Backyard Makeover - Part One

So I’ve been telling you for quite some time about the extensive Backyard Makeover we’ve been working on. It has nigh consumed our lives since the middle of March, and we are yet half done (hence “Part One” in my title). Despite not yet being finished, I wanted to post some pictures of the transformation.

Winter 2008
This is a picture that I took during our inspection in March of 2008 - after our offer was accepted but before we closed on the house. You can see the barbed wire fence, the ditch, the dead grass and the plentiful assortment of our neighborhood’s trash.

Summer 2008 (not knowing I’d need “before” pictures, this is all I’ve got)
I took this picture when I got home from vacation in July of 2008. We’d closed on the house two months prior - Ryan was feverishly working on his thesis and I was sick, sick, sick pregnant with Collin. We’d done everything we could just to keep the lawn mowed, and we had done NOTHING to the backyard and its tree line. Can you say Amazon?

Summer 2009 (another shot that just happens to have the trees in its background)
Despite its appearance, we had done a lot of work in the trees by our second summer. We’d gotten the barbed wire removed and cut back most of the limbs which hung too low in the yard or were within arms’ reach. We’d also worked to fight back against the unkempt lawn (thank goodness for Weed & Feed) and purchased a new lawn mower. Despite all our efforts, though, the weeds and trees were still super thick.

Spring 2010
This was last Spring. By this point, we’d spent numerous more hours cutting back trees and even taking out two. We’d tromped down the weeds and done a lot of burning. We thought it was looking right nice. Little did we know…

Spring 2011 (today)
Ta-da! This is our tree line today. Pretty unbelievable, eh? Ryan (with the help of a friend) removed 9 clusters of trees. He also removed their stumps. In all, he used and destroyed 7 chains on two chain saws.
Here’s one of the many stumps Ryan removed. (I asked Collin to stand next to it so you could see its size; this is the best I got…). First, we called a stump-grinding company, but at $2 per inch of diameter, Ryan scoffed. Then we tried burning it out for a few days (see the charred parts?), but it did little damage. Then we opted for good ol’ back-breaking labor. Look what my Mister Muscles can do!
Yep, that’s our wood pile. (Again I asked Collin to stand next to it for size comparison, but he insisted on showing off this screw. Silly, silly boy.) We’ve burned a lot of the medium and small things, and Ryan hauled three pickup-truck loads to a friend’s place - This is just the remaining large logs. Oh, and did I mention that it’s two deep? Yeah, it’s a lot of wood.

I think the saddest part is that this Osage-orange wood burns too hot for indoor fireplaces, therefore we can only use it in bonfires and when camping. I was so wishing we’d be able to make more progress on our emergency preparedness, but no luck.

After he got all the trees cut down and their stumps removed, we were stuck with the challenge of leveling the dirt, and of course filling in the massive holes left behind by the stumps. We looked into renting a bobcat, but in true Williams-fashion, Ryan did all the labor with a shovel and hoe. Did I mention his new name is Mister Muscles?

So we thought the hard part was done when the ground was ready, but then we faced the building of the set. After lying down landscaping fabric (gotta do something to discourage those weeds from returning), it was time to get started. Ha-ha. The swing-set came with a 50-page manual and a DVD showing how to build it. They estimated a total of 23 hours of labor! Thankfully, our wonderful neighbor came over to build with Ryan every Tuesday and Thursday evening, and Ryan worked tirelessly on Saturdays too.

After the set was finished (about a month later), we dug a trench and put in landscaping edging.
And what would a children’s play area be without a sand box? We got this beauty from someone’s trash about a year ago. It served to hold the tools while the set was built, and then after a good scrub-down with bleach and dish soap, we added about 8 bags of sand. Total cost? $11. Oh yeah. Collin LOVES it.

The next step was to dump 30 bags of mulch in. It is only a thin layer, but it will do for this year. Then we cut and laid rubber mats in the “fort,” its sitting area, and as a path up to the set.
But were we finished? Nope. What about the ditch? In our early planning stages, we contemplated filling the ditch with dirt and then grassing it over, as some of our neighbors have done, but we opted to keep it. Instead, Ryan snagged some wood from our neighbor’s garbage and built this cute little bridge. Collin loves it, and I’m hoping he’ll build a matching one for the other side next summer.
Summer 2012

What? No picture? Yep, no picture for this one, seeing as it is next year. Our long term goals include – purchasing rocks and pebbles to fill the ditch (cha-ching), replacing the rubber stepping-stone mats with stone stepping-stones (another cha-ching), building a fire pit with landscaping stone (do you hear the wallet emptying?), building a stone patio to surround the fire ring (more credit card swipes), and planting grass everywhere there’s no mulch and no stones (not too expensive, but still something that needs to wait).

I have to say all these goals seemed far from attainable, but now that I’ve seen what my Mister Muscles can do (with a little help from his wifey, I might add), I think we may actually have quite the little backyard escape one day.

Anyway, the finishing touches on the other half of the "tree line" will all have to wait. It got much too hot too quickly around here, we’ve got other plans for our funds (a basement escape too?), and we’re ready to have our daddy back!

Conclusion

Okay, and now it’s time for some wonderful candids of my kiddos enjoying their wonderful new play set. Some of them are when it wasn’t quite finished, as you’ll see some missing windows, no mulch, and no foam mats.




Aww, what happy kids. And we all know that happy kids mean a happy mommy. Thank you, Daddy! We love you!

Name that Baby Answers

... and we've got winners!

Question number two was by far the most missed one. Ryan's sister and my sister each got 9/10, both missing poor number two.
This is Collin. And yes, I did put it in there because it is stunning how much they resemble each other. This is the "matching" one of Brennan. Striking, eh? And really, I couldn't make it THAT easy. In fact, I am glad I was able to trip a few people up - and relatives at that! Go me!

So a shout-out to my two perfect scores...

Jennifer Stock - She's my good friend from our graduate-work days in Madison. Her husband, Dave, is getting his PhD in rhetoric and will be done next Spring (fingers crossed). We moved into our ward in Madison at the same time and then both searched for teaching positions. She found a job teaching ESL until she had her now 3-year old Lane. Then she became a SAHM. She had beautiful Eleanor about a month after Brennan was born. She's wonderful, and a winner of my Name That Baby Contest.

Amy Rose - She's my good friend from here in Peoria, though she now no longer lives here. Her husband, Devin, was working on his post-doc with the USDA here, until last winter when he accepted a professorship at the University of Nebraska. Her daughter Hallie is almost exactly one year older than Collin, and her daugher Hanna is almost exactly one year younger than Collin and one year older than Brennan. We joke that for the last 3 years we've each alternatingly had a baby in December/January. Yep, you counted right - it's her turn! She's wonderful, and a winner of my Name That Baby Contest.

And if you are wondering how you did, here's the full list of answers...
1 - Collin
2 - Collin
3 - Brennan
4 - Collin
5 - Brennan
6 - Collin
7 - Brennan
8 - Collin
9 - Brennan
10 - Brennan

I still think they look remarkably similar. I wish I had more baby pictures of Ryan; I'd totally do another contest for you guys - It's nuts how much my little boys look like their dad!

Name that Baby

Alright, I've created a little game for you. It's called "Name That Baby." The only hint I'll give you is that each picture is of either Collin or Brennan. And if you thought this would be easy, I made the pictures black and white.

Need an extra incentive? I'll mail or drop-off a reward to the person who gets the most answers correct. (Reward opportunity ends Friday, May 27th)

Okay, let the games begin!

1.


















2.























3.




















4.


















5.
















6.
















7.


















8.























9.
























10.

Mother's Week

It was a great Mother's Day week around here.

On Tuesday evening I met a friend for dinner and shopping. Since having kids, I think I've only met with groups of other girls, and it was really fun to enjoy an expensive dinner and chatting. Unfortunately, I struck out at Old Navy for myself and ended up only buying a belt for Ryan.

On Thursday I picked up another friend, and we headed to the mall for National Mom's Nite Out. It was pretty lame, so we ended up leaving after 20 minutes and going to the Kid's Consignment Sale. I found a few toys, and it ended up being a successful evening.

On Saturday morning I headed back to the Consignment Sale (Half Price Day!) and scored a few more cheap toys.

Then on Saturday afternoon, after hours of planning and worrying, Ryan and I went on a date! We left Collin AND Brennan with our 17-year old neighbor and went to the Luthy Botanical Gardens. Then we got ice cream in Peoria Heights and strolled through their downtown. We even stumbled upon their local arts & crafts street fair. It reminded us of the summer festivals in Utah when we lived there. No stroller, no sippys, no binkies... The weather was amazing, and the company was even better!

On Sunday morning I finally decided I'd be willing to sit in front of the camera (notice the placement of the children in front of my gut) to get a picture with my boys. Aren't they handsome?

Another wonderful gift was that Ryan rode with us to AND from church. No meetings before or after! That's a miracle. Then after church, Ryan made us steak, baked potatoes, asparagus and smoothies. It was delicious! We ate while both boys took naps.And church must have been particularly exhausting for the toddlers, because Collin took a 3-1/2 hour nap, that I finally woke him up from at 6:30pm. Happy Mother's Day to me!

Some consequences of my fabulous week were that I had to pump 4 times (four bottles for my baby in a week; that must be some record!), and Ryan made marginal progress on the swingset project. Oh well. It was totally worth it.

Happy Mother's Day to all the women in my life!

What Have We Been Doing?

RYAN

Scouting
Ryan's calling in young men's is pretty time-consuming. When he was called a year ago, I was so excited for him. Now I just miss all the time we used to get to see him. He has a meeting before, after or both every Sunday. He is also gone most of the night every Wednesday. Once per month he is gone Friday night and Saturday morning for a campout. He loves working with the boys and the other men he serves with. He is really enjoying all his new camping gear he got for Christmas too.

Computer
Ryan inherited his dad's old desktop computer (Thanks Papa!) so he's been working on loading Windows 7 on it and getting our new modem working, which is easier said than done. Something seems to be wrong with Windows 7 and the ethernet card, and we still (it's been a month) don't have internet on the desktop. I'm just glad he didn't load the new operating system on the laptop at the same time - I'd be internet-less!

Trees
His biggest project lately has been working in the tree-line. We work in it each Spring, but this year we may have bitten off more than he can chew. I'm not much help because of the kids, so Ryan's been flying solo a lot out there. This year we are clearing out a 20-foot length for a new swingset, and also cleaning out some dead and crooked trees. It has been very time-consuming. Luckily, we've had some good friends come over to help (Thanks Kendall!) and even the elders last Saturday. One day Collin will have a new swingset to enjoy. Until then, it's just a big, muddy mess.

Exercising
Ryan is really devoted to his exercise. He has maintained his current weight since our Biggest Loser Contest two years ago! He wakes up on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4:45am to go running with a friend. The other days of the week he is usually biking on his trainer in the basement by 5:30am. The Cadbury MiniEggs have forced him to step it up a notch, but I am still so proud of him.

Basement
Ryan also is working on our basement. He built us some new shelving, tore out some walls, and obtained a permit to start putting up new walls and doing electrical. Our goal is to have a finished basement (play room/tv room, bedroom, and exercise room) by the time the cold sets in next winter... I just have my fingers crossed.

LINDSEY

Sounds like I just sit around keeping my fingers crossed, eh? Unfortunately, that is the way I feel a lot of the time too. But really, my fingers are staying quite busy...

Mommy-ing
... changing TONS of diapers, feeding TONS of mouths, clothing SUPER wiggly bodies, singing TONS of songs, reading TONS of stories, rocking TONS of bodies to sleep. That's right - I am definitely the mother of two now.

Driving
I've also been driving the boys to and from St Louis where we've been visiting my parents in order to get out of the house and give Ryan more time for his List. In March, we went to visit while my sister was in town, and in April we visited while my brother was in town. In June, Ryan has a week-long business trip, so I'll head back then too.

Exercising
When Brennan is up at 6am, I feed him and then exercise from 6:30-7am while Ryan is home and getting ready for work. When Brennan sleeps in or if it has been a bad night, I go down after the boys are in bed from 8:15-8:45pm. My official goal is 30 minutes at least 3 times per week, but I've been doing this for a month now and have lost ZERO pounds, so I think I need to modify my goal some. (On the other hand, it has been Reese's-Peanut-Butter-Egg Season, so maybe I'll start to drop some pounds now that they've exited the grocery store.) After I had Collin, I exercised 6 days per week, so I may need to get back into that groove in order to get the results I want.

I am actually looking for advice on a good yoga DVD to buy. I need a beginners one for the flexibly-challenged. Any ideas? I think it would be nice to use my elliptical and treadmill in the mornings and do the yoga in the evenings before bed. Recommendations?

Cleaning
A good friend mentioned shortly before Brennan was born how disgusting it was that I never cleaned my house (Thanks Jacqie!) unless we were having company, so I have implemented a stay-at-home-and-clean day to each week. Before kids, Ryan and I cleaned on Saturday mornings together, but I figure as a stay-at-home mom, I need to work it into my week and keep our Saturdays free.

Anyway, I hate this new week-day cleaning event. Collin is always on his worst behavior (because his mom is ignoring him) resulting in numerous timeouts. I've tried a few thigns to help him be happy - I have given him his own water spray bottle and a rag, but he only lasts about 15 minutes. He also has his own broom. Lately, I have pretty much been turning on PBS all morning, but he gets bored with that after an hour too. Any ideas on how to make cleaning day fun for Collin and therefore me?

COLLIN

Collin is getting super fun... that is, when it's not cleaning day. He loves his pockets, and I'm always finding curious treasures in the washing machine and dryer: rocks, stickers, tissues, matchbox cars, mulch, sticks. He loves to put a mixture of things - blankies, stuffed animals, puzzle pieces, remote controls, cars, wood shapes - in a bowl and stir them with a spoon. He calls it "soup." He also likes to find bags and boxes and collect things. He says he's "packing for Grandma's." He is always flipping things over, getting his tool box, and "dixing it." My favorite new thing he's doing is telling "jokes." For instance, last night he told me that when Daddy got home from work they were going to play toys together after "dada goes potty." Then he said, "Dada need to change his diaper." I must have looked confused, so he helped me out by then saying, "Momma, Collin is funny." Yep, that's my little jokester.

BRENNAN

I've figured out the crying, at least mostly. Try not to judge me, but I am just stupid. So overnight, Brennan started to care about life. He now needs to be able to see what is going on, watch the show Collin is watching, sit with us at meal time and play with toys. I know it sounds silly, but he really did go to bed one night not caring in the least about anyone or anything, and the next day he woke up constantly crying. I thought it was colic, but come to find out: He just wanted some human interaction! Yep, he's back to his happy self most of the time. The one place he is still quite miserable is in his carseat (imagine those long drives to St Louis...). We changed the angle a bit and that has helped, but I avoid the car when he's tired if possible.

CONCLUSION

So in case you've thought we've been sitting around bored these last few months, you can see we've all been quite busy doing our own things. Hope you are all busy and happy too!

Easter

Happy Easter

from my cute blue bunnies,

who got a little restlessbut nonetheless were quite patient with their Sunday-morning photo shoot.

Brennan - 3 months

How have I had two children for three months already? I hope this is normal, but...
- I never take pictures of him.
- I never write in his baby book.
- And I hardly hold or play with him!
Ryan joked the other day that we would blink and our little Brennan would be turning 18. I'm starting to think he isn't that far off.

Yes, he is gigantic. I guess I just have big babies.

A few things about him... He loves to smile. He loves it when I pay attention to him - probably because it is so rare. He loves to babble too - which I had forgotten how adorable that is. Until last week, he was the happiest, easiest baby on the planet. He didn't like to be held; he didn't like to be messed with at all! It was nice to be able to feed and diaper him and basically forget I was the mother of two until one or both of those things needed to be done again. All was blissful until last week... So, Collin had a habit that he SCREAMED (not just cried) himself to sleep. It started at birth and kind of ended at 18 months - But it happened at naptime yesterday, so it isn't really over. Anyway, it was/is just awful.

Unfortunately, Brennan adopted this method last week too. He SCREAMS when he is tired, instead of just closing his eyes and going to sleep (which to me seems like what a normal baby should do). In WalMart today they literally opened a new lane so I could check out. No one was interested in us sticking around!

Oh, so I had forgotten how much I HATE when other moms tell you what is wrong with your child. Here's my favorite from today - "He's hungry because when he saw you he stopped crying, and then when you just gave him the binky he started crying again." Are you kidding me? Is that really evidence of HUNGER!? Who are you to tell me he's hungry, since you have no idea he ate 30 minutes ago?!

Alright, Brennan is really a wonderful baby, except for the very recent screaming stuff. He has learned to make bubbles and let them drip all down his chin. He loves to play with his hands and chew on them. He loves to play with his tongue too. He also loves to chew on his binky (which is frustrating when all you want him to do is suck on it to fall asleep!). He recently has struggled to take a bottle, which is hard since I helped to teach Seminary this week and wasn't home when he woke up. Fingers crossed it was just an I'm-tired-it's-early-morning rebellion thing. The best - at least to me! - thing about Brennan is that since his 2-month birthday he has been sleeping for 9-10 hours straight each night. He isn't a binky-addict like Collin was, so we don't even have to get up to re-bink him! For the last week he has been sleeping from 8pm-6am. Yeah, I'm spoiled. It's wonderful.

Here's to being the mom of two and to wishful thinking of a quieter home.

Have to Do It

Alright, I had to do it. Given the matching blessing outfits, I had to pick some to show of Ryan and of Brennan. Here we go...

Smiley Babies

Content Babies

Upset Babies

What do you think?

Brennan's Baby Blessing

We were able to have a lot of family in town to bless Brennan on his two-month birthday. He wore the same blessing outfit Ryan wore almost 29-1/2 years ago, which I thought was super cool.

From my family, we had my mom and dad (St Louis), my Aunt Geri (Kansas), and my sister Kim (Springville, UT) with her daughter Janice (4-1/2 years) and daughter Brianna (2 months). They came Saturday night and left Sunday night.

Brianna was born just 8 days before my little Brennan, so I figure they are practically twins. Unfortunately, two thousand miles usually separates them. They liked each other right away, despite their terrific size difference. You'd hardly believe they weighed the same at birth!

From Ryan's family, we had his mom and dad (Portland, OR). They were able to stay Friday through Monday.

We had a great time. Thanks everyone for coming to celebrate with us!