part 1 of many: our new home

Our New Place.  This will be one of many posts introducing our far away friends and family to our new home.  We chose this place from the photos online and rented it without ever seeing it in person.  I guess that is what happens when you decide to move right after having a baby! ;)

Anyway, I am very pleased with our new home.  With anything there are a few draw backs, it is older and doesn't have as much linen and kitchen storage as I would have like.  On the plus side they repainted the entire place and installed all new flooring before we arrive! We are settling in nicely.  It is a townhouse in a large townhome community, it has 3 bedrooms 2 1/2 baths and a full finished walkout basement.  We basically live in the basement, that is where our section couch and ALL of the toys are. (and some storage)  Please excuse the quality of the pictures, I am still taking photos on my phone because I can't find our SD cards for the camera

So Here we go...

Here is Cami standing on our front stoop.  It is nice that we have our mailbox right on our front door.  Makes it easier for me to remember to check the mail everyday!

Our Pretty Girl

Here is the basement.  First, please excuse the mess.  Second, I took this photo prior to the second load of our things being delivered, so some things have been moved around a little.  But you can get a pretty good idea.  This is what I would consider our main living area.  It is so great to have one big room for playing, hanging out and family time

This is the view coming down the stairs.  As you can see the finished portion of the basement is an L-shape.  Cami and Reese definitely have an awesome playroom area now!

This photo was taken at the wall (of the L-shape).  This allows you to see how huge this room is!  That door is the sliding door that leads to a small patio area.  It has a concrete slab with gravel around.  We even have a nice tree!  It is perfect for the BBQ grill, a little bit of outdoor furniture and some toys!  The back gate also leads to the common area and straight out to the pool which we are literally right next to.

Here is the utility room.  Obviously it hold our extra fridge and laundry there is also a good bit of storage to the left of the fridge.  this room also holds the water heater and heater



Aside from keeping up with the two girls, I have been busy unpacking boxes.  I have also been doing some furniture shopping online.  I have been glued to my craigslist app on my iphone.  I have found some great pieces and I am anxious to show them off on my  blog...but that is for a later post.

I think I am going to break down and buy a new SD card today when we go to costco.....better quality pictures to come!

Cami's 3rd Birthday Party!!!

 3 years old!  I can hardly believe it!  Our sweet Cami girl is growing up so quickly.  We decided that this year we would throw her a birthday party.  With the birth of her baby sister just shortly before her birthday, we figured a special shindig all about her would be great.  Little did we know that it would also serve as a last hurrah as we packed up an moved less than 2 weeks after the party.

It was so special to celebrate our little girl and get together with many of our friends and family that we will miss so much.

Because of the arrival of Reese, we opted for a birthday party somewhere other than at home.  thankfully we planned it this way as the house was being packed up and was a complete disaster!

We booked Cami's party at an educational play place called Red Light Green Light.  It is a perfect place for toddlers and preschoolers.  Lots of pretend play and art stuff.  It was perfect, all we had to do was show up and enjoy ourselves.

Cami's birthday Cake

Beautiful decorations.  I picked a spring theme.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMI!

Our little chef serving up yummy food to her customers.  Daddy, Mando and Uncle Mike.

Ice Cream Shop girl

Reese enjoying sisters birthday

Cami and her friends Lauren and Olivia

Owen A. and Owen B. getting their exercise on!

Piper girl playing puppy doctor

Autumn driving the truck

Olivia

The Davis' doing art

Playing Vet with Brenda

more playing with Benjamin and Olivia

Art Project that the kind ladies at Red Light Green Light provided for all the kiddos

Project Time.  Nairne and Liliana

Blowing out her Birthday Candles

Waiting for the cake!

Presents

Presents

and More Presents

 I had a zillion pictures.  I couldn't put them all up.  Thank you to all our friends and family that made it to the party and made it so special!  I will be getting out thank you notes....eventually!

Reese is 6 Weeks Old Today

I can't believe that it has already been 6 weeks since Reese Jilleann joined our sweet family. It has been a whirlwind and with everything else going on I definitely haven't savored these sweet baby moments as much as I should have.

She is a super happy and content baby. She's a great nurser and good sleeper, getting up to eat 2 times per night. She loves her sister and automatically turns her head and looks at Cami whenever she is around.

Reese 6 Weeks
Cami @ 6 Weeks

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!