Alicia and Pam visit

My best friend from childhood, Alicia, and her mom, Pam, came to visit and take the kids off my hands for a couple of days.  I was forced to take a nap, which I desperately needed, and to relax for a while.  Thanks for a great weekend ladies!

Corbin and the Monte

John has a 1987 Monte Carlo.  It's sort of like his pride and joy.  Whenever John is working on it or talking about taking it for a ride Corbin is right by his side.  Corbin is slowly taking over John's passion for the Monte.

Oh, and in addition to no LATCH and no backseat belts that work to secure a booster seat, there are no airbags... which is the reason it's legal for Corbin to ride in the front seat, probably one of his favorite things about the Monte.

4th of July

Corbin got to experience sparklers for the first time this year.  He wasn't sure what to think at first but ended up really liking them.

John decided to buy some small fireworks for home this year.  John said they were for Corbin but I think they both enjoyed them equally!

We went to a festival in Evansville where Corbin got to bounce in a bounce castle.  I call it a castle because there was a slide, stairs and multiple rooms.  We tried to drag him away to look at other things, even bribed him with candy, but he wasn't having any of it.  We have a bounce house junky on our hands!

First Photos at home with Holden

 Daddy, Corbin and Holden

 Great Grandma Modesta

Papa and Nana

Grandpa Victor

When Holden was just 12 days old he and I left for our first road trip all the way to North Dakota.  My grandfather had passed away days before his 91st birthday.  The trip was long in some ways, traveling with a near 2 week old is difficult, and short too.  I would have liked to have spent more time with my grandmother, to let her know how much I love her and how much she means to me.

Grandpa Victor was a great man, a loving husband and father, a successful teacher and farmer.  He will be missed!  I love you Grandpa!

 Grandpa and Dad

 Grandpa and his "sweety" Grandma Lena

Grandma, me, Corbin, Dad and Grandpa

Holden Michael

The newest addition to the Williams' family has arrived.  Holden Michael was born on June 18th at 9:39 am weighing 8 pounds 3 ounces and measuring 20 inches.  He is a handsome little guy and has already stolen the hearts of his Mama, Daddy and Big Brother. 

Nana meeting Holden for the first time.  She and Papa arrived at the hospital about 45 minutes after Holden was born.

Corbin snuggling with Daddy and Holden for the first time. 

Corbin and Daddy opening Corbin's big brother presents.

Grandma Sandy holding Holden for the first time.

Brotherly Love!

 Holden passed his hearing screen with flying colors.

Our precious little boy

Rock County Dairy Breakfast

Every year a dairy farm in Rock County is chosen to host a dairy breakfast.  This year the breakfast was located in Janesville.  John and I decided we would get Corbin going early so he could enjoy the festivities before the crowd showed up.

Here is a picture of Corbin sittin on an antique tractor.

Corbin and Mommy acting silly.

Corbin had fun playing in the corn box, he even brought a few kernels home in his diaper...

There were all sorts of animals to look at.  We saw guinea pigs, rabbits, cows, chicks, kittens and of course this miniature pony.

All in all we had a great morning.  Corbin was napping in the car before we could get him home to his bed.  I was hoping the heat and the walking would send me into labor.  I did not get my wish!

Swingset part 2

If you remember, Corbin's swing set got blown over and demolished in a storm a few months back.  The insurance people came out and assessed the damage and decided to compensate us nicely for a new one.  My hubby, the handy guy he is, decided to salvage what he could of the first one and build on to it to make the ultimate in backyard swing sets.

Here is Corbin on his BRONCO swing.  He can use it by himself or with a buddy.  So far it's been pretty fun. 

This is the full effect of the new swing set.  Corbin loves it and his Daddy is pretty proud of it too!

Fish family

Here's the latest addition to the Williams' household.  6 fresh water fish...

John has been wanting to put together his fish tank for some time now and I successfully talked him out of it for about 2 years.  One day I came home to find the tank in working order, just waiting for fish.  Of course Corbin was excited about getting to pick out fish to bring home and to have some new pets.  I'm not sure which one of them was more excited...

So far Corbin has been helping Daddy feed the fish every night before bed.  He loves watching them swim around and eat the food.  He hasn't named them yet, I'm sure that will come.  After we let the fish get adjusted to the tank for a while the boys want to add a dwarf frog and a snail.  CAN'T WAIT...

Easter and The Brewers

Corbin woke up to a basket full of goodies from the Easter bunny.  He got money for his piggy bank, jelly beans, a puzzle, little people dairy cows, alphabet flash cards and chocolate too. 

After Corbin was done looking at his loot from the bunny we headed off to his first ever Brewer game.  He had a blast.  He sat really well, actually watched part of the game, LOVED the sausage races and only needed to be distracted with one walk.  Success!  We'll definately be going back to Miller Park for more Brewer baseball fun.

Farm time fun

John's dad Dave lives on a hobby farm.  He's got horses, cows, goats, chickens, roosters, cats, dogs and geese.  In addition to animals, Dave has lots of "toys" like a four wheeler, a dune buggy and tractors. 



 Here Corbin is going on his first ride in the dune buggy.  Notice helmet and seat belt.  This mama is all about safety first.  I'm not sure Corbin knew what to think of the ride but did last quite a while before he asked to get out.

This is a progression of pictures starting with Corbin getting to know one of Grandpa Dave's horses.  This horse is old and blind but extremely gentle.  Corbin absolutely loved getting a ride!

A day at the park

We decided to take Corbin to the local park to try out some different equipment and because, to our dismay, our swing set blew over in a storm.  Yep, totally destroyed by the wind... BOO!  Luckily Corbin loves this park so we have a back up until we figure out what to do with our backyard disaster. 

Here Daddy is helping Corbin cross a balance bridge.  He would go back and forth for hours if we let him!

This is our friend and neighbor Sam.  Teeter-tottering with someone the same size is much more fun that with Mom or Dad.

Random

 This is our friend and Corbin's Godmother Angela and I sporting our bumps at Angela's baby shower.  It was held March 13th so I was about 26 weeks in this picture.

Corbin has had many haircuts in his life so far, once every 5 weeks in fact.  This was the first time he ever sat in a big chair by himself.  Usually I sit in the chair with a cape on and he sits on my lap with his cape on.  We needed to make the switch since my lap is getting ever smaller and we didn't want a lopsided haircut...  He did great, he sat still and didn't fuss when his hair got sprayed with water.

Here is Corbin post haircut being silly with Daddy.  He is obsessed with "be-unes" so often we have 1 or more in the house.  On this day the balloons were used to make baby bellies... I have to say it was pretty cute watching Corbin try to get that balloon stuffed in his shirt.  And it's comical that John had the Mama stance down instantly with his hand on his "belly".

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day Corbin and I took off to the Madison Children's Museum for the first time.  We didn't know exactly what to expect but the museum surpassed whatever we may have been thinking.  It was awesome. 

Corbin had fun painting on a wall of windows, cleaning up said paint on the wall of windows, putting together magnetic shapes and pretending to drive with a steering wheel.

This is one of my favorite shirts... I love it because it can be worn on more days than just Valentine's Day and because I think my little man is the most Handsome Little Devil around!

ABC Convention

Every year Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin, Inc. has a convention.  Every year it's in Wisconsin Dells.  And every year we are delighted to have a few free days to spend at a water park.  Of course John  has to work during the day but we always find time to play in the water and have some fun!

This year the convention was held at the Wilderness.  We'd never been to the Wilderness before but will definately be going back.  We had a blast!

Here is Corbin "rarring" standing in front of a bear.  There were animals everywhere... Corbin loved pointing out the birds, various cat species and buffalo.

This pool was a hit with Corbin.  It was heated, bonus for Mommy, and it had a basketball hoop.  Corbin waited patiently for the ball to come his way and when it FINALLY did he was able to slam dunk it with the help of Daddy.  Needless to say, after the first "dunk" he never wanted to get out.

This is a picture of the water park we spent most of our time in (there are 5 I think...).  That huge bucket at the top of the picture fills up with water and tips over.  Before the tipping happens an alarm sounds, Corbin figured out what the alarm meant and stopped whatever he was doing to watch and clap.  He loved this park!