The Nitty Gritty

The Day That William Arrived One year ago I was beginning the seventh week of my sixth year of teaching. I was a little bit stressed out because I needed to video tape a lesson for one of my projects for my graduate degree and I knew I was running out of time with the baby coming. I was able to find a camera and video tape a lesson that morning during reading time. The cafeteria was serving country fried steak that day and I hate getting school lunch, but for some reason it sounded so delicious. I was also suffering from heartburn the last month of my pregnancy and knew I would be taking my chances eating that for lunch. Well, I took my chances and enjoyed every last bite. When the students left, I felt a heartburn episode coming on so I quickly got my stuff together and headed home. I figured I would have to come in early the next morning to get organized. When I got home my heartburn was really starting to hurt so I laid down on the bed and tried to sleep through it. I woke up about...

On Friday, Sept. 25 we saw Van Morrison LIVE in Las Vegas! My mother-in-law and Dave Bisson came with us. We drove down to St. George Friday afternoon, dropped off our stuff with Grandma and Grandpa Bickmore, and then continued our journey to the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas to see Van the Man. It was amazing! I've always enjoyed listening to Van Morrison, but after the concert I've come to realize what an incredible musician and songwriter he is. The band members were incredible too and Van gave them plenty of solos for us audience members to enjoy. The setlist went as follows: Northern Muse (Solid Ground) That's Life Fair Play The Mystery Foreign Window In The Garden Queen of the Slipstream Moondance Help Me Have I Told You Lately And The Healing Has Begun It's All In The Game/You Know What They're Writing Common One Gloria My favorite was "And the Healing Has Begun." I left wishing I could bring Van and the band home to my living room. Will stayed be...

We have a sit 'n stand stroller and the other day I found Will trying to stand on the bench in the back so I helped him up and gave him a stroll through the apartment. He thought he was the bomb.

I hope to have another picture in 10 years of Will doing this!

We met up with Aunt Kelly and Cousin Christian in Bountiful a couple weeks ago and ate lunch in the park. These two babies are three weeks apart and are as my sister says "partners in crime."

Sounds like The State Fair! The top picture shows the shark tank. It's hard to see, but if you look carefully you can see a human in the tank WITH the sharks. We had a good time eating lots of fattening food and viewing the farm animals and shows.

Good thing it's my old cell phone!

When I was pregnant, Isaac bought a mini red soccer ball for Will. It truly is his favorite toy and I am shocked I don't have any pictures of Will playing with it. We love playing catch and throw with him. It's fun to see how well he maneuvers it. He even loved it before he could sit up! When I saw how much he loved the soccer ball, I introduced him to a basketball and a racquetball. Of course, he loves them too. This truck is the first toy with wheels he started to play with. He loves the noise it makes when he pushes it around. This past week he started bumbling with his lips to make the car sound. So cute. Then Aunt Amelia sent him this taxi cab on wheels and he will spend several minutes driving it all over the furniture and floor. The other day I found a car at DI that has the feature where you pull it back and forth really fast and when you release it zooms off. Boy does he love it. I LOVE MY TOYS!

Last night for FHE I told William that whenever life gets hard he can look "up" and pray to Heavenly Father and He will help him. A good reminder for mom too.

In August Isaac and I saw the movie "Up." After the movie I thought it would be fun to teach William the word "up." I would point to the ceiling and say "up!" He would repeat and say "uh". Well this past week Will finally learned how to add the "p" sound with it and say the whole word! It's soooooo cute! See for yourself...

Isaac took this hilarious video! Will was pretty sleepy, but apparently tried to keep himself awake and refreshed. It's funny he loved getting wet in this clip because on Friday my friend and I took a walk around the lake at Daybreak and he cried when we walked through the sprinklers. Saturday I took him swimming at Abbey and Diane's and he cried when I dunked him under the water. Yet he LOVES the bath. Silly baby. Will's got some tricks in his bag. If I say "Kiss?" He opens his mouth and lays a big wet one on my puckered lips. If I say "up!" He looks up, points his finger, and says "uh!" His coolest trick is the way he can maneuver the soccer ball and basketball. Before Will was born, Isaac bought him this tiny red soccer ball. William loves playing with it and is excellent at throwing it. He'll stay entertained forever pushing it all over the apartment and following it around, picking it up if it gets stuck and throwing it back into play...

Award goes to....WILLIAM! Yesterday I experienced my funniest moment as a mother. I was spoon feeding Will his lunch and every time I would bring the spoon to his mouth he would slam his hands down and try to knock the spoon away. I had good timing until the fourth bite. Will slammed his hands down and food went splattering all over the wall. Trying to be a good disciplinarian, I looked at Will and firmly said "No." He responded with this adorable smile and I started giggling. He kept smiling but then decided to let out a teeny tiny giggle himself. I started laughing so hard I could hardly breathe and the entire time Will sat there smiling. Later I happily wiped the walls and floor thinking about my lil boog (short for little booger) and his cleverness. I discovered today that if I let Will hold a spoon he doesn't try to knock away mine. However he does like to spit out his food so he can play with it on his tray and make interesting finger paintings. That's the sig...