Adventures in Moving

Adventures in Moving.

Well I don't think that moving, the actual process, is ever fun. We decided to accept the job with the KCGA while we were still in the hospital with Reese. We started packing up our house the day we brought her home, our experience as you can tell was exceptionally difficult. Packing with a brand new baby and a very active 3 year old was very trying. Luckily we had lots of help. Matt's folks were there when we started. My folks came about 2 weeks later, and lots of our friends chipped in to help out with Cami while I was busily packing away.

Originally, we were going to move ourselves. Thinking it would be easier we hired a moving company. Parts were easier and parts continue to be very difficult. Having other people do the majority of the heavy lifting the unloading and loading was definitely a perk. The rest has been more of a headache.

So, we packed ourselves. Moving across the country really lends you to take account of what you really want to move. I had a big yard sale about 2 weeks before we moved....I know you can't tell by looking that we got rid of anything....but I did!

The truck arrived (Late) yes that is a semi. But it also had other families items on it. Which is why there wasn't room for all of our things and about one third of our belongings are still in our garage in Albuquerque.
Below. Here is how Reese and I spent our time while the movers worked hard. This was the the only place without furniture that we were out of the way. It worked out pretty well. This is the master bedroom closet by the way!

The movers loaded our belongings on Wednesday April 11th.... but we didn't take posession of our townhome until the 13th. We also had a few things to finish up before we left. So we stayed in a hotel in Albuquerque for 2 nights before heading out on our adventure. My mom flew in the night of the 11th to help me drive to KS with the girls. We tried to spend as much time with friends those last couple of weeks. Those pictures and posts will come soon.

Friday mid day we said our goodbyes and headed out. We got a little later start that we would have liked. Matt drove the car and was able to drive straight through to Wichita and stay at his brothers house. He had to hurry because our plans changed yet again due to the moving company. The driver called Friday morning and said that our stuff would be ready to deliver saturday morning rather than Sunday.

My mom the girls and I took a little more time. Between nursing and pottying we made more frequent stops. Did I mention a very bad thunderstorm and tornado warnings on the way. Never a dull moment. This desert girl got her first taste of real mid-western thunderstorm. I can honestly say that I have never driven in that hard of rain and hail and I have never seen that much lightening before! WOW. I am so thankful that we were in the excursion, the wind was shaking it light a compact car, I can't imagine being in a smaller vehicle.

The next day we got a late start since we went to bed so late the night before. We stopped to meet my new nephew / girls cousin Samuel in wichita. We arrived to our new home around 6:30pm
This was the last couple of hours of our trip. Cami had had enough...Reese had had enough and we were ready to arrive and be out of the truck!

Overall the trip out was a success. I am thankful that the Lord protected us and brought us to our new home safely and securely!

The girls photo shoot

It seems like forever ago that I posted a little sneak peek of the girls photo shoot on facebook. Well considering I have no idea when I will find time to finally do a birth announcement I would put up a few more pictures. I also intended to take pictures of our new townhome and show the progress we are making to being unpacked...but I haven't been able to find any of our SD cards. So I guess pictures will have to wait...the joys of moving.

My wonderfully talented friend Kaitlyn came over to my house and took these amid the chaos of moving and packing. Thank you Kait, I would have missed this precious stage in photos without you!

Our beautiful girls.

Update. Things are going well in KS. Matt had his first day of work yesterday and it went well. I managed to make it around KC by myself with only a few u-turns etc. I even made it to the grocery store with both girls in tow. Lots more unpacking to do....not to mention waiting on the remainder of our stuff that didn't make it on the truck last week.

The Big Move

As most of you know, about a month ago we announced that Matt had accepted a job in the Kansas City area. Well, we made it! We are officially moved in (sort of). It's been an interesting experience to say the least.

We decided to accept the job while we were still in the hospital with Reese. We started packing up our house the day we got home. It has been a long month of not very much sleep and lots of hard work.

From packing, timing, moving company and the trip up here...there have been minor kinks and stresses. We are confident that God has been with us every step of the way and is guiding us on this new adventure.

We are excited to get settled here in KC and start our new adventure. I promise that I will do a better job of blogging and posting pictures of the girls. Thanks to all our friends and family in both NM and KS that have helped make this transition smooth and as easy as possible for Matt and I and the girls!

Reese Jilleann Williams

To say we've had a lot going on would be the understatement of the century. Obviously having a baby accounts for a lot of that...but there is also another life change going on for us (which is for a later blog).

Anyhow, With everything going on we asked Matt's parents to come down a little early. He has been very busy and wanted me to have a little extra help and support. They of course were happy to help. They arrived on the evening of the 29th. We were expecting baby girl to arrive a little earlier than she did. Having not made much further progress the Doctor decided that the 8th was the day and that he would induce me.

He chose the 8th as he was on call and would be providing care for me. Matt and I went out to breakfast that morning and then arrived at the hospital around 10:45. They put me on the monitors for about 30 minutes to insure that baby was doing great. She was. (did I mention we still hadn't chosen a name yet.)

At 11:20, they put in a miso tab which enabled me to proceed with the induction at a more natural pace without IV medication. After that I had to lay flat for about 2 hours to enable the medicine to work. After that we had to walk for an hour. Contractions started while we were walking and continued to get stronger and more regular. After our hour walk, they monitored baby and contractions for another hour. During that hour contractions were coming every 1-2 minutes. At the end of that hour, Dr. Krell came in and broke my water and they set me up with an epidural. At this point (3:30pm) I was about 4 cm dilated. This was the most difficult part of the labor as contractions were coming every minute with no break. I had to get a bag and a half of IV fluid before the epidural. It took about an hour and a half to complete the fluids. During this time I had constant and very hard contractions. Boy was I glad to see the anesthesiologist when he came in.

5pm the epidural kicked in and I got some relief. About that time Matt's folks and Cami headed towards the hospital. I encouraged Matt to go to dinner with them (as he hadn't eaten since breakfast) and I would rest while they were gone. They all came up for a quick visit and then off to dinner. I got some rest. About 6:45pm the nurse came in to check on me, she wanted to check my progress before shift change. I was fully dilated and baby's head was right there. Matt arrived back from dinner about this same time.

Once Dr. Krell was available and things were prepped it was time to push. Three contractions later and our precious baby girl was born! 7lbs 10.8 oz and 20.5 inches long. She was born March 8th at 7:58pm. After having a good look at her we decided on the name Reese. Her middle name come from her aunt Jill (matt's sister whose full name is Jill LeAnn). Needless to say I think Jill was pretty happy to have a namesake!

Here we are ...our last picture as a family of three!
Proud Daddy
In Love

Mommy, Cami and Baby Reese.
Apparently when Cami woke up the morning after Reese was born, Grandma and Grandpa informed her that baby sister had been born and that her name was Reese. Cami was not too happy. She informed them her name was Breanna (a name we considered for along time) she also said she was going to call her Ariel (the little mermaid). Luckily Reese'sd name has been accepted without hesitation.

Cami with Grandma and Grandpa checking out baby sister.

This is Reese (being held by grandma) the morning after she was born. This is before they started the photo therapy and as you can see she is a bit orange.

Like Cami Reese had jaundice. This is due to a blood incompatibility with me. We went through the same issue with Cami. This time around we were much more prepared and less stressed about it. We knew going in that this was a possibility and that an extended hospital stay was most likely in our future.
Blue and with shades, but still one of the cutest babies you'll ever see!

While under the billi lights, Reese could only come out every 3 hours for a feeding, and only for 30 short minutes. Needless to say this time was precious to mommy and daddy as it was the only real direct contact time we had with her for her first few days. This is a picture of Reese up against mommy before it was time to return to the lights.

Sweet girl in her billi bed. Luckily this is the last picture I have of her before she was cleared to go home.

Sweet girl. Finally cleared by the pediatrician to be out from under the billi lights and to be snuggled and held. She was so happy! So was mommy and the rest of the family.

There is Reese already to go home. Thank you Nana for the adorable going home outfit.
Here is a picture of me and Reese waiting for Daddy and Big Sister to come and pick us up. As you can see I was elated to finally be heading home with our sweet, perfect and healthy little girl! We were able to go home Monday March 12th.

This is only one of the big changes in our life recently. I am going to (try) and be better about blogging. Especially with the upcoming changes in our life. I also have some past events that I need to catch up on. One thing at a time I guess! Thanks to everyone for the wonderful well wishes, gifts, food, love and prayers that we have been blessed with upon Reese's arrival. We are so grateful!

Projects

Okay, so all of you who know me or have spent much time around me lately know that I have been sewing and crafty a lot! Thanks to the seriously addicting website Pinterest I have a never ending supply of ideas, instructions and inspiration. It also doesn't help that I have been in full on nesting mode since about December.

That being said I decided to show off some of my projects. I put the photos in reverse order, so they go from newest to oldest. My pinterest friends will definitely recognize many of the projects in here! Enjoy!

Here are some "new" curtains in the guest room. During the nesting process I found some old brown curtains that used to be in the living room. They were taking up space in my linen closet upstairs. We needed something a little darker in that room so away I went. The guest room decor has been under construction as you will see in the following pictures. The brown curtains went perfectly with the other project in there and best of all....no out of pocket cost for me!
Here is the second guest room project. Patchwork body pillow pillowcase. This is directly from Pinterest. Again I used mostly fabric I already had. On top of nesting and sewing, I have been really into reusing and re purposing. I made the pillowcase out of old cloth napkins that we haven't used in ages. The only fabric I bought was the floral looking (about 3/4 Yard). I also just used 2 regular pillows that were in the linen closet rather than going out and purchasing a new body pillow.
Love that it gives the bed a finished look. I still have a good amount of fabric leftover. I want to make a couple of throw pillows for the couch that will match!

This next project was for my friend Michele. At her baby shower I gave her a diaper / wipe pouch (picture later in the post), well I am happy to say that she loved it so much that she asked me to make another for her. So she went and bought the fabric and I put it together! Love how cute it came out.
Bassinet Sheet for the newest little girl. Last year I found this very modern and adorable bassinet at a consignment sale. It came with both a mattress pad and a sheet. I promptly gave the sheet to my mother in law (an expert seamstress) to make a couple extra sheets. I never dreamed that the sheets it came with wouldn't fit....but that's what happened. So I was stuck. This isn't the kind of bassinet that is sold in stores in ABQ, NM. So I looked a tutorial up online and got to work. I have to say I am so proud of myself for making this work. I was beaming when they fit (my husband can attest).
second sheet for bassinet. This one is flannel!
Another great thing about pinterest is all the fun projects for kiddos. We practiced this one when we were at grandma's house in January. It is a tie dye t shirt project with sharpies and rubbing alcohol. We decided to go over to our friends the Hauquitz to include them in this project. Cami and Piper had a ball and the shirts turned out pretty cute!

Here is Piper getting to work on hers. Baby sister Sydnee is looking on.
Cami's final project! She loves wearing it because she made it!
Re-usable snack bag. My friend Vanessa (another Pinterest addict) helped me get the hang of these. They are a great way to use up scrap fabric. I have given a bunch of these away as gifts.
tissue paper pom poms. These are so cute and so easy to make. I have even been re-using tissue paper from baby shower gifts that I have received.
Travel pillow and pillowcase. This I have to give my Mother in Law credit for. She has made several of these for Cami. They are great for their little heads for traveling, in the car and at home. This is a Minnie Mouse one that I made for Cami's friend Alexis for her birthday. (party was this weekend....pictures and post hopefully coming soon)

Paci holder that I made for our fellow chiefs fans the Wallis' who are expecting their second blessing in April.
New boutique style bow that my mother in law showed me how to make that she found on Pinterest. All of Cami's little friends have been getting these in their presents lately!
This is Michele's diaper wipe pouch that I gave her for the shower. I also made a matching 'sushi roll' changing pad. I also gave her a bunch of burp cloths (which I didn't get a picture of in this post)
This is a car seat tent. This is the inside view if you were to flip up the tent to get baby out. I made it for my newest nephew who will arrive sometime in April. These are great because the attach directly onto your car seat so you don't have to worry about a loose blanket slipping onto the dirty floor at a restaurant etc. My personal favorite, it completely covers the baby as to keep nosey, no boundary touch-ers at the grocery store away from your brand new baby!
Here is the tent all covered up to keep baby protected from the sun and wind while out and about.

Needless to say I have been keeping myself very busy the past couple of months. Matt bought me this new sewing machine back in September. He will admit that he didn't think I would put it to good use, but I have. I have made a huge amount of gifts for all our friends having babies and all of the upcoming birthdays for Cam's friends. I am completely addicted to sewing and making things...I love it. Thanks Babe for buying me this sewing machine!!!

Baby Girl #2 Shower

Yesterday was my baby shower for baby girl #2. Can't believe how quickly this pregnancy has flown by! Now we are on the final countdown....4-5 more weeks!

My wonderful friends Kaitlyn and Michele planned a beautiful party celebrating our new addition. Since this is our second there really wasn't too much stuff that we really needed....except for DIAPERS and WIPES and a few things here and there. I asked that the shower be a mostly diaper and wipe party. It was a huge success and I am very thankful to the two hostesses that worked so hard to plan and prepare for this day!

Unfortunately, Michele came down with the flu the night before the shower and ended up in the hospital. She is about 4 wks behind me in her pregnancy so this was a very serious illness. She ended up being very dehydrated and needed IV fluids. Needless to say she wasn't at the shower. Her sweet mom dropped everything off with us before the shower. Thankfully Michele is on the mend and her sweet baby girl blessing is doing just fine!

The shower was at Kaitlyn's house. She is such an awesome party hostess and planner. The decorations were perfect and everything looked fit for a little baby princess!
The dessert table
Decorations in the kitchen

Decorations in the living room.

The beginning of the present table, which was spilling on to the floor by the time we opened presents! I am so thankful for all my wonderful family and friends!
The gorgeous and YUMMY cupcakes that Kaitlyn made! Yes, she made them! Amazing!
The delicious and adorable brunch table. Michele's famous Quiche was a hit as always (everyone asked for the recipe) ! So much yummy food and wonderful company!
The adorable diaper wreath that Kaitlyn made for the front door! She thinks of everything.

Me and Kaitlyn (yes I know I look huge and boatlike!). So thankful for Kaitlyn & Michele and the hard work they put in for this shower to bless my sweet family. Wish Michele could have been in this picture too! Feel better Michele!

Here are all the gals at the shower (minus Kaitlyn who was taking the picture). So thankful that everyone came to celebrate our new blessing. We were showered with TONS of diapers and wipes and lots of other goodies too! We were very spoiled!

Thank you to all those you came and attended the shower and showered us with generosity! A special thank you to Kaitlyn and Michele for hosting this wonderful day for me...you girls are the best!