A Time For Every Season....

So much has gone on the last few weeks, it seems like Christmas has arrived early - in more ways that one! First, John woke me this morning with a kiss and the news that our yard was a winter wonderland. When the boys woke, they went out and explored the white backyard. Then came in for some cocoa and oatmeal. It was a wonderful morning - I love snow and was very sad that we didn't get any last year. Drew loved the snow, Gabe loved it only until he fell in the snow and got wet - that was the end of his great adventure. Other fun, exciting, Christmas like news is that we hired a wonderful lady as a sitter/nanny to come play with the boys on Wednesday's while I work. John and I have been praying for months about the various characteristics that we wanted for a nanny/sitter. Honestly, I thought we'd have to settle for something less, but we kept on praying and God provided a wonderful woman that was everything we'd prayed for - - plus more! Merry Christmas to me! M...

We've had a week to adjust to the wonderful idea of having a little girl joint our family! She is very active these days, enjoying kicking and flipping around. I weighed myself yesterday and almost fell off the scale - at 19 weeks I have only gained 10 pounds! With the boys I'd gained 20+ by this point. I guess my metabolism likes the petite little girl inside, being sick for 16 weeks probably is the culprit, so now that I'm feeling better I'd better watch out! Our week was spent nursing our sick cat Winston, he has kidney stones in his bladder and they blocked him from going to the bathroom. Three days at the vet and a catheter has allows him home on a special, low stress diet. Goodness! He is still not in full control of his bladder so we've confined him to the laundry room! I'm so tired of doing laundry, between the cat, two kids and a husband I'm working on 10 loads a week these days! We'd been saving for front end loaders, but the lovely vet bill to...

The boys were so anxious this morning to get to school! Drew insisted on wearing his new "Cars" shoes which light up when you walk. Gabe insisted on taking his nighttime bear and blanket with him. Drew refused to eat breakfast this morning because he said, "I'm so excited I can't even eat! I'll have patience mommy and wait to eat my lunch with the Tinkerbell fruit snacks that you let me pick out." Drew's new 4's class is a step up from last year, instead of Drew being an older student we chose to go with a class around the same age as him. So far it appears to be a great fit. He has some very organized and structured teachers who love to play and teach the children using lots of hands on materials. Both his teachers are wonderful, though he still says that "teacher Andrea is his favorite." Drew ran right into his class this morning and wasn't shy, he even made a friend named Abby! Gabe wasn't so eager to go into his class. The...

; “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.” Psalm 51:12 It has been such a long month. We've had some many wonderful things happen, but they have left me quite exhausted! We've had such a fun summer of traveling and changes that it has been really hard for me to get back into a routine with the kids. Plus we've only had 1 car so I've been home bound for the month of August - which is good since I can't spend money if I'm not out! However, I've really been struggling with the normal everyday details of life - being exhausted and very sick certainly doesn't help my predicament. Just today I've been struggling with having a good attitude and asked the Lord for patience. I really wish I hadn't asked, just a few hours later some braxton hicks contractions began and they haven't stopped all evening. That is not the best sign for my weak pregnant self. So, I'll have to call the doc tomorrow and see ...

I have no pictures from our swimming today, but thought I'd share that Gabe is our little dare devil. I'll post a few pictures from Friday just so you can see how much fun the boys are having this summer! By the end of swimming today Gabe was literally jumping into the water and submerging his entire face. He would come up smiling and laughing and then do it all over again. This is so different than Drew's reaction to water. Drew has always had trouble holding his breath so he has a huge fear of getting his face wet. Gabe is so confident that you can't take your eyes off him for a second! I need to get to the pool store and find him a bathing suit with a flotation device inside - just for my own piece of mind. Our neighbors have one and their daughter just loves it. Gabe also had his 4 back m0lars come through this past week - all 4 at once! Now he can officially chew! He still has huge gaps in teeth though, 5 front teeth and 4 back molars. Gabe is starting to have his ...

We've had a lot going on in our home the past few weeks! Our biggest news was finding our that we're expecting baby Williams #3! He/She is due on Valentines Day, though we'll probably end up delivering around Drew's birthday in January. Drew was due February 19 th and arrived January 24. I found out while John was in Oregon and surprised him at the airport with our positive pregnancy test. I'm still a little in shock, but very excited! Last week was great I wasn't sick at all and haven't had any morning sickness. Friday I started to have cramping and a bloated feeling. So far I've just been feeling really full and nothing looks appetizing to eat - even sugar! It has been great not craving sugar - in fact I've been detesting it! I've started to get really tired just like with my last two. It should end by t he second trimester though. Drew is super excited about another sibling and keeps telling me its going to be a girl - we'll see! In oth...

(One of the many frogs that great me as I water each night.) It was been a wild week! John flew to Oregon to be with his family during the passing of his grandfather, he returned home to Texas on Wednesday during tornado like weather! Luckily his was one of the few planes which was forced to land! The next day he went to a job fair and had some great interviews! The weekend was a blur of swimming and visiting with grandma Patti who is here visiting. John worked all weekend. then on Monday John has another job fair! The car broke down today so we're also dealing with that! This week the kids and I played a lot at the pool, visited with friends, and played with Grandma Patti! Drew starts swimming lessons tomorrow and Gabe is just excited to be running around playing all day long. My garden is slipping into Summer and the bull frogs are out in abandon. I've been catching them all spring in the hopes that they would eat all the bugs in my garden! I've been prepping for an audit...

John left on Sunday for a brief trip to Portland to be with his family. His grandfather is very sick and his mother is returning home to Oregon after spending almost a year in China. It is so sad because she has been looking forward to coming home to spend time and care for her dad, but no one is sure if his health will make it. It was a rather unexpected trip, so I'm still trying to put my daily plans together. I sure appreciate single parents, its a hard thing knowing that relief isn't coming home to add some flavor to your day. John always lightened up the evening hours with pillow fights, sword fights, and race car play. We all miss Daddy and can't wait to see him Thursday! Gabe has finally started to use sign language! It seems like we've been working on please forever, he has finally started! The only problem, he will say please for something I wasn't intending on giving him and then its just so darn cute that I'll give it to him anyway. Oh well! I spent a...

Look how we initiated our first week of hot weather! The boys had so much fun swimming and getting all wet. I enjoyed watching the boys laugh and splash and flashed lots of pictures! My grass looks beautiful this year, which is making for great color in my pictures! Gabe is still teething.... 3 weeks of teething for 1 tooth, that is only 1/2 of the way in.. ugh! Gabe was horrid last night, waking twice and staying awake for over an hour. I even resorted to giving him a bottle and he threw it right out of the crib. The Advil wasn't doing the trick either and John and I were both exhausted by morning - made for a great night! Drew's latest adult conversation time in the car involves telling me, "full speed ahead Mom" in the car when he wants me to speed up. Today he told me, "Mom, full speed ahead." When I said, the light is red, he retorted, "Oh, well full speed ahead when its green, the cars in front will move out of your way!" Nothing like list...

Life seems to be running faster than I can sprint! The month of April seemed like a blink, here we are already into May! This week we spent some time playing at home. Drew and I added more things to our "Williams Grocery store" and Gabe was content to follow us around whining because his tooth hurts. Gabe is getting his top right tooth and it has been coming in for over 2 weeks now. The diaper rashes, runny nose, and whining are getting old. I can't wait for Gabe to be his happy go lucky self. One nice thing is he has been cuddly, which is always a treat! We had a wonderful time camping a few weeks ago, the weather was so beautiful and with all the children it made for a relaxing time of visiting and reading! John even took a nap! Drew enjoyed his first and second s'more and enjoyed roasting his own hot dog on the campfire. Drew was so disappointed when we left Sunday afternoon, he made friends with my M2M friend's little son Josh. Drew and Josh were inseparable...

We had a wonderful time on our Spring camping trip this past weekend! We Williams' love traditions and camping has certainly become a tradition for our family. I did learn some valuable lessons unique to this camping season : :: Watch where you sit - even awesome photographs aren't worth multiple ant bites on your bottom! :: The van is a much better place for a 17 month old to sleep, tents are overrated! :: Little boys with mud stained faces doesn't mean your a bad parent it actually means your a great parent. I don't think the boys faces were clean the whole 3 days - despite my best efforts, I probably went through a hundred wet wipes! :: Wagons do tip over when piled high with too many children and too much junk - especially when going diagonally up a steep hill. Sorry little boys, you handled the tip so well! :: Always put on the rain fly - even a 20% chance of rain can turn into 100% - especially at 5:00 am. :: Little boys with longer hair, who are camping, are ofte...

Well this past week was a total failure - from a type A, perfectionists point of view! I hardly ever get sick, but this past Easter I came down with the flu - it lasted through Wednesday y, then on Friday I woke with a horrible migraine and sinus infection. Drew and Gabe have been taking turns getting sick, I thought Drew was finally well but Drew came home from church with a high fever. Alas - we're all getting it out of our system before our big camping trip this coming Friday - Sunday! Gabe spent the week wishing he wasn't home with sick people. He is at the awkward age where he doesn't really play well with others, but wants desperately to be included. His sweet disposition has altered a little and he is now, lets just say, turning those terrible 2's a little early. At 17 months Gabe has discovered his own opinion and normally it is the opposite of what you have just asked him to do. Gabe has mastered the art of placing himself on the time out mat (in the pantry) a...