Trick-or-Treat

For Halloween this year, Will & I went to my brother Steven's house, so Will could trick-or-treat with his cousins.

On the way there, I came across these deer (I really wish I'd had my "zoom-in-better" lens to get more detail - I don't know the correct term for the lens, & I'm an amateur, so the name I came up with will have to do).

Lily couldn't resist the fun dip before we even got started with the trick-or-treating.

Steven carried Will to give my arms a break (it was still a little warm out to put Will in his lion costume).

Lily Bug, Timmy, Will & me, Zach

Zach adores Will

Not so sure about being in the stroller while everyone else is running around.

Attempting to take a picture of Will w/ a too-big-camera while holding him.

Will had such a great time - he loves his cousins, & he scored big time with the candy, which translates to: I scored big with the candy.

Sick Little Lion

Earlier this week, Will got his one-year vaccines (that alone was a horrible experience).  Now, three days later, he not only has horrible diapers as a reaction to the shots, but is teething, & has a cold as well (this is definitely separate from the teething & shots).  This little guy is such a trooper - even when he feels terrible, he is still such a sweetheart.

Tonight was my parents' ward's trunk-or-treat.  I wasn't sure if I should take Will, or if I really even wanted to go myself (I've been on the verge of a cold too), but I decided to suck it up & make the most of it.  Plus I wanted Scott to get the chance to see Will dressed up since he won't see him tonight for trick-or-treating.

Nana & Scott w/ Will - Scott dressed up as an escaped hospital patient (he had a mullet wig also, but those pictures didn't turn out).

If I would have thought of it sooner, I would have dressed up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, so I could match Will. But as usual, Halloween snuck up on me, & I hate spending money on costumes that you only wear once (sometimes more than that if you're lucky).

 

The poor lion had had enough - he just wanted to go to bed.

I Love to See the Temple

On Monday, I took Will to the temple for Family Home Evening.  When we got there, he was in the middle of his nap, so I let him sleep while I read for an hour (that alone was wonderful).  When he finally woke up, we took a stroll around the temple, had a mini lesson about God's love for us, admired the fountain, & played in the grass.  It felt so good to go to the temple.  It's been such a long time since I've been there, & I forgot how peaceful & beautiful it is.

My best efforts of getting a picture of us together

Will was so excited when he saw the fountain through the archway - if you can't tell.

He tried to do everything he could to get in the water, but to no avail.

Holiness to the Lord - The House of the Lord

Since he couldn't get in the water from the bottom of the fountain, he decided to try from the top.

William's 12 Month Checkup

Will had his 12 month checkup today, & it was horrible.  He had to get 4 shots! The first two were bad enough, but the third one, he was screaming louder than I'd ever heard him scream & was looking in my eyes terrified.  On the last shot, he started shaking - he was shaking so bad, I was scared he was having a seizure.  I just put my head down on the table & started sobbing.  When the nurse gave me the go ahead, I grabbed Will up in my arms, & we both cried together, & I repeated over & over that everything was okay & that it was over. My poor baby boy - it broke my heart to see him hurt like that. 

Weight: 20 lb. 5 oz.
Height: 29 1/2 in.

Will's 1st Birthday!

On Friday, Will turned one! I can't believe that a year ago, I actually gave birth to a baby - amazing.  And he truly is such a happy & wonderful baby.

My mom asked Will if he wanted some chocolate, & he repeated "you want some chocolate?" (with a baby slur). It was hilarious - he was totally mimicking her.

Will w/ nana

Because Scott had school on Friday, we spent that day preparing for Will's party & celebrated with friends & family on Saturday instead.

Gail used to spend a lot of her free time decorating cakes, & taught me how to frost cakes/cupcakes, make decorating bags out of parchment paper, use the decorating tips, & manipulate the frosting on the cupcake with toothpicks & my fingers (I cleaned my hands thoroughly before doing all of this).

 Will kept crawling all over my legs while I knelt on the floor to decorate the cake (no the cake was not on the floor with me, I just needed to get down lower to see what I was doing, & my back needed a break from bending over the cakes for hours).

I wanted a Pirate Monkey & Lion theme, so I used the book, Hello, Cupcake! to learn how to decorate the lions & monkeys, & then added some pirate details.

Lions: w/ mini oreo eye patches

Monkeys with fruit-roll-up bandanas & frosting earings:

The yellow banana runts on the edge of the cake are 'crossbones': I had so much fun decorating these cakes - I never thought I was capable of doing something like this because I don't usually have the patience for it. It turned out so cute, & I'm really glad I could do something extra to make Will's first birthday treats & cake special.

The kids loved them, & even the adults were impressed (it's not normal for my dad or brothers to compliment the way cakes look, but they kept going back & looking at them to say how great they looked. And my niece has already requested princess cupcakes for her birthday). Aren't they fun? And they were so much easier to do than I expected.

We loved having so many people over to support Will, both our family & friends.

My sister(-in-law) Amy w/ Lily, & Timmy

Zach (also belongs to Steven & Amy)

Dennis & Scott

Lily & Carson were both fond of the cell phone.

Leslie & Sara

Ethan & Curtis

Will was all about the hugs at his party - he practically tackled Lily to give her a hug, & wouldn't leave Wes alone until he gave him a hug too (he's never tried hugging other kids before, so it was so cute when he started hugging his cousins).

Little cutie!

Parading down to the pinata.

My brother, Brad, bought fake-hair headbands for Lily & Sammie. I was so glad to catch Sammie pulling Lily's 'hair.' It's so typical of her - she's been doing this to Lily since she was a baby. I love these girls!

Will favored kicking the pinata to using a bat.

Zach was the one to finally break the pirate open & free the loot.

Lily, my dad, & Wes sitting in the grass while Dennis was all over the picture-taking.

Our little family.

Steven & Scott w/ Will: It really pays off to prepare good food for parties. I never plan enough ahead to do this, but with my mom's & Gail's help, I was able to put together a great spread: bread w/ spinach dip, bowtie pasta salad, a veggie plate, grapes, strawberries, little tuna & turkey sandwiches cut up for the kids - it was so good.

Timmy & Drew - they're such great friends & cousins.

Marching over to his cake.

He wasn't quite sure what to think about everyone singing "Happy Birthday."

He also looked kind of overwhelmed by the cake. What the heck was it for?

Will probably ate 3 bites of cake (& only because we put it in his mouth for him) & spent the rest of the time destroying it.

After cake, we all went on a mini hike on Mt. Diablo. It was a longer 'walk' than some expected, especially having to carry kids, but it was so beautiful. I wish I'd gotten some pictures - the leaves were changing to orange & yellow, the oak tree branches were arching over the trail, the moss on the rocks was such a bright, beautiful green, & we even saw deer down below the trail jumping across the small "stream" - if you can really call it a stream. It felt so good to get out & enjoy such a beautiful hike w/ everyone.

Some of our friends from back home: Tiffani, Leslie & Ben

Our little pirate: Happy Birthday sweet boy - We love you so much & are so grateful that you came to us!