Birthdays!

Lots and lots of birthdays this month:

Sunday, Sept. 28: Grandma Fooks
Monday, Sept. 29: Ryan
Wednesday, Oct. 1: Grandma Williams
Wednesday, Oct. 1: Janice
Friday, Oct. 3: Lindsey
Tuesday, Oct. 7: Grady
Tuesday, Oct. 21: Megan
Tuesday, Oct. 28: Grandma Haskell

And this doesn't count the endless aunts, uncles and cousins with birthdays this month too! Does that seem like a lot to anyone else?

On Sunday, we had a cake with 27 (Ryan) + 27 (Lindsey) + 2 (Janice) = 56 candles. It was great fun, though we really thought we might set off the smoke alarm.
On Monday, Ryan blew out another candle.
On Friday, Lindsey added another to the stack.

And that, my friend, is a lot of birthdays.
Does anyone else's family have a lot of birthdays stacked together at a certain part of the year? I'm curious.

Fall in the Midwest

This weekend my sister, Kim, her daughter, Janice, and my mom and dad all came to Peoria to visit. It was fun to show off our town and enjoy the beautiful weather. Everyone should live in the midwest; it was a perfect Fall weekend.

We spent all day Saturday at a great apple orchard and pumpkin patch.

There were all kinds of photo opportunities, and parts of it ended up being a lot like a county fair. Janice wasn't a big fan of the petting zoo area. I thought she was going to cry when the billy goat got so close to her stroller. He was as big as she was!

She really liked this train. She waited patiently for her turn to "drive," and then this little boy cut in front of her, so it just made sense to push him out of the way. She's learning early not to take any crap from boys.
Janice is really interested in steering wheels and honking horns. First, she got in. Then she asked Grandma to get in too. Then, she got into the next four carts, just to honk their horns. I wonder where she learned to be impatient with other drivers?

When we were finished at the "fair," we ventured into the apple orchard and pumpkin patch. As you can see, Ryan is very particular about his pumpkins. He went to great extents to pick the perfect pumpkin for this year's carving. I can't wait to see what he does with it!

We had a great weekend. We wish all our family lived closer, but it has been so nice to see so many these past few months.

Happy Fall!

Finished Living Room (almost)

Since I started this story about painting our living room, I wanted to finish it with pictures. We got our new coffee table and end tables delivered last night, so here's our almost finished living room.

We still haven't decided about what to do over the fireplace. We have thought about a flat screen tv. We've even found the one we'll buy, but I'm still not sold on it being the center of attention up there. And, does anyone else think it's an awkward angle for tv-watching anyway? And when we finish the basement, we'll put in a tv room down there, and then I definitely don't want a tv in my living room anymore. What are your opinions of flat screens above the fireplaces in homes?

If we don't do the tv up there, we need to find some artwork. Aww, the challenges (and fun!) of home decorating. We will also probably still buy some candle holder sets that I saw at Bed, Bath & Beyond (my number two favorite store behind Target), but for now, I think we can call our living room Finished.

Oh, and we also still want to paint the rest of the walls... and maybe buy some curtains... and their rods. Oh, and we really want new carpet too.

Wait, I'm starting to wonder: Is a room ever done? Well, this is our living room Today.

Scare at the Doctors

The first time Ryan couldn't come with me to the doctors (he had to go to Indiana today for work)...

Apparently all you nay-sayers out there were correct. I really am too small. The nurse measured me this morning at the doctors and got a little unsettled. She said I was measuring too small and was worried I was losing fluid around the baby.

Needless to say, they did an "emergency" ultrasound (I had to wait about 30 very panicky minutes), and...

He is perfect. All his body parts are measuring just right, except his femur is too long. :-) Anyone surprised Ryan and I created a long baby? I have plenty of fluid too. Everything looked great.

So why am I measuring so small? Apparently, I am carrying him more inside than most women. Aww, that's why I have chronic heartburn and indigestion.

And in case any of you are jealous: The nurse thinks I'll "pop" soon and by my next appointment I'll measure in the regular range. If I don't, I get another (that's right; it'd be my FIFTH!) ultrasound. Too bad each one is so expensive.

Comments Requested: Who do you think our little monkey looks like? We are keeping our fingers crossed he’ll keep his cute, little button nose, and avoid inheriting my honker. I am afraid he does have my chin, or lack thereof. Ryan thinks he takes a bit after me, which is too bad since Ryan makes a much cuter boy than I ever would. :-)

So, what do you think? Does our little monkey have any distinguishing features that you recognize from Ry or I?

28 Weeks

No more doubts from strangers. She's definitely expecting!

Stay-at-Home Wife

What is a stay-at-home wife?

Wife? You mean Mom, right? No, I mean wife. I am a stay-at-home wife.

When we decided to move to Peoria, we decided I wouldn’t work anymore. We weren't expecting, though we wished we were, and I thought I'd take a much needed break from the daily rigors of teaching. I admit I worried about what I would do to keep myself busy.

When people asked how the job hunt was going in Illinois, I'd tell them I wasn't going to be working.

They'd look at me in confusion and ask, "What are you going to do then?"

"I'm going to be a stay-at-home wife," I’d reply matter-of-factly.

More confusion... a raised eye brow... a slight nod of the chin.

Then, we found out we were expecting, and I decided I would be a stay-at-wife until the baby comes in December. Then, I'd become a stay-at-home mom. I still get the raised eyebrow, but the nod of the chin is more clearly a nod.

So let me tell you about my life as a stay-at-home wife:

1 - Painting: We finally are sprucing up our hospital-white home with some color. Last Saturday we spent the whole day shopping for supplies (Home Depot: "where everyone knows our names"). It never ceases to amaze me how many little things must be purchased to do a project. My parents just always had painting rags, paint brushes, painter trays and rollers, etc., etc. Who would have thought I'd have to pay for all this stuff one day?

Anyway, we got the first coat on the fireplace wall on Monday night. I call it "chocolate soft-serve." Tomorrow we'll apply the "chocolate fudge" to the vaulted wall.

The idea is to have a square of "soft-serve" in the middle of the "fudge" wall. I think it'll work, as long as the "fudge" doesn't look like "Oreo." We'll see.

2 - Baby stuff: We are acquiring baby things at an astonishing rate. This week we bought Baby his crib, changing table, swing/bouncer chair, baby bath, and many other necessities (onesies, sleepers, blankets, socks, etc.) Some things have been found on my new favorite website (Craig's List), others have been gifted by new friends at church (Thanks Melissa!), and still others have been purchased new at the store (Target being my current favorite).

His room is getting rather full of boxes and bags, and I hope to have enough room for my sis and her baby (who are coming to visit me next weekend).
3 - Cooking: I am just loving cooking dinner each night for my hubby to eat when he gets home from work. Doesn't that sound so 1950s? I LOVE IT!

This week we've had Wendy's Chili (Great recipe and Ryan's favorite so far, except I forgot I was halfing the recipe when I added the chili powder; oops!), taco casserole, creamy chicken and rice, and lasagna. He has even been able to take leftovers in his lunch - something he always wished for during grad school, but that I couldn't manage working full-time. Our peanut butter jar is hardly getting any use anymore!

4 - Sewing: Kind of. My problem is two-fold:

* Fabric Dilemma: Ryan's grandmother is a collector. She doesn't collect dolls or bears or spoons or books or pencil sharpeners or vases... SHE COLLECTS THEM ALL!

One thing she collects is fabric. During the reunion, she opened her stashes, and the women had at it. Everything was neatly folded and stacked (a lot of it still on the bolt), but I just didn't have it in me to dig and fight and scrounge around. Everything I brought back (3 prints) were collected by my mother-in-law on my behalf.

(Here's my sister-in-law Emily who, like everyone else, had no problem digging in)

So, with deep remorse and regret, I have discovered we don't have a Hancock Fabrics in Peoria (my favorite fabric store), and I am definitely wishing I'd have looked harder at Grandma's house. If only I'd have rolled up my sleeves (and my pants!) and gotten in with everyone else I wouldn't be sitting here stressing about spending $9.75 a yard for fabric at the specialty quilting store... Aww, Hancock, where did you go?

* Pattern Dilemma: Though I have done some quilting, I have never used a pattern before. I know I am supposed to cut out the shapes, pin them to the fabric, cut them out and stitch them altogether, but this is where my knowledge stops.

I read the directions today, and I thought I'd accidentally bought the Greek version: slipstitch, with nap, without nap, staystitch, topstitch, understitch, baste... What have I gotten myself into?

On a friend's advice, I have emailed a woman from church who has offered other women (young moms!) help with sewing projects in the past. Hopefully, she'll adopt me as her own and tutor me through the process. I just don't think I can learn via cell phone with my own Moms.

And that, my friend, wraps up my week here as a stay-at-home wife in Peoria. Yes, these are the things that fill up my days along with reading, genealogy indexing, weeding the flower bed, preparing seminary lessons, grocery shopping and cleaning.

They wanted me to feel guilt and shame with their raised eye brow and slight nod of the chin when I told them I wouldn't be working and was going to be a stay-at-home wife. But I know they really were just trying to hide their jealousy at the idea of filling their own days with whatever they wanted... just like I get to.

Canada Trip

I’m home again, and home again for a while. Thank goodness. I really think that though I like to see people and places that I have heard of, I am really not much interested in long car rides, long waits in airports, and living out of a suitcase. But, despite all of these drawbacks, we had a wonderful trip to Canada for Ryan’s grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary.

We started our trip by driving to St. Louis and spending the evening with my parents. We left Sunday, August 24 by plane, with a layover in Minneapolis. We arrived in Portland, OR where Ryan’s parents picked us up. We stayed Sunday and Monday night at their home in Vancouver, Washington.

On Tuesday morning, we drove to Seattle where we stayed with Ryan’s sister.

Wednesday morning we visited the Space Needle. What a strange (and neat) place!

On Wednesday afternoon, we drove to Spokane, Washington where we teamed up with the rest of Ryan’s family to carpool to Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

Thursday we drove to Canada. We saw some of the most amazing scenery. I love the mountains covered in pine trees. The variety of shades of green never ceases to amaze me. It was a long way, but it was truly beautiful.

Friday morning we visited two homes built by Grandpa Fooks (he was an architect) and where Ryan’s mother grew up. Friday night we had a barbeque at a local Lethbridge park. Saturday we prepared food and decorated the cultural hall all morning for the open house. Lots of people came, the food was great, the decorations were even better, and Grandma and Grandpa were so happy to see all their friends.

After the open house, we had a catered dinner for the family and entertainment provided by Ryan’s Uncle Scott, who works gigs in a piano bar.

Sunday we had brunch as a family and attended sacrament meeting. To close our giant family reunion, we had a family fireside back at Grandpa and Grandma’s home. The great-grandchildren (most of the 21 of them!) sang “I Am a Child of God.” Grandma and Grandpa bore their testimonies. Each of the grandchildren gave updates on their lives and happenings. It was a wonderful close to a wonderful weekend.

Monday morning started our LONG trek home: 15 hours by car. Tuesday we continued with 10 hours in airports, and then the last 3 hours by car back to Peoria. We had a great time. It was nice to be able to meet all of Ryan’s aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Our little guy will be great-grandchild #23. He has a great heritage of family and faith. What a wonderful way to spend time with our eternal family.

Master Williams

Ryan will now only respond to the title "Master Williams." That's right: He's done! I can now post a few of the pics I took of him at graduation, which was in May, but rather premature. CONGRATS RYAN!
Being silly... as always.
Does that look like "Master Daniel Ryan Williams, B.S., M.S." to you?

Doctors & Seminary & TSA

It has been a very busy week at our house. I am currently sitting on Ryan's computer while he is on our laptop at his office at UW. His defense is in just 2 hours! He is feeling good, and we even got some sleep last night (Thanks Heather & Jenn!).

A few reasons we've had a busy week:

1- Doctors: I had two doctors appointments this week. Monday I had my third ultrasound. I know three sounds like a lot, but the doctors keep asking for them.

The first was to determine if my due date was accurate before we left Madison. They discovered a ovarian cyst, so when we got to Peoria our new doctor ordered another. Then, they couldn't see his stomach or kidneys on that one, so they ordered another, which was Monday.

I have been worried for each one, but every time he is kicking and squirming and happy as can be (with a stomach and kidneys). My cyst hasn't grown either, which is a great thing.

Anyway, the nurse caught him sucking his thumb on Monday (22 weeks, 4 days), and I just LOVE it.
Ryan particularly wanted me to point out his bicep. Yes, he takes after his father in the muscle-y arm department! What a cutie!

So I am starting to worry about his future disposition. Ryan and I are not particularly hyper-active people. But our little monkey seems to be crazy! The nurses always comment on how active he is, and this third ultrasound is mostly a product of his inability to sit still for photos. So here's my question: Does gestational activity predict future childhood activity? All you Moms out there, what do you think? Were your little ones of a similar activity level after birth as before?

2- Another reason for our busy-ness this week was a product of my new calling. Over a week ago the Bishop met with us and found out we were expecting in December (that's right: I'm 23 weeks and not showing enough for people to just notice). Then he told us he was going to ask me to be the ward early-morning seminary teacher, but now on second-thought, he wanted to talk it over with the bishopric and pray about it some more.

Anyway, on Tuesday, he called and extended the call anyway. So, I am teaching seminary starting next week! They are going to have a team-teacher to help me after I have the baby. This mysterious person is also going to teach next week, since we'll be in Canada all week at a family reunion.

3- Another reason for a crazy week: Our trip to Canada. I am the ultimate cheap skate. I hate the fact that the airlines think they can weasel more money out of us by charging us for checking a bag. Does this seem ridiculous to anyone else? I spent several hours researching at TSA's website acceptable items for carry-on, another hour searching the fine-print of our bottles for their fluid ounce size, and then another hour at WalMart purchasing 3-oz size bottles.

I think the most annoying thing was my contact solution: a 12-oz bottle of WalMart brand solution is about $6. Their travel-size is $3, but it is 4-oz which breaks the TSA rules. So, I had to purchase the Bausch & Lomb brand "flight-ready" contact solution which cost $5. Yeah, it was almost as much to purchase 3-oz as 12-oz!

And between endless hours of Olympic-watching, editing of Ryan's thesis, driving back and forth to Madison, and practice run-throughs of his defense... Yes, it was a busy week. We can't wait for our vacation! And, in just two hours, we'll be home-free (fingers crossed)!

Madison Trip... #1

We headed to Madison this past weekend. Originally, Ryan was going to defend his thesis on Friday, and the girls up there were going to throw me a baby shower on Saturday. Unfortunately, Ryan was unable to defend on Friday (but we ARE headed back this Friday for his defense), but since invitations and all the planning was all ready done for the shower for this weekend, we went up anyway.

We had a great time with old friends. We actually felt like we'd never left! I am not a fan of shower games, so my friends avoided those for my sake. Instead, we used stamps to decorate crib sheets. They turned out really nice, and I am excited to use them!

Thank you to all the girls who helped plan and to the girls who came. It was so nice to see all of you. With a lot of luck, we'll be in Madison to finish up Ryan's schooling on Friday. YEA!

Home Again

For today, I am home again. I have spent the last two weeks with my mom, sister, and her baby in Utah. We were able to see many of my aunts, uncles and cousins in the process. Here's just a few of us.

I drove from here (Peoria, Illinois) on July 25th to my mom's in St. Louis, and the next morning we drove to pickup my aunt in Salina, Kansas. We stayed that night (July 26th) in Dillon, Colorado, and the next day we finished our trek to my sister's in Springville, UT. It was so nice to see my sister and her daughter, Janice, who is almost 2.

The next day (Monday morning) we left my sister's house to stay in her timeshare in Park City for the week. It was BEAUTIFUL, wonderful and relaxing.

We spent a lot of time at the pool, chasing J (who has zero-fear of water).

We also spent a lot of time on our balcony, enjoying the beautiful mountain air and watching cute, young families "play" tennis.

The only other way we spent our time was chasing J around the condo, trying to keep her out of the chocolate! She is definitely a girl!

After a week in Park City, we came back to Springville for the second week. We had such a good time with goofy, stubborn J. She is such a show-off for the camera.

Grandma (my mom) noticed a screw had come lose on her rocking horse, so she got a screw driver and put it back in. In typical Janice-style, she also had to "work" on the horse. She loves to be an adult.

Here she is after we talked her into riding her horse (like a normal 2-year old!).

But after two solid weeks of being away, I am so happy to be back home. Ryan made this cute sign to greet me.

I am now 21 weeks, and most people are still telling me I don't look pregnant. Thank goodness the baby is measuring just right. If not, I'd really be panicking. I am going to just be grateful for now that all the discomforts of large-dom have not yet hit me.

Next week we head to Madison for Ryan's defense. We CAN'T wait to see all our friends we left behind up there. The following week we are headed to Canada for Ryan's huge family reunion. (Tomorrow is actually the only Sunday this month I'll be in my ward in Peoria. Oops.)

I am particularly loving not working. Utah teachers start teacher-meetings on Monday, and Wisconsin teachers start the following week. I am loving my lack of responsibilities. Travel on!