Will's 4th Birthday

Our world changed and brought us indescribable joy 4 years ago.  We are so proud (and entertained daily) of the boy Will is becoming.  It is funny what happens to you as you grow older - you don't care at all about your own birthday but put everything into your children's birthdays.
I was looking forward to Will’s 4th birthday as much as he was! He started his countdown to his bday sometime around July and was so excited for it. He has been asking to invite his friends from daycare over since his last birthday so they were invited this year to what has historically been just a family party. With just family, we usually end up with around 25-30 people, which can get a little chaotic and doesn’t provide good visiting time with great grandparents or the great aunts and uncles that we don't get to see as often. So this year, we asked Great Grandma Meier, Aunt Barb and Joe to come over for dinner/cake the night before. We really enjoyed the one on one time we got with them.

 (you can see some cowboy decorations prepped for the next day's party in this picture!)

We also continued a tradition started last year of Will’s cousin EJ spending the night on his bday. This year EJ spent the night before Will’s bday. I think Will was just as excited about their sleepover as he was about his party! These two really love each other and had lots of fun together.

Since Will was so excited to have his daycare friends over, I felt the first pressure of my son expecting his mom to pull off something cool. So this was the first year I decided to do a theme party (well all the other years defaulted to a football theme because it was football Sunday). Will loves to play cowboy so our theme was pretty natural - and hey, Jeff and I could finally dust off our cowboy hats and put them to use!  Will's invites were Wanted Photos with a pic of him, daddy's cowboy hat, and Will's toy pistol.  We cut them out with jagged edges, rolled them up and tied with raffia.  We hand delivered the invites to those we would see and emailed the rest.

We had several appetizers for everyone to munch on including “ranch” dip, beer cheese dip, giddy up guacamole, salsa, and an artichoke cheese dip (recipe credit to Jennifer Schnaubelt – so good!)

I made my first shape cake and although it was intimidating, it wasn’t that hard and tasted great! I used my Grandmother’s devil’s food cake recipe.

For each of the 15 kids, I made a “wanted” photo and taped them up throughout the house. This caused a lot of giggles for the adults and kids!

Instead of goodie bags, I had each child earn their cowboy outfit by completing 4 games:

Tin Can Shoot Out earned them cowboy silly bands

Pin the Badge on Sheriff Will (FedEx Print Shop blew this photo up for me for $7) earned them a sheriff’s badge

There’s a Snake in my Boot! earned them a hankerchief

10 gallon toss earned them their cowboy hat

Thanks to my brother Jeff, niece and nephew Amanda and Steven, and friend Kristina for manning each game post for me!

We also had a trail mix station where the kids could fill their bags with chex cereal, peanut m&ms, chocolate chips, pretzel goldfish, cinnamon teddy grahams, and mini marshmallows. I had intended for these to go home with the kids but instead they were inhaled soon after they made their mix!

Jeff made an old west town out of appliance boxes. The jail was the favorite hangout. Boxes really are a kid's favorite toy.

I made some cardboard stick horses for a pony race. I ran out of time so their hair is a little thin – but at least you can tell it’s a stick horse, right? My brother Ed found where my inspiration for the horse cake came from!

The kids had 2 official races

Then the adults had a race!

It was a lot of fun and a big success in Will’s eyes!

Will’s artistic gift

Will has been quite the artist in the last year. He learned how to pretty much color within the lines by 3 ½. He will spend the majority of his free time sitting at the kitchen table drawing, coloring, cutting and taping. He also has quite the imagination with some of the things he draws. A few days ago, he proudly showed me this picture. I said, “Oh this is cool, can you tell me who all these people are?” I thought I already knew and expected the dark one with what looked like 7 heads was going to be some crazy monster amongst us that Will and Daddy would protect us from. Before you look at the picture, let me also tell you that we had our air ducts (vents) cleaned out a couple weeks prior to when Will drew this picture.

Will tells me who the people are (from right to left):

Wyatt (obvious)

Will (obvious)

Air Duct Cleaner Guy (huh? How did he make the picture?)

Mommy (WHAT?!!!!????)

Daddy (pretty obvious)

Assuming he had pointed to the wrong ‘object,’ I said, “Oh yeah the air duct cleaner guy…the one with all the stuff coming from his head like the spinny thing he used to clean the ducts?”
“No, mommy, that’s you…THIS is the air duct cleaner guy” as Will points to the normal looking person to the right of the crazy looking person.
I said, “What? Why does mommy have 7 heads and 6 legs?????”
“Those aren’t heads, mommy, those are ‘shooter guys’”
Well, at least it’s sunny out in his picture!

70 Yrs Old! & NO BANANAS!

Wow. My dad’s 70! He is in great shape and the smartest man I know. He started Weight Watchers with my mom this past winter while they were snow birding in Texas. He has now lost 50 lbs and is at his lowest weight ever in probably 20+ years. Not only is he eating right, he’s exercising. He swims at the gym a few times a week in addition to his work on the tree farm. Even on vacation, he keeps to his regimen and adds biking and walking. I’m very proud of him. He’s had some health concerns and this is the best thing he could be doing for himself and his family who want him around for a LONG time!!!


Dad’s birthday was officially August 7, however, most of the family would be together in Grand Haven this past July. As I’ve come to be known in my family as the “get together planner,” I started plotting a surprise celebration for my dad 5-6 mos ago to take place in Grand Haven, MI. With the help and coordination from everyone, we had a great day planned for him. My dad isn’t a fan of the beach, so he usually sets the camper up in Grand Haven, stays a day, then returns home while mom stays 2 weeks. He’ll come back to pick her up and hang out with the family for a few days. The only hard part of planning the surprise was getting dad back in Grand Haven in time for the Charter Boat fishing. It came down to mom sacrificing her Grand Haven time by making a deal with him: Dad comes back by Thursday (celebration was on Friday), and she’ll leave GH 3 days early to go camping around the top of Lake Michigan (one of their favorite things to do). Thanks for making the deal, mom! It worked! Dad hitched a ride with Jeff to Grand Haven and they arrived Thursday night around 9pm.

July 16 was the day of his celebration and started with a 5AM wakeup to go Charter Boat fishing with his 5 sons: John, Jeff, Tom, Ed, and Jeff Leiting. Unfortunately, Mike was not able to make it. The charter boats have been coming back with an average of 13 fish a trip. We were counting on a large catch because Lake Michigan fish were the MAIN COURSE for dinner and we had to feed over 30 people! That day, the water was the roughest it had been since we arrived in GH. I was naseaus just watching the charter boats leave the channel! We packed a cooler full of beverages and goodies for the guys on their trip. At the last minute, thinking there weren’t very many healthy food choices in there, I threw in a bunch of bananas. Now, if you are an avid boater, here is where you are GASPING at the thought of me throwing bananas in the cooler for the boat. I, obviously, was completely ignorant to one of the most important rules of thumb: BANANAS ARE BAD LUCK ON BOATS! As the boat was heading out of the channel, the captain became aware of the bananas and told them to throw them overboard!

And so I am blamed along with the bananas for the low count of fish that were brought back. Here is an account of their fishing trip:
Dad – first up, fish on, line snapped
Dad – up again, fish on, at the same time, another fish was on, John was up at the same time as dad reeling in their fish.
Dad caught the first King Salmon
John pulled his in almost at the same time, 2nd King Salmon
Jeff S – line snapped
Tom – difficulties reeling in his fish, must not have had enough muscles to pull his in
Ed – line got tangled
Jeff L – line got tangled
Dad – lost another one
Ed – brought in the last one

Here is a short video of “little-muscled” Tom trying to reel in his fish (this is from my brother's fb page so not sure if everyone can view?:
Tom's Reel Problems

I believe there were a few more tangled and snapped lines in there but I was not on the boat and am trying to recall what I heard. The captain was disappointed they had such horrible luck with tangled and snapped lines – and of course, he blamed the bananas. If they didn’t have all the tangled and snapped lines, they most likely would have come in a dozen fish. An average King Salmon feeds 10-12 people. We had over 30 for my dad’s party at Ole Boys’ Brewhouse that night. I told the boys, we need at least 3 fish to feed everyone, and they complied with a total catch of exactly 3. My husband recently found this website about bad luck fishing: Fishing Superstitions
Shockingly, the website highlights 3 of the biggest reasons fishermen have bad luck and they had ALL 3!
#1 Bad Luck Omen is a woman on board (their first mate was a girl named Aly!) #2 Bad Luck Omen - Bananas. #3 Bad Luck Omen - Never fish on Friday's (they did)

After some beach time, we all met at the Brewery for dinner where Dad was surprised by extended family and some good Michigan friends waiting to celebrate with him. My mom baked his favorite and her best Texas sheet cake. The weather was perfect for a party on the deck, and we even had a great one man band playing for us who was great acknowledging dad’s 70th birthday. It was a lot of fun.

Here’s a short video my brother Jeff put together of the great day: Dad's 70th Birthday Celebration

I Know I'm not Supposed to Compare Children, BUT...

In my Memorial Day post, I described how Wyatt moved away from his bedtime bottle and how we were awaiting his next major accomplishment which I thought would be at least 6 months away: Potty Training or Moving into the Bottom Bunk. When Wyatt was born, I went through the guilt and fears that I’m assuming every parent goes through with multiple children, “How am I going share my attention equally?” “How can I spend enough time teaching both of them?” “The second child will get the short end of the learning stick because there’s no way I can devote the amount of time with him as I did with the first...”


We have had to make a concerted effort to sit down with Wyatt to read/teach him things. It’s even harder because this boy does not like to sit, he is always on the move. We’re lucky if Wyatt makes it through 2 baby books without squirming out of our laps! I figured Wyatt would probably learn things at a later age than Will did and his milestones may be later as well because he’s not an only child like Will was during this age. However, Wyatt is doing just fine by his independent little self. He’s showing us that he doesn’t need coddling or lots of demonstration time. I have underestimated his intelligence most of his life. He is one smart, mischievous kid which has proved to be an exhausting combination!

We just returned from a 2 week vacation camping in Grand Haven (GH). I brought the pack n play just in case but I had planned on not using it because it would be too bulky in the camper and a hassle to put up and down twice a day. We rented a camper that had 2 bunk beds in the back. Wyatt thought this was really cool. I’m realizing he LOVES doing things the big boys can do. The first night, he got out of his bottom bunk about 25 times at bedtime. After the first few times putting him back in bed, he knew he needed to stay there, but thought the game was fun. I’d hear his little footsteps inside the camper, I’d go inside, and find him running back to his bed climbing back in with that devilish grin he always has when he knows he’s doing something he shouldn’t be. The second night, it took about 10 times chasing him back into bed before he finally stayed there and fell asleep. The third night, he didn’t get out of bed at all and fell right asleep! This was a great lesson in persistence!

He did great the rest of the 2 weeks sleeping in his big boy bed. This past weekend when he needed a nap at my mom’s, we put him in the double bed and he went right to sleep without getting out of bed once. I was so impressed. Will has a bunk bed in his room and although we don’t need Wyatt to move out of his crib yet, I think we will allow him to sleep in Will’s bunk bed 1-2 times a week to keep him used to the big boy beds.

So, my theory in my Memorial Day post about potty training Wyatt would be easier than keeping him in bed was shot down. However… on to Potty Training!

While in Grand Haven, I was in the public showers with both boys. I was optimistic to say the least that I thought I could get them both showered along with myself getting clean. HA! Wyatt spent half his time slip and sliding on the gross floor, and Will screamed the entire time. Then there was the panic of Wyatt deciding he had to poop. While I was bathing Will, I looked over my shoulder to see Wyatt in a full squat, butt cm from the floor, face flushed, and then the grunts came. I will stop right here and reinforce to all of you that ever use a public shower, please wear flip flops and never touch the floor! Yuck. So, I put him on the toilet in the shower and he went #1 and #2! I was very proud of him as Will took awhile (2 weeks) to actually “do” anything when sitting on the toilet. Then I thought, yup, typical Wyatt – thinks he can do anything.

Then this little boy surprised the heck out of me when 3 days ago, he woke up, we read a story, I put him on the changing table to change him and he started saying “poo-poo.” Wyatt has this intense way of staring into your eyes when he REALLY wants you to understand something. I said, Do you have to go poo poo? He nods. Now I could have brought him to the toilet to sit and wait for him to go but we had to get to the babysitter’s house so I could get to work and I didn’t have 10 minutes to spare. Sure enough, he pooped within 5 minutes and I was up changing his diaper again.

The next day, he did the same thing. So I asked him, do you want to go on the big boy toilet like Will does? He nods. We go in, without a potty seat, and sit him backwards on the toilet. There was no waiting or reading a book to him while we wait for “something” to come out. The little man did his business - #1 and #2!! Again, so proud! He was, too!

Yesterday, same thing – but no #2. We hit the potty twice yesterday before I had to be in to work in the afternoon. Immediately, I start thinking, wow – could I actually have a break in diapers before we have a hopeful 3rd child? Is he ready for this? Am I ready for this? I don’t know why, but I feel as though there’s some mental preparation for a parent to start potty training as well. Maybe it’s the watchful eye that is needed for the next month or all the cleaning I’m in for! Do I need to bring out the potty chair or potty seat? He seems to be doing just fine sitting backwards? I can’t help but tell myself not to get too hopeful that this is going to be the end of the diapers for Wyatt…I just feel I can’t be this lucky, his readiness was unexpected.

I know we aren’t supposed to compare our children’s milestones because they will vary, but I can’t tame my curiousity, so here’s how Will and Wyatt compare with some of the big milestones:

Rolling Over
Will – 4 mos
Wyatt – 4.5 mos

First Tooth
Will – 4 mos
Wyatt – 5 mos

Sitting up
Will – 6 mos
Wyatt – 6 mos

Crawling
Will – 8 mos
Wyatt – 9 mos

First words
Will – 9 mos
Wyatt – 10 mos

Walking 100% (all walking/no crawling)
Will – 13.5 mos
Wyatt – 12.5 mos

Gave up the Bedtime Bottle
Will – 13 mos
Wyatt – 16 mos

Sit at the table without highchair
Will – 20 mos
Wyatt – 18 mos

Moved out of the crib
Will – 2 yrs 2 mos
Wyatt – 2 weeks in GH at 18 mos, ready now (18 mos)

Started using the Toilet
Will – 2 yrs 5 mos
Wyatt – 18 mos

If Wyatt continues to potty train, I guess we’ll be ready for baby #3 since my checklist will be complete: Move Wyatt out of crib and potty train!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Jeff left for his big Canada fishing trip yesterday morning. He won’t have TV, cell or internet for 10 days. He has been looking forward to this for 5 years and I’m so happy he’s able to go. He’s such a wonderful husband and father, he deserves it!

However, this trip left me and the boys to plan my birthday alone this year. Will has been excellent, saying Happy Birthday to me and drawing me pictures for my birthday all week. Jeff and the boys celebrated my birthday on Wednesday before he left so we don’t need to celebrate today. However, Will knows it’s my real birthday today and I feel like I need to do something festive for him on my birthday!! I have to work today but I’ve been contemplating what to do with the boys after work to celebrate.

In the last year, I’ve noticed the ice cream shops and restaurants advertise free things on your birthday, I thought – hmmm, I wonder what is out there to cash in on my birthday? I googled “free birthday meals” and after a few attempts, found this great site Free Birthday Treats that will provide you with all the freebies and discounts you can get on your birthday. I was shocked to see all the things you can get! I found this site to be the best because you simply choose if you are a kid or adult, your state, and then click on “entertainment,” “restaurant,” or “retail.”

Here are just some of the things I found for FREE!

Free round of golf – 18 holes (this was in Madison for my Madison family and friends!)
Free ice cream – Cold Stone and Baskin Robbins, Ben & Jerry’s
Free gourmet burger – Red Robbin
Free birthday gift from Sephora (I’m going there at lunch today!!)
Free bowling
Free meal at Noodles and Company

This was just in my area. The site also advertises that in some areas there are discounted hotel stays and travel discounts, and spa treatments. There were several restaurants that gave out free meals.
So, on your birthday or a friend or relative’s bday, check out this site and CASH IN!!!!

Language Development

Will was an early talker. He was using sentences the summer before he turned 2 and I remember my brother and sister in law were so impressed that he knew how to use the word “too” appropriately at the end of some of his sentences. He is developing an excellent vocabulary but is going through the phase that I think every 3 year old goes through – adding “ed” to many past tense words. Sometimes it’s right, but sometimes it’s so wrong – like, “Mommy! You lost-ed!” I guess we are supposed to reinforce the correct tense when this happens and he will eventually learn the appropriate times to add the “ed.” So I say, Yes, Will, you won again and I lost. This is getting better, so it appears to be working.

The other thing Jeff and I giggle about is his use of the word, “proud.” I guess Jeff and I have been using this word a lot. Such as, “Will, I am so proud of you for being a good boy at Miss Jo’s house. It makes me so happy when you don’t have any time outs!” Will has been adding this word to his vocabulary but doesn’t quite have the proper use down yet. The other day he said, “Mommy, I’m proud when I can have ice cream after dinner.” I think he is processing the “it makes me happy” part that we add when we sometimes tell Will how proud we are of him. So we discuss the feeling of being proud and the feeling of being happy. He has used it correctly while warming my heart, telling me he’s proud of Wyatt in his latest accomplishment. But he still tells me he’s proud when we raise the shades and it’s a sunny morning!

Wyatt started his rapid vocab pickup around 14 mos. He’s 17 mos now and knows a few hundred words. I’ve started to pickup on some short sentences, like “close the door” or “Where’s E?” “E” is what he calls Willy. He has really picked up “I Do!” However, like Will and the word “proud,” Wyatt doesn’t have the appropriate use down yet. Wyatt learns a lot from Will. He learned “I do!” from Will. When I ask, “who wants some blueberries?” Will comes running saying “I do!” or if he’s seated at the table, he’ll raise his hands saying “I do!”

Wyatt never misses an opportunity to eat so he picked this up quickly and now he raises his hand and clearly says “I do!” whenever I’m offering food. However, he seems to use it whenever he’s hungry. He’ll bring me a box of crackers he can reach in the pantry and hand it to me saying, “I do, I do, I do.” Or, if he’s in the other room and he hears me in the pantry, he’ll come running saying “I do! I do! I do!”

We really enjoy this age where he is picking up on so many new things each day and can better communicate back to us. And Will is learning a lot of things, mainly patience and allowing Wyatt to be his “helper” when he’s doing projects or playing.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is the start of our camping season. We love to camp! Even with the little kids. Yes, it’s more work than play when you have a little ones, but it’s all worth it to see the fun they have. This year, we were joined by my parents, and Ed and his two eldest, Sophie (4) and Sawyer (2). The kids all had a ton of fun and we had just as much fun watching them! One of the funnier things to watch were all 3 older kids in the tent by themselves. They had the lantern and about 3 flashlights on. We were outside at the campfire and the kids were running and jumping around the tent. Their shadows were about 5 times their actual size and they had no idea their parents were watching them run wild in the tent! They had total freedom.

This trip also marked the end of the bottle for Wyatt. He has been down to one bottle a day for months but I was worried it would be hard to wean him from his bedtime bottle. Will was weaned before he could say the word “bottle” and it was very easy to move him to the sippy cup before bed. However, for some reason, I just wanted to keep the bottle a little longer with Wyatt. Time goes so fast now that we have 2 kids and it is a special bonding moment to hold Wyatt in my arms and give him that bottle while the world stops for 5-10 minutes.  I didn't want to give up that peaceful time while we quietyly talked to each other, sang lullabyes, or just gazed into eachother's eyes. Wyatt LOVED his bottle every night and would start saying “bottle bottle bottle” as soon as we started putting his pajamas on. Once we got to the kitchen, it was hard to distract him during the quick 40 second warm up in the microwave, and forget about walking to the living room to sit down before it got to his mouth. This kid had to have his bottle NOW!  I knew I had to cut him off the bottle before it got really hard.
Memorial Day weekend was the weekend I would try the sippy cup. Some of you may think I was crazy to try this while camping in a tent where all the other campers were within earshot of a screaming baby, and I thought so, too – so I hid the bottle in a backpack just in case. However, I also thought the distraction of camping, campfires, and an abnormal routine would be the perfect time to remove the bottle from the bedtime routine. So, around 7pm, we got his pajamas on, put some milk in a sippy cup, and sat by the fire with a book. I’m not sure there was much reading going on, he just enjoyed the mesmerizing fire like we all did. And, after that, down he went, without a peep or mention of the B word! Same thing happened the next 2 nights.

We returned home and haven’t brought the bottles out since! I guess it's time to pack up all the bottles and infant feeding supplies and dream about using them again for baby #3 someday.
Wyatt is a full time toddler and is awaiting his next big boy accomplishment – moving to the bottom bunk or potty training. Judging by his character, I think potty training will be easier than keeping him in a bed without 3 foot bars all around it!

Some pictures from our camping trip:

Popper and Sophie

                           

Will and Sawyer - Scooter Races

Sawyer and Will

Mom feeling like a kid

Will, Sawyer and Sophie

Ed setting good examples for the preschoolers

Jeff improving his use for the water bottle holder

The gang

Lucky to be a Mom

I am so fortunate to be a mom blessed with 2 wonderful boys, and to still have my mom so close to me. I know a couple people very dear to me who are not able to conceive naturally and can't imagine the pain they go through each day, especially when they are surrounded by loved ones who have the one thing they wish for most. It is through their longing that I have learned not to be bothered by sleepless nights, an aching back, a dirty house, little disposable income, and next to nothing “me” time. I have immersed myself in my boys’ upbringing and take the time to enjoy them, their adventures, and their personalities.

Mother’s day has always been a special day to honor my mom. Since I have become a mom, Jeff has made it even more special honoring me and what we do as a team to raise our boys. In the last few years, we’ve gotten together at a nearby park with my mom and sisters – in law for a grill out. This year, we decided to do our own thing which we was something we all craved: NOTHING. Just doing nothing but enjoying being together as a family. We had a great mother’s day this year which included me sleeping in until 7, Will and Jeff making me French toast with strawberries and sausage, reading Jeff and the kids’ home made cards (Jeff is really good at this! – see my 31st birthday card!), hot tubbing with my 2 little ones (Wyatt’s first time, loved it!), church, lunch provided by Jeff, flower and garden vegetable shopping, a visit to Jeff’s mom’s resting place on Lake Michigan, steak dinner provided by Jeff, and a quick visit to Jeff’s parents’ house. So, the intent was for a relaxing day, but we actually did quite a bit! It was a gorgeous day and I was treated like a Queen, didn’t even change one diaper! Will is actually still drawing me pictures for Mother’s Day. He’s a budding artist!

Here are some pictures of my proud mommy day:

my "Mommy" card, the inside is filled with "thank you for..." - so sweet!

 

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Our Family Trip to Florida

I love the times when Jeff, Will, Wyatt and I are all together for extended periods of time with no work obligations. It’s so much fun to relax with the kids and share in their excitement about even the simplest things like going up and down an escalator at the airport 15 times.
We were very fortunate to take a trip to FL at the end of Feb/early March. We went down to visit Jeff’s parents who have their 5th Wheel camper in Venice FL. Additional benefits of the trip were seeing Jeff’s Grandparent’s who were staying about 20 minutes away and an overnight at Disney World. We afforded the trip with 3 free airline tix from Milwaukee to Ft Myers (credit card miles) and free Disney tickets for Jeff and I for completing the Disney Give a Day, Get a Day campaign (volunteering). We wanted to rent a minivan so Jeff’s parents could ride with us where ever we went but the minivans were almost double the cost of a full size car. We rented the full size car online, and they upgraded us to a minivan for free once we arrived! We had great karma on this trip!!
The only misfortune on the trip was a lost puppy. Will left his beloved stuffed puppy at the car rental desk when we arrived in Ft Myers. Jeff spent hours calling and trying to locate the puppy only to hear the Avis employees all confirm they saw it but no one could find it. Good thing we have a backup puppy! Will tells me daily that his puppy is his best friend – it’s so cute. He also says this about Wyatt, but when Wyatt aggravates Will, he tells (screams) Wyatt “Wyatt! You’re not my best friend any more!!!” Usually this spawns from Wyatt trying to take or chew on said beloved puppy.
Spending time with the Leitings was great. We saw lots of alligators, went to a research aquarium, beach, ocean, state parks, hiked, and of course, made the 2.5 hr road trip to Disney World. We left for Disney around 7:30am for our roadtrip and thankfully, Wyatt took a nap on the way there. He survived a very long day at Disney with a quick 20 minute nap on my shoulder in the line for It’s a Small World. Will and Wyatt were both excellent the entire day despite no nap for Will and little sleep for Wyatt and all the stimulation of Disney. We found a great secret spot behind the magic kingdom for the fireworks show away from the crowds. However, this made us one of the last ones out of the park and it was about a 20 minute bottleneck wait to get out of the park and then about a 50 minute wait in line to get on the monorail to get to the tram to get to our car! Thankfully, both boys fell asleep as we were walking out of the park and didn’t have to endure the lines and chaos that we did. I think we finally got to our car around 10:30 pm that night and got to the hotel until around 11pm. After the 2 hr cat naps, the boys were *WIRED* especially Wyatt who just wanted to bounce on the beds and bang his head on the bedboards. It took about an hour to calm the boys down and get them to sleep.
Will loved the airplane rides, Wyatt loved the flight attendants and they loved him. So much, that he didn’t sleep on either flight but luckily, everyone survived!! It was a great trip and we look forward to an extended family or family/friends trip to Disney in a future year. Thanks much for the hospitality Tom and Pat!

Wyatt’s 1st Birthday

Wyatt turned 1 on Jan 27. He started taking his first steps on his birthday. He started walking all around where ever he wants to go on February 23. He is feisty but also loves to give hugs and kisses. He loves hanging around Will. He hates getting his diaper changed and we end up chasing him down every time we need to change his diaper or clothes. He loves playing peekaboo with people and being chased (probably part of the problem with diaper changes!). He is 25 lbs and 1 inch taller than Will when Will turned 1. He has 12 teeth.
He can say many words but most are probably only recognized by us or his babysitter!
Some words he says:
Bicycle
Cheerios
Cracker
Water
Please
Cup
Brown Bear (his favorite book)
Book
Car
Go
Ball
Balloon
Daddy
MaMa
No No

And he can imitate all different kinds of animal sounds. He also learned mommy’s party call “Aaauuuuuu!” most recently when we were dancing next to the parade at Disney World. Now whenever we dance, he yells “Aaaauuuu!”

Jeff was in TX for work the week of his birthday but Will and Wyatt and I had a little celebration and Wyatt opened his gift from Grandma and Grandpopper (kids song CD) and one of our gifts (toothbrush and toothpaste). I know, Toothbrush?? But he loves watching Will brush his teeth so this was exciting for him!
Wyatt talking to Daddy over the phone telling him about his birthday

Birthday Boy


When Jeff returned from TX, we had Jeff’s sister’s family over for dinner and cake to celebrate. We gave Wyatt a Wheely Cow and a Jack in the Box.


Will took a liking to the Wheely Cow and it’s now Will’s main form of transportation around the house. This toy is awesome but a little too fast for Wyatt – another couple months and Wyatt will have to reclaim it. For now, Will rides it and Wyatt follows on his ride on Fire truck.

Happy Birthday Wy-Guy!




Maddie and Wyatt having fun in the bouncy house