Surprise in the City

In mid-December I traveled to the Big Apple for the first time.

My sister, my mom, Will and I went to visit my other sister and her family who currently live there.

They're both actors, living the dream and trying to raise a family while they're at it.

They're incredible.

And so was our visit.

My biggest fear: the plane ride.

But William was a star.

Okay - other than for this short period of time, he was a star.

He slept for the first part of the flight and then did a great job staying with either my mom or me throughout the flight.

Thankfully there was an empty seat between my mom and I so we spread out and let Will loose.

The best part of the trip: my sister had no clue we were coming.

My BIL did a great job of keeping the secret.

We surprised her by showing up at Rockefeller Plaza.

She was nearly in tears.

It was magical to be there during the holidays.

 Everything was decorated so elaborately and the lights were so pretty.

William was enamored.

Like most who visit, we quickly became Subway experts.

And cousin Xander did a great job of showing Will how to manage the train as a toddler.

We were sure to hit all the hot spots:

The 9/11 Memorial.

Times Square.

Shopping.

Eats.

Macy's Santa.

The Statue of Liberty.

Central Park.

We had a lot of fun and made plenty of memories.

But by the end - little Will and I were ready to come home to Daddy.

And Brian *tells me* he was ready to have us back.

You'll have to ask him if that's still the case.

Love much,

Beth

One. Year. Old.

My baby boy is...
Okay - I can't seem to even utter it.
O.N.E.
William is one.

12 months ago my life changed forever.
It was a blistery winter day that we brought junior into the world.
But my life has never been as peaceful and as rich as it is now.

This last year has gone by WAY TOO fast.
I feel like I've done such a poor job of documenting his first 365 days of life.
But that's okay.

We've made precious memories that I will forever cherish.
And ya'll don't need to know all of them.
Just know living with my little man is nothing short of complete joy.
He is joy.
There is no better word to describe him than that.
JOY.

While William's physical appearance was constantly changing in the first few months,

it's the developmental part that is growing the most now.

It seems that every day he has a new trick.

We giggle.

We give (really wet) kisses.
We blow kisses.
We walk all over.
We climb on everything.

We fall off everything.

We get stuck.

We make lots of messes.
We clean up lots of messes.

We LOVE to eat big-people food.
We really don't like baby food.
We have EIGHT teeth and are currently cutting some molars as well.

We still eat every two hours.

We put everything in our mouth.

We love playing outside.

We love grass.
We love our voice.

We can say:
Ba-ba (bottle) This was his first associated word.
MaMa
DaDa
Hhhaaat (Hot - which he uses for just about everything interesting)
Sssaaa (soft)
Gum-pa (Grandpa)
Buh-ba (Bye-bye) - and that's accompanied by a wave. Always.
Whf-whf (what the doggie says)
Eee Eee (what the monkey says)
Assa-Assa (Outside)
Bbbbbbbb (while he pushes his little cars around)
Whoooo-Whooo (when he sees trees)
Naa Naa Naa Naa (No - ya, he's heard that word a few times)
I think he's imitating the sound wind makes when it goes through the trees.

He is a smart little kid.
I'm sure every parent says that.
But I truly believe Will has Brian's brain.
They both love to know how things work.
It is so fun to watch him watch things, figure them out and then try it himself.
He always wants to be "in" on everything.






















Will is constantly moving.
But he does take time every once-in-a-while to stop and read a book.
His favorite is one he got from his pediatrician that has lots of pictures of other babies.

We're still a little light on the hair.
But part of the issue is that his hair is getting pretty blonde.
The new stuff is basically white.
But there is quite a bit of red actually and he's got the complexion of a ginger.

The little man has HUGE hands and feet.
We're already wearing size 6/7 shoes.
Ya.
Huge.
We're also in 18-24 month clothes.

Ya.
Huge.

Needless-to-say, Will is growing like a weed.

But a very cute weed.

One of those weeds you never want to get rid of.
Do those weeds exist?

No?

Okay - maybe it was a bad analogy.

Restart.

Will is growing like crazy.

And being able to watch it all happen is such a privilege.

Happy Birthday baby boy!

And if you're still reading and have 2:30, watch this.
Will's last six months as captured by my iPhone.

Love much,

Mama Beth

Building: Part One

Brian and I are building our first home.

It's overwhelming.

It's exciting.

It's nerve racking.

Come to think of it - 

I think I used a lot of those same adjectives to describe parenting.

We never thought we would be building a house this early in our marriage,

let alone building one in Utah.

We've been completely blessed to be in a position with our careers that we're able to settle down in a market where we feel we could stay for a very long time.

When we first started talking about getting out of our little apartment 

we thought we were looking a couple years into the future.

We were looking at homes and thought that whenever we did move

we could move into an older, smaller home.

But then, one fateful Saturday, we came across a new development in Midvale.

We both fell in love.

Within two weeks, we had signed papers and we were picking out colors.

Right now, the process seems slow.

Our plot. On the end.

It's a multi-family development so they're giving us 150 days until completion.

That means we're looking at March until we can move in.

Hello, two-car garage!

Our soon-to-be front door!

In the meantime, we are hanging out with my parents in American Fork.

We are enjoying this time with them and

Will LOVES his grandparents.

I swear he likes them more than he likes us.

Grandpa is his outside buddy.

And he loves helping Grammy cook.

For William, life couldn't get any better.

And I gotta say:

I'm thinking the same thing too.

Love much,

Beth