Blue Monkey Stampede

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...

Update

Wow, I didn't realize how long it's been since my last post! Time is flying by! William got his cast off last Friday and is doing great. The doctor said it could take him 2 or 3 days to get back to running around, but as soon as we got home from his office and put Will on the ground, off he went! So as far as his break goes, everything seems to be fine. Will got a really gross blister on his heel from the splint he had initially, and that didn't heal with the cast around it, so now we are working on getting that healed up. It's looking a little better but it still breaks open and bleeds every day or a few times a day. At least I don't think it bothers him. I ask him "Where is your owie?" and he'll examine the blister and poke at it and then is bored with it.

As far as my little project, things are going well. We had an almost 12-week check-up today and the baby is growing and looks healthy. The midwife said it's too early to tell the gender and she didn't want to guess, but then did guess it's a girl becuase she couldn't see any evidence to the contrary. We're not putting too much stock in it... we'll find out for sure in 4 weeks. Whatever it is, I think it's pretty cute!

Hangin' Out

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.

Special Delivery

For any of you that haven't heard, William will become a big brother around March 28, 2009!
So far things are great, except for a small bout of stomach flu (not morning sickness, thank goodness!), and if this pregnancy goes anything like William's, it should be pretty smooth sailing.

Are you kidding me?!

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?

Who?!

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."

JACK!

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.