Family Resemblance

All through this pregnancy, we really looked forward to seeing Marshall and finding out whether he looked like Harrison. Harrison was such a distinctive looking baby, we couldn't wait to find out if his brother would resemble him.

When Marshall finally arrived, we were shocked that we weren't positive whether they looked like one another or not. Some people said yes (myself included) and others thought they looked very different. I guess Harrison's white-blond hair was so noticeable, it was hard to compare him with a darker haired baby.

And they definitely do not resemble each other now, so it was hard to imagine that they ever looked alike.

So I went back to Harrison's baby pictures the other day, and here are some comparable pictures I found. I also made another startling discovery - it was hard to compare them because we have so many pictures of Harrison wide awake and it is hard to find a picture of Marshall with his eyes open. That just goes to show how different these babies were from each other in temperament!!

Marshall

Harrison

Marshall

Harrison

Marshall

Harrison

I still think they looked a lot alike as babies. But either way, they are both pretty cute now!

Due Date!!

Today is officially my due date! However, that picture is from 12 days ago, a few minutes before I left for the hospital. I am so so happy that instead of looking forward to going into labor and delivering a baby today or in the near future, I'm getting to enjoy an adorable 12 day old baby!

Marshall Scott Williams was born on November 9, 2010 at 10:16 PM. He weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 21 inches long.

Marshall is the same length that Harrison was, but almost a whole pound lighter (Thank you, Marshall!! That made for a delightful delivery!!) As a result, he is the skinniest little baby in the world, with these LONG skinny body parts. His toes are incredibly long, it is unbelievable.

Leaving the hospital (at midnight!)

Thanks to my little brother Lance for helping us get out of there safely.

We love this little guy!

Marshall is the sweetest baby ever. He loves to eat and he loves to sleep, and we absolutely love him for it. He has been a great sleeper from the first day he was born and has not given us a sleepless night yet, so we are keeping our fingers crossed!

He loves sleeping so much, it is pretty difficult to get a picture of him with his eyes open!

We've been preparing Harrison for his new brother as much as possible, but I still think it was a little shocking for him.

He is adjusting to brotherhood pretty well.

At first he was a little indifferent to Marshall and only got concerned if Byron picked him up, yelling "MY daddy, MY daddy!" After a couple of days he started showing more interest in his little brother. I would catch him giving Marshall little kisses and saying "Hi, Hi!" and waving at Marshall in his swing.




Our family on November 9, 2010 at 6pm.

And four hours later, we became a family of four!!

The Twenties

My sister, Brooke, turned 20 this week, and it made me realize what a fun group of twenty-somethings we have in our family. We have SEVEN children in our family between the ages of 20 and 29.

This is an elite group. As you'll note below, to be a true Harrison twenty-something, you must always have your mouth open in your picture or be holding a crustacean (alive or dead).

First, there is me. I'm barely hanging onto my twenties by a thread even as I write this.

Then there is Matt, the serious and studious 3rd year law student.

He is also a social butterfly, a camping enthusiast, always ready for a good time (when he's not studying), the driver of a "classic" car and pretty darn fun to be around. Oh yeah, and he sews! Check out his tailoring skills!

Followed by Jamie, the hardcore triathalon athlete. Yes, she swims, she bikes, she runs and she looks good doing all of it! She is also quite the fashionista/seamstress. I mean, how many people can say they've MADE their own swimming suit?

Plus, just LOOK at how fun she is!

Not to be outdone by Kendra, lead vocalist in a rock band. Yes, there is a rock star in this motley crew of ours. (Pun intended.) She is also a talented interior designer, very knowledgable in the world of persian rugs (seriously) and unavailable, (I like Dave too much to not throw that out there). But all of the other kids mentioned here are available (with the caveat that Renee needs a few more months before she's officially on the market...)

Next in line is Lance, the gourmet cook/community gardener/wild food forager as well as BYU student. Not to mention his cross-country bike touring habit as well as pending international State Department internship.

Followed by Renee, our gorgeous if not a little bit clutzy sister who is currently serving a mission for our church in Malaysia. It must also be mentioned that Renee is somewhat of a professional hobbyist. When she finds something interesting, she delves into it whole-heartedly, which is why she is a roller skating maniac, biking fiend, and a skateboarding enthusiast. And, in light of her coordination challenges, she has the scars to prove it. Literally.

Finally, little Brookie Poo, the one who prompted this post. She's a student, a true individual, a great writer (just read her blog), a newly realized pet lover and if we're going to be honest - the funny one.


We've had some fun times, this little cross-section of our family.

So, thanks Mom and Dad for having us so close together and for having so many kids who are awesomely fun to hang out with (I guess that includes the oldies and the young'un that don't fall into the 20 somethings). I'm glad I get to be a part of this awesome group of twenty-somethings for 24 more days!

One Week? Really?

Longest week ever.

We "moved" to Henderson one week ago (although technically we are moving our furniture this coming weekend.) So much has happened this week, it's hard to believe it has only been seven short days. I barely remember driving out of Los Angeles, a balmy 71 degrees. I vividly recall arriving in Henderson five hours later, at a distinctly LESS balmy 111 degrees!!

Over the course one week, we have:

• Moved across state lines
• Sunblocked Harrison hundreds of times
• Fallen in love with a house
• Played with Harrison's cousins for hours
• Enjoyed the local wildlife (i.e. I saw a huge, white lizard in the street and Byron killed a scorpion in the garage)
• Put an offer on said dream-house
• Stopped Harrison from bullying his younger cousin THOUSANDS of times
• Had our offer on the house accepted!!!!!
• Put together a new crib (and crib tent!) for Harrison, and just in time, because he JUMPED out of his pack n play today!!
• Seen a Cirque Du Soleil show on the strip
• Started the stressful process of closing on a house
• Made two fresh peach pies
• Enjoyed the teething process with Harrison, who got a new tooth (and is getting three more, fun!)
• Already had buyers' remorse on the house (who can make these big decisions? I'm horrible at it!)
• Been on TWO dates with my husband (WHAT?! Living by family is AWESOME!)
• Have heard Harrison say "hot" about 1 million times

I have high hopes that my adjustment to Nevada will be easier than I feared. We have indeed begun to venture out during daylight hours, and it is surprisingly bearable. I actually left the house the other day and said to Harrison, "it's not that hot today!" only to see that the temperature was 104 degrees! I'm becoming a hardened Nevadan!! (Although, you have to admit, 104 IS much better than 111!!)

I may have to begin this painful temperature adjustment all over again next week, since we'll be back in LA on Wednesday until the end of the week for a few VERY important things: packing and moving, basking in LA's weather, reuniting Harrison with his BF, Charlie, going to the beach and taking Harrison to DISNEYLAND for the first time!!! We're really going to leave LA with a bang!

Work Lunch!!

Well, the move is getting much more real as it gets closer. Our apartment is being stripped of its contents and simultaneously filled with packed boxes. This is Byron's last week at the Los Angeles office and his co-workers took him out to a farewell lunch today. To my delight, my "co-workers" surprised me with a going-away lunch at Cafe Rio!!

I like how not a SINGLE child (of the six in this picture!) is even looking at the camera. Harrison is enthralled with Zoey's sippy cup and little Lucy in the pink looks like she is deliberately avoiding the camera! We had a fun time (in between Harrison's throwing of grapes and stealing of the aforementioned sippy cup) and I'm going to miss these girls. And although some of my coworkers are small and camera shy, there were 19 people (and two fetuses) at my farewell lunch. I'll bet Byron's colleagues can't compete with that!!

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There was one dark cloud over the festivities, however. I fear that my good friend Vic may be getting the wrong idea about the lifestyle I am leading. I ran into him a few weeks ago at Cafe Rio while he was there with his coworkers on his lunch break and I was there with a couple of these same friends. I already feared at that point that he believed me to lead a life of leisure, lunching with the ladies and what-not. To my dismay, he was there AGAIN today with his coworkers, only to witness another loud and happy ladies lunch. He'll probably never believe me that my life does indeed consist of more (and less happy) events that lunching with my lady friends. I'm only sorry that his future wife will probably pay the price for this misconception of motherhood he now holds.
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Regardless, I am pretty certain that Harrison had a fun time.

This is his new favorite game. Sometimes I hear a muffled laugh from the backseat while I am driving and I don't even have to look to know he is back there playing this game and can't contain his laughter. Before you think that I am raising a gross little nose-picker, just know that he is equally enamored of his other facial features. He not only enjoys putting food in his own eyes, but also laughingly feeds his little baby doll her bottle into her eye, while proudly saying "eye!"
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Today just reminded me how hard it is going to be to start over in a new city and leave behind all of the good friends I've gotten to know while living in LA. Although it has occurred to me that they may in fact be relieved to have me go, since I think a couple of their children were getting ideas about how fun Harrison's nose game looked...

Fire Truck!!

Harrison LOVES fire trucks. When we were getting home this afternoon, I saw a fire truck parked directly in front of our building. My first thought was that my apartment was on fire (of course) but as I scanned the sky for smoke and didn't see any, my mind immediately went to letting Harrison see his first fire truck, up close and in person. It doesn't get much closer than this. Harrison was in heaven, not only was he by a fire truck and I was actually letting him touch the wheel (usually off limits) but he could see his reflection in the hub cab. Pure bliss for this little boy.

The firemen were SO nice and offered to let him sit inside. I set him up on the front seat (which is no mean feat. At five foot three inches, I could BARELY get him up there. Don't let these pictures fool you, those suckers are TALL) and he loved it. He kept saying "truck, truck" over and over. Then when the firemen discovered I had never been in a fire truck, they told me to hop in there and took a couple of pictures for us. I don't know who was more excited, me or Harrison. Don't let his facial expression fool you, he was loving it. He is just a cool character who doesn't like to wear his emotions on his sleeve.

After thanking the firemen profusely, we went inside where I had to deal with the fallout of Harrison grieving his separation from the fire truck. I don't know which one he was more sad about leaving, the fire truck or the wheel, because as he cried he alternated sobs of "truck" and "wheel."

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I love how nice people are to little kids here in LA (maybe because there just aren't that many of them?) Just the other day Harrison was excitedly waving at a recycling truck, and the driver waved happily at him and honked his horn as he drove by. Such a simple thing, and these guys totally make Harrison's day. Thanks truck drivers of LA!

BIG changes!

So I've taken quite a break from blogging lately. Usually this wouldn't be such a bad thing - so the world misses out on the happenings of Harrison for a couple of months. But SO much has happened in our family lately that I could no longer deny the need for a blog update.

Lets start with the most important news first: I discovered today that Harrison has his first freckle! (Clearly, this picture is not of Harrison) His freckle is so tiny and light that it wouldn't even begin to show up in a picture, but as a very experienced wearer of freckles, I'm confident in my diagnosis.

It is adorable, but it does foreshadow his future as a redhead. May he be blessed with the cute sprinkling of freckles his Uncle Lance had as a child, and not cursed as his mother is with polka-dotted skin.

Next news: Harrison is getting a little brother!! I have been so remiss in blogging that I am pregnant, it is embarrassing! I think I put something on Facebook a couple months back, but I never got around to making it blog-official. The baby is due on November 21st, a few weeks after Harrison turns two. I haven't taken any real pregnancy shots, so here's a pic of the actual guy!

Pretty handsome profile, right? This picture is from a couple of months ago (shame on me, I know!) He hasn't had any ultrasound pictures since then turn out better than this one. For all of our sakes, I hope he hasn't already hit his peak of good looks, at 13 weeks. Poor guy! The baby (who I've already named in my head but Byron has forbidden me to call him by that name aloud, since he's not yet won over) has passed all of his tests with flying colors and is doing great!! We're more than halfway there!

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Harrison is very excited about his baby brother (at least we think he is). He touches my stomach and says "baby brother," which I absolutely love. However, I have also seen him point towards older men with potbellies and his own protruding stomach and say "baby brother," so we may not be making quite as much progress as we think we are. He may now just think "baby brother" is another way of saying "fat."

Third news: WE ARE MOVING! After living in LA for the past seven years (8+ for Byron) we are finally dragging ourselves away. Byron is transferring to Vegas with his job and he starts there on July 19th. Wow. 10 more days left in LA.

This has been a possibility for some time now and I've been enchanted with the thought of buying a house and living near his family (voluntary babysitters!!!). But now that it is actually happening it is so much more bittersweet than I expected.

I moved to LA seven years ago, a fresh-faced 22 year old moving to a big city alone, about to start graduate school. Since I've lived in LA, I've made so many awesome friends, met/dated/broke up with my future-husband, finished grad school, dated/married my husband, worked in my field for years, got my professional license, had a beautiful baby and watched him grow into a toddler and now am on my way to having our second baby. Many of my biggest moments in life have happened while I've been living in LA, and it is much harder to leave than I expected. We are going to miss our friends and our home so much! Of course, by "home" I'm speaking figuratively, since we will not miss apartment living, but we will miss the beautiful weather, knowing all of the best places to eat, bumping into friends in random places and the familiarity and comfort of living somewhere for so long.

I just have to remind myself of the wonderful things to come. I'm sure Harrison is going to enjoy all of the swimming to survive the hot summers (still not sure how I'M going to survive them...)

We had a trial run this weekend, and I think it was a success!

We are going to love living by Byron's family. Harrison LOVES his grandparents, aunts and uncles and is never happier than when he is playing with his cousins (and their dogs). Harrison has six cousins living in Henderson and they make him SO happy!

It will be SO fun to buy a house (just look how appealing my realtor/sister-in-law can make a closet look!!)

And of course I'm excited about missing out of some of LA's less appealing features, such as the traffic and the cost of living. I will not miss paying for parking at the post office, the library, the doctor's office and everywhere else you can imagine!

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Besides all of our friends, I will miss the weather in LA most of all. That may also be because my greatest fear in moving to Vegas is: the weather. I figure I'm approaching the weather with a "band-aid style" mentality. If I do it all at once, the pain will be intense but it will never be that bad again. So, I'm moving to Las Vegas in JULY, while pregnant.

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My test run this weekend confirmed that the heat was all that I had feared it would be (my in-laws may have some concerns that I am prone to hermithood, as my basic survival instinct is to stay indoors at all times when the sun is up.) In my defense, it really is HOT there. Harrison had never said the word "hot" before, but the first time I put him in his car seat after the car had been sitting outside in the sun, he put on a very sad face and said "HOT." (It was 120 degrees on the car's temp guage at that time.) After this weekend, "hot" may have moved to the top of his most-used list of words.

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Now that we are back in LA until next weekend, we are enjoying it to it's fullest!! LA welcomed me back into it's open arms with a temperature of 67 degrees and the delightful marine layer blocking the sun - I could not have been happier!! Harrison and I are taking advantage of wearing pants (and maybe even sweatshirts!) for the last few times until possibly October. We are playing the delicate balancing game of trying to eat all the food out of our freezer and pantry so we don't have to move it, while still hitting all of our favorite restaurants in LA one last time. It is a delicious challenge.

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We will be spending most of our time outside, enjoying the weather while simultaneously soaking and storing the vitamin D for our indoor days ahead, hitting the beach, attempting to see all of our friends one last time, trying to fit in Disneyland, and I'll be getting one last cheap LA pedicure.

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Then: Goodbye, Los Angeles. Las Vegas, here we come.

One last final note: I distinctly remember telling Byron on one of our first dates, after learning that he was from Vegas, that I would NEVER live in Las Vegas. Hmmm, life has a funny way of proving you wrong and making your husband think that he can always have his way.