Parker spent two hours helping me get plums ready to put in the food dehydrator. He initially did it for a few quarters, then we had a talk on service and he said, "Mom, I don't want any money for helping you, I just want to do it to show you that I love you."

Do you think it is time for a new bath spot?

Chris's Impersonation of Emma

Lovin' Baby Emma

Lots has been happening at the Williams household. Mostly life is centered around Baby Emma. She is such a wonderful, sweet, mellow baby. We are loving her so much. It is especially fun to see how much Sam loves her.

Parker and Arli are in North Carolina for 10 days at Aunt Dani's lakehouse. I am enjoying the extra sleep, but I cant' wait for them to come home again.

Also, It has been asked, "where are the pictures of Chris??" He is usually behind the camera. So I'm trying to be better at me being the one behind the camera.

How awesome it is to receive a gift sent straight from heaven!!! Emma is such a treasure. I've been loving every minute of it!
Late Saturday night I started having contractions, and luckily Camine was at our house. She had taken Parker, Arli, and Sam to a rock climbing gym. They had so much fun, and were telling me how high they had climbed and how good they did. I had them feel my stomach when a contraction would come to see how hard my stomach was. Then I told Sam that the baby might be born tomorrow. He said "if you have a baby tomorrow, are you going to church???" I said no, he said,"I wish you could put the baby in my belly and I could have her tommorrow. I said, You would do that just so you didn't have to go to church, and he smiled and said "yeah!!!" Funny kid. So then the next morning the kids all came to see me at the hospital instead of going to church. so he still ended up getting out of it. even not having the baby himself.
I had told Chris that I was having some contractions and that this might be it, and started getting ready for the hospital. I guess I didn't make it quite clear enough because I had my bag in the car and was upstairs waiting for him. He was taking forever, I thought he was just putting Sam down for the night. So I went downstairs to see what was taking so long, and he was watching a movie with Sam. I guess he didn't think I was really serious. Sam also thought I had been joking about having the baby in the morning.

Camine spent the night with the kids, and we went to the hospital. When I checked in at midnight, they asked if I was in labor. I said I didn't know, but I was paranoid because Arli almost came in the car. The contractions had been consistent for an hour, then stopped as soon as we pulled up in the parking lot.
They put me on the monitors and said I was having consistent contractions ( I just couldn't feel some of them) So, they broke my water at 3:30 a.m. and nothing happened for a few hours. Then they gave me some medicine to make the contractions come harder, at 5:00 a.m. And she was born at 7:00 a.m. 7lbs. 7 oz. My lucky 7's baby!


We are both doing very well. I'm loving this time of getting extra rest and being so well taken care of.

Chris is such a wonderful daddy. Of course he is so elated and overjoyed to finally have another baby! It is so fun to see him in action as a new daddy again. While we were dating he had told me that he didn't mean to brag, but that he was a really good dad to newborns (this was in response to me saying how difficult I thought the newborn phase was.) He went on to say that he was very involved and changed dirty diapers, would get up with the baby during the night, do nighttime bottle feedings, the whole bit.
So when I asked if he would change Emma's diaper this morning, he said (jokingly) "Oh, sorry, I don't do that kind of stuff." I reminded him about how he had sold himself as an amazing daddy while we were dating, and I was holding him to everything that he had said!!! He is absolutely perfect and has been an amazing help and support throughout the pregnancy, labor and delivery, and newborn care. Especially during the pregnancy when I would apologize about how I knew I wan't the same person as while we were dating. That I wasn't fun anymore, and wasn't fun to be around while I was feeling yucky. He would reassure me over and over that he still thought I was the amazing woman he had married and that I shouldn't be so hard on myself because I was doing the most important thing I could possibly be doing and to not worry about anything else except growing that baby inside of me. What a reassurance to have unconditional support and love from a husband. (Take note all you men out there reading this).

So, yes, everything is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I know the sleep deprivation is coming, so I'm loving this time while I have it.

We are loving the backyard.

Preggie pics

Only 4 Weeks to Go!!!!
I'm counting more on two, because Arli was early. Will that thinking make it feel like way too long, or make it more bearable because I think it will be a shorter amount of time???

Sam, Parker and Arli got their faces painted. I at least got Sam before he got in the tub. But it was fun to see it halfway off and halfway on Parker and Arli's faces. Although the lightning bolt on Sam's face was his second choice. The first thing he asked to have painted on was a cigarette, to make it look like he was smoking. Luckily, I didn't have the intervene. The face painting lady said she wouldn't paint a cigarrette on his face and proceeded to tell him why smoking was bad for your body. Good to hear from other sources than mom and dad.

The best part about Mother's Day today was while I was sitting in Sacrament meeting. Parker was on my lap, and he turned around and said "Mom, you are the speacialest!!!" and he gave me the biggest hug and the biggest kiss. Then he said, "I love you more than anyone else in this whole world" then he corrected himself and said, "no, in this whole universe." What more could a mother want???

Soccer, dance, and picture books

So, I guess I'm totally in that mom phase where everything that you see your kids do is just the cutest thing. I love this age. So much energy and excitement. Parker counts down the days to his soccer game or practice, then on the day of, he counts down the hours. Arli received a dance costume from her cousin as a gift. She was soooo excited. I don't have any exciting stuff going on in my life, so I live vicariously through their excitement. I love it. While I am posting pictures on the blog, they want to be right on my lap, so I started a picture book for each of them. They love looking at pictures of when they were younger. I didn't know how much it would mean to them. For the first few days we did the picture books, they would carry their book around with them all day long, show everybody that came over, and even want to look at their book while they were falling asleep.

biking fun

"But I don't even know who I am going to marry!"

Arli and I have some interesting conversations. They usually occur while I am putting her to bed. She is probably so talkative at this point since she is prolonging the time that the light goes out, but it is still such precious time with her. I love to hear what she comes up with.
Last night, she was concerned about the future. She asked where I was going to live when I'm a grandma and she is a mom. Then wondered where she was going to live when she is a mom. She told me that she wanted to live close to me so she would know how to get to her house. Then she said, "But I don't even know who I am going to marry." I think the concerned look on her face topped her comment. I think I allieviated her fears when I let her know that I didn't even know who I was going to marry when I was 20.
Another funny comment was when she was asking me who mine and Chris's moms and dads are. When she found out they were both grandmas and grandpas, she thought that was such a coincidence. . . That our parents just happened to be her grandparents.

Arli has finally gotten her walls painted and decorated and a bedspread instead of a blanket folded on her bed. I think this is my way of nesting, since I don't know the gender of the baby.
Parker is also capitalizing on my 'nesting".

Favorite Quote from this week

Arli: "Look Mom, they have broccoli on their door just like we do." (referring to the shamrocks)

You Tube Video of Chris

Chris in the Power in You Tour. Take a look. Definately worth your time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs7QOUYEzpE

Tired of Crack

After seeing way too much crack on Arli, way too many times, I decided to get some extra long shirts for her. They may have been a bit too big since she now has to wear another shirt underneath so it doesn't reveal her chest. The first time she wore this shirt, she was so excited to tell me that she would be able to wear this shirt when she was a mom, and even when she had a baby in her belly like me. So we are both into the maternity fashion look!
Why do they make all girls pants like this???

Too Many Choices!!!

Ok, so remodeling is not my thing. I get way too frustrated and overwhelmed. Maybe there should only be 10 shades of color to choose from and one wood floor option. It would make this whole process much easier on me. Maybe my indesiciveness is compounded by 100 because of the pregnancy. Whatever the cause, nothing is getting done but lots of patches on the wall.

Sam's 8th Birthday Party

Sam chose this picture to add to our blog. This is Sam with his cousin Jacob, and his best friend Daniel.

Hoping and Wishing and Pretending it's SPRING!!!

Even though there is still snow on the ground, the kids wanted to have a picinic. It is so much fun just soaking in the sunshine. Just what I needed for the winter blahs that always happen in the middle of February. I had to get the Spring decorations out and the Shamrock for the door. I just hope the sunshine lasts for awhile.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I have the Greatest Husband in The WORLD!!!!
What a romantic! It was one of those evenings that every girl hates me for after hearing because they are green with jealosy. But I'll tell you all anyway! Chris got a hotel room for us for the evening with a kitchenette. He cooked an amazing dinner-- with just a single burner and a microwave and sink. He thought of everything from the spatula to the fancy goblets and table cloth. We had seared Mahi Mahi with teriaki and grilled pinapple slices. An amazing spinach salad with candied pecans, blue cheese, and poppyseed dressing, a rice pilaf, and bread with orange butter. For dessert- mint chocolate chip ice cream cake! And if making dinner wasn't enough, he serenaded me to a few of my favorite love songs. He brought his guitar. Wow, what a singer. He doesn't share his talent very often. I need to ask for that more. Then it was to the hotel's outdoor hut tub. We checked out of the hotel that night to relieve the babysitter. I'll remember this Valentine's Day Forever!!

Becoming a blogger

I consider this a monumental day. The day I take the initiative to really blog. I was inspired by Megan Dorny and Amanda Neff. So I'll blame or give all the credit to them, depending on how this turns out. The motivation behind my blogging is to force me to take more pictures and to treasure those moments in life that usually just pass me by. Blogging seems the perfect way of creating a virtual 'scrapbook' to remember these precious times. Also, with so many sets of grandparents (and grandparents love pictures, right???) then it would be worth the effort. So here is my initial attempt on my own. We'll see where this takes me.

Perfect playmates

These two love to play together. They are able to entertain themselves for hours. Much to the relief of mom who laid on the couch and watched from the window. (It was a nauseous day of pregnancy!)

Princess Arli loves to clean

Arli loves to show me how clean her room is. She will disappear for about twenty minutes and then come out and tell me how clean her room is and asks if I want to see. She is so pleased with herself. I stand and admire the room for a second, but what I really love to see is her face as she shows off her accomplishment.