Home for the holidays

This is where we get to be for Christmas this year:


Mesa, Arizona


Provo/Salt Lake City, Utah


I'm so excited!! Hopefully we'll have plenty of pictures to share when we get back.

Growing up too fast for my taste

I've decided that life is cruel sometimes. Cruel because it forces babies and children to grow up way too fast. Kayla's 8-month birthday was a few days ago. I can't believe that she's that old already. She is definitely not a newborn anymore. She laughs and smiles constantly, crawls everywhere, pulls herself up on furniture, and is a pro at eating baby food. She adores Will and has learned to be tough against his rough-housing (he desperately needs a brother-or to play with his friends more often). She is such an angel, and I am grateful she is part of our family.


Will is also growing up so quickly. He's such a smart little boy. I think the most impressive thing he does is that he memorizes songs, lines from movies, and books really quickly. He is constantly running around the house quoting things he's heard or seen recently (or even not so recently). He's definitely got a mind of his own and enjoys doing as much as he can by himself. His most recent accomplishment is going to the potty ALL BY HIMSELF. YAY! (Can you tell I'm excited). It's been a long struggle, and he still slips up sometimes, but I would venture to say that he is officially potty-trained. He can be a little difficult at times, but he's a sweet boy and we love him.

Happy Halloween

I feel awful that these pictures aren't the greatest, especially the one of Kayla. I had to take them with the camera on my phone, because our digital camera is on the fritz. If you can't tell, Will is the Sorcerer's apprentice from "Fantasia" and Kayla is a princess. We had fun going to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat on Thursday, and then Will got to go with his cousin Alice to a retirement home for a costume parade on Friday.

The Big 4

Today is Will's 4th birthday. As my friend JuliAnne commented yesterday at his birthday party, "I can't believe a whole year has gone by since his last birthday party." Will has grown and learned and progressed so much that Bill and I are constantly amazed. In the last year he has become a big brother, started potty-training, advanced from nursery to Primary, gone on his first camping trip with Daddy, learned what sounds the letters of the alphabet make, and countless other things. It makes me happy and proud to see him accomplishing things and learning things, but at the same time I'm sad, because it means that he's growing up. He's had his challenges, especially as he's tried to get used to having a sibling around, but he's still our sweet, active, wonderful little boy and we love him very much. Happy Birthday Will!

Our Lil' All Star

For the past few weeks Will has been going to a sports-type class at the local rec center. They've done everything from basketball to soccer to gymnastics, which was today's class. Will's had mixed luck as far as understanding what to do, and of course you can't have an activity with a bunch of little kids without a lot of distraction, but he's had a lot of fun, which is the point. I finally managed to get some good pictures and videos today, so enjoy.


Will is throwing a hula hoop around and chasing it.


There was an obstacle course of different gymnastics-type activities, including this balance beam. Will was pretty stubborn and wouldn't stand on the beam and walk. Instead he did this.


Will's favorite activity was the parachute. They did a number of different things with it, as you'll see in the video.

Prophets

In honor of General Conference coming up, here's a video of Will singing a recent favorite, and showing off his amazing memory skills. Sorry it's so dark.

Six months already?!

Technically Kayla is almost 7 months old, but I'm a little behind. These first set of pictures are from a fun little 6-month birthday party that we threw for a group of kids who were all born within a few days of each other. Kayla is the oldest of the group, born on March 7. Then there's Allison, born on March 10, and both Jason and Daniel were born on March 11. It was fun to get together with friends and have yummy food.


To me, Kayla is saying "Where did everyone go?"


Everyone brought a dessert to this little gathering. Yummy!



The four guests of honor

He passed!!

First of all, I apologize to family members who are reading this news more than once. I'm just so excited that I had to blog about it as well. As you all know, Bill is currently doing a PhD in physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. One of the requirements for his department is a qualifying exam, covering 4 different subjects in physics. You get 3 chances to pass the qualifying exam (a free trial that doesn't count against you, then two more chances), and if you don't, you are essentially asked to leave the university. Bill took the exam last week, and it was his final chance. Needless to say, it's been a crazy and stressful few months for our family. Well, tonight we found out that he passed!! As soon as he called me to tell me the news, I felt a huge burden lifted. And I'm not even the one who took the test! We are both so glad that this is finally over, and he can focus on his research and classes, and getting done with this PhD as soon as possible. I'm so proud of you, honey! :-)

A Child's Imagination

This picture illustrates a tiny bit of Will's imagination lately. In this particular picture he is supposed to be Mickey Mouse from "Fantasia", which is one of his favorite movies these days (I had to call him Mickey for at least an hour tonight). He takes his toys and his stuffed animals and acts things out that he reads and watches. He has an amazing memory, so sometimes this goes on for quite some time. It's really fun to listen in on his conversations while he's in his room playing. He's even gotten me and Bill involved in his imaginary playing. For example, if he does something wrong using one of his stuffed animals, we usually say things like "Kitty, don't hit Kayla," or "Clifford, we don't bang things on the table," and those animals have to go to time-out (i.e. the closet) for a while. What a fun (and sometimes trying) stage this is!

We love care packages!

Yesterday we got a package in the mail from my grandma Phyllis that was full of stuff for Will and Kayla. They immediately started playing with their toys, and I had to grab the camera and take pictures of them with their "loot."



Kayla's toys included a bunch of fun little balls for her to chew on, as well as a toy that spins around kinda like a ferris wheel, and a stack of rings that makes music when you push on the star on top.


Will has really gotten into letters and the sounds they make lately. So he immediately took his new alphabet flashcards and started putting them in order. It's really cute, because he sings the ABC's to himself while he's doing it, to make sure he has them in the right order.


The whole package, minus the alphabet cards and the balls. There was also a cute photo album of our family, a magnetic Finding Nemo puzzle, and a great workbook that helps with writing and things. I can't wait to use it! Thanks Grandma!

Random cuteness

This post doesn't have much of a point to it, other than to show off some cute pictures and a video. These first pictures are of Kayla and her friend Allison. Allison's mom, Lisa, was due the day before me, but I ended up having my baby first, 6 days early. She followed about 3 days later, so I was still in the hospital when she had Allison. When you see them together you can definitely see the similarities in their development. I wish I could've gotten better pictures, but you do the best you can when you're taking pictures of wiggly 5-month-olds.




And here's a video of Kayla "crawling" and "talking." She is so close to actually crawling right now. It's more of an army crawl at the moment, but there is movement. And her baby babbling is adorable. I can't wait till she can actually talk.

Sunshine

Does anyone remember the song "You are my sunshine"? The first verse of that song has taken on new meaning for me in the last few months.



You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy when skies are gray.
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.

A glimpse into our daily life

We don't have anything very exciting to post about these days, but I decided it had been too long since we last posted anything. So enjoy this short little video and photos of Will and Kayla doing what they do on a regular basis.


Kayla loves zooming around our kitchen, and lately she has had fun exploring the underside of our kitchen table. Will enjoys pulling her around and sometimes joining her on her explorations.


This isn't the best picture of Will holding Kayla, but you get the idea. Now that she can sit up a lot better, it's a little more fun for them to sit with each other.

Kayla's "New" Toy

I put new in quotes, because this belonged to Will first, but it has now become Kayla's. She has been using it for the past week or two, and seems to enjoy it. And I enjoy the fact that, #1, I don't have to carry her around everywhere, and #2, I can drag her around the house with me and keep an eye on her.


Here she is checkin' out her new ride for the first time


I love how she only knows how to go one direction


Don't you just love her drool and spit-up stained shirt?

And finally, here are Will and Kayla during one of their friendlier moments

The Church is True

Yesterday Will and I went down to the office of our apartment complex to play in their toy room for a little while. Before going in, we decided to quickly check the mail. Instead of the usual junk mail, ads and bills that usually grace our mailbox, there was something infinitely greater - The Ensign magazine. Glad to have some reading material on hand while Will happily played and Kayla peacefully slept, I embarked on my customary routine of opening and reading from start to finish. As usual, there were countless numbers of uplifting articles, stories, and advice from Church leaders and members alike. However, one particular article caught my eye, and strengthened my testimony of the fact that Heavenly Father knows who we are and answers our prayers. I have had this happen on a number of occasions in the past. I will be struggling with something either personally or within my family, I will ask Heavenly Father for help, and He answers. I am so grateful to know that Heavenly Father is aware of my struggles and is always willing to help. I know He loves me and wants me to be happy. I am grateful to be a member of the Church.

I had a dream...

and 5 years ago it came true. I married one of the most wonderful people in the world. And 5 years and 2 kids later, we're still going strong. We've had good times and bad times, we've had our share of struggles, but through it all we've had each other, and there's no one else I'd rather spend forever with. Thank you, Bill, for being my friend, my confidant, my cheerleader, the father of my childen, and the love of my life. I love you!!

Five Years! -- I love you Sweetie

Wow! I have a hard time believing that it's already been 5 years since Kristin and I got married! Time flies when you're having fun. Sweetie, I love you more and more every day. I can't tell you how grateful I am that you came into my life. You are my sweetheart, my dream, and my best friend. I love having you as my wife and the mother of our family. I can't believe it's already been five years, but at the same time I can't imagine what life could have been like without you any more. I really am so grateful to have the best wife in the world. I love how you work to make everyone feel loved. I love how you keep me going even when I lose all motivation to do so. I love how you work to raise Will into the young man that he needs to be and that you know he can be. I love seeing the love in your eyes when you look at Kayla, and how much she loves you back. I love how you try to make even every day things special. You really are the love of my life, the joy in my heart, my best friend, forever. I love you sweetie. Happy fifth anniversary!

A Day at the Zoo, A Baby Blessing, and Other Adventures

Kristin usually does the posts, but today it's my (Bill's) turn. We've had some trouble getting our most recent pictures off of the camera, so some of this information is a bit late, but here it is.

A Trip to the Zoo
A few weeks ago we took a trip to the Scovill Zoo in Decatur. We had been planning a trip to the zoo in St. Louis for a long time, but we just recently had learned about this one that was a lot closer.


We had a great time at the zoo. Will loved the lion drinking fountain. I think if that was all we could get him to see, he would have gone away satisfied. Fortunately, we were able to get him away long enough to see some real animals -- some quite up close.

Others (fortunately) from a greater distance:

It was a great day for going to the zoo. A lot of the animals were really active.


Others less so

Some people got feeling a little less energetic as well.

(This was Kayla's first time in the umbrella stroller, and she did really well!)
We had a great time seeing all the different animals. I think Will was a little less enthusiastic about the reptile house.

He did enjoy the prairie dogs (but he kept trying to figure out why these "dogs" weren't like his dogs back home),

and he absolutely loved seeing the train at the zoo!

We finished off the trip with snowcones at the concessions stand.

(I really liked the snowcones -- Hey! It's hard to find good snowcones around anymore!)
We also had a great time at the zoo's playground.


All together, it was a lot of fun, and we can't wait to go back.

Baby Blessing

Just last week Kayla was given a name and a blessing during fast and testimony meeting at our church. It was a really wonderful experience. We were really glad to have a lot of friends and family there. Kristin's sister Erika and her dad were able to come out for the blessing, as were my parents. My brother and his family were there, of course, since they live here in town. It was also so much fun being able to share the experience with other members of our family via phone or on the computer.

During the week, we had a lot of fun with the people who came out. My parents took everyone out to Busey Woods. (Sadly, I had to work that day.)

Busey Woods is a park here in town that is a lot like a deep hardwood forest, but right in the middle of town. They have a great boardwalk, so it's not hard to get around. Will and his cousin Alice had a great time playing and looking at all the fun things.



They also got a little silly from time to time.

Everyone had a great time.

Later in the week, we spent a lot of time with my family and then with Kristin's dad and sister. (Sorry, we didn't get too many pictures here.) After church on Sunday we all got together at my brother's house for a nice Sunday dinner. It was a lot of fun getting everyone together like that.




Later, back at our house, Will loved learning how to use Kristin's dad's iPhone.

(Seriously, this kid will be re-programming our computer before 2nd grade!) It was a lot of fun, and it was hard to see everyone head out on Monday. We love you all!

Haircut!
[Cue the scary music here!] Well, Kristin's been cutting Will's hair for the past 3 1/2 years (which is why it's always looked so good). His hair had been getting pretty long, so we wanted to give it another quick trim before the baby blessing. Will, however, was feeling a little extra fussy that day and did not want to let Mommy cut his hair. So, I decided that I would give it a shot. He usually sits a little more still for me, but, as we quickly learned, that did not dramatically help my lack of hair-cutting talent. In the end, it looked ok, but I think next time, we'll plan ahead so Kristin has time to cut his hair and make it look good.
Before:

After:

Well, now you can see why I'm not allowed to use scissors for a while. (Actually it didn't look as bad as the picture made it seem. It really did turn out ok, as you can see from the earlier photos.)