William is the big ONE!

It is hard to believe that a year ago today we welcomed William Joseph into the world.  Here is a little information about William then and now.

Born: October 15, 2009 at 2:38pm
Weight: 7 lbs 15 oz.
Length: 19.5 inches

My glowing baby...his bilirubin was high and it took about 2 weeks to finally get it under control.

 JCPenny Picture - November

 Baby Jesus at Church (December)

His Baptism (January)

JCPenny pictures (February)

March

William's first Easter (April)

May

Loving baths (June)

William's first 4th of July

Sleeping in his swing (August)

Crazy hair (August)

One of his favorite activities (September)

Today he weights well over 20 pounds (my guess is closer to 24 pounds) and is getting quite tall (probably around 30-32 inches).  He goes for his one year check-up on Monday, so I will be sure to post his new stats.

William is a mover.  He LOVES to crawl!  He can walk and has taken quite a few steps (including 12 in a row last night), but he gets to his "destination" much faster crawling.  He can keep up with his sisters when he is crawling and they are running away from him. 

William also loves to "bite".  This is not fun for any of us.  He acts like he is going to give someone a raspberry and then he chomps down.  His teeth, the 4 he has, are sharp.  The 4 teeth he has are the bottom middle two and the two on the upper on either side of what would be the middle two.  He is working on four more...we can see them trying to poke thru.  They are the middle two on the top and two on the bottom on either side of the middle ones.

William loves to eat!  His favorite foods are: cheese, mandarine oranges, blue berries, bananas, green beans, and graham crackers (especially homemade ones).  He loves the sippy cup, but is still partial to nursing.  He is a good sleeper, sleeping about 11.5 hours a night and taking two naps a day for a total of 3-4 hours!  He likes playing with his sisters and a few friends, but he loves time to play by himself.  He is content to play by himself for 30 minutes if he crawls into a room on his own and mommy doesn't go check on him and get spotted.  His favorite toy right now is his animal puzzle that makes noises.  Other favorites include straws, his sister's princess water bottle, and a caffeine free diet pepsi bottle. 

William is very vocal!  He cries when he is not happy, squeals when he is excited, and uses quite a few words.  We are also working with him on some sign language.  He can sign more and all done, I am teaching him thank you and milk.  Words he can say include, mama, dada, up, ball, bat, papa (though he won't say it for him), and I am sure there are a few others I am blanking on right now.  He loves to wave goodbye, blow kisses, and just started giving high-fives - which he will do until you put your hand down.

William is defintely all boy.  We say he is going to be our linebacker - he loves to tackle anyone close by and crawl on them.  He can throw a ball and loves to do it.  He empties out my cabinets when I am not watching and is constantly climbing.  His favorite place to climb right now is on our fireplace ledge.  Once on it he crawls across it.  He also loves to crawl on the blue dog.  He uses this as a step stool.  Yep, he is definitely boy.  He will go anywhere and get into everything!

We have enjoyed this last year and the joy William Joseph has brought to our lives.  We look forward to next year and all that is to come. 

Happy 1st Birthday William!

Love,
Mommy, Daddy, Julianne, and Katelyn

GREAT NEWS!!

I am sitting at the computer all excited and overwhelmed.  Today Brian took a position with Avera in Sioux Falls.  He is their new Executive Director, eCARE Operations.  I am so excited for him and for our family! 

When Brian and I got married and he graduated with his Masters for Minnesota, we believed that living in or real close to Sioux Falls would not be a reality.  Brian loves rural healthcare and what it has to offer.  I accepted this and we went on.  I thought that if we ever lived within 2 hours we would be lucky.

After graduating he took a job with Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City and we lived in Warrensburg while I got my Master's degree.  Next we moved to Trenton and he worked for Wright Memorial Hospital.  Brian's third job was with Hedrick Medical Center in Chillicothe.  We thought we would be in Chillicothe for quite some time.  In fact, when we made it to the 2 year mark I was so excited.  It seemed he changed jobs about every 2 years and that meant a move. 

And while we made it past the 2 year mark in Chillicothe, this spring life changed.  Brian started looking for a new job.  After a few months of praying, worrying, looking, and more praying he found a position with Avera.  The position he found wasn't the right fit, but it led him to the position he will be starting.  Unfortunately that story and job search isn't quite that easy.

While I prayed, I also cried.  I don't like the unknown, uncertainty, or change.  But really, who does?  He did interviews, both on the phone and in-person.  We even made a trip to Columbus, Nebraska as a family so we could see the town, look around and found out what it had to offer.  The position Brian interviewed for seemed a perfect fit.  The town was very nice and had a lot to offer to our family.  I thought to myself, I could live here.  Then we got the dreaded call, he didn't get the job, they hired the other candidate.  I questioned that day why this happened.  I wanted to know and wanted answers.  I wanted certainty in my life, I wanted control. 

We moved forward and Brian kept searching and interviewing.  I continued to pray.  Some days the prayer seemed hard and I just wanted answers and I wanted them now!  Wow, I felt like a little kid who is learning patience.  Then, I thought of the words I told Julianne so many times to cheer her up and calm her down, "Enjoy each day we have here.  Focus on each day and don't worry about the future".  Wow, that is what I needed to do.  From there I decided that I needed to do that.  Have fun, hang out with friends, play, swim, and enjoy the time. 

But still, I wondered why he didn't get the job that seemed such a good fit.  Today though, I know why...God had better plans for us!  We could not see the future to know that we WOULD have the chance to move back to the Sioux Falls area.  God did know and while getting us there he has taken us on an amazing journey and blessed us with 3 wonderful children. 

We thank each of you who have blessed our lives along our journey.  We thank God for each of you. 

We have a lot to look forward to with this next move, but we also will shed some tears as we move away from some great friends. 

Brian will be starting his new job next week.  The kiddos and I will be hanging out in Chillicothe.  We have a house to sell.  So, the uncertainty continues, but I know that God has a plan and I will wait to see what he has for us.  I am blessed to be living life each day and look forward to all the fun times ahead!

JCP pictures

When we were back in Sioux Falls for the 4th of July weekend, my mom and I took the kiddos to have pictures taken.  I was a little late in getting them done, but they did get done.  These are Julianne's 6 year pictures, William's 9 month pictures and Katelyn is 3.5 years in them.  We got lucky and they had the Harley prop bike there.  It was a fun time!

I love this picture of Julianne.  She looks so innocent in this picture!

Especially for Papa!  He is teaching his grandkids well.  They all love motorcycles!

Katelyn, my "rough" biker babe.

He just wanted to climb all over it.

William even got a chance on the bike!

My cloth diaper boy!  He is so sweet and loveable.

I hadn't planned on being in any pictures, but got to do a few.  William and Katelyn fell asleep on the drive to JCP's and William did not wake up in a very good mood.  So, the first pictures I joined the kiddos so William would not cry.

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe it is already July 27th!  This summer is flying by.  June was a busy month for us.  It started out with Julianne's dance recital, followed by a visit by Becca's family, and finally a visit by Brian's family.  We enjoyed all the time we got to spend with family.  We also kept busy working on the house.  We are nearing the end of the house projects and it feels great!!

July has also kept us busy, but I am not 100% sure what we have been doing.  I do know we have enjoyed alot of fun family time. 

I am hoping to get some pictures up soon, our main computer has been giving us trouble, but it seems to be up and running now.  I have around 2000 pictures to sort thru for posting! 

Enjoy your summer and stay cool!

Happy 6th Birthday Julianne!

The night before Julianne's birthday we went to El Nopal to celebrate her birthday!  We had a great time and she LOVED being the center of attention.

On her birthday she got a special treat for breakfast, donuts. 

We went and had lunch with her at school.  They happened to be having a picnic lunch on her birthday.  It was so much fun to eat outside with her.  Katelyn was excited because she got to stay and enjoy recess with Julianne and her friends.

Julianne was the "snackster" on her birthday.  Brian and I went in for snack and made each of the kids banana splits for Julianne's birthday snack.  Her class also sang Happy Birthday to her.

Brian and I gave her a birthstone necklace for her birthday.

Another birthday celebration at El Nopal! 

Happy 6th Birthday to my vibrant daughter!  You make me smile, laugh and cry.  I wouldn't trade you for anything.  You are a precious gift who has taught me so many things in 6 years.  I love you!!!