First, First, First!

We have had a busy month (or two) and so I figure if I can get about 6 posts done this year I'll be lucky. But this time I have so much to share and tell about you'd better pop some popcorn and get comfortable. This is the first blog post since the anniversary of this fine blog, and it is one of many firsts the Roberts family has had these few months. First, Will had his first Christmas. Jared covered it a little in his last blog post, but I wanted to get some more pictures of it up so everyone can see the great time we had. There are captions worth reading this time, so click here.

Next first for the Roberts family was the first word. I was in our room falling asleep for a nap and Jared was getting ready to feed William in his high chair. As Jared turned towards the kitchen, out of nowhere William just said "Dad-dee." Just like that. So we got some footage later that night of him mumbling something like it. He doesn't say many words these days though. Jared says he thinks Will sounds like an Ewok because he just does this whisper thing. Maybe we'll get it on camera and post it next time.

In Texas we do something called a Rodeo. It bears little resemblance to what most people think of as a rodeo. It is more of a carnival, flea market, 4H contest, some rodeo action then a concert by a country artist all wrapped into one. And it lasts 2-3 weeks long. Will and I went with some friends to the carnival part one day and later to the petting zoo. Will didn't really love being so close to the animals, but I convinced him that if he stood outside the cage it was fine. Below is a picture of Will at his first rodeo (carnival).

Then came Will's first Valentine's Day. Anyone who knows me knows that Valentine's Day is by far my favorite holiday. I'll explain some other time, but it's true. I love it. Jared got me some flowers (although this is a picture of flowers he got me sometime in January...just because. I'm so lucky!) We didn't do too much celebrating this year, but it was still fun.

Then on President's Day, Will took his first step. We were really excited and knew it would happen soon, and then he did it! He has done some walking since, but he is still mostly a crawler at home. Today at church he was a walking fool, so we'll see if that continues.

Will also had his First Birthday! I'm still compiling the pictures of his party and celebration and that will come later. Just a teaser for now: lots of chocolate cake.

Most recently, Will had his first haircut. His fuzz had reached critical mass and so we decided it was definitely time to give him a nice grooming. Here are the before and after pictures as well as a video of what the experience was like.

Well, we have had an eventful few months. Will is growing up so much. He is so much more of a little boy now. Jared is doing great in school, and still manages to find lots of time to spend with his family. I am still crocheting afghans, although I'm almost done (not a moment too soon). Thanks to all those who passed on their congrats about law school. I'm really excited and nervous and stoked all at the same time. Until next post,

All Our Love!

We're Back

We're back in the swing of things after an enjoyable and much-needed break. We spent part of the holidays with each side of the family and made lots of fun memories.

William now has five more (long) flights under his belt—starting with several to get us to Boise to see my family. It was great to see my parents and siblings after so long. We had a wonderful time with everyone, and so did William. He crawled everywhere we would let him (including up the stairs) and took advantage of all the space there was to explore. It was great to see him interact with everyone. As always, he laid on the charm and did his best to be the center of attention. We'll post some video of him once we finish unpacking everything...

Once we were back in Texas we stayed with Mikail's family in their new house north of Austin. They are getting settled now and things are working out well for them. It was fun to see William pushing his cars around on the floor while trying to imitate engine sounds. The rest of us were either busy wearing ourselves out on Wii Sports or trying to catch up on some rest afterward.

And now for perhaps the greatest news of all...Mikail was accepted to St. Mary's Law School here in San Antonio! She was accepted to their evening program that allows her to attend classes just four nights a week and still finish in four years. After much prayerful consideration, we're all very excited for this new opportunity and challenge. I know that Mikail will certainly be equal to the task.

We're glad to be back home and look forward to another exciting year for our family. We'll have more news and pictures soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We don't have any fun pictures from Thanksgiving like everyone else. But we did have a great time! As an example of the true perversity of life, my parents now own (almost!) two houses and are living in a one-bedroom apartment. The explanation is that they are trying to sell their house in Dallas while simultaneously putting the finishing touches on their new house in Austin. This meant that for Thanksgiving with the folks it was my parents, my brother, and the three Roberts all in a one-bedroom apartment. We had a really good time (no sarcasm, seriously!) My mom didn't have all her Thanksgiving dinner equipment (pots, pans, etc.) since they are between places, so we did what we could, and the rest we bought. And it was great. We had the best BBQ in Texas the night before at Rudy's and then on Thanksgiving Day, when the temperature dropped thirty degrees, we stayed inside and played with Will. It was by far my most unconventional Thanksgiving, and for sure one of the most memorable (in a good way-I meant it!)

Other than that, we have been woefully delinquent in our blog posts and the reason is I'm doing some hand work on the side for a little money for Christmas. There is a ritzy Spa in Austin that is world famous (apparently, though I'd never heard of it) and it's a vacation spot for the well-to-do. They are re-decorating and paying people to crochet afghans for their rooms. This means of course that they have requested the colors and the pattern to match the rooms. And it's hideous. So who knows what the rooms look like. But if they will pay a pretty penny for afghans so ugly I wouldn't even buy them at a garage sale, then I say let the insanity continue. I have included a picture of my latest here for you with a close up so you can get the clear picture of what I'm having to look at day in and day out.
I also wanted to mention in passing that Will turned 9 months old over the Thanksgiving holiday and then went to the doctor the next week. He is 28.5 inches long, 21.25 pounds. I know that sounds like he's shrinking, but apparently they didn't measure him right last time. The doctor also listened politely to our pleas for something to do about his still not sleeping through the night, then our prayers were answered when he realized that Will probably has acid reflux. So he's on Prevacid and is a much happier baby I think.

I have included here pictures of Will that I have been meaning to post. For all the pictures, click here. Will had a rough time of it the day pictures were taken and Krista (who is amazing) did everything but back flips to get him to smile. These pictures are her work and for obvious reasons we'll be getting more pictures taken by her in the future.

Happy Halloween!

The Roberts family got all dressed up for Halloween on Saturday for the Ward's Trunk or Treat.


J and I were dressed as ....lined paper. Duh. And Will was the cutest little dinosaur who ever got hold of a binky. He even joined in the parade of costumes.

Will's 8 Month Highlights

First, the much anticipated "Fang" picture.....

They are small, but they are definitely there. And as they get bigger, they will look better I'm sure.

So Will is one month older, and to celebrate, we lowered the level of his mattress in his crib. He had started to pull himself up onto things, so we decided it was probably best to lower his mattress from the high infant setting to the lower toddler level.

And since Will is getting around more, we've discovered the "Busted" face that he gets when he's caught getting into something. Like the other day...

Bath time is as much fun as it ever was. Will loves his baths....

And after his bath, Will gets his nails clipped.Most babies have to wait until they are asleep to have their nails clipped. And you'd think that with our wiggly little boy, we'd have to sedate him. But he sits very still and watches while J clips his nails.

This last is a slideshow of "Fun with Dad"



All Our Love!

And We're Back!

So, it's been a while I know. A lot has happened, but our internet has been sketchy and our computer on the fritz. So the posts have had to wait.


First, my grandparents came to visit. My wonderful Grandmother and Grandfather Freundlich drove down to Austin to visit with us and meet little Will. We stayed in Austin that weekend and my grandparents put us up in the most amazing hotel - The Renaissance Hotel in the Arboretum. The Arboretum is this lovely area in central Austin where nature is the thing. Trees and walkways - it's beautiful. So we got a little vacation and a chance to hang out with family and I only did a few embarrassing redneck things that belied my true economic status.

While they were visiting, my grandmother passed on to me her grandmother's Bible. It is truly a treasure. She pasted newspaper clippings in it with birth, marriage, and death records of family members. My favorite thing we found in it was a ration book from World War II with the ration stamps still in it. She must have had it left over after the war.

Also, during the long drought of blog posts, J and I were in the Stake Musical. It was called "I Remember It Well" and it was a collection of scenes from famous musicals that depict the stages of your life. It began with "Getting To Know You" with little kids and moved to "Hard Knock Life" then on to later in life with an old couple singing "I Remember It Well." J and I represented the couple about to get married and have a family. We sang about our dreams and how it would all be. We sang "When the Children Are Asleep" from Carousel. We had a lot of fun and I would put video of it on the blog, but I think J was serious when he threatened to leave me if I did. Better not risk it.

To update on the family, J is doing great at school. He's handling the pressure of tests well and is working really hard. The other day in his clinical rotation, he numbed a patient's mouth. That means he had to give to injections. While I think that's gross and scary, he thought it was amazing and felt lucky. Funny how life is.

Will has refused to actually crawl but can now get around faster scooting and doing his little inch worm maneuver. We've seen a little wave action, but mostly he saves them for old ladies at the grocery store. He of course still has his two bottom teeth that came in a while back, but now his upper lateral incisors are coming in too. Which means he'll make a good "Fang" for Halloween. He looks hilarious. As of yet they are still too small to be caught on film, and his mouth is too sensitive to let anyone touch it, but believe me, as soon as we can get photographic evidence of this for future blackmailing - it's going on the blog.

My life is relatively boring. I cook, clean, watch Will, and listen to J talk about the anatomy they learned that day - like gubernaculum - and act interested. (Be warned if you wikipedia that term. Grosser than you can imagine.) I have some pretty exciting things coming down the road though and as soon as they are definite, the blogosphere will at least be in the top 5 to know!

Here is Will's 7 month slideshow I put together a long time ago. But now it's fun that you get his 8 month pictures so soon! (hopefully in just a few weeks)



All Our Love!

Changes Every Day....

Da-Da

Scooter



Will is growing so fast! He is already scooting all over the house. I had to bolt shut cabinets and baby proof things. Everyone told me I'd have a little longer before I had to do it all, and here we are - not even at 7 months. We've had a lot of fun though. Every day Will's personality comes out more and more. Here are two videos of some of the latest. The "Da-da" video shows the messiest corner of my house. The rest of it doesn't look like that, you'll just have to take my word for it. The second video is of Will scooting across our living room. Although our living room is not huge, he gets all the way across it in the video. We're having a blast. One quick picture of Will showing how he can sit up all on his own.

All Our Love!