Christmas 2009 and New Years Eve

As much as I love taking pictures of everything, I have a really bad habit of not taking pictures on holidays! I always bring my camera to the first place we go and then forget it everywhere else. I even forgot to take pictures on Christmas morning....who does that?! Anyway, despite having minimum photographic proof, we had a great Christmas this year! Busy, busy, busy going here and there, but the boys had a great time unwrapping all those presents! They got too much stuff as usual, and we're still going through all the toy boxes purging toys to make room for the new ones.
Santa brought them an Arctic Cat - motorized ride on toy similar to a jeep with a bed in the back for hauling stuff. We are still amazed wondering how Santa got that into the bonus room!! He also brought them games and books among various other toys. Will got a star wars helmet and space ship (he had already gotten light sabers and guns from family!) and Wyatt got a bumblebee helmet and a car garage/race track thing. They must have been extra special this year because they got more toys than 2 boys could ever play with!! Well, I guess that's a challenge any 5 yr old and 2 yr old would love to take on. This past week the boys have played with every single toy they got. It's been fun because the toys are scattered all around the house (like I said, we're still trying to make room for them) and they play and play and get excited when they see something they haven't touched in the past few minutes.

Anyway, here are some pictures from Christmas Eve at Nannie and Papa's house and then later Christmas Eve we went to Memur and Pepaw's. That's the last of my picture taking. The next morning for Santa gifts and the 3 places we went that day aren't recorded.

Wyatt with his stash...of course, he's holding a motorcycle!

Will was super excited to dig in!

This is just mischievous...what's he up to?

Wyatt riding his cool blue motorcycle

Nannie and Papa got all 4 boys a big surprise and this was a hint. Will is saying, "what's this helmet for?" and Wyatt is saying, "whooaa"

When they went outside, they found the surprise. A razor 4-wheeler. This has a real metal frame and real tires and goes MUCH faster than their other power wheel toys! Helmet is required!! The boys LOVED it!

Will and Landon did great. There's alot to learn with this one including the hand brakes! No foot pedals anymore!

Even Wyatt got to ride with the condition that Daddy ran with him. Or, at least attempted to run with him, Wyatt was a little speed demon!

Of course a wreck was inevitable...Will was the driver and forgot to slow down before turning...rookie mistake! He got up laughing and jumped right back on!

Again, Daddy trying to keep up just in case he needed a sudden stop. Wyatt's hands aren't big enough to grab the brakes!

After a fun morning, we went home and took a nap before heading to Portland for Memur and Pepaw's.


The boys were revved up again and ready to dig into those presents!

Where's Will?!

So this is where my camera takes a break and comes back on Saturday. We spent most of that day going through the toys and getting everything out of boxes, etc. Trent was teaching Will how to play his new V-Tech Handheld video games and Wyatt just couldn't hold on any longer! So cute!

I guess the hustle and bustle of Christmas was too much this year. Trent is sick with a bad cold/sinus infection and Wyatt has the same cold plus Croup. Needless to say, lots of fun around here! It's looking like this New Year's Eve will be a nice cozy, movie watching, WII playing kind of night.

Well, we've had an absolutely great year. The boys are at such a fun age and there has been alot of playing, exploring, learning and fun! We look forward to all that 2010 has to bring! We'll have Will starting Kindergarten, Wyatt potty training and a new baby boy to add to the mix!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Baby Boy!

Today was the big day -the day of the ultrasound! We got a good look at the little baby and saw that we have another precious baby boy! Everything checked out good, and the lady said he was healthy and right on target. I measured 2 days ahead of my due date, but they won't change it since it's that close. She said the baby is about 9 oz right now, and in about 2-3 weeks, he'll be 1 lb.

It's really amazing what all they can see in the ultrasound. She looked at all the parts of his heart, his organs even his brain! She could see fluid in the stomach which means he knows how to swallow. We got to see all his tiny fingers and toes. He even yawned a couple of times then started playing with his mouth. He would open and shut like he was making faces at us!! He was moving his arms and hands all around his face and kicking his legs. It's so neat to see!!!
Of course the actual ultrasound is much better than the stillshots, but here are the shots she got...

This picture is of his head and belly. He really looks kind of skeletonish here but we actually saw a profile of his eyes and nose! Will saw this and said, "is that a skeleton?"

And here's the "boy parts" shot! To get a perspective, it's like he is sitting on the camera and you are looking up at his butt. He has his knees in the air so you see butt check/hamstring and foot on each side with the "boy parts" hanging down in the middle!

This one was one of my favorites to see because he was laying like a baby! He is on his tummy with his legs tucked under and but up in the air. This picture is like you are straight above him. When Will saw this, he said, "He looks like a turtle mom. Like he has a shell on his back."

I would LOVE to do a 4-D ultrasound. The pictures I have seen are so beautiful and you can actually see what the baby looks like (skin, hair, facial features, etc). We are checking into it, but it's so expensive. Hopefully we'll be able to do it in a couple of months!

I'm just glad we got to see so much today and our newest baby boy is healthy!

Christmas Eve is tomorrow!!! We've had an exciting day with more excitement to come for the next couple of days!

Merry Christmas!!!

Selling Strollers and Weight Bench

We are selling 3 strollers and a weight bench on craigslist. We desperately need the room in the garage and I have a bit of a stroller obsession. I currently have 6, SO I need to sell a few of them! These are all posted on craigslist with more details and pictures. I'll post the links here too. If you know anyone who is interested, please give me a call!

Baby Trend Jogging Stroller- $50
http://nashville.craigslist.org/bab/1521518891.html




Umbrella Stroller - $10
http://nashville.craigslist.org/bab/1521552956.html

Weight Bench, Weights (aprox. 420 lbs in various sizes) and Weight Tree - $500

http://nashville.craigslist.org/spo/1521588417.html

The pictures aren't great sorry! You can see we need the room in the garage!

Graco Stroller - $30

http://nashville.craigslist.org/bab/1521547189.html

~Oh what fun, it is to ride.....~

Thursday, the boys and I went to visit the real life reindeer at Indian Lake (Thanks for the idea Aunt Jane!) Since Papa was watching Landon that day, they came with us too! They had 2 beautiful reindeer with HUGE antlers. The boys even got their picture made with one. After we watched the reindeer for a while, we went over to visit Santa again. I thought maybe Wyatt would do better with him, but no luck. Will was more talkative though! He even asked the lady with the reindeer if she could fly him around :)



All 3 boys watched every move he made! It was so neat!



This was the male reindeer. The people have 4 but 2 were yearlings and not ready to meet the public just yet. They said these 2 adults were extremely gentle. I didn't realize they had so much fur. Will said it was a coat to keep them warm and then after Christmas, it probably comes off.

This was the female. She was so pretty.

Like I said, Wyatt didn't want anything to do with Santa again, so Will and Landon got all the attention! Of course, Will did most of the talking :)

Landon told Santa exactly what he wanted, "rocky the robot dump truck".

Santa gave all 3 boys a candy cane, and as we were walking back to the car, I turned around and all 3 had their tongues sticking out licking like crazy. It was a picture moment!!

I don't even like candy canes but this just makes them look so yummy!!

Only 5 more days until Christmas Eve!!

Lighting the house - a family affair

I did in fact do what Jennifer predicted two posts ago, although I'm not entirely convinced I had a choice. I did verify that she did not take out additional life insurance policies before creating this honey-do list, and therefore felt all was good to tackle this project. I did succeed in my attempts to increase our family's drain on the power grid, but I also found out a couple of things about hanging lights on the exterior of the house (as I was informed at some point that this was my responsibility).

1) My wife resembles a fainting goat when in fright. While standing on a ladder, 1000' in the air (no exaggeration, I promise), I found that I was my own support in ensuring I would not spend Christmas in a body cast. Jennifer was frozen to the ladder in fright (it was about 50 degrees, don't let her tell you she was cold).

2) Thank goodness for neighbors. My neighbor, recognizing my terrible peril, rushed to my aid to ensure that I would, in fact, live to see the birth of our third child. (at this point, I'm not sure if Jennifer was hyper-ventilating or chasing the boys away from the ladder, but I heard a lot of heavy breathing). I was slightly embarrassed that my neighbor resisted my urge to call him my hero and give him a kiss for saving me...said people would talk or something, I don't know.

3) Sorry to all men on this, as I failed to divert our stereotype, but the third lesson was the importance of reading directions. This came in two waves (because I apparently am thick headed). The first is that it is always a good idea to read the weight limit on older ladders. It is a bad idea to be that high in the air and be told that you exceed the limit by 30 lbs....or 40 depending on who you ask, especially when the ladder is now shaped more like the letter "C". The second is that it is probably a good idea to figure out how your light clips are supposed to fasten to the house before climbing the ladder and leaning out to fasten them. See the part about Jennifer hyper-ventilating.

Either way, all limbs are still attached, the ladder held up (despite my 30 lb excess, which I'm sticking to), and Jennifer has finally opened her eyes long enough to know that I'm no longer in danger of falling. Enjoy the night time photos and remember that Jennifer did risk my life for your viewing pleasure.

Santa and Frosty welcome all who drive by:

Santa Clause is comin to town!!

The excitement for Christmas is all around our house these days!! Will is SOOO excited this year and Wyatt pretty much mimics Will, so he's excited too! We have been talking about going to see Santa for more than a week now and both boys were getting impatient waiting. We finally took them on Monday and even in the line Wyatt was saying "hi Santa" and telling us what he was going to say and do when it was our turn. As soon as we said, "go ahead and see Santa", he screamed "noooo" and grabbed Trent with all his might! He finally agreed to get near Santa as long as he could sit on Trent's leg. Here's the great picture from that trip :) As much as Will talks all the time, it was odd when he told him exactly what he wanted and that's it. No small talk with the big man in red! As we were leaving, both boys gave him a hi-5 and were happy!



We have a calendar that Will is marking the days with a candy cane and it's so cute to see him run over each day and say "what number are we today?!" He also counts how many days we have left until Christmas Eve. Only 8 Days away!! The boys (Will mainly) have been very into Christmas movies this year too. His favorite is Rudolph and I found 2 new Rudolph movies that we recorded for him. He LOVES "the 2nd Rudolph" as he calls it. It's a 2002 sequel to the original movie with all the same characters and a few new ones. So cute!!
The other big thing this year is Christmas cookies. Will has been asking over and over to make Christmas cookies, specifically gingerbread cookies with "raisins for eyes, a currant for a nose and a pink sugar candy waistcoat". Okay...I believe this came from the Gingerbread Man golden book, but it's hilarious to hear him say it. We had to buy the supplies at the grocery the other day with a few changes to recipe! (I have no idea what a currant is and not too big on the pink sugar candy waistcoat!) We have raisins and colorful icing to make ours. We will attempt this on Friday!

The boys look so cute running around in their jammies, I just had to snap some pics near the tree!

Wyatt loving his "puppy dog".

Of course, Will still has "Mr. bear". Isn't this sweet brotherly love!?

The next big thing we have done lately is set up the boy's bunk beds! We bought them Thanksgiving weekend, but just put them up this weekend. The boys think it's so cool! I love this set because it has steps instead of a ladder, and it has drawers on the side!

We kept Will's bedspread and let Wyatt pick out his own. He wanted sports just like Will, so they go pretty good together :)

The drawers on the side....

Wonderful when you are trying to pack 2 boys with TONS of clothes into a room that's not exactly huge!

Wyatt loves to sleep and play on his "big boy bed". He says, "dis my bed on bottom. Will's up dere". He's been doing pretty good sleeping at night here. He goes to sleep no problem, but if he wakes up in the night, he gets scared and calls for us. I guess the changing rooms and beds at the same time is alot to handle!

He knows he's not allowed to, but sometimes, he sneaks up to Will's bed to play. I guess it's inevitable!

Baby Check-Up and Checking In

I had my 16 week check-up today and everything went good. I only gained 2 lbs which was very exciting :) especially since the 2 previous pregnancies it was more like 10lbs for each check-up! The doctor heard the heartbeat very quickly and said the baby was moving all around. He said I should start feeling it soon :) I also got to schedule my ultrasound appt!! So... we go in 2 weeks to see the little baby and find out if it's a boy or girl! It's scheduled for December 23rd - right before Christmas. I was so excited because I thought we would have to wait until January to find out :) Trent and I would both love to have a girl, but a boy would be great too. It doesn't really matter to us...a healthy baby is a blessing no matter what!

In other news, we are getting ready for Christmas and it's looking very festive around here! Normally, for outside decorations, we put up lighted garland with bows, but that's it. This year, we acquired lots of decorations from Trent's parents move and have a fun, festive yard! The boys think it's sooo cool! Each time we leave the driveway, Wyatt says, "bye bye Christmas lights." followed by "bye bye Santa". Will says, "woah, that's neat" when we pull up. I can't wait until this weekend when Trent is going to attempt to put up the icicle lights!

The boys are very excited to visit Santa and tell him all the things they want for Christmas. So far from Will it's all about Star Wars stuff and Wyatt wants "fourwheewer and motorcycle".
I'll post some pictures from the visit.

The boys are both well for the moment after a few weeks of cruddiness. Will had a terrible cough and still coughs when he runs around for a while, but is pretty much better. Wyatt started with coughing and it went to Croup. We had a fun few days of steroid medicine for him, but the only symptom left is a snotty nose that just won't go away! I guess it's just that time of year! :)

More posts soon with pictures - hopefully NOT of Trent falling off the ladder :)

Merry Christmas!!