Keep Calm and Carry On

So, I'm a day late, but the Daddy I'm honoring won't mind.

A couple of months ago, I had a meeting or a photography gig to go to. D'arcy asked, "Daddy, are you going to babysit us while mommy is gone." Stephen said, "D'arcy, I'm your dad. It's not called babysitting when mommy leaves me at home with you."

This little story sums up Stephen as a dad. He is 100% a co-parent. He changes diapers, gives baths, reads bed time stories, and enforces time outs. He's even been known to put up a ponytail or two (on more than just his own head). He also has no problem taking all three kids by himself which has allowed me to pursue my photography business and responsibilities at church.

Stephen just started a new job at a company called Exact Target in downtown Indianapolis. The dress code is casual so I wanted to get him a new T-shirt to wear since so many of his beloved T-shirts have holes in them. While perusing the web, I discovered a shirt with this phrase. Read more about the history of this phrase here.


Before he left USAA in May, Stephen was told on multiple occasions that he had a calming effect on the people around him. Our church pastor reiterated this sentiment at our going away party. I began to evaluate how much calmer our home was due to his presence. When I saw this phrase, I thought it was the perfect shirt for him to wear. Just like this blog, this present will be late to arrive. Hopefully it will get here in the next couple of days.

Here are a few shots of Stephen the daddy in action. Enjoy.

Bluebonnets

When I lived in Indiana, I thought March was the ugliest month of the year. It certainly wasn't a month to look forward to, but, instead, a month to simply get through. It was the month when you were longing for spring but winter wouldn't leave.
March is different in Texas. March is the one month of the year that your grass is green and your flowers bloom. It is the month you don't want to end because you know that it's only going to get hotter and hotter. Last year the temperature hit 100 degrees every day from June till August.
This year, the weather was just right for Texas wildflowers. What better background for Easter pictures?
The kids ensemble was lovingly picked out by their Grammy and shipped to us. Let's just say that I'm blessed with a mother-in-law who is super generous not only because she bought all this stuff, but because she didn't give me grief for making some exchanges. See, she bought Julian and Schroeder matching outfits. Not just coordinated outfits, but completely matching outfits.
Now, I know a lot of mommies love to match their kids, but there is just something about a completely matching outfit that screams DORK! to me. Stephen is a self-proclaimed geek, but he's made it clear that dork and geek are two totally different things. Being a geek is something to be proud of he says. Being a dork isn't.
So I took Schroeder's shirt and Julian's sweater vest back. Schroeder got a striped shirt, and Julian got a robot tie. Now everyone has their own, unique look. Thanks Grammy for being so flexible!

First Tooth Lost....Check!

D'arcy lost her first tooth last week. It was loose, then she bumped into a girl at church and it became really loose. I took her to school on Monday morning knowing she wouldn't come home the same. I told the teacher that her tooth was on the verge of coming out. I realized, though, that I was speaking to a kindergarten teacher who has probably handled more than one lost tooth. I didn't need to give him any instructions.
When I picked D'arcy up from school, she was proudly wearing a tooth necklace with her tiny little tooth inside. She had been told by her fellow classmates that a lost tooth might inspire the tooth fairy to come and give her a present. We discussed that the tooth fairy was just me and daddy, but that we might decide to bring her something that night. She put her tooth in the pillow GG had given her that hangs from her doorknob, and mommy decided to put $5 in there. I know, I know, $5 is a ridiculous amount for a tooth, but she had mentioned a week or two ago that she wanted us to go to Whataburger to get a strawberry shake like we did the day before she started school and Whataburger is expensive! That was a run on sentence and these are pictures of her smile sans tiny tooth.

First Steps

I knew it was coming. All of my babies have taken first steps sometime between 10 and 12 months. For the last month, though, Schroeder has been resistant to the idea of letting go. He would grab your finger like his life depended on it, and if you pried his little hands off yours, he would slowly lower himself to the ground.

I knew his confidence had grown, when today, I turned around to find him standing independently in the hallway with a toy in his hand. I called Stephen and began with, "Guess what your son did!"

"Which son?" is usually his reply as many of our conversations begin with this phrase and could follow with something disgusting, something infuriating, something hilarious, or in this case, something exciting from either or both of our sons.

Then, tonight, as I was putting his pajamas on, I stood him up, and he decided to show off his new found confidence and take his first "official" steps towards me. After two or three steps, he fell which was followed by a big smile which showed off all four fangs (as Stephen put it) and one big dimple.

I've neglected to post all his little milestones over the last couple months including cutting more teeth, being weaned, standing on his own, using a sippy cup, eating meat and lots of table food, and saying his first word. His first word is "Hi" and after debating for a week whether he was saying it intentionally, I was finally convinced that he was when Stephen and I picked the kids up from Esther's house after a date night. We walked in, he got a big smile on his face and said "Hi!". Everyone in the room agreed that it was intentional. I couldn't neglect posting his first steps, though.

He's going to be a big brother soon. It's exciting to me to think that he really won't be an infant in August when this new baby arrives. He'll be walking and talking and becoming a full blown toddler. And I'm confident he'll be a great big brother. At playgroup recently, our friend brought her three month old daughter who Schroeder was very enthralled with. He kept trying to hold her hand, and touch her face. Eventually, our friend pulled out the baby's pacifier that looked very much like his. At first, he tried to take it from her since his was put away. To prevent thieving, I pulled his out. He was happily playing when baby Diana spit her pacifier out. When someone put it back into her mouth, he got the bright idea to share his with her. He crawled his way over, and excitedly tried to push his pacifier in her mouth. I think he really thought he was being helpful. Isn't that what he just saw happen? Baby Diana wasn't very pleased, though. I hope he remembers some of the loving torture he's received from his own brother and sister and be more gentle once this new baby comes. I'll keep my fingers crossed for that one.

Those Forgotten Days of Christmas

Before we left for our Christmas in Indiana, I promised to post "12 Days of Christmas" pictures. At the time, I wasn't aware that I would have ear infections on top of morning sickness during our time away. I barely pulled my camera out of the bag the entire trip. On Christmas morning, I took about ten minutes to arrange the children in front of the Christmas tree. Once they were finally convinced to smile, my battery died. So the only picture I have of Schroeder on his first Christmas is one of him screaming while covering D'arcy's face. Oh well.

Our hope for you in 2010

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

two ways of enjoying sprinkles
and a piano and a live Christmas tree.

On the first day of christmas my true love gave to me...

A piano and a Live Christmas tree!

My goal is to post 12 pictures (aka "The twelve days of Christmas" which Stephen says derives from the time between Christmas and Epiphany which is the that the wise men are said to have shown up) over the next couple of weeks. Before we actually leave for our journey to Indiana, I wanted to share a picture of my kids in front of our cute little LIVE Christmas tree. Schroeder is playing his new piano which was D'arcy's gift to him. She had him in our family drawing.

Advent...

Preparing our hearts, minds, and tummies to celebrate Christ's birth.

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas Williams style

I have one green and red storage container that I keep 90% of my Christmas decorations. So, no, we aren't extravagant when it comes to decorating, but there are a few things you will find around our house that help us celebrate the holidays. This is what you need to celebrate the Holidays Williams style.

Fisher Price Manger Set

With lots of little hands around, there is no safe place for a fragile Nativity set. I believe my mom found this last year at the local Christian bookstore. She bought one for her home in Indiana, and I bought one for our church. Before it could get to church, though, the kids had fallen in love with it. Every Sunday, we would tote it back home so we could play with it all week. This year, I invested in another one for our home. Julian is going around telling everyone he got a manger. "A what?" people will ask. He puts all the pieces in his backpack and carries it from room to room. The other night as he was going to sleep he asked that I lay all the pieces down so that they could sleep too.

Nativity Advent Calendar

My mother in law looked diligently for a Jesus' themed advent calendar and found this one which is also great for little hands. My only qualm is that the velcro on the back of the pieces catches the threading of the dates. It's hard to get the kids to stop at just one piece. I've stopped getting upset if the decide to get Jesus out before the 25th.

Godly Play Advent Lessons

I'm the Children's Ministry director at our church. We use the Godly Play curriculum and I have worked their advent lessons into the advent materials our pastors created for their five daughters. We use this at church, and I reinforce it at home. At some point during the week, we'll sit down and reread the lesson, look at the pictures, and light the advent candles at home. We do the last lesson on Christmas morning before we open presents. The picture is something my friend, Joy, (our pastor's daughter) created to help her family celebrate Advent. She generously let me use adopt it for my family.

Sufjan Steven's Christmas Album

I love Christmas music. Stephen isn't a huge fan, but this is an album we can both agree on (at least in December...he still can't understand listening to it in August). It's a five CD set that is eclectic, yet traditional. Check it out.

A Real, Live Christmas Tree

When Stephen and I were dating, I kept insisting that we would always have a live Christmas tree in our future home. It was kind of a running joke. So much so, that Stephen's mom bought me a Christmas Tree stand as a shower gift. The first year we were married, we headed to our local Lowe's store to pick out a tree. We picked a modest $35 one, put the top down on our convertible, and drove it home to our apartment. We had to use our butcher knife to cut the lower branches off in order to get it into the stand. A couple hours and a lot of sap later, we had a live Christmas tree. Keep in mind, that this all happened about a week into finding out I was expecting D'arcy, and by the time Christmas rolled around, I was feeling nauseous. Somehow, the beautiful scent of fresh Christmas trees got associated in my mind with first trimester nausea so for the last five years, we've put up this monster of a fake tree. Well, it's been long enough! We sold our fake one at a garage sale, and next weekend we are off to pick out a modest $35 Christmas tree and put it in our minivan!

Charlie Brown Christmas DVD

Under our christmas tree, instead of presents, you'll probably both our Advent Box, our Fisher Price Manger Set, and a basket full of Christmas books and movies. You may have guessed that we like Peanuts since we have a little Peanut of our own (Schroeder). This is definitely my favorite Christmas special, and the kids love it, too. We have the Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Charlie Brown specials, and last year, D'arcy insisted we needed to locate an Easter one to keep the fun going.

Christmas Cards

I've found a creative outlet in creating a special Christmas card each year. I think three years ago, I sent it via email, but am committed to sending it snail mail from now on (barring any future financial crises). Sending Christmas cards, to me, is such a quaint tradition. When creating a card, I try to strike a balance between giving my friends a taste of what we've been up to all year and sending them a message of blessing. This is the picture we used last year. I hope to post this year's Christmas card in December for all of you to see!

Cinnamon Rolls

I can't remember a Christmas that my mom hasn't made these for Christmas morning. Yum, Yum. I still can't believe that when I joined Stephen's family, they thought the perfect Christmas food was crackers, Summer Sausage, Bill Bolt's cheese, and coffee. Add a couple of girls who can bake to the mix, and now we have some real treats on Christmas day.

We are looking forward to once again being "Home" for Christmas. We've never spent Christmas morning in our actual place of residence. Instead, our tradition is to always be in Indiana with our family during the holidays. We are thankful for jobs that have lots of paid vacation and holiday bonuses that help us make that trek every year. Since Santa Claus isn't really part of our holiday experience, the kids don't get anxious about him leaving their gifts in Texas while they're in Indiana. Instead, they rely on the fact that we'll always be with their Grammy & Poppy and Grandma & Grandpa for the holidays.

Halloween Party

To see some of the pictures from our Community Group's Halloween Party click here.