happy 2nd birthday william!

like all parents, i also wonder, "WHERE DID THE PAST 2 YEARS GO???" my cute little peanut, has now turned into a toddling nightmare!!!!!!

don't get me wrong, he is a sweetie pie and all, but boy oh boy does this kid drive me up the wall some days!!! i think i say AT LEAST 10x's a day, "STOP HITTING, STOP BITING, STOP THROWING THAT, COME BACK HERE, YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE A NAP EVEN IF I HAVE TO STRAP YOU TO YOUR BED(eek, that is what my parents LITERALLY did), DON'T GET INTO THAT, DON'T RUN IN THE STREET, STOP!!! and NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!! talk about some major parenting blunders!! william makes me feel like i am failing as a parent!
having said that, who couldn't love this adorable, crazy chubby little guy???
isn't he cute?(don't let that fool you...)

we celebrated william's 2nd birthday at a local park with some new friends.
since we were going there for fhe anyhow, we decided to invite others to join in the festivities. it was a great time!

since william is into trucks right now, we had a construction zone cake. I COMPLETELY STINK at making cakes. just don't have the talent. so i always joke that when i make a cake it looks like a 4yr. old did it. this time, i enlisted some help from my kids so it REALLY was made by kids.


william got some fun gifts too this year. he is ALL boy! he already tries to ride the older kids bikes, wear their rollerblades and ride the skate board. so, i thought we could get him a scooter for his birthday. he loves it. he also got a ball, golf clubs, puzzles and a cute mower from some friends.


happy birthday william!!
we love you, even if you exhaust your mama to death!!!

PS...
here is a reminder of our little guy when he was about 5 months old.

PPS... on the flip side, william gives wonderful hugs and always gives me kisses before he ventures outside. it is funny. he also is very polite and says, "please" and "thank you!" and recently he started to say, love you! he also likes to cuddle, unless he doesn't want too! lol!

rainy day fun

today we had rain. william cried and cried until i took him outside. i tried to explain in "baby talk" that it was too cold and way too wet to play outside. for some strange reason he didn't understand me. so, i took him outside to see and feel how cold it was. he still kicked and screamed and wiggled in my arms. so, i relented and put on his socks and shoes, sweatshirt and his big winter coat. he could barely move. as soon as we were outside he broke in to immediate smiles and laughter. he didn't care that the rain was coming down harder or the wind was blowing stronger he just wanted to experience rain for real!! he toddled around trying to convince mom that it was okay to sit in the puddles and crawl around on the wet ground. eventually, i did allow him to put his hands in the water to feel how cold it was but it didn't seem to bother him at all. he kept splashing away!! finally, when i was frozen and wet i scooped him up and took him inside. when he realized we were no longer going to be playing outside, he began screaming and crying and pointing out the window. it was so sad, but tonz warmer. luckily, it was storytime and naptime and he is easily distracted!!

silly bud

my baby turns 1!!

we celebrated william's 1st birthday august 23, en route to utah. we stopped over in aberdeen, idaho to visit cousins and i was able to locate a cake mix and frosting. i whipped up a really boring cake and because we didn't have a candle we used a match for william to blow out. as you can see, he wasn't too excited about blowing out the match. i don't blame him! our little bud(which has become his official nickname) has grown leaps and bounds this year. it would be difficult to highlight all of his accomplishments.
today, i put will on my lap and we watched home videos of him during his first year. it was priceless as he would point and say dada(which has two meanings, dad and baby), laugh and smile at himself. it was fun to be reminded of how he has changed over the year.

some silly things our bud likes or does:

1. he loves to suck his thumb. a terrible habit, but one that is difficult to make an infant break. not only does he like to suck his thumb, but he likes to hold onto skin while doing it. and not just any skin but family members' tummy skin. he will crawl around and find a shirt to lift, lift it, stick his thumb in his mouth, grab hold of your tummy skin and lay his head down and suck. it is hilarious, except when you are walking through walmart and all the kid wants to do is lift your shirt, hold the skin and suck and you are trying to fight him off and he won't stop screaming at you to let him have a little tummy skin!! incredibly embarrassing and frustrating!

2. will loves to dance. he has a very unique way of dancing too. he puts his hands together in front of himself, as to be praying and then he wiggles them up and down like a snake. he has added other moves, such as the shaking his bum back and forth and shaking his head back and forth as well. it is really fun to watch.

3. he just started to walk this past week. he has been taking a few steps here and there over the past few weeks but finally he has realized that he can move from one piece of furniture to the other without crawling. it is super exciting.

4. he EATS A LOT!! i am not kidding. this kid eats like 20 meals a day. it drives me nuts. he can sign "more" and so he will follow me around signing more so i will get him some food. i try to avoid the kitchen so he won't think he needs to eat. i will often find him sitting on the floor among some food he has found in the cupboards munching away. i can't tell you how tired i am from vacuuming up food all over the floors. (his favorite food, is not chocolate but rather fruit.)


5. william loves to be outside. he loves to crawl around and find leaves or rocks and throw them. he thinks he is so cool.

6. william is very vocal. he not only says a bunch of words including, car, truck, this, that, dad, mom, baby, moo, horse sounds, pig sounds and dog but he LOVES to scream, whine and cry.

7. this kid definitely knows what he wants and when he wants something he wants it now! luckily, he is still young enough to distract. however, he doesn't give up easily! he will scream, hit, kick and cry to get what he wants. he is definitely 1!

8. recently william has learned he can climb off things. he has learned to scoot to the edge of the bed, table or step and put his feet over the edge and just let go or slowly scoot backwards. he will always look for someone to approve of this great event with a high five or smile!

9. william loves to throw things, put lids on/off containers, dump food or toys, crawl on top of things, pull books off shelves, get in the fridge and find food to munch on, play hide and seek tag, wrestle, take baths, play on the piano, push toys around, go on walks and find dogs to pet, listen to music and ride in shopping carts(he has realized recently that he can climb out of strollers/carts if he isn't buckled in, a fact i feel i need to remind my sweet knuckleheaded husband of).

10. william loves his brother and sisters. he is aware of the fact that they leave him every morning. when i drop them off at school, he immediately starts to cry and tries to climb out of his seat. it is so sad and sweet.

we love you william. happy 1st birthday!

beep beep!

move it! i'm on my way!

watch out, i'm in reverse!

hey, does anyone know where i'm going?

riding the big orange car is william's newest fascination. he loves to just sit in the car and have me push him all over the yard. he is really good at scooting backwards by himself too. when it is time to put the car away and go inside, he gets really upset!! he will scream and flail his arms ultimately hitting me in the face. you did notice the red hair, right? we red-heads seems to have strong opinions about getting our way!!

he did it!!

william just started crawling today. he has been very close for a while now! it was soo exciting. it is funny how even after a few kids, these monumental moments are still so huge!! i have some video of it, when i have time later i will get it uploaded. i just wanted to make a quick announcement. we were very excited in our household today!! way to go WILLIAM!! (ned motivated him with a popsicle)

MMMMOOOOOOMMMMMMYYYYY!!

william is right in the middle of what child experts like to call, "separation anxiety." he cries if i move out of sight or put him down. i will put him on the floor next to where i am doing something and he will STILL cry. can i please say, UUUUGGGGHHHH!!!! this is the stage of babyhood i do not enjoy! my once sweet and wonderful baby has become quite difficult!

SENSING MOM ABOUT TO LEAVE

MOM LEAVES

MOM STILL HASN'T COME BACK, WHERE IS SHE?? BETTER CRY A LITTLE LOUDER!
(notice the mad eyebrows)

OH MY GOSH, WILL SHE EVER RETURN...MUST CRY HARDER AND LOUDER!!
(notice his 2 new teeth)

will made me laugh while i was taking these photos. i was trying to leave and come back so i could get him crying, but whenever i came in to take the shot of him crying, he would get happy again.