Kiddie Kandids

Okay so we went to Kiddie Kandids and here are the results, I feel bad cause Ari wasn't really feeling the photo shoot. He was hungry (and shame on Kiddie Kandids for not having a spot for breastfeeding moms, I mean if you are in the business of baby photography it just seems like you should have a room or something- even a chair in the rest room. I refuse to sit on the toilet and feed my baby- so thank heavens for the bebe au lait- and I don't care who I made feel uncomfortable) and he was tired and we had been out running other errands all day so he was a little bothered by the whole thing. Also there just weren't that many poses you can do with a 12 day old baby- and don't get me started on clothing. We are still finding it a challenge to dress our little baby in anything that doesn't look like pajamas. Ari is still wearing preemie clothes and aside from a lot of stores not even carrying preemie clothes - the ones that do only seem to carry sleepers..... so we did not do any wardrobe changes.....
Here is Ari in all his handsomeness

Ari's first modeling shoot

Here are some pictures I took while Ryan was at school. We are working on getting Ari's birth announcements done and I was trying to save a little $$$ by doing the photo myself- I mean how hard can it be to photograph a 5 day old baby, right ?!?!?























Yeah, we will probably stick to Kiddie Kandids....

Ari Burton Williams

Here it is the moment you have all been waiting for - Little Ari Burton
Sweet Angel Boy
6lbs 7oz
19 and 1/2inches long

Proud Dad

Oh, yeah did I mention that we had our first blizzard of the season the night I went into labor. It started snowing at about 1am and did not let up til well after Ari was born. Here is the view at the parking lot from our hospital room.

Here is a size comparison for you, to put things into perspective. On the right is the outfit we intended on taking Ari home in - it was a size newborn- Ari is on the left in the outfit he ended up going home in - its a preemie outfit Ryan had to stop and get before he picked us up from the hospital. He really is tiny, but perfect....

Going home, at last

A little bit of catch up .....

Yes... I know the only thing you guys are coming to our page to see is pictures of Ari - HOLD ON - there is some much needed catching up to be done. So here it goes. Ari was due on November 30th, and although at every Dr.'s visit I was assured I would see his tiny little face BEFORE my due date- days came and went. Not that things weren't going on- I spent the better part of November dilated to a 3 and 85% effaced.....
We tried EVERYTHING - a legendary pizza, spicy foods, walking, a pressure point massage,we walked around the mall at midnight the day after Thanksgiving, we walked around Temple Square EVERYTHING.... and still no baby Ari.

Here I am at Temple Square (I refused to buy a maternity winter jacket since I was only going to be pregnant for the first part of winter- so yes I just look fat - but at 9 months you just don't care anymore)

But alas, I have a very kind Dr. and she said that IF Ari did not come by my due date she would gladly induce - if that is what I wanted. And sure part of me wanted that "Hollywood" delivery where I woke up in the middle of the night drenched because my water broke - so Ryan and I could rush of to the hospital - I had no problem scheduling an induction. So the date was set- December 1st at 7am I was to report to the hospital and get induced.
That being said Ryan and I started to enjoy the idea of knowing exactly how it was going to happen- we planned for someone to take care of Berkelee, and felt we had "time" to get everything done that we needed to before baby.
November 30th came and I got up and went to work as expected- just like every day before (well except I took home all my stuff at the end of my shift and I really did not care at all - all day - about doing anything)
Ryan and I had a nice night of relaxing and enjoying each other planned before the big day - so we left for dinner at Tres Hombres to start our date. As we were waiting to be seated, I felt a little funny. Could it be - a contraction- hmmm... Now this had happened before, ALOT and every time I would get excited and tell Ryan - they would stop. I had no reason to believe this time would be any different so I just kept it my little secret. We ate dinner, and talked, uninterrupted (something I hear we will not do again for some time now that we have entered the world of parenthood) all the while I was having mildish contractions. I kept looking at my phone to check how far apart they were- but felt for sure they would stop since they were not consistent. I was waiting for the four minutes apart rule. Ryan wanted to go out shopping or walking around but I said maybe we should just go home - so after a quick stop at Blockbuster to rent Evan Almighty, we came home and the contractions were still coming.
At this point I realised that this might actually be it and I better confide in my other half. So I told Ryan that I was having contractions and had been since 8pm and that I didn't tell him cause I was sure it was not the real thing. So we started keeping track and writing down every time I had a contraction. Ryan gave me a blessing and I took a quick shower before we headed off to the hospital, thinking for sure they were going to send us home and tell us to come back tomorrow.
When we got the the hospital - the nurses all knew who I was- since they work 12 hour shifts they had already worked on my paperwork for the following morning (when I was scheduled to be induced)
Every time someone asked my name, they would say - aren't you supposed to come tomorrow? It was kind of funny. So they checked me out and called my Dr. and sure enough - we were staying the night. When we got there I was still a 3 and at 4:30am I couldn't sleep anymore due to the contractions coming about every 5 minutes and getting strong - so I got my epidural - my Dr also had them start me on pitocin anyway to see if it would speed up my labor. At 10am they checked me again and I was at a 10 - it was time to push. After an hour of pushing little Ari Burton Williams was here. I can't believe it still - it really was a picture perfect delivery (thank goodness for epidurals)
I guess Little Man Ari wasn't going to have anyone tell him when to come....

Ari Burton Williams is FINALLY here...

Ari Burton Williams was born December 1st, 2007 at 11:09a.m. He is 6lbs 7oz and 19 and 1/2 inches long. Ari, Mom and Dad are all doing well - please be patient with us - we will update this blog ASAP with pictures... (in between diapers, and feeding and laundry and ......) We love you all and we miss you!!!!

Nesting....?!?

Okay so maybe I have started the "nesting" phase. Which means projects are in full swing in our household. In addition to trying to organize our upcoming move, Ryan and I have been using our spare time to complete my list of projects in preparation for baby Williams arrival. After much debate we finally decided on black furniture for the baby's room... that being said we had some painting to do. First we repainted the changing table- it was an all day project but it turned out awesome. Then I painted the storage baskets we bought in baby blue and green - just to add a little color to the nursery. Here is the finished project



Then I decided to take a shelf that we had been using in our bathroom and repaint it to match. I am going to put the babys first books and some beanie babies from grandma Sievert and his night light lantern and stuff on it- I painted a basket for it too



And after months of searching and our original travel system being discontinued- we finally found a travel system that we both liked equally. Ryan and I have even practiced strapping our practice baby in the car seat ( we are still trying to use the doll to teach Berk to be gentle around the baby- not sure how well it is really working, guess we will find out soon) Here is our new car seat and travel system.
Berkelee being such a good dog




Now all we need to do is finish our move and have the baby... we will keep you all posted - we love you and we miss you

Happy Halloween!!!!

I really can not believe I agreed to this but - here it is baby's first "unofficial" Halloween. Yep here it is in all its glory- my big ol baby belly. Ryan and I had a very low key Halloween, just a little belly painting and laying around. Berkelee didn't want to dress up this year - and we decided it was too much effort to get him into costume anyway. So this is it - our Halloween treat for all of you. We love you and we miss you. Hope you all had a Fun and Safe Halloween.

Were Moving ....

As if there are not enough changes happening right now, Ryan's new job, new baby coming, etc.... WERE MOVING. We have been spending a lot if time debating what to do about our apartment situation and the new baby and space, etc. And we threw around the idea of staying at our tiny place month to month for a while after baby comes, or we thought about breaking our lease a few months ago. And after a lot of prayers and sleepless nights we have finally decided to move and we found a great place too. The only crunch is that our current lease is up November 24th- for those of you keeping track, that is 6 days before my due date. Our new place is available November 1st. Now there are pros and cons to this situation. CON - we will be paying rent at two places the months of November-not our ideal situation. PRO we will have an entire month to move in and get our old place cleaned up - which at nine months pregnant is about how much time I expect it to take for us to move. In my perfect world I have scheduled everything so that baby Williams will just naturally make his appearance on November 20th - I am dreaming that my water will break just as the last box is unpacked... however now that I have this planned I am sure he will decided to come on the 5th or something.
So that is where we are at- anyone ANYONE who wants to help - that would be greatly appreciated
We love you all and miss you tons

Oh Thank Heaven for Little Boys.....

Saturday night, while the boys were all at Priesthood session - My in laws threw me an amazing baby shower. It was so nice to have family around once again. This visit Ryan's parents, his Aunt Anne, Aunt Ellen, and Uncle Butch were all able to come into town (mostly for conference). The baby shower was a great way to spend the evening and Ryan, baby and I were given so many great gifts - our nursery is really coming together.... only a few things missing - mostly baby Williams.
Aunt Ellen, Ella, Aunt Anne, Katie, Martha, Whitney and Kasey




Carina and Ernestina


Grandma Williams (Ryan's mom) made this georgeous blanket for baby Williams

Kristin got baby Williams a fancy Baby Bonkie so he can swaddle is style

Lots of baby booties to keep his little feet warm


I am so excited for little baby Williams to get here - start placing your bets on when the big day will be

Sundance, Anyone????

Sundance, Anyone??? Okay well I am getting a little bit ahead of myself here- but I am hoping that there are some free passes to the film festival for baby Williams and I. Ryan landed an awesome internship with Park City. This is such a blessing- while the commute is a little bit more then we would like and a little scarry with the upcoming snowy season, Park City is just about the best city to score an internship. The planner is really well known in the "Planning World" and very well respected- he will be able to teach Ryan a lot and hopefully get Ryan's feet into a lot of other doors and opportunities. Also Park City is one of the "More" well known cities in Utah- just about everyone, everywhere has heard of Park City so it will look great on future resumes and job interviews even out of state. And last but not least- Ryan will have to help plan and work the Sundance Film festival - only like the most famous annual event in Utah- and that is where I am planning on scoring all of my private party passes for the baby and I. I just know baby Williams is destin to be friends with Kingston James Rossdale (Gwen Stefani's baby) or little Violet Affleck.
Thank you to everyone for all of your prayers- Ryan had a hectic time of interviews and it really did pay off. We love you all

Our baby - for now

He was the first addition to our family- and for the time being he is still the "baby" of the house, so I thought Berkelee deserved what could possibly turn into his last "post". I am fully aware that as "spoiled" as some of you think Berkelee is - the times they are a changing. Really we could not have asked for better "practice" for being parents in my opinion. Berkelee has been great and I am hoping that he will continue to be just as amazing when we bring home baby Williams. So far- Berkelee has helped me personally make it through this pregnancy. He has always been so understanding when I could not take him out because I was laying in bed too sick to get up. Berk held "it" for hours while I laid in bed waiting for Ryan to come home. He snuggled with me on my worst days, regardless of how short my patience would get with him.

He really is the sweetest dog we could have asked for... but like I said, the times are changing and I am sure once Baby Williams is here - Berk will take the back burner in our lives- so here it is my tribute to him (we are not getting rid of him, I just realised that this post makes it sound like he is going away or we are getting rid of him- NOT THE CASE) I just know that Berkelee posts are probably going to be a thing of the past soon enough- well unless its to report how cute Berkelee is with the baby, or Berk happens to be in the background of a photo of the baby, etc.

So here's to the cutest dog ever....

First, and Last Football game of the Season?!

Go Utes!!!! Well Ryan, Kristin and I attended our first Utah Football game for the season- and I am pretty sure speaking only for myself of course - that it will be my last football game of the season. Ryan got us great seats - ROW 58. Oh, and it was only 85 degrees. Luckily the Utes played awesome and the game was exciting - plus you can not be in a bad mood when your team is kicking some butt. However the crowded trax, the hike up to the stadium and the never ending stair climb up the 58 rows was enough "football" for me for one year. As I sat there sweating from the heat and the hike, I realised - I am not going to be any "less pregnant" as the season progresses- so this might just be it for me at least.
Here are some pictures from the game



Kristin and I




Ryan and I again



All and all, we had a great time at the game and Utah won...

Dinner at the Roof

Well since I was already logged in and blogging I decided to post this one too. Ryan's parents came in town August 17th-20th. It was so nice to visit with them- we really wish all of our family could be closer. While they were here we were treated to a very fancy dinner in celebration of Lindsey's birthday, Ryan's birthday and the upcoming newest member of the Williams clan. We went to the Roof, on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, overlooking Temple square. We had a gorgeous view and dinner was amazing- (I am so grateful to be over the "sick" part of this pregnancy)

Update ....

Okay so it is a long time coming BUT I promised pictures so here they are. These pictures are from our Babymoon- Birthday trip to Vegas that we took in July. So yeah they are a little behind- but they are the best we can do. We celebrated Ryan's birthday on the 4th of September. We went to Ryan's favorite restaurant Tepanyaki and had a great time. Other then that nothing else is really new- we are anxiously awaiting our newest addition - I can't believe he will be here in about two months - it is really going fast... yikes. We still have so much to do, and we are still looking for a new place to live (agh... cross your fingers and remember us in your prayers- my due date is November 30th and our current lease is up November 25th....)
Here are the pictures I promised- there maybe more coming

The notorious "baby bump"



Here is Joy enjoying a few Birthday Shots.....



Ryan wasn't crazy about this foreign soda



Our best attempt at a photo together



Ryan with his idol.....