Mary's Baby Shower

My sister-in-law Mary came in from AZ for her baby showers at the end of March. It was soooo great to see her and my braja and her big ol' belly ;) Needless to say, I am THRILLED they are having a baby! It'll be so nice for Will and his little sister to have a cousin! They are due May 27th. I am due August 25th, so the babies will be pretty close in age! I love this picture of us being pregnant together! Both of my pregnancies have been shared by my sisters-law. My first with Jordan's two sisters and my this one with Miss Mary!

Here is a picture of the "Mazur" girls!

The shower was really nice. We had a nice turn out of family and family friends to see Kevin and Mary. My mom took a lot of care with making cute decorations: The clothes line, the three-tiered cake with bear on top that was filled with baby stuff, favors, etc. See the Web Albums on the side for more pictures. Blogger has only been letting me upload 4 pictures. Does anyone know a way around this?
We played a few games: baby word scramble, baby nursery rhyme challenge, name the baby using letters from the parent's name, and Double Prices from the Price is Right. All games were really fun and Kevin and Mary did a great job winning extra gifts!

Here is the future Mommy and Daddy-to-be! Congrats! We love you guys so much!

Milwaukee Zoo day!

Last week we were having BEAUTIFUL weather, so two girlfriends from my MOMS club and I took the kids to the Zoo. It was a beautiful day, but almost got too hot by the end of the time we were there. Will did fairly well at the Zoo. I was nervous since the ratio of kids to adults was 5:3, but with the other two super Moms, I felt supported. Will is quite the handful! While the other kids were looking attentively at the animals, Will just wanted to run and open/close the doors leading in and out of buildings. I don't really blame him; animals at the zoo don't really do anything. They seem bored themselves!

Here is our group~Stephanie is pushing the double stoller with her nephew in the back and Will in the front. Connor, Mason and Ashley are walking as nice as can be while Kajja is pushing one of two double wagons.

The line was too long to wait to go on the train, so we put all the kids on the Carousel. It was Will's first time, and he LOVED it! He especially loved going up and down while looking at himself in the mirrors. When I tried to get him off, he ran in and out of the horses so I couldn't grab him to remove him. We were the last ones out of the gate :(

We had a great time with our friends! I can't image how hot it'll feel to me this summer being so pregnant when the beginning of April felt too hot. Will even had a bright red face and was sweating all day. I think it got to be 85 degrees. Today it is snowing, though...gotta love WI!
Check out the web album on the side for more zoo pics!

It's a....

We just got back from the doctor, and the results are conclusive! We saw the labias, so we are having a baby girl!
We are excited for this news since now we'll both know what it is like to be a Mommy/Daddy to each gender and the experience the different feelings that come with it. We are excited also since girl clothes are SOOOO cute! We are secretly excited since the chance of a boy having Autism is four times higher than a girl. It doesn't mean she won't, but the risk is a little bit less! We are now in the mist of the name game since Jordan and I each have a huge list of girl names we really like. This may be our last child, so we need to be very picky about it!

Will's New Playground

We just got this new playground for Will! Click on the picture for the full size. We bought this exact one with the same colors, only we don't have the frisbee swing and we substituted a regular sling swing for a baby swing. We are super excited for April 18th when it comes and is installed FREE! Jordan didn't really want to build one from a kit since I have a huge list of projects already for him to do. We desperately needed something for Will to do in the backyard, and decided a playground is the way to go since he LOVES going to the park. This will save me on days I have to do chores and once the baby comes. If Jordan has an important phone call for work, he can just let Will outside to play! Will can do almost everything pictured, plus it is fun enough for as he gets older. Anyone want to come over to play?

Playground Fun!

After the Easter Bunny Egg Hunt, we let Will run to the playground that he soooo desperately longed for. These are a few of my favorite pictures from the afternoon. I loved this picture of Will with GREAT eye contact and cracking a smile, but upon closer inspection, I realized he isn't the only one showing a crack ;) Feel free to click the picture to enlarge!

This picture makes me happy. Jordan is such a great dad!! He plays so nicely with Will at the park by going down the slides and chasing him everywhere. Will loves to go down a slide and look behind him to see Daddy coming for him! Will looks so happy watching an over-enthused Daddy coming for him!

Will is getting to be such a big boy. He can easily do most things at the playground, including a big boy swing.

I just ADORE this picture! This is exactly why I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE my new camera. I never would have gotten something this adorable with my other two cameras.

Easter Egg Hunt

We took Will to his second annual Easter Egg Hunt in Jackson at the end of March. Being a little older than last year, we thought he would enjoy it more this year and behave. But, still being the sweet Will we all know and love, he didn't. He didn't want to wait around to start the hunt, so Jordan put him on the shoulders. As you can see, it was still tough getting him to wait. He wanted to go play on the playground instead.

Will actually did do better putting the eggs in the basket. He wouldn't hold the basket, but we placed it down in the middle of a pile of eggs, and he went to town. We still bought along extra ones from home so he would have a chance to keep picking up eggs, but he did well enough with the ones provided. He got seven eggs.

After we picked up our prizes, we attempted the picture with the Easter Bunny. Same result as last year, but still fun to look at!

At least the Easter Bunny was smiling!
Of course, within this next year, we will still hold out hope for the 3rd annual Easter Egg Hunt! He has to do better, eventually, right?!?

New Camera!!

So, I have been QUITE behind in blogging lately, mainly because 1. I have been lazy and 2. I got an awesome new camera for Christmas (thanks to my wonderful wonderful wonderful husband. Did I mention how wonderful he is?) that I am slowly learning how to use. I have taken almost 500 pictures with it since blogging last, so I feel a little overwhelmed now with what to update on. Today I am uploading them and, hopefully within the next two days, putting all of them in my web album so you can browse through our last few months.

Things I LOVE about my new rebel:

1. It INSTANTLY takes a picture. I can capture Will's sweet faces immediatly before he no longer decides he is interested in cooperating. This leads to happier holidays and events. Gone are the days I went into Mommy Meltdown because I couldn't capture a decent picture for the scrapbook!

2. I can take a ton of pictures at a time by holding down the button. This also supports reason #1.

3. The picture is beautiful. The lighting, blurred backgrounds, etc. is exactly what I always wanted!

4. It has a Complete Idiot's Guide book (thanks Kevin!) for easier learning.

5. It has all these special features and icons for how to take the best picture in any circumstance.

6. I have a GIGANTIC memory card.

7. It has a camera strap.

8. I have a great zoom lens and have options to get even more.

9. I feel like a professional!

10. Did I mention no more Mommy Meltdows? The hardest thing for a scrapbooker is to have a child who is anti the camera.

Bubbles in the Tubby!

Warning: Major baby nudity!

Here is a video of Will FINALLY blowing bubbles in the tubby. It seems to have taken forever for him to understand the concept of blowing. Now he can sometimes blow real bubbles with our Gymboree bubble wand!

Here is a video of Will watching the video of him blowing bubbles in the tubby. We liked it since he smiles a lot and repeats the words said in the video.

New sleeping routines...

Gone are the days we used to drive Will around until he fell asleep for a nap. Ever since the late summer, that is the way we have been getting him to fall asleep. It used to work like a charm, but eventually, we'd be driving around for almost 40 minutes sometimes! We decided we'd either let him skip his nap or crash on his own for now on.
And after two weeks of not taking a nap, a miracle occured!

Elmo in Grouchland saved the day! We popped in the movie, put a pillow on the couch, and VIOLA! We came back in the room 10 minutes later to a little napper! Now we play the movie every few days when he think he is tired enough to take a nap. It works about once a week! WOO HOO!
On more sleeping news, guess who goes to bed all by himself, too?
THAT'S RIGHT! IT'S WILL!!!
That started about a week ago. He woke up in the middle of the night, and instead of one of us laying with him, we did our nighttime routine and the both us of left the room, mostly shut the door, and then Will said, "Bye! I U!" We said back, "Bye! We love you, too" and then closed the door all the way. He went to bed without crying! We did this the whole week right away and it is working like a charm! The only problem is we are all supposed to go to IL with Jordan at the end of this week for a work conference. I am very hesitant to go now that he is establishing his own sleeping routine! What to do!?!?

Let it Snow!

Getting all bundled up! We had to get 4T snowpants for Will this year just for length!

Daddy and Will getting ready to go outside to shovel and play in the falling snow! This was Will's first time out in the snow this year...it has been really really cold!

Will is too big for the sled Great Grandpa Mazur bought him! We ended up getting a much bigger sled from my parents when we took him sledding...more on that later!

Will had a hard time walking around in the snow. He kept having to bend over on all fours to balance himself, but then he couldn't stand back up! It was really cute to watch!

Daddy taking Will out in the snow. Will loved falling into the cushy piles of snow!

By the time the driveway was plowed, Will found his car that he likes to ride down the sidewalks in the summer. We let him ride down our driveway and crash into the snow. He had such a fun time outside playing. This boy is ready for park days and green grass to run around! The hardest part was getting him to go back in the house, but he was so cold!
Rosey cheeks=going inside for hot cocoa!

On our way to a minivan!

We recently sold our dark Toyota Camry on Craiglist. It was our first time using Craiglists to sell, and it worked out really nice! There were no costs to sell the car!
Meanwhile, we still only have our light Toyota Camry. We are using only the one car for a while until we save up enough money to get the minivan. We are looking at either the Toyota Sienna (I LOVE TOYOTAS!) or the Honda Odyssey. Having one car is working out well mainly since Jordan is a total homebody. Another 6 months and we'll be toting two babies around town!

It's a Christmas Miracle!

Due: August 25th, 2010!

The new tests only show a vertical line now if you are pregnant, and no line at all if you are not! We had to check the box several times!

Will is going to be a big brother! I am not sure he is ready to advocate his throne as "Mommy's Baby", but he'll always be my baby anyway. We hope that in eight months he'll learn to fall asleep alone at night and learn to stay near us since we won't have extra hands once the baby comes!

We are so thrilled to be blessed with another pregnancy this year. So far, so good. I am feeling pretty good, just tired! The doctors took my blood counts the first few days of this pregnancy to ensure it was growing appropriately, and today we had the ultrasound to see the heartbeat and to date the pregnancy. We both cried when we saw the heart beating. It is such a little thing...like half a peanut. We are 6 weeks and a day as of New Year's Eve! We'll probably find out the sex of the baby when it comes time, even though we really liked the surprise from not knowing with Will. We'd miss rummage sale deals if we have a girl. We are all stocked up for a boy since Will and this baby will be only a month apart from their due dates.
Will and #2.1 will be three years and a month apart, depending on when the baby is born! We could have two August birthdays!

Christmas sneak peak!

Jordan and I starting to put our tree, of course to the traditional Clay Aiken Christmas CD. This year we also slipped Josh Groban in. He is too amazing not to! We arranged our living room differently for the first time since we moved here four years ago. We wanted our tree to be in a more prominent spot instead of in a corner where only 1/4 of the tree is visible. More pictures on that later!

Will loved to help put the branches in their places on the tree stand. He was sooo intrigued by the tree this year. He loved to walk up to it and touch it while we set it up. We found it very amusing! We were worried that meant he wouldn't be able to control himself when the whole tree is up and decorated, but so far, so good. He does target a few choice ornaments, though. More on that later, too!
Hey, it is only a sneak peak!

Falling for Will...

Will enjoyed playing in the leaves so much better this year than he did last. He liked to look at most of the leaves individually, and he liked to just plop himself down on the pile.

He REALLY liked when we threw him in the pile, but we didn't really get that good of a picture of his laughter. It was really cute, though!

My big brother came into town (November), and announced with his wife that they are expecting their first baby! We are super excited for them and "Mini Maz." I think he'll be a great Daddy. He plays so wonderfully with Will everytime he sees him. Congrats Kevin and Mary! They are due May 27th, 2010.

It was so great to have Kevin home from Arizona and also Laura home from college. I miss you guys!

Will hanging out in the yard. He loves to play with his firetruck at Grandma Mazur's house!