snuggling in susannah's crib

this was a very very sweet moment.

the days before christmas

picking out just the right tree.

enjoying the triming of tree festivities

sibling love

examining each and every ornament

grimes and the kids

thanksgiving

we had a wonderful thanksgiving with my whole family in town. I am a little overwhelmed by the quantity of pictures taken so here just a few from the ones I've looked through so far.

the kids had a blast running through the halls at the hotel.

posing with cousins by one of the tree displays

playing in the leaves

evan hamming it up with mimi

family picture

trick-or-treat

two year molars coming in, not candy stuck in the teeth - promise.

susannah was a duck (again) for halloween this year and evan was a pumpkin. susannah went trick-or-treating to the houses on our street and had a great time. she is still saying "trick treat thank you" several weeks later.

pumpkin carving

pumpkin carving was an interesting event for us. I was expecting susannah to be very curious about what the inside of the pumpkin looked like after admiring the outside for several weeks. when grimes cut the top open and reached inside susannah literally screamed and lept into my arms. she eventually warmed up to the whole experience, but never really wanted to get her hands dirty.

siblings

susannah loves evan and we are so thankful for that. she wants to help with everything and continues to shower him with kisses. here is a picture of her "holding" evan.

our little snoozer

Evan is quite the snoozer. he's actually more accurately known as the snack n' snoozer. he likes to eat a little sleep a little . . . and then repeat. grimes and I finally figured out that the little guy has the worst case of jet lag possible to man. he came from the womb which is pretty timeless into the world, where his parents would like him to sleep during this thing called night. he would rather continue to run on his own clock of getting up every hour or so to eat. a friend put me onto a plan to keep him awake more during the day and see if we can't kick this habbit. let's hope it works!

visit from auntie

Aunt Michele came to visit last weekend and we had a great time. here are some pictures from the pumpkin festival that we went to. we walked through the corn maze, let susannah pick out a few little pumpkins to complete her collection and drank hot apple cider. Evan slept the whole time.

loving being a big sister

susannah is taking very well to her new role as a big sister. the first word out of her mouth this morning was Evan. Here she is snuggling with him and examining his tiny little fingers.

projects around the house

Susannah has taken her love for art to the next level. she got some new art supplies for her birthday and has a number of projects going at any one time. The cute apron was a birthday gift made for her by her friend - thanks Wendy, what perfect timing!




helping dad sand the toy chest he is making for her and evan.

Baby Care

Susannah has taken her baby care to the next level. grimes even saw her burping her baby the other day.

life with two kids

Susannah is very interested in Evan and is constantly looking after him. he probably gets ten to twenty kisses an hour and lots of hugs too. I have to say that it is exhausting not only taking care of both kids very different needs, but also protecting Evan from his often well meaning sister.

question for those who have multiple children - did you come home with your second child to discover that your first had experienced a massive growth spurt while you were gone? I always thought susannah was so little and she seems huge now - especially when she is leaning over Evan to give him a kiss.

September 28th

September 28th was a wonderful day. I had been experiencing "latent labor" for about a month, but this morning I woke up feeling a little bit different. I suggested to grimes that we go ahead and celebrate susannah's birthday since I had a feeling we wouldn't be able to celebrate on the 29th. susannah got to choose the breakfast menu and ordered eggs. she opened a present at breakfast and then got to celebrate with her nursery friends at church. we had these great plans to take susannah to the kids fest at the civic center after her nap where she would meet elmo, and had invited some friends over for dinner and cake. I was so excited about the day, but fortunately didn't tell susannah all that was in store.

susannah woke up a little early from her nap and I was anxious to get going. grimes wanted to see if she'd fall back asleep. I think I knew that we were running out of time even though true labor had not yet begun. grimes went ahead and got susannah up and dressed while I called our friends who were going to keep susannah to let them know they'd have an overnight guest and we'd drop her off after her party. ten minutes later I call again and say we are on our way over.

we timed our first contraction of the pregnancy at 3:36 pm and Evan was born at 6:03 pm, right about when we were planning to have susannah's birthday dinner. needless to say, labor was short but sweet, and we made it to the hospital 18 minutes before Evan's birth. the doctor did make it to the delivery (after running up 6 flights of stairs due to a broken elevator), but Grimes caught Evan - it was an amazing day for all of us.

Susannah got to meet her little brother on her real birthday and had been enamored with him ever since.

celebrating her birthday on Sunday morning.

home from the hospital.

Evan with his big sister's "kiki".

It's a BOY!!!

Evan Harrison Williams

born at 6:03 pm on

September 28, 2008

8lbs 1oz

20 3/4 inches

40 weeks and still pregnant

So, today is my due date, and still no baby. I thought for sure this baby was coming early has I have been having "pre-labor" for over a month now. susannah was born on her due date and I guess I kind of expected the same punctuality from Beanie. I have to say it does feel like things are happening finally, but I'll believe it when I see the baby. we are so excited to meet this little person. susannah runs to the baby's room at least once a day yelling, "baby, where are you."

so while we continue to wait we take every chance we can to enjoy the last days as a family of three. here are some recent pictures . . .


susannah on her swing in the backyard.

susannah sporting an outfit that I used to wear as a baby (yes, susannah is now about the size that I was at a year).

dressing up in daddy's fleece vest. she reminded me of one of those ghosts from the old packman video games the way she seemingly "floated" through the house.

tennis

we discovered a new love this weekend - susannah and tennis. we were watching a little of the US Open and grimes decided to take susannah out for the real deal. She LOVED it! not to mention got tons of exercise racing from one side of the court to another.

nesting

Well, the Williamses have officially started nesting. I have to admit, this is a little scary since it it is very out of character and didn't happen at all before susannah was born. yesterday we washed and detailed both cars. we were talking about washing the car and susannah chimmed in "for beanie." I thought that was cute. the second picture is grimes and susannah cleaning up the backyard and planting grass. I don't have a picture, but last week's project was steam cleaning our carpets!?! Clutter has been driving me crazy and I actually had a fleeting thought of boxing up all of susannah's toys (cruel, I know - I wouldn't actually do this). we are a little more than 3 weeks out from my due date, and all the signs indicate that things are quickly moving in one direction. we are all so excited and can't wait to meet our little beanie!

field trip to the firehouse

This past weekend we took a field trip to the local firehouse with susannah's friend sammy and his family. the kids had a blast looking at the trucks and all the equipment. I love this first picture - susannah was having some teething issues and we couldn't get her to take her fingers out of her mouth for the picture. sammy, being the fine gentleman that he is, put his hand in his mouth too to take some of the pressure off.


susannah loves holding sammy's hand. this is a sweet picture of the two of them.

playing at the park afterwards . . .

a cookout/picnic in our backyard to top off a great day.