We are in England!

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you are enjoying your day with your families!

We made it safely to England last Saturday morning. William was an angel on the airplanes! He was such a little trooper! I was so nervous, because we woke him up early on Friday morning, he took a 30 minute nap on the plane much later in the day (evening time), and he slept for about 3 hours on the overnight flight to England. I still can't believe how well he did! He also slept a little in the car coming to Olly's parents' house. Once we got to their house he did get really crabby, but I gave him a bath, something to eat, and then he slept for a few hours.

The first night he was really off with times, but he has been great since then. Olly and I spent a few days in London visiting his brother and sightseeing, and we left William with Olly's parents. He did really well, but he sure was a stinker when we came back! I was about ready to hop on the train and go back to London again! London is amazing, and I will post pictures when we get home.

We spent Christmas with Olly's parents, his brother-Giles, Olly, William, and me. It was a nice day of relaxing and eating (too much!).

Hope everyone had a wonderful day! I will post lots of pictures in a couple weeks!

William Updates!

Every time William starts a new stage, I always think, "this is the best stage so far!" He has been so fun lately (and a pain sometimes!).

Here are some great things William does:

1. He is so interested in everything around him. He will point at something and want you to tell him what it is. He remembers so much too.

2. He loves to help. He will throw his diapers in the garbage, put his clothes away, and get something for you if you need it.

3. He gives the best hugs and cuddles right now.

4. He says "mommy"! For quite awhile I've been "mama" and now I'm "mommy". I love that! There's nothing more precious than your child calling you "mommy". I'm sure I will eventually become "mother" (with an eye roll!).

5. He enjoys the small things. Last night we bought him some winter boots, and he was so excited to wear them this morning. He insisted on wearing them to daycare. He would point at his boots and say "papa" (because papa wears boots too), and he would also say "pow pow" and pretend like he had his hammer. So his winter boots are definitely his "work" boots. We also bought him Christmas presents (I don't think it matters at this age if they go shopping with you for their presents) and he hardly noticed them because he was way more interested in his boots!

6. He is still my little baby who likes to cuddle on my lap before bedtime. We read books, and then I rock him and sing to him. I think that's my favorite part of the day. My other favorite part is picking him up at daycare. As soon as he sees me, his whole face lights up, he comes running to me, and says "mommy!" I love that!

Just the other day he started saying "ok" to everything. I will say, "William, it's time to take a bath." He will say, "ok". "William, we're going home now." "ok". It's so cute. I just hope that he doesn't learn "no" anytime soon-then we're in big trouble! He is also starting to say "okie-dokie". It's so cute! He is very impressed by Christmas lights, and whenever we drive by this one house (it's on the way home from wherever we go), he says "wow!"

I can't wait until he opens his Christmas gifts-although I don't know if he will be as impressed as he is with his boots! Santa is "hopefully" coming early, because we will be leaving on the 19th for 2 weeks in England. I'm going to stock up on treats for bribery and little activities and toys for the LONG plane ride. We go from Mpls to Atlanta. I believe that's around 3 hours. Then we have 3 hours in Atlanta to run around the airport, and then it's about 7-8 hours from Atlanta to London. PRAY FOR ME, PLEASE!

Christmas pictures of William

Here are some recent pictures of William. We tried to get some shots for our Christmas card. He was somewhat cooperative! I can't believe how grown up he looks. The first picture is from last year. What a difference a year makes! He truly is a little boy now!

William loves Spaghetti-os!

William is just like his mama-he enjoys his spaghettios! He enjoyed them so much today that he tried to lick the bowl-that's why his forehead is covered in spaghettios too! He'll definitely have to learn some manners before he goes on his first date!




William is starting to talk more...here are some of his words:

up you go (not sure where that came from!)
nana
mommy
mama
dada
papa
tractor
car
bear
ball
hot (he thinks everything is hot!)
baby
eat
up
happy
thank you
woof (like a dog)
truck
pumpkin
ow
uh-oh
duck

So, his vocabulary is increasing. I'm not as concerned as I was before, because he's added about 5 words in the last week or so which is great progress!

He still signs as well. He has about 30 signs, and teaching him how to sign has been a godsend!

Here are some of his signs (not sure if I can remember them all off the top of my head!):

deer
pig
fox
dog
cat
mouse
fish
swim
bird
duck
eat
milk
more
all done
drink
rain
snow
outside
please
thank you
sorry
bath
get dressed
sleep
school
work
home
drive
run
love
shoes
airplane

William, The Baker

William and I have been busy making Christmas cookies. He loves to bake! When I say, "William, do you want to help mama bake cookies?" He immediately gets the chair (the chair he stands on)! His favorite Christmas cookie is the peanut blossom. He doesn't like the Hershey kiss on top though, so I have to take it off for him. He loves to stir and pour!

Recent Photo of William & Me...

Olly, William, and I are going to England for Christmas this year! We weren't sure if we were going to be able to go~everything is so expensive =(. Olly's parents generously offered to help us out as Christmas gifts, and we couldn't pass that up! This will be our last opportunity to go over there and not have to buy a ticket for William (under 2 years are free). Technically he's "free", but we have to pay for 10% of a ticket and taxes, so it's not completely free! With the distance and expense to travel, we like to take the opportunity to go over when we can.

Olly's grandpa died recently, so I know he is anxious to see and spend time with his family.

We having planned a "mini-vacation" for the two of us, which I am so excited about! We are going to leave William with Olly's parents for a few days and go to LONDON! YIPEE!!! Olly's brother, Giles, lives in London (near Wimbleton-have you heard of that?!?!), so we are hoping he will let us stay with him. It will also be nice to hang out with him as well. As some may know, I've spent a little time in London, and I love the city. If you ever get a chance to travel over there-GO TO LONDON! The cool thing is that everything is written and spoken in English (Duh, right?). There is so much to do and see in London, so I've already been rereading my traveling around London book from a few years ago. Olly and I had a few awesome days in London before we were Mr. and Mrs. (this was back when we were friends and the first time we'd seen each other again since we met in Cancun), so I want to go back to some of the places we visited while we were in London together.

Here are a couple recent photos of William from last night. Our friends spent the night, and their daughter is close to William's age. They had fun in the tub together!

Happy Halloween!

Here are some pictures of William in his puppy costume. Isn't he just the cutest little dog?!?! He had fun trick or treating at Grandma and Grandpa's house, around our neighborhood, and at my aunt and uncle's house. He was very curious and spent most of the time trying to figure out what the heck was going on! His favorite treats were the mini-muffins from Gma and Gpa, and he enjoyed the Cheetos from our neighbor.



He didn't like getting his picture taken with me, because that meant being away from Grandpa for a minute!

William's Signs...

William's speech is coming along. His most recently learned words are: grandpa, dada, tractor, pumpkin, bear, and dog.

He still relies on sign language as well to communicate his needs. He is up to about 25 signs:

love
sleep
eat
drink
more
all done
dog
cat
bird
moose
outside
thank you
please
sorry
work
home
drive
milk
shoes
airplane
rain

There are more, but I can't think of them off the top of my head.

Halloween Costume Sneak Peek...

Here are a couple pictures of William modeling his Halloween costume! Isn't he a cute little puppy?!?! My mom offered to buy him a costume (and I sure wasn't going to pass up that offer!). She ordered him this adorable puppy costume from Pottery Barn Kids. We liked the bee costume as well, but I told my mom that William can relate more to dogs, because he can bark like a dog and sign "dog"! PERFECT!

He doesn't look very happy, because I don't think he could figure out what was going on! He liked looking in the mirror though! I think his chicken legs and arms look so funny! Don't worry-he'll be wearing black sweats and a black shirt!

First Ice Cream Sandwich

William had his first ice cream sandwich at my friend, Theresa's house the other weekend. He enjoyed it!

What happened to my BABY?!?!?!

He is growing up way too fast! He is looking more like a little boy than a baby! Here are some pictures of us at the pumpkin patch last weekend. He enjoyed petting the horse after he got over his initial hesitation. He did NOT like sitting with all the pumpkins as you can tell from the photo!

Apple Orchard September 28, 2008

It's a miracle! These pictures were actually taken today...and I'm posting them today! We went to the Apply Orchard today. William enjoyed the tractor ride! He quickly got hungry and tired, so our adventure was short and sweet.

He is growing so much! He is starting to talk a little. His favorite word is "grandpa"! It sounds like "papa". He carries around a picture of grandpa Steve and says "papa...papa...papa". He also looks out the window, points, and whines to visit grandma and grandpa. He loves it at their house. He also says car, bear, buddy, duck, and dog.

He is up to about 20 signs as well! Today he learned "yes" and yesterday he learned "thank you". He has also recently learned-please, rain (it was a really rainy day), and cat.

Today he was carrying an empty package of crackers. He left the room and then I heard a door open. He was going to throw the package into the garbage! I better be careful otherwise who knows what I'll find in the garbage now that he's figured that out!

William likes to help with laundry too (I'm teaching him young!) which consists of opening his drawer and putting his nicely folded clean clothes into the dirty clothes hamper!!! I let him help with about 2 items, and then I say, "all done-thank you!" Then when he's not looking I take the clean clothes out and put them back into his drawer.

He is so funny! This is a great age. I'm loving one and a half! We'll see what I'm saying in a few more months!

Quick Update...

I'm sorry I haven't been updating my blog lately. I just haven't had the time to sit down and devote to it. We are currently STILL without a computer at home. =( Now that I'm back to work, I was hoping to make it one of my first bigger purchases, but it's on the back burner now that Christmas is quickly approaching which means we are hoping to soon purchase flights back to England for the holidays. And this year William will be sitting in HIS OWN SEAT! I will not travel with him (or any future children) as lap children ever again for that flight!

Like I mentioned I'm back to work and already SICK =( I guess that's how it is when I'm around 21 little germy children! School has started off well-or as well as it can go. I'm not a huge fan of the first 4 weeks of school. It's a lot of routines, schedules, establishing expectations, etc...my class is pretty good. There are always a few munchkins who require extra EXTRA attention, but that comes with the job.

William is well-adjusting very well with his schedule back to daycare 3 days a week, grandma and grandpa's house one day a week, and daddy one day a week. He adjusts so well to change. He just "rolls with the punches". He has been sleeping in and taking long naps on the weekends to recuperate from his week!

Next week he starts an evening class (with us too!). It's called "terrific twos" and it's through the school district and ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education). There are a lot of fun classes offered during the day, but being a working mom, we can't go. I'm also going to sign him up for swimming lessons. I'm sure he will love that! He loves the water.

Olly is doing well with his job. He is having great sales compared to the other golf pros in the area who are working at the same company. It is quieting down for the season, but at least he can continue to work year round!

Another New Sign!

William has learned how to sign "love"! It is adorable! I don't have a picture to share, but I will post one soon. I've been signing "love" when I say "I love you, William", and he suddenly started imitating the sign. When he hears the word "love" he will sign it.

Love is crossing your arms over your chest/front like an X. It's like giving yourself a hug.

Pray for Grandpa Burge

Please pray for Grandpa (Olly's grandpa) in England (actually Wales) who is sick right now. He is a lovely man. I really think Olly's grandparents, Nana and Grandpa, are two of the neatest people I've ever met. I only wish that the distance wasn't so great so we could spend more time with them.

If I could've I would've put them in my suitcase and brought them home with me when we visited over last Christmas!

Here's a little story to tell you how wonderful they are...when we were in England last Christmas William was 10 months old. He was a little apprehensive around new people, because we had traveled 4,000 miles and went 6 hours ahead (that's a lot for a baby). The day that William met Nana and Grandpa was at Olly's mum (the English spelling for mom) and dad's house for a family get together. I set William on Nana's lap, and he just sat there with her and looked at her like he was studying her. He didn't move a bit and didn't cry. This also happened when we saw them a few days later. He was perfectly content on her lap. It was the same way with Grandpa. He went right to Grandpa and was perfectly content with him. Grandpa brought him over to the Christmas tree and they looked at the lights. I think William already knew just how wonderful they truly are.

William and Great Grandpa

Summer Photos...

William loves to brush his teeth!
William spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house. This is how he looked after his bath...unsure?
William with the little girl Cousin Sarah babysits, Casey. Aren't they so cute?!?!
William and Grandma at Aunt Maureen's pool.
William and Grandpa-His favorite person (and vice versa)




William and Uncle Kevin on the Seadoo.
William in his Ergo baby carrier. I bought this for going up the north shore when Olly's parents were here. I love it!
William's butt!
He loves to "drive"! He gets mad when I put him in his carseat, but I just remind him that he can drive in about 15 years!
My mom took this picture...I love the look on his face!

My poor ignored blog! I still don't have a computer at home (yeah, get with it, Alicia!), so my computer time is limited. Soon hopefully now that school is soon to start.

William has had a good summer. He has kept me REALLY busy! He loves to swim! He doesn't even care if he goes under water! I quickly pick him up, he gives a little cough, and then he has a big smile on his face! Our local pool is a zero degrees pool, so we enjoy going there-NO SAND! We've been to a local man made lake too. It's fun there too, but then I find sand everywhere for the next week.

We've been to the zoo a couple times too. He was more interested in the little carnival next to the zoo!

William is talking a LITTLE bit. He says duck (I think?), car (I think?), mama, dada, and we'll say, "What does Scooter say?" (My parents' dog) and he said, "Ruff".

We've also been teaching him sign language to help communicate. It's really neat! He loves that he can tell us what he wants and we understand him. The light bulb has gone off! Now, if he would start talking too!

He signs:
more
drink
eat
outside (so cute!)
all done (we had to teach him this after one too many times of throwing his plate on the floor)
bird (so cute!)
dog
sleep
please
sorry (after he throws something at someone...grrr...)

Time to Update!

William in his fire truck floaty. He likes it so much that he sits in it wherever!
William and Grandma in the boat.
William swimming at the lake.

William with Nana and Grumps.



I haven't forgotten about my blog! I just haven't had much time to update it these days. All is well with us. It has been a really busy summer. Olly's parents were here for 2 weeks, and we had a lovely time. We went sightseeing throughout the Twin Cities and up to Duluth and the North Shore for a few days. It was a really nice time. I was getting too used to Sue and Gray getting up with William in the morning, bathing him, and everything else. It was nice to be able to run errands and not have to bring him along...one day I even had a pedicure!

Olly's job continues to go well. I'm enjoying my break from work. After Olly's parents went back to England =( William and I went up to my parents' cabin over the
4th of July. William loves being at the cabin. He loves running around outside and going on the boat. I'll post some pictures of him at the cabin as well.