Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Summer 2011 or bust!

I am super excited to enter into the summer months... one because of the crazy winter/spring that we recentely had, and two because I am on vacation.  I only get one month off but my vacation began with  a conference at Seaside, Oregon with Byron and Ty tagging along.  We had incredible weather that is rare for the Oregon Coast. We were greeted with summer like warm weather, little to no wind, and minor sprinkles in the morning.   I was able to work and play in the evenings with my boys. 

One day of work later and then officially summer break started! I only have two weeks of time to spend with Ty prior to our family departure to Kaua'i.  During this time we have play dates set up for Ty, and a  to do list for me.  This consists of cleaning, unpacking, playing, packing for the trip, shopping and decorating rooms. 

The Fourth of July was super fun! Ty attended his first Rodeo with Jeff (a friend of ours), Byron and I.  He stayed awake for the 7 pm to 11 pm showing which also included fire works.  He was able to use his phrase... come on bullseye, and yehaw cowboy! .. This was also a milestone for him in that during the fireworks display he loved each one saying, "mom I love that one!" This was a much different reaction than in the past several celebrations where he hid, didn't like and wanted to go home to go to bed.  So we are certainly growing up.

While in Kaua'i we are planning to enjoy many relaxing activities! Mostly swimming at the pools in the resort, and sight seeing many beaches.  Ty is excited to ride on an airplane for 5 hours. We are excited to get away.  During this time Byron and I will be celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary. It is amazing to me how time flies. We are blessed to be welcoming our second son in Novemeber.

The rest of the summer is packed with each weekend booked in August and September.  We intentionally did this because Byron and I work and we want to spend as much time as a family engaging in family summer activities as well as completing chores and attending a few weddings. It seems like this summer will fly by quickly.  But we are excited to enjoy it!

Monday, June 6, 2011

O.M.G. Time Flies...

Things have become a bit hectic since the last time I blogged! Since the last post on Feb 22nd, 2011 my family has sold our home, purchased a new home, found out we were expecting, turned down job offers and have been settling into our new digs. What a crazy hectic life.  We have had many visitors (namely family) which keep our weekends fairly busy, we have been continuuing to unpack and move in, as well as refine how and what we have.  Byron and I continue to work and try to plan some family fun time and prepare for our upcoming summer adventures. 

A Ty update... He is no longer attending day care for the remainder of the June month as his day care provider had a job literally fall into her lap with the Church in Mt. Angel.  Though he asks daily about going to Meg's because he built wonderful realtionships with his friends there we are thankful to make the change early.  He is getting bigger now. He is funny still, loves to laugh and loves to push his boundaries as most kiddos do.  It certainly keeps Byron and I learning patience and supporting him.  He is certainly an outdoorsman.  He would live outside if he could.  His favorite things currently are to go to the "New" park as much as he can, rid his bike with training wheels, dig and clean and do yard work with his father and myself which is great because we have tons of that to go around. He is super excited to have a baby coming into our lives.  His tender side shines through when he speaks to the baby in my belly, kisses my belly and says I love you baby.  He is certain tha twe will have a girl however, we don't know yet.  So I hope he enjoys just being a big brother.  I know he will be great!

Byron and I are super excited to have another young person come into our lives.  We have been blessed with one and now a second.  We couldn't ask for anything accept another happy, healthy baby.  Baby Williams is due November 14th, 2011 just in time for the holidays and break.  Makes leave options that much better.  We are healthy so far.  17 weeks along today! Healthy heartbeat twice heard now. We will have an ultra sound later this month or in early July.  Just depends on schedules.  Again we are super excited and now we have a larger home to share with our new little addition!

The move was crazy and hectic and now mostly complete.  We had to be out of our old home by April 17th palm Sunday at 12:00 (Noon). Which really meant we needed to be able to get into our new home on Friday teh 15th for a whirl winde move!~  We were not sure if we were going to be able to do it all.  Thankfully we were prepacking for a week or two earlier into a storage unit and were moving essentials that evening.  We also were blessed to have many family members from both sides of our family helping us out as well as friends.  We were so blessed that we MOVED EVERYTHING into or new home by Saturday night!.  The storage unit was cleared out and cleaned up! The old home was cleaned and waiting for the new owners. And the job of unpacking and settling in became a reality.  

The first night was awful staying here. Not because Ty woke up or that he was missing the old home and old familiarity of things.  Quite the opposite. It was because of our cat who meowed all evening and kept Byron and I up.  That being said everyoned is settled into the new home and we all love the space.  It is much quieter now. We have space. We have enough bedrooms for the new little one and for a guest bedroom as well as an additional office space.  We have a wonderful play room equiped with pool table, ping pong table and kitchenette as well as projector and screen.  We are a tad bit spoiled but are feeling like this is the place for us for sure!  We do miss our old spot a little bceause we had our dogs with us and they have been out of our lives for a short period.  They will make their guest appearance soon once our fence is completed. 

So all in all we cannot complain.  We are happy, healthy, with jobs, enjoying family, welcoming new family into our lives and are in preparation for that!  We are blessed to have a newer home with many ammenities that we are enjoying and are making it our own! 

I am hoping to make more regular postings on both blogs and that is more of my comittement these days as I am trying to get back into a more regular schedule. 
Take care & God Bless.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

A New Year never too late!

Hello all my fellow followers...

It has been relatively a long time since my last posting.  A lot has taken place.. We helped Ty to celebrate his 3rd birthday with a snow party for friends, and a family party the day after. Ty has been potty trained with an accident from random time to time. Such an accomplishment.  We have listed our house on the  market and the opportunities are endless as to where we might land.  We have paid our property off and are  making plans for our next big project.

First off Ty had a wonderful time celebrating his 3rd birthday.. yes I said 3rd birthday.. Oh how the time flies. I spent a couple weeks in preparation for the big day.  I worked with a few friends on securing a snow machine which we ended up not needing. I shopped some closing Party Depot sales and gathered up many snowflake decorations. I made cupcakes, and homemade hot chocolate, and put together little snow treat bags. But really the major focus of the party was the actual SNOW! Yes I mean SNOW.  Byron and a few guys pulled off the biggest task.... they brought back two truck beds full of snow from the mountain and unloaded it in our back yard.  The kids loved it..

This was the easiest birthday party for me. The kids entertained themselves! They played with sleds, threw snowballs, dug with Tonka Trucks and rolled in the snow! Cupcakes and Hot Chocolate were a hit as well. Happy Birthday for sure!

It is amazing. A light switch turned on once Ty turned 3.  We have been potty training for over a year. Ty decided that is what he wanted to do and so we followed his lead.  It wasn't until he turned three that we really didn't put a pull up on. Now we have too many pull ups.  It is amazing.  He even wanted to wear big boy undies to bed.  I think I was more worried about the accidents than he was. In fact we have only had 3 night time accidents since he has begun wearing big boy undies to bed.  WOW so proud.  Ty has even decided to tell us when he needs to go and demonstrates his independence by telling us to stay where we are at while he goes into the bathroom.  It seems so easy.  But in hind sight it has been a journey.  Potty training is not really training children but more like training the adults.

After many bids from 5 different professional builders two of whom we would love to work with in the future some time..but certainly not anytime soon, Byron and I decided to list our home on the market with a realtor. Byron and I spent Ty's birthday weekend remodeling a bathroom, entertaining two birthday parties and purging items from our home to get ready for a showing with many agents the following Tuesday.  WHEW we made it.  Now we have spent the past few weeks keeping the house clean, and ready for a showing at anytime.  We have had a few bits and are hopeful but realistic to.  Where are we going you might ask?  Well that is up in the air.  Byron and I are cautiously planning our next location. So to be determined at a later date.

So that brings us up to speed. We are enjoying watching Ty continue to show us amazing new things, be rowdy, and demonstrating his dramatic side.  Sometimes that includes three year old fits.. Boy I tell you.. two was a walk in the park but three is worse.  We are optimistic though that this too shall pass.. and that we will all be the better for this part of the journey. Until next time.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Welcome 2011

As we celebrated Christmas and the New Year our Williams family reflected on 2010. Though all agreed 2010 flew by rather quickly we enjoyed many things. We enjoyed spending time with each other, watching each other grow, appreciated what we have, and the many extra curricular things we have engaged in. We ave been thankful for our health (though lately has been a rough road with the never ending cold!).

With that and the many memories captured in pictures, video, blogs,and in our brains we have closed the year 2010! WELCOME 2011! We are super excited about what opportunities you bring to our Williams family!

What we hope to accomplish in the year 2011 is a rather tall order but one that we are ready to address head on and we are already making progress.  Byron and I have many HUGE decisions in front of us. We have been working with several building contractors in looking at bids, home plans etc. to take this current house down to almost 4 walls and rebuild to our specifications main floor and adding a floor. Though we haven't finished with this process we are excited and realistic about this process as well as comparing that to selling the house with a Realtor. Where would we go.. we are open to the mid-Willamette valley (which covers the current area we live in among many others) that decision is one to be made once we have all the information we need. We finally own our 23+ acres outright! A burden lifted yesterday as we made the final payment. We are super excited! Now on to other things...

Ty turns three at the end of this month and we are busy with plans for his kid party and then for a family party. This is helpful because our family is so incredibly large and Ty has many friends that he wants to include this year.  He walks around saying that he will be tree. :-) He loves riding his new bike that he received for Christmas and still is full of lots of energy.  We love watching and listening to all the new things he talks about and does for us.  Byron and I are deciding where Ty will be attending preschool in the fall. So much fun to know that he is excited for school too! All exciting times.

So as we get into 2011 we are optimistic, excited and open to the many opportunities there are ahead of our Williams family!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Tis the Season!


It has certainly been a while since my last blog post and much has happened since Grannies 90th Birthday party. Since then Ty continues to have swim lessons and is learning about transitions, swimming, and listening to teachers. He is growing up into a fine young swimmer and person.



We ventured up to Seattle for our first Thanksgiving hosted by my sister Amy and her husband Bob. What a wonderful holiday celebration filled with fun, snow, and firsts.




Ty and I flew up to Seattle for Ty's first plane ride. Boy was that fun for him! (Not too stressful for me either). He learned about who pilots were, what they did and enjoyed getting on and off the plane, walking on the tarmac and up the stairs into the airport. Maybe a few more of those small trips then off to a bigger longer flight somewhere. :-)


While in Seattle our family saw Santa Claus (two times one on the Space Needle and one at his house) his reindeer Comet and Cupid and enjoyed wonderful lights displays at the Botanical Garden.  It was a planes, trains and automobile trip for sure. Such a wonderful time of year.


Ty is enjoying trains. We took the Seattle Monorail two times, enjoyed time on the Space Needle, the Children's Hall at Seattle Center had a huge train layout which we watched for hours and went and enjoyed the elements at a few of the Christmas Villages. We had so much fun!

Currently we are in great preparation for the birth of Jesus and the arrival of Santa (should he decide to visit our house).  The tree is up and decorated, the nativity scene is out and Ty and I talk about what that is and means, cookies have been made as well as 10 green arrangements! I have found an interest in floral design and have ventured into starting my own business! More to come on that topic at a separate time. Work is done for the next two weeks and we are enjoying our time off so far. Ty has received his letter from Santa postmarked with North Pole and we read that every day. This weekend we filled our time with a work Christmas party for Byron, cookie baking, trip to Vancouver to visit Grandma Gracie where we celebrated Christmas and sleep to mend our family colds. A few more odds and ends to take care of, wrapping and being Santa's helper is on the list as well. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all may your days be filled with the magic of the season!

Monday, November 15, 2010

90 Years Old!

Yesterday November 14th, 2010 Granny Fagan turned 90 years old! Amazing this woman has continued to be in great health, share her stories and though she doesn't have much she shares all she has with others.  It was neat to see the entire family come into town, some family mind you I have never met in the 10 years that Byron and I have known each other. It was great to see that Granny enjoyed herself with her birthday hat, her Hawaiian lays, and surrounding family and friends. The celebration was complete with records playing music in the background, a dear friend brought his accordion and played music, friends from McDonalds, friends from Payless, and other people with whom she worked back in the day. Of course there was food, cake, sweets, flowers, a little dancing and a lot of catching up.

Growing up?...

It seems as though Ty is coming into his own independence with statements of, "Mommy I do it myself!" and actions such as getting up in the middle of the night to turn on his light and crawl back into bed to sleep. It is amazing to watch all of the new and incredible things he does and says and makes me realize that time is precious. He shows empathy and caring about others, things, people and our animals. For example, we put Jake's pillow out for him (he is getting old and gets stoved up) and all evening Ty kept asking where Cali's pillow was and if we could get it for her. He brings smiles to our hearts and faces and is truly amazing.