There's never a dull moment when you're almost 2 and everything is a toy, even an empty diaper box!
Whatever we do, Will wants to do it too- cooking, cleaning, working on the computer, and even shaving like Daddy! It's cute when Greg puts a little shaving cream on Will, and Will loves it, but it's kind of weird to me when afterward my baby smells like Barbarsol!
Yesterday Will played in the snow for really the first time. What can I say, aren't these boys just too cute?
Here are some pictures from Halloween and Thanksgiving. Will was a monkey (note the banana in his pocket). He loved all the walking when we went Trick-or-Treating with Grandma Tish and caught on to the idea of getting candy at each house really quick. Luckily he's young enough that once we got home and the bag of candy disappeared he didn't notice. He did get a few treats though.
Will loved watching all Mommys big cousins and uncles play dodge ball at the church on Thanksgiving. He wanted to play so much he kept trying to jump off the stage!
Will is such a good little boy, but I can certainly see a little bit of 2-year old temperment starting to emerge. It usually only lasts a minute or two though. He loves seeing the Christmas lights around town and is very good with the tree. During the day I take care of Joseph, a little boy in our ward. He is 7 months old. Occasionally I go to the grocery store with Joseph and William (really the only place I ever go besides the bank!) and as my pregnancy become more obvious it's getting pretty funny. Today was a great example. The checker asked me how old William was, then how old Joseph was, then looked at my bulging belly, and then continued to check our groceries with a bit of a furrowed brow. I could tell she was doing the math in her head. Of course I never tell them Joseph isn't actually my kid, I just let people think I have 2 kids under 2 and another on the way!
Will learned a new word yesterday- cookie ("gook-ey"). He is also doing well with "m" words like Mommy, mine, and more (more comes out with a New Yorker accent: mmm- o-wa, very cute). If you know me at all, you know that cookies are VERY important, so I'm glad Will agrees with me. Here's some shots of Will and Daddy making cookies. Will is always wanting to help in the kitchen and whenever I cook dinner he will get out bowls and play with them in the microwave making his own dinner.
We had a fun family outing last week to the arcade and indoor miniature golf. Will had fun running around with the tiny putter they let him use and dropping his ball into the cups. Greg won a mini football at one of the arcade games and to his delight, Will loves to play with it. He even likes watching football games with his daddy on TV, although to be fair he equally enjoys watching basketball games.
Well, many of you have asked why our midwife was only 80% sure we were having a girl, and the reason is because we're having a boy! The umbilical cord has been in the way our last few visits, but today it moved and we all saw what is undeniably a little boy. I wonder if this is the reason I didn't feel like any of the girl names we were talking about felt right, even names I've always liked before. Greg is of course excited to have another boy, although he was quick to point out to me that a girl would have been ok too. I'm excited for Will to have a little brother. I'm sure they will be great partners in crime! So far this kid is measuring 4 days bigger than his due date, so hopefully he'll stay right around there and not be another huge monster for me to carry (and deliver)!
We were able to take a little trip out to San Francisco earlier this month to see Tanza play volleyball. We were also able to fit in a lot of sightseeing, and there was a lot to see! Will had a good time and was so good on the flight there and back. In fact, on the way back, as soon as we got on the plane he put his head on my lap and slept the whole way! Tanza's team won both nights and her team ended up taking region. They are going to the conference tournament in 2 weeks.
China town
Blue Angels
AlcatrazSorry about the delay in posting. Our internet has been down for a few days and before that, well... what can I say? So yes, we are 80% sure we are having a girl. Our midwife is a little reluctant to say a 100% girl because it could be a sneaky boy waiting to make his appearence and she doesn't want us to be upset (maybe she's had a bad experience with angry parents?). But I'm sure she's right, that it is a girl, so I guess ribbons and bows here we come!
Will is growing so much every day. It's so fun to be with him. He can now say vroom (for airplanes only), yellow (and identify it), blue (boo), and just today started saying baby. He can also sign "hungry" which he is fervently doing right now, so more later!
I know Talia has been keep everyone in suspense about are new baby. So I will tell you all, the midwife is say she is 80% sure that it is a Girl.
Today William was playing with his friend Connor in our front yard. Connor chased him, so Will ran to me yelling "Ma-Ma! Ma-Ma!" It's the first time he's ever called me Momma! It was such a beautiful sound! I'd given up and have been answering to Daddy for the last few months. The stubborn little man has been saying Daddy since he was about 1 and waited until 21 months to say mommy! What a stinker.
Last Friday Greg told me he was taking me somewhere on Saturday for a surprise. We had to leave the house by 7:00 a.m. (no easy feat with a non-morning person and a one-year old) and we got in the car and drove to Antelope Island where they were having the Antelope Island Balloon Stampede! I've been wanting to go to a hot air balloon festival all summer and thought I had lost my chance (actually I thought getting him and Will out of the house so early was a battle that was lost before it was begun).
We had a great time. The weather wasn't perfect for hot air balloons, which do best in very still air, as we had winds around 15 mph, but we were able to see several launch and an inflation demonstration. Will was a bit scared of the balloons at first becuase the fans and flames were so loud, and then becuase the balloon was so huge, but once he saw that it just sat there and then floated away he decided they were ok. His favorite part was the little train made out of 55-gallon drums for the kids to ride. He giggled through most of the ride and the rest of the morning kept trying to run back to the train to ride again.
They also had a clown at the festival doing balloon animals for the kids and Will got a blue monkey climbing a banana tree. That clown was a real artist, I tell you. If any of you need a clown for your next big shindig, give Bobbo the Clown a call.
I'm so lucky to have such a sweet husband that does things like that for me. We both realized the other day that at the festival we both felt like we are now somehow an official family. Maybe it's because Will is getting old enough to interact more with us or becuase there's another one on the way. Maybe it was just the magic of the hot air balloons...
These are just some recent pictures of William passing the time.
Now that the weather is cooling down from scalding to tolerable, we like to sit on our camp chairs on the front porch and wave to cars that drive by. Will is sporting his new cast in this photo- he got it on Monday and only has to keep it on until next Friday.
Some light reading in Mom and Dad's closet (???)
The iron (cold, of course) makes a great toy for sliding along the carpet. 
Last night I was making dinner and Greg and Will were playing in the living room. Will ran around the corner down the hall and fell down like he does about 100 times a day. He didn't fall on anything, trip on anything besides his own feet, hit against the wall or anything, so we thought he would be fine like he always is. He was a little fussy off and on through dinner, and then we took him right in for a bath. Then we noticed he wouldn't stand on his left foot and he screamed anytime we touched it. We thought he might have just bruised or sprained it and debated taking him in the the after-hours clinic at the pediatricians. I pretty much thought we didn't need to, but in the end decided I would rather do it at 7:00 pm instead of having hours and hours more of fussing and then taking him to the emergency room in the middle of the night. So anyway, Greg and I and the doctor were all suprised to find out Will broke his foot in 2 places! He's got a temporary splint on right now until the swelling goes down and then Monday he will get a cast that will stay on for 6 weeks! He's been such a trooper through the whole thing. Last night when the doctor was applying the splint he had to hold Will's foot at a 90 degree angle for 10 minutes and all the nurses kept coming in saying "Why isn't he crying? They always cry at this part!"
He's been really good considering everything. Occasionally he wants to walk but just cries out of pain and/or frustration and ends up scooting on his stomach or awkwardly crawling around. I'm pretty sure there's no way to explain to a one year old that he should lay on the sofa with his leg up and rest. Poor kid! Anyone have any ideas on how to bathe a baby with a cast?
Ok people, in response to the overwhelming number of beloved family and friends who keep asking "Who's Jack Johnson?", here is a little description from an article about the concert. This is because we are pretty much obsessed with his music and you need to find out what you've been missing! Listen to some of his songs on our playlist here or check him out at www.jackjohnsonmusic.com.
"So who is this Jack Johnson guy, the laid-back surfer dude who nearly filled the Usana Amphitheater to capacity on a moonlight-drenched Monday night? He exudes a beach persona yet his songs aren't as melodic as the Beach Boys and his concert is nothing like a Jimmy Buffett Parrothead festival. He's not afraid to sing a Cat Stevens song about the environment but he's no Bob Dylan.
The singer's deceptively simple approach to music, mostly performing with nothing more than an acoustic guitar, might remind you of Paul Simon, another artist who he covered Monday night, only Johnson's not quite as intense.
His songs touch on Bob Marley-style reggae, but can't be that easily classified and, with his close-cropped hair and plain clothing, Johnson certainly doesn't look like Marley. And the Maui resident and son of a surfer doesn't seem like the type of musician who could fill an arena the size of Usana."
"Johnson was the unabashed star of the night, as was his music. He's a performer with so little flash that he relies on interesting lyrics, excellent guitar work plus ukulele playing, and has a great keyboarder in Gill - all that makes him worth a listen."
The Jack Johnson concert was last night at Usana amphitheatre in Salt Lake and it was GREAT! He sang some new stuff and some old stuff and it was just a lot of fun. This was Greg and my first "real"concert and we had a really good time. We dropped William off at Greg's parent's house before the concert and then spent the night there after. I would like to say we slept there, but for some reason, when we got back at nearly 1:00 am, Will woke up and decided it was morning. Needless to say, it was a very long night and has been an even longer day. It's been a high price to pay to enjoy some live music without the baby, but I think (hope...) it will have been worth it once I catch up on sleep again. 
I think a love of music runs in the family.We found out this week that our next-door neighbors who we've become good friends with are moving to Italy for 7 months in January and would like us to house-sit for them. DJ (the husband) is a civilian F-16 mechanic and is currently working in Oman. He will come home for the month of September, then head over to Sicily in October and his family will follow in January until July or August. They have a cute little house (not as little as ours though!) and a dog and cat they will leave in our care. I'm excited to have more room and a dishwasher! After they get back, who knows where we'll go. We'd like to stay in the neighborhood and Greg will have one year of school left, so we'll see.
William has been able to get down our front porch stairs holding on to the railing for several months, but yesterday he didn't quite make it. The poor kid really banged up his face! It happened yesterday afternoon about 2 hours before we went to the Weber County fair so it looked bad. All these random strangers kept asking what happened and all I could say was "he fell down the stairs," which, I realized, is what abusive parents always say (at least the ones on TV). But really, he did. I guess we're pretty lucky though. This is pretty much the worst thing that's happened to Will ever, so he made it through 19 months a lot better than some other kids.
William loves playing in the water. He's always very (overly?) willing to "help" mommy water the flowers or the garden. The fun thing about summer is that when I'm done I give him the hose and let him go for it. It's usually so hot he's dry in 5 minutes anyway!
I know I am not the most faithful blogger, but seriously, life has been a bit crazy lately. Here is a quick rundown of life the last few days:
Friday night- I have the fever and joined thousands of crazy girls (mostly teenage girls) at Hastings to be one of the first to purchase the new book Breaking Dawn in the Twilight series. Most of the people there were dancing or in costume or pratically hysterical with anticipation while I was propped up trying to stay awake and thinking "I'm too old for this!" It was fun though, and I'm glad I went. Life is a funny thing, though. It doesn't listen to me when I tell it to hold on until I finish my book. So...
Saturday- We got up and followed a moving van to Rock Spring, Wyoming to help Greg's sister move. By the time we got home that evening, I felt like I had walked the 200 miles there and back. (Or 150, or whatever it is...) But we had to hustle to bed so we could be up the next morning for...
Sunday- 9:00 am church which we have to be at least 20 minutes early for because of my new calling as Primary Secretary. I am still not very good at it (this was my 3rd week). But I again managed to survive 2 hours of that followed by a patience-trying hour of sacrament with a 19-month old. William is a wonderful little boy and tries to be so good, but he doesn't yet grasp the concept of reverence, sitting still, whispering, staying here, no yelling... ahhh. Not too long after church we were again piled in the car for a trip to Eagle Mountain to see my friends Steph and Paul bless their little baby boy. (Good job, by the way, guys). We got back last night and Greg got to stay up most of the night with a bad headache and then go to work today while I've been able to sit still and move as little as possible!
It was a crazy weekend full of lots of good things, but I'm looking forward to a nice boring week!
Greg was offered a "promotion" at work last week. He has been working as an engineering intern at GSC Foundries in the machining division since last August. He finished the school year off and we were excited that he had only 1 and 1/2 years to go- Dec. '09! But... the offer of a new position with the company came (because, as they put it, his job had become "too important"). So we traded an additional semester of school for a decent raise, health and dental insurance, a 401k, quarterly bonuses, and school reimbursement. It was a good trade, but we are still anxious to just get done with school! This is a wonderful blessing, though, and we are definitely thankful.
I'm so glad our landlords don't mind (well, really, they love it) my planting up the flower bed in the front yard. Last summer it was grass and now it's full of pretty things- right now the zinnias are looking great. We even have pansies still growing like crazy. It does me a lot of good to work out in the dirt and to be able to enjoy a garden out our front window.
Finally, 4 days after he turned 18 months, William stood up and decided it was time to walk. He walks everywhere and prefers it to crawling and cruising. Greg and I are elated. We knew he could walk, the problem was that he didn't want to- we could coax at most 6 steps out of him before he would get bored and crawl away. The evening of the first day of walking Greg and I were talking in the hall when we saw a little boy nonchalantly walk out of the living room, down the hall, and into his bedroom, and then turn around and give us a mischievous grin.
The sudden walking combined with Will's first day in nursery (July 6th) has made me wonder "Who is this little boy and where is my baby?" But as much as I miss all the adorable and amazing things my little baby did, I love all the adorable and amazing things this new little person can do too. He's so smart and clever. I'm sure there's not many other 18-month olds who can play catch with his parents (and if you know of any, don't spoil my illusion)...
We were able to spend the 4th of July at Bear Lake this year and William LOVED the beach! It was beautiful weather and we all had a good time. I like it because he could get as dirty as he wanted and then I could just dunk him in the lake to clean up.
What a difference a year makes! This is little Will a couple days ago (with his favorite new toy- a pinwheel from Grandma Tish- thanks, Mom!) and a photo of him from last May. This was the first pic we got of him smiling. It's amazing, since I see him from day to day I don't notice any changes, but when I see pictures of him when he was younger I can't believe it's the same boy.
Also this time last year I was still working for the church, Great-Grandma Roberts and Aunt Terry were watching William during the day, and Greg was working at American Fork Hospital and going to SLCC. Wow!
In our garden we've got some lettuce up, along with zucchini, peas, corn, the first 2 potatoes, and of course our tomatoes and peppers that were starts. We also had little purple mystery seedlings pop up in several places and nobody could figure out what they were until I remembered I planted sunflowers all over. :) Hopefully this nice warm weather (ok, pretty darn hot weather) will get the rest of the seeds up. I love gardening!
Here are before, during, and after shots of Will's first haircut. He was really good about it, as long as we kept the food coming (our main method of distraction). The bottom picture is the before- it's hard to tell because his hair is so light and fine, but it was getting pretty wild. Now he's mission-ready!
...and Will has his hands on one of his favorite toys
- the vacuume. It's big, it has wheels, it has lights, what's not to love? It's a sight that would make Great-Grandpa Buroker (a veteran vacuume-repairman) proud.
