Byron, Kim H & M

And so it begins...

2011-01-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

As we were driving home from the park today, Harrison said something to me that I expected to hear eventually, but that I was definitely not quite ready to hear yet:

"Mom, I want a dog."

As something of a pet-hater, I knew this was probably the beginning of a battle that I'm eventually going to lose. I don't know why I was so surprised, in light of this picture I took at my parents' house last week.

Wish me luck.

Family Resemblance

2010-12-04T12:52:00.000-08:00

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!!

2010-11-21T09:27:00.000-08:00

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

2010-10-08T10:50:00.001-07:00

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?

2010-07-25T20:48:00.001-07:00

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!!

2010-07-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

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!!

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.
.

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!"
.

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!!

2010-07-14T14:28:00.000-07:00

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."

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!

2010-07-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Big Sur

2010-04-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we camped at Big Sur, on the coast up north in Central California. It is SO beautiful there, we loved it and I think Harrison had a good time.

We went with some friends from LA, some friends from San Francisco, my brother Matt came down from San Francisco and Byron's sister and her family came from Las Vegas. Harrison loved being reunited with is friend Izzie and spending time with his cousins!

This is the view from our campsite. Yes, that is the ocean in the background!!

And just when you think it can't get any more beautiful, something improves the scenery...
I like this picture, because i feel like they kind of have the same shy smile on their faces, both too coy to look at the camera!

We saw a pod of whales, a bunch of dolphins, and altogether too many chipmunks. However, this was our closest and most dangerous encounter with the wildlife. Harrison was unharmed.
Here we are with our little vampire child at a little trickle of a waterfall that was NOT worth the major hike it took to get there!

We were so close to the ocean, we could hear the waves at night. And the moon was SO bright, that it cast our shadows in the middle of the night, seriously!! I know that sounds beautiful and everything, but actually it was a NIGHTMARE. I woke up having to go to the bathroom (which never happens to me, but of COURSE it would happen when we are camping in the freezing cold wilderness). And, of course, I don't really know what time it is because we are camping and Byron has his watch somewhere nestled in his warm cocoon of a sleeping bag. But it was light, so I knew it was dawn and was going to be morning soon. So, I laid in bed (in bladder agony) for seriously an HOUR, waiting for it to be fully light and morning so I could go to the bathroom. Finally, after an eternity, the sun hadn't really risen yet, so I woke Byron and asked for the watch. It said one-thirty in the morning. I honestly looked at it for about two minutes, not understanding how that could be possible. I seriously almost died of disappointment and came very close to crying, it was ridiculous! After waiting all that time, not only did still I have to trek alone in the cold, frozen night to the bathroom (I barely survived) but then I still had hours and hours of cold, camping night ahead of me. I felt very, very picked on. I blame it on my faulty bladder and that freakishly bright moon.

You might feel less bad for me when I mention that I was sleeping on an air mattress, in a tent. Here is how my brother Matt slept in the same cold night.

Yes, that blue tarp burrito is him. Here is proof: that is his nose and his eyebrows.
This picture really is candid, and he really was still asleep!

I actually had a great night after I fell asleep again, and so did Harrison who slept the whole night in his pack n' play without a problem despite the cold. He woke up before we did, stood up in his crib and woke me by saying "MOM!" with his face about six inches from mine. I have only rarely woken up laughing, but that was definitely the case that time!

I actually think Harrison loves nature. This is him looking at the scenery (and okay, maybe there was also a big dog that he was looking at in rapture, but we try not to encourage him to want a dog.)

We had such a fun time and I would encourage everyone to take a trip to Big Sur!! (Although, if you want your trip to be perfect, consider packing a catheter...)

Happy Birthday Byron!

2010-03-25T10:28:00.001-07:00

Byron turned 33 this week!! It was so fun that it was on a Saturday AND Byron didn't have to work. We started with breakfast, my favorite meal of the day. I am just starting to learn after years of knowing Byron that the delicious breakfast delights I want to bake for him on his birthday are NOT the delicious delights that he wants to eat. This year I finally got it right with DK doughnuts.

I guess Harrison likes them too, look at that devilish look of pleasure as he reaches for the plate (I don't think he had even had doughnuts before, so I guess it is something in the Williams DNA). And below he is signing "more" very excitedly...Byron decided on spending his birthday down in Orange County with a couple of his friends we haven't seen in ages.

It was so fun to see Jeff and Lisa and their adorable kids (and to eat the number one rated ice cream in Orange County!!)

Wow, Harrison got a lot of sugar on Byron's birthday!! In our family, we like to celebrate BIG!

Then we went even further into Orange County to see our good friends Floyd and Kathy and to reunite Harrison with his long lost friend, Maddy.

Even though Harrison hadn't seen Maddy in about a year, he made himself right at home. He played with all of her toys and climbed into her toy box as if it was his own!

He loved Maddy's park and even went down a big slide solo for the first time. He loved it!

But, I must admit, the crowning achievement of Byron's birthday was his birthday cake, made by yours truly.

I told Byron a couple of weeks ago that I would make any cake he wanted, he just had to pick a recipe. So he dutifully searched through our cookbooks and online until he settled on this delightful chocolate layer cake with raspberry/whipped cream filling and a chocolate ganache.

I don't even LIKE chocolate cake, and I have to admit I enjoyed it. Byron has eaten a piece every night this week, until Wednesday night when he sadly enjoyed the last piece.

Byron has never really thought celebrating birthdays should be a huge deal, and that is one area we truly disagree. But after the cake and the pampering all day on his birthday, I think I am really converting him to big birthday celebrations!! In fact, Sunday he kept claiming he should have to do anything because it was still his birthday WEEKEND!

Happy Birthday Byron! I hope you had a great one!

All Grown Up?

2010-03-22T19:24:00.000-07:00

Harrison is getting so grown up, I almost can't believe it.

I seriously think I saw some abs on him the other day. The day he loses his chubby little tummy is going to be a very sad one in our house.
I think we are still safe, for now.

But in addition to the fact that he runs and climbs like a real toddler, his talking and listening are making him seem so much older. He can say so many words now, it is really fun. And it is really cool that he understands the things that I tell him - I love it!!

Although, he keeps me guessing as to what he understands and just chooses not to obey. The other day I said to him, "Harrison, can you please put your toys in your toy box?" And then I went to do something in other room. When I came back, this is what I found:

His toys had been picked up from the ground and were all neatly placed on top of the piano. I think he was just trying to tell me that YES, he understands what I'm saying and NO, he's not always going to do what I tell him. I wonder where he gets that defiant streak...

What happens in Vegas...

2010-03-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Harrison and I spent a few days in Vegas with my in-laws last week while Byron was recruiting at BYU for work.

We definitely kept ourselves busy. We started by broadening our palates with a lemon to suck on, courtesy of Grandpa Williams:

We had the camera out, ready to record his sour expression, only to see him instead signing "more."

He is definitely related to his grandfather, he loved sucking lemons with him. (Even though I know dentists everywhere are cringing right now, his poor enamel!!)

He endured his first real haircut, but he didn't enjoy it. Thanks Aunt Tera!!

We worked on developing our talents, both musically and athletically.

Please note the appearance of a comb-over in this shot!! Don't worry, this was PRE-haircut, and is probably what prompted the haircut!

(Harrison LOVES basketball! He goes crazy every time we see people playing at the park - shrieking "ba-ball" and laughing hysterically. Boy, do I hope my short genes haven't ruined his chances at a future in the sport!)

When I was pregnant with Harrison, my three nephews suggested to me that I name him "Tony." I thought this was very sweet and original, until they explained "Tony, as in Tony Hawk." We didn't go with the name, but obviously he is in agreement with the spirit of the idea.

And Harrison rode his first tricycle!!

With a little assistance from his cousin!

We even got to spread our love of reading while we were there!! It was Reading Week in Nevada (maybe I DO want to live there, that sounds amazing...) So Harrison and I read a book to my sister-in-law Sheri's class during school. The kids were CRAZY about Harrison. I tried to get a good picture of it, but he was literally SO engulfed by children at all times that you couldn't even see little Harrison in any of the pictures. Harrison loved it and we had such a fun time.

We had a great tune with Byron's family!! On Friday, Byron met us in Vegas for the weekend and we drove home together. I still can't decide what my favorite part of the ride home was.

Either this:

Or this:

Not quite sure what to think...

2010-03-09T21:25:00.000-08:00

I had a very strange experience at the Santa Monica Library yesterday, and I'm still not quite sure what to think. I have to start with a confession: I am reading the Percy Jackson series.

I'm not sure what category this book falls under, but I'll gladly admit you can find it in both the children's and the teen fiction areas in the library. My niece recommended it to me and I really like reading children's books sometimes (and for anyone else out there with an open mind for youth literature - I loved The Hunger Games also!)

This brings me to my interesting experience at the library. I was holding Harrison and was in line to check out the second book in this series, when a tween in front of me in line struck up a conversation, because she recognized the book in my hand. She had read the series and we talked for a minute about the books and the movie.

THEN she said, gesturing to Harrison, "He's reading Percy Jackson?" And I must note, she said this not sarcastically or even incredulously, but with only mild admiration at the reading level of my 16-month old. I laughingly corrected her, "Oh no, I'M reading them." At which her face then rearranged itself into a look of pure shock, along with a tiny twinge of revulsion and pity.

Which leaves me not quite sure what to think. Are the youth of this generation so out of touch that they truly believe a child of Harrison's age is READING a 350 page book without pictures, or have I just gotten so old that it is easier to believe a toddler would be reading this book rather than someone as ancient as me? I remain baffled, but very entertained by the whole encounter.

New Hobby

2010-03-08T23:20:00.000-08:00

I realized that I haven't posted a picture of Harrison in ages, and I think we all agree that pictures of Harrison are the best part of this blog.

Here are a couple pictures of our new hobby. Byron got me a bike for my birthday and Harrison got me a bike trailer (what a thoughtful child he is!) It is so fun to take it down to the beach - and so awesome that we can do it year-round without worrying about getting cold (this pictures is from January, I think.)

As you can tell from Harrison's expression, he loves it!! I think that might be the cutest look I've ever seen on his face. (I only have myself to blame for that open mouth smile - it is identical to mine and everyone else's in my family. Harrison probably honestly does not know that some people in the world smile with their mouths closed!)

Irritatingly Irrational

2010-03-04T22:00:00.000-08:00

I've recently discovered that the person who I perceive myself to be and the person that I actually am are sometimes quite different people. Allow me to illustrate:

I consider myself to be a very rational person. I pride myself on being able to evaluate facts and come to logical conclusions. Another personality trait that I value is my thriftiness. My mother instilled in most of her children a love of finding "a deal" and always getting the best price for something. In fact, in the past I have been so incredibly thrifty that a less kind person would probably call it something more like "miserly."

However, my recent behavior has led me to doubt both my ability to think rationally and my ability to make sound financial decisions. The culprit is pictured below.

We have had a Netflix membership for $9 a month for the past year. At first, I was avidly updating my online queue and really enjoying our membership (in other words, I was getting my money's worth, which is very important to me.) Then, I started to consider canceling our membership - I didn't have much time for movies and we do have a Redbox on our block. As a result, I got lax in updating our queue and the above movie arrived at my house. The Tale of Despereaux. I had been mildly interested in seeing this movie months before, hence how it ended up on my list.

Now the shameful part: to date, I have paid about $18+ dollars for this movie and I have still never seen it. It has been sitting, unwatched, for the past two months!!! I've had the BEST intentions to watch this movie!! See how worn the packaging is? The movie went with us on our cruise, on vacation to Utah and to Las Vegas, and it sits next to our TV in plain sight, day after day, waiting to be watched. It is so accessible that Harrison has gotten his hands on it once or twice, hence the chew marks on the upper left corner...

For some strange reason, I just could not even think about sending it back without watching it. It seemed like a waste. And that is my irrational side coming out! I just kept it around for two months, each day hoping to finally watch that darn movie. Which, I never did. So, I mailed it back today. It was an incredibly expensive movie, especially for one that was never watched. Totally irrational, and now I hate myself!!

Strangely, this experience is similar to writing this post. I spent time writing it and even though it is pretty stupid, I just can't waste that time I've spent. So I'm posting it anyway, ha! This Netflix debacle has taught me nothing!

The Inaugural Family Letter - Let the Fun Begin!

2010-03-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago my friend Juliann told me about an amazing family tradition she and her family have been doing for the past TWELVE years!! Every month they each write a letter to their family, updating their family members on what is going on in each their lives. Their dad sends these letters out in a package to each family member, via regular old mail. She keeps a big binder of these letters (really 4 or 5 big binders now) that is basically a huge extended family journal, plus she has a monthly written record of her family.

I fell in love with the idea and suggested it to my family. With twelve kids spread literally from coast to coast (and one in Malaysia) I thought it would be an awesome way to stay updated on each other's lives, and for Harrison to learn more about his cousins, aunts and uncles while he lives so far from them. (Not to mention how much Renee is going to love getting these updates on her mission!)

I was so happy to hear that my family was also interested. We decided to start on short notice and let anyone who was interested submit a letter for February. ELEVEN people submitted, even though this month was last minute and optional. I was SO excited. Even though the letters were submitted to me over the past week, I've made myself wait to read them, until I can do it all at once and make a big event out of it, just like Juliann suggested. I think this will make a really fun activity for our family to once a month get an update and it is helping me document more closely what is happening in our lives and with Harrison.

So this post is to let everyone in my family know that the letters are officially in the mail as of today! And anyone who opted for electronic version is going to have to wait another couple of days (I don't want you blabbing all of the letter information to people who are waiting for snail mail!)

So thanks to my friend Juliann (and our ward's enrichment, where I learned this idea) I can already tell my large and spread-out family is going to become closer from this little experiment!!

Top Story: Overnight Rain

2010-02-22T10:19:00.000-08:00

LA can be such a funny place to live, especially when it comes to the news. One "news" channel here is practically indistinguishable from Entertainment Tonight, what with all the cleavage and rock music going on in between "news" stories. Also, the lives of celebrities are reported on as newsworthy here in Los Angeles. Again, the line between news and entertainment gets frighteningly blurred.

But today, I enjoyed the LA news for a different reason. Under the heading "Top Stories" was this caption: "Overnight Rain". You might be thinking of all the reasons overnight rain would be a top story: flooding, mud slides, record-breaking downpour, etc. But no, a couple outlying cities had precipitation last night. Period. I absolutely love that our weather is so predictably amazing that overnight rain is reported as a top story. Sorry to all you people out there experiencing "winter," I truly sympathize with you. But, we have our own burdens to bear here - my sweater selection is rather scanty and rarely on display. But I survive.

Play Date!

2010-02-17T22:45:00.000-08:00

Harrison had a play date with his friend Westin at the park today (what else do you do when it is 76 degrees in February?) It is so fun that Harrison has such a masculine little friend. They took turns kicking the soccer ball, running into the basketball court (where basketball games were going on - hence their harried mothers took turns yanking them out of harm's way), ate each other's snacks and played on the playground.

My favorite part was when they took turns screaming on a park bench. They tried to outdo one another with louder and longer alternating shrieks.

In the end, we decided it is the most fun when we all yell at the same time.

Hello Again!!

2010-02-15T19:39:00.000-08:00

Obviously, it has been too long since I've blogged.

1) This video clip is to reassure anyone out there who only gets updates on Harrison from my blog that YES, he did indeed learn to take more than three wobbly little steps. As you can see, he's now a regular little David Beckham. He actually loves to run, sometimes even faster than his legs know how to!

2) This post is to get me going again, in the blogging habit, even though I really have nothing to report. I missed blogging about Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, vacations, our cruise and Valentine's Day. So now, I'm left with just our day-to-day mundane lives to report - Harrison can kick a ball! And truth be told, he can also Baaa like a sheep and Neigh like a horse on command. Adorable.

3) But most importantly, I wanted to save you loyal friends who still check my blog from having to look at that shot of my legs even one more time. I've only seen it about 5 times since I posted it in November, and even I'm sick to death of seeing it!! I can only imagine how painful these last few months have been for you: to continue hopefully checking for updates on my blog only to be repeatedly disappointed and subjected to that leg shot - over and over again. I'm sorry.

After writing this post and watching the video, I realized how truly "LA" our family is. Harrison is kicking the ball in an extremely loud, urban park (no backyard for us yet!!) while Byron talks on his cell phone. Funny.

So Dad won't miss a thing!

2009-11-06T11:09:00.000-08:00

Harrison took his first steps just a few minutes ago!! I don't know if everyone will count these as first steps, but they are the closest thing to walking Harrison has ever done; and we are super excited!! We didn't want Byron to miss out since he is at work, so I'm posting this for him. This video documents Harrison's 13th-15th steps, which occurred approximately 3 minutes ago!!

Harrison is ONE!!

2009-11-02T16:20:00.000-08:00

First month

Second month

3 Months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

Is it just me, or does he seem like he never ages? His face is identical in these pictures, starting at about 4 months. I don't know if this bodes well for the future. Yes, he'll be happy to have wrinkle free skin at 80, but will he be pleased to be this chubby-cheeked, open-mouth-smiling youngster when he is in his teenage years??

Birthday Boy!! (who loves to clap for every picture we take of him!)

Harrison had his first birthday party on Halloween (probably the first of many Halloween-theme birthday parties, thanks to his November 1st birthday.) It was a costume party, and seeing all of the babies in their costumes was so fun.

Just a couple of birds, having some fun, showing off their plumage!!

Don’t let this somber little turkey fool you, he had a great time. As seen below, he absolutely OBLITERATED his first birthday cupcake.

Happy Birthday little Harrison!! We love our little turkey!

Candid Camping

2009-09-30T15:25:00.001-07:00

We are not campers. When we were dating, I invited Byron to come along on a group camping trip. His response was not only to decline me, but to indicate that he felt camping was “mocking the homeless.”

Ah, how things have changed. We have decided to venture, as a family, into the wild world of camping (pun intended). We actually decided this many months ago, but sometimes it is hard to turn intentions into actions. Luckily, we had some friends invite us up to Yosemite. They gave us a couple of months notice, so we decided we had better start amassing our camping gear. The researching and searching and pondering began.

First purchase: a hiking backpack for Harrison to ride in. We were VERY proud of our purchase, and wanted to practice using it.

See how much Harrison loves it?!

Being the outdoorsy individuals we are, we went right ahead and put it to good use. I’ve never seen him enjoy vacuuming that much!

The tent was another matter entirely. Long story short, we were at REI the day before our trip and FINALLY bought our tent. And here we are the night before the trip, dutifully making sure that we will indeed be able to construct a shelter in the wild. Only, this is actually our living room.

The trip began with a 3AM departure time. Harrison did not seem to mind, since he slept through the drive and then awoke to breakfast with his best friend (and dare I say possibly girlfriend??) Izzie. (Yes, this is the same older woman from past posts, he is not fickle with his affections.)

He is attempting to hold her hand in this picture. He is very unsubtle with his advances; she is appropriately demure and aloof.

These kids hold hands between their two car seats whenever they drive somewhere together. We can’t wait until they meet up again at BYU in a few years!

We loved Yosemite!

I cannot believe his expression of wide-eyed excitement – I guess he loves nature!!

But honestly, who wouldn’t enjoy camping on an air mattress?? Thank you Chris and Sarah, for showing us just how luxurious camping can be. I think using an air mattress to "camp" really is almost mocking the homeless.

And although it looks idyllic and peaceful, there was a darker side to our trip. We were fighting for survival for our entire overnight camping trip.

It got so cold at night; we couldn’t believe it. Poor Harrison was freezing to death, but somehow survived the night wedged between us on the airbed. All of the other kids made it through the night as well, this is the aftermath:

Also, we had to deal with BEARS. I was never afraid of bears before this trip, but Byron and my friend Sarah scared me to death with their talk of bear attack etiquette, bear spray, bear bells, bear boxes and general bear anecdotes.

So, of course, after scaring me to death for two weeks before the trip, they slept soundly through the night while I was up all night, listening to bears pounding on the bear boxes in our campground. Byron claims that at one point I woke him up to tell him that I didn’t want to die. That sounds dramatic now, but I felt it very strongly at the time.

Then, to add insult to injury, I awoke to a campground full of naysayers, who refused to believe that bears had been carousing in our campground overnight. But I feel I was ultimately vindicated, because one of the couples with us DID see a bear as they were leaving our campground. I knew I heard bears at night!!

We don’t have a picture of the actual bear (or bears) but here is the box I’m SURE they were pounding on.

All told, we loved Yosemite and came away from our first camping trip pretty much unscathed. In fact, we may in fact love camping; Harrison most of all.

Roadtrip to the Northwest

2009-09-23T19:30:00.000-07:00

This post is SO delayed, but I’d already started it a few weeks ago so I had to finish it – it has been delaying many other things from being posted that have happened since then!!

We had such a fun trip up to Portland and the Oregon coast in August. The drive is long. There is no other way to say it. But we decided to split the drive up into 3 days and enjoy the scenery along the way.

Things started out pretty chipper.

However by the end, it wasn’t quite so pretty.

Our accommodations along the way at times left a little to be desired.

But what they lacked in shower height, they certainly made up for in décor.

This half wagon wheel jutting out of the wall appeared to serve absolutely no purpose, except to make our trip just that much more enjoyable!

We saw a lot of beautiful vineyards, got car sick from the winding road and stopped in Mendocino for breakfast and a photo op.

Our unsuccessful attempt at a beautiful, oceanside family portrait.

At one of our lovely motels, Byron picked up a pamphlet on a place called “Trees of Mystery” which was on our way up the coast. He became a little obsessed about molding our plans around a visit to this place. I was appropriately skeptical. I mean, “Trees of Mystery?” In order to accommodate a visit to this place, we stayed in a crazy, horror movie type motel, in a town where no restaurants were open, and delayed our arrival in Portland. I went along with it, knowing full well that as soon as we had seen this “Trees of Mystery”, we would be horribly disappointed and I would, once again, be proven right.

Two words: Worth it!!

How can you go wrong, when you are welcomed by a huge Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox??

And to put it into perspective…

I will not bore you with the ONE HUNDRED AND SIX pictures that I took at “Trees of Mystery”. Just know that I now think trees are totally amazing. Okay, maybe a few pictures couldn’t hurt…

Harrison getting his first ride on a sky gondola.

View from the top

Just know that it is awesome, Byron was right. And definitely go, if you’re ever going to be passing through Klamath, California.

We also had a TON of fun spending a week at the beach house on the Oregon Coast:

We were so glad Grandma and Grandpa Williams and Aunt Sheri could come too!!

We loved visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

Harrison is holding his souvenir from the trip, a little cow named Tillie from Tillamook.

And we just couldn’t resist letting him try a little Tillamook ice cream. From the looks of it, we created a monster!!!

And we absolutely LOVED crabbing!!

(I guess it is pretty obvious from these pictures that Harrison’s open-mouth smile is clearly a genetic trait passed down on the Harrison side, versus the Williams’.)

It was really fun just spending time at the Oregon coast. Harrison loved the beach and the ocean, just like his dad.

Harrison loves his Portland Family!

2009-09-02T19:44:00.000-07:00

Harrison finally met a few members of his family (and was reunited with some others) on our trip to Portland recently.

First stop: Leaperville. Population: Aunt Nikki, Naomi, Uncle Craig and Vienna.

Harrison loved sleeping at their house - he was especially intrigued with their ceiling fans. He had a great time playing with the dog, swinging on the hammock and eating raspberries in the yard. Basically, an ideal vacation.

I like this one, because it looks like Harrison is laughing uproariously at a joke Nikki has made. In actuality, I think he might be crying.

This is Harrison playing with Vienna. He had SO much fun playing with her, to our dismay he absolutely LOVES dogs and laughed so hard every time she licked him.

And the dog next to him, the one with the purple silky leash, was my dog, Sparkles, for the duration of the trip. She is otherwise known as Naomi.

And here is Naomi, in a rare moment as a Ninja, as opposed to Sparkles.

Harrison also got to see Uncle Matt, Aunt Brookie and Aunt Jamie out at the beach house.

Hard to believe, but they’re all single (and awesome)! And here are just a few other portraits I found when I looked at my camera after leaving it alone with them. I can only imagine they were taken with hopes that they would end up on my blog.

I definitely think I’ve just done my part in helping them get married. Feel free to comment if you need their contact information…

Back to the trip, his biggest highlight was probably this moment with Jamie. Right before he spit his binkie out and ate some sand.

Harrison LOVED playing with his cousins, Ollie and Asher, and his Aunt Lisa and Uncle Brian. Asher and Oliver were both more than willing to demonstrate for Harrison how to crawl. They also shared their toys with him, fed him chocolate crepes, swam in the pool with him and generally showed him a great time!

Ollie made sure that Harrison always had more than enough toys while he was in the high chair. Whenever I looked away, Ollie had put another toy up there.

He had a ton of fun at their house!

He also rode his first streetcar, with quite an entourage, to see Portland State University, where his Aunt Brookie is starting this fall.

I think Portland really made an impression on Harrison. I think this look pretty much sums up what a great trip he had. Pure, open-mouth excitement.

Thanks for showing us such a fun time, Portlanders!!

Where is the man I married?

2009-08-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

Byron and I dated for quite a few years before we got married, and I would have felt comfortable saying that I knew him very well. In fact, getting married was not even the huge transition I expected it to be, since we knew each other so well there were almost no surprises as we began our married life. However, people do say that spouses can change over time, "letting themselves go," if you will. Well, it has happened to me. This is a sight I never expected to see:

He didn't even stop reading when I got out the camera. I was not being stealthy.

I am the book worm in the family, and I hold that title proudly. You might wonder why I'm not more happy and excited about Byron's new-found interest in literature. And in theory, I would have welcomed the change. However, I now have new understanding of why Byron gets irritated when I become immersed in a book and never want to stop reading. It is boring for the other person! I was forced to reduce myself to pestering, tickling and talking nonstop about nonsense in an effort to hold his attention. A failed effort.

So I eventually decided to be the bigger person, and settled down to read a book of my own. But when Byron finished reading his book, I realized my folly - I had unleashed a monster. Now the pestering, tickling and talking nonstop was directed at me. As a result, I have concluded that it is much more amusing when you are the pesterer and much more irritating that the pesteree. How something that is so endearing, humorous and silly when I do it can become quite the opposite when Byron does it is a mystery to me.

And the worst part is, I'm the one who got him the book and encouraged him to read it!! So for anyone out there hoping their husbands will change, improve or begin to share more of their interests, please, just enjoy the status quo.

Called to Serve!!!

2009-08-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

My little sister Renee got her mission call yesterday!! She was so patient and accommodating so that everyone could be there; the East Coaster's were finding out at 1 AM!! But with all of the web cams and speaker phones and conference calls, all of the family was listening when she announced she was going to SINGAPORE!!! And speaking Indonesian! WHAT??!!

I'm so excited for her that I almost wish I had been on web cam. Here's a little word picture for you: Harrison was already asleep and I didn't want to wake him, so my usual use of verbal volume was not an option. Instead, I involuntarily opted for excited body spasms on the bed. Poor Byron thought I was having a seizure as I silently threw my legs and my body in the air, time and time again. I just couldn't contain myself. I'm so excited for her.

She is going to be such a super missionary. In all seriousness, I'm actually getting emotional right now just thinking about it. Renee has always been good at setting her mind to something and consequently becoming brilliantly successful at it, and I’m sure teaching the gospel will be no exception. All of her great qualities are going to be so appreciated by her companions and by the people she teaches: her love of fun, her infectious happiness, her easy laugh, her consideration for others, her determination and her love of the gospel (just to name a few). I'm sad she'll be so far away, but I know she is going to do such a good job and bless so many people's lives. I have to stop blogging now so that I can cry for a little bit. And then go call Renee and take advantage of her while she is still here!!

I love you Renee and I'm SO proud of you!

Family Photo Op

2009-08-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

People have been telling me to blog more. You might be sorry. This is quite lengthy and probably boring, unless you are a member of my family and love having your picture splashed on the Internet.

When Harrison was first born, Byron and I were a little sad that we didn't live closer to our families. We worried that he would grow up missing out on how fun his family was, because we would be living so far away. Let's just say, that is not turning out to be an issue. Just in the last two months Harrison has visited all of his extended family on both sides, (except Nikki, Karl and Lisa - but we're coming to Portland this weekend!!) on multiple occasions. Here are some highlights...

A visit from the Hansens. And although this is supposed to be a blog focusing on Harrison, I can't resist the opportunity to show my nephews all trying out Harrison's stroller...

We had to test out the claim that our stroller takes up to 70 pounds. And now we know it does.

Harrison of course saw tons of my family on our trip to Utah.

Harrison loves Granny Tanny and Grandpa Harrison, even when they are not quite looking their best.

Starting with the oldest sibling in Utah, Tracy, who is currently using Harrison as practice for her upcoming Thanksgiving baby. Yes, I am aware he has crazy eyes in this picture, but it is the only picture I got of Tracy. The pregnant are so darn camera shy.

Next up, Jamie, who gets a double photo op for making Harrison look so good. The better you make Harrison look, the more pictures you get posted on my blog. Unfortunately, this threat does not hold a lot of weight, as my posts are so few and far between.

I love how Harrison is looking at the camera, knowing that he has been caught sucking jewelry, which is strictly forbidden. Aunt Jamie is such a softy.

Harrison even got some face time, miraculously, with his incredibly busy, rock star aunt, Kendra. She showed him the sights of the local Walmart. Look at the wonder in his eyes!! If he could talk he'd be saying, "Why don't we have one of these at home mom?!!"

And here they are practicing their very serious "model-staring-off-into-space-look." And that's not just funny blogging, we actually said that as we were taking the picture.

Uncle Lance. I don't know how he does it, but he and Harrison always look so handsome in every picture I take of them. People would think I favored one sibling if I put all of the awesome pictures up that I have of those two together, so I'll limit myself to two. For now.

Aunt Renee. Harrison loved seeing you in Utah, but he wishes you would visit more. Is it wrong to hope you get your mission call to Los Angeles??

Aunt Brooke. Who also gets two pictures, but NOT because she makes Harrison look good. Actually, these photos are going to be a lesson in photo etiquette for her.

1) Putting a toy on Harrison's head does not make him look good, Brooke.

2) Neither does giving the camera your sexy look. But you do look nice.

Uncle Trent - Thanks for coming out to visit us!! You've inspired us with your ability to eat great quantities of frozen pot pies (you left one in the freezer, for next time), drink incredible amounts of soda and stay up until just before Harrison and I get up in the morning. Also, you've shown us that even grown up 17 year olds still love their cartoons (as do law students, Matt.) We loved your trip and it made us excited for you to come again next summer. I love this tradition!

Back the the Williams', Harrison with his Aunt Sheri and his cousins. It's hard to tell how much fun he has with them, right?

Harrison also took his first trip to the Cabin!! He loved it, except for the part where he screamed every night at 2 in the morning. Sorry everyone!! This is also the only picture of Byron and I on this blog. I'm the one in the teal sweatshirt. Funny, Lance.

Simple quiet fun at the Williams' house. What started as a calm bath with cousin Kylie.

And resulted in a family party, including a co-ed bath.

And finally, Harrison's only uncle who resides in the great state of California. We love having Matt down to visit. He came down once with Lance and once with Trent.

I love the full spectrum of smiles here: closed mouth, teeth; open mouth, teeth; open mouth, no teeth, drool. I'm sure you see the family resemblance.

That should help.

Harrison loved hanging out with his uncles and he wants to be just like them. However, he has yet to perfect the sexy turned-body, head leaned on elbow look that these two have obviously mastered.

And we loved getting a visit from Uncle Shad, Aunt Stef and cousin Mia. We had quite a few cute pictures of them together, but for some reason this one is my favorite. Every time Harrison squeaked at Mia to initiate a conversation, she would burst into tears. Literally, fat tears rolling down her cheeks. Eventually, her crying would confuse him to the point of tears as well. So being the good parents we are, we grabbed our camera. Then comforted the kids.

We love our families and although our summer has been packed with traveling and with visitors, (including our trip this weekend to introduce Harrison to the Pacific Northwest and his Aunt Nikki and Cousin Omi!!) we always welcome more!!

Hard to please...

2009-06-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

We took Harrison to the Los Angeles Zoo this weekend with some friends and their baby. His first trip to the zoo - we couldn't wait!! However, we may have been a bit eager in taking a six-month-old to the zoo.

The pictures tell it all.
Harrison played it cool with the flamingoes.

He kept his composure with the giraffes.

He didn't even crack a smile for his friend Izzy (let's be honest - he wouldn't even look at her.)

What was his favorite part of the zoo?? Being lifted up on his parents' shoulders.

We had a great time, but next time we want to entertain Harrison, we'll save ourselves the trip across town in traffic and the cost of admission; we'll just put him up on our shoulders at home.

One final note, we are enjoying these toothless grins while we have them, since they are almost gone. Harrison has his first tooth coming in, so soon we won't even recognize our baby with his sparkling white smile.

What a week!

2009-05-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

Harrison had quite a week of firsts this past week!!

He went swimming for the first time, so we had to document every step of the process.
Here he is in his lil' swimmers, eager to hit the pool.

Next step: he has his swimming suit on!! And, if I'm not mistaken, he is practicing his balance for surfing maybe? I think the happy look on his face is that he is looking at his favorite new toys: his feet. Next picture: post sunblock, pre-dip.

Finally - he made it in the pool!! He loved it so much. He was kicking his legs underwater and splashing around. (Thanks for the hat, Aunt Sheri!)

Harrison also had a visit from his cousins this week!! His Aunt Chanda and Uncle Cory and their girls, Alesha and Kylie, came down to LA to visit. He was a great baby while they were here and he showed them all the fun LA stuff to do!!

He took them to The Griddle (only the greatest breakfast place ever!) where the pancakes are probably bigger than Harrison is. It was his first time to go there too, and he loved sitting up in the booth like a big boy (hence the huge open mouth smile!) He tried drinking out of my water glass while we were there, so for once the huge wet spot on his bib is not all entirely drool!

He also went to the beach for the first time. He's been out to the beach before, but this was his first trip to have his swimsuit on and to be introduced into the ocean. However, Harrison had other ideas. After one second out in the sun with his Aunt Chanda, he wanted to be under the umbrella with his mom, where his eyelids promptly started to droop.

This was as much as he was willing to open them, before he drifted off to sleep.

He spent the rest of our beach day wrapped in towels out of the wind and asleep in my arms. Can you even SEE him in this picture?? Why oh why did we spend so much time sunblocking every inch of his body???

As if that wasn't enough fun for the week, Harrison also went to The Getty for the first time. I've never been so proud of my son - he's going to be a museum lover!! He spent the entire time at the museum in the following position:

I'm not kidding and that picture is not posed. He just wanted to see everything and could not stop looking around. He seems very relaxed in the museum environment, wouldn't you say?

Here's the family enjoying the gardens outside.

He's more than an art appreciating little child, however, he has his mischievous side.

See how innocent he looks in this picture. He was just plotting his move.

In one quick, lightning-fast movement, he went from happy baby to chewing on his favorite thing - my hair. He's a fast little sucker (pun intended.)

We are exhausted from all of the fun (and Harrison from acting like an angel while we had visitors - he even slept through the entire night once while they were here, what a show-off) but we love having visitors! So please come visit, if only so Harrison will sleep through the night to impress you!

Harrison can speak!!!...sort of

2009-03-31T18:18:00.000-07:00

Harrison honestly believes he is communicating when he makes these noises. You'll notice that his eyebrows even move to further accentuate the point he is making. I have a few theories behind this squeak-speak of Harrison's. It is either some sort of high-pitched whale language or (more likely) baby dinosaur language. Either way, it is adorable. Those who don't know Harrison don't realize he is happy when he is making these noises, so I continually get strange looks from passersby who think I am just allowing my baby to cry, while watching him with a huge smile on my face.

After I filmed this little clip, I let Harrison watch it on the camera. He was quietly enthralled and then his face broke into an enormous grin - someone was FINALLY speaking his language!! He proceeded to squeal responses to the camera, relieved to finally have a conversation in his language.

Ladies Man? You Decide...

2009-03-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

This is Harrison. After receiving Harrison's first and SECOND pieces of personal mail from adoring female peers, I began to consider the facts.

Clearly, he is self confident and comfortable with his body, two key elements in a "ladies man."

Also, he has spent a great deal of time with females his age (always supervised, of course) but not always fully clothed, case in point:

He initiates physical contact with young ladies, quite comfortably.

Another point in his favor - girls (even babies not yet a day old) enjoy being with him despite his unsightly acne.

Lastly, and possibly most convicing: I have indeed witnessed him staring soulfully into the eyes of an older woman.

I am saddened to reach the conclusion that I am raising a little ladies man. And although he appears to be somewhat of a "player," he will no doubt be quite a gentleman, thanks to his dad's influence!!

Fashionably Harrison

2009-02-24T16:53:00.001-08:00

Harrison is now gracing the my family's fashion blog, Fashionably Harrison. I like to tell myself that it is named after Harrison himself. I couldn't resist also posting this picture here, as it is undeniably adorable.

Harrison has just learned two important skills, 1) laughing like a human (not just squeaking like a dog toy, which was also very cute and entertaining) and 2) blowing raspberries. Now lest you think Harrison is the perfect child and advanced beyond his months, let me note that he is still struggling to master the tiny and insignificant skill of SLEEP!

Note: Byron did not know what "blowing raspberries" was. If this is not a commonly accepted term, let me know. I will be happy to elaborate in another post.

Here are a couple more cute pictures of Harrison. He had a GREAT time with his uncle Matt who visited last weekend from San Francisco (Matt is also the creator of "Fashionably Harrison"). Harrison is notably more stylish since Matt's visit, so I think we can chalk it up to his influence. Please visit again soon Matty!

Thanks Granny Tanny!

2009-02-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

Pictures have returned to the blog, thanks to my mom sending me a CD of some pictures she and Lisa took while Harrison and I were visiting. Now you can see Harrison enjoying his first time in the snow!!

This is Harrison, just taking in some sun before making his first snow angel (with a little assistance.)

Please note Harrison's lovely head control, as he prepares to sled for the first time.

Don't let his sour look confuse you, he LOVED it!!

My mom also got some pics of Harrison with his aunts and uncles, which I was really sad to have lost from my camera. This is Harrison in the arms of uncle physician and aunt attorney (almost). I'm hoping some of their success and brains will rub off on him...

And Harrison LOVED meeting his Aunt Lisa for the first time and playing with her boys!! Asher and Ollier are the CUTEST and I hope Harrison grows up to be just like them!

Asher did tell Lisa that Harrison was approximately number three on the list of people that he loves!!! It is SO fun to see Ollie run around, because he and Harrison are only a couple of pounds apart and almost the same height. So it is pretty surprising to see such a little boy able to run around - this is an action shot.

And, another reason to thank Granny Tanny and Grandpa - they let Lisa and I spend a night on the town while they babysat. This is us pretending that we can keep up with the college kids at "Thoroughly Modern Millie."

Thanks again Granny Tanny and Grandpa (both for the pictures and for the WONDERFUL visit!!)

Pictureless / Ode to Blogging

2009-01-31T22:15:00.000-08:00

There will be no pictures on this post. Our camera has been stolen and I am so sad about it. It was stolen while I was flying home from my trip to SLC. This is particularly sad for a NUMBER of reasons, which I will now elaborate on.

1) We have a new baby! All of the pictures that I have taken of him in the past few weeks are now forever gone, which is the worst part of this whole thing. So those of you who wanted to see Harrison frolicking in the snow (including a picture of him dressed in a fuzzy bear suit and making a snow angel, no joke) will be suffering right along with me. I'm trying very hard not to think about all of the pictures of him that I will never see again.

2) I now hate and distrust people in general. Who steals from a women in an airport juggling a baby, a Boppy, a diaper bag, a coat, a sweatshirt, a burp rag, a car seat, a stroller and her boarding passes (while trying to put her shoes back on after coming through security). One answer may be: an opportunist. The more accurate answer is: a real jerk and scum-bag. My faith in people has been badly damaged by this incident. It was probably one of the people commenting on how darling Harrison was, who was actually planning right then how to pinch my camera!

3) I liked our camera. My dad commented on how nice our camera was just scant minutes before it was stolen. This comment and my swell of pride and contentment at his comment has been replaying in my mind over and over. I just didn't know how lucky I was then, or that someone would soon be taking that pride and contentment away with their stealing little fingers.

4) I had just taken pictures of my sister Jamie's bangs (which are SO cute) so that I could get my bangs adjusted accordingly. Now I have to walk around with a much less attractive set of bangs, as I have no picture to reference for my bang improvements.

5) In a related note, none of you will get to see a picture of my new bangs, or the VERY funny post that was going to accompany it. (This post was going to include a list of comments not to make about someone's new haircut, all of which were made to me by various members of my family after seeing my new 'do.)

6) I will be hard-pressed to find things to blog about, as pictures of Harrison has been the majority of my recent blogging. I'll try to seek out more interesting life experiences so I have something to write about. (Or I can just post painfully detailed descriptions of what Harrison looks like, since I won't have any pictures for the time being...)

7) Who has money to shell out on a new camera, when our perfectly wonderful camera is out there in the hands of some thieving individual?!

Silver lining and part two of this post - I'm SO glad that I posted some of the pictures from our trip for Byron to see, as they are now the only pictures of the trip that I have!! (read between the lines family members - please share any pics with me that you took in the last couple of weeks!!)

Byron has encouraged me to stop obsessing about the camera being gone. I think this blog has helped with that. Catharsis!

Hello Dad!!

2009-01-28T11:10:00.000-08:00

Byron was nice enough to let Harrison and I spend a couple of weeks in Utah with my family, while he stayed in California. We miss him a lot and I know he is anxious to see pics of his baby, so this is a quick blog to keep him updated on what his family is up to!!

Harrison was able to take his first plane ride!! I was a little nervous about how it would go, since I've had to fly with a baby alone before for work and it was VERY hard. But as you can see below, Harrison was a little angel on the plane (other than a couple of things that I will be too polite to mention in the blog...)

We had a great flight!!

It has been so fun for Harrison to spend time with my family a little bit. My sister Lisa came down from Portland at the last minute with her two boys when she heard I was coming, so Harrison is getting to know his cousins.

Asher and Ollie are really really cute, it is making me so excited for Harrison to grow up!! Harrison is only three and a half pounds lighter than his cousin Ollie, who just turned one!! This is a picture of the cousins, exhausted after a day of fun together!

Harrison has spent more time with his aunts and uncles, but I have not documented it well. Here he is with rock star Kendra who discovered that stroking his nose on either side causes him to lift that particular nostril in a look of disgust. It is adorable, but not yet photo documented. Way to go aunt Kendra!! (Strangely, he won't do it when I stroke his nose, so I'm guessing it's not ME that he's disgusted by...)

Also - I apologize for this picture, Kendra. I KNOW it doesn't do you justice, as you were even more stunning in some of the others that I took. But this one does make Harrison look the best, so there you have it!!

Here is Harrison with his Aunt Renee. He spent the day with the BYU student members of his family in Provo. He did seem very comfortable in that environment, and so far he has no problem with living the Honor Code, so we'll see...

I never realized just how chubby his cheeks are until I saw this picture. Way to go little Chipmunk!!

This is Harrison at a low-key family dinner, which is a pretty rambunctious event. He slept right through the whole thing. The chair he is sitting in is a family heirloom - ALL of the twelve children in our family have used that chair as infants!!!

Sadly, Harrison does not always sleep so soundly at night. So, I saw a side of myself on this trip that I did not know existed. My poor family fell victim to my wrath night after night as I shushed them mercilessly from 7:30 pm on, in hopes that Harrison would not wake up. I hated myself even as a did it, knowing that I have always been one of the loudest Harrison's myself (and that is saying a lot.) Please forgive me family!! Not only for the shushing, but also for the countless times in the past when I scoffed at your shushing and woke your children!!

Back to Harrison. This was a trip of firsts for him, as he also got to experience snow for the first time. (On a side note, I am SO glad I live in California. I have been freezing since I got here and the majority of my fluid intake has been hot chocolate.)

I didn't think to bring a winter hat for Harrison (nor do we actually own one), so my remarkably resourceful mom had one on hand that she had made. It fit him perfectly and saved him from freezing!! The one upside of the cold weather is that Harrison looked so adorable!!

Ready to face the elements (with a big blanket, of course). See that steely look of determination on his face?!

Here he is doing his impression of a puppy, slobber and all:

Harrison took a while to adjust after his trip here and he was so fussy for the first couple of days. Ever since then, he has been SO happy and is growing up so much - I'm hoping he doesn't quite roll over until we're back with you Byron!! He is talking a ton (not quite in English yet) but at least I know that although his looks came from Byron, he got something from my DNA. He talks a lot and pretty loudly, and has no problem interrupting people. He talks to himself in his crib and sometimes when he is lying alone I hear him laughing to himself.

I hope these pictures can tide you over for a bit, Byron! I'll try to take more today, as Harrison and I are going to actually venture INTO the snow for the first time!

And, so Byron can have the most up-to-date information on his baby, this is what Harrison is doing right this minute, thus allowing me to blog.

It's Smiley!!

2009-01-09T13:44:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. I have a lot of catching up to do. So many Christmas pictures to post of this little guy. But I just couldn't resist posting a couple of pictures we finally got of him smiling!!

The first one is just mean. I'm pretty sure Harrison is only smiling in response to how hard his parents are laughing. What else were we supposed to do after dressing him in Pooh LITERALLY from head to toe (please note the Pooh face on his head)??!! I think this picture is going to make him cringe when he is grown up. It also proves another important fact - Harrison can make anything look adorable!!

This one is to not only showcase Harrison's winning smile, but also as a statement of how much we love living in California. Harrison is wearing his first pair of shorts today!! Granted, he is wearing tall sock and long sleeves (it IS January) but shorts none the less!!

This is my first real week of settling into motherhood at home, now that we are done with the holidays and Harrison is finally able to be happy in something other than his parents' arms. It is kind of exciting, but I'm learning quickly that I need a schedule more than he does!! (Otherwise Byron would probably come home to find me in a chocolate-induced coma in front of the telvision, watching Family Feud re-runs).

I've always been a list-writer, but feeling the need to structure my day without going to work has pushed me to a whole new level - I've created a spreadsheet of scheduled activities for Harrison and myself throughout the day. We have yet to stick to even half of what I've scheduled for us, mostly because Harrison is already quite a defiant and free-spirited little tyke who does not like to be told what to do. We'll see how it goes. But I have successfully cleaned the house once and I'm proud to say that Harrison and I are both dressed and presentable on a daily basis. Small victories!!

Next goal - I just have to figure out how to entertertain him now that he's awake for so many hours of the day. He's going to tire pretty quickly of my poor singing voice and my dancing (which is NOT poor, he's just not old enough to appreciate it.) I'm sure play time with Harrison is going to be much more enjoyable for him when he can control his own limbs!!

Harrison Update!!

2009-01-05T12:09:00.000-08:00

I won't even waste my time with excuses. I'll just focus on getting a few pictures of Harrison up, since who knows how long it will be before I post again!

I can't believe Harrison is already 2 months old. Time isn't necessarily racing by (it has definitely been the longest two months of my life, what with late-night feedings and all) but it is crazy how much Harrison has already grown up!! These pictures are in the same outfit, one is from mid-November and the other from late December. What a little Chubba-Nugget he has become!!!

Harrison is such a good little kid. Even though he has been sick with an ear infection and cough in the last week, he is still really sweet and happy. Unfortunately, we never seem to be able to catch him on CAMERA smiling. So you guys won't really have a good idea of how cute his little smile is!!

Here is a quick overview of our holiday season. In our house, we love to celebrate holidays, particularly by dressing for the occasion.

Here is happy little Harrison wearing his Thanksgiving outfit:

Here is Harrison in his Christmas pants from Grandma Williams.

Mom and Dad also get matching pants (can all of you Arrested Development fans out there say "MotherBoy?")

And you can't really get a more appropriate holiday outfit than being asked to play Mary, Joseph and Jesus for your church Christmas party!!

And finally, his little winter sweater to celebrate New Years Eve!! He's just waving hello to the camera!

The little tyke is due to be waking up for his nap soon, so I'll just post of a couple more of my favorites until I run out of time!!

Quite the relaxed baby, Harrison has always been comfortable with posing for the camera.

Case is point, in this one I think he is actually flexing for the camera!

One of my very favorites. When he's not smiling Harrison has such a cute, somber look on his face.

And now that he's so much older, Harrison loves to wear clothes that are a little more grown-up.

The funniest thing about how much I love to dress little Harrison is that I never really liked dressing my dolls up. So I guess I'm living a delayed childhood here, which my mother thinks is hilarious as I call her almost daily to let her know what cute little outfit Harrison is wearing. Even though I see the ridiculousness of it all, I still can't stop myself. I've become quite a cliche!

Now I'd better go take care of this baby!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-19T15:05:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Halloween and TWO Birthdays

2008-11-07T16:37:00.000-08:00

We had an exciting Halloween weekend, for a few reasons. Our baby has finally arrived (as most of you probably already know. We are horrible about timely blogging!)

#1 I went into labor ON my actual due date, Halloween. It was probably the ONLY day I wasn't expecting to go into labor, since they tell you almost no one delivers on their due date. As a result, my Halloween costume went to waste.

#2 Harrison Byron Williams was born on November 1st at 6:52 AM. This could not have been more perfect, as his birthday is now sandwiched between two major holidays (Halloween and MY birthday) and I'm pretty sure those three days will be an ongoing party at our house every year!!

This is Harrison day one! The hat is covering some funky head action (due to three hours of pushing) which has now all resolved itself, WHEW! He weighed 8 lbs 12 oz (hence the need for so much pushing on my part) and was 21 inches long. He'd already grown another half inch by his five day check-up with the pediatrician, and Byron could not be prouder that he is in the 95th percentile for length. I myself am shocked at this - what child of mine could possibly end up being tall? How exciting!

#3 I spent my birthday in the hospital. Everyone said it should have been the happiest birthday of my life. Am I horrible if I disagree? I will definitely concede that it is the best birthday present I've ever gotten, but as for spending my birthday confined to a bed and begging for more pain medication, I'll pass on that next year. And, I prefer to look a little more upbeat (and attractive) in my birthday pictures. (Although, for our first "family picture" it is pretty exciting!!)

We already have TONS of pictures of Harrison (as we have instantaneously morphed into disgustingly proud parents - I'm positive he is the smartest, strongest little baby ever born!) We'll try to limit how many we post here, but we'll add a link to an album if you want to see more. We'll just point out a few more of his best features for your viewing enjoyment.

This is Harrison about to leave the hospital. (Note the rosy glow to his skin and his robust cry...)

I think he was happier about leaving once he realized we would be going with him.

Harrison's most distinctive feature (besides his darling mouth and chin, courtesy of Byron) is his BRIGHT blond hair. All of the nurses and doctors were commenting that they NEVER see babies with that color of hair.

Pictures don't really do his hair justice, because it is SO light that he ends up looking bald from the flash. He even has white eyelashes and eyebrows! But he has SO much blond hair, especially in the back. (When I told my sister Renee how white his hair was, she laughed and asked if he was an albino. I laughed politely, but then I secretly had to ask the pediatrician if that was the case. And no, he is not an albino.)

We are trying to enjoy his gorgeous hair while it lasts, because we have the sneaking suspicion it is starting to turn a little strawberry blond...

He can already hold his own head up! Seriously, the kid is only 10 days old.

He already has QUITE a winning smile. I swear I can be objective, but he is possibly the cutest baby ever.

But he's not all laughs, he has a serious, reflective side. (Thanks for the shirt, Lisa!)

Last but not least, I must give a special thanks to my mother, who was present at the delivery and spent the first week at home with us. She was a life-saver, and Harrison loves his Granny Tanny, as we affectionately call her. She got him to straighten out his days from his nights, she bleached and cleaned my apartment from top to bottom and basically kept Byron and I sane during those first few days. We LOVE Granny Tanny!!

Byron and I realized that we have taken tons of pictures of him holding the baby and not many of me. Then we remembered that 8 or 9 hours of the day that I'm holding Harrison, he's nursing. So be thankful that we are modest people and choose not to post (or even take!) those pictures.

We'll try to post again soon, but little Harry B (as my dad calls him) is keeping us pretty busy!

Our Nephews!!

2008-10-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

After Tracy had the audacity to call our potential children "butt ugly" in her comment, she expressed some hesitance at seeing what her own children would look like. So Byron and I took the liberty...

After creating their first child, I feared that my plan had failed, as that little pirate is CUTE. But after the second child was finished, I knew I had succeeded in proving that Tracy and Marc's DNA is every bit as "butt ugly" as ours is!!

That being said, we will still love all of our nephews the same, regardless of how they look. (And with a face like that, he is going to have SO much character!!)

Keeping Occupied

2008-10-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

At 3 days and counting, we are finding things to keep ourselves occupied. We are such planners that we got a lot of stuff done in advance, thinking that the baby may come early (it's funny, now.) So I'm mostly down to the task of cleaning/organizing in an attempt try to fit all of our baby items into our tiny one-bedroom apartment.

However, when I logged onto Byron's computer yesterday, I found this picture of our child-to-be tiled all over his desktop. I guess that's how he's keeping himself occupied.

Thanks for giving him the idea from your blog, Kendra. I don't know why our baby is so much more attractive than that red-headed creature you produced (hypothetically, of course). I also enjoy how Byron selected such interesting pictures of us. I look like some kind of crazed mommy-to-be, while he is rugged, handsome and brooding.

The picture of our potential daughter is also pretty funny and I definitely see a family resemblance...

Reassuring News

2008-10-27T09:55:00.000-07:00

As we get closer to our due date (FOUR DAYS?!) Byron has begun to lose hope that we will ever go into labor and actually have this baby. I'm not exaggerating; he has used those exact words. He has also made comments such as "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm starting to think that your body may not work."

After 9 1/2 months of my body making an entire human (who is now probably like 9 pounds, yikes!) he feels that I may be incapable of having contractions and finishing the endeavor.

But, thanks to my love of P.F. Changs, we got another fortune on Saturday that has helped reignite his spark of hope that our child will eventually be born. "A pleasant surprise is soon in store for you." Thank heavens a fortune cookie can reassure us when modern medical science and simple common sense cannot. However, that fortune may be indicating that we will deliver a girl (is this the "surprise" it is referring to?) If so, she's going to be a tomboy, as all of her clothes will have trucks and puppies on them.

One Week to Go!!

2008-10-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Halloween is only a week away. Also, incidentally, we are only a week from our due date!!

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday, but they haven't been very helpful in nailing down for us exactly when this baby is going to arrive. LUCKILY, we had Chinese food for lunch afterwards and our fortune cookie was MUCH more specific:

Byron's fortune said "Soon, someone will make you very proud." So, we are quite confident that the baby will be here "soon."

Brookie, You are IT!

2008-10-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

My sister Tracy tagged me and said completing this would be a punishment. However, I’m not sure who is getting the greater punishment, me or the reader. I choose to pass this along to my little sister Brookie, because I think her answers will be VERY funny!!

10 Favorites...

Color- Black. Sometimes I have to put myself on a “black ban” when I’m shopping, otherwise everything I buy is black or gray. I guess I’m kind of the gloomy type.

Food- Breakfast food, for sure. Usually of the sweet variety, I mean, eggs are okay, but who wouldn’t prefer eating something that could be sugared or syruped??!! And don’t get me started on cereal, YUM.

Song- all-time favorite song is just too hard. But I do like the Chitty-bang-bang song (the Asher Merrell version, which I heard this morning on the phone)

Movie- Byron will be horrified if I put “Love and Basketball” but it is probably the movie that I’ve watched the greatest number of times. C’mon, we all have our guilty pleasures…

Sport- bowling

Season- Spring or fall. Luckily, we’re right by the ocean and it always feels like that by us!! Okay, maybe not ALWAYS, but a lot.

Day of the Week- Friday – no work!! And the weekend is just beginning…

Ice Cream Flavor- Breyer's definitely. I like the cherry vanilla, especially because Byron hates it and doesn’t eat any of mine!!

Time of Day- Right now I’d have to say 10:30 am. My achiness has worn off from a bad night’s sleep and I haven’t yet started to feel the uncomfortable-ness that sets in during the afternoons and evenings. But when I’m not pregnant – 8:00 pm.

9 Currents...

Mood- happy!! Not too much work to do, and tomorrow is my last day before maternity leave!!

Taste- I just ate a cherry starburst, which is lingering delightfully.

Clothes- Black shirt (surprise, surprise), jeans, and flip flops. Yes, I am at work. Being pregnant has its benefits. No one has even mentioned that I’ve only been wearing flip-flops for the past month!!

Desktop picture-

Toenail color- neutral/grown-up lavender (if you ask my pedicurist), teenage purple if you ask Byron (Thanks again for the pedicure, Jessica!!)

Time- 11:30 am

Surroundings- work

Annoyances- The nurses across the cubicle from me who love to laugh so loudly it is frightening.

Thought- Our baby is SO big. He is kicking so much right now, my stomach is out of control. He must like Starbursts too!!

8 Firsts...

Best Friend- Tamera Hunter, 9th grade geometry class and Mr. Turner changed our lives!

Kiss- Josh N. It was up in the mountains and very romantic (expect the part I played in it.)

Pet- Petey, my little turtle who I love and miss.

Crush- Simon, my kindergarten boyfriend (who I guess was technically my first kiss, but he wasn’t too involved.) I also had a crush on two sixth graders (Nick and Dominic) at the time. I was such a boy-crazy little 5 year old!

Music you remember hearing-This is too weird, but I have to agree with my sister’s answer on this “I just remember LOVING the song "lose control" by Eric Carmen, you know: turn the radio up/for that sweet sound/hold me close never let me go/keep this feeling alive/make me lose control. . . AWESOME. Of course my mom didn't like that song because it was about losing control (I'm not joking)” How often did that song get played in our house?? I also liked “Right Here Waiting” by Richard Marx…

Car- Little Boy Blue, my pastel blue hatchback Honda Civic. What a great car.

Speeding Ticket- Only one - a couple of years ago (in Tracy’s car – darn those Portland plates!) while visiting Utah. I hate Utah for not letting me do traffic school, so that ticket has actually cost me like $700 in raised insurance rates over the last couple years. And yes, I’m bitter about it.

7 Lasts...

Cigarette- Never.

Drink- water. Chocolate milk last night, if you want something more exciting.

Car Ride- I drove to work this morning. And I drove my young women home from our activity last night. Exciting, I know.

Kiss- This morning.

Phone Call- Byroni. Although my favorite phone call of the morning was referenced earlier, with my nephew singing me Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

CD played- The new Jack’s Mannequin. And I actually have been listening to it on CD in my car. When you want to listen to the same songs over and over, a CD really is the way to go. None of this lugging around my cumbersome Ipod.

6 Have you evers...

Dated one of your best friends- Of COURSE. It’s the only way to date!!

Broken the law- I think I accidentally shoplifted a bagged salad the other day, but I’m not positive.

Been arrested- Of course not.

Skinny dipped- Yes, thanks to my primas, what a bad influence. It was pretty fun until Carmen thought it would be funny to turn the underwater lights on in her pool. Then it was more awkward than funny.

Been on TV- I have been on the news more than once growing up. But I always end up saying these short little sound bytes (usually puns) that sound REALLY funny to me when I say them, and then are ridiculous when replayed for the world to hear. It’s humiliating, even for a 6th grader.

5 Things (5 for each)...

You're wearing-two flip flops, two earrings and makeup.

You've done today- Fallen asleep while watching the morning news and arrived at work late, gone to the bathroom three times, IM-ed Kami, IM-ed Jennica, talked on the phone. Oh yeah, I’m sure I also did some work?

You can hear right now-someone stapling, co-workers on the phone, my computer struggling to work, someone yawning (audibly, no joke), and those darn nurses laughing.

You can't live without- Byroni, good friends, AWESOME family, gossip girl (j/k, xo xo) and possibly Cap’n Crunch (with crunch berries)

You do when you're bored- plan obsessively for the baby’s arrival, pester Byron at work by email and phone, eat, sleep.

4 Places you have been today...

1. My bedroom
2. The bathroom
3. My living room
4. Work (exciting, I know)

3 People you can tell anything to...

1. Byron
2. Tracy
3. My girlfriends!

2 Choices...

1. Go to the bathroom or just sit a little longer. This is a common choice I am faced with, multiple times a day.

2. Begin working or eat another Starburst and read people’s blogs. (Not that I am the slacker I appear to be, but with only one more day of work left, I’ve really finished all of my work, now it’s just a matter of cleaning out my desk)

1 Thing you want to do before you die...

1. Own a house. Sigh.

Wow, that was long. Back to work!

Surprised to Hear From Us Again?

2008-10-12T16:49:00.001-07:00

I know, this is like some kind of blogging record for us lately. But, I do have a lot more time on my hands now. First of all, we had a VERY exciting Friday last week. I have been wildly studying for the second portion of my licensing exam, hoping to be able to take the test before the baby came. I did schedule it a few times, only to chicken out and reschedule it because I thought I wasn't quite ready yet. (Although one of those cancellations was a blessing in disguise, because I ended up having an emergency root canal right when my test had been scheduled--but that is a story for another blog!)

So, I decided that Friday the 3rd of October was going to be the REAL test date, as I didn't want to test so close to my due date that I risked going into labor during the test (although I swear, I would have tested right through any contractions!) But, I didn't want to tell anyone I was testing, for fear that I should fail and have to face my own shame and their pity.

However, this plan was slightly complicated by the fact that my in-laws were staying with us for the weekend (compliments of a Neil Diamond concert we attended with them on Thursday night - it was "so good, so good, so good!!")

As a side note, I must admit it was an AWESOME concert. Not only does his music span quite a generation gap (young people such as myself to some very gray-haired individuals in walkers) but I also found myself strangely attracted to him. I mean seriously, do you blame me??

Being the sneaky daughter-in-law that I am, I let Byron's parents think I was headed off to work on Friday morning and I went and took my test - WHICH I PASSED!! This is such a relief, as I can now fully focus on our baby coming (and everything else I've been putting off in order to study.) I first started getting ready for licensure in October 2005, so passing this test and becoming officially licensed is the end of a long road, yeah for me! However, because I am so secretive, I really had no one to celebrate with afterwards (except Byroni!)

Luckily, a couple of my friends just happened to want to go to the spa that evening, and my lovely husband agreed that it would be a wonderful way to celebrate the end of my licensure ordeal. So, I enjoyed a milk bath, a pregnancy massage, and a pedicure (Thanks for my baby shower gift Jessica!!) and had a great time relaxing with Jessica and Kami. Boy, they really do love pregnant people over at that spa. In between these treatments I enjoyed a number of naps, time in the solarium, an artistic plate of cut fruit and about 3 seconds in the steam room (way too hot!!) However, there is a downside to all of this leisure - tying a robe is just NOT attractive on a fully pregnant woman - you either tie it below the protrusion and look like a pot-bellied man, tie it in the middle and look like an extremely rotund person, or tie it above the belly - which is attractive, but you do worry about the passing gusts of wind blowing that sucker right open.

My massage was almost identical to the one above, however I was on my side (darn this big stomach) and I did not have a male masseur. I left that to Kami and Jessica, who were VERY pleased with the masseurs they were assigned!!

Long story short - I arrived home fully relaxed and extremely happy. Only to find a husband who for some reason feels that SEVEN HOURS at the spa is a bit extreme. Oops!

And to save the best part for last, we had finally reached 36 weeks. Byron's weekly pregnancy update informed us that our baby was the size of a Crenshaw melon. Hmmm.

And, we managed to fit in our 36-week appointment in between my passing the test and spa-ing it up. They gave us our last ultrasound, which we were very excited for. However, imagine our disappointment when we learned that the baby is now so big, you can't really see "him" in an ultrasound. You can just see one large body part at a time, "there's the abdomen!" and his head was so far down, you couldn't even see it!! The baby was estimated to be 6 lbs 10 oz (with four more weeks to go, WAY bigger than a Crenshaw melon) so I've adjusted my plans from wanting a 6.5 pound baby, to hoping and praying that he doesn't break the 9 lb mark!!

But, they say that we are right on schedule and could deliver any day-which was frightening, but exciting. And the news sent me on a shopping spree that lasted a week, as I was certain my water would break at any time following that appointment. More on that later, as Byron is still recovering.

Pregnancy on Fast Forward

2008-10-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

Okay - I will be the first to admit that we have been horrible at blogging. Not only that, we have also been quite awful at photo-documenting my pregnancy (so we have none of the usual pregnancy pose pictures!!) The last blog that showed me pregnant was in MAY (only 4 months pregnant!) So here is a quick catch up of the last few months.

June 2008 - We didn't take any pictures!!

Apparently July was the most attractive month in my pregnancy, because we had plenty of pictures to choose from for that month. After that, it was slim pickings.

Our family reunion in Portland and at the Oregon coast. Boy, my siblings like to touch their little nephew!

Sharing a sucker with my lucky little baby at the Williams' cabin in Southern Utah, with Ali.

August 2008 - Matt is leaving for San Francisco to start law school!!

Notice anything getting bigger?? Sept 2008 - The Williams' family threw my sister-in-law (Stef) and I a joint baby shower. Stef is due in December with a girl. This is the cousins' first picture together, basically giving each other five!

October 2008 - Three weeks to go!! Thank heavens I'm in black, although when I'm wearing my teal sundress, I'm positive I look identical to that cake - other than the outie. This may be too much information, but my proudest accomplishment of this pregnancy is that I do NOT have an outie. Just a flattie! (Perfect for two reasons: Easy for cleaning and it doesn't pose any fashion issues!) However, the swollen elephant ankles may outshine any other positive aspects of my body at this point!!

I will have to post a picture soon that actually shows how pregnant I am, it is pretty incredible. I had no idea this was physically possible. I have actually reached a point in my pregnancy where the following things have happened in the last week alone:

1) The doctor told me we are just waiting for me to go into labor. SCARY!

2) two people have double-checked with me that there is only ONE baby in there. (Who knows how many people have checked with other peole to confirm that I'm not having twins?!)

3) Countless people have started telling me how I look "ready to go" at any minute and started giving me tips about what to do when my water breaks. Fun.

4) Two different co-workers have audibly GASPED when I stepped out from behind a file cabinet and my full figure (no pun intended) came into view

My only saving grace is that I am actually due in just a few weeks. I'd be feeling pretty bad if these comments had started a month ago!!

From the look of this blog I could be a single mom, since Byron is only in one picture. So I'll stick in a few choice pictures of him in the last few months, showing not only how helpful and fun he has been this pregnancy, but also showcasing his UNCHANGING figure.

Looking chipper before his surgery. We didn't see a smile like that for QUITE a while following the surgery!!

Showing off his quilting handiwork!! Byron hand-frayed two entire quilts that we made. I guess his family's crafting skills do NOT skip the males!!

Displaying his culinary skills, making zuccini bread. Also, wearing the UCLA shirt that I bought him. Which is ONLY worn indoors (for chores like cooking and cleaning) and to bed. What a USC snob.

Lest you begin to think that he is all cooking and sewing, my husband is quite the danger-seeker. How clear is it from the look on his face that I made him take this picture and he is not thrilled about it??

One thing I've learned from making this little montage is that it is hard to find pictures of Byron that DON'T have me in them. I'm going to work on that!!

We are doing great here and hoping to post a lot of updates in the next few weeks, pre-baby!!

The last three weeks . . .

2008-07-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

This is Byron. This past three weeks has probably been the most "educational weeks" I have had in a LONG, LONG time. To give a little background, shortly after Kim and I got married, Kim noticed that I stopped breathing during the night sometimes. Well, to make a long story short, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. We tried what the doctor recommended initially, which was to sleep with a machine that would force me to breathe during the night. This machine is called a CPAP machine (aka: human sleeping snorkel mask). Needless to say, neither Kim nor I were too happy with this.

So after a few months of dealing with this, we decided to take the doctor's next recommendation. . . surgery. This happened three weeks ago today. I had NO idea what this really entailed. At first, I thought it would be a good thing. I somehow made myself believe it would be like a vacation, a nice break from work. Sure, I thought there would be some pain at first. But I thought after a week, it would not be too bad and I would be healing. Not quite. The doctor performed a number of procedures (seven in total, including removing my tonsils, a couple of nose surgeries and shortening my palate and tongue muscle). Well, to say the least, it was a VERY hard experience.

My first hospital stay was not that fun. There was a lot of pain and poor Kim and my mom had to wait in the waiting from for about 9 hours. The hospital did not tell them when I was out of my surgery and in my room. Luckily, I was only in the hospital for two days and came home. However, I was on some major pain medication for two weeks. So that was fun. Unfortunately, right at the time that I started healing from my surgery, I got an infection on my foot (which they think was from the hospital). They gave me some pretty strong antibiotics, which I found out later I was allergic to. So after a trip to the emergency room and 5 visits to the doctors within one week, I am on the road to recovery again. Basically, this past three weeks stunk.

However, there are a few good things that happened as a result of the past few weeks. First, I think it helped me become more compassionate. Before when people told me that they were sick or had surgery, I thought "That stinks. . . What are we doing tomorrow?". I didn't really care. Now I do. I am afraid I may have become too emotional.

Second, I got to spend a lot of time with Kim and although I was sick, we did do some fun things. For example, Kim decided to make our new son his first two new baby blankets.

Next, we also went to the Second Annual Santa Monica 4th of July Parade. I love hippie parades. There were so many electric cars in the parade. Our favorites were all of the electric cars, the dancing elders from the local synagogue and the hippie band.

Lastly, I also felt our son kick for the first time. That may have been the highlight. Overall, the three weeks were awful and I am glad they are done, but I did learn some things. So I guess they weren't a loss overall. Especially when I have a wife and a future son like this.

It's time to break out the blue!!

2008-07-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

Well, it is about time we finally announced it on our blog. We are having a boy!

We will be taking name requests now.

Excuses, Excuses

2008-05-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

I know it took us forever to announce the pregnancy on our blog, but I SWEAR we had a good reason. Byron has been so busy at work lately (as always) and I have been studying for my LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) Licensure exam. I started getting ready for licensure almost three years ago, because you need two years worth of very specific hours of supervised work in different areas to qualify to take the test. I became eligible in February to take it and I've been studying literally for months. Originally I was going to take it a couple of months ago, but the pregnancy kind of derailed my studying for a bit--I HAD to read about pregnancy and what was happening with the baby!!

Anyway, I buckled back down a couple of months ago and studied like a fiend. I took the test on Friday morning and PASSED!! This was actually a crazy experience for me, because I usually am a great test taker and don't worry too much about passing tests. But for some reason, this was a very big challenge for me. Byron says I'm now going to be more empathetic if our kids have a hard time with school, so I guess there is a bright side. But, my passing was something very close to a miracle and I've never been so relieved! (Thanks to Tracy, who pep-talked me into not postponing!)

Here is proof that I passed:

That unattractive picture of me stared out at me from my computer screen for FOUR HOURS while I tried to concentrate on not failing (I guess so the proctors make sure the right applicants are at the right computers). I never want to see that picture again!! (And I certainly would have posed better if I'd known it was going to haunt me throughout the test!)

I've never ever felt so uncertain while taking a test before. It doesn't help knowing that you have to wait 6 months to retake the test if you fail, or that the test has a 50% pass rate! But, I survived.

Byron was great throughout the whole thing-including studying flashcards with me (even when he had NO IDEA what he was even asking me!!) And I think he really understood how incredibly possible it was that I might not pass. He booked me a pregnancy massage at Burke Williams (I know, perfect husband) for afterwards. But I have admit I was very afraid that I wouldn't enjoy a massage while crying about my failing score! It was much more enjoyable knowing that I'd passed!! Plus, they gave me a "milk bath" as well--which was AWESOME!! I don't usually love the spa because it hurts me to spend so much money, but it was the perfect thing. I loved the massage and after months of being on a "reading diet" because I needed to study, I could finally lay around and read at the spa all afternoon. And I did!

I actually have one more test to pass before I'm officially licensed (darn California for being the only state that requires two!) but this first one is the real hurdle. The next one is just a two hour little joyride, as far as I'm concerned!

Anyway, this blog was a lame explanation for why I didn't have time to blog about the baby before now--but we really are THRILLED!!! And I can't believe my baby is lucky enough to already have been to the spa--what a pampered little baby!!

Not so new NEWS!

2008-05-31T12:28:00.000-07:00

For those of you who haven't heard yet, we're pregnant!!

We're 18 weeks along and VERY excited, although you can't tell from how long it's taken us to blog about it!! And in case you can't tell--our little baby has its hand in its mouth!! This is from 12 weeks along, so our baby is MUCH bigger and better looking now.

Here's a look at the card we gave our families to break the news:

We figured we had to take advantage of the fact that the baby is due ON Halloween!! Plus, any excuse I can get to make Byron dress up in a Halloween costume...Here's another cute one (to get back at him for posting the duck picture of me!)

Can you tell how thrilled he is to be wearing this costume?? What a good sport he's going to be as a Dad!

We find out the sex of the baby in a week! I felt like we needed to make a blog announcement regarding the pregnancy itself, before I announced whether it's a boy or a girl!!

6 Days and counting, then we will start taking name suggestions!

My Turn on the Blog

2008-04-10T19:41:00.001-07:00

This is Byron. Kim has been so good at updating our blog, so I thought I would take a crack at it. Things have been pretty good here in So Cal. A couple of weeks ago we walked down to the beach with Kim's sister, Brooke, and her friend who were visiting for a few days. It was really beautiful.

Lately Kim and I have been talking about our "next step" and where we will end up after we leave Santa Monica. We went to Las Vegas this last weekend for General Conference to visit my family and while we were there we looked at some model homes. We loved a lot of them and are really excited to get out of our small one bedroom apartment with no storage space, no washer and dryer and no dishwasher. However, we really do love our neighborhood and our 5 minute walk to the beach and this view whenever we feel like it. We are really lucky to live here right now.

One other thing that I would like to tell you that I am really lucky with. . . Kim.

Just look at this picture. She will probably not like that I posted this, but it makes me laugh. I hope people can see it before she makes me take it down.

Happy April Fool's Day!!!

2008-04-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

I love April Fools Day. I think it all started with my family. I remember my dad setting off the smoke alarm countless times while my mom was in the shower, only to have her coming running outside wearing only a towel. And, my mom didn’t limit her culinary expression of holiday spirit to food coloring. I distinctly remember some intentionally disgusting pancakes on April Fools Day growing up. As a child, I have a vivid memory of trying to “fool” my family. One such debacle included my little brother, Matt, a lot of fake fighting and yelling, and me laying on the kitchen floor with ketchup squirted all over my legs.

So, I thought I would bring my love of the holiday into my marriage, like a good little wife. After adding baking powder to Byron’s water at breakfast (a tiny amount), I was informed that he does not enjoy celebrating April Fool’s Day. Killjoy.

So, I had to set my sights on my co-workers. I have a recently pregnant co-worker who is very devious in nature and she convinced me to send out an email announcement in regards to my “pregnancy.” I wasn’t sure I could do that without Byron’s permission, so I CCed him on our email to see if he was okay with that joke. He promptly responded that he would send the same thing to his co-workers. (Only later did I find out that my devious co-worker, Cristina, had put him up to that to get me to go along with it!) Long story short, I made many many people in my office VERY VERY happy for about one minute, before I sent them another email wishing them a Happy April Fools Day. Priceless. It takes a very funny girl (and some coercion from her coworker) to send a fake pregnancy email to her boss. Social workers have all the fun!!

Hello again!

2008-03-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the long wait, I have been horrible at keeping up on our blogging. Part of my hesitance to blog was thinking that I'd have to catch up on everything I haven't blogged in the last two months. But I've given up those ambitions completely, so I'll just start again from right now.

I'm actually inspired to blog because Byron has been SO nice to me lately, I wanted to think of something that I could do to be nice back. And starting to blog again will definitely make him happy. Although, typing on the computer is much easier than cleaning the bathroom and doing the laundry, so I think I got the better end of the deal. Thanks again, honey!

One reason I've been SO behind on blogging, is that in February I got called as Young Women's President in our ward!! If you can't believe it, just imagine how shocked I was. I spent an entire day asking Byron how the girls could look up to me, when I am so short (For some reason, I think girls need a tall, imposing leader that they can respect). And I believe Byron's favorite comment was when I was so overwhelmed I was yelling, "How can I be a role model?!" and (according to him) my mouth was full of food at the time. Very dainty, I know.

Here are my girls, cooking empanadas and making thank-you baskets for the old presidency:

As well as pigging out at In-n-Out after temple baptisms (I honestly had no idea how much young women could EAT) and then hitting Diddy Riese afterwards.

Yes, those four young people comprise the entire youth program in our ward!!

So, we had Byron's sister come into town over the weekend of St. Patrick's Day (and our one-year anniversary, love you honey!).

Byron is SUCH a great uncle, he woke the girls up early and took them to the flower market downtown and let them go CRAZY buying whatever flowers they wanted. The girls loved it, and they got to arrange the flowers themselves when they got home.

LA is great, ALL of these flowers were only $25 bucks!!

My contribution to St. Patrick's day is my absolute love of food coloring (thanks to growing up with my mom!) We had green German Pancakes, green scrambled eggs and green hashbrowns. That was the highlight of the holiday, as opposed to me being wakened by a huge man in green pinching me all over my body. I guess people show their holiday spirit in different ways!

Their plates were SO much more festive, before they added the ketchup. Party poopers!

We had such a good time with Chanda and her family--we wish they would visit every weekend! They loved hanging out in the house, relaxing. And we did NOT complain. And anyone who eats green food so happily is welcome back anytime!

Who pays this much for gas?

2008-01-19T18:13:00.000-08:00

I did something that I never thought I would ever do. . . pay $5.19 for a gallon of gas. Kim and I went to Big Sur last weekend for a quick weekend getaway. We went with a couple of good friends and had a great time. It was so beautiful. It was a long drive (750 miles over two days), but that is the beauty of it. We took the PCH most of the way. However, on the way up there, we realized that we were running out of gas. Luckily (about 15 miles after the gas light came on) we came to a gas station in a place called Gorda and here is where we met our friend and his $5.19 a gallon gas. We did the 4 gallon special and got out of there. Why is gas so expensive now? I never thought I would pay this much. I know it was bad planning, but seriously, over $5.00 a gallon.

It didn't ruin the trip. We stayed up in Monterrey, went to Pebble Beach and Carmel. We also did a couple of fun and quick hikes (one of which Kim decided to do in socks AND flip flops). Kim is from Utah. Enough said.

Byronikins: The Good, The Great, and The Ugly

2007-12-19T17:11:00.000-08:00

This blog could have a sub-heading: My Husband, the CandyMan

I strongly believe, after the events of the last week, that candymaking may be an inherited trait, specifically passed down through the paternal line. Byron's dad, B.N., is a fantastic candymaker. It is a skill he has honed over the years and that I have appreciated in the years since I've known Byron. Yum.

But, I had no idea what skills lay lurking in my own husband. I came home from work the other night to find the smell of candy in the air and Byron stirring in the kitchen (two things that make me VERY happy.) He had made peanut brittle, with the help of his father (who stayed on the phone with him during the process saying things like "Candy One to Candy Two, what's your status?"

However, the first batch wasn't entirely successful. (As you are aiming for "brittleness" with any candy in the brittle family)

Batch numbers 2, 3, and 4 (the last being made Sunday morning before church--what a trooper!) turned out beautifully. I dare say as good as B.N.'s would have been...?

And, as a result, the treats we gave out to our friends looked and tasted spectacular. All thanks to the genetic makeup of Byron C. Williams, son of B.N. Williams, a.k.a. Candy One.

FYI, the tags above were also made by Byron. He's putting me to shame.

Byron also has other skills that he has showcased this holiday season:

He does make me dinner sometimes. (VERY rarely, but delicious and picture-worthy, just the same!!)

He takes me to cultural events, to broaden my horizons and help me become more sophisticated.

Obviously, from the look on my face, this plan has been a success so far!

And, he encourages/forces me to write our Christmas cards (handmade by him, as noted in a previous blog) when it is obvious from my outfit that I'd prefer to take a Sunday afternoon nap. But I was glad later, when they were done!

But lest you think life with Byron is all good times and brittle madness, let me tell you a little about the dark side of Byron. I got out of bed the other morning, only to look down at this:

Byron's sweaty, smelly work socks lying right where my precious face and body had been scant minutes before. Byron erupted into a giggling fit, confessing that he had put them there the night before as I was coming to bed, to be funny. However, I came into the room when it was already dark and didn't see the socks. Instead of admitting that the joke was up, he must have giggled himself to sleep (not caring what MY sleep would be like, with those things practically shoved up my nose) just imagining how much funnier it would be in the morning. Indeed, it was funny to one of us.

So maybe the brittle and the socks balance out.

Tracy has ruined me

2007-12-11T15:36:00.000-08:00

You know how Harrison's are addicted to reading? Well, this can easily be solved in a professional situation, because I just don't bring a book to work. However, because Tracy introduced me to the joys of blogging, I have recently begun to take an occasional short break to read blogs when I am bored at work. (Not that I don't have work to do, it just doesn't sound fun to do it at that moment.)

So at work this afternoon, I suddenly realize that I've been reading my cousin Denae's blog so voraciously that I lost track of my surroundings completely. My eyes are now not able focus on anything else, because I've been reading a green screen for so long they can't adjust. That is embarrassing and what must my coworkers think of me--I've been lost in blogging land for who knows how long!! Also, I did indeed laugh out loud at one point. Please read her blog if you don't believe me. And blame my genetics, because I really do lose track of the outside world when I'm reading. I hope my supervisor didn't try to talk to me while I was caught up in the excitement of Denae's life.

So thank you Tracy, for ruining my professional facade at work.

P.S. This actually started as a ranting email to Tracy. But then my blogging obsession clicked in, and here you go!

Addict?

2007-11-27T19:03:00.000-08:00

I may have a small problem.

I know that yesterday I believed I was making progress in my domestic/decorating skills because I purchased holiday hand towels. However, I believe this may be becoming a compulsion.

Case in point: Frosty.

I am quickly headed down a road that cannot end well. Either it ends when the money runs out, or when my home is overflowing with Christmas nicknacks. Or both.

Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right?

It is possible that I'm not telling the whole story. I may have also purchased a Christmas wreath and a number of assorted stockings. Oh the shame.

Christmas in November

2007-11-26T21:46:00.000-08:00

I guess it's my turn to blog, now that Byron has put me to shame with his natural flair for all that is blogging.

This blog has a moral: you never really know someone until you have decorated for Christmas with them. I'll explain: Byron has a WONDERFUL family, who I could not possibly love more than I do. However, they have ruined him in one very significant way. Because his mother and sisters are so darn incredible, he grew up with the very distorted view that all women are wonderfully creative, artistic and artsy-craftsy. Case in point, Byron's nativity--handmade by his family and sent to him on his mission. I just love benefitting from the skills of others, as this is now in my livingroom, making me look crafty.

Now, I never once perpetuated this myth of womanhood and creativity going hand-in-hand, in fact I was very upfront regarding my artistic deficiencies. However, when I informed Byron that I didn't have any grand plans for decorating our apartment for Christmas, I honestly have never seen him more disappointed. I was shocked to realize that for the entire 4 years that Byron has known me, somewhere deep down he thought I was just hiding my secret domestic skills. And as most of you know, that is simply not the case.

So, Byron and I agreed to set our expectations aside and decorate for Christmas together. This involved hours in the scrapbooking room in Henderson. Byron decorated cards and tags like his life depended on it. All of the following were made by Byronikins himself.

And I learned to become a bow-making-maniac with the help of a little contraption called "The Bow-dabra!" (and the patient guidance of my mother-in-law!!) And after hours of bowmaking and then hours of tree assembling (miserable!) we have succeeded in turning our little apartment into something that feels like a home.

But, before you get too impressed, just know that the beautifully wrapped gift you see in the photo is our Christmas tree box, because our apartment is so small we have no other place to put it.

And, as surprised as I am to admit it, I had such a fun time getting all the Christmas stuff made. And I have some serious pride when I look at my apartment now. Who knows, maybe there is hope for the domestically challenged after all. Come to think of it, I went and bought holiday handtowels for our kitchen today -- I've come so far!!

I guess I'm lucky I have a husband who peer pressures me into Christmas decorating, I suppose it could be worse.

And what would this blog be without a little picture of our new pet?!

Say hello to Charlie.

Cruise Day 6 & 7 - Puerto Vallarta & Cabo San Lucas

2007-11-20T21:00:00.000-08:00

OK, I know. We need to finish this vacation blog quick and we need to get to more important topics (like our Thanksgiving vacation which is about to start). I really like how I have been back to work for two days and I can not wait to have Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving. I think I might be ruined and may not adjust back to my work life. Oh well. I won't think about that now. I have to enjoy my vacation.

We went to Puerto Vallarta one day. I don't have a lot of memories about this day. We only took three pictures the whole day. It was ok there. Part of the group went to do ziplines in the jungle (which we heard was a lot of fun - we will try that next time). The rest of us went to the beach, where Kim found this great statue which she decided to get "more intimate" with. It was really nice and it was right on the beach. We spent some quality beach time in Puerta Vallarta and went to our first "authentic" Mexican restaurant called "Pipi's Mexican". I am sure your impression of the restaurant by just hearing the name is probably the same as ours. It was very American and forgettable.

We did take the bus back to the ship, which was an adventure. Kim and I were excited about being like the locals (and only paying $1.00 for the ride back), while Carmen & Ben looked a little less thrilled.

Our next and final port was Cabo San Lucas and it was the BEST port we had. Just look at the color of the water. It was so gorgeous.

Cabo San Lucas is on the tip of Baja, on one side is the Pacific Ocean and on the other side is the Sea of Cortez. We had so much fun here. We made it to the beach and just camped there pretty much all day.Shad & Stef found this great beach bar with sand service and we sat here for hours. They had the best drinks (all non-alcoholic, thank you) and the best Mexican food we had on our whole trip. Here is what our view was for the whole day.

While we were here, we did decide to rent seadoos (sp?) and it was fun. This is something that I had never done before. Also, I was not so sure I wanted to go, especially when they gave me a child's life vest. I let Kim drive them for a bit, but she terrified me. After a bit, I seemed to get the hang of it and had a lot of fun.

Overall, Cabo was the best. We got some MAJOR beach time, beautiful, clean beaches, clear water and even got a bit sunburned. I would definitely go back to Cabo anytime. It gets my full endorsement.

Cruise Day 5 - Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo - Loved It

2007-11-19T20:10:00.000-08:00

Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo was the perfect stop after going to Acapulco. We had questioned our cruise (and mostly Mexico) after Acapulco. Luckily we were pleasantly surprised by our next port. Now Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo are two cities that are really close together. We found out that Ixtapa is a new city (built in the 1970s specifically for tourists) and we figured that we probably would enjoy it a lot more than Caleta Beach the day before and we were right. This place was so beautiful. We were able to get a taxi for our group and he took us 20 minutes into Ixtapa to a remote, beautiful beach. The water was so clear and the beach was so clean.

Shad and Stef found one the best things we did on our cruise. . . a beach massage. It cost $25 for an hour and it was AWESOME. It was in a thatched hut on the beach, it was clean and you just laid there with the sound of the waves lulling you to sleep. We also rented an umbrella and swam in the clear water and laid in the sun and shade. It was wonderful. Now, half of our group claimed that they were stung by stingrays in the water. I don't buy it. It was too nice for something like that and I think it would hurt a lot more than a light sting. But I think everyone but me may have claimed they were stung. I might be the toughest, so I guess that it makes sense.

Our day in Ixtapa was pretty short. We were only in port for maybe 4 hours. Luckily we had some entertainment back on the boat. We were on our way to the game room to play cards with Carmen, Ben, Nate and Gwendolyn when we ran into Stef in the hot tub. She told us we were right on time to see Shad perform in the Mr. Norwegian Star contest. I guess they pulled him right out of the hot tub. Here he is doing his impression of a Russian ballerina. As you can imagine, he did win and was Mr. Norwegian Star. It may have had something to do with his chest shaking and his going topless at the end. We were all pretty shocked.

Cruise Day 4 - Acapulco. . . A Total Bust

2007-11-18T19:51:00.000-08:00

So after our two days at sea, we were pretty excited to get to land and our first port, Acapulco. See the glimmer in Kim's eye? The city looked beautiful from our boat and we were excited to venture out into Mexico with our group. We were in for a big shock.

As we should have anticipated, as soon as we got off the boat, we were attacked by the locals trying to sell us excursions, sunglasses, hats and anything else you can think of. We were in a group of 10, so we were an easy target. Somehow we managed to follow a seemingly "trustworthy" guy off the main boulevard into a very Mexican part of town to a flea market. This was NOT what we thought Acapulco would be like. We wandered in the area for a while, lost part of our group who ventured out on their own and searched for the Fuerte de San Diego, an old fort that we saw from the ship. But first we needed to stop for a treat. We ate a lot of popsicles while we were in Mexico.

After our quick visit to the fort, we decided that we needed to hit the beach. We met a very nice lady who we thought was a docent at the museum who told us of a great "locals beach", Caleta Beach. We thought our luck finally turned. We hopped into a cab and told the driver to take us to Caleta Beach. We should have realized from his look that this is not a place that most tourists go. The beach was very local and we were in Mexico. It probably should not have been quite a shock to us, but we were shocked. This is not what we had anticipated and the beach was very packed and very. . . dirty?

Well, after we hung at the beach for a couple of hours, we decided to head back to the cruise ship. I love going on cruises. It is so nice to make it back to the boat, somewhere clean and somewhere you can be lazy. We got cleaned up and decided to venture out into the city one last time.

This time we did it right. We got a cab right when we left the boat and he took us to go see the cliff divers. It was pretty cool. Our taxi driver totally hooked us up, gave us a ride to where we needed to go, walked us to the ticket booth, showed us the best place to watch the divers, got us a Sprite and waited for us during the show.

Kim also did an excellent imitation of the divers, so overall I guess Acapulco wasn't totally worthless.

Mexican Riviera Cruise - Days 1-3

2007-11-17T08:33:00.000-08:00

This is Byron again. Kim and I keep talking about how we need to blog more. So, I am taking it upon myself to do it. If you are bored with me, sorry. You need to pressure Kim more.

We just got back from our vacation. We went on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera. It was A LOT of fun. We went with a bunch of our couple friends (Shad & Stef, Carmen & Ben, Nate & Gwendolyn and Erin & Annie) and had a great time. Here is our boat. . . The Norwegian Star.

Kim and I went on a cruise for our honeymoon and realized that a cruise really suited our personalities (meaning. . . we love them because we are so lazy). You don't have to do anything on a cruise. You unpack when you get there, don't have to leave if you don't want to, don't have to cook. You just sleep, eat, order room service, go to the pool, sleep, eat . . . Get the picture? It is the perfect vacation.

The first 2 1/2 days of our cruise we were "at sea", which means the perfect vacation days. We loved it. You are on the boat and have nothing to do but relax. At first Kim was preparing for the cruise and figuring out all options (Kim may have seen Titanic too many times).

But then she figured out how to relax and how comfortable the bed was. I wasn't too worried that Kim wouldn't relax.

The ship was great and even had these water slides (which I totally beat Shad in racing down the slides - no matter what he says).

We also went to a few shows on the ship. . . HORRIBLE. The worst was the night of the Chinese acrobats, which in theory sounds great. Actually, the chinese acrobats were not that bad. However, they had a bunch of dancers which were not quite as authentic. It is hard for me to put this in words. Let me just say there was neon and spandex outfits. By the end of the show, two of the couples that we went with were no longer at the show. Kim and I did make it through the Chinese acrobats. But we did not make it through the comedy show (which Shad decided we should sit in the front row for). That was kind of awkward, but we had to go.

One last thing. Shad had his 28th birthday on the cruise. We had a mini-celebration on the cruise because it was one of our days at sea. We told our waiters and they brought out a cake for his birthday, which we were excited about. . . until we tasted it. No joke, it was a GARLIC CAKE. It was hilarious. We all took a bite and left it on the table and ran out of the restaurant before the waiter could come back.

Besides that, our first few days at sea were awesome.

Our Night at NASCAR

2007-10-20T15:59:00.000-07:00

So this is Byron and I am making my first attempt at blogging. I have been giving Kim a hard time that she has not kept it as up to date, so I figure I would take my own advice.

A few weeks ago Kim and I decided to go to Vegas for the weekend to visit my family. It had been a while since we had been. When I told my dad we were coming, he informed me that he had been given some tickets to the NASCAR race (they were free - contrary to popular belief, not everything from Vegas is white trash. **please note: the pictures have been censored to prove this**). Kim and I of course jumped on that quickly (since neither of us have been). It was pretty. . . interesting. Kim was a real good sport about having to hang out with the boys that night.

It was pretty interesting, fun and loud. Unfortunately, Dallon was not as impressed. He fell asleep on the way out and was a bit grouchy the entire evening. Kim and I realized it was personal. As soon as Kim started giving him pieces of a hot dog bun and sips of Sprite out of the Sprite lid, he perked right up. Overall, it was a lot of fun (excluding the 3+ hours it took us to get out of the parking lot).

Beach Clean Up/ Ward Activities Gone Wild

2007-04-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

Byron and I attended our first family ward activity this past Saturday--a beach clean up, a rather appropriate activity for Earth Day. Byron was so excited to go, and reminded me about it a number of times in the two weeks prior. So we got there, appropriately excited, (see above image) Byron's enthusiasm can be quite catching! To my surprise, five minutes into the trash collecting, Byron informed me that he hated it and it was "not what he expected." (I was never able to get him to explain to me what exactly "beach clean up" had meant to him...) But, Byron was a willing participant and happily held the trash bag as we collected 98 cigarette butts, 71 pieces of styrofoam and QUITE a few bottle caps. All in all, we left the beach with about a half pound of garbage and two hours less of our lives. And we definitely built character.

I never thought it would happen to me!

2006-10-22T10:03:00.000-07:00

I had no idea it would be so easy to become a "blogger."