. Am I the only person who has a green kitchen? Again, I don't think so. And I LOVED the green tropical passionfruit soap from Bath and Body Works. Past tense. LovED. Because now it's pink.
And I love pink (weird since I had a love/hate relationship with it until I found out I was preggo with a boy), but I don't want to start over on a pink kitchen. So now I have to start over on finding a kitchen soap I can love. I've tried all the other green B&BW soaps, too. If I'd only been warned, I could have stocked up.

These Boots Are Made For Walking

2010-01-20T10:56:00.004-06:00

I love boots, but I have a tough time finding the right pair and then figuring out how to wear them correctly. Lately, inspired by my trip to Utah for Christmas and the realization that boots are SO in, I've been looking for a black pair. I scored these beauties on Saturday. (Which cost just about as much as I saved with my first major foray into couponing. Does buying them defeat the purpose? No, I think that IS the purpose.) The big question, though - what to wear them with? Jean skirt and jersey shirt? Black skirt and button-down? It's just too much. Thoughts?

Coupons

2010-01-14T13:21:00.004-06:00

I ALWAYS jump on the bandwagon late. This was true for capris, those large pearl necklaces with a satin lace tie in the back, pilates, blogging, and a whole host of other things. It's advantageous because things are cheaper then, but it means I'm constantly behind-the-times. I'm ok with that, though. (Side note: ironically, sometimes I jump on first and start the trend, but never get credit. I'm not bitter. But vinyl, for instance? I was in the first wave, promise. Due in part (or entirely) to a Christmas present from my BFF in Auburn. Oh, and the random coloring-strands-of-your-hair-with-highlighters back in the seventh grade? All me.)
But back to the topic at hand.
Everyone's blogging about couponing these days. I tried SEVERAL times a few years ago, and it never seemed to work. I kid you not. They'd forget to scan the coupons or some other bizarre occurrence, and I was left to either be That Customer, or say no prob and try another day. I figured 3 times meant it wasn't for me. But now I've decided to try again. I've had luck with coupons for baby formula and the target coupons, so maybe the stars have aligned better for me now.
So, the point. I know there are TONS of sites where you can go print coupons, and I'm wondering what your favorites are? I want to have that feeling of success of spending only $70 for $200 worth of groceries. And so I'm jumping on the bandwagon. Late. Again.

Simple Pleasures

2010-01-12T13:09:00.003-06:00

I love seeing Lincoln explore and discover the world. Who but a child gets such joy from drinking out of a cup? And spilling water on himself (and the rug) while doing it?

2010 North Alabama Start! Heart Walk

2010-01-11T12:19:00.004-06:00

We're signing up to walk in the 2010 North Alabama Start! Heart Walk on February 20, 2010. Tyler's sister Angela organized a team to support her father-in-law, who has had 2 heart attacks in recent months. We think this is a great cause to support, and we would appreciate any donations you could make to the American Heart Association for this walk. This link takes you to Kelli's donations page, and we'll add a link to Tyler's later.
On a side note, I sent out a bulk email with this link and got a lot of "undeliverable" messages. A good bulk email once in a blue moon is very effective for updating one's contact list...

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

2010-01-07T20:29:00.001-06:00

I had a spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin, so I tried this super easy recipe the other night. They were SO good! Now this whole week I've been wishing the weather was better, so I could brave the store and buy more to make another batch or two (or three...).

Diet Mt. Dew

2010-01-06T10:10:00.004-06:00

Here's a fun story for you of how Diet Mt. Dew brought Tyler and I together. We officially "met" at a young adult conference here in Huntsville. We were introduced at the dance on Friday night, we both went with the group going to Waffle House afterward because the other one was going. I got there late and ended up sitting at the end of the table with my knee pressed against Tyler's. I was twitterpated shortly thereafter. Moving on.
We had shown up for the classes Saturday morning and kind of gravitated toward each other, but we didn't really know each other too well yet and therefor didn't want to assume anything. When we broke for lunch, my friends and I got there first and Tyler was a few people behind us in line. We went through and I got some Diet Mt. Dew (note: this is slightly unusual at an LDS function. I was grateful.). We were sitting down by the time Tyler went through the line, and like I said, we were still getting to know each other. So, Tyler said he was going to just bring the 2-liter bottle of Diet Mt. Dew to his seat (I'm not sure how it was possible for this conversation to be casual, but trust me, it was), and I said that he was only allowed to do that if he came and sat by me.
That's right, friends. I was a brazen hussy. But Diet Mt. Dew provided the means, and I tell you all this story to illustrate just how fundamental Diet Mt. Dew is to our relationship and to justify the following picture.

He comes by it honestly. Mom and Dad (Me! and Tyler! How are WE Mom and Dad?) drink these ALL THE TIME. They must be good. (The can is empty. We're not total loons.)

ONE New Year's Resolution

2010-01-03T15:25:00.003-06:00

You read right, my friends. Tyler and I decided to make ONE new year's resolution. We're going to drink 8 glasses of water a day. That's it. That's the resolution.
But, I've decided to play a game as well. Steph over at Somewhat Simple has created the Feeling Fabulous Challenge. I have no illusions that I'll win, but I like that there are identifiable activities I can do each day for which I can award myself points for the week. I might even go buy some gold stickers. One of the goals she lists is "no sweets, soda, or fast food." I just drew a line straight through that. No way I'm even trying. But "drink 64 ounces of water"? That was my new year's resolution! I'll rock it! "No TV"? Probably another line. But "finish a craft..."? Now she's talking my language. Check it out and play with me if you'd like.
I've decided that this year I'm just going to try to establish better habits. Hence only one defined goal. "Exercise more" is too ephemeral. But "get a point for each day you exercise for 30 minutes"? That I can visualize.

2009 Year in Review - Facebook Status Style

2009-12-31T15:01:00.003-06:00

Click on the picture below to read some of our highlights from the year. We're so grateful for all our many blessings, especially our friends and families. We wish you all a wonderful 2010!

**Edited to add that Lincoln's "statuses" are totally made up. I edited one of our files and used a similar font so it would be matchy-matchy. (Points if you get the quote...)

Bath Time

2009-11-19T08:51:00.002-06:00

Lincoln LOVES the bath. He's not at all afraid of the water (he just smiles and laughs when we dump a cup of water on his head to get it wet or rinse it), and now that he's crawling, he moves all over the place. He loves to splash, and would probably spend a lot longer in the bath if we would let him. But with all the toys we've gotten him to play with in the tub, is anyone suprised that his favorite is the Moe's cup we use to rinse him off? No? Me, neither.

Obligatory Halloween Post

2009-11-04T11:46:00.002-06:00

I'm such a lemming. EVERYONE and their brother are posting their Halloween pictures, so I'm just following along. Also, Lincoln was really cute, and I think everyone could use a dose of cute in their lives.

The whole Jedi family

Lincoln and I before we headed to the Trunk or Treat last Wednesday

The cousins at the Trunk or Treat on Friday

Lincoln, one of the few times those two nights that we could get a laugh out of him

Our ward had it's Trunk or Treat last Wednesday, and my in-law's ward (which shares the building with ours) had it's Trunk or Treat on Friday. With two picture opportunities, I was hoping to get more smiles out of Lincoln, but he's really solemn when he's in a new situation. Oh well. He was a cute Yoda.

Side note: Tyler's goal is for Linoln, when he's older and someone asks him what he wants to be when he grows up, to say, "I want to learn the ways of the force and become a Jedi like my father."

Giggling

2009-10-22T20:52:00.005-05:00

We recently took some fun video of daddy making Lincoln giggle and we thought we'd share. He's getting so big. We also uploaded some pictures from his recent photo shoot to facebook.

More Pix and My Baby Sister

2009-10-06T12:42:00.003-05:00

Well, I added some more pictures of Lincoln to the facebook album "Just Can't Get Enough" (link on the right-hand side). And I would like to point out that Tyler took the following picture, and I love it. Lincoln loves watching Playhouse Disney in the morning while we're getting ready, but Mickey Mouse Clubhouse absolutely mesmerizes him. It is beyond cute.

And now a warning. I've been pretty bad about my contact lens maintenance for as long as I've had contacts, lo these last 10 years or so. I would wear one until it either broke or irritated my eye, regardless of how long I was supposed to wear it. If that meant wearing them for 3 or 4 or 5 months, whatever. The worst I had ever heard of happening to someone was getting an infection and having to use eye drops and wear glasses for a few weeks. Since I don't mind my glasses too much and I have decent insurance, I just figured I would deal with that if it happened. But that changed a few weeks ago. My baby sister (ok, she's 22, but whatever) thought she had pink eye, and when she went in (only 2 days after the symptoms started!), she found out she had a corneal ulcer. It was so infected that the scar tissue will leave her eye permanently damaged. She is still on antibiotics and once the infection has run its course, she'll have to wear a hard contact lense for 6 months (to reshape the eye) and then get a cornea transplant if she ever wants vision correctable to 20/20 again. My baby sister! She barely wore her contacts one month past when she was supposed to throw them away. She wasn't any worse than I was about reusing the solution in her case. But her doctor said it was caused by her contact lenses and that he's seen this many times. Obviously, I went home that night and changed cases and contacts. And I've been much better in the week since. I don't think this happened just because of her contact lense care because if that was all, I would have gotten this years ago. But I do think it's worth remembering that a lot worse can happen than just wearing your glasses for a few weeks and putting in eye drops, just in case any of you are as bad as I used to be. Jamie blogged about this here, and she includes a picture of her eye that they took at the doctor's office. So remember, take care of your contacts!

Street Sign

2009-08-29T22:12:00.003-05:00

Some of you may recall this post and this post about the street sign in Huntsville that intersects Lincoln Street and Williams Avenue. Actually, I know some of you recall it because just in the last two days I've had friends ask if I'd settled on one. So, here it is. The picture I decided on, printed, and am just waiting for a matte to frame and hang on his wall. There is no longer a poll on this issue. If you don't like it, I'd prefer not to know. Only positive feedback this time, friends. :) I appreciate all your feedback on the polls, though, never fear!

Also, we've taken some ridiculously cute pictures of Lincoln in the last few weeks, and we'll be adding them to facebook soon. And by "soon," of course I mean anywhere from one day to one month...

Fish Out of Water

2009-08-10T19:17:00.005-05:00

Here are some videos of Lincoln "air swimming" and jabbering, both of which he has started to do with more frequency. FYI, Lincoln has reached the 19-pound mark. He is getting super big!

Cake Decorating Class

2009-07-30T09:36:00.005-05:00

As promised at the end of this post (though, admittedly, a little late), here are the cakes and cupcakes I produced in the three weeks of my class. It was actually four weeks, but the first week was more of a here's-the-plan and show-and-tell structure.
My first week, I was pretty frustrated because we spent the whole class practicing techniques, so I barely got any time to try to decorate my cake. By the time I got home, I was in no mood to elaborate on what I'd accomplished, so the first week is definitely the weakest (no pun intended) of my efforts. Observe! I know, it's sad.

Now, for the second week, we had learned from the first week, and my friend Rachel and I decided to decorate cupcakes instead of tackling an entire cake. As a result, I finished some nice, simple samples. Luckily I took pictures with my camera-phone before we left the class because they didn't handle the trip home well at all.

And finally, the piece de resistance. I'm quite proud of this. It's looks almost exactly the way I was planning and how it looks in the book. The colors are perhaps a tad off, but that's part of practicing.

So, I learned that the next time I take a cake decorating class, I'll buy a cake from the Target bakery and pre-made frosting/icing 30 minutes before class. It's not about how it tastes, it's about how it looks (just for the purposes of the class, I mean). I also learned that it's easier to do the flowing, swirly frosting for the main cake (like on the yellow cake) rather than trying to make it smooth (like the blue cake). But I also learned that a little bit of practice and experience goes a long way. Now I have a lot more confidence to make birthday cakes for Lincoln (and any other chillins who may follow).

I Am Now a Wreckporter

2009-07-28T10:04:00.003-05:00

For those unfamiliar with the blog cakewrecks.blogspot.com, I suggest you check it out. I've been following it for a while now, so a good place to start might be the fan favorites on the right-hand column. It's amazing what "professionals" will try to sell. I've never given much thought to trying to find something to submit, but when I saw this cake at the Wal-Mart bakery last night, I knew it needed to be shared with the world. Sorry the pictures aren't very clear - I only had my camera-phone with me, and I couldn't exactly take it out of the container so there wouldn't be a glare. :)

I don't know about any of you, but nothing makes me want to go on a picnic more than the prospect of 3-inch ants on the watermelon. Who thought that was a good idea??!!
I submitted my pictures to cakewrecks, so I'm hoping you'll be seeing them on the site soon. You can bet that I'll be announcing it when/if they are!!

New Pictures of Lincoln

2009-07-23T10:14:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to let everyone know I posted some new pictures to the facebook album "Just Can't Get Enough." The link is on the right-hand column of this blog. We have a cute video, too, so maybe one of us will find time soon to upload that. :)

Lincoln Anecdotes

2009-07-21T11:06:00.003-05:00

These might be more for my record-keeping than to entertain because I'm afraid that there are no pictures of the following stories and that telling them doesn't do them justice. I'm going to tell them anyway. :) Cause I love them.
First, Tyler left early on Saturday morning to attend the Republican Men's Club Breakfast. He was super-sweet. I was beyond tired (we'd stayed up late reorganizing the living room, that's a story for another post), so Tyler went to get Lincoln, and brought me the baby and the bottle. He propped Lincoln right next to me, propped my hand up holding the bottle, and turned on the TV for Lincoln to watch (no joke, the kid is FASCINATED by the TV). As Tyler got ready, he'd adjust my hand every now and then when it slipped because I was half-asleep. When he left, Lincoln pretty much just chilled out. He woke me up once when he had slipped down to where the covers blocked the TV, and I just moved him up higher on the pillow and turned my head. When Tyler got home, he started laughing at us because I was completely asleep, and Lincoln was just hanging out, watching TV, and chewing on my hair!
Next story - We usually do our grocery shopping on Saturdays. It takes half the day, but we generally like the errands. Occasionally we'll plan to do them earlier in the week when we have something planned for Saturday. But this past Saturday was fairly normal, and we were wandering around Target mid-afternoon. Lincoln was hungry off-and-on, so we had a bottle sitting on his lap that we'd give him when he seemed to want it. Then at one point, I looked down to see him pick it up with both hands and aim it for his mouth! It was priceless, but the best part might have been when Tyler and I looked at each other at the exact same moment with an expression of did-you-see-that??!! It was great. And then we looked back at Lincoln and clapped and praised and all that silly stuff. I think we were alone in the aisle, though, or we most likely would have gotten some VERY odd looks.
Like when I was pushing Lincoln around Target singing primary songs for 20 minutes 2 weeks ago. For some reason, Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam and I Hope They Call Me On A Mission seem to settle him down. Go figure... I'm waiting for woot.com to offer an iPod shuffle or some other mp3 player for less than $20. I will totally load that up with songs just for Lincoln. Well worth the expense. Why hasn't some company come up with a musical toy that you can program with your own songs?? Honestly.
And I HAVE taken some pictures in the last few days, so those should be going up in the facebook album soon. And a new video of him in his jumper. AND I retook the street sign picture. The lighting wasn't as good as the first day, but better than the second. I think it's good. I had to stand on my step stool AND hold the camera over my head to get the barest HINT of the bottom of that L. Sheesh. I'm not even sure if I'll post the pic, cause I'm afraid you'll say "try again"!
That's all my rambling for now. If you made it this far, I'm sorry to say there's no reward for your persistence. But I certainly appreciate the love. :)

New Poll

2009-07-15T21:33:00.005-05:00

Well, the response from the last poll was overwhelming to retake the picture. Here's one taken at a different time of day but from a different angle. You can see all the letters, but would the first one still be better if all the letters were clear? I am genuinely torn on this one. I quite like them both, but I'm a little partial to picture 2. Thoughts? Votes? Thanks everyone, by the way, for taking time to give me input on this, since it really makes little difference in your own lives. :)

Picture 1

Picture 2

Poll

2009-07-12T16:23:00.004-05:00

As some of you may be aware, here in our little city of Huntsville, AL, there is a street named Williams Avenue and a street named Lincoln Street. In a happy coincidence (for us), these two streets intersect, and for some time I've been wanting to take a picture of the street sign with "Lincoln Williams" on it to put in Link's room. Well, last night I had the chance, but we were kind of in a hurry, and it was on our way somewhere, so I didn't have any props (i.e. a step stool). So you'll notice in the picture that you can't quite see the bottom of the "L" and the "I". It could be Uncoln Street. Your poll is this: shall I leave the picture as it is, and trust that it's apparent what it is, or retake the picture. Retaking the picture wouldn't really be that big of a deal, so if you honestly think that would better, vote for it. There will be no hurt feelings here. I want the picture to be a treasure.

Just a Quick Update

2009-07-09T21:43:00.002-05:00

All is well once again. We're all happy and healthy and plugging away. Lincoln is once again our sweet, happy, chill baby boy. And, amusingly, rather than learning to roll from his front to his back once he's gotten himself stuck, he's just adjusted to liking being on his tummy! My favorite picture of this:

I LOVE it! It's a fair preview of our little four-year-old running down to watch Saturday morning cartoons.

Lincoln also hit the 5-month mark recently, so we got a picture with his elephant. We took TONS of pictures, but he just wasn't in the mood to smile. C'est la vie. He's cute even when he's just looking at you intently:

And finally, he's started to grab things more, and one of his stuffed animals he likes is his monkey. It's as long as he is, but he likes how soft it is, I think. Tyler's dubbed him Mortimer M. Monkey, so we may be seeing more of him in the future...

In other news, I'm taking a cake decorating class this month. I've always wanted to be able to decorate cakes and cookies as well as my mom. It's a long-standing inferiority complex/pride-in-mom I've had. I'll post pics of my cake next week if it's worth showing...

Updates on ER visits and a video

2009-06-30T21:55:00.008-05:00

Travel with me if you will, back a few weeks. A week and a half, to be precise. Friday night (the 12th) was a tough one for Lincoln. He had a mild fever and was showing some teething systems, so we thought that might be it. Then, after a REALLY rough night and morning, we checked his temperature (again) only to discover that it had skyrocketed to 103.2°F! I almost passed out. So we hurried him to the ER (again! the last time was just 2 months ago). As usual, they have to run all the tests to make sure it's nothing serious, and then left us with the diagnosis of "MAYBE an ear infection, here's a stronger antibiotic (since Lincoln had finished a round of antibiotics for an ear infection only a week before this), but most likely it's a virus. Follow up with your doc if the fever isn't better in 2 or 3 days, and in the meantime, treat with tylenol and motrin." Great. So here are some pictures from Lincoln's SECOND ER visit.

Poor kid. It hurts to see him so despondent.

They put a bracelet (anklet) on his ankle, but it kept slipping off, so
finally they just slapped one of the stickers to his gown.

We included this so you can see how much he's grown from his last ER visit...

Then he was still pretty sicky and unhappy the rest of the weekend and into Monday. But then Monday morning he developed the most spectacular rash. He had all the symptoms for Roseola, but we wanted to make sure it wasn't an allergic reaction to the new antibiotic. So, once again we went to the doctor. He decided it WAS a viral rash, so we could stop the antibiotics and then just wait for the infection to pass. Which it did. It was a rough week, but by Friday morning he was our happy, cheerful baby once more. Here's a picture of his rash that I took at the doctor's office.

Notice he's smiling. WHAT a trooper.

But before I move on the video, we're not quite done with the ER visits. On Sunday (of that same weekend) we took Tyler into the ER to get an infection cut out of his thumb. I won't go into details. Suffice it to say, it hurt less after being cut up than before. I shudder to imagine that pain. And the doctor said we definetly needed to go in - it would have been much worse if we waited. That was TYLER'S first ER visit, and I realized afterward that I didn't take any pictures of that momentous occassion! Somehow I think Tyler's probably ok with that. :)
*UPDATE- Tyler reminded me that though we didn't take any pictures at his ER visit, you CAN see the result in the above picture of Lincoln's rash. That's his bandaged finger in the upper right corner.

And now a cute video of our adorable baby. He's started to roll over onto his stomach if you put him on his back. But then he gets stuck because he can't roll from this stomach to his back. He tries to pull his legs up for a while, but then gives up. I find our comments in the background almost funnier than Lincoln. It's funny how excited we get over the littlest things. :) Enjoy!

Check back in a few days for more pictures and videos of his latest tricks!!

As Promised...

2009-06-09T11:07:00.005-05:00

...I have posted some more pictures. Follow the new facebook photo album link to the right (Just Can't Get Enough), and I think we'll be adding even more in the next week or so.

So, now I'd just like to recommend a new book to all you Twilight fans out there. I like Twilight, but there have always been plot elements and characterizations that have kind of bothered me. For example, neither Edward nor Jacob really appeal to me. Bella and Edward have a very codependent relationship, and Jacob's just a jerk (exhibit A - the lip-rape in Eclipse). Now, I loved Breaking Dawn, so don't misunderstand me. But I came across a recommendation for a new, similar book a few months ago (at http:\\www.seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com, in case anyone is interested), and after thinking about it for a little while (NOT an impulse purchase, mind) I decided to buy it at Sam's on Saturday. LOVED it! Had a tough time putting it down. Easy read - granted I skim through a lot of the prose - but I genuinely liked the characters more. The book is Wings by Aprilynne Pike. I suspect she's another LDS author, but I can't confirm that, mostly because I don't feel like doing the research. Anyone else read it? What do you think?

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

2009-06-03T17:01:00.004-05:00

The last week and a half has been emotional and crazy. I'll try not to belabor the issue, but here's a little recap.
My grandma (my mom's mom, my last living grandparent) has been sick for a long time. And for the last few years, we knew she didn't have much more time on this earth. So I was not too terribly surprised when my mom called last Sunday morning to tell me Grandma had passed away during the night. I was sad, of course, but I also knew she was MUCH happier reunited with her eternal companion and freed from the frailties of growing old.
Of course we made arrangements to fly out for the funeral. The plan was to leave Thursday afternoon and fly into Salt Lake City (the funeral was on Saturday in Blanding, the farthest south you can get in Utah). We also figured that since we'd be in Utah anyway, we'd take one extra day to see some of Tyler's family that live in Utah, so we'd leave on Monday.
All of this went according to plan. We saw cousins and aunts and uncles and great-aunts and new in-laws and the whole shebang. It was a whirlwind trip, but it was worth it.
Lincoln was amazing. We rented a car which I fell in love with (Nissan Rogue, check it out). Part of the reason I fell in love with it is that when Lincoln got fussy in the back seat, I could climb into the back and feed him a bottle or what-not then climb back to the front when he was happy. That car saved us a fair few hours on all that driving we had to do, let me tell you.
So things were going according to plan until we went to the airport to check in to leave on Monday afternoon. "So sorry," they said, "but your flight's been delayed and you'll miss your connection in Denver." So there we were. No real option but to wait for the flight the next day, but that meant one MORE day of missed work. We were already pushing it.
It turned into a pleasant evening, though, and the flight back was smooth, and all was well with the world.
Until 11 o'clock last night.
That's when Lincoln started screaming bloody murder. And aside from a few fitful moments of quiet, he didn't stop until we finally got him into the doctor's office. It's much like when something's going wrong with your program you're running and you call someone over to look at it, and suddenly it works great? Tell me you've been there.
Luckily the doctor didn't dismiss our concerns, and found out Lincoln had a double ear infection! Poor kid. He'd been amazing on the flights, so I wonder when they really flared up?
So, I took Lincoln, filled the prescriptions, and then spent the afternoon working from home. Which, by the way, is easier said than done with a sick infant.
But back to the title of this post. I had GENUINE and UNAVOIDABLE excuses (twice in a row!) not to go in to work. The loss in pay is frustrating, but so is the havoc my schedule's been through the last week and a half.
I need another vacation...

P.S. Pictures to follow, don't worry.

Lincoln Update

2009-05-16T10:49:00.008-05:00

It's been a while since we posted, so I thought I would add some photo/video evidence that Lincoln is still around and growing. He is getting so big. He is about 24 inches and is upwards of 15 pounds. Seems like he gets bigger every day. He will be 4 months old on May 28. He is getting better at sleeping through the night and is tons of fun. I hope y'all enjoy the pictures as much as we do.

Evidence he can hold his own bottle. He doesn't do it very often.

He likes to push himself back on the Boppy so that his head hangs back. Kid loves to have his head hanging back.

Lincoln with his Williams-side cousins, James and Gwen Miller. Lincoln has the best "sad face."

Gwen likes to hold Lincoln, but he's almost as big as she is (she is 13+ months older), so she gets tired.

He has started to find things with his hands. He doesn't really like to be covered up with a blanket, so he either kicks it off or pulls it up.

Just like his dad (used to be when he was little), he likes to suck his thumb and watch TV, which he was doing until the aforementioned dad so rudely interrupted him.

And, finally, Lincoln trying out his jumper. I don't think he thinks it's as much fun as we do.

Kelli has also posted some more pictures to the "Lincoln" Facebook album -- link on the right of this page. Hope y'all enjoyed these as much as we do. We may be a little biased, but we're pretty sure he is the cutest baby ever. We sure are grateful for him and that he is healthy. He's so much fun.

PS - this post is going up on Link's Grandma Williams' birthday, so Happy Birthday, Gramma!

Let's recap, shall we? AND new trauma/drama...

2009-04-24T14:04:00.005-05:00

All right, let's take a trip back in time to March 2nd, when my mom flew out, and all of the problems began to surface. Funny, now, how I optimistically called in Murphy's WEEK. First it was the car, then the washer/dryer, then the AC, then the water heater, then still the car, then the new roof, THEN the pressure regulator valve. I'm sure I'm missing something, but come on, seriously. All that is one month? Is that just? But then I remembered my blessings, rediscovered my sense of humor, and things were better.

And then we had the ER visit with Lincoln, but he seemed to recover fine, and I thought that once the ceiling was painted (scheduled for Thursday and Friday, while my parents were in town to babysit the painters, since Tyler and I have NO LEAVE left), all the trauma/drama would be over. It's a testament to my optimism, I'll say that much for me.

Because yesterday the painter noticed that there was damage to the wall that the leaking skylight would have dripped down to. So I got the go-ahead from the insurance to fix that. And from there it exploded. They have to replace all the drywall and the insulation because it's all moldy/mildewy. Yay! They need to redo the framing around the two windows on that wall. I just HOPE and PRAY that none of the other walls need it. Though they do need to paint the rest of the room, otherwise it won't match.

Oh, and I still need a new glovebox for my car. That's a different story. A funny one though. Kind of...

So, what's the lesson learned from this experience? Make sure you have good homeowner's insurance. And be greatful for loving and generous parents who will babysit your son AND the contractors at your house.

Pray for me that Murphy's Months will be over on Tuesday? Please?

One Down, X To Go

2009-04-20T10:49:00.006-05:00

We had our first ER trip for Lincoln on Saturday. Those of you who know me at-all-well know I like to set the stage for stories, so let's start with about last Thursday. Just sit back, relax, and try to follow the train of thought...

My cousin's status on facebook last Thursday was "Please include Jane and Jacob Smith* in your prayers. Their 3 month old baby, Jon*, died in Jane's* arms 2 nights ago." This immediately made me cry because Lincoln is almost 3 months, and I just couldn't imagine the sorrow.

Then we had a ward (church) activity on Friday night. Everything went well, and the last thing one of the ladies at church said to me was, "kiss your baby for me!" Little did she know that her own baby (ok, he was 19) would die tragically, suddenly, and needlessly in a car accident about 30 minutes later. When I got the news on Saturday morning, I once again immediately starting crying. (Just as a review, remember I'm still post-partum, so I think all the crying is normal.) And I continued to cry (bawl, really) about losing her little baby (even though he was 19, he was her baby).

THEN I went to get my sister-in-law, and we went to do the March for Babies (thank you to those who donated, by the way) which is just one more reminder of little babies who live too little in this mortal life, if at all.

So when, after the race, my brother-in-law and niece and nephew came up to meet us and my BIL told me Lincoln was sick (had a fever, and in kids that young, it's tough to tell why) and Tyler was taking him the ER, I basically flipped out. (For those unfamiliar with how I tell a story, we finally got to the good part.) So I hopped in my car, all of a dither, and raced to my in-law's house to meet Tyler and take Lincoln to the ER. (Side-note, my car usually prefers to go 70 on the interstate, where my last car (ah, Ruby, I do miss you so) preferred to go 90. WELL, when Lincoln's in trouble, Sophia ALSO likes to go 90.) Anywho, we left my car at my in-laws and took Lincoln to the pediatric ER at Huntsville Hospital. They poked and prodded him, trying to get an IV placed (unsuccessfully, though they tried about 5 places), and Tyler held ME while I cried, but in the end, his white blood cell count was ok, and they sent us home with orders to give him tylenol every 4-6 hours as needed for fever. And he's been ok ever since. I'm not sure what it was, and I hope they call soon when the cultures are ready to tell us they didn't find anything, but better safe than sorry.

However, here's the lesson I learned from this experience:
When the doctor orders an IV for your baby, if he's drinking/eating and peeing ok, tell them no. In the politest way possible. There was no need for that IV unless he was dehydrated or needed IV antibiotics. It was a painful lesson, but I'm sharing it with all of you. You all probably knew that though...

Tyler got a great picture with his phone that pretty much sums up how ALL of us felt, though:

Please remember to pray for mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and friends who lose loved ones. I know that those who die are not lost to us forever, but I can only imagine how much sorrow one would have because you would MISS a family member or friend.

*Names changed, just in case. In case of what? I don't know.

March For Babies

2009-04-09T14:00:00.001-05:00

My company has a team for the March for Babies by March of Dimes this year, and I've decided to participate. When Tyler and I found out our little son was coming 4 weeks early, I was so worried. But he was born at 10:10 at night, spent the 4-hour transition in the NICU, and then was transferred to the nursery for the rest of our hospital stay. A 6 lb, 15 oz preemie! I felt so blessed that he was healthy. And as I've seen and heard of friends and family having babies early who have to spend weeks and even months in the NICU, I feel so blessed to live in this time of modern medicine. And I've decided I'd like to support it with more than just my words and prayers.

The walk is on April 18th in Huntsville, and there are several ways you can join with me in supporting this cause. My personal webpage is: http://www.marchforbabies.org/shapika
If you follow that link, you'll see that you can donate, help me spread the word, or if you're in the area, come walk with me.

Please don't feel obligated, but if you can give a little, that'd be great. If nothing else, please remember to pray for those precious babies sent down from Heaven. And the mothers and fathers who worry...

Further Proof, My Friends

2009-04-06T16:21:00.003-05:00

I got great feedback on my last post. It appears that juxtaposing religious material with fashion (and a distinct lack thereof) really makes people wonder. I'll try to do it more often. :)

But I digress. The further proof that March (the bad month, remember) is REALLY over is that I went to the dentist today, and I did not have even ONE cavity! You have to understand that from the time I was little-little (side note: words are cooler when repeated, such as sing-sing, a little somethin-somethin, and bling-bling), I ALWAYS had 2 cavities when we went to the dentist. It did not matter how little or much I brushed, flossed, rinsed, used fluoride, etc, etc, (notice that repeat?), I ALWAYS had 2 cavities. So, this morning I expected to need about 3 root canals. But no, my friends, I triumphed. I think that's happened perhaps once before, maybe twice. And I was especially surprised because while I was preggo I was REALLY bad about not brushing my teeth after having a midnight snack. Or three. So the question is, does this reinforce good behavior or bad behavior? Bad behavior. Not good. On the other hand, when we look at the bigger picture, the one that involves more than just my midnight snacks and cavities, we realize that even one tiny cavity might have finally been the straw that broke the camel's back. It was a tender mercy, for which I'm most grateful.

Welcome to April, My Weekend Plans, and Shoes and Socks

2009-04-03T09:20:00.010-05:00

I kid you not, March was cursed. I'm not sure EXACTLY who had it in for me (though I could make some guesses...), but I feel confident it only lasted one month, so April is going to be MUCH better. For instance, Lincoln slept for SIX hours last night. Blessed child. It was especially nice because Tyler and I are both pretty sick. Sick to the point where I would have just stayed in bed and moaned all day if I hadn't taken so many days off earlier in the week because of Lincoln being sick (we've covered that I exaggerate as a defense mechanism, right? Good.).

So, I've had a lot of random thoughts in my head lately. A little neuroses, of course, and trying to problem solve. Remember my post about the possible solutions, and then I/we remembered the most obvious one? Well, most of you know that we're members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We believe that the Church that Jesus Christ organized when he was on the earth has been restored, and we believe that there is a Prophet and Apostles who lead and guide our Church.

But, make no mistake, we believe the Jesus Christ is the head of that Church. I mention this not to be preachy, but because twice a year we have the privilege to hear from these inspired leaders what the Lord would have us be taught at this time. I consider it a great blessing in my life. As I mentioned, it's twice a year, and this weekend is one of these General Conferences. If you're just curious, you can tune in for a talk (sessions are Sat and Sun at 10 and 2 MST) or more. But I testify that whether you are LDS (Mormon) or not, it will be an opportunity for you to feel the Holy Ghost testify to you of the divinity of our Savior. If you're in Huntsville and you have Knology, it will be on channel 11. If you have Comcast or you live outside of Huntsville, and you're interested, let me know, and I'll see if I can find out. If nothing else, you can listen/watch on the internet. I believe that no matter which church you are a member of, it is a blessing from our Heavenly Father when we have an opportunity to feel the Holy Ghost testify of His love for us. And, in March, I really struggled with that (being comforted), as you may have noticed from my whining. But I'm excited about the weekend. In conclusion, if you want to learn more about our Church, I invite you check out this site.

But like I said (did I say it?), I wasn't trying to be preachy. I just wanted to share that with you all. On a lighter note, let's talk about shoes. I'm breaking in a new pair of black flats, and I've decided that they definitely look better with lighter socks. Why is that? And that reminds me that from the time I was in grade school, I always tried to match my socks to my shirt, and I was WAY behind the curve when I realized that when you grow up, you're supposed to match your socks to either your shoes or your pants. What is that? And how is it fun AT ALL? I like striped and polka-dotted socks in outrageous colors, but I draw the line at striped and polka-dotted pants in outrageous colors. Who makes these rules, anyway? It reminds me of a Jem song (points if you get the reference, as usual). More ramblings later.

Blessings

2009-03-30T14:40:00.004-05:00

This morning when I woke up, Tyler mentioned that Lincoln had developed a cough overnight that didn't sound good. We googled it (of course) and pretty much everyone said take the baby to the doctor. So, Tyler had a deposition 2 hours away, so I got to take my precious baby into the doctor and hold him while he cried when they drew blood. So, so sad. I might have cried, too. But when the doctor came back in, he said it's definitely a virile infection and contagious, which sucks because it means we need to work our schedules so we can work at home as much as possible for the next 7 to 10 days.

While I was in the area, I decided to pop in at Roper Automotive and see how genuine the VW estimate of needing my battery replaced ASAP was. Turns out, I'm good for a few more weeks at least. Yay! And blessings on Jeff's head for fitting me in.

Now the reason for the title of the post. Blessings. While I was in the waiting room, I had 3 bags (my purse, the diaper bag, and my catch-all bag), and my purse spilled out and everything went rolling across the floor. This was pretty much par for the course, so I didn't freak out or anything, but it did get me talking to the lady next to me about all that's been going on. And I mentioned that in church yesterday, I'd started a list of all the things that have gone wrong in the last month, and my husband asked if I was masochistic. This good woman's response humbled me exceedingly: "At least you have a husband that goes to church with you to sit next to you." Oh, I do. I have a wonderful husband and a wonderful life. I have (and Tyler has) a good job where our bosses are understanding and sympathetic, and we can make liberal use of the leave we have. I have amazing friends who (apparently) are just waiting for me to say the word so they can help with whatever they can. I have insurance and a home warranty, which has saved us a fair bit. We have a credit card, which though we don't LIKE to use it, we CAN use for emergencies. We have wonderful families who love and support us. There's so much to be grateful for, and while I tend to be overwhelmed by all this junk happening at once (I mean, seriously, the AC, the water heater, the washer/dryer, the dishwasher, hail damage on the roof, a leaking skylight, AND a pressure relief valve? not to mention my sick baby and my own neuroses), I'm grateful for the reminders in life that it could be oh-so-worse. I'm excited for next month when my husband will bless our baby. I'm excited for ALL the family that will come (can you say par-TAY?).

And I leave you with this picture of my adorable son. I pray God's blessings on you, and that you'll recognize them when they come. And if you can't recognize them, that he'll help you see them as often as you need (I need that help a lot!).

Murphy's Month Continues

2009-03-29T16:54:00.010-05:00

I PROMISE I'll stop whining soon, but I'd really like your input. Every time I turn around, there's something else that takes up both time and money. Put that together with a new baby and postpartum hormones, and I'm quickly nearing the end of my rope. So I want your suggestions for destressing. I've got:

-ride it out. It will pass eventually-do service for others; that often takes your mind off your own problems

-pray (like it's going out of style)

-read the scriptures

-get enough sleep (Tyler's being a gem about this, but that doesn't change the fact that there's a new baby in the house)

-exercise (see previous)

-fast (not really an option since I'm also trying to get my headaches under control, and I can only fast when they are WELL under control)

-A spa day one of these days; if there's EVER time

-Taking a few minutes to read a book or magazine

-A nice soak in the tub while listening to good music
-Listening to relaxing music.
What am I missing? There must be something else. I'm afraid it will all go back to the first one - ride it out. But if y'all have some wisdom for me - I certainly would appreciate it. And before you suggest it, yes, I've had plenty of good cries. :)

A Few New Pictures

2009-03-27T22:11:00.001-05:00

I FINALLY added some new pictures of Lincoln. Look in the facebook album named "Lincoln" on the right side of the screen. Let me know if you have problems seeing them.

Don't Be Fooled...

2009-03-26T15:18:00.002-05:00

...by the lack of new pictures of Lincoln into thinking we don't take TONS of pictures. The problem is that we both spend all day at the computer at work, so it's pretty much the last place we want to be when we get home. But I finally at least put the pictures ON the computer last night. Hopefully tonight I can tweak them and then post some new fun ones to facebook. Oooh, and maybe I'll wait until the weekend because Lincoln's 2-month checkup is tomorrow! I can't wait to see the official stats on how much he's grown, but I'm not much looking forward to shots. Are there shots at 2 months? Or do they wait until 4 months?

So speaking of pics, some of them are of him using the Podee I blogged about last. Shannon's comments were helpful, so I think we're making some progress with that bottle (1 oz. the night after I blogged, and 3 oz. last evening). It's just nice to hold him and cuddle with him and not have to worry about keeping the bottle in the right position. I think we'll get the hang of it.

And I've had Sophia back for going on 30 hours now, and she seems to be working perfectly. My next project is to either successfully fix the glove box (it IS just the catch on the handle, after all), or have to replace the WHOLE door. What a pain.

Does anyone know where the folks on HGtv are always coming up with these tile remnants for kitchen backsplashes that were $15/square foot, but because they're remnants, they were able to get them for $1/piece? Cause I SO want a tile backsplash in my kitchen, and there's not THAT much square footage, but I can't pay $15/square foot, that's for sure.

Digy and Bottles

2009-03-24T14:54:00.005-05:00

Lincoln is a prodigy. He rolled over by 2 weeks. He CLEARLY said Mommy at 5 weeks. Basically, we've got a Carl Sagan on our hands. Mom decided to nickname him "Digy" while she was out here. Short for prodigy. She and Tyler thought it was a great, and I wasn't so keen on it, so part of the fun for everyone was when they would call him Digy, and I would cringe dramatically. (Confession - people think it's super easy to push my buttons, and sometimes it is, but most of the time I just give them the reaction they want because then everyone's happy.)
I have every intention of posting some recent pictures of our sweet little prodigy. Until then, check out the links on the side to the facebook albums; I think that's where we'll post most pictures. Let me know if the links don't work. You should be able to see them even if you don't have a facebook account.
Has anyone had success with any brand of hands-free bottle? I was super keen on the idea (seriously, my goal was to have him holding his bottle by himself by 2 months. We have 5 days.), so I ordered one of these. Sadly, it didn't work as advertised. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong. Anyone else used one? Have some advice?

Sophia - Just a Quick Pic and Story

2009-03-22T18:13:00.005-05:00

So I realize I've been writing these novels as my blog posts lately, and those can get VERY boring, so here's just a quick pic of Sophia, so you can all appreciate my sadness that she's been sick so very long. Notice how pleased and proud I am to show off my new car.

Side note: Because I can't resist telling the story of how this picture came to be taken. When my parents were stationed in Hawaii, Dad got deployed to Iraq. On the way over there, he had a few days of training in South Carolina. SO even though it was a 3+ hour drive for each of us (one way) we drove to Atlanta to meet at an Outback and have lunch and see each other before he went to war. It was a good day. Plus I got to show off my car.

Sophia, Part Three - The Saga Continues

2009-03-21T11:54:00.002-05:00

I was all excited yesterday because my car was finally fixed, and VW really had treated me well, and then when I got in my car to go home, lo and behold, it had a rough time starting and the engine light was back on. So I took it straight back to VW. It's a different sensor, but I think the warranty will cover it AND waive the deductible since so much has been going wrong lately. So my car's STILL in the shop. And I'm getting more and more neurotic by the day.

Sophia, Part 2 - The End

2009-03-20T14:36:00.002-05:00

I finally have my car back! Yay! And I'm not quite sure what the big deal was. The dealership accidentally put the ORIGINAL part back in, and it works just fine. So what was wrong with it? Dunno. I'm guessing it was a wire, though. I'm still glad I took it to Roper Automotive first because there were some other things that needed doing, and the dealership would have charged me a LOT more for those. They probably would still have tried to when I finally brought it in except that I was, by then, barely civil, and they most likely wanted me out of their hair. But I had to eat some humble pie when they were able to fix it in the end, the way they wanted to. So, I didn't get to say neener-neener. Sad.

Anyway, through this whole ordeal, I've learned some important life lessons:
1 - When your car is acting funny, take it to a mechanic you can trust.
2 - Any work he recommends for maintenance (like, hypothetically, replacing your timing belt 12,000 miles later than recommended), go ahead and have him do it, because he's the mechanic you trust to recommend only the necessary work.
3 - When he tells you that the other, more major work that needs to be done is covered under the extended warranty you wisely (it turns out) purchased, suck it up and take it to the dealership for the covered work. Especially with a VW. Even if you hate that dealership because you feel like you need to work the system in order to get anything done without being fleeced.
4 - Learn to work the system. When someone gives you an answer you don't like (like the warranty company telling you you're out of luck), politely (but perhaps with a slight edge) ask for his name, write it down, and then ask to speak to his supervisor. This makes you a squeaky wheel - and the squeaky wheel gets the grease. His supervisor has the authority to make happen what you want to happen, and he'll do it if he can.
5 - While I think it's important to be kind, sometime you have to be politely persistant. See #4 regarding the squeaky wheel.

Any other lessons anyone can think of? I spent the last few blog posts venting and saying unkind things. Usually I limit the number of people I vent to because it limits the number of people I have to go back to later and say, "Sorry, I was just flaming mad. He wasn't such a jerk after all." But since I publicly lambasted VW in Huntsville, I'll recant that with the caveat that you probably still need to know how to work the system. But I won't be as resistant to take my car there if I need to again. Though hopefully I can just get it through 2 more years...

Speaking of which, I need to fix the glove box. Who designs a glove box where when the LATCH breaks, you have to replace the entire door? Volkswagon, that's who. I found a tutorial on-line that shows how to fix it yourself without replacing the door. I figure it's worth the effort because at least if I end up ruining the door completely, I'm just back where I started - needing a new door. :)

This blog has taken a serious tangent from what it was intended to focus on - our adorable son. So, don't worry. We're working on putting the finishing touches on his room, and we're still taking tons of pics, even though I'm slow to post.

Tomorrow we're doing yard work if anyone wants to come help pull out bushes and shovel dirt? No? "Yeah, I didn't think so." (Props if you get the quote, as usual...)

Sophia, Part 1 and some Happier Thoughts

2009-03-17T21:07:00.003-05:00

Well, I've been putting this blog post off for a week because I wanted to tell the story all in the PAST TENSE. Unfortunately, it's still an ongoing trauma, so I'm recording it for everyone to empathize and tell me how sorry they feel for me. (As a side note, there are all kinds of things in life I vowed never to do. In fact, that's what our first post was about. One of those things was posting whiny blog posts. So, if they annoy you, just don't read this. I won't be offended. But I would prefer not to be judged. This is my story, and as usual I'll do my best to keep some humor in it. But this is the way life is going right now, and I want to record it so that in a few months I can look back and laugh, and appreciate how being dramatic is one of my defense mechanisms.

This post is all about the car. You can catch up on the first week of the trauma/drama in my last post here. To continue, we took the car back on Monday (the 9th) as planned. Jeff was a trooper, said he'd take of everything. Later he said that the part that they'd replaced was faulty. Since it was the supplier's fault, he'd reimburse Jeff for the labor cost and we'd all win. Yay. But the same problem happened with the second Cam Shaft Sensor they installed. Not good. Jeff and his team looked deeper, and it turned out that the computer which was identifying the problem WAS, in fact, the problem. So I needed a new computer for my car. See, the news just gets better and better.

Jeff found a used computer which he was willing to sell for a GREAT deal (if anyone is looking for a good mechanic in Huntsville, go to Roper Automotive - 533-9095) and said he could get it by yesterday (the 16th). Great. Only when they installed it, the car wouldn't run. They did some research and apparently the computers have to be specially programmed by the VW dealership (which I'd been avoiding like the plague, because dealerships are NOT YOUR FRIENDS). So I called the VW dealership, and low and behold, they won't install a used computer. Jeff checked out my extended warranty (which thank goodness I'd purchased), and it looked like it should be covered. So they had to put the old computer in the car, and I booked it to VW dealership last night (tough when you can't go above 3000 rpm, in case anyone is wondering) but made it at 5:29 when the service department closes at 5:30. (If accused of breaking any traffic laws, I'll deny it.)

So then today I called to check on the car, and he says, "The problem's not the computer. It's the cam shaft sensor." I came close to losing it at that point, but kept my cool, informed him that my mechanic had already tried to replace it twice, and maybe he'd like to call Jeff so they could discuss the nuts and blots of the problem. BUT wait there's more. Jeff had charged the warranty company for the replacement (duh. he replaced it), but so now the VW dealership is saying I'm going to have to go back over to Jeff's to get it installed because the warranty company won't pay THEM for the same work. Let's not forgot that we tried that TWICE and it DIDN'T WORK. So basically this guy is managing to tell me with presumably a straight face that I need to drive my unfixed car off the lot and back to Jeff (presumably after paying the $100 deductable for a service he "noticed I needed and took care of since it was covered under the warranty"). This sounds a little disjointed, and that's because it is. It's a fiasco. This should not be as difficult as it is, but the postpartum hormones, taking care of a newborn, the washer/dryer fiasco, getting back into the swing of things at work, trying to manage my headaches, and dealing with the fact that my grandma's health is failing are all contributing to me having to exercise serious self control not to swear a LOT.

And there you have it. Me whining. Shamelessly. In fact I might prefer if no one reads this and discovers what a negative person I am. But later in life I can look back and hopefully reminisce fondly. And maybe some of you can be more sympathetic to how crazy I am, and MAYBE even feel a little better about whatever traumas you're dealing with. Not because mine are worse. But because they're different.

So now I'm sure you've all been wondering about the title of the post. Sophia is the name of my car. My car before her was Ruby, a '92 Mazda Miata I loved dearly but went the way of all the earth two years ago. She was a part of me. I referred to her often by name in the third person, and all my close friends knew "who" I was talking about. I cried when she died. But then I bought Sophia, a 2003 Volkswagon Jetta. And I love her. She's fun and sporty, and I don't get wet when it rains. But I do NOT love the VW dealership.

In closing, I'd like to leave you all with some good things in life and blessings I'm grateful for:
-my wonderful husband, who tonight when I was apologizing for being in such a foul mood said, "it's ok, honey. I didn't just marry your good moods."
-my handsome son, who's healthy and smart and a joy in our lives.
-my parents and my parents-in-law, who gave us examples of how to be good husbands, wives, and parents
-friends and co-workers who put up with my mood swings and just roll with the punches and love me anyway

Now some frivolous ones:
-technology. "I love technology." (Props for those who get the reference.) But seriously it makes keeping in touch with friends and family so wonderful.
-pandora.com and my Jack Johnson station. I love the music of Jack Johnson. It soothes me.
-caffeinated beverages. That's right, my friends. I love me some diet coke, diet coke with lime, diet mt. dew, and diet dr. pepper.
-running. it's a stress reliever. I'm thinking I'll train for the Air Force Marathon and meet my dad in Dayton, Ohio in September. Any takers?

Hopefully my next post with have good car news and all sorts of rainbows and butterflies (again, props for those who get the reference...).

Murphy's Week and SOME good news

2009-03-11T12:33:00.005-05:00

Warning: this will be a whiny blog entry. There's no help for it. The last week and a half has been brutal. I'll do my very best, however, to make the tale amusing. And, not to spoil the ending or anything, but it really did turn out all right in the end.

First of all, some background info. We got our washer and dryer from Tyler's parents. They're ridiculously generous people anyway, and they CLAIMED they (the washer and dryer) were old (but still worked) and were just taking up space in their garage. This was close to two years ago when I bought the house. Fast forward to about 3 months ago. The dryer started fritzing. It would just stop and then start again randomly. Usually it was great for about 3 loads, but the last 2 or three would take a few hours while it took random breaks. No big deal right? A little inconvenient, but certainly not the end of the world. Then last Saturday Tyler noticed that there was a burning smell in the laundry room when the dryer was on AND it was still doing the fritzing thing. This was more of a fix-sooner-rather-than-later situation now, because who wants to save a few bucks on the dryer at the expense of burning down the house? Not me. So Friday we bought a new dryer and went ahead and got the matching washer. It's an investment, right? They'll last for 15 years. Plus then we only have to arrange for delivery once. (Dude, and they HAUL AWAY THE OLD ONES! I love Lowes.) Moving on...

My mom stayed with us for 4 weeks after Lincoln was born. BLESSINGS on her head. It was a godsend. It was so nice after a long sleepless night with Lincoln to be able to walk into mom's room and announce that it was Nana's turn and then go sleep another 4 (blissfully uninterrupted) hours. Don't worry, I KNEW how great it was. But it had to end and mom left last Monday (the 2nd). Before we were supposed to head to the airport, I decided to run over to Walgreens really quick and pick up some prescriptions (ok, and a diet mt. dew, cause I was craving one). And, oh look! the engine light was on, the car was making funny noises, and it took 4 tries to get it to start. So I left the car running in the driveway, loaded up my mom and her bags and the baby, and headed to the airport. Praying the whole time that my car wouldn't just stop. We got there ok (thankfully), but then on the way home I realized that this was really something I needed to get taken care of because Tyler was going out of the town the next day (See? The fun never stops). So I called my friend Denelle, and, blessings on her head, she agreed to watch Lincoln for an hour on like 3 minutes notice. Autozone checked the problem, and it was bigger than just replacing a quick part, so I took it to the mechanic and had Tyler pick me up. Please note that all this took WAY more than the hour Denelle had agreed to, so three hours later I finally got my child back.
Ok, so next day Tyler leaves. The night goes ok. Wednesday goes ok. Just sleeping when I can, you know the drill. Then Thursday I took Lincoln BACK over to Denelle's cause I had a doctor's appt (SO SICK of Dr.'s appointments, in case anyone was wondering). I got my clean bill of health to start work on Monday (the 9th) and had a contraceptive implant (the kind that goes in your upper arm) inserted. (By the by, the information packet LIES about how long it will hurt.) I mention this (the implant, not the pain) because it will be important later in the story.
Friday we went to pick Tyler up, buy the washer and dryer, and went and got my car. Yay and joy, it was in worse shape than before (wouldn't accelerate past 3000 rpm, engine light still on, airbag light on now, and still having trouble starting). So I made plans to take it back to the shop on Monday. Meanwhile, I found out that the paperwork I had gotten at the doctor's on Thursday to return to work on Monday was the WRONG paperwork, so I would need to go BACK to the doctor's on Monday and wouldn't be back into work. Not a terrible thing, just a hassle. And in the midst of all this trauma/drama, the hormones from the implant and just general postpartum hormones were wreaking HAVOC with my emotions. Poor Tyler. Such a trooper. So, sob, sob, sob, I got things taken care of on Monday, then found out that there was an error in payroll, and I got about 10% deposited to my account that I should have. I won't even go there.
And in the midst of all of this, let us not forgot that I'm a little neurotic because I get headaches every day. I went in to my neurologist yesterday (Yay! Another doctor's appointment) and explained to him that I needed a miracle drug to solve all my problems. Luckily he knew I was being facetious, but we are working to get me back on track.
I probably forgot something. Oh, I know! My neurotic/psychotic breakdown about things not fitting because I don't want to wear maternity clothes but I'm too big for my pre-preggo clothes. Such a disaster! Starving children in Somalia would be sympathetic to my plight! I decided on an interim solution that doesn't involve a whole new wardrobe (Tyler was relieved); it involves making my own BellaBands. $26 dollars? Seriously. Just get some jersey knit and sew a few straight lines. Which I did. And now I can achieve a super-swanky layered look. I'm the coolest kid in school. And I'm calmer and less neurotic, so it's basically a win-win.
Oh, and the news on the car? Since I needed Tyler's car for my errands on Monday anyway, I went on-base and got a sticker for his car, so now I can use his car to get to work when needed. And I heard back from the mechanic, and the problem was the part. Since it was the suppliers fault, they'll cover all the expenses and pay Jeff for his time. So everyone's happy, just a little inconvenienced.
And now I think I've blabbed enough. WHY did I blab so much? Not to complain, not really. Sometimes I need to hear a "poor, baby", but I don't need them TOO much. Life is life, and we've weathered it and things are good. No, it's because it makes me feel SO much better when other mom's say, "Oh, I know EXACTLY how you feel!" It helps me feel less crazy and more normal. (Reassurances to that effect would be REALLY welcome.)
So, now the good news you've all been waiting for: VIZIO is giving away free tvs! Just go to their website and sign up for the drawing. Then understand realistically that the chances that you'll win are virtually nill, but it's still fun to dream, right?
Whew, I warned this would be a long one. And kind of whiny. But it's been a while since I updated. Next time I'll tell you all how fabulous Lincoln is. In the meantime, check the sidebars cause I'm going to try to create links to our facebook photo albums. And you WANT to see those albums. Lincoln's adorable. :)

Erin Cobb Photography, Brief Update, and Thank-You

2009-02-06T16:11:00.005-06:00

My friend Erin gave us a newborn session for Lincoln's birth. I've been anxiously awaiting it ever since I've known (maybe a month now?), and we finally had the session on Wednesday. Lincoln's pretty much the cutest baby ever, so I can't wait to see the rest of the pics. Here are the 5 she's posted so far, and you can see them on her blog as well, if you're so inclined. Thanks again, Erin!
AND thank you to everyone for all of your kind thoughts and comments during the drama of last week. Tyler kept me updated on everyone's input and sympathy, and it really helped to feel connected and feel everyone's support. I'm SO glad it's over, but so grateful that Lincoln didn't have any problems despite being 4 weeks early. Now we're just hanging out, trying to sleep. :) Recovery is MUCH better than the magnesium drip, in case anyone is wondering...

We Are a Happy Family!

2009-01-29T17:46:00.012-06:00

Finally! After three full days of trying, Lincoln Shapiro Williams was born by Cesarean section at 10:10 PM on January 28, 2009. He weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces and was 20 inches long. Because he was 4 weeks early, we was taken straight up to the NICU to transition. We were told he may only be there for 4 hours or a few days depending how that transition period went. At about 3:00 this morning they brought him down to us, so he should be able to go home when we do. His doctor came to see him today and said he is doing well. He is a beautiful little baby and we are so excited to finally have him here. We want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and prayers.

Kelli has had a rougher time of it. She is my hero. She hasn't eaten since Monday night and hasn't slept much (none at all last night). Because of the high blood pressure, she had to stay on the magnesium for 24 hours post-delivery. That meant another day of nausea, staying in the bed, and not eating. Her doctor just came and said she could go off it early, so she should be improving soon. Continued prayers on her behalf are appreciated. Other than the side-effects of the magnesium, she is doing well and has been such a strong trooper. I'm so proud of her and grateful for her and all she did to bring our son to us. And, now, after witnessing childbirth first hand I am so amazed by the women that do it and so grateful for my mom, grandmothers, mother-in-law, and every other women who has brought someone that I care about into this world. It is an amazing process. And I'm grateful to God for all of my blessings and for my new little family.

Now for some pictures -- what everyone has been waiting for:

Kelli's "9 month" Picture (Lincoln was born at exactly 36 weeks).

6 pounds, 15 ounces

Talking to mom before heading to the NICU

Transitioning in the NICU

Lincoln and Mom visiting in the NICU after Kelli's recovery

Chilling in Mom's room

Welcome to the world, Lincoln!!! We're happy to have you here.

C-Section

2009-01-28T18:35:00.002-06:00

Update: After three full days, Kelli and her doctor have opted for a c-section. She will be prepped shortly. We hope to have a more exciting and enjoyable update in a few hours.

Day 3

2009-01-28T10:53:00.002-06:00

Day three of our delivery journey has arrived. They finally started Kelli on the pitocin at about 8:00 this morning, so we hope that will help get the baby here the natural way. Either way, it should be today. We appreciate all the good thoughts and prayers. We'll keep the blog updated. Hopefully we'll have some pictures posted by tonight. Keep your fingers crossed.

Slow

2009-01-27T11:28:00.002-06:00

So, we are still waiting for baby. The doctor is taking things slowly. The nurse thinks the baby probably won't be born until tomorrow. Kelli is being a real trooper. She has been put on magnesium to help control her blood pressure. However, magnesium is also used to stop pre-term labor, so we have competing forces at work. The magnesium also means that she has to stay in bed from here on out. It makes her really hot, so the thermostat is turned down to 60. It's pretty cold in here. Kelli is also back to not being able to eat (or drink) anything but ice chips. Continued prayers are appreciated. We'll keep you posted.

Early

2009-01-26T14:52:00.002-06:00

So, there is some news on the baby front. I (Tyler) am posting this because Kelli is all hooked up to her monitors in the hospital. As she mentioned in her previous post, Kelli's doctor put her on bed rest because Kelli developed preeclampsia. During our ultrasound visit on Friday, Dr. Petersen said that things looked so good she might let Kelli go to 38 weeks (she had originally said she would deliver by 37 weeks). However, when Kelli went to her appointment this morning, Dr. Petersen became concerned and decided to induce today. It could take 24 to 48 hours to get the baby here, though. So, here we sit ... at the hospital ... waiting. The baby will be about 4 weeks early, but the latest ultrasounds indicate he is already about 7 pounds, so we are not super worried. Nevertheless, prayers on his behalf are appreciated. We will keep the blog updated as things progress and will post pictures as soon as we get some.

I Was Half Right

2009-01-19T19:59:00.002-06:00

Just a quick update. Thanks for all your kind words and thoughts! I really appreciate it. So, I was half right in the fear I lived in - my doctor ordered me to full bedrest, BUT she let me come home. So I have one more week of freedom, hopefully two. I'm checking with my bosses to make sure it's still copacetic for me to work full time at home because I know I'll get cabin fever within a day otherwise. It's really in their hands, though. I might be very bored very soon. As long as the baby's ok, though, I guess that's what matters. :) And now I'll be a good little girl and lay on my side as ordered...

Preeclampsia and Modified Bedrest

2009-01-16T16:20:00.002-06:00

All right, here's the skinny. (Warning, this may be long and boring. Continue at your own risk...) On Monday, I went in to my OB for my regularly scheduled check-up. My blood pressure had been high enough 2 weeks ago that they'd made me do a bunch of tests, so I anticipated that it would be high because I was anxious. Unfortunately, it was too high for Dr. Petersen to excuse due to nerves, and she sent me over to the hospital for further tests and monitoring. I don't know how any of you would feel in this situation, but I flipped out. Luckily, OBs are pretty used to hormonal/emotional pregnant women, so they let me wait in the check-up room (rather than out front in the waiting room) for Tyler to come get me and take me over to the hospital.
We went over to Crestwood (for you locals), and after 2 or 3 hours, Dr. Petersen decreed that I needed to stay in the hospital over night. The next day she came to see me, and so far my blood work etc was normal, so we were just waiting on the results of one more test before she let me go with a clean bill of health (or really, a diagnosis of pregnancy induced hypertension, but without any severe restrictions). When the nurse came to let me go, she told me to head straight over to Dr. Petersen's office to discuss my results with Dr. Petersen, and she said I was ordered on bedrest. So, like a good little girl, I went over to talk with Dr. Petersen. The results of the last test were NOT negative. I had a protein level of 353 (where 300 is the maximum acceptable, and I'd had a level of 6 two weeks ago). She said if it gets to 5000, she'll deliver the baby right away. She also said she wants to deliver the baby by 37 weeks, which means we have a lot less time to prepare than we anticipated. I'm 37 weeks on February 4, but I'm not sure which day that week she'll want to schedule the delivery. My birthday is the 3rd, my sister-in-law's is the 4th, and my sister's is the 6th. So the kid only has 2 days that week that wouldn't be sharing a birthday. Somehow I think he'll adapt, though. :) In the meantime, I need to go in each Monday to repeat the tests and check the new levels. I'm allowed to work 4 hours at work and the rest at home BUT I'm not allowed to drive (apparently if it progresses, preeclampsia can induce seizures). Since it becomes a whole production to get me anywhere, I was lucky enough to arrange to work from home full-time.
I confess that I live in fear that when she gets the test results back on Monday night or Tuesday morning, she'll order me to the hospital for full bedrest, or that my protein will be so high she'll want to deliver the baby right away. I'm trying to be good and stay off my feet, but the only real cure for preeclampsia is apparently the delivery of the baby. So right now I'm just trying to take care of myself and the baby for a few more weeks. We have good support from family, and Tyler's basically the best, so at this point, please just pray for us!

Tyler wanted to record the event for posterity, so this pic was taken with his LG phone.

Pretty Much a Record

2009-01-08T20:13:00.002-06:00

Seriously, this is a record. I'm getting better at updating the blog. Yay!! AND we just took this pic tonight, and it didn't take me a month to post it!
So, this is the month 8 picture. Still in black, but I tried to stand over to the side of the fireplace a little more, so hopefully you can better see my preggo belly. Thank you all for your positive comments on all the pix, by the way. I can't tell you how it warms my heart. :)

Month 7 Pic

2009-01-07T10:11:00.002-06:00

We haven't taken the 8-month pic yet. Even though I'm 33 weeks today. So we'll get on that...

And I know I cheated by wearing a black shirt. There's not much of a difference between that and the fireplace, but hopefully you get the idea. Black's just been my favorite color of shirt lately. I wonder why...

Not Skeletor Anymore...

2009-01-05T13:12:00.003-06:00

I know, I still need to post a 7-month pic. And now an 8-month pic as well. Surprisingly enough, I'm just not THAT enthusiastic about it. (Though I did get a fun new camera for Christmas, so maybe I'll let Tyler take the 8-month pic soon...)
But I digress. We went and got a 4D Ultrasound this morning. The kid slept right through the whole thing. Frankly, I think Tyler has taught him to tease already. He woke up bright and chipper at 4:30 this morning when I woke up to go to the bathroom, and then stayed awake playing RIGHT up until we went in for the ultrasound. We tried playing music and dancing and everything. But we still got some great shots of his cute little face and his foot. ALSO further evidence that he's still a boy, but I figure I won't show any more of those pics. :)
So, here's our bundle of joy:

We can't wait to meet him next month!!

Preggo pics, Random thoughts, and a query.

2008-11-14T23:50:00.004-06:00

I really appreciate everyone's requests for me to post preggo pics. I've put it off for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that I've grown less and less fond of pictures of myself as the months have passed. C'est la vie. So, from the beginning to last month's, are my pregnancy progression pics...

I think the difference from month 5 to month 6 is the most drastic. But just wait a few days for the month 7 pic...

I know I still need to post pics of the baby's room, but that's still a work in progress, and a messy one at that.

On a completely unrelated note, is anyone else a blog-stalker? I like to refer to it as "blog walking," actually, because somehow that seems a little less invasive. But at the same time, I feel that if people DON'T want just any random person reading their blogs, they should make them private. Someone who posts funny Twilight commentaries on a public blog is just begging to be followed. That's just a random thought for you. It's late, and I can't sleep.

And speaking of blog walking, I'm a little bit obsessed with crafty tutorial/how-to blogs. I've been inspired to try a few projects of my own. Some car trash bags, some pyramid door stops, a quilt (or two) for the baby, a harvest pumpkin, a pin-cushion, some bags for myself (hmm, I've been more productive in the last few months than I realized. yay, me! But I digress...). I'm thinking about trying to do a quilt block exchange. I'm not sure how they usually work, but what I'm picturing is something like this:

I get 12 (or maybe just 9) girls (or guys, I guess) to participate. Each month, whoever is "it" gets to pick a quilt block that they want the other participants to make. They email the pattern to everyone, and everyone has a month to make the block and send it on (using material they choose themselves (within given guidelines), unless the one who is it wants to send material to everyone?). By the end of the 9 (or 12?) months, each person would then have enough quilt blocks to make a nice little throw. I'm thinking quilt blocks that are a beginner's level (my level. if they have pre-beginner, that might even be better). Is anyone at all interested in this?

Skeletor

2008-10-15T09:56:00.004-05:00

Well, it's been FAR TOO LONG since my last post. And a lot has happened, actually, which is frankly unusual. Generally if I haven't written in my journal for a while (which, incidentally, I haven't), it's because nothing of note has happened. In this case, though, I've neither blogged nor written in my journal because so MUCH has been happening that I've just gotten overwhelmed by the idea of playing catchup. And I still am, so rather than updating on everything, I'll just share the MAJOR news: I'm pregnant!! 21 weeks already, so I've REALLY put this entry off. We went in last week and found out it's a little boy! We're thrilled, of course, and stressed out trying to get everything in order. Mostly just giddy, though, I think.
Here are some pics from the ultrasound:

And for now, Tyler's dubbed the baby Skeletor. Why, you ask? Well, that's a reasonable question. It's because so far the baby's face hasn't fleshed out, so in the ultrasound his face looks, well, skeletal:

And I think I'll end this there. Next time maybe I'll share the monthly pics of my growing belly. And hopefully some pictures of the baby's room. :)

The Fat One and The Other One

2008-05-08T18:01:00.006-05:00

I have two cats. I got the first one (she's all white and REALLY big) in high school and the second one (he's all black and a little skittish) the summer after I started college. So, while these are technically my cats, my mom has been taking care of them for me while I was in college apartments. Then when I bought a house a year ago, I was all set for her to bring me my cats, and she decided she didn't want to bring them with her when she came last July because she was worried the plane would be too hot. Valid? Perhaps. But I think she just didn't want to give up the cats. This actually turned out to be for the best because right about that time, I got engaged to my husband, and he loathes cats. I don't understand it, of course, but there you have it. So my parents kept the cats, and I married my husband, and all was well with the world.
Until my parents asked me to take the cats while they moved from Hawaii to Las Vegas. Don't get me wrong - they're my cats. Of course we'll take them for as long as my parents want (but remember, my mom secretly wants to keep them, so it shouldn't be for very long), so dad put them in their kennels and sent them to me via Delta Cargo. Now, Tyler has been great about the whole thing, but part of the reason he hates cats is because he's allergic. So his throat has been itching for the last two months, but he's a good sport. BUT he keeps me entertained as I watch him interact (directly and indirectly) with my cats.
It started when I noticed that he never referred to them by name. They have fabulous names. Both named for Shakespeare characters, they are Desdemona (the white one) and Puck (the black one). But Tyler wouldn't refer to them as "Desdemona" and "Puck." He called them "the fat one" and "the other one." This is partly because it was days before Puck would come out of the back room and sit with us for any extended period of time. For the first few days, I think Tyler would have thought I might be lying about there really being two of them except for the brief glimpses he saw of a black shape scurrying past the entryway to the living room. But one day I asked him about it, and said if he didn't want to call them by their names, it would at least make more sense to call them "the white one" and "the black one." To which he replied, "I think this is funnier. I use humor to diffuse stressful situations." And he's right; it is funnier.
And then there's the names he started calling them directly, when he became comfortable enough with them to talk to them in the second person. He calls Desdemona "Tubby" and Puck "Twitchy." He doesn't anticipate ever getting to a place with the cats where he calls them the names I picked for them. Oh well - at least he's making me laugh.
A few weeks ago, he started something he "learned" from a Will Ferrell Saturday Night Live sketch. Obviously it's a joke, but in the sketch Will Ferrell teaches how to train your animal using sarcasm. So now Tyler occasionally asks Desdemona, "Are you comfortable, Tubby? Can I get you anything? A glass of juice, perhaps?" Desdemona, of course, does not react in any notable way, which for some reason only makes this funnier to me.
Finally, there was the comment he made the other day. He said that he doesn't have to interact with them much, except occasionally "disciplining them with [his] acerbic wit." And it's true - where the cats are concerned, he certainly does have an acerbic wit.

Borrowing Children

2008-04-08T16:59:00.004-05:00

We don't have children yet, which works for us at this point, but we like kids a lot, so until we have our own, we have a tendency to borrow other people's. Not in some illegal, psycho way or anything, but just in the sense that we share cute pictures and videos of kids that aren't our own with other people. For example, we're big fans of our nephews (James and Nathan) and niece (Gwen). I mean, look at these kids! They're adorable!

And we've come across some videos that are pretty much adorable. This one in particular, of some random child whose name we don't know, we've decided is a pretty fair preview of one of our children in a few years. Possibly in looks, brains, AND subject matter.

We also like this one a lot. It's just cute.

The other day at church I was looking at one of the many super-cute kids, and I leaned over to Tyler and whispered, "do you think her dad would notice or mind if we took her home? We'd take very good care of her." But Tyler assured me her dad would both notice and mind, so I didn't pursue it. I guess until we get one (or more) of our own, we'll continue to live vicariously through others...

Never Say Never

2008-04-05T17:52:00.003-05:00

Growing up, I heard the oft-repeated phrase, "never say never" and in fact said it a time or three myself. The last year has been of year of those "nevers" coming back to bite us. Just a few of the things we made fun of people for doing (or at least vowed never to do ourselves) which we've done in the past 9 months:
1. Get engaged within a month of starting to date. That's right folks, we did it. And a month is pretty generous. You have to start counting from our first date, NOT our first kiss or any other signs of exclusivity, for it to approach a full month. We try to excuse this action with the fact that we'd been single and of dating age for over ten years, so we knew what we wanted. Yet the fact is, we knew it was right. Don't worry, you can mock, we won't take it personally; we laugh at ourselves. And we still laugh at others a little, too.
2. Get married over the Christmas break. It's true, our anniversary is December 21. I was horrified, but it's just the way the cookie crumbled. We're OUT of school, and yet our anniversary will forever mark a school break. That piece of humble pie was bitter, let me tell you.
3. We're watching American Idol this season. Oh, that's right. American Idol. We CARE who goes home. We CARE how they do. It all started with a girl from Huntsville, and then we found out there were two LDS contestants in the final 12. We decided to see how they did one night, and that, my friends, was the beginning of the end.
4. Beginning of the end, because, don't worry, we are watching not one but TWO reality shows this season. Here Come the Newlyweds is hilarious. We watch it on Sunday nights. I guarantee it would not be nearly as funny if we were still single. But here we are. Eating our words.