Comicon

Ever since Scott's Paternity leave... my boys have been ALL about Legos & Batman. We watched Lego Movie a million times, the boys built Lego sets all day long and then ran around playing with them, William was introduced to the old Batman cartoons and watches them every morning... it has been quite the transformation around here. So now- William loves ALL things Batman. My mom kept these awesome capes from my childhood and now William wears it everywhere we go (including but not limited to; Texas Roadhouse, the doctor, out on errands, Sunday dinners etc)

So when I learned that Kevin Conroy was going to be at Comicon- I just knew we had to take William to meet him. (He voices Batman on the cartoons that we have been faithfully watching every day!) William was so excited to meet him and he was such a sweet guy. He was yelling "William! Help me- the Joker is after me William!" in his batman voice and William just loved it. We were so excited that we got to meet him, get a picture and an autograph. 

The Family with "Batman" aka Kevin Conroy

And we couldn't pass up the Batmobile! He just wanted to climb inside so badly. 

There is so much going on in this picture... ha ha. William doesn't know a whole lot about Star Wars yet... but he does have a few small Lego sets that have Star Wars characters. So he wanted to get a picture with R2D2. (I know practically nothing about Star Wars- so I am nervous about the day that he wants to watch all the shows and get into it...)

The main reason I went to Comicon this year was to meet Simon Helberg. I LOVE the Big Bang Theory. If you have not watched it- you really should. It is just hysterical and Howard Wolowitz is definitely a favorite from the show. I was sad that taking the picture was such a quick process... but I was so happy and excited to meet him, steal a hug and get a picture (even if Aftyn had just spit up on me! ha ha) Love it. 

This Face...

I haven't posted many pictures of the kiddos since having the baby... and I can't believe how much she has changed all ready! About 4 weeks ago my cousins wife Courtney was so sweet and came over to take some pictures of Aftyn for me. She got so many great photos but these two really get me. 

Let me first say that I was not planning on being in any of the pictures so I did not get ready for the day- so when I saw that I ended up being in some of the pictures I had to cringe. Despite not being all dolled up- I love how sweet this picture is of me trying to warm up my baby in between pictures. She makes me so happy and I can't help but smile.

This is my other favorite picture-- this sweet face. I was absolutely terrified of having a girl. When I found out at the ultrasound I could not even stop the tears from flowing. That sounds terrible...but as she continued to grow in my belly, I became more and more excited. And the minute she was born I have been overwhelmed with how much I love her. Scott always told me- "You don't get what you want- you get what you need". There is no doubt that I need Aftyn. I need her sweet spirit in our home, I need her calming presence and chill demeanor. I need all the pink and bows and fluff. I always pictured myself having a bunch of rowdy boys- it is what I know and what I have loved. But William, Scott and I need this sweet girl. We are so blessed to have her in our family. 

Introducing

This belly sure got a lot of chatter this pregnancy. I looked like I stuffed a basketball under my shirt. I had people in public just stop me and ask if it was real! So here is the 39 week Baby Bump:

INTRODUCING our sweet baby girl: Aftyn

She arrived July 19. She is so small and perfect. She has been such a good baby- just eats and sleeps and rarely, rarely cries. William is the sweetest brother (I knew he would be). He loves to kiss her, rub her head and hold her. He also shows her all his toys and loves to take her picture and just look at her. He giggles at all her grunts and silly noises she makes. He also likes to put her binky in her mouth (even if she doesn't want it). I am so blessed to have the best babies around.

There is a lot of this going on around here:

Soooo happy to finally have our baby girl with us!

Lake Powell

I wanted to have one last vacation before Baby Girl arrives this week... so William and I tagged along and went to Lake Powell. This was William's FIRST Lake Powell trip. He did so well on the car ride (he is recently potty trained and did not have ONE single accident. I was very impressed). He was so excited to see the water and the boats and to stay on a house boat. He has never done any of this, so it was all very exciting.

When we finally made it to the houseboat we got all geared up and played in the water. He loved swimming in the lake with Kylee. He even went down the houseboat slide with her! (He wasn't such a big fan of this, only because he went under the water. I was so proud of him for going though!)

His favorite thing was riding the jet-ski. Meemaw and Pop pop took him on a very long ride and he was absolutely thrilled. Aunt Bri and Uncle Kaden took him next and he just did not want to get off that thing. He loves it. 

Lots of swimming with cousins and Aunts and Uncles... It was a very windy day!! 

The other love William had was the paddle boat. He had a blast just sitting in it and he got lots of rides from people. It is a great toy for the kiddos!

Bath time!! My cousin Courtney had the great idea to bathe the kids in the sink. These boys went first and had a blast. William is getting too big for this sort of thing tho- he barely fits in there! Ha ha. These boys are seriously hysterical together. (Lots of these pictures are courtesy of Courtney. She is so good at taking pictures!! Thanks Courtney)

Just chillin with cousins. We were only on the houseboat for a couple of nights. William and I were not feeling great (I was 36 almost 37 weeks pregnant and extremely swollen and just getting miserable) and I think William got homesick. Luckily we had cell phone service and called Daddy every night- but that wasn't good enough. The last night I held William while he cried and he cried his self to sleep. It was so sad. Then he woke up a couple of times during the night crying that he wanted to go home. So the next day we packed up and hitched a ride home with my brother Josh and his family. Of course, the minute we got home William was begging to go back to Lake Powell. But it was good that we went home. We got lots of sun and play in. He loved sleeping on top of the houseboat in a tent with Kylee too. I hope he had fun and will remember this trip!

Minions

In past years I have spent MONTHS preparing for my little boy's birthday parties. But with moving to a new home, being pregnant, going on vacations etc- I had zero time to plan this party. About a week before I came up with some decoration and food ideas. I all ready had this balloon wreath from last year- so all I did was add the Minion:

I saw so many cute Minion DIY on Pinterest... I came across some Japanese Lantern Minions and thought they were adorable and super easy. So I made my own version:

Found these on Pinterest as well. They are super super easy and I made them even easier by finding little 'eyes' at Gygi's instead of using smarties and frosting. They were a big hit with kids and adults alike. We also did a small candy bar with little baggies for everyone to fill up and take home. We had lemon drops, gum balls, banana taffy, pineapple jelly beans, banana chips, and lemon-chocolate dipped almonds- got all these goodies at Gygi's. 

More Minion lanterns:

I made my favorite Tres Leches cake for those that didn't want the cupcakes. So here is the birthday boy blowing out his 3 candles. He LOVES the birthday song- so we sang it twice. 

I didn't take any pictures during the party! We were busy serving dinner to everyone and opening gifts. He is one spoiled boy. Everyone is so sweet and we appreciate all the love and support we received! These cute pictures courtesy of Aunt Bree:

We FINALLY went and got his 3 yr pictures done about 2 or 3 weeks LATE... I went to Camera Shy in Lehi... I absolutely loved it there. The photographer was so fun and sweet. William was all smiles and giggles and just loved it. The pictures turned out fabulous and I was bawling during the slide show. I am so blessed to have this little man in my life. He is such a sweet, smart, funny and handsome boy. I am so proud of him. 

Happy Birthday my Love. I love you more than life itself and am so proud to be your Mom. 

BIG days

Mother's Day has been kind of weird for me the last 3 ish years... I only think of MY Mom on this day and forget that I am a Mom myself. I know if you are pregnant on Mother's Day you sometimes don't feel like a Mom yet either... but you are! My cute cousin Erin is just a couple weeks behind me this pregnancy and it is so fun to see her and  compare notes. I know she doesn't feel like a Mama yet- but she IS and she is going to be one of the best Mom's around. Such cute belly's...

We had a lovely lunch at Papa's house with all the cousins and family. We gave Meemaw her gifts and just spent time with everyone. William absolutely loves to hold his cousin Ellie. He is going to be the sweetest brother. He is so protective and loving. He is also quite the worrier. He is always looking out for all the kids and making sure they aren't going to get hurt. My heart melts to watch him with the babies. He is going to be my big helper in a few short weeks for sure! 

We drove up to Scott's parents house and wished Grandma Halladay a Happy Mother's Day and dropped off her gifts. Scott's parents are always so thoughtful and giving. They gave me a bunch of gifts as well. I am so blessed to have the Mothe'rs I do. My Mom is my best friend and I am thankful to be so close to her. My mother in law helps me SO much. I love you Mom's.

My William is 3. I seriously can not believe it. Where did my baby go??? On his birthday we woke up and let him open his gifts: a few books, Minion t shirts, Cars, and a couple other small things that I can't remember at the moment. He was pretty happy with it all.

We then ate a waffle breakfast and sang happy birthday (the birthday song is his all time favorite thing. We always have to sing it more than once). I told him he had a surprise downstairs- so he ran downstairs to find his very own trampoline. He has been wanting a tramp for a long time and was really excited to have one in the basement. 

Daddy took the day off from work to play with us. So we decided to try out the new Museum of Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point. We spent ALL day there. They have a bunch of different areas and activities and things to do. We spent time at every area as well as the gardens and park. He loved feeding the fish and watching them through the glass:

He also loved the caves and the slides. He had a blast and did not want to leave the museum. I would recommend giving this place a try- although try to find a deal or coupon online because I felt like it was WAY overpriced. 

After the Museum we met up with Meemaw and Pop pop for dinner at Zupa's (William LOVES soup and salads lately) then we drove up to Cold Stone by our house and had some ice cream with Grandma and Grandpa Halladay as well. All the Grandparents spoiled him and gave him some gifts to open. He got a Thomas the Train Book and water shoes from "Meem" and Pop and Grandma and Grandpa gave him some aquarium trains for his train set. He loves all the gifts!

Big W had a great birthday. We were so happy to spend the day with Daddy. That is an extra special treat! He had his Minion birthday party just a couple of days later.... Coming Up.

5 Days of Disneyland Part II

For weeks William was telling everyone that he was going to meet Elsa at Disneyland. (This boy LOVES the movie Frozen) I kept telling him that I wasn't even sure that Elsa was going to be at Disneyland, but if she was- that we could meet her. She was definitely at Disneyland- along with Ana- and everyone wanted to meet them. The first time I checked the line was on our 2nd day and it was a 2 1/2 hour wait. I bagged it. I had the brilliant idea to return first thing the next morning. 

We arrived at the park on our 3rd day and I went straight to Elsa's line. Everyone else must have had the same brilliant idea because the line was all ready looped all the way around Fantasy land and down the walkway toward Frontier land. I stood in line for 5 1/2 hours so my little man could meet Elsa and Ana. I was completely fine with it since it was our 3rd day and we still had 2 more days- plus I was swollen and tired being 28 weeks pregnant. And it was worth it- look at how happy this cute boy is that he is next in line:

Holding up "5" for 5 hours... but it was really 5 1/2!!

Meeting the girls. I love how he is so calm and "macho" in these pictures. He has to be all manly about meeting these beautiful girls. What a stud.

Thanks to Meemaw and Pop pop for taking William on rides while I waited in line! And for trading places with me so I could eat lunch!

Another new thing we tried was over at California Adventure- it is the Wilderness Explorer Camp. We have always just walked right past this, but now that Will is bigger we decided to give it a try. (Plus William has always loved the movie Up) It was such a fun area to let him run around and get all his wiggles out- it is HARD standing in lines all day long just to ride for a few seconds. So this area is great to let them just get all that energy out:

We also took William over to Pirate Island. I have been over there before- but it was William's first time and again, he just loved it. Such a fun area to run around, explore caves, and do fun things. He loved all the pirate stuff.

Our last night in the park- had to get a picture in front of Mickey at the entrance. We never do this- and it is a must! We are all exhausted but happy! All 4 of us survived.

Until we meet Disneyland again... (hopefully in a year or so when Baby Girl is big enough) We had such a great time. 

5 Days of Disneyland Part I

Man- I feel like we haven't been to Disneyland in a looooong time. In reality it has only been about 11 months- ha ha. We were lucky to be able to tag along on Scott's work trip this time. He had a convention in Anaheim! So William and I tagged along and got to go to Disneyland for our LONGEST trip yet- 5 whole days! We have been super excited about this trip and talking about it non-stop for weeks. I was a little nervous being 28 weeks along AND chasing around my 2 year old... so my parents were nice enough to join us! 

We did lots of new things this trip- first up was the Sword in the Stone. I always saw this at the park, but we have never stopped to try it out. All our boys gave it a try:

William just loves trains. We took full advantage of the train this trip. Anytime we could hop on- we would do it. William just loved it, and it was a time to relax for all us adults. 

Big W is tall for his age... he was only 1 inch short for MOST of the rides- so hopefully next time we go he will be able to ride pretty much everything & anything. Some new rides he was tall enough for this trip include Autopia. I think he rode this about 6 times. Look at how happy he is that he gets to "drive" a "car"!!

 Cute Meem & Pop driving along behind us.

We even talked Eric and Colleen into Disneyland for a day! William was SUPER excited to see them at the Park and they were sweet enough to take him on rides that I couldn't. Mater's Tractor Pull is one of his favorites. 

 And he talked Eric into taking him on a drive on Autopia.

The weather this trip was PERFECT- a little overcast and around 72 degrees. I think Sunday was pretty hot... but the rest of the week was amazing. And thank goodness because with all the humidity and walking around- my feet and ankles could barely handle it. I was SO swollen!! All in all- I loved walking around Disneyland and getting lots of exercise. We had so much fun hanging out with Meemaw and Pop pop all week too. We had lots of treats- our favorites are the Mint Juleps and beignets at the Mint Julep bar. We also love the Tigger Tails at Pooh Corner (which is another favorite ride of Will's. He rode it almost 20 times during the week). We got to try a new treat this trip as well at Maurice's Treats in Fantasy Land. We tried the Strawberry swirl bread, the chocolate swirl bread and the garlic swirl bread. As well as the frozen apple drink. It was delicious. 

One more post and more pictures and stories to come...