The First Week

Here are a bunch of pictures from our first week with baby Colt! I can't explain how happy I am to have him. I thought it would be hard to love another kid this much but it wasn't even a question. Right from the first second I heard him cry I was in love. It makes me tear up just thinking about it. To put it plainly, I can't believe how overwhelmed I fell with love these days. Not just for him but for the girls too and especially Eric. He has been a dream husband doing absolutely everything and being so patient, happy, and understanding. And watching him adore Colt is a wonderful thing. So here are some pictures since we became a family of five. Not in order of course!

Rachel's new baby Crelli (?) that she now totes around and takes care of. She is interested in Colt's baby care where Livy is interested in his well being and always asking if he is ok.

Father and son. I think he definitely looks like daddy and Rachel.

Fun time at the mall with Aunt Hannah. My mom and Hannah stayed for a week to help us and the girls loved every second of it. And so did I! My dad only got to stay from Thursday to Tuesday. Sad, I wish it was longer but so happy he was here too.

Some Christmas crafts with Grandma.

Cookie time.

The little man. He is a great baby and so sweet.

Colt and Aunt Hannie.

Visiting me in the hospital.

Getting to know the new little guy.

Spoiled with lots of presents from Grandma and Grandpa to keep them busy all week.

Gifts from baby brother.

Sisterly love!

Grandpa Psillos and Colt just after he was born.

Daddy and his boy. Eric made a plan that if he weighed less than 8 lbs. I would name him and if he was more than 8 lbs. he would name him. Eric won!

Love this one! He's a great dad.

Rachel was so into him from the first time she saw him.

Aunt Cassie came to visit us a few days before he was born which was so much fun to get to hang out. We don't get to see each other that much but are still really close so it was so great and special that she got to be here. Thanks so much for all you help Cass!

Grandma Psillos and Colt in the recovery room.

Just after weighing in! 9 lbs. 2 oz. 21" long 7:21 a.m. 12/11/09

Colt Eric Williams

Thumb after only a few minutes of life!

Just before the c-section. 46 lbs. gained.

Colt with his Great Grandma Barbara. Grandma Barbara got lots of holding time in! Thanks for coming to see us "Grandma Gilgo" and for all of your help with the kids.

Four Generations. Four crying, red eyed generations. So sad to see them go.

Crazy group shot! We didn't really get a picture of the girls with him this week because they have been sick and on antibiotics so we have been trying to keep them away from him for a bit. Made for and interesting week of doctors appointments but luckily they were acting normal again after a day of meds.

Grandma's sidekick all week.

Grandma and Colt. Grandma didn't get too much time with him because the girls wanted her all the time.

Mom, I can't say thank you enough for being here this week and for all that you did for us. I don't know how we would have made it. Thank you so much for being such a great mom and Grandma and for all the love you give to all of us. We love you so much.

Just meeting our guy! So excited and over joyed!

Filled with love immediately.

On our way home. Got to leave a day early! Yea!

Grandpa Williams and his third grandson.

Grandpa and Grandma Williams with Colt.

Mommy and Colt

Nice face right? Me and Cass. She spent the second night in the hospital with me. We had some good laughs with a big pee and poop incident. Much easier than last time right Cass! (She was with me for the first 2 1/2 months with the girls)

Over all things are going great. He is an awesome baby and eats and sleeps wonderfully. He has a little jaundice but it should clear up soon. We are all so happy he is here and the girls are doing great with him. Thanks so much for every ones help and prayers. We are doing better than I thought we would since all of our help left. Hope all is well with everyone!

Colt is Here!

Colt was born yesterday at 7:21am! Beautiful baby boy, 9 lbs. 2 oz. 21 inches. Healthy, happy, and cute as can be. Jessie is doing very well, also. The nurse gave her the 'gold star' for holding up so well. Livy and Rae love "Baby Brother" and were really happy to see him at the hospital yesterday. We will report more later. Thanks for all the phone calls, love and support!

Cassie wrote the first part of this post and I just wanted to add that having a baby is such a miracle. I can't express my joy and love for this new little person Heavenly Father has sent into our family. It is overwhelming the love and responsibiliy you feel just holding him. I love you so much already Colt.

It's Time!

Tomorrow is the big day. I am starting to get nervous, since 8 hours from right now I will be getting cut open! Crazy that it is here already. Me and my body are so ready for him to come out and join our family. Last belly pictures for baby boy Williams.

My wonderful cousin Cassie has come to see us and help out. It was great having her here a few days a head of the birth so we got to hang out more. Thanks Chris for letting us borrow her! My parents and sister came in today and we had a great day, busy but great. That is why I am just getting on here now and just finished packing! So glad to have all this support and love around!

Look at the size of that belly! Thank goodness it is time!

 

Cassie will post pictures of him tomorrow night! Have a great Friday everyone and keep us in your prayers!

 

A Wonderful Present!

A few weeks ago we got a wonderful gift, well, really I did but the girls loved it too. I have had quite a few gifts like this the past few months and I loved all of them, thanks Mom and all of you who came to help! My brother Charlie and his girlfriend Michelle came back to visit us and to help me get stuff done. It was wonderful!! I got so much done that was forever building on my to do list and they did tons of babysitting. Like I said I got all of my stuff done and loved it, and the girls got to play all the time and had so much fun. They still ask "Where's Charlie and Shelle?" quite regularly. Rachel was of course attached to Charlie like normal and Livy was definitely more into Michelle. Thanks so much guys. I can't tell you how great it was to have you here and for all of your help. Just to show you how much I was out and about I didn't get one picture from their trip. Lame. Anyway, these are from their first trip when they were driving cross country from Michelle's camera.

We went to Meyer Park to feed the ducks and rats, or whatever these things are. Texas rats as my parents call them. One of these guys almost got Michelle's toes while she was taking pictures!

Rachel and her buddy Charlie doing some feeding.

Enjoying the great weather!

Livy doing the monkey bars.

Group shot with "Shelle" as the girls call her.

Thanks guys for all of your help! It was great to see you and we can't wait until Christmas!

Another wonderful present! Here in Texas we don't get much snow so it was a sweet surprise for everyone here to get some snow. As you can see I am not talking "real" snow because there is none on the ground but "snow" for Texans!

The Last Few Weeks

This is of Thanksgiving morning. Grandma and Grandpa Williams came over to teach Eric how to make, and let the rest of us enjoy, their wonderful scones. The girls had lots of fun helping. Sorry Grandpa, your eyes are closed but it is the only one I got!

I let them pick their own pj's at the store and Livy of course picked Thomas the Train and Rachel picked Buzz Lightyear. Surprise to me since she has only seen half of Toy Story once.

Painting ornaments.

Pretending they have babies in their bellies too. Only Livy's baby is duck and Rachel's is cat. I don't know what time this was at but they have both their pj's on still and cookie crumbs around their mouth. If it's early that's not good-cookies, and if it's late that's not good-pj's! Oops!

Rachel decided to use her belly as storage for lots of stuff, she was putting her phone in their now.

Rachel helping dad with the Christmas lights. They both are loving everything about Christmas this year. It is so fun and I am so excited for this year and the next few when they get so excited about the lights and trees and everything Christmas-y!

It was actually cold enough here for a coat, hat, and gloves! And there is talk of flurries on Friday which the girls would be thrilled about!

Pictures outside of Grandma and Grandpa Williams house before we went to get our Christmas tree.

Yes, we got it already, on 11/28 actually. Early I know but they love it and we figured it will be nice to have it for a while since they are so into it. I just hope it doesn't loose all of its needles before Christmas!

They had so much fun decorating the tree. We have to have the lights on at all times when we are home and they are always making comments about how wonderful it is.

Rachel loves to use descriptive words lately that are so cute when she says them. Everything is beautiful or wonderful or perfect or cute. Today she said "That is a wonderful Christmas tree that daddy put up for us." Today I heard her talking an ornament of the Grinch. She said "You can't steal our Christmas, your just an ornament!" She is quite the talker and will talk to about anyone. She also gets fresh sometimes but it is hard not to laugh at her. Yesterday she said or yelled, "I'm not a child!" I don't know where she got that one from. But Eric and I couldn't stop laughing. She always tells us if we make her sad and likes to say "don't say that word to me" when we say something she doesn't like or when she gets in trouble. The other day I told her she made me sad, she was crying by this point, and she replied through tears, "you made me sad first!" She says daddy is her best friend, and mommy too, and when I asked about Livy she says she is a great sister!

They really are best friends and love each other so much. I love watching them together or even just hearing them tell each other what they see out of their window when driving. They still love reciting movie lines with each other, which is hysterical. Sometimes they fight but mostly just love and take care of one another. When one of them gets hurt the other goes and takes her by the hand into the play room where their doctor stuff is and says "I'll take care of you." They melt my heart these little girls. They both love their daddy and are so happy when he comes home. They love to exercise with him and climb on him and do everything he does.

Livy still uses "my" for "me" and I don't correct her because I love hearing it. "That makes my sad" or anywhere a me should go. She is very into feelings and asks if that makes us happy or sad. Today on the potty she said "When I do pee pee in my pants it makes daddy disappointed, he's not mad just disappointed." That was her new word she learned yesterday. She also calls macaroni "macamoni". We are frequent customers at Boston Market and she loves their macaroni. When ever we ask her what she wants to eat she says macamoni. And when we go to Boston Market she calls it "The Macamoni Restaurant." She gets very excited to go there and its so cute. She loves the Nativity story and wants to read the book constantly. She also loves letters. They both are naming them all the time but she is always on the lookout for "her O" as she says and for Rachel's "R". The other night at Kohl's she says "O, and H, and K, and L, and S, those are all the letters on the building."

She is still more factual and direct where Rachel is more dramatic flair. They are both so amazing and different in so many ways and it is so wonderful watching them both learn and grow. Everyday I am amazed at the things they say and how smart they are. I know every parent feels like that but its true!

Thanks Giving

Every year as Thanksgiving approaches I become much more aware and reflective of all that I am thankful for and all of our blessings. I definitely try and keep this in mind all year round but there is a definite increase in the time spent thinking about it towards this holiday season. I was going to try and write something intelligent and eloquent regarding giving thanks for all of our blessings but my brain is just not functioning at that level right now so a few simple words will have to do. The fact is that I feel overwhelmingly grateful for my blessings this year. This year especially I feel so grateful and blessed more and more each day just witnessing the things around me. There are so many hard and terrible things happening each day to many many people and that brings more sincere and deep gratefulness for the blessings which I receive on a day to day basis. Seeing people going through things that I can't imagine going through makes me truly appreciate things that I sometimes take for granted. Having a home, a car, a bed at night when I am so tired, healthy parents, health insurance, schools, and especially this year for my husband having a job. Millions of people around the world don't have these blessings and I wonder why I get the privilege of receiving these blessings.

I truly appreciate all that our Father in Heaven has done for me and done in general. I am so grateful for our Savior and the Atonement and the opportunity that it gives us to repent and try again, repeatedly. Without that knowledge I can see how people would give up and I am so grateful for that in a world that is extremely hard to live in sometimes. I know that being able to have the Spirit with us as a constant companion is one of the greatest blessings we can receive. I am grateful for guidance and instruction for myself and my family through the Spirit and the Gospel. I am very grateful for the opportunity we have to speak to our Father in Heaven through prayer and rely on him. I am grateful to be able to teach my children how to pray and hopefully instill in them what they need to be able to use and rely on the Gospel and their Father in Heaven throughout their life. I definitely don't feel worthy of that calling most of the time but I am so extremely grateful for the opportunity to be a wife and mother. I express in words how full my heart is with gratitude for the blessing of being a mom. It is a very hard and challenging at times but more rewarding and fulfilling than anything else I have ever done. I am so grateful for Olivia, Rachel, and this baby boy who will soon enter our family. Everyday I marvel at these little people and their ability in all that they do. I am also grateful, even though I am truly uncomfortable, that this little guy is still in my belly getting stronger every day. I am so thankful that they are healthy and growing and worry daily that something will happen to them but I am grateful for everyday we have. The blessings of the temple and eternal families is another part of his wonderful plan that brings me peace and comfort in this sometimes scary world. I am so grateful to be sealed to my loving husband for all eternity and that we have forever grow and progress with one another. I am so blessed to have a husband who loves me and our children and works as hard as he can to take care of us and keep us safe and happy. I am thankful for great parents who raised me with the gospel and stuck with me through my teenage years! I am grateful to have healthy and safe families and extended families that we get to see often. Although I don't get to live near my family I am so blessed that we have phones, and Internet and planes that are available to us to be able to see one another and stay in touch all the time. We are truly blessed to live near Eric's family and enjoy the blessings of an extended family daily. It is so wonderful to have the blessings of family. They are a wealth of support and love. I'm also grateful for good friends who help me to get through the day to day stuff that sometimes feels overwhelming. I'm sure I could continue to go on for many more paragraphs but I barely got this written with my two wonderful little girls trying to type with me and help them find toys! So I want to thank my Father in Heaven for all that he blesses us with. I am truly thankful this Thanksgiving and I hope that some how I can show that to my children and to our Father in Heaven and use the gifts he sends to us in ways that are pleasing unto him. Happy Thanksgiving!

3 Weeks Left!

I only have 3 weeks left until this little boy makes his appearance! I can't believe it is almost done already. I am really excited for him to get here and see who he looks like and to do the newborn thing again. I don't remember as much as I would like to from when the girls were newborns and I know doing two at once it a different story so I am hoping to be able to remember more this time and just enjoy it. I guess I really have 4 weeks left but I am having a c-section on the 11th so it's down to 3 weeks. Crazy. It went fast, kind of, but I am ready to get him out. I am large and uncomfortable 90% of the time.

34 Weeks

I don't even know if you can see change any more but I have been asked for updated pictures so here they are.

The whole pregnancy so far I have been measuring a few weeks ahead and now I am finally caught up to my actual weeks. I have measured at 36 weeks for the past few visits and now I still do and I am actually there. Hopefully this means not much more growing for me in the next three but we'll see. My shirts seem to be getting smaller still so who knows!

36 Weeks