Merry Christmas 2007!

It's almost here...ready or not...for the Williams family, Christmas starts tomorrow...we're headed to Nanny's tomorrow, Aunt Mac's Sunday afternoon after church, back in E-town Monday for Christmas Eve services at church and Mom and Dad's that night, Christmas morning at our house with the grandparents, and on to the Williams on Christmas night...then Granny and Granddaddy's on next Saturday with all our family coming in from Alabama, North Carolina, etc. We are going to be extremely busy over the next few days, but feel extremely blessed to have family and friends so close to us. Merry Christmas from the Williams!

Christmas Cookies, etc.

Seth came over Friday afternoon and helped Addi make the cookies for Grammy's Christmas Party Friday night...the two of them did a great job...Jake on the other hand did not understand why he couldn't just down an entire container of sprinkles and green and red sugar...thus the lovely picture of him letting me know just how displeased he is about the whole thing!






























I also wanted to post a picture of the kids after church yesterday...they looked so cute and Christmas-y!

Christmas Dance Recital / DJ Jazzy Jake

Addi's Christmas Gala Dance Recital was Friday night...her class performed 3rd from the last so it was lots of waiting to get to her 3 minute dance, but it was definitely worth it. She had a ball, loved being on the "big stage" again, and there was even snow (soap suds) falling as all of the 30-some angels ballet danced. Big thanks to Grammy and Granddaddy, Bama and Granddad, Aunt Judy and Mandy, Uncle Mark and Aunt Nicole, and Emily for sitting through it all to see our little angel dance!


After MOPS on Monday some of the kiddos of the steering team members were hanging out, eating left-over grapes, and dancing to Christmas tunes. It was too cute...Jake in his big old rain jacket was lookin' just like a DJ spinnin' tunes for all his "fly girls" and dancing away to the music. Don't worry...we're not encouraging that for his future career path...but it's cute when you're 1 though!

Christmas Trees 2007

Addi and Jake were lots of help this year decorating the trees...Jake has been obsessed with all the ornaments...he thinks they're balls, but has found that they don't bounce too well...especially not the breakable ones! Luckily just a few have gotten broken and no injuries so far...
We went to the fruit market to pick out a tree this year...it was quick and easy and didn't require a saw...James took the morning off to help us decorate, the kids had a "picnic" in the basement floor, and all before our new refrigerator (the 3rd one to be exact - the story behind our refrigerator woes is a long one and I'm sure everyone who reads this blog has already heard it many times!) was delivered...

Thanksgiving 2007

Addison and Camryn at Nanny's for Thanksgiving...
This has nothing to do with Thanksgiving, but Jake insists on wearing his Mickey hat sideways like a mohawk...it's too cute...reminds me of Sanjaya :)
Bama and Granddad's Thanksgiving Kids Table - the entire family was together for Thanksgiving this year...it was the first time since Harlan and Karen's wedding the summer Addi was born so it was a great Thanksgiving and Bama was very happy!

Birthday Party with Roller Skating and Rock-climbing!

Christian and Caleb's birthday party was this weekend...it was a lot of fun. James and Mark decided to race up the rock wall (I know it's such a flattering photo of the two of them!). James won...of course he was popping Advil like candy the next day, but he had to prove he had it in him I guess.

Addison tried roller skating for the first time...no one ever told me or Aunt Nicole that in order to teach someone to skate you probably don't need to be wearing skates yourself...it was quite a sight to see the 3 of us try to make it around the rink a few times. Finally we talked Addison into "resting" on the bench so we could actually skate for a while...I'm not as good as I used to be, but I've still got it too I think!

Halloween 2007

Jake and I went to the pumpkin patch (for the 3rd time this year) with some of the MOPS moms and their kids...it turned out to be a really nice time...one of the first actual fall-like weather days and it gave Jake a chance to play with some other kids on his own without Addi to keep tabs on him. He loved the hayride and was able to see lots of "apples" in the "apple" patch!
Here is the official Williams Family Halloween Photo for this year...James, Amanda, Snow White, and an already unhappy Frog...we hadn't even been trick-or-treating yet! Actually Jake really got the hang of trick-or-treating this year. When we got to one house he ran straight to their garage door and started banging...he loved the candy and was eating all along the way about as fast as he got it. At least Addison isn't all that big on candy so Mommy and Daddy could have a little out of her stash.
We had our usual Halloween Bash after trick-or-treating...it was lots of great food, family, and friends.

Addison and cousins Christian and Caleb...
Presley and Addison...those two are a mess! Presley kept telling everyone she was a 50 year old lady for Halloween...of course what she meant was a 50's girl!

Addi and Cam (aka Snow White and Diego) at Family Fun Night at church...notice the pink and blue teeth...free snow cones!

Zoo Halloween Party

Since Grammy and Granddaddy were going to be spending Halloween in San Diego this year (yes, it was the same time as the wild fires were going on, and Addison was worried to death about them going - they claim they never saw a fire or any smoke though) we ended up going to the Louisville Zoo Halloween Party the weekend before. It was a lot of fun...trick-or-treating, not too many animals were out and about at that time of night, and W.W. Cousins for burgers afterward. It was a lot of fun and gave us one more festivity to wear the costumes to.
Addi and Jake showing off their prize pumpkins for this year (or "apples" according to Jake - he's been calling every pumpkin in town an apple...we're not sure if he's just messing with us or if he's a little confused by the difference...probably just trying to confuse his parents would be my guess!)

Horseback riding at Mandy's

Yesterday afternoon we went out to Aunt Judy and Uncle Willie's and Addi got to ride Sable. She was thrilled and loved every minute of it! Jake got to pet the horsie but was not too sure about the whole thing as you can see from the look on his face.

This was taken Friday night...Addison was totally exhausted after our day at Huber's...she literally fell asleep sitting up in her chair!

A Day at Huber's

We had a great day at Huber's on Friday. We took a wagon ride to the pumpkin patch, fed the goats in the petting zoo, went through the corn maze (Addi's 2nd for the season!), Addi jumped on the gigantic jumping pillow, and Jake got to "drive" the tractor. Big thanks to the Burns girls for going with us and helping out with the kids! We're definitely in the fall spirit around here!

Messy Eater

Jake after eating ravioli for lunch...it's awful...in his hair, up his nose, just everywhere! Yuck!

Apples, a birthday, and some shopping

Last Friday we went to Hinton's Orchard with the Jones and Schory moms and kiddos...it was a lot of fun. The kids had a big time playing on the haymound and on the tractor. We got to watch them sort the apples and then got to eat them fresh from the apple washer. We conquered the gigantic corn maze with Addi and Cam leading the way, but some crazy grasshoppers almost got the best of them...nothing that happy meals and a good nap that afternoon didn't take care of.

We headed down to Hart County Friday night for Granddaddy Adams' birthday and Addison and Jake had a great time playing with cousins Christian, Caleb, and Weston. On Saturday Grammy took Addison shopping for fall school clothes...she should be set until spring. Sunday was church and long naps. I got to spend about a half hour on Monday trying to help the guy from AAA break into my truck after locking not one set but both sets of keys in it while picking up Addi from preschool...the bright side? Jake wasn't in it!

His Name is Jake - Our entry for the March of Dimes Video Contest

Thanks Dad and Mark for doing an awesome job on this...

Just go to http://www.youtube.com/mmelloan to watch it!

Fun Weekend

The kids and I met Anne and Nolan for lunch at Panera on Friday...it was nice to catch up on things with them since we hadn't gotten together in a few weeks and then Friday night was PF Chang's and Graeter's with the Joneses...Mom and Dad were kind enough to watch all the kiddos for us...we had a great time.

After getting in late last night, Jake deciding to wake up at 5 this morning, piles of dirty laundry, and weedeating and edging that James needed to get done...well, we decided to go to Holiday World for the day. We had a great time...we rode rides, we drank tons of free Pepsi and lemonade, had ice cream (Dippin' Dots for James...he loves them), and Jake won a stuffed Spiderman and Addi a stuffed monkey at the fishing game...what could be better than that?!?! :) Addi says her favorite thing of the day was the log ride (she and Daddy rode it twice)...apparently she loves a big drop...I'm not too big on it. Jake's favorite thing was the merry-go-round and the airplane ride. He and I also rode the little cars and he got to steer while James and Addison did the Howler (a mini roller coaster). She definitely takes after her Daddy when it comes to riding...she loves it...I on the other hand got very sick-feeling after riding the Eagle's Flight (some big bird things that go around in a circle - believe me...it was worse than it sounds).

It's been a great weekend so far and hopefully to top it all off...naps tomorrow afternoon after church! :)

Thankful

Last night after dinner we were all sitting around watching some of the home movies of Jake after he was born, in the hospital, etc. We are planning to enter the March of Dimes Video Contest (actually Mark and Dad I guess would be the ones actually doing the video) but anyway we were looking at video to hopefully use for the contest. It reminded me once again of how good God has been to me and to James and to our entire family. I have always known that I was very fortunate to have been blessed with a wonderful family and friends, but sometimes I still take it for granted and get worried or frustrated over silly things that are going on in our lives. The fact remains that God answers our prayers and Jake's life is a constant reminder of that to me every single day. The picture of Jake on the ventilator and in the "Baby Buggy" getting ready to be taken from me and transported to the hospital in Louisville reminds me of a time filled with fear, uncertainty, and sadness, but almost 18 months later and thousands of prayers later I can only be thankful and totally amazed once again by what God can do.

Preschool Picture Day

Monday was "Picture Day" at school...Mommy picked out a very cute sweater vest, matching hair bow, blue jean capris w/a pink belt (like you'll even see any of that in a school pic!)..anyway, a very cute school outfit...as you can tell from the look on her face...Addi wasn't impressed. Oh well, I'm sure it will be fine...especially since James took her to school and so he got to pick the background for her picture - plain solid background or fall theme (apples, leaves, etc.)? hmmm...the choice I would have made is so obvious...to everyone except for James apparently...we'll have a very cute picture of Addison frowning because she didn't like her outfit with a fake apple orchard and leaves falling in the background! :)
Addi went swimming with her best buds "the Burns girls" and another neighbor friend yesterday...who ever said summer was over?!?!
Addi is having her usual Wednesday night sleepover at Grammy and Granddaddy's so Jake snuck into her room, grabbed her toothbrush, and started brushing...she would not be too happy about that!

Fun, Sun, and NO Sleeping!!!

Well, we just got home Friday night from a weeklong family vacation to Daytona Beach. It was Jake's 1st time flying and he did really well thanks to the portable DVD player and his "Praise Baby" DVDs...Addison loved it until we started to land and her ears starting really bothering her and she got pretty upset...luckily by the time we got ready to fly home she had pretty well forgotten about that part. We spent the week mostly by the pool or at the beach. The place we stayed has a great kiddie pool area with a tube slide, sprinklers, basically everything you could want, a lazy river and a slide for people taller than 42 inches (Addi is not - Mommy, Daddy, and Aunt Nicole are!) Addison built lots of sand castles with Daddy or Granddaddy and Jake got to sleep in a chair by the pool...that's what you do when you've been out walking the boardwalk at 2 AM with Daddy or when you've gotten up to go eat breakfast at McDonald's at 5 AM...needless to say Jake was a little off schedule while we were away. In order to keep him from waking up everyone in the whole condo with his late night tantrums James would take him out whether it be 1AM, 2 AM, 3 AM, or all of the above. Mom and Dad got to take him for one night and spent some quality time with Jake jumping on the bed, running around the room, etc. from 3-6 AM straight. We did finally figure out part of his problem...he cut two upper canine teeth sometime during the week, so I'm sure that had something to do with his allnighters, but James was definitely ready for the late night/early morning outings to cease!

We did have a great time and it's always good to get away with our family and away from our normal day to day distractions and spend time together. Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us all on a great trip to the beach!