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.