meeting the new baby

What runs through the mind of a toddler when they are introduced to a new sibling? As a parent of multiple children, I understand now the agony of purposefully ruining your child’s life as they knew it. I was sharing with a friend that, even while I was in labor and pushing, I was thinking of my little girl . . . my baby girl. So, when it came time for her to meet her brother, Josh and I were a nervous wreck. And, in all honesty, it did not go too well. We cut this video short when Abby completely melted down in the hospital room. There was no consoling her, and she threw an impressive tantrum to boot. Thankfully, the super sweet hospital staff was completely understanding, and offered her treats, a “big sister” bracelet, and gave Josh and I plenty of reassuring “it’ll get better” looks as we carried Zack (and wheeled a sobbing Abby) out of the hospital.

But, this video does capture a sweet moment, as our first baby is trying to get herself excited about our second baby. Enjoy!

a little note to a little man

Just wanted to let you, Zachary, know how your first week has been.

You have the cutest little face and you make people smile when they hold you . . . especially when you smile at them. I know its not gas, cause you do it most right after you’ve had a little snack and you’re content. What may be cuter is when you scrunch your forehead up like a Shar-Pei and purse your lips for extended periods of time (which I still haven’t landed on whether you doing Magnum or Blue Steel).

For the most part, you are a wonderful nighttime sleeper. Even though, more recently, you like to wake up one time, to nurse and poop for a couple hours straight. I will take that over more frequent awake time, so keep up the good work.

We found out that your beautiful olive complexion is due more to a little jaundice than your Italian-ness. However, you pretty much are a mini-me of your daddy, so odds are, you won’t need to duck out of the sun like your sister and mommy have to.

Your sister really does love you, but she sometimes has a hard time sharing her mommy and daddy. She is demanding to be the center of attention, only cause she’s used to it. I promise she will start acknowledging you as her little brother soon. For now, she really enjoys “holding” you, pointing out your face parts, and giving you gentle kisses.

You have (pleasantly) surprised your mommy and daddy with how much hair you have. That is something that both your parents are lacking in a bit, so we are hopeful that you never have to deal with that issue. However, what is even more precious are your fuzzy shoulders and back. Only now does your daddy have that problem. Looks like we may be buying you a razor a little earlier than we planned.

Your parents ARE NOT skilled in the area of changing a little boy’s diaper. About 30% of your diaper changes provide us with a little shower, and we can’t seem to catch it quickly enough. It actually makes us giggle most of the time, except for the time you peed right in your face. Sorry about that little guy! We WILL get better at this.

You met your doctor yesterday who thought you were the cat’s meow. And since the rest of the staff loves seeing your sister, they couldn’t wait to meet you as well. The doctor let us know you were at fit as a tiny fiddle, and you’ve even managed gain back your birth weight, which is impressive for the first week. To the chagrin of my anatomy, you’re a good little eater, but we’re finally starting to get in sinc which makes nursing more and more precious.

Your whole family loves you very much, even though we are just getting to know you. You have had a very special visit with daddy’s mommy and aunt, and your mommy’s family is just waiting on pins and needles to hold you. AND there’s a whole bunch more family members, in far away states, who have sent you and mommy and daddy their love, and a church family close by who also loves you without even meeting you. What a blessed little guy you are!

We thank God for you, little man, and can’t wait to get to know you . . . and for you to know your family. I think you will like the 3 of us. We’re all a little nutty, sometimes a little anal-retentive in our own ways, a little dramatic, but we love to laugh and to make people laugh, so I hope you like tickles, impersonations, and dry-humor, cause we do that well.

Well, I should end this (lest I lose the support of the FABULOUS friends and family who read this blog).

Love you Handsome Boy!

zachary’s first day

Click on the picture for a glimpse of Zack’s first 24 hours.

our busy day

Meet the newest love of our life…

Zachary (Zack) Cameron Williams

Born on June 23, 2009 at 2:32 pm

7 lbs 12 oz and 20 in

father’s day at the park

Josh’s Father’s Day celebration was super laid back. We had actually planned on going into the hospital to meet our little guy the following day (today), so our time with Abby all by herself was just precious. We headed to the park just after nap (hence the serious bedhead). She is one busy little girl, but Josh managed to keep up with her pretty well.

last couple days

Been wanting to update you all on our life the last couple days. Here it is in a nutshell…

-We have been scrambling to change our plans and expectations for Zack’s arrival, since we got the call that the hospital is booked on the day we had originally planned on. While we knew there was a “slim chance” of this happening, I still got my hopes up for being induced on Wed. Now, our options are to go in tomorrow, a week from tomorrow, or wait for him. The real issue has been that we want to maximize his and Abby’s time with our families, for all the help they’ll bring, and so that they can get some good Grandkid love. Just goes to show you how little control we really have over life, and maybe . . . just maybe . . . I’ll learn to accept that God’s plans are way more beautiful than the ones I try to orchestrate.

We’ll keep you posted!

-Abby’s decided she’s too busy exploring and playing to eat. This is one of those normal toddler things . . . but it makes me crazy! Otherwise, she is doing really well. We sense that she knows about an impending change, and have tried to make it a point to talk very openly about her brother. But our hearts have been heavy for her, since she has NO IDEA what’s about to happen. Again, that is why we are so thankful our families are going to make the journey up.

-My birthday was yesterday, and involved a sweet husband who prepared a delicious breakfast, a couple homemade cards from Abby, a fab sale at Old Navy, a wonderful nap, and more than a couple rounds of singing and dancing to ‘Single Ladies’ (which Abby is obsessed with right now!)

-With the exception of being really tired and a little uncomfortable, I am feeling really well right now. Its ironic that I have been sick throughout the whole pregnancy, and now, in my 40th week, I feel great . . . and contraction-free. This is slightly frustrating, since I would have LOVED to go into labor naturally. But, it didn’t with Abby who was past due, and something tells this pregnancy is heading in the same direction.

-Today is Father’s Day, and we are hoping to spend some good quality time together. Our neighbors have invited us over for some yummy Middle Eastern cuisine, and we may enjoy a little trip to the park (pending rain). But nothing says “Happy Father’s Day” like having to pack for the hospital, and putting away last minute laundry to make way for the arrival of family members . . . tiny ones and ones we have waited WAY TOO LONG to see.

Can’t wait to share a little more about our journey this week.

sleep training mommy

Ten days from today, I am going in (with the help of Pitocin) to meet little Zachary . . . unlesss he decides to make his ta-da entrance into the world early. As I am continuing to learn from my toddler, kids don’t always have the same plans. In fact, I believe Abby, in her infinite wisdom, has decided to prepare her dear ole’ parents for sleepless nights with a newborn by waking up in the middle of the night . . . and staying awake for hours on end. This has come as a shock to both Josh and I, as Abby has always been a WONDERFUL sleeper. (Serves us right for priding ourselves on how well we trained her to sleep.)

So, Abby and I are staying home from church, and are going to try to catch up a little on the sleep. But, as I am writing this, Abby is orating what sounds like a graduation speech. So, our naps may not happen.

Stay tuned…

busy bodies

We’ve had so much going on the last week and a half, and so many pictures have been taken, but I am exhausted. So rather than do a whole bunch of posts, here’s the lowdown…

A tour of Starbucks corporate, thanks to Carrie…

A bachelorette party that ended in a trip to the hospital. Ok, actually I had to leave when the party was just getting started. Just a few too many pre term contractions.

A trip to the market…

The wedding of our dear friends, the Fowlers…

A visit to the Needle…

A knock on the door and surprise visit by my best friend from So. Cal…

A heat wave and a trip to the lake…

Lots of time for Abby to share her Mommy with a baby boy…

A taxi ride through the mall…

A delightful baby shower for me and little Zack, thanks to the Nussbaums…

And a Daddy who can’t wait for more moments playing with a baby girl AND boy.

can’t wait…

My official due date is June 28th. Something tells me (chasing a busy toddler, unseasonably hot weather, swollen hands and feet) that Zack and I will not be one for that long. Can’t wait to meet our little man!

az visitors

We’ve got some wonderful friends staying with us for the week. We have known the Shrader family for years, and have been friends, students, coworkers, babysitters, teachers, employees to various family members at various times over the last 15+ years. So getting to have them stay with us and show them "our" stomping grounds has been a real treat. They came up to see our good friend, Forrest, get married, so what a blessing to us that they needed a place to stay…and that we live 20 minutes from the wedding site and Forrest’s lovely fiance.

Being from Arizona, they (well, mostly Mollie ) have been a little disappointed that we have had some GORGEOUS warm sunny weather since they’ve shown up. But, the sunshine made our trip to Pike Place that much more enjoyable.

Knowing it was gonna be a little crowded, we decided to ditch the stroller and wear Abby. We realized this was the first time in a LONG TIME that we had pulled out the Kelty Kids carrier, and Abby LOVED IT! She was in heaven being on Daddy’s back, and able to see all the sights at the market.

We had a little picnic lunch with the family and some other friends on the lawn across from the market, the perfect place for a little family pic. Abby is so enjoying having some "big sisters", that I’m pretty sure she’s not gonna let them go without a fight (or at least a temper tantrum and some tears). Thankfully, they will be with us till Tuesday, so we will be able to have a little more fun before they go.