Whitney & Barry's wedding

Isn't technology wonderful? I am typing this at 1:30 am as we are on our last hour or two of our 12+ hour trip in the van on the way home from Nebraska.

The girls have been fabulous. Maya is just now starting to fuss and she has literally been in her car seat the entire day. That is a lot to ask anyone especially a 16 month old and one who is almost 3.

Ella had some good lines on the trip. One was as I was cleaning her up for bed after the wedding reception, she told me she had some cuts on her face. (Looks like she may be getting a rash/coldsores in the corners of her mouth) She proceeded to poke all over her face counting as she went to 6 telling me that daddy had cut her 6 times on the face with a sharp knife at the dinner table. LOL :) Where does she come up with this stuff.

Another one was as I was getting her ready for the wedding I told her she gets to be a princess today in her pretty clothes and she said, " I don't want to be a princess mommy! I want to be a puma and you can be a snake!" Ha ha :)

Ella loved dancing at the reception, so much so that she must have been dreaming about the fun. In the middle of the night she yelled out in her sleep, " I want to eat! I want to dance!" Scared the you know what out of me. :)

This trip to Nebraska was Maya's first vacation from home and she did really well. Scott and I could not be prouder of Ella and Maya they were excellent, other than typical 1 and 2 year old behavior that would happen any where.

We got to stay at Aunt Betty and Uncle Doug's new home in Falls City (which by the way is beautiful) and the girls had a ball, Maya got to navigate stairs for the first time and Ella loved the freedom of going up and down them to the playroom and back watching her shows on each of the big screens.

Cousin Sydney was home from the Philippines and we loved catching up with her and all of the good work she has been doing in the Peace Corp. Scott, Syd, and I were schooling Aunt Betty on the internet, she will be a pro in no time. :)

While in FC Ella and daddy walked over to the lake to try and feed the ducks, but they were shy and didn't want to play. :(

After a 2 day stay in FC we drove the final 2 hours to Omaha for the wedding festivities. The girls were so happy to be in the hotel room. The had a fountain in the lobby that they threw coins in, Maya shouting "Water! Water! Water!"

They played monsters in the curtains, so much that we had to reconfigure the cribs so that they would quit messing with them. It was cute though.

Took the kids to Amazing Pizza Machine and the childrens museum to play on 2 different days, went swimming too.

The photos with the girls in the pink dots is the rehearsal. Cousin Whitney is the bride and she is bending next to them.

The rehearsal dinner was at a lovely steakhouse which really was an adults only establishment, but I couldn't find a sitter so all the kids went. After changing 2 poopy diapers on the floor of the bathroom, and a few meltdowns, we decided it was not possible to get the babies to act like little adults in this environment, so daddy called a shuttle and mommy went back to the hotel with the girls, (missed out on hot steak and lobster, but daddy brought me a plate to the room)

As soon as the girls and I got back to the room Ella got sick all over one of the beds. So mommy spend the evening with housekeeping and dealing with that. Luckily it passed quickly.

There are pictures of Uncle Doug (father of the bride) and Sams kids, Carter and Cole, Tyler, Scott and the girls watching the huskers get spanked by Texas in the Merz's suite.

The wedding photos have Cole, Carter and Lexi, all Sam's kids with ours, and in the other photo is Barry's kids Jack and Ethan as well, cousin Syd helped hold Maya so she would stay put, but going down the aisle was too much for her so she stayed with daddy.

Great food, great band, drinks and dancing, great party, followed by a beautiful brunch the next morning. We went over to Jack and Vickies house to meet Jacoby. He is mommies newest Great nephew on the way home to Kentucky.

What a great week! Got home at 3 am to a broken heater, it was 50 degrees in the house, the repair man is here as I type fixing the problem. A day of shopping, laundry and relaxing until tomorrow, Daddy has a lecture at 8:30 am sharp! Back to reality :)

10.23.09 ( added a few more, one of the grooms mother, Barbara holding Maya, one of the 3 sisters, Barb, Me, Betty; daddy checking out mommy, HILARIOUS!! A friend sent us this candid shot, we are still rolling over this one; one of the groomsmen holding Maya, and finally cousin Sam and her kids with Ella.)

XOXO

~A

What we have been up to :)

All sorts of things going on at the Williamson household lately. Mainly we are gearing up for our trek to Nebraska in a couple of weeks where Maya and Ella will be flower girls along side cousin Lexi in my niece/Goddaughter, Whitney's wedding on October 17th.

Lots to do in preparing for this journey which will be Maya's first trip anywhere. Ella on the other hand is a seasoned traveler at the ripe old age of 2 1/2. She has been to Arizona, Nebraska, and New York. She has flown, and went on the road with many stops in between. So we shall see how Maya fares and how big sister does this time with her baby sissy in tow as well. :)

A big shout out to Aunt Barb and Uncle Julian for ALWAYS thinking of the girls and sending them cool stuff, like the name plates from the trip they just took back east. The girls are using them to learn to recognize their names and learn how to write them as well. Thanks Aunt Barb And Uncle Julian! Can't wait to see you real soon! XOXO

Signed Ella Grace up for gymnastics & swimming lessons. She really wants to take ballet too, but we will hold off on that and give the other things a go first. We will begin each of these classes the in the weeks that we return from the wedding. You will see her practicing in her new leotard/tutu getting all ready to go. Maya is wearing her tutu as well (compliments of Auntie Barb) even though it will be a bit before she starts formal lessons.

The girls are BIG HELPERS around the house, they love to dust with me ( I give them each a wet wipe) and clean our home. They never have been scared of the vacuum they just want to do it too so I let them have a go of it, and they did awesome. Teamwork Williamson is what we call it and they earn stickers each time to put on a poster we have in the kitchen. Works quite well.

Happy October! Will post wedding and Halloween pics later in the month.

Some of Maya's 1st's

This is a post predominately of little M.E's 1sts.

Ella and I went shopping the other day and the girls got matching Dora the explorer sheets and blankets. (Maya LOVES Dora, Ella is more of a Diego fan) What is a first about this photo is that this is the first time Maya has ever slept with a pillow and she seems to like it. :) I took this photo in the middle of the night and although it looks like broad daylight in her room it is actually pitch dark. I was just glad the flash did not wake her.

Ella loves to play in the rain, Maya on the other hand tends to be a bit more reserved and not quite as eager to try certain things. After sitting on the porch with her dad and I staying dry watching Ella run all over the place and having a ball, Maya decided to join her and had a blast. That meant of course Mommy had to get wet too, daddy was just fine sitting in a dry place snapping photos.

Ella had a great idea! She wanted to have a pancake (translation: picnic). So we got out our princess tea set, and Elmo table and chairs on the deck and dined on Gerber baby hotdogs, fruit, and Gerber baby ravioli, with Crystal Lite in our tea cups. Our next door neighbor Thad supplied the dessert. He came over and brought the girls suckers. Such a great neighbor. :)

Maya is a VERY FINICKY eater. Much unlike the rest of the family. She eats like a bird and is quite moody about when, where and what will be consumed. One evening we had mexican rice and she went to town, eating her dinner AND her sisters left overs. That was a switch.

Love you Emmie lou who!

XXOO~

Ella and the fire alarm

Went to Scott's office for what we thought was going to be a quick trip to pick up some papers he needs to grade and 2 fire trucks, a police car, president of the seminary and some facilities staff later we arrived home WITHOUT the papers we went for in the first place.

Ella slipped out and pulled the fire alarm. All I have to say is it was very loud and Scott was not too happy. Until after he got back in the van when it was all over (I think he secretly got his fire truck fix) Thank God no fines were given. :)

GAME DAY! GOOOOO HUSKERS!!

From peach picking to headlocks! :)

The photos did not post in the order I intended, however how is it that a simple hug from Ella turns into a headlock for Maya 80% of the time? Hmmm......

Cute video of Ella taking her baby sissy for a spin! :)