The will.i.ams life

New Year's Day!

2011-01-01T15:12:00.002-07:00

Hello all,

It's New Year's day, 2011. I must admit that this New Year's festivities were overshadowed slightly by the fact that I'm having a baby on Tuesday!

First things first, our Christmas was really good. We spent the holidays down in Raymond with Spencer's family and had a nice relaxing time. Just what we needed. Connor enjoyed himself SO much, and we had many extra eyes to watch him! We even went out to the farm on Monday and pulled the sled behind Dale's Gator. (small jeep-like ATV). I had a good time trying to buck off Spencer - with success! So so so fun!

After Christmas, we came home and had a day to ourselves, we took ice skating for the second time, he's so fun to watch. This last Thursday we went to Costco to get some goodies for New Year's, and after we had paid for the food, Spencer got in line at the food court with Connor on his shoulders and I waited by the tables because there were NONE free. All of a sudden I looked up and saw Spencer and Connor on the floor! What the heck! I guess Connor jumped off Spencer's shoulders, and while trying to catch his fall by sticking out his butt, Spencer fell, and Connor fell on his nose. Blood everywhere, people surrounding us, people staring at us, crying and howling....it was quite a scene. We took him into the Children's Hospital ER and after waiting 90 minutes and being told it would be another 3-4 hrs wait...we left. The swelling was so bad, they wouldn't have been able to do anything anyways. So we came home and 2 days later...it's still really swollen. And bruised. We decided that he looks kind of like an Avatar. I'm going to try and take him in to see our Family Doctor on Tuesday morning...before my c-section that afternoon! Talk about ringing in the New Year!

For New Year's we had some friends over, the kids played, we ate chicken wings, the kids went to bed, we watched a movie, had chocolate fondue and watched the countdown, had some bubbly drink and then...went to bed. It was perfect.

So now...we wait for Tuesday. We're not actually waiting, we're still busy trying to get stuff done. I made curtains for Connor's room and the baby's room, and we painted Connor's room (Actually, Spencer's mom came up and did that for us). So....that's all for now, I have a c-section scheduled for 2pm on Tuesday. The countdown begins....

This week....

2010-12-10T16:27:00.004-07:00

This week I:

Had a pregnancy meltdown when my husband wasn't answering his cell phone....what if I was in LABOUR!

Have the Christmas party on Saturday night, my last hurrah before I get released and have a baby...when you're 35 weeks pregnant, you should NOT be in charge of biggest party your ward hosts every year.

Was pretty sure I was putting myself into labour as I was helping deliver food to the people who signed up to help cook for Saturday night...the food better taste extra good!

Got a couch for downstairs, and I love it! It is used, suede, tan color sectional with chaize, and both ends recline. It is also huge, and at first I thought it was too big for the basement, but I really like it and there is a ton of room.

Wrapped most of my Christmas presents last night. I think I've had the same package of Costco wrapping paper for 3 years...

Still have some Christmas shopping to do....boo.

Realized I had a FALL blog background still! Thank goodness it's changed to a more winter one...I'm not sure I like it, but it's better than FALL!

Update and Quilt

2010-12-04T10:09:00.003-07:00

Hey all,

So....I've been going for my regular every 2 weeks ultrasounds and here is the conclusion thus far: although the placenta DID move 5mm to be a total of 7mm away from the opening of the cervix and that placed me into the "low lying placenta" category rather than "placenta previa", I still will likely have to have a c-section. Boo. In order to NOT need a c-section the placenta needs to be 2cm away from the cervix opening, and I just had a ultrasound 2 days ago and it hadn't moved from it's 7mm spot. When I see my doctor on Tuesday I'll get the date of the c-section and she'll let me know if they'll check one more time to confirm or not. As of today I am 34 weeks....and feeling all of it!
I did get to go out the other day, a woman in my ward took Connor for me for 5 hours! so I could get some Christmas shopping done. I accomplished alot and felt good....until the cashier at Michael's asked me when I was due and I told her Jan 14 and she was like "REALLY!!? The way you look I would have though you were due today!". Wow....thanks. Nope lady, I still have 6 more weeks to go. Some people are just so dumb.
On another note, I (finally!) finished the quilt I made for my friend who had a baby girl 10 days ago. It is the first quilt I stippled and binded (bound?). Luckily, both were relatively easy to do and I had access to people who know what they're doing and were able to guide me. Here is the finished product:

Maybe one day I'll be special enough to do a tutorial of my own! Happy December folks, I'm gearing up to buy the food this week for the ward Christmas Party happening Dec 10...wish me luck!

Pregnancy update

2010-10-26T21:20:00.002-06:00

Hey all who read and are interested:

Just an update on my pregnancy, I went for an ultrasound last week - no change. The placenta has not moved. They told me one of three things could happen: 1) it could still correct itself. 2) If I have no bleeding or complications, I could go on the home program where a nurse comes to my house frequently and takes blood samples and "checks" me. 3) If I DO have bleeding or complications, I likely will have to go to the hospital and be on bed rest. We're hoping the latter does not happen. So far I haven't had any complications, so we feel very lucky about that. I have to go for another ultrasound in a couple of weeks, and I'll talk to my doctor in a couple weeks as well, so so far we're just....waiting. Perhaps for nothings, perhaps for something, we're not sure.

On a good note, we are mostly done renovating our basement (finally!), we just need baseboards and carpet...and maybe a couch to sit on! I am determined to have carpet picked out and ordered by the end of the week. Here's hoping....

Pregnancy Ups and Downs

2010-10-03T21:36:00.003-06:00

So this last week has been a stress case, but turned out to be a wonderful experience of love from my Heavenly Father.
Start of the story: When I went for my routine ultrasound at 20 weeks they discovered something unusual, my family doctor told me it was something called vasa previa which I had no idea what that meant. She sent me to a specialist OB who does C-sections. I felt like she was jumping the gun a bit, I mean, I was already going to see my regular OB's in a few weeks and she didn't really seem that concerned with the findings of the ultrasound, but just told me no vaginal exams of any kind and no (ahem) loving with my lovey.
I went to see the specialist last week on Monday. She told me that indeed the 20 week ultrasound showed vasa previa. What exactly is that? Well, the placenta had broken into 2 pieces and the two pieces were connected by veins and arteries carrying the babies blood supply. These veins and arteries are not protected by anything, unlike the umbilical cord. Also, these veins and arteries were lying over my cervix. Bad because a) the baby has no way to get out and b) if these rupture or get torn at all, the baby and possibly me would die. Scary. So this specialist says to me that their standard practise for this condition is to admit the mom to hospital on bed rest at 30 weeks and then do an scheduled c-section at 36 weeks. WHAT?!!!? Are you freaking kidding me!? This can NOT be happening. I mean, I have a 2 year old, what the freak happens to him for 6 weeks. Not to mention that means I would be in the hospital for all of November and half of December, in which I'd get to come home a week before Christmas AFTER having a c-section! After telling me this, she also says she wants to send me for another ultrasound as a special place where they have a better machine and they are specialized in looking for things like this. So, after Monday, Spencer and I were having major meltdowns and stress.
On Tuesday the ultrasound place called to say they would like me to come in the next morning. I thought that the fact I was getting in so soon must mean something was majorly wrong with my situation. So of course I say yes and Spencer arranges to be there with me. Tuesday night I got a Priesthood blessing from Spencer and was promised that I would have a happy and healthy baby. That made me feel better, although still nervous about the upcoming weeks and months.
Wednesday morning I was drinking my 2 cups of water (yuck, who drinks 2 cups of water at 8:30am?!) and we made our way to the Maternal Fetal Medicine clinic. After waiting in the waiting room for over 45 minutes after my appointment was suppose to be (seriously people, my BLADDER is FULL!) I had my ultrasound. The girl doing it was very thorough and I got to see alot of the baby. (The place I went to had a tv on the wall in front of you to see everything the tech is doing). Then she looked at my cervix and then Spencer got to come in and look at the baby too. She also got a good look at the private parts and pretty much confirmed that we are having a girl. After the ultrasound a doctor came to talk to us with the results. He said that no in fact I did NOT have vasa previa and that my placenta was in one piece. Not two. We were of course elated! That was the best news we could have heard. He did say however that I do have placenta previa, but that the placenta is only covering 2mm of the cervix. He figures that it will shift on it's own due to the fact that my uterus is still growing and expanding. (the placenta is attached to the uterus, so it doesn't move on it's own, but rather with the uterus). So in la mans terms, I'm not completely out of the woods, and there's still a chance for hospitalization and a c-section, but I have to go for another ultrasound in 3 weeks to see if anything has moved or not.
So....I only had 2 days of extreme worrying, but it was awful! But out of this awfulness came a very special thing. I feel like Spencer and I experienced a miracle, which is so special. The blessing I received the night before was very lovely and I was so thankful that my husband could give it to me. We're hoping and praying for good things in 3 weeks, but I'm not really worried about it. I know that I will have a happy and healthy baby and really, that's all that matters.
Keep you posted.....

This will have to do for now...

2010-09-21T21:26:00.000-06:00

This free picture slideshow made with Smilebox

Too overprotective??

2010-08-25T15:03:00.002-06:00

Last night we went to the park. We'd been there about 5 minutes when a man in his 60's came to sit on a bench, he had a model airplane with him. He kept looking across the field like he was waiting for someone to come meet him. There are only 2 benches in the whole park....we had one, he had the other. 20 minutes later we were leaving...and he was still sitting there. I found this weird, I mean, he was just sitting there. He wasn't doing anything inappropriate at all, but I felt uncomfortable. So when we came home, I called the police just to give them a heads up.
Do you think I'm too over protective or self righteous or something?

On another note, last Friday - August 20, 2 young people were killed on the highway while their 7 week old daughter survived. The husband and father killed was a good friend of mine from high school. This event has really confirmed to me a few things: Life is short and you just never know when things will come to an end. Me and my husband need to be more careful when driving. Spencer and I NEED to do a will. Does anybody else have a will, and more specifically have you legally chosen someone to take your children should something happen to you? I think for some people this is an easy choice, but for us, not so much. I'd love to hear what other people thought about to make this choice.

On a happy note....we leave for Vegas in 8 days!! I hear the weather is seriously 40 degrees Celsius, I hope we don't fry to death! I don't know, 5 months pregnant and 40 degrees....am I crazy!?

Ewwwww

2010-07-28T18:08:00.002-06:00

Don't you hate getting puked on? Well that just what happened to me this morning. Connor had a stomach ache and luckily had only had his sippy cup of milk when......eruption! Ewwww, curtled milk is very gross too. Nothing a little laundry and a bath can't fix though, and he started feeling better immediately after. Thank goodness, cross you fingers....

It was suppose to be...

2010-07-19T15:21:00.002-06:00

Hello all -

I was just sitting down to check on the blogs I follow and then write about my weekend of craziness - 2 birthday parties for a 2 year old. But as I was checking one of the blogs I follow, they had a link to another blog that they follow and she mentioned something about being touched and saddened by their loss, which intrigued me to see what she meant. As I began to read this other young families blog, the tears started streaming down my face as I began to realize their situation, and just how lucky I am to have my little boy safe and sound having a nap right now. If you'd like to read this teary blog, go here. A gentle reminder that what you have is just about perfect, even when you don't feel it.

I will write about the birthday parties etc. but for now, I wanted to share this with you.

2 years old?!

2010-07-16T22:55:00.003-06:00

Since I last did a real update, we went down to Raymond for the week of July 1, Connor had his 2nd birthday on July 8 and I announced that I was pregnant. So, here are the details of all:
We went to Raymond as per usual for July 1. If you're from southern Alberta, you know why. If you're not, you might not know that Raymond is famous for their July 1 celebration. And since Spencer is from there, I can see us attending July 1 in Raymond for the rest of our lives! We did miss it 2 years ago, being as I was 5 days overdue with Connor, we didn't think it was wise to travel. Little did we know that it wouldn't have mattered, he still came 7 days later. Anyways, Connor had a blast at Grandma and Grandpa's house, running around inside and out, riding horses with Grandpa, riding the golf cart and ride on lawn mower with Grandma and playing with his cousin Haylee. He sure was kept busy, and loved every minute of it. We took him to the new Raymond pool the first night and oh my! That kid loves water, loves the water slides and thinks he can swim. No fear for this kid, which I'm glad about most of the time, until he tries to jump out of my arms and sinks in the pool. I definitely see swimming lessons in his future.
The rest of the time leading up to the July 1 was spent playing and visiting. We went into Lethbridge and saw Grandma O. a few times, and I did a little shopping at Value Village. (Lethbridge has the best Value Village ever, by far the best second hand shopping I've encountered).
July 1 came, and we were out getting ready for the parade. The weather was pretty good which was a relief since the day before was kind of windy (surprise?) and rainy. The parade this year was a little weak I felt. Stacey (Spencer's sister) had her 10 year reunion float, and we got a plunger that people were handing out, but other than that....nothing too special. July 1 is also Grandma O.'s b-day and this year she turned 85. Alma (my MIL) had a bunch of family over afterwards to celebrate her birthday. Of course, Grandma as per usual is always saying "Don't make a fuss, I don't even need to be there". She's funny....Anyways, my mom also drove down July 1, and spent a few days in Raymond, so after the birthday party celebration we headed over to my Grandpa's house for the annual George bbq. We visited with my mom, Lorraine, and Terri.
July 2 was the day of our wards annual Temple trip/campout, which I was in charge of being the Activities Chairperson. I was a little frantic that day as it was raining in the morning, and the plan was for us to take Dale and Alma's camper trailer, but with the weather being iffy, they didn't really want to get it ready in the rain, so then Spencer was trying to convince me we should make alternate arrangements for somewhere to sleep. But as I was starting to stress out about that, it stopped raining. So we (more like them) got the trailer ready and his parents took the trailer to Cardston for us. (they do Temple work on Fridays, so they were going to there anyways, and we don't have a hitch on our truck.) We had to go into Lethbridge to Costco to pickup a cake I had ordered for one of the Young Men who was having a birthday during the campout. Now, I should preface this story by saying that 2 days before when we went to Costco to get Grandma's cake for her birthday, Spencer was bringing it in from the car and....smooshed it. I guess that's what you get when you try to carry all 47 things in from the car at once...anyways, here is Spencer, Connor and I at Costco picking up the cake, and we're about to start out on our camping trip which I've been stressing out about all week, and we pay for the cake which is on the bottom of the cart and as we're walking into the parking lot and it just so happens that Spencer is pushing the cart, the cake FALLS off the cart face down, but Spencer doesn't notice for a couple seconds and starts pushing it along the pavement!!! So....it's totally ruined. AHHH!!! The last thing I/we needed. As we make our way to the car with this cake that is totally ruined and I start crying because my stress level is now way over the top, but I'm kind of laughing at the same time because let's face it, this is ridiculous. Spencer takes it back into Costco to see if they can fix it. Well, he comes out with a brand new cake that says Happy Birthday and has a rainbow on it. Now, the original cake wasn't much fancier, it did say "Happy 17th Birthday Craig" and had balloons on it, but now I am really laughing because the rainbow cake really isn't what every 17 year old boy wants for his birthday. Oh well, the rest of the camping trip went fine and we had a good time and the cake was a hit anyways.

After we made our way home from Raymond, the next week was Connor's second birthday! I can't believe I have a 2 year old! What the heck. Spencer had taken the day off, so for his birthday we took him to the McDonald's playplace and then to see Toy Story 3. I quite liked the movie, and he did pretty good sitting through it.

And...I'm pregnant. I'm supposedly due January 15, although that is a very guesstimated date due to irregularity. For those of you who don't know, I was actually pregnant in the fall, but had a miscarriage in March. I was at my 12 week ultrasound when I found out, and it was pretty traumatic and sad. We hadn't told anyone but our families, but I had to have a D&C, which was sad too. Anyways, I think that it's ok to talk about it since so many women have problems with pregnancy, whether it is conceiving or staying pregnant. It's nice to know other people can relate and you're not alone in these sorts of things.

Ok, that's it, I'm officially done blabbing, until next time.....

News

2010-07-14T22:24:00.003-06:00

This is the shirt I made for Connor, took his picture wearing it, and then sent the pictures in the mail to my in-laws, and my mom and dad. Hope you enjoy. We sure do!

Summer, where are you?

2010-06-15T13:34:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone. I realize I haven't written anything since November. It's a terrible thing and I'm sorry. I don't really know how many people read my blog, probably nobody since I never write on it, but if you do, my apologies. I get frustrated when other people don't update their blogs (go figure) because I read them and it gives me something to do during the day when my son is playing nicely by himself (like right now) and it's almost nap time and I don't want to turn on the tv because I like him to think that mommy doesn't watch that much tv.
As for the heading of this post, I really do wonder where summer is? Seriously, it's mid-June! We had better weather in March! We did have a lovely weekend and I even broke out the shorts....but they're tucked away again as the forecast is rain, rain and more rain this week. At least Connor's winter clothes are getting well worn. My poor furnace doesn't know whether it's suppose to be off or on and my flip flops are begging to be worn. I know we need moisture, but this is crazy. My MIL had a good point though, she said that we pray when we want rain, so we need to pray for sunshine too.
I got released from my calling in April. I am no longer the YW President of my ward. I knew it was coming for a few weeks, so when the time actually came, I was ready for it. I will say that I never truly understood mantles that are given when you receive a calling, until I was released. I suddenly felt a true weight lifted off my shoulders, and not a burden weight, but a responsibility weight. My thoughts are no longer on the girls and my counsellors with a responsibility feeling, just memories of the good, the bad and the ugly. I will treasure my time with those ladies and girls, but know that it was time for someone fresh to come in. (Just in time for Trek too, yippee!) I did get a new calling....and they didn't let me off the hook! I am now the Activities Committee Chair Person. It's actually not that bad because the girl who did it before me has everything organized and prepared down to the T. I have a great committee and we have our first major activity coming up July 2-3. Our ward is doing a Ward Family Temple Trip/Campout in Cardston, Ab. For anyone reading this who would like more information on what a Temple is, you can go here. Anyways, it should be good and I hope things run smoothly.
My baby is turning 2 in about 3 weeks. I'm thinking that's crazy. How can MY baby be turning TWO?! He is such a little man, a totally all boy! He has started talking like crazy, and last week we had to turn his crib into a bed because he learned to climb out of his crib and open the door - all on the same night. Let's just say that that night was pure hell. But he seems to be doing pretty good with his new bed and we got a child proof door handle for his door, and slowly but surely things are getting better and he's sleeping through the night again. He also went through a period of being scared, which I didn't even think he knew the meaning of, but apparently he does and so we had to get him a nightlight. He saw the movie Toy Story and we think that the part where Buzz and Woody are over that the neighbours house (Sid) and the deformed toys come out of the closet may have scared him. Crazy.
In April we took Connor to see Thomas the Train at Heritage Park. It was super fun and he loved it. We rode on "Thomas" the Train and the had our picture taken with Sir Topam Hat. It all went really well, until he went on the little kid Ferris wheel by himself. There were other little kids going on it so we thought it was no big deal - way wrong. For some reason the bar that was suppose to be holding him in, he could LIFT IT UP! And the people operating the ride didn't even notice! Thank goodness nothing happened, but seriously we could have had a real tragedy. Let's just say we won't be doing Ferris wheels any time in the near future!
I'm seriously going to try and keep my blog updated a little more, because it's a good journal for
me to remember all the fun times with my family and in particular my little munchkin. Until next time....

Can you believe it!?

2009-11-05T15:57:00.009-07:00

Yes, I'm actually posting something after all these months. I think my problem is that I enjoy looking at everyone else's blogs and postings that I run out of time to do my own....that's my story and I'm sticking to it. So here's a brief recap of the last 5 months. YW camp was....interesting. When I got there halfway through camp, things were NOT good, but they picked up and by the end everyone was happy. That is not to say that I was the answer to all their problems or even that I caused anything to change, but only a few girls cried after I got there....that' s a good sign right? Oh well, when people ask me how camp was, I sum it up by saying "it was rocky at first, but it ended well, and I hope that's the part the girls remember." Here are some pictures to show you they are actually smiling, and how the blankets turned out. Because there were two pieces of fleece tied together, the girls undid some of their knots and wore the blankets as dresses. It was pretty neat, and I have to say, the blankets turned out beautifully....even if I kind of went insane making them:

Let's keep going, Connor had his first birthday on July 8, 2009. We threw him a party and had some people from our ward and some of Spencer's family came up. We had a bbq in the backyard and everyone almost melted. It was SOOOO hot. Spencer was making slurpees for everyone and they were a hit. I seriously don't know what we would have done without them! Here are some pictures of the party, and at this time of year, let's remember how hot we actually were:

The rest of our summer was pretty tame. We didn't do too much, just worked on our garden a bit and drank ALOT of homemade slurpees with country time lemonade powder, water and ice. However, September was very fun. First off I turned 26. I am now officially closer to 30 than I am 20 and it sucks. Oh well, what can you do, right? Anyways, the day after my birthday we flew out to Las Vegas with our friend the Hall's. We dropped Connor off with Grandma and Grandpa Williams in Raymond, then flew out of Great Falls, MT. We stayed at the Trump hotel and had an absolute blast! I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to enjoy myself as I'd be too worried about Connor. Well....I wasn't worried at all and had a fabulous time. Either that means I trust my inlaws and wasn't worried about Connor, or I'm a terrible mother....I'm going with the first. The 4 days we spent there was so great, and even....not long enough!
Come on down....no, we didn't get picked.
Let's fast forward to October. I don't know why, but it seems as though our lives have been so busy. I love it, but it's nice to take a break every now and again. Halloween came, and Connor dressed up as a little Monster. He was very cute. We went to our wards Halloween party/dance on Friday and I had a super fun time dancing. I really miss going to dances as a YSA. That was probably the best part of being single. Anyways, Saturday we went out with our friends the Loewers, and Alita and I took Connor and Sam up and down our street. Sam is 2 weeks younger than Connor, so we're making them, I mean trying to get them to be friends. They were very funny carrying around their sack of candy. They kept trying to go inside the peoples houses, and we had to hold them back. They raked in a good amount of candy, so mommy and daddy are extra happy. We had a good time, and so did the kids, and that's what counts right?

Spencer said those pajamas made him look gay....I disagree completely!

A recent fall day photo....my little man.

My Husband is in Trouble!

2009-07-15T12:09:00.002-06:00

What happens when you let your husband go golfing for 4 days in Montana, and because he get's rained out for one of the days he spends the day in Great Falls, and then when he get's home from his trip he brings you home.....nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zip. He get's a huge guilt trip and I get no guilt when I go shopping in Las Vegas in September! Maybe this will work out to my advantage after all.....

Young Women's Camp

2009-06-15T11:14:00.003-06:00

Ok guys, so it seems that I've procrastinated/been let to believe otherwise. I have mentioned before that I am the Young Women's President for our ward and we are going to Stake YW Camp on June 30-July 3. I say we - but I'm planning on coming until July 2. Planning being the key word. We recently found out that we are being paired with two other wards in the Stake being that our ward and theirs have few numbers. I was under the impression that we would be doing some of our free time activities together, but apparently they have already planned everything to be done with only themselves, and I am now (frantically) trying to prepare some free time activites for 8 young women ages 12-15. We have no Laurels going :( So, here's where my trusted blogging friends come in handy....if you have any suggestions of activities we should do, let me know. What did you enjoy doing at camp when you were that age?? Come on people, I'm T-15 days......

Wow, another post so soon?

2009-06-09T18:10:00.003-06:00

I know, I know, I JUST posted on Sunday, and now here's another. But it's that good I could resist. I came upon this blog with a bunch of cute crafty tutorials and ideas etc. BUT I had to show you this one tutorial RIGHT NOW because it's baffling! So go here to see this amazing idea that I'm sure I would not think of in a million years. I love stealing other peoples ideas.....

Honey, this is simple, really.....

2009-06-07T21:59:00.006-06:00

Ok, so what started out to be a "small, easy project" (as told to my husband) has turned into something of a disaster! Disaster is the wrong word, because the final project is turning out great, but it's only taken me 2+ weeks of my living room looking like a tornado went through it....

(Yes, my husband is watching Sportscentre in the background...this is one of the 3 channels he knows, TSN and CBC being the other 2)

I REALLY want a craft room in my dream house. Anyways, what am I talking about? Well, I am the Young Women's President in our ward. This year is Stake Young Women's Camp and we were told that each girl needed a fleece camp blanket with fringes around the edges. Easy. Well, I didn't want MY girls to have the standard grey fleece blankets that everyone else would have. Oh no, that wouldn't do. So, being that I have a fancy sewing machine, I thought, why not get creative. Oh yeah, I guess you should actually KNOW HOW TO SEW before you get into major projects of designing and sewing SEVEN fleece blankets. All I can say is, I've learned alot about sewing, and my machine really is awesome. I also have really enjoyed making these blankets, even though there were times that I wanted to scrap the whole thing. So, without further ado....here are the pictures:

These are just 2 blankets, but basically I have 3 colors of fleece, blue, pink and green, and each blanket will have a back side of fleece (well, the girls need two colors of fringes, don't you think?!) then I bought some minky fabric. I cut out a million circles in 3 different sizes with the minky fabric and the left over fleece and then, did a zig-zag stitch for the stems and sewed on the circles and some blocks of green minky for grass. If you look closely, you can even see that some of the flowers have BUTTONS for their centres. What YW wouldn't want these home made, drenched in their YW Pres. sweat and tears blanket? Really, not that hard, but that was NOT my original idea. I have to give credit to my YW counsillor Kati who has helped me with some sewing. We're about half done, and we have till the end of June to finish, we'll be fine....At least they'll look original, right??

On one final note, my son is 11 months on the 8th of June, and I'although he is pretty smart in some areas, he has not mastered the art of listening when I tell him that THIS is not a good idea:

....we have one of those high chairs that clips onto the table. This is his newest trick to try and get out....Yes, if you flail yourself out any more, you WILL land on your head. For all you mothers out there wondering why I'm not RIGHT THERE ready to catch him, I'm wondering, if he does fall out one day, will he learn that it's a bad idea to hang partly out of your high chair? Gravity does not work with you son.

What?? A whole month!

2009-05-24T20:18:00.005-06:00

I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted. It's kind of like scrapbooking or journalling, you just get so far behind you don't know where to start. I guess I'll write about our trip to San Francisco. This was our first time and it was pretty cool. The weather was awesome and we got to do some really great shopping and sight seeing. Here's the problem with every trip Spencer and I take - he hates shopping, and I hate golfing. Put those together and that can equal a pretty miserable trip. Luckily, this time my mom came with us and so I had a buddy to shop with and Spencer didn't feel guilty leaving to go golfing. I can already see myself being a golf widow this summer....
San Francisco is an interesting place. I kind of think it's one of those places that lives in it's own little world. There are alot of young people that live there, and on the Sunday that we were there, there was a walk/run event, and all these young people (when I say young, I mean my age +/ - 5-10 years) were dressed up in some very weird clothes. I'm talking really weird. Guys dressed up in cow costumes with utters in their manly regions, girls wearing tutu's, fishnets, spandex.....it was insane.
We went to the Golden Gate Bridge, the Oakland Temple, sat on a beach and watched people catch crabs, went to a MLB game,took a street car, went to Fishermans Warf and took a tour of Alcatraz. We also ventured out and took public transit (C-train) since there is very little parking in the city, and if you do park it's like $70-$80 per day. Taking public transit was probably the most entertaining part of the trip, which might sound sad, but it's not. Our hotel was the furthest south stop that the train took, and the further south we got, the weirder the people got. I have to tell you all about the crazy lady and the smelly man. The Crazy Lady was telling me all about her dog (which she had with her) and how the dog had a $300 coat and eats gourmet food, and how she spent $1500 on it's first birthday. Then I sat down and a black guy got on. There wasn't much room on the train, and she was taking up 3 seat what with her dog having one, her and then her purse on the other. The guy MUST have said something to her, because man oh man, I have never heard a freak out like that. In the next 15 minutes, no kidding she probably dropped the F-bomb like 100 times among all the other swears. She was telling him that he was lucky that her son is in prison (J-Rock was his name) or else he'd come after him and kill him. She went nuts. Beyond what you can imagine. The poor guy just stood there and took it, and told her she was crazy a few times. It was actually a little scary, it was night time and we were in a strange city, but looking back on it now, I can laugh. The other funny event was the smelly guy. Some of you may or may not know, but I have no sense of smell, so this didn't bother me, but still funny. The train has two cars attached, and at one stop this homeless guy gets in and immediatly everyone starts to cover their noses and turn their heads. After about 10 minutes, everyone had moved to the other car, including us. It was THAT bad. Ok, so maybe you had to be there, but seriously, it was funny. Here are some pictures to end this, I would recommend going, but seriously consider using public transportation, it's like $1.50 each way.

How do I....???

2009-04-27T12:20:00.002-06:00

Does anyone know if you can search blogs, like you would search Google?? For example, if I would like to search blogs regarding a certain subject, can you do that?? By the way, what the *explicit* is with all the snow around here?? Sorry for the language, but could someone please tell winter that it is no longer welcome here, so shoo, be gone, adios, see you later. Winter has definitely become the last person at a party who just won't leave even though you really want to go to bed. I'd really like to put on some capri's, so let's all call out to spring and welcome her into our lives, perhaps she just needs some encouragement.

Finally!

2009-04-21T21:28:00.003-06:00

Yeah, so Spencer and I finally picked a place to go on vacation!! We've only been hemming and hawing over it for like 5 months! We are going to San Francisco!! From May 13-19. Spencer has already booked us seats for a baseball game. I pretty much know nothing about San Francisco and will be researching everything I can about it, but if anyone has any suggestions on where to go and what to do, I'll gladly take them into consideration! We are taking Connor, (although I am weening him this month...yeah!!) so hopefully he'll do good. If you can't tell, I'm excited as every sentence I write has an exclamation mark behind it!!!!!!
On a side note, I am going to Time Out For Women on May 1 and 2, and because I am weening Connor, he's NOT COMING WITH ME!! Again, the excitement, I can't even imagine what it will be like to not have him with me. I know, I sound like a terrible mother, but seriously, I am excited for a little break. And I'm also excited to shut down the milk machine for a while. Life is good.....
I bought a sewing machine, my very first one. It's a Singer and I got it from Costco. I haven't used it yet, I'm a little afraid to, but I'll let you know how it goes the first time.
Oh yeah, I really think you should check this picture out as it made me gasp in a want to cry/laugh kind of way. Sooooo glad this isn't my mess to clean up!!
I'm off, time to do some more research - San Francisco.....here I come!!

Mommy Question - Is This Normal??

2009-04-07T12:21:00.003-06:00

So for the last month or so, we've been trying to introduce eating solids to Connor. It started with giving him his own food at the end of feeding him cereal and baby food. Well, now the last few days he is refusing to eat any cereal or babyfood, and only feed himself solids. This wouldn't be such an issue except that 3/4 of the food he feeds himself ends up on the floor or in his lap! My only real concern is that he won't get enough "good stuff" to eat. Do you think this phase will pass and he'll let us feed him again??

crafts, crafts and more crafts!

2009-04-06T12:44:00.014-06:00

I like to craft. I'm not the best at it, and it usually comes in spurts, but all in all, I like to do them. The last few weeks however, I have tried a few different things I've never done before. First, I got this idea from a website and made ones for my mom, my mother in law, and my 2 sister in laws.
After that, I made this jar for the Young Women. I am the Young Women's President in my ward, and I thought this jar might help motivate them to do their Personal Progress. Hence, the P.P. jar (if these were Young Men, I'd never hear the end of that!)

This weekend, like I said before, a girlfriend came down to visit and we did some crafting. First we did pies in a jar.

Then we attempted making bibs. I will admit that she (Carolyn) did most of the work and I am not great at using a sewing machine. I will say that I did not enjoy using bias tape! I still have a few more to make, but I think I'll wait for my mom to come down and use her sewing machine!

Finally, I attempted to make "cake pops". Ok, so don't laugh. I got the idea from Bakerella, and thought "no problem!" Hold on, big problem. It's ALOT harder than it looks, not to mention I'm NOT a professional. Only the decorating was hard, the making and assembling was not. I eventually gave up and just stuck to easy decorating. So, although my cake pops look NOTHING like Bakerella's - they still tasted great and were a hit at the birthday party I went to.

Thus ends my crafting projects so far, stay tuned for more finished products to come.....

baby teeth makes mommy go crazy!

2009-03-30T14:59:00.000-06:00

Connor is teething. This isn't a surprise as he is the right age. It's not his first teeth, he already has three. But for about a week, he's been getting three in at once. The first one has finally broken through, but the other two have not yet and like the title says, mommy is going a little crazy.

I feel sorry for the kid, I'm sure he's in pain, but that doesn't make it any less torturous for all. A cranky-unconsolable-doesn't know what he wants except to just nurse for like 1 hour!-and also bite me while nursing, baby is the pits. I shouldn't complain too much, he's really not like this all day. Just when he doesn't get exactly what he wants, and since he can't tell me what he wants, this happens frequently. Thankfully he's napping right now.

This weekend a girlfriend is coming to visit, and her and are are going to go crafting crazy. Well, sort of. We are going to try and make pies in jars, and make home made baby bibs. She has a 9 week old, and I've got an almost 9 month old, so we'll see how much we actually get done, but it will be fun to have her around anyways. I also made these cute Easter gifts, I will post pictures soon, but I want to wait until my mom gets hers in the mail first. I must say, they are cute though.

I picked up my inlaws from the airport today, they just got home from a Mexican Cruise. It snowed two feet here while they were gone. I'm so mad.

Brrrrrrrrr

2009-03-24T15:42:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I had to change my blog background to this because THIS is what it looks like outside! It's disgusting. Of course, when I changed it, it erased a bunch of stuff, so now I'm back to square one of "personalizing" my blog.
I need some help with something though, perhaps someone could explain it to me. I thought that you could use a search engine type thing to look on other peoples blogs for certain topics they may have talked about?? I can't seem to find how to do this. I am a little challenged though.
Lately I've been thinking about some of the inventions I own that I don't know how I lived without. Here is my list starting in last place:
5. Connnor's sleep sac. We use it at least 3 times a day and it's wonderful. No more worrying that your child is cold in the night.

4. My hair straightener. Spencer bought it for me for my birthday when we were first married. Seriously, I could have used it long before then! Maybe then I would have had alot less self loathing when it came to my hair.

3. My Braun hand blender. Need something little blended without making a big mess?? This will do it for you. Want a personal smoothie you can make in the cup?? This will do it. So small and compact, it hardly takes up any space at all.

2. My Roomba. The robotic vaccum. Now I must say, I bought my refurbished and so I can't say that I would pay the full price for one (I think $300). I paid $130 and I love it. It get's used almost every day. I seriously want the Scooba (the floor washer). Now how to explain that to my husband....

And coming in at number 1, quite a ways in front of everyone else is...
The PVR.

TV is revolutionized. It is by far the best thing we have every purchased. I suppose I should say best/worst thing we ever purchased....since it's easy to watch more tv then ever, but it also teaches self control, so that's a bonus right? No more commercials, my husband can rewind that sports play over and over, and I can watch my shows whenever I want. Beauty.

Well, hopefully the weather warms up and melts all this snow...then I can change my blog background to something a little more springy.

How do you do this??

2009-03-22T21:14:00.001-06:00

So...I'm blogging?? I'm not 100% sure how to do this so bear with me. I guess I should say that I have been very intrigued by blogging as I've been "blog stalking" some people. I don't know why, but I'm really interested in reading what other people are up to. Plus, I've learned some cool things, like recipes and crafts. I just hope I have time to share with all of you as you do me.
I guess I should let you all know a little bit about me and what I've been up to: My name is Jenine Williams, I'm married to Spencer and we have a little 8.5 month old boy named Connor. They are the joys of my life, and I love them both dearly. I will say one thing though, motherhood is much much much harder than I thought it would be! Cudos to all you moms out there just living and doing the mom thing. We live in Calgary and have been for almost 3 years. Spencer works for an Oil and Gas company downtown - thus we live in Calgary. Our long term plans are to move away, but for a while we'll be here. It's right in between our families, so that is the up side I suppose. We'd love to move somewhere a little smaller - but we can't agree on a direction to go! So I guess for now, Calgary will do.
Connor is the cutest little "toe head" I've seen. He's such a good and happy baby. He love to hear himself scream, and does this every moment he can. He is also climbing on everything, and opening every door and cupboard he can, which means mommy needs an extra set of eyes! He is really alot of fun, and I've enjoyed showing him the world.
Well, that's all folks, for tonight anyways, hopefully I can have something more interesting to write later on.....