It's Fall

My favorite season! I had to take advantage of the colors.

More pictures from this little shoot after we get back from a short trip to Colorado.

All photo's made possible by Mimi

Dirt

Let me preface this post with a fact: Drake is a clean little boy. He doesn't like when his hands are dirty, and I've never had issues with him playing in and/or eating dirt.

Then Bubba came along.

He showed Drake how much fun throwing dirt is, digging in it, rolling in it, and tossing it in your face.

And now, I can't keep them out of it. Good job Bubbs, I REALLY appreciate it.

(here is his mean face, the look given when I told him it was time to bathe)

Visit from Mary

It was so great having Mary here for 5 days! From the second she got here she grocery shopped, cooked, cleaned, fed, changed diapers, gave baths, dressed boys, and didn't stop until she put them to bed. I promise I didn't ask all of this from her, she just did it!

She let Johnny and I go on a date, let me get my hair done, and let me sleep in every morning.

We spent Saturday up in Park City, the first outing we've had with all three boys. We learned that we have to have three adults to handle three boys, and we had lots of fun with Mary , eating pizza and shopping on Main Street.

She is such a joy to have around and the boys and I loved every minute of it! We were sad to see her go, but at least we get to visit her in Colorado in two weeks!

Dad Moments

One of my very favorite things is sitting back and watching Johnny be a dad. He's probably changed more diapers than I have, rough houses the second he gets home until he puts the boys down, and teaches them how to speak Tex/Mex.

What can I say, the guy is a natural.

(the last video is Johnny playing basketball while holding the baby)

Did I mention he turned 32 last week?

Happy Birthday Johnny, I love you.

Baby Conrad

Baby Conrad is finally here! So here's how everything went down...

I called Johnny at work on Friday and told him I needed to get out of the house. I couldn't handle chasing Drakie and Bubbs around, 9 1/2 months pregnant, any longer and wanted to go on a date. We went out for some sushi (yes, I eat sushi throughout my whole pregnancy) and talked about how we were so not prepared to have another baby. We didn't have a name picked out, the nursery wasn't finished, I hadn't sorted all the baby clothes yet, and on and on.

After dinner I wanted to go walk around somewhere to try and make the baby come, but I ran out of energy just thinking of where to go walk around and we instead decided to go home.

We got home, went to bed, and at about 12:30am I woke up thinking I had wet the bed. This wouldn't be too odd considering I chew 4 1/2 cups of ice before bed, but I wasn't quite sure. I woke Johnny up and told him to see if I wet the bed or if my water had broken, and he said "no, gross." So I rolled out of bed and sure enough, it was like the Mississippi River. I waddled around the room, grabbed a few things, called my mom to come over, and got ready to head to the hospital. (I wouldn't have lost so much water had Johnny not pretended to jump over huge puddles everywhere I walked, making me laughing harder, pushing more water out).

We got to the hospital about 1:15am, got settled in our room, and then had loads of time to kill. Johnny slept on a pullout bed until the pitocin I'd been given to put me into labor kicked in. I just hung out, tried to sleep, and played solitaire on my phone. At about 6:00am I woke him up so he could hold my hand through the most painful contractions EVER, and then finally got my epidural. We talked about what to name the little guy and decided on Conrad James Hanna (Conrad had been a favorite from the beginning, and James is my dads middle name). At about 7:17am they said I could start pushing, and at 7:20, after one push, little Conrad was born!

8lbs 13oz, 20 inches, and as healthy as can be. He's as enthusiastic an eater as his brothers, and has been very pleasant so far, only crying to eat.

I'm adjusting to having three boys under three years old and am happy to be able to breath again!

Here is a summary of the last two weeks:

Lots of pictures and details to come... (when I have the energy to go through all the photos)

Forgive the mushiness...

Yesterday Johnny and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary.

We shopped for furniture, ate sushi, and talked about Johnny's desire to be an inspirational speaker to black audiences.

I sure love this guy.

I'm grateful for the two (almost three) little boys he's given me, and I couldn't have found a better match, or married a better man.

Chaos

Lets see if these pictures can summarize what we've been up to...

We've moved in and new homeowner Johnny now thinks he's tougher than he really is

Drake's been enjoying this, day and night

We need something like this...

and this....

And I'm ready to be done with this...

6 weeks to go. Sigh.

Drake Update

One of Drake's favorite things to do is go to the book store. He runs around from book to book, trying to choose which one to get. Inevitably, he ends up with a book on cars, planes, or other modes of transportation.

Tonight Johnny took him to his first movie, Toy Story 3.

He ate half the bag of popcorn himself, and the last thing he told me when I put him to bed was, "Momma, Drakie ate a lot of popcorn....it was sooooo good popcorn"

He wore the 3D glasses the whole time

He and Johnny had a great time together and I love that they had a little daddy-son date!

House Update

If all goes as planned, we'll be moving in Thursday!

Which means me and my big belly will be floating in this the rest of the summer...

Yeeeesssssss

Two Things

1. Drakie has been getting to know his auntie Didi and snuggles with her

2. I forgot that this was your view every time you step out of the house in Orem.

I never tire of it.

(view from Costco parking lot)

Family Reunion in Rexburg

Last weekend we were in Rexburg, ID to celebrate Johnny's step-grandparents 50th Anniversary and a Williams Family Reunion. Johnny's family came down from Montana and flew out from Texas and it was so good to spend a few days with the whole group.

Here are some photos highlighting the trip:

Johnny and his brother-in-law, Scott, and Dad are in this pic in front of the Rexburg Temple.

Here's Adrienne and the happiest guy ever, Hayden

Cousins Ryver, Hanna, and Drake doing a bit of horse riding

Trampoline jumping - you'd think they were 5 ft off the tramp instead of 5 inches

The whole Williams group

And each day was beautiful, with amazing skies!

The End

Drake got into some of 'Didi's' nail polish and this is what he did:

I'm not sure what I was more proud of 1) that of all the things he could've painted, he painted his toenails, or 2)that he didn't spill a drop anywhere and came out walking on his heels afterward to show them off.

Here is a glimpse at how Bubba has spent the last two weeks here at the Allbee's:

He does this non stop, all day, and we have yet to have an accident...thank heavens.


(I covered the microphone accidentally so there's muffled sound)

We moved, across the country, two weeks ago.

My parents flew our kids to Utah and Johnny and I drove a moving truck for 5 days.

4:30am - headed to the airport

Summary of the drive:

1. Left PA Thursday night at 8:00pm, a little behind schedule

2. 8:10pm - "I need to go the bathroom"

3. Stopped behind a burning semi for an hour

4. "You aren't singing that song right"

5. My father owns a grocery store, and there's something in it that starts with....

6. "You still aren't singing that right"

7. "I need to go to the bathroom"

8. Thank heavens for iPads.

9. J - "I'm getting old."

P - "I know. At least you get a little better looking as you get older."

J- "I know, I get better looking every day, duh"

(repeat that once a day)

10. "Bathroom stop, please"

11. "Quit chewing so much ice"

12. Bohemian Rhapsody - song in my head for five days

13. Same song Johnny would never sing right, thus keeping it in my head

14. Lightening storms NON STOP

15. Fast food

16. Holiday Inn

17. Wolverine - the same movie on in the hotel every night

18. Iowa Machine Shed - yum

19. Name that song game

20. "Bathroom please"

21. "I ate your Pringles while you were sleeping"

22. Carthage Jail

23. Nauvoo

24. "If you've been to Wyoming, you've been to nowhere"

25. Back to our baby boys!

So grateful everything went so smooth!

Now we are currently under contract for a home in Orem, lets hope that goes smooth as well so we can move in 4 weeks!

Weekend Trip #2 - Nantucket

I've taken a much-to-long break from packing trying to get this post up before my computer goes back in its box, into a moving truck, and across the country day after tomorrow.

So here it is.

A week and a half ago we were lucky to have Johnny's two aunts out to visit before we left the East and all it has to offer. We had already planned a trip up to New England for the same weekend, and after telling them our plans, they were all for joining us! We rented a minivan and picked them up from the airport, and didn't stop going, going, going, until we dropped them off five days later!

Day1

Here's a little map of the trip we took:

We picked Susan and Nancy up from the airport, grabbed some philly cheesesteaks, and headed right up to New York City. We gave them a car tour, stopping to let them out in certain spots, and finally parked near Rockefeller Center.

The Aunties took the boys for a couple of hours so Johnny and I could go to the top of the Rock and take some photos of the NYC skyline - something we wanted to do before the move.

In this photo, the big dark spot is Central Park

Can you see Times Square on the right?

After taking photos we met back up with the rest of the group and headed up to Hyannis, MA. Johnny and I may or may not have looked into how long the drive would take us to get there, and we possibly arrived at 3:00am in the morning...

We got up bright and early and headed across the street from our hotel to the Hyannis Ferry that would take us over to the island of Nantucket. The weather couldn't have been more perfect and we were in for a great day!

Drake was SO excited to ride on the Biiiiiig Booooaaaat!

Right off the ferry was the main shopping area where we walked around until lunch.

Johnny dutifully did his job as the husband, babysitting the boys while the ladies shopped.

I'm not sure if that is a cigarette or a spoon in his mouth...

We walked around the town and saw things like this....

and this....(flowers were EVERYWHERE)

Then stopped for lunch at a cute little cafe. I someone managed to eat all of my food, and finish everyone elses. Isn't that the mans job?

Oh wait, I'm pregnant.

Good excuse, I know.

After lunch the kiddos were exhausted (and the aunties) so they let Johnny and I go off and do a little sightseeing on our own.

My knight-in-shining-jeep showed up and whisked me off to roam the island.

This lighthouse used to be right on the edge, but the beach is eroding so they have to keep moving it back. It was a beautiful view!

Aw, cute.

The colors were so vibrant, I didn't have to touch up these pictures at all!

After a long day we said goodbye to Nantucket and headed back to our hotel.

I'm so grateful we were able to see this beautiful place, and I'd highly recommend trying to see it yourself!

Day 2

We woke up to, as Drake observed, lots of "rain on cars outside"

(here is the 30 seconds of them getting along)

Morning Johnny driving the swagger wagon.

First stop today was Newport, RI. I've blogged about Newport before, its one of mine and Johnny's favorite places. There are old, historic mansions along the coast that you can tour, and thats just what we did!

The aunties took the boys again - which was wonderful and I have no idea why they kept offering - and Johnny and I picked two mansions to tour.

The first mansion is called The Breakers because of the waves breaking along the coast in the backyard. It was HUGE. Built by the Vanderbilts in 1893, it was their "summer home" where they stayed a couple months out of the year.

Front view, view from the back porch, and a view from the end of the yard.

They didn't allow any photos in the inside of the house, but I couldn't help it. These were all taken while the camera hung from my neck and rested on my belly, so they are a little skewed, but you get the idea. These people were R-I-C-H rich.

There is a trail along the coast behind the mansions that we took to meet back up with everyone.

Before seeing Mansion #2, we said hello to the Bubbs and Drakie.

We had a few minutes of roughhousing before Johnny and I headed to mansion #2.

The Elms.

Almost torn down to build a strip mall in its place.

I didn't put up pictures of the rooms, because this house was all about the yard. My dream yard.

This is the "guest house"

After our mansion touring, we met back up with the family and said one last goodbye to the East Coast...sigh.

We hopped in the car and headed back home with dvd's and lots of snacks.

This was probably one of the greatest little vacations Johnny and I have ever taken. It was such a joy to have Johnny's aunts with us, who are two of the most down to earth people I've ever met! I love that they loved being with the boys and were so generous in wanting to watch them. (I promise they offered and we didn't just take them to be full time sitters!)

We loved every minute of it and I'm so glad we went!