Happy New Year

Can't believe it's time for another year already!  Here's a look back at some of the things Brian and I experienced this last year....

In January we moved in to our rental house and appreciated all the help from family with painting, moving boxes, sweeping and setting up!

Then loved hanging out at our new place and just relaxing...

And I had fun decorating our bedroom

I started to show...

and we found out it would be a BOY!

We went to Arizona to visit Mike and Joelle...

(the belly continuously expanding..!)

All the while I kept growing and growing...

And had a baby shower thrown by my besties

My sister Rachel got engaged and asked the "family band" to perform, so we had to practice...

It was semi-organized chaos...

Izzy got his first haircut

And I spent a LOT of time painting and decorating the baby's room...

My baby sister got MARRIED! (weird...)

I got close to the bursting point, gained a fat face

and cankles...

so my doctor thought I should be induced!

We went in Monday night and they taped my cervix for a slow induction

Then Tuesday morning they broke my water and started contractions and the real fun began....

It was all worth it though because a few long hours later, Baby Legend was here!

The nurses took him away and got him cleaned up...

And then Legend was able to meet his family!

 before we knew it (and well before I'd gotten enough sleep...) it was time to go home,

hang out with more family,

(with liam)

meet the dog,

and try to get some sleep...

My good friend Carly came and took some fun newborn pictures of Legend

and we noticed he was looking a little orange...

So we went to his 2 week appointment and found out he had pretty high levels of jaundice, so it was back to the hospital for us!

Legend was a trooper! (he seemed to really like the warm lights)

Legend got his levels down and the next month we went on Legend's first and our last annual family trip to Bear Lake

We went to the State Fair and the Rodeo even though it was a rainy day

and Legend and Izzy continued to get to know each other.

We enjoyed the last little bit of warm, summer weather by spending as much time outside as possible

and I dyed my hair dark (something I've always wanted to do...)

and got mad at izzy and accidentally slammed my finger in the door.

and eventually lost the nail, (yuck!)

It started to cool down which made our walks a little chilly,

and had Halloween which was sort of a bust because Brian had to work and Legend had an ear infection...

So I carved pumpkins by myself.

Trevor and Sherstin announced they would have a baby this May, 2012!

Legend got too big for his baby seat so we upgraded,

we met great Grandpa Williams from New Zealand,

And Izzy got in BIG trouble...

I redecorated the kitchen while Legend took naps or after he went to bed.

We met cousins Elsie and Alia and all three were blessed together, then spent Thanksgiving with Grammy and pops

then had fun decorating for Christmas!

Legend is becoming a pro at sitting and getting bigger and bigger every day,

and giggles at the dog all the time. They love each other!

We are grateful for a great year! Bring on 2012!

Decorating for Christmas

This is the first year I actually had ROOM for a FULL SIZE Christmas tree!  Brian and I bought one after Christmas for really cheap about 2 years ago but have never really had room for it.  I have to say, I didn't put up many decorations because I ran out of time and just didn't really mind, but I LOVED having a tree.  At first I would turn on the lights when it would get dark then turn it off before bed, but pretty soon it was on 24/7.  Something about it just made me so happy.  Brian and I had fun decorating it all crazy with some funky decorations we bough after Christmas one year from Target.  We couldn't decide between putting a star or an angel on top because we both grew up with different traditions, so we settled for a cool exploding star-type thingy.  It was so fun and it has really helped it feel like Christmas around here, so it didn't sneak up on me too fast this year.

The manger my mom gave me and adds a piece to every year

My grandma's old tree with the mult-colored lights, which just added to the chaos of the decorations!

This one you can actually see the tree topper we're putting up...

Izzy just hangin out with us and walking all over everything

Such a pretty dog; he sits so proudly!

tree topper

Legend at 6 months!

(constantly sucking, chewing and drooling on everything!)

  This month you had a couple of really BIG milestones, but not as many little tiny changes as usual.  One big thing is you got your first tooth!  Grandma Pearce noticed it had pushed through while babysitting you on December 16th! I knew it had been on it's way for a while because you were a bit of a grump that week. But that's ok. You got your second tooth not too long after that.
You are sitting up pretty good but I still keep pillows around you just to be safe! (sometimes you tip over when you're looking around or just not focusing quite as hard as you normally would).

You are now eating more baby food and you LOVE sweet potatoes and squash. I tried to give you peas once and you gagged. I didn't make you eat any more; I wouldn't have liked them either! You also like apple sauce and you do okay with bananas but you don't usually finish the jar. You do great with a spoon but you like to put your fist in your mouth and look all around which makes it hard to feed you and makes a mess!

You are discovering your lips and making different shapes and still making high pitched squeeky noises all the time, along with "singing" to music and babbling and giggling. So cute!
You love your dog Izzy and he gets you to laugh all the time. You love to grab on to his fur, especially around his mouth and eyes and he'll just whimper until mom makes you let go! (You have a very strong grip...)  He loves to sneakily lick you and put your hand in his mouth and that always makes you laugh.

You have LOVED the Christmas lights this season. You love to lay under the tree and stare at them, then grab for the tree branches. If you are fussy I will take you in to the front room, turn off all the lights except the tree and rock you while you watch the lights.

You are a very happy and social, though high maintenance baby. You love YOUR bed and you do better if I keep you to a pretty strict schedule.  You still love bath time and your bouncer and all that fun sort of stuff!

my Forever Family

This is true bliss. Right here.

Five Months

Legend, you are five months old now and growing up so fast! I don't think I'll ever stop being surprised at how fast time is flying by.

Here are some things we have discovered this month:

You are trying to so hard to sit up. You are still wobbly, but if I put pillows around you, you will lean up against the couch and you love it!

You have discovered the music in you! You have certain songs that when you hear, you start to sing along.  This was discovered first when dad and I were listening to "I Love You Love" by John Legend. You started cooing along with the song.  I thought it was a fluke or just us getting excited that you might love music the way we do, so later I played some other music, then went back to that song and sure enough, you started to sing again!  As time has passed we have found a few other songs as well that you love to sing along to.

You started eating cereal and you love it!

You got your first ear infection; it was so sad.
You had your first Halloween

  

You are talking a lot more and you smile so easily now!
You are REALLY giggling, but not all the time. You still grunt a lot when you laugh and when you decide you are done finding something funny, there is NO getting a laugh out of you again.
You have started TRYING to roll over while laying on your back. You will bend your knees and tip to the side but that's as far as you go.
You are very good at grabbing things, you reach for your toys as well as other things... such as mommy's hair and earrings. Ouch!
In the bath tub you love to find the towel and suck all the water out of it. I have to make sure to ring it out several times because you've given yourself a tummy ache from drinking too much water from the towel!
You got to meet your cousins Elsie and Alia finally! We spent a whole week sleeping over and Grammy and Pops' house during the Thanksgiving break. You loved your cousins, you would all sit and stare at each other and you would grab on to the girls' skirts or hands and just look perfectly happy to be together.

You are very sensitive. If you ever hear another baby cry your eyes immediately fill with tears and your bottom lip comes out.
You suck on your bottom lip when you're tired.
You met your great grandpa Williams for the first time

We discovered you have another cousin on the way! Baby Pearce will be born May, 2012
You put EVERYTHING in your mouth, especially your fist and fingers along with the knuckles of whoever is holding you at the moment.
Everyone always says, "OH! THOSE CHEEKS!" when they see you.
You drool ALL the time.
And most importantly, you were blessed this month!
We love you so much and that love grows and grows every day. I sometimes just sit and watch you and still can't believe how cute you are and that you are MINE!  Your great grandma Pearce lives with Grandma and Grandpa right now and every time you visit she just says how beautiful you are and that she's never seen a more beautiful baby. People are always telling me to put pictures of you in baby contests or try to get you in Gerber commercials. You are such a little man and have never been mistaken for a girl because you are just so clearly a boy baby.

I love you so much!

What a blessing!

Yesterday was Legend's baby blessing and it was such a fun day! It was extra special because he shared the day with his twin cousins, Elsie and Alia Carlile.   It was so neat to see our closest friends and family gathered around us and to feel the spirit of these three sweet babies.  It was a very sweet moment to hear the girls blessed because it was such a journey for Mike and Joelle to get them here; they are truly miracles! 

sneak peek of family pictures

Today we had family pictures with the Williams family at the State Capital.  It was fun to see everyone all dressed up and matching, ESPECIALLY the little ones.  We all wore reds, blacks, grays and whites and we all looked pretty dang good! Here's a little sneak peek of everyone; Joelle remembered to bring her fancy camera and caught a few extra pictures.

such a cute boy! (he ALWAYS has his fists in his mouth...) 

 with uncle David

 the boys...

 Baby swapping!

 Legend LOVES uncle mike... and has a fascination with mouths lately.

 With the twins

 Elsie Lavinia

Such a fun day with the Williams family!