WAIT WHAT???? I want to go to Disneyland with the Williams family!!!

You guys are going to have so much fun! I remember how much fun we had when we went to Disney World ages ago.

To update everyone on what I have been up to.........

In October I went to Disney World with my family for a week then I came home for a few days turned around and took a vacation to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore for a month. Came home had Christmas with my family and drove to Wyoming for a month. I played in the snow the whole time it was awesome! I have been loving life!

Williams - Goin' to Disneyland

We are going to Disneyland. Sage is so excited. She has been saving her money for over a year so that she could go to Disneyland. Her dream is coming true and she tells me that she is going to pay for her and Herbie. She has over a hundred dollars. My plan is to let her use all of it for souvenirs of her choice.

We will be driving down to California in July. Herb's best friend is getting married in LA so we decided to kill two birds with one stone. Can't wait to see the excitement and joy permeating from our children's faces when they set foot inside the park.

Zulily

So about zulily-

If you buy something and tell them I refered you- I get $15 so...

http://www.zulily.com/invite/nhadley741

(that's the link)

Anyway- you don't have to...

But they have this nursing bra on sale today:

...and THIS which I want SO bad because the swing I bought SUCKS

And I may have bought these there today:

Alana-

Alana-

I am laughing so loud it hurts!!!!! Seriously though- I hate going into that store. It's like you are the prey and they are hungry heinas in training or something. You can't even get a toe (or belly in) without them sizing you up, literally- and NO I do NOT feel comfortable showing you my bra closure in front a former student and his pregnant teen girlfriend. I don't even feel comfortable being in the store without them there. GET ME OUTA HERE! I don't know why but when I was pregnant I was so embarrassed to go out in public... so I didn't. I did all my shopping online. Don't know why I was embarrasse- like there's shame in being with child at age 30...

Anyway, about the bra- They always have wicked sexy nursing bras on zulily.com

I haven't bought one yet because I REFUSE to acknowledge my size triple J- like somehow if I don't buy a bra big enough they will magically not be that big anymore.

Hate it.

Worst part of it all.

They are hot, huge, and make me look WAY fatter than I am.

Maybe this is God's way of preparing me to accept future prunes.


If only. I'd kill for anything resembling a prune right now. 6 months of watermelons will do that to a girl.

Williams - Pics from Summer

I am missing the bleached blond hair. Now that winter is in full swing, he has gone brown again.

This is my favorite one of Nora. Protecting the ears.

These are some pics from this last summer when Erin and Kyle came and stayed for a week. Erin took these with her camera and sent them to me and so I am finally posting them.

Belly Laugh

I only have three weeks until this baby boy is due so I've been busy tying up all the loose ends. You know... purchasing nursing pads, diapers, panties the size of bed sheets, and pads so indeed "Jumbo", Sea World stocks the identical ones for the afterbirths of their aquatic mammals. The many joys postpartum.

I had to order a bra from Motherhood online because they were out of the one I wanted at the mall. (The Hall) I dread going inside that Motherhood store in the mall. The 'service' is oversolicitous, to say the least. They want your phone number, due date, etc., stopping just shy of a cervical exam. Everything fitting okay in there? Would you like me to strip your membranes?

They watch until you get as far as Pretzel Time and then sell your data to every advertiser in the country. Then come the never-ending samples in the mail. Slews of them.

My bras arrived today. They didn't miss the chance to throw in samples with my online order, either. I started opening them up... coupons, granola bar... and... aaaaand....wait for it.... wait for it...

... Two individually wrapped Sunsweet prunes. Shipped with my bras. As if I'm not already hyper aware of the final destination of my suckled breasts.

Mama had herself a good, long, much-needed belly laugh.

(When is someone going to make a pretty nursing bra instead of these hideous things? Pretty, pink, dainty lace could go a long way. I want to feel like a mother, not a great-grandmother.)

Williams - My Unique Little Herbie

Herbie is one unique soul. On any given day he can be found doing and saying some funny things. He always carries a tiny pink gun (smaller than his hand) in his pocket. He also carries in his pocket a pretend red knife. He likes to wear his batman cape all day long and red shorts. He will usually only change into jeans if we leave the house. He also loves to pretend he is blind like Grandma McClean. He will walk around with his eyes closed and run into stuff. Today, he decided to eat lunch inside the pantry with the door closed and used a flashlight to see. He pulled everything out, climbed in, and asked me to close the door. LOL!

Don't people realize you can't do this? He wanted to get shot is all I can figure because in this day and age, people expect a slaughter if someone is walking around a mall parking lot with an assault rifle. Sad, but true.

That news story reminded me of a funny story about my Mom:

She went on a trip to visit Andrea at Rick's college in Idaho. She was traveling alone so she did what she always would do... lay her big shotgun (out of it's case) across the back seat of her Subaru where everyone could see it. Well, when she got back from Idaho, she had to go straight to the Subaru dealership in downtown San Bernardino and leave the car to be serviced. The rental car guy was to pick her up. Of course, she couldn't leave her dead Father's antique gun in the car so... she took it with her... out of its case... and strolled with the huge thing in her arms right through the service department and up to the desk. Obviously, people were frightened and started slowly backing up against the walls to let her through. She said all she could do was just keep acting like everything was normal, as if she were carrying her handbag or something.

My Mom makes me laugh.

Mass killings do not.

That Arizona incident was highly disturbing. It seems like this kind of thing happens all the time now. Very, very disturbing. If she did now what she did then, she surely would have been (at the very least) tackled to the floor.

Williams - Nora's 1st Birthday

I can't believe that Nora is already one years old. I don't even know where the year went. Sometimes I feel like I had an out of body experience the entire year because life was so crazy, I was tired, and was in survival mode. Nora has brightend our life and brought smiles to our faces. She is stubborn, strong willed, and so far our most difficult baby. She is very serious and somber most of the time but Herbie and Sage have a way of making her crack and she will smile for them just about any time. Love that girl. Happy Birthday Nora. Nora's birthday is on January 13th but we celebrated with the family yesterday. She loved the frosting, typical kid. She is clapping while we are singing Happy Birthday to her. She gets so excited and claps when we sing or dance or something. I made cupcakes and then I made flags with pictures of Nora on them. On one side was her birth photo and then a one year later photo. Sorry photography friends and family, the photo presentation just doesn't do the cupcakes justice.

Williams - Christmas 2010

Gingerbread House Decorating Party with Sage's friends. We had a total of 23 people in our house with 4 tables set up throughout the house. It was fun and crazy.

A couple days before Christmas we went caroling around our neighborhood with some friends. Our friends had a trailer attached to their truck and it was complete with bales of hay and a keyboard to play the music while we sang. Luckily it wasn't raining but it was still a bit cold.

Sage and Herbie were Joseph and Mary at our family Nativity reinactment.

Christmas morning, Santa brought the kids their very own Geo Track.

Nora is excited about all the paper....

and the Snickers Bar that she found.

Guess, I should have never taken the Snickers bar away!!!

Sage drew me a picture for Christmas. I also got a brand new front door, a new faucet, a gazebo for my backyard, and an XBox Kinect.

Dearest Jenny-

Are you in Thailand? Q said maybe you were in Thailand for Christmas. Anyhow- I have a lovely card- actually 2 for you. Can you email your address? (nhadley@scmiddle.org) Alana and Ci- do you know it?

So I tried to get to your house with a plate of Christmas baked goods. Some scrumptious frosted sugar cookies and pumpkin choco chip muffins- but I couldn't get passed the gate into your community.

So.. I feel really bad. But I wanted to let you know I am thinking of you and was thinking of you, and did have a really great Christmas plate of baked goods and a nice card (2 actually) to give you.

I can still send the cards- but you don't want the baked goods anymore. They are a couple weeks old. I'll make a new plate when I find out where you are and what you are up to....

which is probably Thailand.

Merry Christmas!

Willams - Family Pictures

The Family! We are missing a few of the family, but a majority of us were there.

Kelli took some family pictures of us when we were all in Arizona for Thanksgiving. They turned out great although Kelli said that the best light is around sunset and this was our last day and we couldn't wait until sunset so we took them when it was harsh lighting. Kelli, they still turned out awesome. Thank You!

Williams - 2010 College Graduate!!!

It is about TIME!!!!

I had the most wonderful day. Herb made me breakfast and blasted the song "School's Out" by Alice Cooper. Then we went out to lunch and took the kids to the Children's Museum. I wore my graduation cap all day long. The same one that I wore for High School graduation 12 years ago! Sage made me a necklace and a bracelet as a gift for graduation. I am wearing both in the picture but you can't see them very well.

Sweet Dreams, Ladies

I got some closets and things organized today and I feel like the dawn is breaking. I'm really starting to worry about myself. Could my messy storage closet really have been the root of my negative emotions and anxiety these last weeks? Is it that simple?

Also. Do your husbands have wire boxes? Brandon collects spare wires and electronic parts like a psychopath. Janna's husband, Mike, was hoarding the same when she secretly dumped his whole collection at the D.I. one day. Brandon says that would be the ultimate betrayal.

I was able to reason with him enough that he sat down today and untangled the wire mess enough to get the lid of the box ON the box. Progress.

MY MAMA

Remember how I told you my Mom asks me to pluck her gray hairs from the crown of her head? I usually oblige but upon last request found I couldn't stomach it. (What? You didn't know pregnant chicks dry heave at the sight of a scalp rebounding as it relinquishes a follicle of hair?)

So I told her to just go down to the corner and pick up some illegal day laborers she could pay per hair. She quipped, "I'll just tell them they're going silver mining."

poem d'apology

poem d'apology:

After friends and I breakfasted yonder Monday,
I returned to my home and was simply dismayed.

I discovered by fault I had worn the wrong bra,
had appeared 10 pounds bigger in fashion faux pas.

Not merely increasing my large silhouette,
I had looked like an ape with side boobs for pets.

A better brazier could have shown them the truth,
that I've really lost weight, I'm no slob! Not uncouth!

I promptly changed slings, no more house bra for me,
and shed 20 pounds in the mirror instantly.

Then I thought, "What a shame," if only they'd seen,
I'm almost back down, not quite fat, not quite lean.

So picture me nigh at that breakfast again,
wearing good lingerie, that makes me look thin.

Keep THAT thought in your head, not the one that you saw-
At that sad morning meal when I wore the wrong bra!

For My Next Trick...

Nicole, the second I heard about your $150 King mattress deal at Downeast, I called Brandon and told him. He has been wanting a new bed basically since we've been sleeping on ours, seven years. So we finally got a real live mattress, like big grown-ups have. Remember how my old one looked like it was made for midgets because all we did was squish two twins together on top of particle board? Twins are shorter than kings and queens.

Our first night on the new bed, I was in shock. Oh, I get it! You mean your shoulder is supposed to sink into the bed slightly so your head can be supported by your pillow? I didn't completely realize we were sleeping on granite and a bed isn't supposed to feel that way. Though, I was grateful for that foam because before that, I was on the floor on blankets for two years.

Anyway, the Big B is going to help me make this headboard...
It will be next-to-free. Just particle board, foam, batting, nail heads, and fabric. This fabric is $50 bucks a yard, faint. Good thing looking for fabric online is my new favorite past time. I hope I find something similar I like for cheaper. Brandon is just making the top half and mounting it directly to the wall behind the bed reducing even further the cost of materials.

Click here to see how purty she is in a room. That room is PERFECT. I wish I could copy the whole thing.

And though I promised I wouldn't touch my sewing machine for a good while, I've started a few more small projects for the baby.

Me thinks I'm nesting.

Never Again!

Shall I tell you of the great wrestle I had with my car seat cover? It lasted days and my house looked like this...

My cover wasn't totally hideous until it got recalled for an issue with the batting coming out and choking kids. They no longer made my original black and sent me a green plaid one instead, which I used the last months Anika rode in it. I decided to attempt recovering it, which involved taking the entire thing apart thread by thread, making pattern pieces and reassembling. And that was after the hours and hours I spent looking for fabric I liked online.

It was one of those projects that seems simple enough and then halfway through, you regret it. I love it now it's finished but during the process I wanted to throw it off the deck and just buy a brand new car seat.

But phew! It's done!

(Nicole, I fantasized about your Mom's serger more than a few times.)

Williams - 2010 Halloween

Pumpkin Patch - we actually went on a day that didn't rain. The pumpkin crop this year was rather bad. Most pumpkins were rotten or green. The kids love the train and boat ride to the pumpkins though.

Anna and Sage at their school party

My little butterfly!

Don't you just love Herbie's face in this one.

Going Goth!

Heading out for the ward Halloween party.

In the midst of the chaos, I can't go without posting our Halloween pics. So I am taking an itty bitty break from homework to share our Halloween spirit.