Walking with the Williams

Spring Pics!!!!!

2011-05-06T05:49:00.000-07:00

I'm dying to share our Spring Pics with everyone!!! Once again Erin did a fabulous job. She always seems to be able to capture the essence of my little boys... The mischief in their eyes, a shy glance, playfulness. I love it.
Unfortunately Greg had been out of town the night before and surprised me by just making it there, unshaven. Neither of us really matched but we did family photos anyway, and I'm sooooo glad we did!
(Also, please disregard Noah's black teeth. Surely they will come out soon, right?? You know, that's such a part of his childhood I'm glad to have it well documented :-)
Follow the first link for the slide show...

http://www.erinnolenphotography.com/williamsspring11

And this link for the gallery. The password is williams (no caps)

http://enolen.photobiz.com/cart

2011-04-18T12:09:00.001-07:00

Personalize your own digital scrapbooking design

Cade...

2011-04-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

is two. Today. My Baby is Two!! We went from this...

(one year ago)

To this...

(What a sweet helper!)

Cade is accomplishing so many new things lately!! Just today as we were driving home from school he was singing "Row row row you're boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily life is but a dream." This was the first time I have heard him sing a song all the way through by himself.

He recently started counting to ten. His favorite thing to count are the fish in his fish book. I love snuggling up in the yellow chair in his room with his books and reading to him.

Cade is a little bear. He gives THE BEST hugs ever. He will absolutely wrap his arms around your neck and embrace you. I can't even begin to describe the way this makes me feel. Everything in my world is right when Cade gives me a hug.

There is not a day that passes that at some point Cade hasn't made me laugh until my stomach hurts. He is just so funny. Lately he has started telling Knock Knock jokes. (I think his Meme C got him started on this.) It's always the same joke... Cade: "Knock knock . Me: "who's there." Cade:"Chicken" and then he erupts in laughter. There is no punch line. Just Chicken. For some reason this makes me laugh even more.

Cade is very "rough and tumble." He knows NO FEAR. He can wrestle Noah to the ground. (This also happens daily.) He has gotten sneaky. If he thinks I'm not looking he will do something to get Noah riled up. He tends to pester Noah a little. Noah spends his days diligently building things only to have Cade destroy them as soon as they are completed.

I can see already though that Cade is not as strong willed as Noah. He is much more of a pleaser. If Greg or I really get on to him or communicate any disappointment in him he immediately hangs his head and says "Sawwee."

Cade loves playing outside in the yard. He talks to Target (our dog) just like he is a friend. "Cmon Dog dog. Cmon. " They are buddies.

We have had a rough year as far as health goes. Cade has spent the majority of it sick. Over the last year he has had three fever induced seizures. After the second seizure he had a spinal tap. He also had to go to the ER twice with Strider (breathing troubles.) He has had tubes, Tonsillectomy and Adnoidectomy. He had RSV while recovering from the Tonsillectomy and was atrociously sick for three weeks. In fact he ran a low to moderate grade temp for 7 months straight. (Oct. 2010-March 2011.) We spent those months in quarantine. No Church, no school, no play dates. NO FUN! We are glad it's over.

Cade loves berries. They are his favorite food. He can eat a container of them in one sitting. His favorite are Blueberries. He eats any and all berries though. Because of this we planted three blueberry bushes, one blackberry bush and countless strawberry bushes in our backyard. It is simply a more affordable way to feed Cade, haha.

Noah and Cade are best friends. Seriously best friends. They are absolutely lost without each other. Cade mimics everything his big brother does. Noah spends much of their time together laughing. He thinks Cade is the funniest thing he's ever seen. When Noah goes to school and Cade and I are at home together Cade is lonely. The minute we get in the car to go pick Noah up Cade starts rehearsing what he will say to his brother. "Heyyyyyy Bubba. Heyyyyyy Noah. How you?? How School??" He recites the same thing every time.

It doesn't seem possible that two years could have passed so quickly. I remember wondering when I was pregnant with Cade how I could love another baby as much as I loved Noah. Now I wonder how I can love both my children so much and my heart not burst into a million pieces.

Cade you are my sunshine. You bring light into my life with every little smile and touch of your hand. Your laughter is contagious; Your Hugs are miraculous, and your voice is a sweet melody to my ears. I love you sweet boy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Signs of Spring

2011-04-04T11:22:00.000-07:00

My Gerbers... The beautiful Camellia bush by my front walk. I've been cutting blossoms off of it for a month now to go on my dining room table.

This is the window box Greg attached to Noah's playhouse. Noah planted Marigold seeds in it. You can see the seedlings are starting to pop up. He is so proud.

Our rose garden. Greg has always loved growing roses. When we were dating in college he would cut roses off his parents bushes and bring them to me. Now we have our own.

These are Scallions I planted from seeds a few weeks ago. They are starting to sprout!!

Squash seedlings...

The collard and Cabbage Garden. I'm more than a little ready for these plants to mature.

Noah's strawberry plants. My boys are like Bears. They can consume quarts and quarts of berries in one sitting, and they like them all. We have also planted three blueberry bushes. (You need to plant more than one type for cross-pollination value.) And a blackberry bush.

We have a tomato and pepper garden as well, and I'm patiently waiting to see my Okra seedlings (fingers crossed!!)

Oh!! I can't leave out my herb garden!! I am growing... Cilantro (my fav!) Basil, Parsley, Rosemary and Thyme. Herbs make everything better. The End.

P.S. I love Spring!! Can you tell?

One Spring Night...

2011-04-03T18:38:00.000-07:00

We hung out with our friends the Looney's...

Greg and I forced them to hang out outside. Can't you tell Brandon was thrilled?

The fire provided a nice ambiance and love was in the air...

Or Not...

The kids got bored with the fire after a while and headed to play ship on the hammock. Then disaster struck...

Poor Cohen slid straight off the hammock and hit his head on the concrete. It was all Greg's fault. Not really, it just makes me feel better to place the blame on him (and not myself.)

Sweet Cohen. He is one tough dude. He can hang with the Williams' boys any day!

Treasures...

2011-03-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

Greg's parents have taken on the monumental task of cleaning up and selling Greg's grandparent's house. In the process I have gained some treasures! I want to blog more about the extraordinary lady these treasures belonged to but first I feel that these beauties deserve their own post....

These were Granny's. She loved her costume jewelry just as much as me!!!!

Aren't these red ones lovely?!!

Yellow anyone?? I LOVE yellow. I used to have a yellow Volkswagen Beetle. I still miss it everyday of my life....

Aqua...

Color, Color. I can't get enough of it!!! I have absolutely NO black in my closet. In fact, I'm putting in my request now, please... I plea with you, when I die DO NOT WEAR BLACK. I will haunt you forever. Just kidding. I'm sure I'll be way to preoccupied with those Pearly gates and praising my Creator and stuff. Seriously though, NO BLACK.

Speaking of Pearls.

Check these out. Granny made them! They Fascinate me.

This one is so interesting.It's pretty much my favorite. I think.

Oh but I forgot about this. If this is not Beth Williams I don't know what is...

There were several broaches. All lovely. I plan on making them into hair clips.

Does anyone besides me wear Aprons? I LOVE them. I think Granny made this. It's so fun! It inspires me to make her famous Mac n Cheese... or maybe deviled eggs with bacon. My husband can eat a dozen in one sitting.

I love my new treasures. They add history and charm to my daily life. Two of my favorite things!!

Pics from my I phone...

2011-03-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

It was almost 80 degrees today. This makes me HaPpY!!!! It also makes my children HaPpY!!
Thought I'd share some Pics I snapped with my I phone today.
This is the area we affectionately call the Mud Hole. Greg can't wait to have it full of soft green grass. I can't for the life of me figure out why though when it provides endless hours of entertainment for our boys...
Man they were muddy.

and for some reason Cade kept trying to drink out of this water table.

And it especially grossed me out after this guy took a couple of sips from it too.

Boys are gross.

9 Boys, what were we thinking?

2011-02-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

I believe that my sisters and brothers and I have had six years of temporary insanity.

(Please know that I consider Kimi as true a sister as Rob is a brother, and Angela and April are most definitely my family.)

Nine boys in 6 years. How? Why? What does it all mean? These are the things that give me nightmares. People tell me there is a war in our future. Interesting hypothesis...

Maybe, just maybe though, we all just plain stink at making girls. Who knows...

What I do know is that I love every single crazy little face in this picture!!
(except Charlie in that case I love his cute tush, so glad he decided to show it to us)

These are my little men!!

When we all get together Chaos ensues.

And we mothers look at each other and cry.

Then we breath, and we laugh. And we are THANKFUL!

(most of the time.)

"Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But, how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken."

Proverbs 27:17

Love,

Beth

We are anxiously awaiting news on # 10!! ( http://thepeacocks-joshua24-15.blogspot.com/ )

Pink or Blue. Safe bet's blue... we will know in a week!

4th snow this year...

2011-02-10T12:06:00.000-08:00

It is a well known fact that I LOVE Summer and Spring. My desire for these seasons stems from many factors: I enjoy them because I LOVE to be outside. My God created a BEAUTIFUL world and I just absolutely thirst to enjoy it! Also, daily I find myself needing to send my very active boys out to run off some energy, and basically I just plain CRAVE sunshine.

Today though, the sun did not shine. Instead we got this...

and it was soooooooooo pretty!

And I (Little Miss. Sunshine) enjoyed it.

Just needed to take a second and embrace the day...

Beth

2010-12-29T13:28:00.001-08:00

Nine Months Later...

We live here!

I have adapted to cottage living beautifully. I love our home. I love my YARD and my little GARDEN. I love my SWIMMING POOL and most of all my KITCHEN!

Our home is a fixer upper. The house was vacant when we bought it. The owner bought it and flipped it. (New paint job. Opened up the kitchen den area by knocking out a wall. Granite counters, new appliances and new tile and fixtures throughout the bath and bedrooms.) There are still many things that Greg and I can't wait to address. We would love to finish out the Basement with a den, bedroom and laundry room. (It may be awhile before we tackle this!) The concrete is cracking in the driveway, sidewalk and around the pool from tree roots. (But oh how I love my big trees! ) The wiring in the house is also kinda interesting. It could use some adjusting. To me this is all just character though. I love the fact that this house feels like home. My family and I can just simply dwell here, and we are so, so happy!

So happy in fact that I haven't had time to blog. So let's catch up some...

It's Christmas.

Noah is four 1/2

Cade is 20 months

These dudes are wild...

Often my day involves lots of this...

and this...
and I most often find myself here... Our days are full of laughter,(occasionally) tears, running, wrestling, pottying, tickeling, laundry and cooking. Just the way I like it!!

I can't wait to catch up some more in my upcoming posts. (That is if I actually post them!)

Livin' the dream!!

Beth

2010-03-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

We are moving. The countdown is on.... We close on our house and the new house in 15 days. I am excited, nervous, a little sad and somewhat overwhelmed. We desperately need more space and a better location. I am still sad to leave the home I brought my babies home to. We have so many memories here. No worries though, I will be taking those with me :-) I will post more on our move soon because I have realized that this is something I want to remember!!

Crawling and a new schedule

2009-12-03T08:22:00.000-08:00

Cade is crawling. Appropriately he really let loose while we were trying to decorate our Christmas tree last night. I guess there were so many interesting ornaments to go after. He's been "swimming" to get were he wanted for about a month. Those of you that have seen Cade lately know that there is a BIG belly to hold up. I thought it might be awhile before he started crawling on all fours but I guess he had some good motivation. I will post pictures soon or maybe even a video.
Also I am attempting to get Cade on a better schedule today. I am not happy with the current one mostly because he is still nursing every 3 hours! (sometimes even at night) So today I am introducing more solids, more frequently. So far our day has gone like this...
6:00 am Nursed and fell back asleep
8:15 half a strawberry banana yogurt
10:15 nursed
10:30 nap

Hoping for....
12:00 sweet potatoes
2:00 nurse
3:00 nap
5:00 nurse
6:00 green beans and bananas
8:30 nurse and bedtime (or bottle since I might not be home)

I am VERY open to suggestions.

Day #18 of fever!

2009-11-24T13:50:00.000-08:00

Noah went back to visit our best friend Dr. Lytle today. It was not a fun visit. He's sick of that place. I'm sick of that place. My wallet is sick of that place!

Ahh well another day another doctor.

The diagnosis did not get any better today. Noah has developed pneumonia. If you remember this Noah had pneumonia last year during the holidays. Evidently two rounds of pneumonia by three years of age is not exactly the picture of a healthy child.

So we will wait two weeks for Noah to kick the pneumonia and then go for more extensive testing. Dr. Lytle thinks there might possibly be an underlying reason why Noah can't seem to fight anything off. I'm not extremely worried because when I was little doctors thought the exact same thing about me.

Please pray for Noah and Cade. They are my precious babies and I just want them well!!

I'm crazy about

2009-11-23T09:54:00.000-08:00

Them...

and They are both sick.

Noah got sick 3 Fridays ago! It started with him throwing up. With all the distractions from the vomit (and canceling a trip to Texas at midnight) we failed to realize he had a fever. Until he started seizing.

Noah had a seizure that lasted around 6 minutes when he was a year old. I honestly thought he had outgrown it since then. I was wrong.

We spent that night at Children's and were sent home with the diagnosis of feibral seizure. (Seizure brought on by a rapid increase in temperature. )

It wasn't long before Cade started getting sick too. They were both diagnosed with Strep Throat. Good. One round of amoxocyllin and they'll be better, right?

Wrong...

Since then we have been to two ENT's (with Cade) scheduled, and then rescheduled tubes. Cade has started Albuteral every 4 hours. He was also told that he probably has RSV.
Noah has gone through two full rounds of antibiotics and has had a fever over 101.0F for the last 17 days. Sigh....
I miss Summer. I miss healthy happy children. Most of all I miss my sanity as I am quickly losing it being cooped up in this house with two sick children.

Beach Buddies

2009-09-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the summer we went to the beach with my family.

Lake (my nephew) and Noah seem to always pick up right where they left off every time they are together. This is amazing since they only see each other 3 or 4 times a year!

I know it seems like I am always posting pictures of Noah eating but it is truly his favorite thing to do.

They spent many hours digging in the sand together!

Noah's favorite green shades!

I'm sailing away!

4th of July (posted in September, HA!)

2009-09-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

We spent the 4th of July at the lake. Noah had a blast hanging out with grandparents and greatgrandparents! After the lake we went to a fireworks show at the mall area in Trussville. Noah LOVED the fireworks and Cade slept through them. I think it was the first time Noah understood it had something to do with our country's birthday. He does love a good birthday party!!

Just trying to get the ball rollin' again

2009-09-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

Man it's been awhile since I blogged!! It's like once you get out of the habit you just completely forget about it. Then three months later you feel all kinds of pressure that if you blog again it should be really good because it's been THREE MONTHS since you wrote anything! How can I possibly sum up a whole summer in one blog?! It's just simply impossible.
The thing is though that I as much as I love my extended family and friends this blog has always been about Cade and Noah. I want them to have a record of our precious moments together. Since I have done such a poor job of this I guess I will just pick up where I left off. I do feel that I owe my boys an apology for being such a blog slacker. So here it is...
Cade and Noah I apologize wholeheartedly for letting this blog fall by the wayside. Please understand that it really is your fault though. If it weren't for long nights soothing crying children, feeding you what I would swear to be the equivalent of what a mother bear feeds her cubs everyday(or possibly more,) and playing pirates or trucks or hiding from the giant (FEE FIE FOE FUM) I would probably have a lot more time on my hands for blogging. So boys, really, if you want to remember your childhood you have to allow more time for mommy to blog :-)
So here goes a crazy attempt to catch up!!

Arrgghh Mateys!

2009-07-29T06:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend Noah had his three year old birthday party! We had so much fun and most of his friends were able to come! About two months before the party I was looking for invitations. I thought we would do a cute frog or a little boy swimming since it was a pool party. Instead Noah looked at them and said, "I WANT THAT PIRATE"! I didn't even know he knew what a pirate was. Oh well, Pirate Party it would be! It turned out to be great. The ideas are endless for a Pirate Party. I ordered a HUGE pirate ship float off the Internet. Then I settled on a cake. (I always bake them myself.) We also filled up a pool with sand, hid treasure chests with gold candy in them (these were our goody bags). All in all the day was a success. Noah had so much fun that we had to drag him out of the pool along with his pirate ship that night! Here are some pictures....

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

2009-07-23T19:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight Greg's company had their first company picnic at the Baron's game.

We had a really good time showing off our family to his co-workers.

Noah enjoyed playing in the kiddie park!

He also enjoyed meeting Babe Ruff and Lily Mays.

We had a fun picnic dinner!

Noah and his friends Mathew and Tyler could not get enough of Babe Ruff!

Even Cade got a little "Puppy Love."

Happy Anniversary Baby... I got you on my mind!

2009-07-17T08:11:00.000-07:00

Similar, Yet Oh So Very Different!

2009-07-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

Cade is eleven weeks old! I can't even believe it! I guess it's time for me to slow down and take time to describe my precious 2 1/2 month old. Someday (I KNOW) I will want to remember these days but won't be able to.
In my opinion, Cade looks so much like Noah, but two children couldn't be more different in personalities. He is far more laid back. Noah came into the world stubborn and ready to put up a fight. He is strong willed and knows exactly what he wants and WILL NOT back down. Noah was colicky and fussy as a baby. I remember pacing the floor almost every night from about 5 until midnight trying to soothe my screaming child. Many tears were shed between the two of us. It also created a very strong bond. Oh how I adored that precious, crying baby. God has given me an extra dose of patience when it comes to dealing with Noah. He has a very creative imagination (not sure were he gets that from ;-) ) He is also cautious, but will do anything for a laugh (hmm... know anyone like that?). He is not the people pleaser that I have always been. He could care less what his daddy or I want him to do, he does what makes sense to him. I realize that right now these traits can be very trying. I am also extremely thankful for them because I believe he will be a man of tremendous character, a man that knows what is right, not because someone told him. A man that sticks to his guns. I'm so excited to watch him grow up.
On to Cade... from day one Cade has had a completely different temperament. Most of the time Cade is pretty reserved. He studies things with a worried expression. He seems to quietly sit back and take it all in. Cade soothes himself easily. He enjoys his downtime and loves for me to just lay him in his bed with his paci and let him drift quietly off to sleep. He has been easy to train and get into a schedule. When he was just two weeks old he slept through the night for the first time. This hasn't really stuck, but it does happen from time to time. Most nights he still wakes up about 4:00 to eat. These days I'm attempting to stick his paci back in and hope that he will fall back asleep. (Let me interrupt here and say that Noah didn't sleep through the night until well after his two year old birthday.) Cade is nursing very well. At his eight week checkup he weighed 13 lbs. He was in the 80th percentile for height and weight. He does not like taking a bottle. Fortunately, I am able to be there for most of his feedings, even when I am working. Cade already adores his older brother. He loves to lay in the floor on his play mat and stare over at his brother playing right beside him. Greg's mom tells me often that Cade thinks he's three too. This seems to be true seeing that he already tries to mimic his brother's behavior. One of our favorite games to play with Cade is "see what we can make brother do." Noah will raise his arm in the air and sure enough in a minute Cade's arm shoots up in the air. Noah will stick out his tongue and Cade does too. Today we discovered that when Noah shakes his head Cade also shakes his. I'm a little scared, this could get dangerous!
Cade has also already accomplished a developmental milestone. At ten weeks he rolled over for the first time. I laid him on his play mat on his tummy and then like an old pro he rolled from tummy to back. He actually did it several times for me that day, but anytime I tried to video or take a pic he didn't feel like performing. Unfortunately, Greg hasn't gotten to see him do this yet either. He's had to travel a lot lately. Hopefully, soon Cade will show off for his daddy.
Well I guess this post has gotten long enough. My sweet little one is crying (which by the way when he cries he sound like a little squealing pig.) Sorry, but he does :-)

Can you tell my boys apart?

2009-06-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

Okay so I get asked all the time if Noah and Cade look alike. These are not the best pictures but I think you can tell the similarities. I will post one later of them in the same outfit (I just have to take it first.)

Memorial Day!!

2009-06-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

We've had visitors!! Rob, Kimi, Lake, Thomas and Smith have finally made it to Alabama!

We had an exciting and wonderful two weeks with them. It all started with an eventful Memorial Day at the lake.

Full of this...

and some of this..

and lots of this...

and this...

and this was complicated and way too hard to do...

(a picture of all our babies)

Isn't he adorable, gosh I miss that face already!!

Oh the tent... This deserves a whole blog devoted strictly to it. We had a very unsuccessful camp out in this tent.

All in all I wish everyday was Memorial Day 2009. I love my family to pieces and I have to say we have the cutest nine boys I've ever laid eyes on!

Cade at two weeks

2009-06-13T11:32:00.000-07:00

Angela took these pictures of Cade when he was a little over two weeks old. Aren't they great?! It's awesome to have a friend who is getting to be such a pro at photography.

Cade's delivery!

2009-06-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

Finally some pictures from Cade's birth.

Sorry I'm so behind blogging but we have been extremely busy. Cades actual delivery went flawlessly and he came out a perfect little angel! My water broke at 4:00 Easter morning and Cade was born the next morning. I actually stayed home all day Easter and enjoyed the day with my family before I eventually went to the hospital about 9:00 that night. At seven that morning they started pit because my water had been broken for more than 24 hours. He was born two hours later, very quickly I might add. (My doctor barely made it in the room.) Apparently I'm quite sensitive to the pit. (The same thing happened with Noah.)

Baby Cade Arrives

2009-04-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

Guest Blogger: Greg
Beth has requested I post some pictures for everyone.

Cade was born at 8:29 am on Monday Morning. He weighed 7lbs. 7oz and was 21 inches long. He has been excellent. He is sleeping and feeding very well. Beth is doing really well also. Here some pictures of the new boy!

You'll always be my baby!

2009-04-02T06:03:00.000-07:00

So my friends... I am an emotional mess!! I'm not sure if it is sleep deprivation or hormones. Sunday Greg took Noah to church and I stayed home. After church he stopped by his mom's house to leave Noah and bring me home a plate of lunch. He sat the plate down in front of me and walked away, well I took one bite and started SOBBING. We're not talking about a few tears here, I mean all out gasping for air sobbing. The crazy thing is I'm not really even sure why. I think I was able to mutter something to my bewildered husband about missing Noah and wanting to experience those last minute only child things instead of hanging around the house waiting on Cade to make his grand entrance. Greg was precious! Once he cleaned up my flood of tears he suggested we take Noah to ride the carousel at the mall and buy baby Cade a gift. YES! This was a wonderful idea! We really did have the best day with our lovely two year old, but while at the mall that night I felt this unspeakable urge to buy Noah everything and anything there!! I became very upset that Greg didn't want to let Noah build-a-bear. I also couldn't see the harm in spending $100.00 on certain items at the Disney store. Greg remained sensible and I became satisfied with our three rides on the carousel and our ice-cream Sunday that we all three shared.
Since then this urge to spoil Noah has continued. Yesterday he found his dusty old pacifier on the floor underneath a table. He immediately said "look mommy my paci!" and then stuck it in his mouth. I stood there FROZEN. Every sane bone in my body said, Beth remove the paci and tell him what a big boy he is. Remind him that he gave all his pacis away because he didn't need them anymore. But there I stood like a statue, staring at my precious BABY with his paci! I wanted to go back! It was a way to revert and keep him from growing up. Maybe just for a little while. It would be our secret, he wouldn't tell anyone I let him have paci, right?
Thank goodness for dust because quickly Noah spit out the paci and said, "it's yucky mommy." Then he turned and went about his business. Whoa, that was a close one!

2009-03-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

The rumors are out... Greg went to church this morning and received several heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS from people. We very much appreciate these, but let me assure you all, Cade is NOT here yet. After a very long and extremely drawn out week we are very much anticipating his arrival. I am finally 37 weeks today!! Woo hoo, this means I have reached those precious words... FULL TERM. This pregnancy has been full of ups and downs that I just didn't have with Noah. With Noah things went very smoothly and I just really enjoyed being pregnant. It has not been quite as glamarous this time around. I really anticipated smooth sailing until the end though, but that is not what Cade had in mind. Monday afternoon Greg flew to New Orleans for bussiness. This was fine, he travels all the time and the baby wasn't due for another month... or so I thought. About two in the morning I woke up having contractions. I had been having braxton hicks for awhile but these were different. They hurt and started coming frequently. I waited it out, worried because Greg was out of town and I was only 36 weeks. My mom came in the morning and took Noah and I back to her house. These contractions continued all day and eased up a little that night. Thank goodness Greg flew back in around six that night. We went home and ate dinner and went to bed. Then about two I woke up again with contractions. We timed them and decided to go into the hospital. When I got there they were two minuttes apart and very strong. They admitted me and decided they would not stop labor but would do nothing to help it progress either. So the plan was just to watch and wait. We stayed at the hospital 13 hours that day. I never dialated past a three. They gave me two options... One was to stay on the perionatel floor and let them continue to monitor me as my contractions were so strong they thought surely labor was empending...Two was to go home with strict instructions on when to come back. I chose to go home. I missed Noah and just wanted to sleep in my bed. Well I got to see Noah, but sleep is something I obviously have forgotten how to do. I am still (on Sunday) contracting every 2-4 minuttes just not as intensly as I at the hospital. This keeps me from getting any sleep. All in all I am content with this outcome though because I truly believe Cade was not ready to come last week. Dr. Banks checked me out on Friday and I was still sitting at a three. He said he believed Cade would come this week and he would not leave me to exhaust myself for too long. Have I mentioned I have the sweetest doctor ever? Well, I do. So on to more waiting and anticipating... oh yeah and savoring EVERY single moment I have left with Noah as an only child.
By the way, Noah is very worried about his mommy and is taking good care of me. He told my mom "we take mommy to the doctor so she feel better!" I love that kid!!

The Renovations are Complete!

2009-03-23T06:07:00.000-07:00

The hardwoods and carpet are complete. I'm a very happy momma! I have learned quickly that it will be easy for me to become obsessive about my floors though. Currently I think I am sweeping and dust mopping about once an hour. They really do seem to show more dust and dirt. The thing that freaks me out is that same dust and dirt was in my carpet all along and I just couldn't see it. :-) See I told you guys I was nesting... normally this would not bother me so much!

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Potty Training and Nesting... Is this a good combination?

2009-03-19T07:53:00.000-07:00

I have officially begun Nesting! At almost 36 weeks pregnant I am in full-swing preparing our house for a new baby! We have lived in our house almost five years now, (very hard to believe!) When we bought the house it had terrible builder grade carpet in it. Apparently this carpet is only made to last about a year. Five years, one rambunctious toddler, a cat and a dog later our carpet had to come up! I had reached my limit! We are now in the process of having hard woods laid throughout the living areas of the house... living room, kitchen, foyer, dining room and hallway. We are also replacing all the carpet in the bedrooms. You can not imagine how elated I am!!! The build up for this process was AMAZING! You would not believe the adrenaline rush it created in this very large, pregnant momma! I cleaned every baseboard, mopped and scrubbed all the floors vacuumed behind and under things that hadn't been touched in years! I also cleaned out COMPLETELY the fridge and freezer, the pantry and with the help of my mom reorganized the linen closet. Was all of this necessary? Oh... COMPLETELY!! If it had not been done I honestly believe I would have lost my sanity... or maybe I already have! :-) Nesting is a very strange phenomenon, but I think I love it!
We are now living at my parents house while the flooring is being put in. It has been wonderful, very convenient. My dad has been quite the host! (My mom is out of town taking care of my grandmother who just had shoulder surgery.) Hopefully by Friday night we will be back in our CLEAN, newly remodeled home!
I don't think I have mentioned in my blog yet that Noah is potty training. Oh what fun! Who knew this would be such a long process! For weeks we have consistently been taking him to the potty. I would still not consider him potty trained. He is not such a good pooper and would much rather hide somewhere and surprise you with a dirty pull-up than go in the potty. I am trying very hard to be patient with this process. I honestly am just happy we've made the progress we have made before little Cade arrives. It would be very nice not to have to worry about two in diapers!

Sharing the Remote

2009-02-24T17:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the quality of these pictures, they were taken with Greg's phone.
I just wanted to share our new discovery with the T.V. This way both Greg and Noah are happy...
Now if we could just squeeze in American Idol too...

A snowy adventure!

2009-02-16T13:03:00.000-08:00

Well... a month ago... we went to Gatlinburg. Unfortunately I am just now blogging. Seems to be an ongoing story with me!

We had such a great time!! Noah is an excellent rider in the car, so the trip was very easy and not at all stressful. We arrived late Friday night and the first thing we did was hit the Ihop!

After that we went to our cabin and unpacked. It was such a great cabin. Very close to the town but far enough up the mountain that it was completely peaceful and quiet. Noah Greg and I took the downstairs. We had a den with a pool table a two huge flat screens (one in the bedroom and one in the den) and a king sized bed. We had two bathrooms, downstairs. The one in the bedroom had a claw footed tub and a fireplace. We also had a fireplace in our bedroom. Upstairs mom and Dad had the same thing. Their bathroom had a HUGE jacuzzi in it that Noah loved to swim in. So, to make a long story short our cabin was awesome with tons of woods to play in and a great view!

The next day we got up with one thing on our minds... SNOW! We went in search of it, and we found it! The thing I didn't expect was Noah's LOVE for tunnels. The child was obsessed with them. We went through several on our way up the mountain and believe me he was THRILLED with them all. We built a snowman and threw snowballs, Oh what fun!

Later we crashed at the Cabin. That night we went into Gatlinburg and ate at the Park Grill. So yummy!!! I had the best and biggest Creme Brulee I've ever tasted. (Seriously it was HUGE!)

The next morning we explored Cade's Cove and all the animals. This was fun, Noah loved the horses. Later that afternoon we went to the aquarium in downtown Gatlinburg. Noah absolutely loved this!! He adores sharks, and stingrays, and catfish, and jellyfish, and eels.... there is really not a fish he doesn't like, and the bigger the better. We stayed there all afternoon and then headed to the cabin. That night Greg and I went back out alone so that he could get some ribs... I had Cheesecake (yes I know the theme seems to be dessert for me, but I always shared!) The next morning we packed up and headed into town. We ate at The Original Pancake House (Noah had bear shaped pancakes) and then shopped for a long time. After that Greg and I drove up the mountain to Ober Gatlinburg and let Noah watch the skiers. This preceded the long trek home! (It really wasn't that long, but leaving is never as fun as going!)

Thanks mom and dad for such a great trip! We had so much fun and made so many memories! You are THE BEST!!

Noah and Daddy John, so happy together!

Noah and Daddy at Ober

The aquarium, Noah and Daddy John in the fish tank!

Riding through the huge fish tank, the sharks swam all around you. Noah LOVED this.

A SHARK!

Noah's snowman

Trying to keep our gloves on, Noah's hand were a little small.

Building our Snowman

The much loved Tunnel

Throwing snowballs!

Mommy Daddy and Noah on the back porch of our cabin.

We were so tired!! We crashed that afternoon.

A horse Noah loved at Cade's Cove.

The top of the mountain.

Our Cabin from outside. You can see Noah had lots of woods to explore!

Our Cabin inside, Please ignore the very tired, very pregnant woman in the picture!

"Happy Valemtimes, I wuv you!"

2009-02-16T07:11:00.000-08:00

Oh I am so behind with my blogging!! I don't even have an excuse as to why I am so behind. The only thing I can really think that has caused this is that I am sooo pregnant and for some reason sitting in front of the computer for a long period of time KILLS my back.
We celebrated Valentines day this weekend. Unfortunately I forgot to take ANY pictures! What was I thinking?! Friday Noah had his Valentine's party at preschool. I think he enjoyed it because when I asked what he ate for lunch he told me a pink cup cake! Friday night we went to Greg's church basketball tournament. Now don't get me wrong I was of course routing for my husband and our college students to win. (We have a few that have been so dedicated they have driven home from school on Friday nights just to play b'ball.) I never ever expected them to win the whole tournament though. (Which meant Noah and I were stuck at the church until after 10:00 Friday night, at least 4 hours!) They had lost more games than they had won this season. Fortunately they were on fire when it counted!! So yea!! The weekend started off with a Happy Daddy and a win for College Sunday School.
Saturday morning Noah woke up to heart shaped pancakes and a Valentines balloon and Tonka Truck. We then took flowers and a card to his Mimi C and Pops. (Greg's mom) He was so precious handing out his gifts "Happy Valemtimes, I wuv you!" He went home had a very fast nap and then headed to the Zoo with Mimi C and Pops.
This gave Greg and I time to get ready for our big Valentines date! (Let me tell you when your 8 months pregnant it's hard to think you look great for your husband!)
We headed to eat at Cocina Superior (yum!) and then off to a musical (Romance, Romance) starring our friend Kristen Sharp! So fun, great job Kristen!! BTW by this time Noah had been dropped off at his Nene and Daddy John's house for a Valentine pizza party. When I called at 9:45 to tell them we were coming to pick him up he was already fast asleep and I was told under no circumstances was I to come pick him up that they would see me tomorrow. How WONDERFUL! A night to ourselves!! I later found out Noah slept at least 10 hours that night. He never does that at home! So... We had a WONDERFUL Valentine's Day and we are so thankful for our precious parents who selflessly devoted themselves to watching our child for us.
** BTW, Noah did not leave my mom out. He delivered his flowers and card to her yesterday after church with a huge kiss and an "I wuv you Nene!"

I've been tagged

2009-02-02T09:53:00.000-08:00

Christy tagged me about a week ago and I'm just now getting around to responding. This picture was taken when Noah was twelve months old. Noah formed a habit very early on of rubbing my eye lashes when he was sleepy. It's very strange and I honestly don't know how it happened. Now a year and a half later he still rubs my eyes when he's sleepy. Noah is very much a snuggler. I on the other hand am not. I can somewhat appreciate how sweet it is to feel his little hand on my face though!
One of my funnier memories is of picking Noah up from the nursery when he was a year old. A friend (Cile) had nursery duty that day and was in Noah's class. When I went to pick him up she said she was trying to rock Noah to sleep and he kept reaching up for her eyes. Apparently it freaked her out a little until she remembered me saying he rubbed my eyes to fall asleep... Poor Cile!

Christy Stewart tagged me. I am tagging Deena, Rob, Haley and Cile (since you got a shout out in my blog). You are supposed to open up your 4th picture album, post the 4th picture, and tag 4 people. Enjoy!

I passed my test!!

2009-01-22T17:27:00.001-08:00

Sorry I didn't leave more detail the first time I posted this. I intended to, but we were leaving for Gatlinburg the next day and I just ran out of time.
The test I was referring to in the title is my Glucose test. After failing the 1 hour test and passing out during the three hour test, I finally found out that I indeed passed!! Believe me this was a huge shock! I just knew I had failed it and was in for a very long third trimester. Yea for me and Baby Cade! We are in Gatlinburg now, having So much fun. I can't wait to post more from our trip!!

Finally... A Name!

2009-01-14T08:34:00.000-08:00

Well Greg and I have finally named our second little miracle. The long awaited name is... Caden Robert Williams. We will call him "Cade."

I am so excited by his name because I fell in love with the name Cade very early on (Greg took some convincing). We both knew that we also wanted to incorporate family into the name. Robert was the obvious choice. There have been two men in my life, other than my father and Greg, that were vastly important in shaping me into the person I am today. Those men are my grandfather Robert M. Smith and my brother John Robert Patterson "Rob." These two men have been such an example of God's love and grace! I am thrilled that Cade will be able to follow in their footsteps, and carry on a family name.

To Cade,
My prayer for you is that you will strive to follow the heritage your family has laid out before you. Your great grandfather is the most patient man I have ever known. He continually shows grace in times of trial. He is a model of humility and unwavering love. He reads his Bible everyday and is soft spoken, but knowledgeable. If he speaks, you should listen! May you love your wife as much and as long as he has loved your great grandmother. May you learn to fight for the good of your family and the people you love the way that he has. May you lean on your God at all times the way that he does!
You are also named after your uncle Rob. Your uncle Rob is exciting. He is going to be so much fun for you to be around! He loves Jesus and trusts him in a new way daily. He is strong in what he believes. He will not float with the wind but stands up to whatever hurricane is sent his way. (Unfortunately he's been sent a few storms lately.) He trusts God no matter what! He has been the most wonderful brother to me. May you be the same type of brother to Noah that your uncle Rob has been to me. May you love Jesus first and foremost as your uncle Rob has. May you always stay the course, if it's what you believe in, the way your uncle Rob does.
Caden Robert your dad and I can't wait to meet you! We can't wait to introduce you to these two men, your namesakes! What an example you have to look up!
I love you so much already!
Mommy

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3

Happy Birthday Greg!

2009-01-06T07:50:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, this was totally wrong. Let me just say to defend myself that in 7th grade (when I met Greg) I was completely smitten with that dorky boy with the big glasses!

I guess you can tell from the birthday card that we have been celebrating a birthday at our house. My husband has a terrible birthday... December 28! The poor man never gets anything good because everyone has spent all their money on Christmas!

Greg is now 27 years old. I would say he has grown up a lot this year. He now has two children (counting baby # 2 due in April) and is even a deacon at the church. If that doesn't make you old I don't know what does! J/K!

*Greg let me say to you Happy Birthday. Every year I spend with you seems to go by faster! I can't wait to make so many more wonderful memories with you. I love you! Thanks for the many, many laughs we shared together this year! Here's to many more to come!

Christmas 2008!!

2008-12-30T10:13:00.000-08:00

Well I finally am getting a chance to blog about Christmas!

First of all I have decided that it should be illegal to be pregnant over Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am already hungry all the time and it is just not right to put a six month pregnant woman in the same room with 10 desserts and every casserole you can imagine. My grandmother is an amazing cook, unfortunately the next time I weigh in you are going to be able to tell it.

We started our Christmas Eve in Fayette at my Grandmothers house. We spent the afternoon playing outside with trucks. Later that night we got ready and went to the Christmas Eve service at my Grandparents church. This is a family tradition that I absolutely adore. I don't think I've ever missed a year, and it is just so special. Noah didn't seem to appreciate it as much as me since he slept through it. (Remember he still had pneumonia.) After the service we went back to my Grandmother's House for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of homemade biscuits and fried ham. YUM! (No I didn't eat the ham...)

After this we let Noah open one gift. His "Cars" sleeping bag, air mattress. The plan was that Noah would sleep in it on the floor beside us that night. Neither one of us thought he would actually do it, but much to our surprise he slept in it all night!

The next morning Greg and I woke Noah up (that is very unusual) around 7:00. We were both so excited because we knew Santa had left an amazing Thomas the Train table downstairs! It took my little two year old several minutes to grasp the situation at hand. He kept rubbing his eyes and looking, then eventually he turned and ran the other way. This was not exactly the reaction I was looking for. I quickly scooped him up and carried him to the table. From that moment on he never left Thomas side! We had another amazing breakfast which Noah did not eat because that would have required him to stop playing. My poor family had shopped diligently for toys they thought Noah would enjoy and he never looked twice at them (except maybe his new garbage truck.) Overall I would say Santa's timing with the Thomas table was impeccable!

About 1:00 we left Fayette and headed to Greg's Grandparents house in Centerpoint. Noah slept through the 2 hour drive. We stayed there and played with his cousins Ryleigh and Kaylee all afternoon. That day did include one of our most special memories of Christmas. Greg's grandfather, (who tends to be a bit hard to please, but quite lovable) gave Noah a very special gift. Now let me just say that no one else got a gift from Grandaddy. He proudly went inside hunted around and came back with a collectors Corvette that he said he had kept for 20 years and he wanted "Noey boy" to have it! Precious!!

We then headed to Mimi and Pops house (Greg's parents) for some Taco Soup and another round of gifts. At this point it had just gotten overwhelming!! Noah, Ryleigh and Kaylee very much enjoyed entertaining us with the new karaoke machine. Noah is quite the dancer and he can sing Jesus loves me with the best of them. (Could a mother be more proud?)

Overall we will always remember this as the Christmas of Pneumonia and Thomas the Train! I guess we'll take the good with the bad!

**By the way on a side note... I've talked about all this tradition, but one tradition was missing from my Christmas. Rob and Kimi were stuck in Texas away from us this year. This is the first year ever I haven't spent at least most of Christmas with my brother and his adorable family. To say they were missed is an understatement! Rob, Kimi, Lake, Thomas and Smith Christmas wasn't the same without you! We love you and we never want to spend another Christmas apart again!!

After observing Noah for a few days I will list his favorite new toys:

Thomas Table
Garbage Truck
New TB's (that's what he calls the new DVD players for my car)
Car's book with flashlight

5. Car Carrier Monster Truck

6. Sand Box complete with Bull dozer

2008-12-29T16:11:00.000-08:00

2008-12-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

This is a pic of Noah playing in his pajamas. He found this diaper box very entertaining. He told me it was his boat.

Noah has pnuemonia

2008-12-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

So... we have had a very eventful weekend. Thursday night around 3:00 in the morning Noah opened our bedroom door and walked in. I nudged Greg (ever so gently) to get up and put Noah back in his bed. Well, when he picked him up he told me that Noah was burning up. We took his temperature and much to our dismay it was 104.00 F! Let me just say that anytime I see a temperature go that high I literally panic. You should all know that when Noah was a year old he had a six minute long seizure from a temp. that was 104.00 F. We immediately tried to cool him off in the bath tub and of course gave him Motrin. I can't tell you how much he hates it when we put him in the bath tub with that high of a temp.! At some point I was shaking so hard that Greg said to me "Look, I can't take care of both of you at the same time!" My poor husband...
Well we have spent the last 4 nights fighting off this 104.00 temperature. I had taken Noah to see his pediatrician on Friday who tested him for strep and then decided it was probably just a virus. Sometime in the middle of the night Saturday I had had enough. We were rotating Tylenol and Motrin every 3 hours and nothing was happening. His temp. was still 104.00 F and he was refusing to eat or drink. So we packed up and went to Children's Hospital. Probably not my wisest decision! Anyone that's a mother knows though that in the middle of the night, everything seems worse! After sitting in the waiting room for 3 1/2 hours we finally gave up. Noah's fever had come down some and we weren't going to be seen for quite some time. We left with hopes that we could get an after hours appointment the next day at Pediatrics East.
So yesterday we went to Ped's East and within an hour poor Noah had had a blood test, chest X-ray, and Flu test. I was so grateful to find a doctor who finally understood how sick my child was. Immediately following his chest x-ray she told us he had pneumonia. He got a shot and was sent home with antibiotics. I never thought I'd be so happy to see a prescription written!
We are having a nice day today at home. I can already see progress after the shot he was given. We are playing in our pajamas and just having Mommy, Noah time. I guess I should savor this before his brother arrives! Now I am just praying he is well enough to travel to Fayette to spend Christmas Eve with all my family (minus Rob and Kimi and the boys who will be greatly missed!)
Merry Christmas to all my friends. I hope you are happy and HEALTHY celebrating the birth of our SAVIOR!

It's a BOY!!

2008-12-08T09:13:00.001-08:00

So the news has been out for awhile and I am extremely behind posting this blog but... It's a boy.

Most importantly our 2nd boy was completely healthy at his big sonogram. He had all 8 fingers and toes, just kidding there were 10. :-)

I know most of you must think I am disappointed that we are having another boy. I thought I would be too. Actually though, it was a bit of a relief. Don't get me wrong I still want my girl, but having another boy at this point is just easier (and cheaper).

Noah has not yet realized that he is getting a baby brother. My belly is finally starting to look a little bigger (if you didn't know I have been pretty sick with this pregnancy.) I think he's a little curious about all this but mostly he doesn't seem to care.

I can't wait until he has a playmate at our house. He begs me everyday to go play at his friend Adix (Alex) house. I know it will be awhile before they are playing together but I really look forward to that day.

My parents are very excited about having another grandson. They are also a little apprehensive that their two children have given them 5 grandsons in less than three years time. I wonder what the next three years hold in store for them?? :-)

We have not yet named the baby. We have some names in mind but haven't come to a decision yet. We would love any suggestions you could bring to the table. Please limit the name to 4 letters (to go with Beth, Greg, and Noah.) Most likely Robert will be a part of the name as either a first name or a middle name. I look forward to reading your suggestions!

I hope you are all having a fantastic December. We are so excited about Christmas around the Williams house. Hopefully I will be posting soon about our visit to the Christmas tree farm and some other fun holiday adventures!

Noah's 1st Auburn Game

2008-12-04T09:46:00.000-08:00

Many of you know that I grew up a huge Auburn fan. In fact in high school Greg and I placed many bets (not monetary) on the Iron bowl. The ironic thing about this was that Greg was a die hard Alabama fan. Those of you that know him now find that very hard to believe, I'm sure. Well in the year 2000 those dynamics shifted a little. I decided to attend the University of Alabama and Greg attended Auburn University. My hatred for Alabama melted into acceptance and Greg's hatred of Auburn melted into unconditional love. Thus creating our current Iron Bowl status of me cheering for Auburn but feeling like whatever happens, happens. Greg on the other hand is still in some sort of depressive funk he can't seem to get out of post football season 2008!

There was however one bright spot in our mostly dark and dreary fall. We took Noah to a game! Fortunately, we picked the one game that we won. Now I will tell you I went into this experience expecting disaster. We knew that our rambunctious two year old would never make it through the whole game. So we went anticipating only staying through the 1st quarter. Noah surprised us both with his love of Jordan Hare Stadium. He found everything exciting, especially Aubie. We did make one food run between the 1st and 2nd quarter. Besides that the 1st half was pleasantly peaceful. We stayed through half time. After that we left, not out of necessity though. We just wanted to have time to go visit some dear friends and their new baby that we don't get to see very often. So after such a losing season at least we could feel successful about introducing Noah to Auburn.

2008-11-11T17:12:00.001-08:00

Greg and I took Noah to Botanical Gardens a couple of weeks ago to have some pictures made. We weren't sure how this was going to go because Noah hates posing for a camara. In fact he often hides his face or runs when you pull one out. To my surprise he did very well for the photo shoot. Erin did a great job capturing the spirit of my precious two year old. We never got a very good picture of the three of us, simply because Noah wouldn't stop playing long enough to sit with us. Overall it was a fun experience and we have some wonderful memories to look back on. To view his slideshow follow this link http://erinnolenphotography.com/nwilliams/ (there is music to go with it, it took me awhile to figure that out Ha!)

Halloween

2008-11-03T16:08:00.000-08:00

Well, one half of our Halloween was extremely successful... the other half was not! Wednesday night we had a trunk or treat at church. I had been looking forward to taking Noah to it for a long time. Unfortunately my unpredictable two year old did not share the same enthusiasm that I did about it.

It all started with the precious tractor that my dad made for Noah. He worked for days gluing boxes together, spray painting them green and creating a fantastic John Deer tractor. Noah loved looking at it, but did not want to wear it! So we let him parade around in overalls and a John Deer shirt while Greg carried a big tractor around all night. This would not have been a problem had our child not decided that he would throw himself down on the concrete screaming at a pitch that I was sure only a dog could hear every time we tried to take two steps. Ughhh.... It was just one of those nights. After about an hour Greg and I came to the unanimous decision to ABORT!

After such a disastrous night I figured I might as well hang it up for Halloween. Once again my two year old surprised me! Greg and I retired the homemade tractor and replaced it with his actual ride-on John Deer. Well this made the child extremely happy. So we rode from house to house, ringing every door bell. He would grin and say Twick ow tweat. Then like the little angel he can sometimes be he would follow up by sweetly saying Tank eww and running quickly back to his tractor. After an hour and half of this he did get tired, but hey he's two!

Overall it was a learning experience. What did I learn? That two year olds are just plain unpredictable... especially mine.

All about us

2008-11-03T08:14:00.000-08:00

Greg and I have been married for 4 years. He is truly my best friend, and has been since the 7th grade! He is my partner in every since of the word and is constantly making laugh. We have a two year old son, Noah. He is the source of so much joy and exhaustion for us :-) We have another precious miracle due in April. We will find out in just a few weeks whether it is a boy or a girl. As you can imagine I can't wait to make that update!

2008-11-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

I have decided to try to create a blog... For the second time! Hopefully this time I will be more successful! I will try to update pictures and stories regularly, but I can't make any promises.