A Friend in Need

An old roommate/teammate and good friend of mine is going through a really tough trial right now. Jessica had twin girls in May and Kaitlyn passed away a couple of days later. Samantha seemed to be very healthy and happy, but unexpectedly passed away of uncertain causes last thursday at 4 and a half months old. This family is also dealing with Child Protection Services at the moment because of the unknown nature of her death, and had to hire a lawyer to keep custody of their 2 year old, Haley. The Williams family now must pay for legal expenses on top of all the medical expenses (including an emergency life flight), as well as funeral arrangements for another sweet baby. This is a very special and loving family and what they are going through is enough to test anyone's faith. Please checkout supportthewilliamsfamily.blogspot.com and support in anyway you can. Please spread the word

Fun with Dry Ice!

One last thing from our trip to San Diego. My dad made homemade root beer and the girls thought that the dry ice was the greatest thing ever

Where did your hand go, Madylin?

They liked to blow on it and make all the steam(?) go in their faces.

It was good root beer, too!

Beach Trip '09

Sadly, beach trips have become a once-a-year thing since having children. It's hard for me to get used to the fact that I don't live 20 minutes from the beach anymore- it's more like an hour and a half. We did manage to go to the beach while we were in San Diego for Kevin's wedding a couple of weeks ago and here is the proof . . .

The girls were more interested in the sand than the water, but I think that's normal at their age.

When they did venture into the water- it was COLD!

(Madylin with Uncle Matt)

And when Daddy went in the water without the daddy's girl (a.k.a. Morgan), the world was over!

Ahhhh that's better

and I hung out with my little man.

Nathan's Smiles

Nathan started smiling a couple of weeks ago and I've since been working on capturing a good smile.

It's so cute when babies start smiling. Usually the face gets all twisted up in the process.

And as they are learning to smile you usually see a lot of this

and this.

Sometimes you aren't sure if they are trying to smile or not.

Sometimes the smile starts our timid and unsure

And sometimes the smile just explodes onto their face

And once they learn to control that smile, it's a really BEAUTIFUL thing.

(favorite)

Sea World Trip #2

When we went to Sea World back in May we bought the "fun pass" so that we could go pack as many times as we wanted through the end of the year for free. While we were in San Diego last weekend for a friend's wedding, we decided to go again.

Here's the whole family at the start of the day (I've learned to take pictures like this at the start of an activity when dealing with toddlers- not the end). Nathan spent the first couple of hours in the Moby wrap with me. (Thanks for the recommendation, Nicole- I LOVE this wrap)

Here are the girls outside of the shark tank.

Nathan also spent some time in the Snugli with Russell and later with my mom. He was a happy camper because he got to be held close the whole day

We took the girls on the gondola ride. They weren't scared at all as you can see. They were sticking their heads out of the bars and looking straight down. The view of the bay was beautiful.

They LOVED the dolphins

My brother and his wife and 2 kids met us at Sea World halfway through the day. The girls love playing with them. Morgan has a special bond with Matthew and both girls just love my niece Sara. Here they are holding starfish.

We got to take the girls on their first rides in the Sesame Street play area. They really liked this one. Here's me and Madylin.

And Russell and Morgan

This ride is like the tea cups at Disneyland. From left to right there is Matt, Morgan, Sara, Madylin, and me. Morgan actually threw a huge tantrum because she didn't want to get off.

She didn't get over it easily, but Matt coaxed her into having some fun playing in the water. That's my SIL Jessica holding Madylin and my nephew Kaleb behind her.

The girls seemed to have a little more fun this time around and we look forward to taking them again soon. Nathan will be happy too if it means he gets to be held all day!

Labor Day '09

We celebrated Labor Day at Russell's Aunt Vickie's house with his family. The girls had a great time in the pool.

I love this picture of Morgan and Ben (Russell's cousin) laughing together

She'll play with others for a bit, but she is the ULTIMATE daddy's girl

Madylin enjoyed being pulled around in circles by Ben in this star

And being squirted by water guns

Nathan spent his time meeting the family and being passed around while he slept, which I'm sure he LOVED because he is such a cuddle bug. He's happy as long as he's being held and Russell is happy to oblige . . .