All I want for Christmas - Mariah

You have no idea how happy this video makes me...
I love spying on my child.

Chaps and Santa

Chappell told us that she would not sit on Santa's lap.

However, when we arrived at the good ole Bass Pro Shops, she seemed to have a change of heart!

She marched her cute little self up there after taking one big deep breath, and sat on the big man's lap.

Anyone notice this was the same creeper that grabbed my bum last year?

He seemed a little less pervy this year.

Chaps told Santa that she wanted a "Christmas chicken."

We think she meant "princess kitchen" and slipped up due to nerves.

Either way-- this little lady will be receiving a Christmas chicken, I can promise yo

u that...

Baby Collier's Unsuccessful 4Ds

As you can see, these were not the best shots of lil' Collier.

I was too far along (and I knew it) when we decided to do his 4D images.

However, our ultrasound tech was so sweet and let us do it again yesterday-- these are the 33 week shots and I'll post the 35 week shots later.

Currently 28 days away from his arrival-- that is if I make it to my C Section date--- I can't believe it.

He is still breech as of yesterday... Dr. Kouri said that the chances of having two breech babies in a row is lower than 1 in a 1,000.

Quite odd.

I was breech, myself... one stubborn mom and two stubborn babies!

3 year old questions...

Like most warm blooded creatures, I've been lovin' some Pinterest lately.

It's my go to activity late at night when I'm laying in the bed wide awake with pregnancy insomnia.

Anywho, I saw this cute idea and decided to do it with Chaps!

She loved it-- I told her it was a game and she got really excited.

You are supposed to ask these questions every year on the child's birthday (starting at 3) and then put all of the answers in a book later on.

So... here are Chappell's 3 year old answers:

1. What is your favorite color?

Pink

2. What is your favorite toy?

Ariel

3. What is your favorite fruit?

Orange

4. What is your favorite tv show?

Little Einsteins

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?

Grapes

6. What is your favorite outfit?

The dog one.

7. What is your favorite game?

Star Wars -- (OK... with her cousins, I think)

8. What is your favorite snack?

Fruit snacks

9. What is your favorite animal?

Bear

10. What is your favorite song?

Alphabet

11. What is your favorite book?

Halloween book (it's a puzzle book from Colleen Rogers) and ShoeLaLa (from Preston Sullivan)

12. Who is your best friend?

Pollard, Barnes, Riley, George, Oliver & Frances

13. What is your favorite cereal?

"What's cereal?"

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?

"Play basketball"

15. What is your favorite drink?

Milk, water and juice

16. What is your favorite holiday?

Halloween

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?

"my lovies"

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

Grapes

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?

Lollipops

20. What do you want to be when you grow up?

"What's growing up?"

"To my birthday" -- not sure what she meant

"A farmer"

OH my

I'm losing it.

I posted the wrong Christmas card! That was a proof, not the one that I ended up buying.

I'm losing it!

I'll find it later...

Hello!

Here I am a month later.

I should probably be showering and doing things around the house right now while Chacha is sleeping-- but, alas, I shall blog.

It's been a while and there are so many things I've been wanting to

record for prosperity's sake... but the second I sit down at the computer, these thoughts are gone. No where to be found.

So, what has been going on at the crazy Willy's house?

Let's see.

My sweet baby girl will turn 3 on Friday.

Whattttt on earth? How is this possible? I do not know.

She is so wonderful and hilarious and all things awesome right now-- I don't want her to grow another day and get any older.

While this age is great in so many ways, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that th

ere are moments where I want to pull my hair out.

Like last night for instance...

Chaps has been (successfully) potty trained for months, but last night proudly proclaimed (while at a friends house for dinner) that she had pooped in her pants.

I mean, what the heck?

I do know, however, that we are very lucky with this little girl. Although she can be stubborn, she usually gives in pretty easily.

I keep thinking that maybe baby Collier will be a monster since his sister has been so easy on us.

She is still taking one 2-3 hour nap every day... thank the Lord. Don't know what I would do

without nap time!!

She still sleeps very well-- today she woke up around 8:15 am. Some mornings are earlier, you never know-- but as far as sleep goes, in general-- we are very lucky with her habits.

I'm fully aware that as soon as this little man arrives, I'll be awake around the clock.

I might be completely naive, but I'm not really that worried about adding another baby to the mix? Is that dumb?

I know from experience that having a newborn is tough-- but I feel like this go around it's not really going to change things that much. I think my mothering style is much different now than it was in the beginning... not quite as up tight.

All of my personal freedoms and private time have been gone for 3 years now... so what will change with a new baby? Another mouth to feed? I don't know... I'm just not that concerned. I stay up very late working as it is... I get up early...

PLUS... I didn't drink coffee when Chappell was a baby. What was I thinking? Caffeine is my saving grace!

Say a PRAYER that I am right!!

Or just send me to a good shrink...

So, baby Collier is scheduled to arrive via C-section on January 11th.

I'm currently 34 weeks, 1 day.

This pregnancy -- knock on wood please-- has been so great!

It really has. After the initial morning sickness... this thing's been a piece of cake.

Maybe it's because I'm busier than I used to be? Maybe it's becau

se I already have Chappellina to keep my mind off of things? Who knows.

After I had Chaps I honestly wasn't sure I'd ever want to be pregnant again...

this pregnancy has me hoping that I will be pregnant again.

Life is odd.

I guess we change.

Christmas decorations are up (thx mom!) and we are loving the new house.

The nursery is done... and I love it! It's so neutral and peaceful in t

here. It's exactly what I wanted for our little baby boy. I need to take some pictures and post them here before the baby gets here. Everyone knows the nursery never looks the same post-baby. Ha.

The painters should be finishing Collier's bathroom tomorrow night. It had orange wallpaper before... I chose Galveston Grey for the bathroom and Revere Pewter for the nursery. Both Benjamin Moore colors that I love. Thank you, Pinterest!!

Pictures to come of:

Chaps visiting Santa... she marched right up to him and told him that she wanted a "Christmas Chicken." She meant to say she wanted a "Princess Kitchen"... whic

h is in fact a Princess dollhouse... Guess she was nervous??

Chaps family birthday on Friday...

Chaps 3rd Birthday party... happening on Saturday morning...

Collier's unsuccessful 4d ultrasound...

and the nursery!

Here's a screenshot of our 2011 Christmas Card:

10/31/2011

Let's see...
Well, I haven't been here in about a month and a lot has happened since then.
I guess I should start off with the big stuff?
We bought a new house last Wednesday, and moved in this past Saturday!
We absolutely love it, and we are glad to get out of that ummm... **icky** rental. So glad.
This house has a lot of space for us to grow into, and we hope to be here a really, really long time!
There isn't too much to be done, but we plan to renovate the bathrooms and kitchen at some point-- but in the meantime, we're not worrying about that much.

The house is pretty perfect for us and Chappell loves our new street! Two of her best buddies, Barnes and Pollard are our new neighbors and she is so excited that we live on their "stweet" now. Every time we drive down our street (which is a lot), she asks me what they are doing. I'm hoping maybe she'll get over the initial excitement at some point, because
I always tell her that they are either sleeping or eating dinner. I'm afraid if I tell her they are awake she'll pester the stew out of them!!
What else is going on?
I've been super busy with my photography business and everything else that goes along with being 29 weeks pregnant. I'm feeling pretty great in general, and this has been a great pregnancy thus far. Things are happening so much faster this time! I feel like my pregnancy with Chappell dragged on for eons and this one is just flying by. I've been running myself ragged between the move and holiday sessions for the biz. I actually landed myself in the doctors office last week because I "over-did it." After several sessions and marching all over Tuscaloosa and kingdom come last Saturday, I ended up having pretty severe "pelvic pressure" and pain, so they made me come in and get checked. Turns out (thank the good Lord) that everything was fine. Apparently I just need to take it easy. Someone please tell me how to take it easy when you have a 2 year old, your own business and a move to take care of? Plea
se?
Yesterday and today I painted the baby's nursery by myself. No signs of slowing down just yet.
There's way too much to do around here!!

Speaking of the baby's nursery, I'm loving where we are headed! The bedding is a blue/white/cream pale stripe by PomPom. I ended up painting the walls Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter and the Ballard Designs chandelier was just installed on Saturday. I'm loving it!
I'll post pics soon.

Sooooo... I suppose I'll leave you with a few shots of Miss Chappy the cowgirl and her mighty pink steed.
These were just a few I snapped before we met up with friends to go trick or treating. I also feel like I should mention that they were resized for facebook and I have no idea how they will appear on here, resolution wise- man, I'm such a nerd. Just had to get that off my chest.

Chaps and her twinie.
Just up from a nap and a little confused.
Chaps and her big preggo mama. Everyone here knows I get huge when I'm pregnant. I can't deny this fact.

Ugh those eyes!!

I'm world's worst blogger

I'm sorry baby Collier.

I've become the world's worst blogger and a stereotypical second time mom. I promise you are just as important as Chappy, however, when she decided to enter the world I wasn't quite as busy as I am now, and this sister of yours seems to take up a lot of my time.

I'm assuming you'll get used to that... btw, I'm very thankful that you are a boy because I have a feeling you really won't care too much about my blog.

What's new in our world... I've been keeping myself pretty busy with my bizznass, Reed's been busy with work... Chappy's been busy being hilarious, etc., etc.

Chaps is going to school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays this year and is loving it! Her teachers are Miss Janice and Miss Jamie, but she still gets to hang out with her old teachers Miss Leanne and Miss Sara Elizabeth and loves them all!

On Tuesday Chaps and I decided to drive up to Birmingham to visit Annie Miff (Smith) because she is in town visiting some of her stores in the South East. I woke up on Tuesday feeling a little "off" after a night of bad (worse than usual, I should say) sleep. However, I just ignored it and threw on some clothes (looking quite disheveled, mind you) and got in the car. It stormed the entire way to Bham and I became increasingly uncomfortable. My stomach was hurting and cramping but I couldn't really figure out what was wrong. Chappell had been sick the Saturday before, but this just didn't feel like the stomach bug. It was a weird sort of discomfort & pain. My ELASTIC pants were starting to feel extra tight as I began having cramping that felt a lot like contractions. Awesomeness.

We got to Birmingham and visited with Miff for a little while and I started feeling even worse.

Reed thought it would be best for me to just get myself back to Montgomery before I ended up stranded in Birmingham. I have lots of friends in the hammer, but let's face it, who wants some sick person to come invade their healthy household? I would check into a hotel room before I brought the plague to one of their houses. Ha!

Soooo... I packed C up and we high-tailed it back to Montgomery. Reed met me at the house. Actually, he was a few minutes late and I was quite angry about it... ha!

After laying down on the couch for a while, I realized I was in fact contracting and called the doctor. I never had braxton hicks or anything like that with Chappell until the very end of pregnancy so I was kind of freaked out.

Then it hit me... the stomach bug. Lovely.

Although I will admit I was relieved to find out that all of the weird stomach symptoms were a side effect of the dehydration and oncoming illness.

I managed to keep some gatorade down eventually and didn't have to go in for IV fluids, which I'm very thankful for. IVs are not my favorite.

Next day, I woke up feeling just dandy. What a whirlwind...

Besides the stomach bug, we've been doing pretty well around here. This pregnancy is breezing on by and in general, I feel great! I'm currently 24 weeks. I'll be 25 on Tuesday. Reed felt some strong kicks last night so that was exciting. I thought that he'd felt the baby last week, but apparently he hadn't. SO, I guess last night was the first kick that he's felt! I could tell that he was really excited to finally "feel" his "little man." Very cute.

Collier is a super active baby in utero... I can only imagine what he'll be like once he gets out of such tight quarters. From what I hear, I have a lot to learn about life with boys. I have no experience whatsoever in that department. I'll figure it out.

Chappell loves talking to baby Collier, and says the cutest things during their little "conversations."

Examples:

Uhh, baby Collier, when are you going to come out of your home?

I can't wait to see you, sweet baby boy!

Baby Collier, are you sweepin?? Awwww, he's sweepin, mommy. I sing him Hush Little Babies, like on Baby Einstein.

Baby Collier, I can't wait to rock (wock) you, and give you a bottle, and some juice, and sing hush little baby, and you take a nap, and I give you a blankie!!

She cracks me up, sweet girl.

Yesterday, I asked her if she knew what time it was.

She said no.

Then I said, "it's nap time!"

She responded, "it's not nap time, it's Wednesday!"

I thought that was pretty clever...

We's Potty trained!

Quick update:

C is potty trained! It's been a week since she's worn a diaper. She only wears them to sleep.

Score!!

Potty trained and in a big girl bed... Just in time to do it all over again???

I know it'll probably anger a few, but it was easy! With only two accidents all week, I'd say it was pretty easy!!

a few biggies

So I guess we've had a few big milestones up in this hizzy.

First of all, we decided on a name for our son (SO WEIRD to say that!!):

Collier Hutcheson Williams.

We'll call him Collier.

Both of the names come from Reed's side of the fam, and since R's decided not to do a junior I am completely fine with it. I think it kind of makes sense for him to be named after Reed's side of the family and Chappell has two names from my side, so... no arguing from me.

I think I mentioned it on here already but we transitioned from the crib to the big girl bed a few weeks ago.

I hate to say this and have other moms out there hate me, but it's gone flawlessly.

She didn't have one bad night... hasn't crawled out... it's great. Knock on wood.

It's been a really easy transition for her and I think some of that is due to the fact that we waited so long. It really seems to make a difference when you don't push things like this too early...

She was ready, and I'm very glad that we waited so long.

I'm waiting to post a picture of her big girl bed because the headboard and foot board aren't up yet! It's an antique bed that belonged to Reed's great grandfather I believe? It's really cute -- hard to believe a little boy ever slept in it-- but it's missing the rails that attach the pieces... my mom thinks that she has an extra set so hopefully those will be here soon. Otherwise we'll get Reed's dad (who is quite handy) to rig something for us.

My awesome-sweet-otherwise-talented husband is not handy... so he will not be giving it a go.

Next up... potty training!

We attempted this a few months ago however, I gave up when we had to travel via airplane to my uncle's funeral. In retrospect, I'm not sure she was ready then because she had a few teetee accidents... I'm not quite sure if she fully recognized when her bladder was full?

We started again yesterday morning and she's been accident free so far. She's been awesome. We brought her little potty along in the car for a few errands and a trip to the park... and surprisingly, she told me when she had to go! So... as weird as it was to have a potty in the car, it's worked quite well.

I got a little brave and sent her to school in panties today, so we'll see how that went for her...

not to be negative, but I'm sure she had an accident. Today was the first day of school and the place was insane. I highly doubt she made it to the potty... but we aren't going back. It's panties except for nap and bedtime from now on.

She always does best with cold turkey and it's usually her method of choice in these "milestones."

We shall see...

I'm currently 21 weeks... things are just truckin' right along. This pregnancy has gone by so much faster. And I think I'm enjoying it more than the first time around? I'm not spending every moment fixating on it, and it's kind of nice. I know my alone time with Chappell is limited... so I'm really trying to soak up our time together. The good, and yes, the bad.

He'll be here before we know it!

Just a lil'

bit excited about the wee man's bumpers...

so.dang.cute!!

Big Girl Bed!

Wow!

What a milestone for us!

Yesterday, on kind of a whim, we decided to get Chappell her first big girl bed.

We did this because, Reed and I are still deciding if we want to sell or keep Chappell's crib for the next baby due to the drop down rail. We figured that we can't make any sort of decision, or try to sell it, until Chaps made a move.

So we headed over to good ole Big Lots and purchased a twin mattress and box springs.

Later on in the afternoon, Chappell was so excited about her "big girl bed" that we decided we should go ahead and set it up even though we don't have a comforter or actual bed yet. I'm hoping to get a day bed for her, we'll see if that actually happens. BTW, does this nursery/big girl room shopping ever seem to end?

I feel like I need so many things to get ready for this new baby... and I didn't really expect it to be this way at all!

Anyways... I'm totally rambling--- we went ahead and set up her new room and broke down the crib. I'm not gonna lie, I was really sad about this. I thought she had at least another month or so in the crib and I hadn't mentally prepared myself for this milestone!

The hours crept on by and it was finally bedtime.

We did the same routine as always... bath, books, rock & sing w/ mommy... then it was time for the big ollllllle bed.

I tucked her in and said goodnight.

She got out one time, I put her back in.

Sang one more song, and left again.

She babbled for a while and asked for help, but then went right on to sleep.

I actually woke her up this morning because I was nervous something was wrong! Yes, even though I could tell from the video monitor that she was totally fine.

Right now she is napping in her big girl bed for the first time and she hasn't made a peep. She went right to sleep.

What the heck? I thought this was going to be horrible?

Knock on wood, pray, cross your fingers-- do whatever it is that you do--- that it will stay this way!!

Big News!

I can't believe I'm just blogging this now... in typical 2nd child fashion...

WE ARE HAVING A BABY BOY!!

My 16 week appointment was Wednesday morning.

I paid for an extra ultrasound, just like I did with Chaps, so I didn't have to wait until 20 weeks to find out the gender.

Impatient much?

I wasn't nearly as anxious this go around as I was with Chappell, until the day before the appointment. Tuesday crept by so slowly!

Anyways, as soon as she put the ultrasound (wand?) on my stomach the baby rolled over and I caught a glimpse of his umm, you know, boy parts.

I told Reed and the tech that it was a boy immediately!

The tech said she needed to confirm that what I saw was in fact a little boy and not just swollen girl parts... she told us a few moments later that I was right!

Reed and I are both so excited. We couldn't believe it... I think we both thought after Chaps that we would have a house full of girls.

I can't describe how excited and happy I am to get to experience a little boy...

I never had a brother and I've always wondered what it would be like to have a boy in my family...

Even though this lil' man won't be my own brother, I'll get to experience what it's like to have a son... and I'm so excited to see his relationship develop with Chappellina throughout the years. It will be different, that's for sure.

Although I really want Chappell to have a sister some day, I think nothing could be more perfect for her than a little brother. Chappell is without a doubt the princess of our entire family and loves being the center of attention-- and the thought of having another little girl right after her made me a little nervous. I didn't want her to experience anger or jealousy... or question herself with another girl to compete with... does that sound weird?

I feel like a little brother will be much less threatening for her, and I think that will make adjusting to a new sibling much easier. She loves all things girly, but also loves to get dirty and play with the boys.

I really don't know what to expect but I can't wait to meet my little boy!

Afterthought

I think it's quite funny that after my last post, Chaps has been a perfect angel and in the best mood all day. I guess that goes to show you that toddlers have good and bad days like the rest of us...

Thoughts

I'm pretty lucky... if I don't have a shoot or something to do on the weekends, Reed gets up with Chappell and lets me sleep in.

It's especially nice (and appreciated) now that I seem to have insomnia with this pregnancy.

Feeling just a little bit *ick* on Saturday afternoon, it seemed like a good idea to treat myself to a real*non-diet*Coke.

It was absolutely delicious, but as I tossed and turned all night long I regretted my decision... no more caffeine after 2 for me! I'm such an oldie...

So Sunday morning finally rolls around and I mozy on downstairs around 9:30 am.

Chappell's been up for a couple hours already and has destroyed and unsorted all of the toy bins that I carefully organized only a week or so before (which is fine, but just a little unsettling).

I park myself on the couch with a cup of coffee and slowly adjust to the chaos that is Sunday morning with a two year old.

A few minutes later, a very excited Chappellina comes bolting towards me, full speed-- she's going in for a hug. It all happened pretty fast, but I ended up with a busted lip and my coffee ended up all over the white couch.

Don't worry, Chappy didn't get burned - the coffee wasn't even hot at this point.

I walked into the kitchen to get some paper towels and I couldn't help myself... in pain with a bloody lip, the tears just started to fall.

I'm just -- TIRED.

I'm almost embarrassed to publish this post because I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea... I love my little rambunctious two year old (and my life in general) more than anything in the world. I love everything about her-- and I felt so bad as her big, big blue eyes and chubby cheeks watched for my reaction.

Even with the countless (COUNTLESS!!) tantrums she had this week-- she's still perfect and wonderful in my eyes.

I guess the point is... I can't remember the last time she stayed with her grandparents for a weekend, giving me and Reed a little break... which is probably my fault, because I don't like her to be away... even for a couple of days. I used to do it much more often when she was younger, but now that she's become such a little person, it's getting harder!

It's two things I think-- first of all, I miss her like crazy when she's gone. Secondly, I am a control freak when it comes to my daughter. I'm with her all of the time and I know that no one cares about her as much as I do. I get a little worried and anxious when she's in someone else's care. I guess I'm scared they won't pay as much attention as I would and something bad is going to happen to her? Terrible, I know. I'm a freak.

I'm just tired and pregnant and busy and it's freaking hot--- I think a few days off would do me some good...

---

So when Reed asked if I wanted to go with him to Birmingham next Thursday & Friday for a CLE (legal course), I thought this might be the perfect little get away! Chaps is going to stay with Reed's mom and dad while I spend my days sleeping in and shopping for baby dos... we also plan on a little Gian Marcos and Bottega while we're there.

Back to work for me!!

art & band aides

My posts are so sporadic and weird...

We spent a pretty relaxing weekend at home. I had shoots on Friday and Saturday and other than that, we did a lot of nothing!

We went out to dinner with friends on Friday night - it was fun!

It's so nice to get out and enjoy a meal where you aren't constantly thinking of creative ways to entertain a two year old... she's pretty over sorting bags of sugar and splenda... and the salt and pepper lost its appeal months ago...

Anywho, while we were out to dinner, a fabulous babysitter (recommended from the Hoot fam), took care of Chappell. She is super patient, and our child loves her - so it's pretty great. To make her even more awesome, she is an Abrakadoodle art teacher! So every time she comes over I try to get some art supplies or play dough together for the two of them to play with.

This time, Chappell drew a picture of me!??

Margaret (the babysitter) swears that she didn't help Chappell at all. It has a face, two eyes (with X's for pupils... scary???) a nose, mouth and hair (looks like a buzz cut).

I was quite impressed! Margaret said that she was shocked she could even draw a circle.

I need to take a picture of her masterpiece and post it.

Saturday, Reed took Chappell to the pool while I went to my shoot.

When I met Chaps and Reed at the pool, I noticed that Chappell had a pretty bad rash where a Tinkerbelle band aide had been...

Turns out, she's allergic to band aide glue?

Anyone else ever heard of this?

I told my mom about it (because she's probably the only other person on this planet who cares), and guess what? Mimi's allergic to band aide glue and tape as well.

So there ya have it.

But how do I explain to a two year old who loves band aides more than anything else in the world, that she can't wear them anymore?

My mom said she should be fine if she only wears them for short amounts of time...

UMMM, OK?? You try ripping band aides off of this kid.

Tell me how that goes.

Countdown to gender identification... T-minus 3 days... eeeeeeeek!!!!

Little Mermaid

Straight up

14 weeks, 4 days

For documentations sake... I felt the baby move for the first time today!

A week or so ago I thought I felt "flutters," but I wasn't really sure...

But today - I'm sure.

I had sort of forgotten that weird, internal-twisty feeling... I felt it for the first time about an hour ago when I was leaning way back in a chair... I was talking to Reed on the phone. I've been getting some work done on the computer for the past 30 minutes and I've felt it a couple more times.

There's no mistaking it when you've felt it before!

This is actually real!

So weird.

14 Weeks

I'm such a bad blogger...

So, I'm currently 14 weeks pregnant.

Chappell's at school right now... so I've been editing like a mad wo-man... I had my daily cup O joe and I actually have a little bit of energy right now.

Life in general has been kind of hard for me lately because my business has gotten pretty busy (which is great!) but Chappell has been on summer break.

She was out of school for an entire month, but is now back two days a week until fall.

She usually goes three mornings a week, but I'll take two days over nothing at all! I miss her when she's gone, but I just can't get much done when she's at home.

I refuse to be one of those moms who works on the computer while she's home and awake... so, my work time is limited to her nap time and after she goes to sleep at night.

Don't-cha worry-- I haven't missed a deadline yet, but I'm just wiped. I'm way too ummmmm, errrr, anal (??) to let things slack when it comes to my little bizzznass.

SO, wanna know what is slacking??

My housekeeping... my appearance...

BUT, my kid is happy and so are my clients! So I guess that's a good thing, right?

Pregnancy wise-- here's an update:

I was really sick from weeks 6 to 11. Since then I've been feeling much better.

I've had a couple bad days since then... but it really hasn't been that bad. With Chappell I was sick from weeks 7-8 to week 14. I guess I got off a little easier this time.

Everything looked great with the baby a couple of weeks ago at my 12 week appointment. We got another ultrasound and got to see the baby moving his/her arms and feet all over the place. It was so cool to see!

Yesterday, I called and asked if we could buy an extra ultrasound at my next appointment (16 weeks) to try and find out the sex. They agreed, so it looks like we will find out August 3rd.

Any guesses?

Not like anyone even reads this anymore... which leads me to another topic... I'm thinking of setting the blog to private.

Little Chappy update:

Chappell is so hilarious, and awesome-- in our opinion, anyways.

She is so smart... it's ridiculous. I mean, I'm not surprised... her dad is freakishly smart (like perfect ACT score smart)... and so is she.

I'M IN FOR IT.

Her vocabulary is out of this world.

She is complimented for her manners all the time... whenever we leave some one's house (or the grocery store, or a restaurant) she tells everyone, "thank you for having me!" -- it's really cute. She's very good about remembering "please" and "thank you."

She's still going to bed between 7:30 and 8, but she's been waking up around 6:30 for the past couple of months or so. Perfect timing, right? I miss those 8 am wake up yells... 6:30 is way too early for this girl.

Speaking of sleep, she's still sleeping in her crib. She has a crib tent, so she's not going anywhere... and seems perfectly content in the crib... I'm thinking I'll put her in a big girl bed in October or November. To give her a month or so to adjust before the new baby gets here.

Chappell asks me often, "Are you my best friend, mommy?? You are my best friend." MELT.

Although this age is absolutely the most fun thus far-- it can also be the most difficult.

At times I find myself pulling my hair out. When Chappell turned two, (and in the months that followed), I couldn't understand why people talked about the "terrible twos" so much. But the closer we got to two and a half, I started to realize why...

She's still a great little girl, and is wonderful most of the time... BUT, she's testing me more and more these days.

And I'm pretty sure her intelligence just makes it worse.

We have meltdowns more frequently these days. And that just stinks.

I hate coming down on her so much, but I know it's something I have to do... I rather fix it now than when she's 12.

Enough for now... peace out, folks.

Can I change the name of my blog??

I've been blogging and saving posts until we shared the news... I'll publish them tonight.

We are so excited!!

I'm a little over 8 weeks-- but we couldn't wait any longer to share the news.
We went to the doctor on Monday and saw the baby's little heartbeat-- it was 158-- flickering away!
I'll be back soon... hopefully I'll be around here more now that there's another one coming along... I want to try to document this pregnancy like I did for Chappell.

We'll see.

7 Weeks

Today I am 7 weeks pregnant with baby numero dos.

I'm pretty much counting down the days until my first appointment on June 6th... almost there!

I think as soon as I know that everything is OK, I won't be so concerned with time and how many weeks & days I am. It's just hard to keep something like this a secret when you are so excited... not to mention sick.

I don't remember exactly when my morning sickness started with Chappell-- I think somewhere around 7 or 8 weeks... but I've been sick for about a week already with this pregnancy.

That means I started feeling bad around 6 weeks.

At first it snuck up on me. It wasn't too bad, I just wasn't very hungry and had a "nervous stomach" on and off during the day.

But now-- yeesh! I'm exhausted and very nauseous. No fun.

But, they say it's a good sign to have morning sickness-- so I'll take it.

Chappellina's been quite the trooper and snuggles with me in bed for about an hour-- she'll watch cartoons, do puzzles on the iPad (which she's insanely good at)-- and just hang out with me until I can force myself to get out of bed. It's already so hot outside-- in the 90's... so I'm not sure how much outdoor playtime is in the immediate future.

We went to the beach for Memorial Day and spent a lot of time in the pool... the heat really seems too add to my discomfort... however, I am taking her to the splash pad in the morning... does that redeem my horrible-mom-ness from this week... ?

Chappell has the same response every time I tell her that there is a baby in my tummy:

"That's SILLY, mommy!!" -- and then she dies out laughing.

It is pretty silly.

The day it said "pregnant"

Today is May 15th, 2011.

This morning, I found out that I am pregnant with baby number two!

It's been an interesting road up until this point, and we couldn't be happier that we are finally expecting our second child.

We decided to start trying for our second baby back in October.

However, I got off of "the pill" last summer (I think in July 2010), so my body could adjust and be ready once we decided to give it a shot.

Some of you know, but one of my best friends got married in October and I didn't want to be pregnant in her wedding.

That being said, it was kind of an internal struggle for me, because I wanted to have another baby much earlier but our calendar was just so busy-- we thought it would be smarter to put it off a little longer.

Hmmmm... why is it that we always seem to think that we are in control... ?

Anyways-- the wedding came. And passed.

I got pregnant immediately.

I was very nervous, excited and anxious about the whole thing.

I had blood drawn a few days before my missed period-- (yeah, psycho, I know)-- and my suspicions were confirmed. Pregnant.

However, to make a long story short-- my HCG levels never got very high and I had a miscarriage about a week after I fount out I was pregnant. It was very sad.

My doctor told me that it was OK to try again, immediately.

So we did. Month after month.

Six looooong months later-- here we are.

That probably doesn't sound like a long time to most.

However, when you want something that bad and you get caught up in counting cycles, ovulation kits and all that mess- time slows down... the whole thing can feel pretty isolating.

And people don't know how their actions can affect others... people constantly asked me when were planning on getting pregnant. Seriously? Is that really your business??

We got pregnant so easily with Chappell that this was sort of a shock to us.

I had my blood drawn at one point, because I convinced myself that I must have something wrong with me... I thought hypothyroidism at one point... maybe that was why I wasn't getting pregnant. Turns out my thyroid is fine.

In the meantime, all of my friends were popping up pregnant. I could name at least ten.

One of my best friends became pregnant and learned she was having twins.

Of course I was happy for them! But couldn't I get pregnant with ONE?

I learned a lot-- and I have such empathy for those trying to have a baby. It is frightening, confusing and frustrating when you cannot conceive. Month after month... awful.

It's very funny though-- the month I actually gave up trying... it happened! I've heard it often works that way.

WELL-- today I found out that we are indeed expecting another baby!

I am ecstatic and can't wait to share the news but will be a little more hesitant because of what happened last time.

I already had a GYN appointment scheduled for June 7, so I plan to call in the morning and change it to OB.

I won't be posting this until after that appointment-- but just wanted to document this pregnancy as much as I did for Chaps.

We are SO excited!!

An after thought...

Just wanted to mention something we're doing w/ Chaps that some of you fellow moms (don't think any dads read this...) might be interested in...

By no means am I claiming that this is some brilliant and/or original idea, it's pretty ridiculous, actually.

So... Reed started practicing introductions w/ Chappell about two weeks ago. He just wanted to teach her how to say hello politely, no big deal.

Reed would say "hello," etc., they shake hands and then she says, "Hello, my name is Chappell Williams, and I'm from Montgomery, Alabama. It's nice to meet you."

No big deal, right? I mean, everyone needs to know their name and where they are from.

But the more I watched them have this little exchange it sort of dawned on me-- why haven't I been driving home this simple, yet pertinent information sooner?

Of course she knows her name... but where she's from, etc., etc.... the list could go on.

God forbid she was ever kidnapped or lost, this is all information she would need to know.

Until last week, she had no clue what city she lived in. We spend hours working on shapes, numbers, letters-- all of the "obvious" stuff... but somehow managed to overlook something so important?

Anywho... I'm stepping down from my soapbox, but it's just some food for thought.

So, I just decided in the shower that we are going to build on this.

Phone number's next...

If she can spell M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E, I think she can learn a few numbers...

Am I psycho? Possibly.

Peace folks.

PS... this picture was taken on Chappell's changing table... the room was almost black, with just a tiny bit of light peeking through (homemade) blackout shades... I just liked the way the light hit her eyes and how sweet and sleepy she was :)

27 Months

Well hello!

Just wanted to check in and say herrro to the ole blog.

Chappy's doing great.

She's currently munching on a lovely rainy day lunch of grilled cheese, pickled okra and watermelon. This meal includes three of her most favorite things to eat, so I'm assuming she's a pretty happy chick right now. The kid goes crazy for anything pickled or salty. So much so, that the check out lady at Publix calls her "okra baby" or "miss okra" because whenever we check out, Chaps is usually chowing down on her own bottle of pickled okra. Well, that and a sample of salami from the deli... funny little lady, no doubt.

I wanted to jot a few things down, so here I go...

Chappell is still rather into playing dress up and sportin' some jewels these days. And, BREAKING NEWS-- she will keep a bow in her hair! Wahoo! I used to have to sneak it in while I was pretending to play with her hair...

Anywho, about a week ago I figured out a way to make it work... I told her that "all princesses wear bows" -- and waaalaa! She is now a bow wearer... because, of course, Chappellina is a princess, and all princesses wear bows.

I wish I could convince her to do things like this forever. I'll enjoy it while it lasts!

Recent happenings:

Chappell likes to put on all of her jewelry (clip on earrings, bracelets, numerous necklaces, bow and high heels) walk to the back door and tell us: I'm going to work mommy and daddy, bye bye!!

"Momm, I would like to have some fruit snacks for the road, pweeeeeeeeeease!!"

*Overheard her counting to ten in Spanish yesterday, in perfect order. I have no idea how she learned this, I'm assuming Dora, but I watch Dora with her and I don't really remember any episodes that we've watched counting to ten... school maybe??

Chappell can count to mid 20s. She can identify all of the numbers now and most of the alphabet by sight. She mastered the numbers pretty quickly after playing number puzzles on

Reed's ipad, otherwise known as "daddy's puter." Technology's pretty shweet. Her easel has magnetic letters and that's how we've worked on the alphabet. The magnetic "wetters" are one of her most favorite things to play with. Well, that and her rubber lizards, snakes, baby doll and bottle, Baby Einstein DVD cases (all DVDs and DVD cases for that matter)--- I could go on but I will stop.

Chaps likes to pray for her friends/classmates at naptime...

this reminds me, C told Reed this right when she woke up yesterday:

"Pollard is my best friend. I love Pollard. Pollard is nice."

Seriously?? Where does she come up with this stuff?

Speaking of Mr. Pollard, these two were caught kissing (just a little peck) on the playground at school a few weeks ago and then spotted in what was described to me as "a human pretzel-like position" at school a few days later.

Then, last Monday, Miss Chappell was spotted (in the backseat of my car

) holding hands with Pollard's first cousin, Barnes and affectionately calling him "Pumpkin." She better watch out or she's going to stir something up between the cousins. Ha.

Well, back to editing, just wanted to jot a few things down. I know I'm forgetting a lot but I'll be back soon.

Adios!

Spring MINIS!

I know this isn't personal (and this is still my personal blog), but I wanted to make sure the word got out... as this deal will not happen again!

Email me at hollandwilliamsphotography@gmail.com for more info! Only a few spots left!

And... just FYI, if you know someone in the Montgomery area who is pregnant and about to POP/have a baby... (in the next week) or currently has a baby under ten days old... let me know...

I have something up my sleeve...

Little bit O fun

It's proving to be hard to keep up with two blogs, facebook, my website and oh yeah, the business.

I figured I'd link you over to my HWP blog... I actually posted yesterday.

*HWP blog will be getting a makeover verrrrrrrrrry soon... can't wait!

Lots of good news coming my way recently... I'm so excited.

Allison submitted my shots of Riley's birthday party to Kori Clark's party blog, Paper & Pigtails... and it was published today!!

Check it out!

So much more to come... later!!

happy hump day

hello!

in another pathetic attempt to keep the blog from withering up and dying, here i am again.

chaps is down for a nap and i'm in the midst of cleaning, cooking and getting packed up for a newborn shoot in the morning. however, i just sat down to my computer to file my alabama state sales tax (you have to file every month your first year in business-- ick) and blogging sounded more appealing. SO, procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate. lawd.

so... to document a few funnies regarding miss chaps that have occurred since i last saw this blog o mine:

1) chaps got stung by a wasp last friday. although it was the saddest thing ever, and scared the poo out of me, she was so cute after the fact. she kept looking over at the HUGE dying black wasp saying, "mean, mean buuug-- you're a meannn meann bugggg" --- picture her saying this with the most southern accent ever, and sobbing. she was so upset with the wasp for stinging her. how dare he sting the biggest animal/critter lover on the planet. how dare he.

2) a few nights ago, after we put chaps to bed we noticed her on the video monitor flying her baby dolls on her feet-- does anyone know what i'm talking about? you know, the airplane game? anyways, we do it w/ her all the time... so there she was, playing airplane w/ her baby dolls. cutest thing ever. "your flyyyyyyying, baby, you're flyyyyyyyyying!"

3) chaps has started taking her pjs off after we put her to bed. i don't know why. don't know what she's thinking. after she falls asleep we sneak in and put her pjs back on. it's quite sad to see her curled up in a ball wearing just her diaper... two year olds are nuts.

4) bought some special big girl panties. she picked them out all by herself and was so excited on the way home she wore a pair on her arm. "DOOOOWA (dora) panties!!" --- as for the whole potty training thing... work in progress... but i don't think we're quite there yet. remember when she pooed in the potty at 19 months old? early potty trainer you thought? no dice.

5) lovin' some tutus. and mermaids. and the jungle book. and the lion king.

that's enough of that for now...

is anyone else addicted to caffeine? new little trick to try... put a pack (if your a fattie like me) or half a pack of swiss miss sugar free hot chocolate mix in your coffee.

it's pretty dern good.

my smith sister is moving to new york city today... my other sister, margaret leigh is in italy teaching until june and just got accepted to university of london for graduate school.

i'm kind of sad about this. chaps is too.

i must do my taxes now...

i'll leave you with a couple pictures of my most adorable two year old - it's been wet outside the past few days so we've been getting creative.

heyhey

sup folks.

another busy week is flying by.

don't worry, i won't bore you with the details.

i don't have much to say right now... all day long, i come up with great post ideas and then when i actually have a minute to write, the thought is gone.

have i mentioned that chappell is hilarious?

and recently, she's been leaning a little towards the girly side of the spectrum.

she never really cared much for dolls until a week or so ago.

reed's mom got her a madame alexander huggums doll for Christmas (she does every year), and chaps has been pretty into her.

she told me today that her baby's name was "emmy."

as most of you know, emmy is what she calls reed's mom. so, emmy-the-baby, it is.

chaps is really into princesses.

specifically ariel.

she loves the little mermaid and knows all of the songs. we haven't watched in a week or so, but she still sings.

siiiiiiiiiings... and sings and sings.

chappell loves lipstick. she carries it around for hours at a time... "doing her wips."

at first, it was cute... but now i've lost all of my burt's bees chapstick to a two year old.

not like i'm going to give her the good stuff... i have a white couch, you know.

actually... it's still really cute... and i don't mind.

ohhhhhhhhh my lordy i wish i could freeze time.

she's just so precious and innocent and happy and genuine.

i love how curious she is about the world around her... she's constantly asking questions and observing. and those big blue eyes...

i can't help but baby her, but i'm realizing lately that babyhood is almost gone.

she weighs almost 26 pounds now (only 25th percentile these days???), and if i keep carrying her around the way i do i know i'll be crippled by 50.

time for bed...

HWP Website is UP!

Please check it out.

Click HERE

This has taken up a lot of my time and energy over the past month. I hope you like it.

Although I know it's kind of a pain to comment, feedback would be just lovely.

Thanks!