The Beginnings of Toddlerhood!!

I'm sure many are wondering what William has been up to, or into, lately! In a nutshell, everything!! We're still not walking yet, but he cruises and crawls just as fast as I can walk. He keeps me so busy during the day...I just thought that I was busy 6 months ago, ha!! His favorite pastimes are opening and closing anything...doors, drawers, cabinets, anything!! He loves moving furniture around. Last week he rearranged the waiting-room chairs at the ped's office, and he must've thought my mom's house needed rearranging this weekend too, because he gave it a whole new look. For his birthday, we got him a small swing-set for the backyard, and he would swing all day long if we let him! So...what has William been up to????

Oh...a little bit of this

And....a little bit of that

And this...

And a whole lotta this!!

Mother's Day/Dedication Day

Today, we not only celebrated mother's day, but we also celebrated William's dedication today at church. It was a wonderful service, and William was so sweet. They had pictures of him up on the screen, and he was just staring and pointing at them the entire time. It was too cute!

It's important to Jay and I, as parents, to teach William about Christ and His love for us. Dr. Thomas preached yesterday how mothers are their child's first SS teachers...wow...I love it! What an incredibly important and awesome job, to be the first to teach William of God's love and grace for him. It is our prayer that we will be able to be the Christian examples and role-models he needs, and to provide a loving Christian home.

After church, we spent the rest of the afternoon at my parents, just enjoying family. It was a wonderful day of celebration of all mother's and all they do. Now that I'm a mother, I appreciate my own so much more. I appreciate all the little things that she did for us growing up, and all the sacrifices made for her family. I am proud to say that I am more and more like her every year, and strive to be the wonderful mother that she still is for all 3 of us. I love you, mom!

After William's dedication

William's new trick...pointing

His favorite spot...surrounded by ladies!

Sporting his new shirt...Thanks Jessica! He's sooo cute in it!

Our first birthday party!!

Yesterday we celebrated William's first birthday. He won't actually turn 1 until Tuesday, but we decided to celebrate a little early. I don't think he really knew what was happening, but he knew that it was a good time...at least for the adults anyway : ) It's hard to believe that our little baby will be turning 1 this week. This year has just flown by! I am so thankful that God chose me to be William's mom. He is such a sweet, good-natured child, and I am so lucky that he calls me mama. This has been the most amazing year of my life, and I wouldn't trade one day of it...not even a bad one. I look forward to this second year as much as I did his first, because I know each new phase is more fun than the last! Here are some pics of his big day.

Elmo and his friends

the food spread

the birthday boy and his Pops

trying to get a good pic of his birthday outfit

me and my baby before the party

William checking out his friend Jake

singing "Happy Birthday" and his mama tearing up

trying to blow out the single candle (only took 4 tries)

not too sure at first

but it soon became the disappearing cake

the birthday boy playing with one of his toys

Tickle Toes

Lately it has been harder and harder to keep William entertained while I get ready in the mornings. Usually I try to get ready during his nap time, but sometimes that just doesn't work out so well. I've tried everything from letting him play in the bathtub, to letting him play in my jewelry box. This week he crawled up next to me while I was drying my hair, and started playing with my feet (yes, I had just had a shower : ) This was the outcome...

WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?

That's what I thought you said....FINALLY!! My heart just melted!!

WE THOUGHT IT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN, BUT.....

HE'S CRAWLING!!! Even though he's been cruising around furniture for weeks now, William finally decided to jump on the wagon and start crawling. He has brought a new definition to having a baby "on the move". I really have to watch him every second now or he will eat dog-food, try to stick his finger in a light socket or try and pull the laptop off the table (yes, he has done or tried each of these) while my back is turned! And...yes...we have begun baby-proofing! I have gotten a small glimpse into toddlerhood this past week, and it's SCARY!! I'm loving every second, though...well...almost every second, ha! Here is a little video from a couple of days ago. Every day he gets faster, so this is a little slower than he is today! He didn't like it at first, but now that he's figured out he can get where he wants to go, he's liking it much better!

New professional pics!

We had these made of William a few months ago. It was really cold that day, so he wasn't really in the mood to smile, but I thought they turned out really good despite the serious faces!!