Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful Christmas we had! William treated us to a 7:40 wake-up, much better than his normal 6-6:30 wake-up. We opened gifts, got to enjoy breakfast with Boomie and Papa before they headed off to Bellingham, and opened more gifts. William took his normal 3 hour nap and then it was off to Nana and Grandpa's house for us where we opened more gifts and enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner. Here are a few photos from our day!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve we enjoyed a delicious prime rib dinner at Boomie & Papa's house. William had so much fun playing with Boomie & Papa! Then it was home so we could get to bed to see what Santa would bring us!

Pre-Christmas Festivities!

Leading up to Christmas, we were busy, busy, busy, but had some time for fun. We went up to Bellingham and celebrate Jacob's 6th birthday! William loved playing with his cousins, Jacob & Owen!

We had Jason & Caitlin over for dinner, and Will was sure to take full advantage of a new book reader!

Will visited Santa Claus at Nordstroms where the photographer remarked "that went a lot better than I expected." William was much more interested in pointing out all the lights to Santa and was quite the social butterfly. We ended up with a smiling photo and everyone was happy!

We made a ginger bread house!

And I baked 6 different cookies...sugar, snickerdoodle, peanut butter chocolate kiss, chocolate chip, white chocolate chip, and pecan balls. William was quite the little helper in the kitchen and helped sample some of the sugar cookies!

13 Months (A little late!)

I know, I know, William is almost 14 months old and I promise to have a 14 month update in the next few days. First, a little note on our big 13 month old. He never ceases to amaze us, and is in love with all of his toys, and especially his books. When we returned from our Thanksgiving Ojai trip, William made a beeline to his toys and was non-stop play, play, play. William loves to point, loves lights...Jon is convinced William can say "light", and loves pictures. Whenever we point something out to him, his response is "huh." He smiles all the time and is so good natured. Here are some Yuen Lui pictures we had done about mid-November.

*Note to self on the Yuen Lui pictures, if a background looks funny in person, it's going to look funny as a photo. Lesson learned and we will definitely speak up next time...at least it provides some humor and I'm sure Will will ask us what on earth we were thinking when he gets older!

Go Cougs!

Apple Cup this year was exciting and the Cougs almost pulled off a victory. The final score was 35-28. William sure had a lot of fun!

Brownies & Lemonade...YUM!!!

Unfortunately, Jon and I were both battling colds this trip, so we were only able to squeeze in a short visit with Aunt Betsy and Uncle Mike. It was nonetheless great to see them and be spoiled with Betsy's brownies and lemonade. The brownies and lemonade are definitely something we look forward to everytime we visit.

Shelf Road!

No trip to Ojai would be complete without our Shelf Road walks. We are always on the lookout for creepy crawlies (one time Jon and I ran into a rattle snake about to eat his mouse breakfast). This trip we were treated to a coyote sighting!

Ojai Thanksgiving!

We enjoyed the traditional Thanksgiving spread (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole) outside this year, and what a treat it was! The Signal house kitchen, despite its small size, easily handled the feast we enjoyed with the Currans.

Reese Witherspoon...FINALLY!

For the past 6-7 years, everytime Jon and I travel to Ojai, we cross our fingers that we will finally run into Reese Witherspoon, who has a house there. It seemed like everyone ran into her, except for us. Well, this trip we finally ran into her at Monte Grapa Osteria, the Italian restaurant in town. Reese, her two kids, and boyfriend sat at the table behind us. I enjoyed dinner listening to her talk to her kids about their Thanksgiving with their dad, the plane ride, and her filming in Vancouver. William, the little social kid he is, entertained us with a game of peek-a-boo and I could hear Reese tell her kids..."Look at that cute baby." William gets this compliment more times than I can count. However, hearing it come from Reese's mouth totally made my night!!!

Bates Beach (aka Rincon Point)!

Another favorite to-do outing when we visit Ojai is to visit the beach. We love looking for beach glass, watching for dolphins (which we saw two!), and getting our feet in the sand.

Santa Barbara Zoo!

The Santa Barbara Zoo has become a favorite to-do outing for us when we visit Ojai. Boomie and Papa joined us. Will loved seeing the birds, especially the parrots, the giraffes, elephants, penguins, lions, and monkeys. We also took our first train ride around the zoo. We can't wait for our next zoo visit!

12 Month Check-Up!

William had his big 12 month well check. His stats were:

Weight: 25 lbs

Length: 31 inches

He has gained 18.75 lbs since he was born, the average is 12-16 lbs. And, William has grown 11.5 inches. The average is 10-11 inches. Not bad for being born 5 weeks early!

Oh, and William got his first pair of shoes from Stride Rite. The boy has extra-wide feet (size 4.5) that are almost as long as they are wide.

Trick or Treat!

We couldn't not trick-or-treat, so Will made a one house stop across the street, where he racked in a whopping 3 pieces of candy! Happy Halloween!!!

Boomie & Will's Special Day!

Well, it finally came and went, William's first birthday, which he shares with his Boomie. His party was a huge success and was shared with close friends and family. With chicken salad croissant sandwiches, meatball sandwiches, sweet & salty pumpkin seeds, salad with candied pecans, and vanilla and chocolate ghost cupcakes made from scratch and decorated by Boomie, food was a plenty!All the kids had fun decorating their own little pumpkin, William loved his cupcake, and most of all opening his presents.

We are officially the parents of a one year old! Life hasn't been the same since he surprised us 5.5 weeks earlier than expected last Halloween. Our sweet William is full of smiles and brightens up our lives. William, we love you more than you will ever know!!! Here are a few pictures from Will's big day: