Let Your Love Flow...

My father-in-law, Larry Williams, has got to be one of the most kind and genuine people I know. He is a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather and very much the peacemaker in a loud, obnoxious (but fun) family. Larry is also a musician. He's an amazing guitar player and plays the piano, but mostly he is a song writer. In 1976 his song, "Let Your Love Flow," went to no. 1 on the billboard charts and internationally. It has been covered by Ray Charles, Ziggy Marley, and Joan Baez (to name a few) and has been in numerous commercials, movies, and even in a hallmark card.

For those of you who are like me and part of the "tivo generation," you probably haven't seen a lot of  commercials lately. Here are a couple of great commercials that have recently featured Larry's song. 

apparently, the girl singing in this commercial is Jack Black's sister-in-law, Petra Haden. I really like this version & wish I could buy in on iTunes.

this is a commercial in the uk (obviously). pretty clever, it kinda reminded me of this nike commercial that i loved, where the whole city plays tag

   

better late than never- 12 MONTHS!!!

*she would NOT let go of keychain-brobee for the life of her

So, I'm sure all 10 of you who look at my blog have realized by now that Wendy is 1 year old. But I have to remind you one more time with these cute pictures Vanessa took the day of her party. And (mainly for myself) here are Wendy's latest milestones:

• Weight: 20 1/2 pounds (50th percentile)
  
• Height: 30 inches (75th percentile)
  
• Final Eye Color: hazel (blue/grey on the outside, brown on the inside)
• finally gets to use a "big girl car seat." she LOVES facing forward, it's a whole new world for her
• pulls herself up to stand on anything she can, then usually can't figure out how to get back down
  
• LOVES to empty out everything: empty the diaper bag, empty purses, empty wallets, empty the drawers, empty the closets, empty the cupboards... she leaves a huge trail behind her everywhere she goes. My house will never be clean again.
• new word: "gabba" (even though it sounds like a fake, baby-gibberish-word, she uses it in context)
• hair is long enough for tiny pig tails
• still a major daddy's girl

I had a lot of fun getting crafty for Wendy's party. Throwing a party is so much fun, but stressful too (she probably won't have another real party until she's five). Luckily, I had a TON of help (thanks ryan, mom, dad, ruth, nessa, amber, jenn, bobbi, and everyone else who helped that day). We had a great turn out- thank you to everyone who came!

Wendy was a little freaked out when everyone crowded around her, singing at her. She also was not so into her cake at first (she doesn't like to get her hands dirty). But, as you can see, once she discovered frosting for the 1st time, she got over that real quick.

* Thanks again Vanessa! The pictures you take of Wendy all the time are priceless to me.

the final countdown

I can't believe I'm done with these "month pictures." I don't know where the time went. You can tell that I got better as they went along, mainly because I gave up and let Vanessa take over. (Thanks Nessa). I love getting to see how much she changed each month. And I know you all love it too :), so here you go:

introducing...

 

About a month ago, I threw a baby shower for my good friend Sharla and her soon-to-arrive, baby boy cooper! We had a lot of fun eating yummy treats, playing "baby bingo," and watching Sharla open up some fun gifts. (And I had a blast party planning! Thanks to everyone who helped, you know who you are).

      

Mossi & Sharla don't have a blog (yet), so with their permission, I get to be the lucky one to brag and share all the details. Here you go:

Name: Cooper Tutanekai Watene

Birthday: April 30th, 2009

Time: 11:02 pm

Weight: 7lbs, 7oz

Height: 19.5 inches

CONGRATS to my good friends! I know you two are going to be wonderful parents.

One Year Ago Today...

April 24, 2008

12:30am: roll my round pregnant belly out of bed to go pee and realize my water broke. 

12:31am: Wait stunned in the dark until reality sinks in. (TEN days before my due date?!)

12:35am: try to wake Ryan up. "Ryan?... Ryan... RYAN! I think my water broke." Ryan, out of a dead sleep, sits up too fast, "You THINK, or it did?" "Um... I think it did."

12:40am: call the doctor and explain my symptoms. Dr. H. says, "Okay, I think it's time for you to head on over to the hospital."

12:45am: Ryan and I run around the house like crazy people trying to pack a bag. Since I wasn't prepared, I got out the "What to Expect When You're Expecting," book and looked at the list of suggested items to bring with you to the hospital. I was so irrational, I wanted EV-ER-Y-THING on that list (yes, Whitney, including the ipod dock and board games). We hadn't even got the carseat out of the box. 

1:15am: On the way to the hospital, I have my first contraction.

1:30am: We arrive at the hospital. It's almost empty. The nurses are waiting for us when the elevator doors open on the maternity ward. "Mr. & Mrs. Williams? Welcome. Your room is all ready for you, right this way..."

2:ooam: Ryan falls asleep on the pull out chair/bed. I'm hooked up to monitors & too excited/uncomfortable to sleep.

2:00am - 8:30am: I watch movies on HBO (princess bride, the graduate, rumor has it, etc.) and eat ice chips while my contractions get stronger.

9:00am: Ryan wakes up and calls our parents. I'm READY for the epidural!

9:30am: while filling out paper work, Ryan asks me, "What's the abbreviation for New Mexico?" "Why?" I ask. "Because they want to know my mother's place of birth." I laughed SO hard. "Ryan, I think they mean the mother giving birth, not your mother." We still didn't have it in our heads that we were about to be parents. He needed a whole knew packet of forms, he had filled out pages of information about his mother & father.

10:00am: Very thankful to have a large needle shoved in my back. Ryan goes to the cafeteria to get some breakfast so he doesn't have to watch (needles make him pass out).

11:00am: Our parents and my Grandma Lamb show up. They're almost as excited as I am. 

1:3opm: Our visitors leave and I start to push. Ryan makes me laugh during the pushing and all the women in the room who've given birth without drugs are slightly baffled.

2:57pm: My sweet Wendy FINALLY joins us. One of the best moments of my life.

I don't quite remember anything for about 4 months after that though. 

Good thing I've got a lot of it on video.

Happy 28th Birthday Ryan!

I'm really glad you were born.

HAPPY EASTER!