First Birthday

This past Saturday Will turned one! We are so grateful that we were able to celebrate Will's birthday with family and friends. I decided that I wanted his birthday colorful and I think Will enjoyed it. I made a birthday banner and Will noticed it immediately that morning and kept staring at it, it was so cute. I found the tutorial for the banner here.






I also attempted to make Will a cake. I have never decorated cake before, so I think it turned out pretty good considering. I, however, do not think cake decorating is for me, but I will give it another try eventually.





Will loved the balloons. When Joe brought them home he carried one around with him for a good 10 minutes. I love to watch Will explore new things. It was fun to watch Will with his birthday cake. He was a little hesitant at first, but quickly realized he could make a HUGE mess. He had a few bites, but really had fun smashing it.










Will was spoiled and loved all his presents! It was such a nice day. Here are some more pictures, just in case you are not picture overloaded yet.







I can tell that Will is understanding so much more now. Here are somethings he has be up to this last month:

- loves to toss and kick balls
- learned that things bounce better on a hard surface rather than carpet
- loves to go on horsey ride
- exploring his environment
- loves to play chase and peek-a-boo
- likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
- is trying to stack things
- will not hold still long enough to take a picture
- still loves to read books and will bring them to you

Happy Birthday Will. We love you so much and could not have been blessed with a better boy, you definitely brighten up our lives!

11 Months

Will turned 11 months yesterday. He is as busy as ever and I love it. Lately when Joe or I (especially Joe) start laughing, Will will start a forced laugh to laugh with us, it is so cute. Here are some 11 month pictures.






Will has been taking steps for awhile, but this last week he has seemed to have figured it out. Here are a couple of videos. The first one is from April 14. The second one is from today.





Some things that Will has been up to this month:

- walking
- uses a sippy cup
- stopped using a bottle
- babbling and saying mama and dada more
- got a new tooth (eight total)
- looks at books by himself
- has some stranger anxiety
- loves to play outside
- likes to laugh with mom and dad

Chart and Bags

Several months ago I saw some growth charts on etsy. I got a little nostalgic about when I was young and how my mom marked my height on the wall paper. I loved to see how I had grown. So I decided to make my own for Will. Well after SEVERAL breaks from the project I finished. HURRAY. I wanted to be able to mark every year on there so I finished it just in time because his birthday is in a month





Like most of my projects, it ended up not being as simple as I thought, but it would have been WAY easier if I had picked different paper or maybe found some wrapping paper that I liked, oh well maybe I will try again eventually. Plus I realized that I am not the best at modge podge, any tips on how to get the bubbles out of the paper?

A really simple project that I made is a bag to hold Will's bath toys. Even though it was easy it has been so helpful and now Will's toys are not taking over my bathroom. I found the idea here



The last project that I have done is a purse and I am pretty excited how it turned out. I used the McCall's pattern 6045.





Here is the inside of the purse, there are some pocket in there but it is hard to see.

Dinner time

Yummy food = clean face



Not so yummy food = is there a kid under all that food?



I was wondering if anyone has any advice. I am trying to switch Will to nursing only the morning and bedtime because I don't think that he is getting enough fluids. He has always taken a bottle and formula fine, but since I have tried the switch he will not take bottle even when I am at work. Joe has tried putting formula in a sippy cup, but he will not accept that either. I would love any suggestions.

Am I ready for summer... you better believe it!

The last two weekends have been a lot of fun. Last week we went to Liberty Park with Will. Unfortunately, it was a spur of the moment decision, so I didn't have my camera. Will liked to watch the duck and seagulls and playing on the big hill. Next time we will have to bring some "ducky bread." I miss living close to that park, it was so nice to visit.

The next day was the Salt Lake Marathon. Joe decided to run the 1/2 marathon. His goal was to run it in 1 hr and 35 min to 45 min. His time was 1 hr 34 min and 53 sec. I am so proud of him and happy that he beat his goal. You can see the 1/2 marathon results here .

I decided to run the 5K. I was a little nervous because I haven't timed myself since Will was born. My goal was to finish under 30 min., but I was really hoping to finish under 27:44 (my time the last time I ran it). I finished it in 28:24, so I reached one of my goals and gave me the motivation to work on the other. It was a beautiful day and it was nice to run. The 5K results are here .

Later that day we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and took Will to the Gateway Mall. We took Will to the Clark Planetarium and watched the ball display. Next we took Will to the Olympic Fountain. He loved it, and if mommy didn't stop him he would have playing in the water, maybe later in the summer.

Today we went to the Living Planet Aquarium. It was a lot of fun. Will loved the fish just as much as he did watch all the different people. I find it cute how he has stranger anxiety, but if there is another child he wants to be friends :). I was amazed how well he payed attention to the exhibits. Much cooler than our fish tank at home!







I love summertime and I can't wait to spend it with my family. It is so neat to be able to expose Will to outside rather than keeping him cooped up. Yes summertime is the best.

10 Months

My little boy turned 10 months old on Monday. He is learning and growing so fast, and I love to watch him learn. Here are a few pictures.







We had a wonderful Easter. It was nice to watch conference and spend time with family. Will was so cute with the Easter basket Grandma Moyes bought him.





Somethings that Will has been up to this month:

- learned to stand without pulling himself up on anything
- taken five steps
- got another tooth (7 total)
- getting better at the sippy cup
- exploring the house
- loves to be swung and pulled around in a blanket
- gets upset and cries when the above activity is stopped
- loves to push things into the bath tub
- begs for mommy's and daddy's food
- eats more solid foods like crackers and cheerios
- being the cutest little boy

Stress Reliever aka More Projects

I have learned that projects can be a great stress reliever. I have never been a patient person and waiting to hear if Joe got into law school, well lets just say that the projects have been nice. This is what I have been up to.

This first project was a restaurant high chair cover. It works great even though you can't see it very well in the picture. I especially love the straps to hold his toys. I used the McCall's pattern 5604.



This next project a good friend gave me a outline of the bib. It is absolutely wonderful, the size makes it so it covers his clothing so well. The vinyl on it is a lifesaver, especially with carrots!



The same wonderful friend also gave me the pattern for a baby sling, thank goodness for great friends! I am still trying to get Will use to it, especially since he is getting bigger and heavier. A little support while carrying him on my hip would be nice. Who knows if he will ever like it.



When I graduated from pharmacy school a couple of years ago I decided I needed to pick up some new hobbies to fill the newly acquired free time. I learned how to knit and decided to knit myself and Joe a scarf. I finished mine and got a foot into Joe and then it ended up in a drawer. Two years latter, I re-taught myself how to knit and I FINALLY finished Joe's scarf! I also decided to try the knitting looms and did a trial hat for Will. Now to use the right thickness of yarn.



Next I made some soft blocks for Will. I found a great tutorial, however, it was after I started so I didn't get the full benefit. The tutorial I used was here . I did my blocks a little differently. I sewed all the edges except one and then smashed the foam and worked with it until I got it how I wanted it. I also hand sewed the last edge.

This is what usually happens with the blocks.
Before



After



For Christmas Joe's mom got his brother a towel with a zipper pocket in it so that he could take it to the gym. When Joe saw it, he wanted one too. I decided to make it so that I could customize the size to what he wanted. I haven't put in a zipper since high school and honestly I could not remember how to. Thanks to the Internet I was able to find a series of video demonstrations here



The projects have been a lot of fun and a good distraction, now to think of some more projects to do. Maybe a quilt if I ever get over the intimidation factor.