Christmas Cutie

My cousin Katie is a professional photgrapher and she snapped this adorable picture of Sydney at our last family Christmas celebration. I absolutely love it and plan on owning it as soon as possible to put in the living room. Thought I'd share it with you all. Good job, Katie!

The Many Faces Of Sydney

I am so sorry it has been so long since a post, but things have been crazy around here. My best friend Melissa was recently put on bedrest since she is pregnant with twins, my mom has been running a campaign for re-election to the school board, I've been working a ton, and then the majority of the plumbing in our house decided to quit...all within the last 2 weeks. Throw in a visit from Chris' dad from California and us hosting Easter dinner...I'm pretty sure this is what it feels like to have a stroke. I am tired! WHOOPED, I tell you. So, this is an all-in-one post, your one stop shopping for Happy Wills Family.
First up, American Idol from 2 weeks ago. The theme was songs from the year of your birth, mine being 1981. Not knowing the next week would be movie week, I picked Dolly Parton's "Nine To Five." I would perform it Matt Giraud style, playing the keyboards in the section behind the judges. I have no time to think up a cute outfit or witty judge responses, but you get the idea.
Second, here are some pictures of Sydney clowning around last month while eating her lunch. She is such an expressive child, and as she gets older it gets more dramatic! Wonder where she gets it from.






Finally, these are from a recent bout of good weather, we went to play outside and Sydney had so much fun! Even though I detest the summer and warm weather of any kind (give me a sweater, a book, and a roaring fireplace anyday), I am happy that she'll be able to play outside more. And, summer means BBQ's, 4th of July, and the zoo.



Stay tuned for movie week of American Idol, pictures from Easter, amd pictures of Sydney and Madison playing. We've been spending lots of time at Melissa's house to help while she's been on bedrest, so the girls have had lots of play time!

Hair Fun

Can I just say how thankful and blessed I am to have a daughter? Especially a daughter like Sydney? She is so much fun and I was just born to have a girl! All the pink, the frills, the tea parties, it is so much fun! Not to say that I wouldn't have as much fun with a boy, but I am thankful that I get to experience this part of parenting, too. Sydney is becoming more of a girly-girl each day. She loves to have her hair done and as she gets older and her hair gets longer, we can do more with it. Everyday she wants to have some sort of ponies or clip in her hair, and we usually have to curl it and hairspray it, too. It makes her look so much older to have her hair up!



Today's hair was especially cute. This is the before picture, with her bun ponies.


Then when we took out the ponies, this is what we got!


She had lots of fun looking in the mirror at her big hair! She just stood there and played with her hair like she was 16!

Free Style

Aww, yeah, dawgs, it's American Idol time again! Yo, yo, yo! For all of you who don't watch the show and think I just officially lost it, that is quoting AI judge Randy Jackson. I have been so super excited for this week because it's free choice week! Sort of. It had to be a Billboard Top song, which is basically free choice. This week's song selection was actually picked a long time ago. When I first heard this song, I thought to myself, "If I was on American Idol, that's what I would sing." And ta-da! I would sing Pink's song Sober. It's actually co-written by new AI judge Kara, but I didn't know that when I picked it. It is such a powerful, sad, but somehow uplifting song, and I just love it! I was going to post the video, but alas, my moral compass wouldn't allow it. There's a bit too much lingerie and a full on lesbian love scene that is SO beyond wierd, I just couldn't do it, and I didn't want the video to in any way influence your opinion of the song. Hopefully you've heard it, if not, download it. This week I would wear a black sleeveless dress and black knee high boots, keep it simple so as not to distract from the power of the song. I really hope you can all find and listen to the song because it's a great one!
As for my predictions, which I have been forgetting to do, I am thinking the top three is going to be Kris, Danny, and Matt. I can't wait for this week!

DWTS

So Chris and I have started watching a new show this season, Dancing With the Stars. We've never watched it before because it's on 2 nights in a row, and so is American Idol, so it all equals a lot of TV. But this season there were some interesting celebrities, and we really like Holly Madison, so once she joined the show we decided to watch. We got to talking one night...sort of on the same lines as my fantasy run at American Idol, who would we choose to dance with if we were professional dancers on DWTS? I originally thought Ryan Seacrest or Simon Cowell, but since it's on as the same time as American Idol, they probably couldn't do it. So, I choose Prince! We all know he's got moves, and he can dance really well in high heels already, so there you go. Chris thought long and hard about his choice and finally decided on Fergie! I thought that was pretty funny. Next time you watch DWTS you can picture me with Prince and Chris with Fergie!

Motown Schmotown

Hello to all my American Idol fans! This week we venture on to motown week. I was actually a bit nervous for this one, it's kind of a tough genre, but the real contestants did fabulous! Not that my imaginary participation isn't real in it's own way, but you know what I mean. I was actually really excited that no one picked my song, but surprised, too, since it's a classic. I picked "I Heard It Through The Grapevine." I am not posting a clip or video of this song because I assume everyone not born in a barn is familiar with it. As for the style of how I would perform this song, I am posting a clip that might seem a bit odd. Many of you know I love Amy Winehouse, God bless her drug-infested soul. She's crazy, I know, but I love her music, and if most people would get off their high horse and forget about the dysfunctionality of her life, they might like her jazz influenced music. So, I am posting a clip of her performing at last year Grammy's. Unless you want a good laugh and some hair styling tips, you don't need to watch the entire thing (even though I recommend it to get the full effect), and you don't even need to watch Amy. Just watch the 3 guys to the right of the screen, the back up singers. They are dancing their hearts out and shaking what their mamma's gave them! That is how I would perform this song, just a little bit toned down! Enjoy...


And finally, this is a picture of me as Amy Winehouse last Halloween. She's a lot skinnier than I am. Crack will do that to you.

Opry Week

Hello, fans! Back to my continuing American Idol journey. Last week was country week, but more specifically, Grand Ol' Opry Week, which significantly narrows the choices. If it had been just normal country week, I would have done a Sugarland song. But, since it was a much narrower selection, I chose an oldie but a goodie. I picked Diamond Rio's What A Beautiful Mess. I like this song a lot, but it's not super well known so I could put my own spin on it and not be accused of messing with a good thing. I couldn't get the video to copy on this blog, but click HERE to see the video. I would take out the second verse to shorten the song for the time allowed. As for the most important part, my outfit, I don't have a picture for you today, but I would make it simple and wear a creamy babydoll dress with brown cowbow boots, with big Loretta Lynn hair, because come on, it is country night! I forgot the judge's comments in my Jackson 5 post, so here goes: Randy said he liked my hair and the boots, and he thinks my interpretation of the song is dope. Kara liked my rifts and artistry. Paula liked that I was true to myself but she would like to see me challenge myself with a faster paced song next week. And Simon argued with Paula and said I was the frontrunner for the competition and I singlehandedly make him want to like country music.
(I know I know, it's a little much, but a girl can dream right?)

Jackson 5 Week

My friend Annie recently reminded me I haven't been doing my American Idol predictions this season. I'm sorry Annie, and everyone else, because I have been absolutely fascinated with a new (for me) show this season, Dancing With the Stars! That is so much fun to watch! But, anyway, back to American Idol. If you remember, I promised a few weeks back that this year I would not just make predictions, but I would pretend that I was on American Idol and I would describe what song I would sing, how I would sing it, and what I would wear. So, 2 weeks ago was Jackson 5 week and I was actually a bit nervous about picking a song. Would you, my dozen or so faithful readers, react well if I sang Dirty Diana, which was my first thought? I already had nixed anything like Heal the World or the Free Willy song. Who knew the Jackson 5 genre would be so tough? I finally found it, though, and I'm really excited about it....here goes...Aint No Sunshine When She's Gone!
I didn't even know this was a Jackson 5 song, but it is. Here is a video of the song, actually sung in this version by Bill Withers, to a Grey's Anatomy video clip.

I would sing this song pretty much how it sounds in this video, because why mess with a classic? I would sit in the middle of the stage on a stool, playing acoustic guitar, and have the lights pretty dim. Then, as the song picks up, I would have the lights get brighter to show the orchestra/band behind me. As for my outfit this week, a lot of the AI contestants wore really bright colors, but I would tone it down and wear brown wide-leg slacks with this shirt in the Turquoise Medallion color from Old Navy (sorry, it wouldn't let me post the picture, you'll have to click HERE to see the link and go to the turquoise color).
I hope all my fans out there like my selection! As for the actual show, I liked Danny the best, and even though I love Megan, I thought her Rockin' Robin was horrible.

St. Patrick's Day

I like St. Patty's day. It was the day my mom was actually due to have me, so I kind of feel like it's my day, like I have a certain claim on it. It's a stress free holiday...no presents to shop for and wrap, no decorations, and no special baking. The day just shows up, you wear green, and in my case, you take cute pictures of my cute kiddo in her Irish gear.

Two Year Old's In Arizona

Last night my friend Emily told me I probably shouldn't have any more children because I've had it so easy with Sydney and the next one would probably be a hellian and make up for how easy I've had it with Sydney. I do admit, Sydney is a pretty resiliant child and was a pretty good baby. While I won't get into her slightly less than wonderful traits at this time (like, how every day this week she has refused to eat a single bite of breakfast), she's a good sleeper, she potty trained early, and she's a very happy, sunny little girl.
But sometimes, she decides to throw a massive, screaming, kicking, rolling on the floor fit at the store. Case in point, this evening's display at Lowe's...

Yep, that's my child, rolling on the floor, and yep, I was that parent, letting her do it. I refused to give in to her. She wanted me to carry her, but I needed her to walk, and she didn't want to. I knew if I gave in after 10 minutes of her screaming and carried her that I would have lost that battle. She eventually realized that I was NOT going to carry her and she got up and we wiped off her tears and we went on our merry way. Later on, Melissa called and said Madison was being awful today, too, and her parents are in Arizona. She was wondering if it would be possible to send a 2 year old to Arizona? I don't think it's likely, plus we would probably miss them even if we could them to Arizona.

Melissa's Baby Shower

Last weekend I threw a baby shower for my friend Melissa, who is expecting twin boys. When I originally offered to throw a shower, we didn't know she was having twins, so Melissa and I both thought it would be a traditional small shower for a second child. Well, once twins came into the picture, we realized that she would need just about everything, so we decided to go all out and have a huge shower. It was actually a lot of fun to plan, and here are the details!

First off, here is a sample of the invitations. Melissa chose a blue and brown theme for her shower, so I found these darling little invites at www.tinyprints.com. I was really happy with how they turned out and they were so much easier than making my own.


Here is Melissa with her every-growing belly (isn't she cute?) and Madison. She definetely looks great, especially considering there's two babies in there!


One of my trademark baby shower decorations is a diaper cake. They not only make a great gift, because what new mom doesn't need lots of diapers, but they also make a great game. The game is to guess how many diapers make up the diaper cake. For this one, there was 46, which was correctly guessed by our good friend Emily. The "M" toppers were purchased at Joanne's, and they are made of wood which I covered in striped and polka-dot paper. The little hats next to the cake are one of my favorite things from the shower. In case you can't tell, one has an "A" on it and the other has a "B." Get it? (Baby A, Baby B...)


When Melissa and I realized this shower was going to have to host a lot of people, I decided to rent a room to have it in, which meant there were tables...and dreaded centerpieces! I never know what to do to decorate a table. I decided for the shower to make the centerpieces cute, but practical. I used some of my vases and filled them with everyday, practical baby things that could be arranged into the vases. We somehow missed a picture of the fifth one, which was stuffed with baby socks, hats, and mitts. But here are the others...

Diapers, rattles, and lotions/oils:


Bibs and silverware:


Washcloths, detergent, and Johnson's bath supplies:


Two "Good Things Come In Two's" onesies, sports balls:


I love to make little crafts, and a while ago I made a little name block sign for Sydney's room, and then one for Madison. So, I decided to make some for the twins so they could double as decorations for the shower, and then decorations in their nursery.


I know you might be thinking, "Really, she's posting a picture of the napkins?" But take a good look, aren't they cute? I bought a basic pack of white napkins at IKEA, and then stamped them up. There were some stamped in blue, and some in brown.


Now, to the best part of any shower (besides the presents), the FOOD! I loved these cupcakes and I totally owe my friend Jami for coming over and helping me make the fondant babies. I just wanted something not traditional, and this is what I came up with!



Here are the food and drink tables...thanks to everyone who helped out and brought some food.



I found these cute little tea bag stickers on Ebay, the online store is FavorsXpress. They printed these little cuties and I thought they added a nice little extra touch.



Last but not least, here are the favors and prizes. Melissa and her family have a thing with M&M's, since they are all named an "M" name. So, I ordered M&M's that said "It's Twins" and "Micah & Mason." They were so cute and helped tie in the Marteney family M&M tradition. The prizes for the people who won the games were these cute little candles from www.candlesandfavors.com. They were very affordable but still unique little candles. They let me choose the color of the wax, the scent, and the sticker. They came in those little sheer bags and were just another something special to add to the day.




Thank you so much to Alisa for planning the fun "M" game, to Nicole for helping to set-up and clean-up, and to Kay for renting the room. Thanks, too, to Melissa for having twins and allowing me the fun chance to plan a party!

The Game

Here's some pictures of Sydney a few weeks ago at the boys basketball game at my old high school. She had so much fun! She loves getting her hand stamped at the door and watching the guys run all over the place while the cheerleaders wave around their pom-poms! She is very intense about the game and cheers her little heart out! The game was bittersweet for me. I hadn't been to a basketball game since my friend Marilyn used to play when we were in high school. She lives in Oklahoma now and I intensely miss her. I think everyone should tell her to move back! I'm sad we're raising our kids half a country apart and that I'm not there as she's expecting her second child. So Marilyn, here's yet another plea for you to move back home so we can take our kids back to the old school for games and maybe our children could grow up to be as great of friends as we are.

Cousin Eddie

Immediately upon reading the title to this post, I know that Emily and my parents will know who I am talking about. Cousin Eddie is the funniest and most disgusting character in the fabulous movie Christmas Vacation. Just in case you were born in a barn and missed that movie, here is a picture of Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie...

You may be thinking, "Ok, they haven't posted a picture in so long, and here she is blogging about Randy Quaid?" Oh, don't worry, it gets better. I just have to start off by saying that I am in NO WAY comparing my sweet, beautiful, clean daughter to filthy, disgusting, stupid cousin Eddie. I just think that in the course of life there are occasionally cousin Eddie moments, and they need to be pointed out. Yesterday, my mom bought Sydney the most adorable swimsuit. It's a 2-piece tankini, kind of a 70's print, and super cute. Then today at story hour, the books were about swimming, and Sydney was super excited about swimming and her new suit. So, later tonight, we tried it on. Here's where the cousin Eddie moment comes in. Remember in the movie, how Clark is imagining the swimming pool with all the family in it, and cousin Eddie is on the diving board in a speedo (mentally cringing), and his tank-top is tucked into the speedo and out the other end (I'm kind of throwing up in my mouth thinking about it)? Well, the same thing happened to Sydney! Her panties were stuck out the end of her swim bottoms and I was laughing so hard, it was just like cousin Eddie! Well, with some creative stuffing, I was able to hide the panties long enough for this crazy picture!

I know, I should have left the panties sticking out, but I just couldn't do that to her! After searching high and low, here is the video clip of the pool scene!

Pretty Butt

If you know me, you know I don't use bad language. "Crap" is about as bad as it gets. So it's been amusing to me that my little Sydney is the rebel of her friends. I let her say "butt." To me, the word "bottom" sounds silly, and despite the fact that I'm a grown woman with a mortgage, husband, and child, I can't say "bottom" with a straight face. Even just typing it, I'm snickering. So, I taught Sydney to say "butt." And I know she won't be allowed to say it at many of her friend's houses, but to each his own, right?
All of this to say that today Sydney was wearing what she calls her "pretty butt jammies." She's been sick, so today she got to wear jammies all day long. She loves these jammies and I think they're pretty cute too.

Here is the front view...


...and from behind...


...and in case you couldn't catch what made them "pretty butt," here it is.

I got these for Sydney at Christmas from personalcreations.com, and she loves them! And just to prove how not grown up I am, I'll tell you this. Every time she says "pretty butt, pretty butt" all I can think of is "pretty bird, pretty bird" from Dumb and Dumber!

Valentines Day at the Zoo

I know this is a little late, and I'm sorry, but here are some pictures from Valentines Day. We went to the zoo that day, and my sister Abbie and her friend Rachel came along. Sydney loves Abbie and Rachel, or "Woo-choo" as she calls her. It was so cold that day, it was even snowing when we first got there! We had Sydney so bundled up she couldn't move. Even though it was cold, it was a lot of fun and much better than waiting hours that night for a table at a crowded restaurant. We finished off the trip with lunch at Red Robin. I can't wait for the weather to warm up a bit so we can go again.