where's the camera...

Somehow - I've already reached the point of always forgetting my camera - not that it's too much to carry around, but I guess I've got other things on my mind. Darn though, cause I've missed some really great shots lately. Here's a recap...

Mama & Daddy's first night away!
Thanks to a gift card from Aunt Diane, free tickets to see Michael Buble, Mark and I decided to have a night away! Grandmother and Papa came to stay overnight with Will - they had a great time and Will did just fine - I knew he would though! The show was great - we were both sorry that the show ended. We enjoyed our night away too - even sleeping in kinda. Great breakfast at the hotel. I couldn't wait to get back to the little guy.

Happy 50th Anniversary Charles & Billie Kay!
My first cousin, once removed (I think that's how it goes) and his wife celebrated 50 wonderful years together this past weekend. We took a road trip with Grandmother and Papa to congratulate them at their little shin dig. Charles and his brother have farmed my family's land since we moved away from the Bootheel. Charles and Billie Kay are both such amazing people and I'm proud to call them family! This was also a great opportunity to see family we don't get to see very often. It was a long ride in the car - 3 hours there and back, all in one day! Will did great - took a few cat naps, laughed and played with everyone and never fussed a bit! He's a trooper - let's see how he does on our trip to Chicago soon!

Sonic Trip!
Today, we walked up to Sonic with our neighbors Karen, Evan and Ella. We went for lunch and had a good time. It's only about 1/2 mile from our house, Karen towed her kids there in a wagon, while Will strolled! We all got a treat and enjoyed the beautiful cool weather we had today. Will hung out in the Baby Bjorn on the way home while Evan - who's almost 5 - rode in his stroller. Boy does 50+ pounds make a difference up those hills!

Sittin Up!
I don't think I've mentioned lately that Will is doing a great job at sitting up. He even rode in the shopping cart at the store today. He still occasionally falls to the side or backwards, but he's doing it on his own now! Here's a shot - this makes me feel like he's all grown up!

daddy's day

Happy Father's Day to Mark! What a great daddy he is! After so much longing to have our little guy, it's been amazing to see how he's transformed our lives - every day.

Not that I wouldn't have figured it, but Mark is the most patient, loving, kind, gentle and amazing father. Will is very lucky.

From day one in the hospital...to week one with a sleep deprived and almost losing it wife...to a cranking, sleepy 4 month old and everything in between...Mark has been a constant voice of reason and hold-it-togetherness! Is that a word???

Here are some of my favorite shots Daddy!











We celebrated in Jefferson City with my folks...here's to Papa too! Just a relaxing weekend with homemade ice cream and texas sheet cake (YUMMMM).

Also, on Sunday at church, Grandmother sang Will a song! She had heard it well before he was born, and now was the time. She wanted to hold him and sing...I said that would work if she was willing to share the microphone, with a handsy little boy!
So Will and I pulled up a stool and he watched her sing and looked out onto the congregation. It was beautiful! THANK YOU GRANDMOTHER! What a special tribute! We've got it on video - how very precious!


Happy Father's Day!!!

Grant's Farm & Crown Candy

Mark's cousin Tracy and her youngest, Meagan came to visit for a couple of days this week. Thursday we headed to Grant's Farm then lunch at Crown Candy Kitchen.

Grant's Farm was great...a little warm, but not too busy which was great. Grant's Farm is wonderful...smaller scale than the zoo, but you get to see the animals up close and personal, it's FREE (except the parking), and you can let your kids have a bit more freedom. We saw both the bird show and elephant show...snowcones and feeding the goats. I don't think that the goats had much to eat that morning cause they about trampled Meagan for the milk!!! Will took a quick little nap in the heat too!


I've always heard great things about Crown Candy Kitchen in the city, but hadn't made it there yet. They're known for their shakes (made with their own homemade ice cream). I had the BLT - see the photo - 'nough said! If Will's Papa had been there - there is no doubt that Will would have gotten a piece of that bacon!

Meagan had a vanilla cone - and it was the most beautiful ice cream cone I think I'd ever seen. I couldn't resist having a sundae; hot fudge, caramel and roasted pecans - YUMMMMM!

swimmin'

Mark and I were anxious to take Will to the pool - he loves his bath...so we've been figuring that he'll love the pool. Over Memorial Day weekend, Mark swam with his neice and nephew in Ozark. Will and I stood by the edge of the pool to watch. As Mark would lift Trenton into the air and drop him into the water, Will would cry in terror and turn his head. I had to walk away to calm him down. We couldn't figure out if he was scared that Mark was in the water, the sound of the splash, Trenton screaming or what??? So we didn't really know what to expect we took him to the pool for him to swim.

Last Saturday we headed to the pool, all things baby pool in tow! A $20 float with a shade on it, sunscreen, swim diapers and baby! At the pool entrance they informed us that we couldn't bring in the float - it wasn't coast guard approved...we don't live on the coast, nor were we on the beach - go figure. Oh well, we'll save the float for the lake!

He loved it! It even started to rain and he didn't mind that. So, still not sure what he was so scared about the weekend before, but sure glad he likes the water...more swim excursions to come!

busy week...crash...teeth

What a week so far - and it's only Thursday.

Busy - cause we've got Vacation Bible School. What a great week learning about Joseph in Egypt...costumes and all. I've been teaching a group of 6 preschoolers. It's been a little bit of a circus each day...but a blessing too.

Will has done well with being in the nursery...but for two days I had someone watch him at home to try and keep some routine going! He's done well with both.

Tomorrow is the last day of VBS - bittersweet. I've made each of my kids a little gift to take home. I got the idea off the internet and I hope they really like it. I taped 8 tongue depressors together, then turned them over. Glued a photo of each child on the front. After it dried, I took the tape off the back and wrote a little note to each one of them. Then I took an exacto knife and cut the depressors apart. It makes a little puzzle for them to put together.





Crash - cause Will and I were rear-ended on the way to VBS on Wednesday! What a deal!

I was a nutcase of course. I was making a right turn and yielding to traffic when the driver behind me failed to stop. I pulled into the nearest parking lot...while what sounded like my bumper dragging on the pavement followed behind me. I jumped out of the car immediately to go around and check on Will. He had been sleeping and still hadn't made a peep. The other driver was trying to see if I was okay...and the only thing I could get out of my mouth was "THERE'S A BABY IN THE CAR!". Will seemed to be okay...but I proceeded to call 911 immediately. They of course thought I was over reacting...the guy really needed a lesson in customer service! Hello - new mother here! Anyway, after he sternly warned me to calm down...I requested an ambulance...I mean really - should I have to request one. If I'm in hysterics...can't calm down...can't decide if my baby is okay...SEND THE DARN AMBULANCE ANYWAY...don't ask my opinion.

It happened at a very busy intersection, so police and an ambulance were literally seconds away. The EMTs and police assured me that everything was okay...and after looking at the car (whiched showed little to no signs of being hit - other than some scratches in the paint) I started to calm down. Now mind you - in the middle of the hysterics, I called Mark to inform him that we'd been in an accident...he's still on his way - not knowing what to expect.

Meanwhile - 78 others on their way to VBS saw us out there too. Maybe not 78, but pretty much everybody had at least heard about it or seen it. Several wanted to stop but there wasn't any room. They were praying...that's what really counted!

So after collecting all the required info I asked the police officer again..."there must be something hanging from the car, cause I heard it scraping the ground when I pulled into this parking lot". They again told me "THERE'S NOTHING HANGING...YOUR CAR IS OKAY!". So then I asked him to drive it "CAUSE I KNOW THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG!" He said that I could pull forward there in the lot and he'd prove there's nothing wrong. Okay, mister smarty pants! So I did, and as soon as I put the car in drive another officer standing near by shouted - "SEATBELD MISS!" Are you kidding me...but before steam could start flowing out of my ears...they're both laughing. Hello people - not a good time to joke around with a frantic mother! Anyway - I pulled forward and right away they heard the noise too and told me to stop. "I TOLD YOU SO!"

"Boys...we're going to need a second tow truck over here!" they bellow. Thank you very much - I AM NOT CRAZY!

I had also called the church to let them know that I'll be late...but we're all okay. I could almost have walked to tell them, cause the accident only happened about a block from the church anyway.

So Mark arrives...Will is okay...we'll get a rental...the other driver is okay...life moves on. I'm good now - but still a little nervous too about the drivers around me when I'm out and about.

It may be a while before we get the car fixed, the shop hasn't even been able to evaluate it. Now we've got a rental that won't go into our garage, cause if you been to our house...where the steep driveway meets the garage floor - the car bottoms out. So I'll be parking on the mountain that is our driveway for a few more days at least!

Whew...
Will doesn't seem to be too shaken up later that day:



Teeth - cause last but CERTAINLY NOT least - Will has his first tooth. We just noticed it tonight during bedtime prayers. Mark and I each hold one of Will's hands while we pray, I'd said my prayer and Mark was saying his when Will started to put one of my fingers in his mouth. When I felt a sharp little bite, I shouted "He's got a tooth!". Mark looked at me and said, "Can I finish my prayer please?". I think God didn't mind my interruption! He's growing up so fast...I can't believe it. He'll be running around before we know it...I'm tearing up just thinking about it!

Here's Mark and Will wrestling tonight, mere minutes before the TOOTH discovery:


So a big week to say the least...what's in store for next week???

Whoa - 6 months!!!

6 months have come and gone...where did my tiny boy go??? Will is growing faster than I can document!

Stats:
18 lbs 1 oz (55 percentile)
28.5 inches (97 percentile)

Milestones:
Rolling over - 5 1/2 months
Tripot sitting - 6 months

He amazes us everyday...


Yesterday I laid him on his circlular mat to play while I unloaded groceries, 5 minutes later I found him like this:


Grandmother and Papa came to visit for the weekend. Will got a big kick out of wearing Papa's hat! What a cutie!

Memorial Day & Daddy's Birthday

Just returned from a long weekend in Springfield to celebrate Memorial Day and Mark's birthday. What a great weekend...packed with lots of fun! We got to catch up with lots of friends and family and ate way too much good food. The strawberry pies turned out great...I'll keep working on perfecting the blackberry cake.

Will did a great job being away from home for 5 days. He slept pretty good and was easy going as Mama and Daddy dragged him everywhere. We also got his 6 month pics taken and shots with his cousins Trenton and Jenna too...can't wait to get them back from the photographer.

Will just keeps getting bigger and smarter...already rolling to both sides now, grabbing for anything within reach, talking and singing and even sitting up for a bit at a time...where'd my bitty baby boy go???

Happy Birthday Daddy!


In an effort to not take our whole house to Springfield, we opted to try a bath in the bathroom sink, as he is not sitting good enough for the kitchen sink. It didn't work out too well...not enough space for him and the water too! Though he looked like he was lounging at the spa...too cute!


Daddy got a new Cards hat from Will - I think it looks cuter on the little guy myself!


Daddy also got a new Wii game - Game Hunter...now Daddy will have no excuse to not get a buck this year!


Oh boy! Will wants anything you've got in your hands! It's all over now!