Another Day In Paradise

Ava Belle

2012-02-13T11:55:00.000-06:00

Meet Ava Belle Sarge Napier, the newest addition to our family. Our sweet little girl :)

She is a 7 week old Shih Tzu puppy.

Just look at that cute face!

She came to live with us on Saturday and she has been happy and playful and cuddly the whole time.

She has a pink collar and pink toys (and some cute bows for when her hair grows a little longer)!

She loves to curl up in her new bed and nap.

Or pounce on it and fall off the other side!

The boys are having so much fun with her! Even Weston loves to hold her and chase her and let her chase him! He walks to her puppy pad, points to it and says "poddy", and he'll also walk to food bowl and ask her "bite? bite?"

She will never lack attention in this house!!

Wyatt has been holding her as much as possible. She went to sleep in his arms like this today watching cartoons :)

She's so sweet!

Update

2012-02-07T20:53:00.000-06:00

Just an update to the last post....Will came home from school today and said, "Hey Mom, I took another STARS test and I went up in my AR books!" He was so excited!! The AR tests are typically done for 2nd grade and older, but in Sumner County, they start "practicing" in the 1st grade. They take home an appropriate level book, read it a few times at home and then take a test on it at school. Will's school lets the kids take the test but they must take it just like they will in the 2nd grade - completely by themselves. (I have heard from elementary teachers in other schools that this is unusual. The other schools only let select kids take these in the 1st grade and they are assisted by the teachers). For Will, this means he logs into the website (with username and password), chooses the correct book and test, reads the questions and chooses from the multiple choice answers - all without any assistance from the teacher. Will has taken about 12 of the AR tests and make 100% on each one of them. He got to take the STARS test again today to see if he had advanced in his placement. He did go up and is now placed in the 2.1-3.1 AR level - this means he reads at a 2nd-3rd grade level! We are so proud of him! And we're proud of how excited he was about it! Go Will!!

February Fun

2012-02-07T13:12:00.000-06:00

Since the weather has been so nice lately, I took Wyatt and Weston to the zoo last Friday. The animals were so active and the boys loved it! This elephant came almost right up to us and was growling (or whatever elephants do) very loudly! The tall sticks in the bottom left corner of the picture, that was the fence!

This trip was the first time Weston had been to the zoo where he knew what the animals were. The first thing we saw were the monkeys and he was amazed!

He would ooohh and awww and point at everything!

The elephant trainers brought them around to do tricks. That's what I think anyway. It may have been daily exercise or something, but it was neat!

The baby giraffe was so cute!!!

Wyatt wanted to get as close as he could to everything! This picture was in front of the growling elephant!

They both had fun on the playground.

And of course we had to visit the giant snake in the snake house. This was requested by Wyatt from the time I said, "you wanna go to the zoo today?"

Another fun thing we have been doing this February so far is swimming lessons with cousins Landon and Noah!

They are taking lessons at the YMCA twice a week this month so hopefully this summer we'll be pool ready!! Landon is 6, Will is 7, Wyatt is 4 and Noah is 3 - they are LOVING it!! After each lesson, they come back talking about the neat things they learned to do like "jellyfish float".

Will and Wyatt are all signed up for spring baseball/tee-ball which should start soon. Will lost another tooth at school yesterday! (this makes 5 total - 2 of which were at school!) He said he ran into another boy outside, they bumped heads and it knocked his tooth out. He said it didn't hurt but it took a while to find the tooth in the grass! He is learning so much at school! It's amazing the reading assignments he's bringing home. Last night was an article about Pablo Picasso that could not possibly have been on a 1st grade reading level. It was very impressive that he moved through it so easily!! I wanted to take a picture of the article but forgot. I'll take a picture of his next hard one. Monday's reading assignments are typically 1 page articles that are much more difficult than the rest of the week. He's advanced so much recently in reading, general logic and math/science skills too. He reads about 3 books per night for homework and then he reads to Wyatt at bedtime each night before daddy does. The thing they are "engineering" now in the 1st grade classes are working hand pollinators. The kids think about what it might look like, draw the picture, decide what materials to use, test those out, build it, test it, re-vamp it, etc, all until it works. He came home the other day talking about different things that could pick up pollen but not release it and then other things that did both! He's using these skills to "figure things out" at home too. It's so neat to see his mind working like this!

In other news, we are in the middle of updating our kitchen and flooring. We have granite now! Trent is putting in the tile backsplash this weekend. The next phase is to tile the kitchen floor and put hardwood down in the rest of the house! Should be fun!

2012

2012-01-20T14:11:00.000-06:00

Welcome 2012!!

We rung in the new year with some good friends and a hot tub :)

It was sweet Annie's 4th birthday and she celebrated in style! The 2 other babies (Myla and Weston) didn't go for a dip!

Since new year's we've just been hangin' around...

Actin' silly...

We haven't ALL been sick with strep, stomache bugs and ear infections....

no not us

At 7, 4, and 1 years old we're innocent, quiet and never, ever messy!

On that note, I'm really too tired to type anything else.

Here's to a Happy, Healthy New Year!

Bye Bye

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T15:07:00.000-06:00

On Christmas Eve Eve this year we went to visit Santa at the town square. He had set up a “mini north pole” in Gallatin so we bundled up and headed out.

We stood in line outside for a long time but we eventually got to the north pole!

Weston was still not too happy with Santa, so Trent held him in front of Santa for the picture!

And we stood next to the biggest Christmas tree the boys had ever seen!!

We came home and decorated Christmas cookies. It was a very christmasy day J

The next morning the boys had a special message from Frethan. Christmas Eve is his last day with us for the year, because he goes back to the north pole with Santa that night. The boys were so excited to learn that Frethan had reported good things to the big man.

They were also very excited to see what silly thing he had gotten into now! This time it was lots of Dr. Pepper!

Christmas Eve we spent with my parents for lunch and Trent’s parents for dinner. We opened lots of gifts and then came home to wait for Santa! They said goodbye to Frethan, set out the milk and cookies and went straight to bed. They were so excited!!!

Christmas morning we woke up really early to see what Santa had brought. Will was super excited and jumped out of bed. Wyatt, not so much. It took some coaxing but he came on down and Weston didn’t want to do anything! They had a room full of toys and loved everything!! After church, the rest of Christmas day and the next 2 days we spent visiting family. We had a great Christmas!!

So Random

2011-12-19T20:52:00.000-06:00

Now that Christmas is coming up, I decided to download pictures from the camera and realized it had not been done since Halloween. I’m a little behind the times. But now, 3 hard drives later, the computer seems to be okay. So this is a random post with random pics about our random family.

Halloween was so much fun this year. We had 3 superheroes: Wolverine, Captain America and Batman. We made it 3/4^th of the way around the block before the superheroes wanted to go back home and just eat candy. We skipped so many houses!! They all had full baskets though and now, December 19^th, we still have a huge bowl full of candy so I guess they got enough!

And we go from Superheroes to zombies. Just put on a movie and watch the transformation happen!

Moving right along to our little mischievous one….

Weston at 19 months old is into everything! He loves to steal remotes, phones, cookie sheets, pretty much everything! He still loves the dishwasher!! In fact, just the other day I ran in the kitchen to see why he was crying. He had opened the dishwasher by himself, climbed inside, opened the top rack, gotten a dirty sippy cup out and was mad because it was empty. He was sitting on the dishwasher door crying because nothing was coming out of the sippy cup. Good thing I got there in time because he can now reach the water from the fridge.

Stealing remotes...

Yes, he likes to play in the stove too.

If he's not stealing cookie sheets, he standing on them.

The boys love to play together. They help each other out and take turns and NEVER fight….well, okay they play together, and that’s good right? Here is proof!! Wyatt’s holding the goal down so Weston can dunk! Sweet!!

Will has lost another tooth so now all he want’s for Christmas is his two front teeth. Hehehe. I did make him stand in front of the Christmas tree and sing that song J

Also, I went on a field trip with Will this year. We went to Lost River Cave in KY. It was so much fun!! We mined for gemstones, had a picnic lunch and did the boat ride through the cave. So neat!!

In other random news, we saw the brightest rainbow a couple of weeks ago. Mom was driving home from work and called to tell us about it. We looked outside and saw a full rainbow in our backyard! It was huge and a double!!! We could see both ends of both rainbows. The boys watched it for at least 5 minutes in awe!!!

It was so close I couldn't get it all in one picture!

This year we didn’t go see Santa at a mall, but Santa came to visit at our church Christmas party for the little ones. He even brought a sleigh! Weston didn’t like Santa!! But once we got the picture and had Weston safely in our arms, Will and Wyatt got to tell him exactly what they wanted.

Frethan came back this year and has been up to all kinds of mischief. One morning we found him playing with a hot wheels track on the dining room table, another time he was stuck in the blinds with a peter pan sword and had even set up a sock monkey as captain hook with an alligator chasing him. He was swinging from the fan blades one day and drew a picture of himself another day. He likes to leave his mess out and we always have to clean it up for him. The boys love to find him and then come running to us so excited and tell us what Frethan has done now. We sure will miss him when he has to go back to the North Pole. Christmas is only 6 days away!!!

How to cook a turkey

2011-11-23T13:07:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I posted anything and I have so much to catch up on. We've been a little electronically challenged at our house lately, but we are back to normal...I think.

Anyway,
In honor of Thanksgiving tomorrow, I asked the boys how to make a turkey. I see this on the news every year and couldn't wait until the boys were old enough to create a "funny recipe". Not sure these would actually make the news but their personalities shined through!

Wyatt:
Toast it in the fire. Take a thing that holds turkey and bring it to the fire and burn it. No seasonings.

Will:
Step 1: Get it out
Step 2: Put it in the frying pan.
Step 3: Put it on the grill to grill it
Step 4: pepper and salt
Step 5: Eat it.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Wyatt:(he did this at preschool)
Peanut butter; Jelly; big brother; Mom; Dad; baby brother; turkey sandwiches

Will: (just now asked him at home)
God. My family. movies. presents. myself. my life

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

A day in the life....

2011-10-19T21:45:00.004-05:00

.....of me.

This little guy had a great big impact on my mood today.

This little (ahem....and by little I mean GIANT) attitude was in full force today.

And when the attitude has come out strong....

No ears are safe!!!!

(The pictures above are provided from hiking in Gatlinburg last week, not today. And I will also admit that Weston was not the only one in such a fun-loving mood today. Wyatt whined most of the day and then when Will got home from school, they fought ALL afternoon. I blame the weather.)

A Tooth Fairy Visit

2011-10-19T16:20:00.001-05:00

We had our first toothfairy visit!!

Will lost his first tooth on Saturday during a hike in Gatlinburg. It has been loose for a while and he said it didn't hurt at all when it came out!! Pepaw pulled (while mommy looked away) and it was gone!

The tooth fairy knew just where to find him that night. Will was so excited to see that she brought him a dollar!!

He's got 3 more loose right now and he's working them all the time :) Soon he'll be completely toothless in the front. The lisp is so cute!

What a week

2011-10-06T20:42:00.000-05:00

sooooo, picking right up from the last post........ Apparently I had been driving around with a flat tire for a while (the little light that tells you when there is a flat tire had been on for a while ...I just didn't bother to check), so both Trent's dad and my dad tell us "Hey you guys have a flat tire. Need to get that fixed." So what do we do? Drive around on it for a weekend, don't get it checked and then on Monday morning when I'm driving....with 3 kids in the car....in the rain...I have a slight panic attack and beg God to please let me get home safely. We arrive safely and I immediately check the tire - less than 10 lbs of pressure. Not good..... Anyway, I called my dad and
1.) asked if I should just put air in it and keep going ....or
2.) if I should go get it check out. (I don't know about these things!!)

After a little fussing (I can't believe you didn't get that checked out yet....Gary and I both told you about that....how much driving did you do this weekend....JENNIFER!!!!), I calmly ask if he would mind driving me to the tire store because I don't know if I could handle a blow out. Of course he came right over and we made it safely there. No big deal, just needed to replace 2 of the tires because of the GIANT piece of PLASTIC that was stuck in the tire too big to plug. UGGG

SOOOO, I tell myself I must be more careful. I must slow down and pay attention to things.

Fast forward a few days to a garage sell where I find this awesome remote control truck for the boys to play with in the back yard. I mean this thing will go over anything. I could see hours and hours of enjoyment out of this wonderful find. Wyatt is ecstatic to say the least!! When we get home, of course my arms are full , so the truck lands beside the van and I make a mental note "need to remember to take this outside so I don't run over it." The battery is charging inside all day, and that afternoon while rushing off to soccer practice, I did the inevitable. Yep I backed right over the truck and CRUSHED it like a pancake. No excuse...I even saw it while I was strapping Weston in and said to myself out loud "I need to move that truck before I back out." Too bad that slipped out of my mind in the 2.2 seconds it took to close Weston's door and open mine. There were broken hearts and goose egg tears.

Soooo, it's my birthday week, things must get better! Will is off for fall break but Wyatt and Weston are still in MDO this week. It's beautiful weather, full of sunshine and cool breezes. I wake up Tuesday in a good mood. Will and I are going to have a fun day. I step out of the shower and a migraine threatens to approach....no, it will go away....fast forward 5 minutes...nope it's here. Vision is completely gone, major light and sound issues, nauseous and then the pain starts...all the symptoms. I'm sitting on the couch while Trent rushes around (late for work) trying to get the boys fed, dressed and ready for school. I tell him I can't drive so I call dad (again) to come help. He drives me and the boys to their school and offers to take Will home with him so I can rest. After about an hour or so of resting in the complete darkness and quiet with all the curtains pulled, the call comes from school.

"Hi Jennifer, Wyatt has had a little accident. He was washing his hands after going to the bathroom and jumped off the stool. He bit his lip and will probably need stitches. He's in the office but you need to come pick him up." That's the first time I have ever been called to school to pick up a child that is hurt! I rushed right there...probably shouldn't have been driving but I could see by this time so it was fine. Then it was rush, rush, rush getting Weston to dad's (side note: mom and dad are building and addition to their house and this particular day it happened to be the hvac guy, the direct tv guy, the electrician and the brickers all there needing dad's input - and he had Will and Weston to entertain!) getting Wyatt to the doctor and then all 3 boys back home and out of dad's hair! No rest and that silly migraine lingered ALL day.
Wyatt was super cool about the whole thing. He was tough and says it doesn't hurt at all. He bit "clean through" his bottom lip according to the doctors (it's right below the pink part of his lower lip). In the end, he didn't need stitches, just tape to hold it together. The doctor said to keep it taped up for a few days and don't brush his teeth for a few days, but it should heal very quickly. We asked him why he jumped off the stool. His response, "I was trying to fly......But I forgot to put my arms out." Yep, in Wyatt's mind, if he had put those arms out to fly, none of this would have happened.

Oh and one more odd thing. I bit the inside of my cheek a week ago and it has turned into a mouth sore. The pain is getting unbearable (and I actually do have a high tolerance for pain). So I turned to baby orajel. It helps soooooo much ....for like 30 minutes. I have been sticking strictly to the "no more than 4 times daily" instructions on the label so the actual time of relief is very short overall. Today I decided to check into REGULAR orajel. Yep they actually have that! And guess what? It's almost 3 times stronger....who knew? It works much, much better.

And when driving home tonight, that little tire light came back on. Here we go again!

A Trent Moment....and Kiddo Goodness

2011-09-21T14:33:00.000-05:00

First, the "Trent moment".

Okay, so the other day I had a moment....okay, so maybe it was more than 1 moment but who's counting? It is referred to as a Trent moment because Trent was SOOOO accident prone while we were dating and first married. (This goes hand in hand with Trent bites and Trent words...I need to write a whole post on him!) Thankfully his luck has changed, but I seem to have taken over. Anyway, I had a little accident with the van. I wrecked it into the truck. No big deal. I just backed right up and BOOM into the truck I slammed. I'm okay with it now. Probably won't be so okay with it when we check into getting it fixed.

And there was that other incident 2 days later. Like I said, who's counting? So I almost hit an old man walking down the street....totally wasn't my fault. Key word...ALMOST....I did not actually hit him. He did slam his hands on the hood of the van, but he didn't have to. I was turning out of our street and he was walking down the wrong side of the road. I looked but didn't see him, looked the other way and then turned out into the street. When I turned, he was right there slamming his hands on the hood screaming mean words. The boys call him "that rude man". The way I see it, he should have waited until I pulled out of the street before crossing it. I call it common sense, but whatever. Trent has been laughing at me for weeks now. (yes this actually happened a couple of weeks ago but I'm just now "okay" enough with it to post!)

Trent's ammo below:

Now on to the kiddo goodness. Much better right? At 6yrs, 3yrs, and 1 yr they are full of wisdom and silliness....and dirt and noise because that's what little boys are made of. Just come on over if you want proof. It's very loud and there is always, always, always dirt, food, toys or some other form of yuckiness on the floor. ALWAYS.

At 6 years old, Will amazes me with how smart he is! He's doing algebra (7 + blank = 11) and he fills in the blank. He's a great speller (did NOT get that from me!). He can spell METAMORPHOSIS. Wild right? He is very much a "natural leader" as his teacher says. Which also comes with a bit of bossiness. Last month at the top of a water slide at a water park, a little girl was behind him and saying “go go go”. Will slides down, waits at the bottom of the slide for her and then tells her “you know, you really need to learn to be more patient.” He is also very open and honest and doesn't like to be in trouble. He has gotten "in trouble" once at school. He got a “yellow” on his behavior (warning). As soon as he got in the car he starts talking about it (he was very upset). “You know why I got a yellow on my behavior today? Because I didn’t put my name on my paper but I didn’t hear Mrs. Braswell tell me to do it. She said it like 13 times and I didn’t hear her. But she just didn’t know I have a problem with my hearing.” I say to him, “but Will you don’t have a problem with your hearing.” He says, “yeah I do mom. Don’t you remember last year in Kindergarten when I had to go to Dr Willis all those times and he hooked up those things to my ear and I had to say what I heard and I had a hearing problem.” I told him that the last time they checked his hearing was fine and he didn’t have a problem anymore. With a shocked and kinda sad face he says, “oh, okay then”.

He's playing goalie in soccer this year. It's the first year they have goalies! He loves it and does a really good job....when he's not posing for pictures instead of watching the game!!

Here are Will and Wyatt with their mean goalie faces!

Oh, Wyatt....sweet, sweet Wyatt.

3 years old. I love this age. He says the funniest things! Every day he asks, "mom, is it tomorrow?" "no, Wyatt, it's today...it's always today." We go through this ritual each morning. A good way to bring in days of the week!
He was talking about Will the other day and said we needed to do something "because he'll be a teenager here in a couple of seconds."
Playing the I love you more game. He says, "I love you more than cartoons." I say, "I love you more than everything." He stops, gets quiet and says, "no mom, you can't do that. You have to love God more."
Wyatt seems to "accidentally" do alot of things. He said, “hey mom. I’m sorry. I accidentally drank that old coffee.” I said, “how did you accidentally drink it?” he said, “I accidentally walked over, accidentally grabbed the cup and accidentally put it to my mouth and drank it.” I said, “was it good” he said “no, it was old”.
He likes soda's but never gets to drink them. They drink milk, apple juice or water around here. While at church camp this weekend, he got a Pepsi out of the cooler and started drinking it and drinking it and drinking it. He looks up and says, "uh oh mom. I accidentally drank all of it."

We were going to meet a friend at the playground…Wyatt throws his hand to his head and says “ohhh”. I say, “what are you excited?” he says, “I’m embarrassed excited”.

He is very serious about soccer this season. He has scored a few goals already! Check out that game face!

Weston....oh Weston...wild, crazy, 1 year old Weston is into everything! Especially this bucket. Don't know what it is about this bucket but all the babies seem to love it!

No mom, I didn't pull all those cups out of the cabinet.....Nope, not me!

If there is a way to climb it....he will do it! Please stay in the boat Weston!

It always comes back to that sweet, adorable smile. Gets him out of trouble every time! It's terrible to fuss at him because he'll cut his eyes at you, smile and give you a giant hug WITH an audible kiss. Then he'll start laughing...see below! How can you be mad at that?!

Summer Summary

2011-09-06T14:33:00.000-05:00

As the summer went by I knew there were so many things I wanted to post and record but I just could not find the time. Sounds like an excuse, but literally I was so tired by the end of the days (and any break during the day) that I would take advantage of the time and get some rest. For me personally, I have never been as exhausted as I have been this summer.....no exaggeration!! I actually went to the doctor and had blood work done because they thought it might be a medical problem! No worries though, I am healthy and things are settling down. I'm feeling back to normal....well as normal as I can be with a 6, 3 and 1 year old. Anyway, I hope to do some "back posts" soon to journal some of the great adventures we have had this summer, but for now I'll settle with a nice Summer Summary.

July - It was a busy month filled with loads of fun!!! We went to Gulf Shores on vacation with, well, these guys....

"These guys" include: Mom, Dad, Uncle Kerry, Aunt Jane, Uncle John, Alan, Kyle, Abby and Landon. It was a big group!! - 13 plus a highchair :) - We rented a big house and had a great section of beach just for us! It was so fun to spend the time with family that we don't see as often as we should. I'll have a vacation post at some point, but here are some of my favorite pictures of the kiddos.

As soon as we got back from vacation, Will started Junior Park Ranger Camp. It was a 2 week camp 5 mornings per week. He learned all about how to be a park ranger in a fun hands on way. They took hikes, observed nature, learned about insects and animals, played in creeks and even got to see a "birds of prey" show. He did this with his best bud Aiden. They had so much fun and Wyatt says he can't wait until he gets big enough to go.

Vacation Bible School was another fun thing that we included in July! This year the church decided to have VBS each night for 5 nights instead of just 1 full day. This was really fun for the kids to meet up each night, go to a different class and learn something new and then end each night with a puppet show!! The "classrooms" were so elaborately decorated that we were actually at church each night the week before to decorate. My classroom was talking about "The Flood" so why not turn the entire room into the ark....so we did. Complete with a wooden floor, floor to ceiling cages for the animals and a wall size 3-D rainbow. While the kids had a blast, the adults had the gospel meeting. What a great way to get everyone involved!

As for the weekends, yep they were all booked up. The first 2 Saturdays were spent traveling to and from vacation. 3rd Saturday - camp and baby shower; 4th Saturday - spent the weekend in West TN for a family reunion and 5th Saturday - spent the weekend in a mountain chalet in Gatlinburg for a different family reunion. Daddy Jack and his brother and sister have not had a family reunion in more than 10 years, so it was awesome to get together and spend a FUN weekend together.

Although very busy, not a bad way to spend a few weekends - Gulf Shores, state parks, West TN and Gatlinburg!

And to close July - Will started school July 28th. Yes, school started in July. Yay year round schedule :)

August- things started to slow down a tiny bit. While school is getting into full swing, we find out that Weston needs ear tubes. So he has surgery the day before starting Mother's Day Out for the first time. He was a trooper and both the tubes and his first day of MDO went well. Wyatt was SUPER excited to start school again and LOVES going each Tuesday and Thursday. Weston is still crying when I drop him off, but he has fun during the day. He also went for his 15 month check up and I need to update his stats on that.

We went to Beech Bend for the Dollar General picnic and all the boys had such a fun time. They have a new water park that is perfect for the boys right now. Soccer has started and the first games are this weekend. So... the past couple of weeknights have been packed with practice! Between Will's practice, Wyatt's practice, church, homework, doctor's appts, dentist appts and everyday, normal chores/errands - I'm becoming quite the busy soccer mom.

Oh and Trent and I celebrated our 9th anniversary in August! We were able to squeeze in a date night for that! Harry Potter and P.F.Chang's made for the perfect night :)

Now bring on Fall! Will's birthday part to plan, Family Church Retreat next weekend, Wyatt's birthday party to plan then a relaxing week in Gatlinburg for Fall Break in October. Hayrides, bonfires and Halloween!

A Little About Wyatt

2011-06-21T15:16:00.000-05:00

Lately Wyatt is really growing his own little personality. Actually, he's had a fairly big personality for a while now, but it seems to be showing up more and more.

("Actually" -- one of the words Wyatt uses All The Time!)

I say, "hey Wyatt, let me take your picture." And he says, "okay, I'm the hulk!"

The other day I overheard him playing with Will and he says all gruff and tough, "If you want to save the universe, you'll have to go through me.....my name's Bob"

If he's impressed by something, the usual response is "wowzers".

If he's asking for something, it's usually pretty detailed. "I wanted the medium size flag for my pirate ship."

Something we're working on right now is accountability. Wyatt has begun to use "puppy dog" (the stuffed dog that goes EVERYWHERE with him) as an excuse for things. "But mom, that wasn't me that hit Will, it was puppy dog. I try to tell him to stop but he just won't listen."

Or I hear this, "Mom, my brain just told me to do bad things."

Wyatt is so sweet and loves to show his love. He gives lots and lots of hugs during the day (to me, his brothers and especially daddy) and if I'm feeling sad or upset about something, he'll sense it, run to me, wrap both arms tight around my face and give me the biggest hug. It's so sweet! At a baseball practice this season, Wyatt randomly runs to the dugout and yells "Hey Will, I just love you so much!!"

Puppy dog gets love to. Like I said, he carries him everywhere. I'll glance over at him on the couch or something and he'll be talking or singing to puppy dog and I've seen him say, "I love you puppy dog" with a big hug.

As for singing, Wyatt sings all the time. Here he is singing "This world is not my home."

At mother's day out, Ms. Annie his teacher says Wyatt sings church hymns alot. She says, "it just blesses my heart to hear him." She said on the last day before Easter, the church bells played "Up from the grave He arose" to mark the time. She said Wyatt sang every word with the church bells.

He doesn't always sing such sweet songs. Another one I hear him sing quite often is "I like big butts" from the Yogi Bear movie. That's just funny. He does a little booty shake dance and says "I like big butts and I cannot lie" over and over.

His favorite thing to eat right now is Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches (oh and of course chicken nuggets - as he would say). It's so cute when he eats pbandj it's ALL OVER his face! I have to wipe his face off from his eyebrows to his neck. He's also trying a little psychology on us. The other day I asked what they wanted to eat and he said, "Well Mom, you KNOW my favorite is Krystal's, but today I'll take chicken nuggets." - He's had Krystal's maybe twice in his whole life and trust me, it's NOT his favorite!

That's our Wyatt! 3 years old and a bowl full of fun!!

Field Day 2011

2011-06-21T13:47:00.000-05:00

Will's very first field day ever!!

Kindergarten - Mrs. Crane's class

Here is his cute little class in their class shirts ready for a day filled with fun and games.

It was a blast! He even took home a blue ribbon in 1 event - the leapfrog relay. The boy can leapfrog!

Wyatt was pretty excited they won too!

Papa came to watch the excitement and even Weston got to be "stroller free" for a little bit!

Will got 3rd place in his heat of the "run race". That's what the boys call - well, running a race.

Here he is stretching to prepare for the big run.

And they're off!!! (Will's in the middle)

After a couple of hours of hard work, it was time to visit the "carnival" section. This section had lots of blow up jumpy things, slides, basketball games and even ice cream! Wyatt was so excited because he got to play here too!

He's in the white shirt jumping off the top of the slide!

And Will loved the obstacle course slide. That was his favorite!

Flip Flopping around and having a blast!

The tough obstacle course wasn't going to stop Wyatt. Once Will went a few times, Wyatt decided he could do it too. And he did!!

After everyone was refreshed from the carnival, the most anticipated event was about to start.

The Kindergarten Class Tug of War.

The 4 kindergarten classes competed against each other to claim title of Tug Of War Champion. Mrs. Crane's class gave it a good go and came in 2nd overall. Who hoo!!! What a fun way to spend a day at school! After the competitions and games were completed, Will got to come home with me and Papa for lunch! We went to Chick Fil A and had such a fun day!

What's Up

2011-06-21T13:25:00.000-05:00

The boys (Will and Wyatt) are at the beach....and I'm not. The boys are playing in the sand and waves enjoying warm sunshine...and I'm enjoying a thunderstorm from the comforts of my couch for like the 15th day in a row. I'm feeling very unmotivated to do anything this week. I had big plans to get all these projects finished this week while it was just me and Weston during the day because going from 3 kids to 1 kid is like a vacation right? Well no, no it's not. It is alot more quiet and the house doesn't seem to get as messy as quickly, but vacation? No, no it's not. Oh well. In other news, I think I broke my toe today so that was fun. Luckily it was while Weston was napping so I hobbled over to the couch, picked up the computer and here I sit. Good news is the swelling seems to be going down :) One of the projects on my "to do while the kids are at the beach list" was catch up on posting some "forgotten" blogs. I'll give it a try. I would like to post Field Day 2011; What Wyatt Says; Our Trip to Cedar Point; Will's Graduation and Father's Day Fishing. We'll see.... :)

Fun Filled Summer Week

2011-06-11T11:37:00.000-05:00

The first full week of summer vacation and we sure packed in some fun! We have been to the movies, swimming pool, state parks, backyard slip n slides….whew… no wonder I’m so tired this weekend!

Monday we didn’t do anything exciting, but on Tuesday, we went to see a movie at the real movie theater. We saw a veggie tales movie, “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything”. The boys loved it! They were on the edge of their seats the whole time! This was also Weston’s first trip to the theater…he did pretty good too! Luckily, it was during his morning nap so he fell asleep and napped through the whole thing! Tuesday night was Will’s very last baseball game of the season. They won again!! A record season 17w 1L! He had some pretty good hits this season and got to field a few from the outfield as well. The coach gave “candy awards” to each player for the last game. These were funny things about each player’s personality…guess which “candy” Will got? Milky Way – because he always seemed to be in outer space :) Throughout the season Will’s name was probably the most heard name on the field. “Will pay attention!” …”Will, wake up out there!”….”Wwwwwiiiiilllllll”…..you get the picture….

Anyway….Wednesday we headed to Bledsoe Creek State Park to meet a “frontiersman” and learn about how people lived back in the old days. The boys loved hearing these men talk about the long hunters and the people that founded TN, Nashville and the Gallatin area. We saw ducks and played on the playground with friends from our playgroup.

Of course I didn't get a picture of the cool frontiersmen but I did get a picture of the boys at the lake!

AND Weston does come out of his stroller when we go places, I just am not able to get a picture because, well, I'm chasing Weston.

Thursday, We went to the Gallatin pool with Aunt Rachel, Landon and Noah. It was SOOO FUN!

Wyatt said later that day, "Daddy, the gallatin pool is AWESOME!" The boys loved jumping off the side and of course....

The giant water slide was a huge hit!

Wyatt loved it!

Landon loved it!!

And Will loved it!!

Noah, not so much....maybe next year! :)

Overall, a fun day at the pool with our cousins!!

Friday we got out...

The Slip N Slide!

They were running back and forth from the pool to the slip n slide.

Splashing....

Wrestling on the slide...

Running through the water...

and Sword fighting....why is there always sword fighting?!!

After lunch we headed back to Bledsoe Creek to learn about how Indians made their own paint and then they got to paint. They painted leaves and paper and then the paper with the leaves and flowers. They had fun making "masterpieces"!

And we saw a deer on the way home!

It's gonna be a fun summer!!

Weston - 1 year old!

2011-06-02T15:19:00.000-05:00

What?.....Did I miss something?

I mean, I turn around for one minute and somebody has a birthday?

Yes, it's Weston. He is officially 1 year old!

One year ago, we were just bringing the little snuggle bug home from the hospital.

And now.....

...he's into everything!

What have we been doing lately?

Chasing Weston of course!

He loves to help mommy with the dishes (climbing into the dishwasher and dragging everything out) , and sweeping (loves to get to the dirt pile before me so he can attempt to swipe a "treat" from the floor), and of course laundry - that one's just fun. But his most favorite thing to do right now is play ball!!

He plays ball with everything! And if no one throws back with him, he's content to chase the ball around the room by himself. He is still soooo happy! He smiles all the time and has the biggest personality! Some of my favorite hugs are when he yells, "ahma" (momma) and he grabs on so tight to my face and says, "ahhhh". It's so sweet!Also, when I'm changing his diaper, he'll grab my arm, pull it to his face and give it a great big hug.

For his 12 month appointment, he weighed 20 lbs 5 oz (25th percentile) and his height was 29 inches (25th percentile). Very healthy except for those pesky ear infections. He had an ear infection for almost 2 months and took 3 rounds of antibiotics but just this week was completely cleared of any infection or fluid! Yay!! If he gets another one anytime soon, we'll have to visit the ENT to see about tubes...yuck!

Weston loves to "talk"...imagine that....and he is starting to answer questions that we ask him. I ask "are you all done or do you want more?" and he'll answer with the "more" signed motion or throw both hands palm up for "all done". While he does this he usually says something like "or" (more) or "ahdd" (all done). I'll ask, "you want to go rock-a-bye?" and he'll say, "ya" or "no" - doesn't always mean that's what we'll do though! I ask, "do you have a stinky in there?" and if so he'll grin really big and laugh, if not, then usually he'll just say, "no". I'm starting to learn his language and it's making things much less stressful around here!

Of course, he still says "dada" and sometimes "daddy". He can also say, "ba" (ball), "bubba" (brother/s), "uh eww" (I'm convinced this is I love you), "dink" (drink), and lots more he adds each day.

He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES dogs. He calls for "gizy" (Grizzly) all the time and any dog or furry animal he sees he says "gizy". He usually screams and squeals at them and gets very excited clapping his hands and jumping/dancing.

For his birthday party we had a combined 1st birthday and sports ball theme, and he loved it!

There were all kinds of little Weston-sized balls for him to throw around!

When we started singing happy birthday, he was all smiles, at first....then he got really mad that he couldn't reach the candle. It was pretty funny watching him trying to get to the cake....

But when he finally got it, he wasn't very thrilled!

After a few bites, he was lovin it!

Weston has taken a few steps on his own, but he's not walking yet. He is a very good walker while holding on to something, but lacks the confidence to let go just yet. He prefers to feed himself while eating and can use a fork and spoon pretty good! It's pretty messy but he gets the job done! He sleeps from 8pm - 6 or 7 am and takes 2 naps per day. In between those times, he is either moving or eating. Weston is a happy, loving, adventurous, expressive little baby boy who loves to laugh at his brothers and follow them everywhere! We love you Weston! Happy Birthday!!

Easter Morning!!

2011-05-04T08:57:00.000-05:00

Our Easter morning picture....

I had plans of getting beautiful Easter pictures of the boys at Opryland before we left for church Sunday morning. Did you catch the key word there? "plans" So...that didn't happen obviously. I did manage to drop our luggage on the way to the car so we could get this picture of the boys. We didn't have time to actually get them to look at the camera or smile or anything, just pose.

Oh well.... if it's a picture of the boys, it's cute right?

And this of Weston....

The boys left their baskets on the tv stand/dresser and the Easter bunny knew just where to find them!

They were SOOO excited to wake up and see their full baskets!! Will jumped out of bed and went straight for his basket.

The Easter bunny left them movies and books and candy... all their favorite things!

Again with the beautiful pictures....hotel room carpet and shoes in the background!

Weston are you excited about your basket? I love his facial expressions!! He really was excited though and had a great time going through his goodies.

Lads 2 Leaders/Leaderettes

2011-04-28T11:25:00.000-05:00

We spent Easter weekend at the national Lads 2 Leaders/Leaderrettes convention at the Opryland Hotel. This program helps prepare kids for service in the church through year long training and practice in many different areas. At convention, they compete in things like song leading, speech, scrapbook, art, Bible reading, bulletin boards, Bible Bowl and MANY others (37 events in all)! For Will and Wyatt's age, they "practice competing" but don't actually get judged and everyone gets an award for participating. Starting in the 3rd grade, they can compete for trophies. There were about 10,000 people for the Nashville meeting this weekend and they had 5 other conventions going on at the same time in other locations. All total, there were almost 19,000 people! Our church has been participating in this for several years, but this was the first year Trent and I went. We were amazed at the size of this convention! It was so much more than what we were expecting!!

We stayed 2 nights at the hotel and the boys thought it was SOOO cool! When we first walked into the cascade area, both boys were oohhing and awwing and Wyatt said, "Mom, I hope we don't see a giant monkey. Cause monkey's live in the jungle you know!" They were amazed at the glass ceilings, fountains, waterfalls and all the gardens. They were also amazed at the "sky" ceilings in some of the ballrooms. It was beautiful!!

Both boys were registered for 3 events: Know the Books (singing the books of the Bible both old and new testament); Oral Bible Reading (Will "read" Romans 8:28, Wyatt "read" Genesis 1:1); and Song Leading (Will sang "Up from the Grave He Arose", Wyatt sang "Blue Skys and Rainbows") I didn't do too well with the video camera so no video to post.....

But they dressed up in their "suits" and did very well in each event! Here they are getting ready for Bible Reading with some friends from our church.

At the awards ceremony on Saturday night, they invited ALL the preK - 2nd graders that participated to come up on stage for recognition. It was several hundred kids up on the stage and my boys got right in the front row!! I was so proud!

This was one of the favorites for Will - and Wyatt was haming it up pretty good!

They had so much fun!! Will wants to add a few events like Good Samaritan and Speech for next year. It makes us so proud that they are developing these skills at such a young age!

It was great to spend quality time with friends from church and what a fun place to do so!!

From the minute the boys spotted the "boat ride", they were begging to do it. We finally gave in and they were all smiles!

In the above picture, I said, "hug guys". So they did. Then they said, "oh no....too tight!!"

It was beautiful and the boys were in awe again....

taking it all in....

So much to see!

The boys even had fun on the fancy elevators!

And Weston was with us too! He didn't get as much camera time, but he tagged along like a trooper! Doesn't this look like trouble waiting to happen!

We woke up Easter morning and headed back home. It was such a fun weekend and we're excited already for next year!

Choc full of sports

2011-04-27T13:04:00.000-05:00

While sitting at Mom and Dad's house waiting out the many tornadoes that are on the way today, I found that I have a few minutes to update. The boys are playing with their cousins and Weston has Papa and Aunt Rachel and Nana to keep him busy. First update: Sports, sports, sports. The boys love to play sports and we have been busy with practices and ballgames on most days lately. Wyatt is playing his first soccer season ever. He LOVES it!

He is on the Green Dragons and loves to say "Go Green Dragons!!" He runs hard and has scored a few goals. The first game was extremely cold and that was the only time I brought by camera. I'll have to take pictures of him during the nice sunny games!

He was so excited for his first game!!

Wyatt's the one with his tongue hanging out! He always sticks his tongue out when he's concentrating really hard :)

Trent is the assistant coach which means he's the one on the sidelines keeping the dragons contained when they're not playing.

Weston enjoyed snuggling with Nannie during the freezing game!

Will is playing baseball this season too. He's on the White Sox and they are currently undefeated. He has lots of fun and is learning so much about the game.

Will is really good at hitting, getting on base almost every time at bat! He has scored several runs and a couple of RBIs.

This is him at 3rd base waiting to run home.

And this would be him doing a little dance across home plate!

He's still a little "distracted" in the outfield, but is getting better at throwing.

Wyatt loves to go talk to Will and his teammates in the dugout! He says he wants to play baseball when he gets big enough.

This is Wyatt pretending to ride a motorcycle up the big hill between the bleachers and the field. He's good at entertaining himself!

Spring Fling

2011-04-20T17:00:00.000-05:00

We had the annual Spring Fling at church a couple of weeks ago and the boys had such a good time hunting eggs, playing games and racing the bunny hop obstacle course. They had the ages split up so while Wyatt's age group was playing games, Will's age group was hunting eggs and visa versa. This created some good exercise time for mommy running across the parking lot taking pictures of both boys doing their thing! Not to mention it was a sunny 99 degrees that day - gorgeous for a Spring Fling, not so gorgeous when I forgot to pack a change of clothes for us and the kids. Oh...and I forgot the easter baskets too. We made do with the happy meal boxes from lunch!

There was an egg toss...

And of course, egg hunting!

Will was racing the girls to the unhunted section!

Wyatt pretty much stayed in a group and found the more obvious eggs.

Will was happy with his stash! - notice the happy meal box :)

Wyatt, too, was proud of his hunting skills.

The obstacle course was so fun! It had several obstacles to tackle all while bunny hopping with bunny ears!

Catching butterflies was one....

And of course, hurdling to the finish line!

Weston hung out and enjoyed the soft grass at a safe distance from the "racers"!

The egg hunt in our neighborhood last weekend was way too cold and wet to attend - so we didn't. There will be more egg hunting Easter afternoon at Aunt Jane's house!

11 Months Already?

2011-04-20T15:29:00.000-05:00

Yes He Is. 11 months old. Weston has accomplished oh so much in the past month !! He now weighs 20lbs (well ... according to my scales at home and my math skills :) - and he is so mobile. He went from just learning to crawl to speed crawling in about a week. He is pulling up on everything and will now let go with both hands and stand for several seconds before slowly sitting down! He loves to stand up with one hand on something and wave his other hand around. He is a busy little guy playing with toys and exploring everywhere. He's very good at walking while holding on to our hands or maneuvering around tables, couches, chairs, etc. The other day, he grabbed a bag I was holding and walked around with me while only holding the bag. All this mobility has resulted in a few scary moments, but none scarier than last Friday. I had a mommy brained moment and didn't realize he could actually climb up stairs. While he was playing in the playroom and I was busy in the dining room (where I could keep an eye on him but obviously not watching him too closely) I heard a loud crash. I looked up to see Weston upside down and backwards falling down the stairs. He was about halfway up the front staircase and falling headfirst down to the bottom. I ran to him but not before he bounced off 3 stairs and landed flat on his face on the hardwood floor. One bounce I was sure he broke his back, another bounce it was his neck that was broken and by the time he was at the bottom, I was wondering how he possibly could have survived. I grabbed him up, held him tightly and completely lost my sanity. He was crying so I knew he was alive, but I couldn't take the chance on finding out if anything was actually wrong. I finally calmed him down and called my Dad. I was crying so much he couldn't understand what I was saying, but he came over and checked Weston out really good for me. Luckily God was keeping an eye on Weston when I wasn't and absolutely NOTHING was wrong with him. He was laughing and crawling and playing again in no time. I made sure he stayed awake for a good 3 hours and then he took a good nap. I was still shaking well into the night! Oh, and we now have gates up at both the top and bottom of the stairs!
Aside from the momma drama, everything has been pretty good around here. Weston now has 4 teeth - which all came in at once - and he is drinking very well from sippy cups. He has almost given up on baby food. He prefers table food and will eat just about anything....soft tacos, cheese pizza, you know all the healthy stuff. He is nursing 2 times per day (when he wakes up in the morning and right before bed at night). Sometimes he will want to nurse in the middle of the day, but not often.

He ADORES his brothers. When he wakes up from a nap, Wyatt will run in and talk to him making him smile and laugh. It's so cute!

It's especially cute (although not very safe) when Wyatt climbs up to give him "sugars". Hopefully the used and abused baby bed will hold up to Wyatt's climbing!

Weston is such a trooper tagging along with this "on the go" crew! People always comment about how happy and content he is. This is what he looks like most of the time!

2 more of his favorite things right now are Daddy and playing ball. When Trent gets home, Weston is SOOOO happy. He squeals and practically jumps out of my arms to get to his daddy! If on the floor, he speed crawls over to him calling "dada dada".

If there is a ball around, you can find Weston playing catch. He loves to throw the ball back and forth. If no one is available to play with him, then he will throw it, go get it and throw it again by himself.

He has changed so much this past month, I am excited to see what changes the next month has in store for him!

showing off his 4 new teeth!

When Will's Away....

2011-04-01T13:03:00.000-05:00

...the brothers will play. I'm glad to see that Wyatt is realizing Weston is getting big enough to play with now. It's pretty creative the way they play together while Will is at school.

It starts out nice and happy.

Everyone's having a good time playing and laughing. And then someone decides to take a toy away from someone else.... (I won't mention any names here...)

hmmmm... after a little screaming "the baby's coming. He's gonna get me!!!"

They decide it might be fun to play together. "Hey Mom, he's pushing me look".

This only lasts for a few minutes until Weston decides he wants to ride too. I put him in the walker so they can "race".

After a little while of more laughing and playing, things get eerily quiet.

I get up, camera in hand, and hunt them down.

I find them by the front door like this....

(Weston is "cheesing" here not screaming!) I say, "Wyatt, what are you guys doing?". His response, "He couldn't go fast mom, so I'm towing him." ---can you see the belt looping the car to the walker? Yep, that's our Wyatt!

After zooming down the hall, they run into a little snag....

No problem for these two!!

Throw Will into the mix and there is always something crazy going on around here :)

9 Month Pictures

2011-03-29T22:34:00.000-05:00

So Spring Break has come and gone and still no post about it. We had loads of fun, did loads of things and had loads of warm sunshiny days. Will is now back in school after 2 weeks and I really need to document our adventures before I forget. It's on my to do list....meanwhile, today I took Weston for his 9 month pictures (please pay no mind to the age ticker on the right saying Weston is 10 months, 2 weeks and 2 days old) these are his 9 month pictures okay? okay.
As usual I had trouble narrowing down the cute pictures and bought WAAAYYY too many. The good news is that usually qualifies for the free dvd with all the pictures to take home. So.... I tried to sort through them AGAIN and post my favorite 16 poses :)

10 Months and growing

2011-03-21T10:40:00.000-05:00

10 Months old and Weston is growing and changing every day! He weighs a little over 19 lbs, loves to play ball and crawl around. He started crawling the day he turned 10 months old! He is also pulling up on everything.

Weston is so playful and happy! He will catch the ball, laugh, throw the ball and laugh some more. As you can see, he is still loves to express himself through facial expressions.

It has been so pretty outside lately and when you say, "Weston, do you want to go outside?", he squeals so loud, grins and starts waving his arms. Last weekend, we put a quilt outside with his toys and he had the best time! He loved to touch the grass and squeal, and when Grizzly came around, the squeals went to another whole level! He ADORES Grizzly. He laughs and laughs and squeals whenever Griz comes around. He pets him and gives him "love".

Weston has also learned to wave "bye bye". He smiles, says "bye bye bye bye" and waves his arms like crazy.

He has 1 sharp little tooth now and is getting 1-3 more as well. He has 1 on the bottom front and the other bottom tooth is just about to come through. The 2 tops ones are swollen and hurting so he is constantly chewing on anything and keeping his gums clamped together.

This mobility thing is getting pretty funny. Like I said, he is crawling and pulling up, so if I leave him alone for a little bit, he's gonna get into something! The other day, he was in the playroom and when I peeked in to check on him, I found this.

He had pulled everything out of this cubby and crawled right up into it!

Everything on the floor is what he pulled out!

I said, "Weston, what are you doing?" and he turned and laughed :)

Weston is our happy little fella. He is really enjoying his brothers being home for spring break. I'll post all of our spring break adventures very soon!

Has anyone seen my zip?

2011-03-10T10:57:00.000-06:00

**warning...long rambly post to follow**

Most people don't watch as many cartoons as I do, but that's just one of the perks of having young kids. I am hip to all the cool cartoons lately. Yeah, I know it's cool. Anyway.....I seem to be comparing myself to cartoons lately and one in particular stands out. Jungle Junction, the episode where Zutor loses her zip. She can't find it anywhere... by the end they realize it's just due to lack of sleep. Maybe that's where my zip has gone. Maybe I just need more sleep to function properly the next day. It's not like Weston's keeping me up. He does get up sometimes in the night, but I would love if I could go to bed whenever I wanted and sleep until I wanted to get up. No alarm clocks, no babies crying, no kids coughing through the night, no rush in the mornings, just nice relaxing sleep and a natural wake up. Oooohhh that would be nice. When I was pregnant the doc asked me how I was feeling and I said, "fine, just really tired" and he said, "well, the good news is, that will only last another 18 years". I have found something that really gives me a nice artificial zip. This is fairly common to most people, but to me it's a new discovery, a real mommy must have.....C.O.F.F.E.E. Yes, baby #3 has officially turned me into a coffee drinker. Every day. Without my coffee, I am pretty much in zombie mode. I read on a mommy blog where she referenced the first year with baby as "baby survival mode year". That sums it up. I am in survival mode right now. Just doing what I can to get by each day. Some things that are - and have been - severely slipping are : exercise, daily bible study, budgeting, couponing, cleaning and decorating. I do a little of each of these, but my goal is to get back to a nice organized life with routines and order.

Okay, enough rambling....the original purpose of this post was to talk about the kids. Will has just completed his very first basketball season!!! Yay!! He loved basketball. He's still learning rules and developing his skills, but the overall experience was very fun for him! He got a cool trophy at the end of the season.

His team won 4 games and lost 3 with an average of 11 points per game. At this age, there is a HUGE difference in skill level. On Will's team, there were 2-3 kids that really stood out and made all the points and everyone else kind of jogged along behind them. Literally, jogged behind them...well, okay, sometimes they skipped along behind them, but you get the idea.

The blond haired boy is one of the "experienced" players. See Will behind everyone with his arms up? He loved to keep those arms up the entire time!

He got more aggressive as the season went on.

And he got to take the ball down the court a few times.

During warm-ups, he would make most shots and at home practicing, he makes most shots. Once he gains confidence, I think he'll become more aggressive and participate more in the games. It didn't matter to him if he even touched the ball, he loved playing the game!

Weston and Wyatt enjoyed going to the gym to watch Will. Wyatt is looking forward to getting bigger so he can do all these things too. At least that's what he says right now.

On other topic, Wyatt has really improved on his drawing skills lately. Normally he draws "roller coasters" which are colorful, squiggly lines that go round and round. He surprised me the other day by drawing a picture of himself and daddy holding hands. I was so proud of him (as you can see he was proud too!). We emailed this picture to Trent.

Spring Break is coming up next week, my buttercups are blooming and the pretty pink trees are starting to add a little color to the world! Wyatt starts soccer tonight, Will starts baseball next week and Weston is getting a few teeth! Welcome Spring!

Cowboys and Hockey Pucks

2011-02-25T09:03:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday Wyatt and Will went on some pretty cool adventures. Will was invited to go with cousin Landon (with Daddy and Uncle Brent) to see the Predator's play hockey. They were so excited! Since Will was going on a fun adventure, Nannie and Papa invited Wyatt to spend the night and go to Ms. Jennifer's house to ride one of her horses. This was super fun for our little cowboy. The boys were talking about what they were each going to do and saying, "mine is more fun....no mine is more fun...."

Wyatt dressed up in his cowboy gear and headed to Nannie and Papa's house. He wasn't scared of the horse at all and after once around the arena with Papa close beside him, he went the next rounds all by himself!

Nannie and Papa said he held on to the saddle and rode like he had been riding horses his whole life. I guess if you're a cowboy, riding horses is just natural!

He was so proud of riding that horse and had so much fun!!!

Trent said Will and Landon talked the entire way to and from Nashville and had a blast at the hockey game cheering and screaming for the team!

Will was most excited about eating nachos ("chips in one side and cheese dip in the other side"). As you can see, he enjoyed his nachos!

They also got to play hockey on the "play field". Will was goalie and Landon ran up and down the field. You can't really see Will in this picture, but he's back there guarding that goal. Nothin's gettin through him!

They had awesome seats, saw several fights and the game came down to the last few seconds. Overall, a very good hockey game! Trent and Brent had a great time too!

Out of the mouths of...uh... umm...well

2011-02-22T12:18:00.000-06:00

From Will on the subject of basketball:

-in a secretive voice, "Mom, do you know why we won?" - why?- "Because every time we got a goal, they would skip a number on the scoreboard!"
-eating lunch at a restaurant after church talking to another family from church - "My Daddy tells me I need to booty bump when I play basketball cause that's what he did!" - Mrs. Carolyn with a big smile, "Oh really huh?" - Will, "yep, he booty bumped cheerleaders when he played basketball!" - big laughter from several tables and Trent's face very red!

From Wyatt randomly:

- "Hey Mom, did you know that whiskey makes babies?" - I say, "no, but I guess you're kind of right" laughing a little. Then he replies, "I know. That's what the song says. Corn makes whiskey and whiskey makes my baby"
-after asking me several questions about what do you call boy cows and daddy cows and baby cows and mommy cows, etc Wyatt says, "Mommy, you just know everything I don't know."

What does Will want to be when he grows up?

- "When I grow up I'm going to be a superhero scientist and invent (whatever he can think of at that moment. ex. a robot with a zillion arms that can do everything for you like brush your teeth and vacuum). Oh and I'm gonna marry Piper (a girl from his class) because she is going to be a scientist too and invent my superpowers."

From Wyatt regarding "Churchy" things:

- Trent was getting the boys dressed for church one morning. (sidenote: Wyatt is obsessed with belts lately) Wyatt had on a sweater (and a belt underneath) and came running into my bathroom saying, "hey mom, you wanna feel my hard thing" all the while patting his belt buckle.
- sitting in Betsy's lap during the Lord's Supper Wyatt looks down and says, "eww, do they cook that?" then as it passes down the aisle, he says, "Now they're gonna pass out the drinks."

Habits:

Both Will and Wyatt have picked up a cute habit of saying "oopsie" lately. For example, "that point doesn't count it was just an oopsie" or with a big smile, "oopsie, I just spilled my miiilllkk".

Wyatt is also in the habit of saying "that is dangerous for gawuls (girls)". I keep telling him girls can do anything boys can do, but 5 minutes later "I just did something very dangerous for gawuls" - like jumping off the couch or something random.
He also loves to greet Trent with "Whatdcha learn at work today Daddy?"

9 Months

2011-02-21T17:33:00.000-06:00

Weston at 9 months old.

Height: 27 1/2 inches - 50th percentile

Weight: 18 lbs 7 oz - 45th percentile

Eats: stage 3 baby food, puffs, cheereos, bread, soft table food, anything he can get into his mouth

Nurses : about 5 times per day (give or take one depending on his mood)

Drinks: We are attempting sippy cups, but he is mostly interested in chewing them and banging them on his boster tray. He does like to drink out of regular cups that we have to hold to his mouth...we are really pushing the sippy cups!

Sleeps: Weston sleeps from about 8:00pm - 6:00am at night and then naps a couple of times during the day. He is simply refusing to nap at consistent times and lengths...okay, maybe that has to do with our crazy schedule right now, but I'm really working on getting him into a nice nap routine.

Says: still saying dada for everything, but he can sign "more" and he really understands what we are saying. I know this because I'll say something like, "do you want to eat?" and he smiles so big and laughs. He can also wave bye bye.

Mobility: He's not crawling, still rolling everywhere. That is Weston's preferred mode of mobility right now...the roll. He sits up, leans forward on his hands and knees and then flops on his belly.

It really looks like his is going to crawl any day now....

He will even reach out for toys on his hands and knees....

But nope. Not gonna crawl.

Weston does love to stand up though. He'll stand in his playpen holding on to the side and his little head isn't even over the top! He'll stand there for a really long time and move from the corner to the side and back to the corner and even play music and dance! He also loves to stand up against anything he can hold to.

He's getting brave and letting go with one hand!

He is getting so big and now that he rolls all over the place, it really keeps me on my toes! He almost rolled down the steps today and I jumped halfway across the bonus room to catch him! The baby gate went back up immediately!

The Castle Park

2011-02-17T09:56:00.000-06:00

This is the Castle Park. The boys have seen this park many times this winter and have begged and begged to play here when it gets warm. Since it has been so warm the past few days, I told them we could go after school yesterday. Gallatin has several parks and we have visited most, but this was the first time to this one. It was a little old and needs some work, but the boys had lots of fun. It's really a HUGE park and we didn't have time to stay long, but the boys got to play for about an hour so they were happy.

They do really good staying together, which really helps when they are lost in the maze of enclosed wood. Wyatt wasn't feeling too good, in fact when we got home he had 102 fever.

You would never know he was sick, he refuses to admit when he feels bad. His asthmatic cough is back too, so that was one way I could keep track of the boys. I could hear Wyatt coughing all over the park. He has a dr appointment today, so hopefully we'll get it all cleared up :(

Will is a great big brother. Even though he is 3 years older and much faster right now than Wyatt, he waits for him and avoids places Wyatt can't climb, etc. He is a big help for me!!

Oh, and he loves to stop and pose for pictures!

Weston had a really good time too. He loved the swings!

Especially when Will jumped in and said, "I want to swing Weston!".

Then Wyatt wanted to swing in the baby swings so Will switched to swing him.

Funny stuff!! I tell ya, there is never a dull moment with these 3!

After the 2nd or 3rd time I had to make Wyatt stop playing, calm down and breathe slowly, we decided it was time to start heading home. They did NOT forget, however, that I had packed snacks, so we had to make a pit stop at the picnic tables before leaving...

The Castle Park was a success, a short trip but nice to get out somewhere besides our yard and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.

Well, now it's off to the doctor office. Weston has his 9 month well visit and Wyatt has his not so well visit. I'll update soon.

Strike A Pose

2011-02-04T13:06:00.000-06:00

Wyatt is our little cowboy. Every single day he asks to "wear a belt", even if it's just for a little while. Once he has a belt on, he absolutely must tuck in his shirt. No matter if it's a sweatshirt, t-shirt, pj shirt...it must be tucked in. Then, he gets his holster and gun, hat and becomes our little cowboy. Most of the time he wears his boots too, but today he was just in his "regular shoes". Today I asked if I could take a picture of him as a cowboy. He smiled REAL big and started posing.

He couldn't find his holster this morning, (it's probably under a couch or something. He wears it daily and then takes it off randomly around the house) anyway, he settled for Will's. You see, Wyatt is mostly left-handed, sometimes he'll switch to his right hand, but most of the time, he is using his left. So, when he's using Will's right hand holster, things are just confusing for him.

He was "shooting" us with his gunless left hand! By the way, this is the "angry cowboy face" that he wanted me to take a picture of. I started laughing. He said, "what mom?" Then made this face....

He was really into this finger shooting thing!

Then, Weston started talking as if to say, "Hey Mom, take a picture of me too. Don't forget about me".

Weston will not go unnoticed! He loves to make his voice heard! Especially when he has rolled into something and can't get out. He's not crawling yet, but getting pretty close! He rolls everywhere he wants to go!

See how close he's getting to the correct crawling position?!

Anyway, that's all for now. Wyatt loves to play dress-up so I really need to get a picture of him in full cowboy gear, full pirate gear and full superhero gear (shirt tied around his neck like a cape). It's really cute.

Craziness

2011-01-25T11:27:00.000-06:00

Scene 1: Our bonus room last night.
Will running a marathon - well not quite - but a 5K at least! When he plays Wii, he thinks the faster his feet go, the faster the people on the video game go. Really cute to watch. But he also whines and panics when he can't do something on a game. Then he will scream "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, I really need you to help me (this part changes each time). Daddy, Daddy, I need you right now." It doesn't really matter what Daddy is doing at the time, Will is in complete panic mode. (He has given up asking me to help :)

Okay, so Will is frantically playing Wii. Wyatt is running through the house yelling "Hippity Dippity, Hippity Dippity, Hippity Dippity....YEAH!! The run/dance that he was doing looked something like a sword fight with a karate kick at the end. He would run all around the bonus room like this, down the hall to his bedroom, back into the bonus room and then jump on Trent. He would usually jump off the steps into the bonus room and bounce off at least one piece of furniture before landing on Trent. He was literally bouncing off the walls last night. I finally asked him where he heard that song. His response, "Ugh Mooom, you know, that commercial with the froggies in a circle and the mommy froggy jumps out." Well I didn't and still don't have any idea what he was talking about so I say, "No Wyatt, I don't know that commercial." Stupid mom answer I guess because he says, "oh Mom, yeah you do, you siwwy (silly)." shaking his head and continuing his song and dance.

Meanwhile, Weston was playing in the floor with Trent keeping guard to protect him from the 2 older wild ones. As long as Trent was talking and playing with him, all was well. As soon as Trent stopped and started helping Will with the game or turned to get Wyatt off his back, belly, etc, Weston would scream the LOUDEST scream ever imaginable. Yes, this happy little baby loves, loves, loves to scream/squeal very loudly. He's not usually mad when he screams, just trying to get some attention I guess. I can see this becoming a problem.....
So, here is Trent trying to give all 3 kids the attention they are so politely requesting. He has a strained look on his face, I'm sure due to the noise level and the bruises that he is sure to be acquiring all over his body, and I'm sitting back laughing to myself, hehehe "Welcome to my world honey!" Isn't he a great Daddy?!

The green blur is Wyatt :)

Scene 2: Our bedroom this morning.

Trent and I are getting ready this morning. Wyatt is in our bed watching cartoons and Weston is beside him safely in the middle of the bed. As I'm washing my face and Trent is in the shower I hear a loud THUD. I look behind me, nope Trent didn't fall out of the shower again, that's a relief. (Oh, have I not recorded that memory yet....Trent has a tendency to fall asleep in the shower. One day as he was sleeping in the shower with his arm propped up on the shower wall cradling his head, this said arm slipped and Trent crashed down. All the way down. Hard. Feet straight up in the air, back pushing against the shower door that is now off the track and leaning into the bathroom. Luckily he wasn't hurt but it was HILARIOUS!!!! Will said he thought it was an earthquake!! ) Okay, back to this morning, Trent is safely still in the shower so I run into our room. Wyatt's still watching cartoons, but Weston is not in the bed anymore. He is on the floor screaming face down. He rolled to the edge and fell right off the bed. He was okay, just a little scared. I asked Wyatt what happened, he said, "oh Weston just fell off the bed".

The end.

January Deep Freeze

2011-01-21T14:18:00.000-06:00

This is me so far this year. Ponytail, Weston on my hip, t-shirt and yoga pants. Just lovely, don'tcha think? Weston has been very clingy and for me to get anything done, I literally carry him around all day. It hasn't helped that we have been in a severe deep freeze the entire month of January. Wyatt has gone to school 2 days so far this month and Will has been out the majority of the month too. He hasn't completed a full week so far! I have been very unmotivated to do any journaling...or pretty much anything else...with all the gray, rainy, snowy, cold, lazy days. Enough of that..."get off your pitty pot and be a man Nancy!" Don't know where that came from, "That 70's Show" I think, but it seems to make me smile!

Here is my attempt at playing catch up:

Weston turned 8 months old on the 13th. He is 18 pounds and moving around everywhere! No crawling yet, but rolling all over the place. He is very interested in playing with toys. He examines them carefully, chews on them a little and bangs them on different things to make noise. A little scientist in the making! He is still generally happy, but becoming very clingy. I think he's getting ready to get some teeth soon! He also gets very frustrated when he can't reach something. Crawling will solve that problem kiddo, just get it together and crawl!

Weston is so funny, he goes from this....

to this, so easily!

He is eating 5 jars of baby food and 1 bowl of oatmeal per day and has added puffs to his diet recently. He has dropped 1 and sometimes 2 feedings and is now nursing 4 or 5 times per day. He loves to read books and is starting to say more "words". So far he says, dadada, bababa, tatata and thathatha.

No mamama yet :( BUT he smiles so big when I get near him and still gives ME the best sugars!

Like I said earlier, this year so far has been a mess, but we have still been busy! Landon had a fun 5th birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. Will started basketball and had his first game. Weston got over RSV and Trent got sick. He's still sick poor thing. I have been EXHAUSTED (no good reason just exhausted) - oh and we've had lots and lots and lots of snow. The boys have really enjoyed playing in the cold wet stuff, and we've done just about everything you can do in snow. Sled, snowman, snow angel, snowball fight, light saber fight, run around crunching the snow, 4-wheeler, ice cream bubbles, swing, "ice slide", we even "mowed" the snow. Out of all the recent snow, today was the only time I actually had my camera. Here are a few pictures from this morning.

Bubbles and swinging....

Fighting of all kinds....

Snow angels...

and Wyatt's headless snow angel. He said, "oh, no I forgot to put my head down. Now I need to make it a head" After great attempts at making the poor angel a head, it just never looked right again.

They really did have fun playing.

Will found an icicle hanging from something and decided it would be good to lick.

Hey Wyatt, try this!

When they were FINALLY ready to go inside, we made hot cocoa and warmed up with some cartoons.

Fun?.... yes, but this snowed-in mom is ready for school and sunshine to once again return.

White Christmas 2010

2010-12-31T20:37:00.000-06:00

It's New Year's Eve and Weston has RSV. Great way to ring in the new year! Actually we're pretty thankful that we aren't celebrating in the hospital, so I guess being in solitary confinement at home is okay. This all started the day after Christmas, so it's been a long week of wheezing, breathing treatments and late night calls to the doctor. He also has an ear infection, so yeah, we've had fun. All that being said, Weston is still the happiest baby! At one visit, the doctor said, "for such a sick little boy, you sure are a happy fellow" I replied with, "you should see him when he feels good!" Can't breathe, throbbing ears, runny nose, not sleeping well, not eating well - but still smiles when you talk to him. Wow, what a trooper! So I'm taking this last opportunity of the year to update on the past few weeks. I have alot of pictures and alot to say - so there - that's the "extra long post" warning.

Weston (pre sickness) at 7 months old. He weighs 18 pounds, and eats 5 jars of baby food, 1 bowl of oatmeal and nurses 5 times per day. He is sitting up very well and loves playing with toys. He loves to hug soft animals and give “sugars” to mommy and daddy. He wraps his hands around your face, squeezes and presses his wide open mouth to your cheek. He’ll do this over and over and then look at you and smile, it’s the sweetest thing! He is wearing size 3 diapers and size 6-9 month clothes.

He says "dada dada" for everything! He sleeps from about 8pm – 6/7am and takes 2 naps per day with some quasi naps thrown in at random times. A couple of weeks before Christmas, during one of Weston's naps, Will and Wyatt wanted to go outside and play in the freshly fallen snow. We got about 3-4 inches and it was SUPER DUPER COLD! (22 degrees or something crazy like that).

We played until frost bite set in and the boys did a great job of clearing off the deck!

After the roads cleared a few days later, we decided it would be fun to go visit Santa. Will and Wyatt both did great and nobody was scared like last year.

Weston was a little confused, Will and Wyatt were a little cheesy, but all in all, a good experience.

They told Santa they wanted a criss cross crash and "all the star wars stuff". Will also wanted a Batman Wii game and Wyatt wanted a new Thomas train set.

Wyatt started the asthma cough stuff again a few days before Christmas and the doctor put him on breathing treatments (we do alot of those around here) and said if he started running fever to let them know. Christmas Eve he ran 102.6 fever. Christmas morning he was pretty yucky feeling but he hung in there and had a great time opening presents! The next day is when Weston started getting sick. Yep, story of our lives right now.

Anyway, Santa was very good to the boys this year.

Wyatt got his train set... They both got the Criss Cross Crash

Will got a cool basketball goal...

They got all kinds of Wii games - batman, star wars, toy story, mario bros AND they got Nintendo DS with games too! These kids must have some kind of deal with Santa or something.
They got cute football uniforms with shoulder pads!

And Cowboy stuff...

And of course lots and lots of star wars stuff. They got so much stuff for Christmas I can't list it all here. We also had a great lesson on donating older toys to charity for other kids to play with. They did great with going through all their old toys and deciding what to donate!

Weston was pretty happy with Santa gifts too! He got a cool booster chair with removable toy tray. And lots of noisy, colorful toys to chase around.

He loved his new finger puppets!

We did wake up to a White Christmas - the first in Nashville in 17 years, although in Portland for Will's first Christmas, we had snow too! How neat, For Will and Weston's first Christmas to be white!

After the boys saw the snow and played with their toys for a little bit, it was time to visit family...and get more presents and more presents and even more presents. They sure don't know how luckily they are. We visited Memur and Pepaw's on Christmas Eve, Daddy Jack's Christmas morning, Nannie and Papa's Christmas mid-morning for Nana's side, and then Nannie and Papa's Christmas afternoon for our immediate family time. The next day was supposed to be Memaw and Poppy's but it was delayed for the snow and we had Sunday to rest and then to their house Monday. It's a busy busy time but fun to be with all our family on the holidays.

Bye Bye 2010, it's been fun. Welcome 2011, we're ready for all the new adventures you have to bring.

Do you hear what I hear?

2010-12-14T10:20:00.000-06:00

Being a mom, I hear all sorts of wacky, silly and sometimes surprisingly profound things at pretty random times. I have heard a few quotes recently that really "spoke" to me. I cannot give appropriate credit, because I honestly can't remember where I saw or heard them.

"A boy is noise with dirt on it" OOOOHHHH so true!

"Cleaning house while your kids are growing is like shoveling snow while it's still snowing." mmm, hmmm.

The kids also give me a wealth of quotes to chose from. Here are a few I've heard recently:

Will - "OOOWWWW!" Me-"What's wrong?" Will - "I just kicked myself in the eye."

Wyatt - "Mommy, I think I peed in my pants, but it's okay, it's just an accident."

Will - "We're out of breath of playing" followed by "we want to watch cartoons"

Will- "I fed Grizzly..." Wyatt jumps in with "And we gave him lots and lots of treats!" Will says, "Yeah, about like 11 bones on top of his food." This prompts me to ask, "how many scoops of food did you give him?" (we usually give him 1 and a half scoops per day) Will answers, "about like 3!"

Wyatt pronounces girl "gwerl". Yesterday he said, "How do gwerls pee pee come out if they don't have wee wee's?" He has already asked this question to me and Trent but this time it was asked to Will. I quickly answered before Will got the chance!

Will - "Daddy will be very, very, extremely proud of me for scrapping off the grill. Cause taking care of grills is alot of work." (talking about scrapping the snow off yesterday)

Wyatt - "I wish we had a dark blue trampoline big enough for us both to jump on Mom. Yeah, that's why we always jump on the couch."

Wyatt - "You know what Mommy? God still loves bad guys, he just not very happy with them right now."

Will - "oh no Mom!! Frethan doesn't have any feet!! Where are his feet?" He was almost in tears at this point until I explained to him that it's so cold in the North Pole that everyone wears their pants over their shoes/feet. "Oh, okay".

Worth a thousand words....

2010-12-10T15:16:00.000-06:00

Good Morning

2010-12-08T09:17:00.000-06:00

This morning I walked into the boys room with the usual, "Good morning boys. Time to get up, wakey wakey." .....nothin....."boys, time to get up. Let's go.".....nothin....I give a little shakey, shakey to Will, "Come on, we're going to be late." At least he's breathing, that's a good thing. "Okay, ya'll sleep a little bit longer while I get your clothes ready." ....Clothes are ready, "Will get up and go potty right now." He gets up and I look to Wyatt's bed and see this.

"Where's Wyatt?" He didn't get up yet....he scooted all the way under the covers and I hear a muffled voice coming from somewhere under there. "What Wyatt? I can't hear you under the covers." Wyatt screams, "Mommy!....My good night sleep is not over yet."

Meanwhile, Will is back and getting dressed with his eyes only half open. (and I wonder why my bathrooms are so disgusting) Suddenly, Will says, "uh Mom, we have a serious problem here." I turn to look and he has his pj shirt stuck on his head inside out with his arms stuck up in the air over his head. I was laughing so hard I forgot to get a picture. He eventually got dressed and ended up like this...

Weston was happy and squealing ALL MORNING LONG! He loves to watch his brothers and squeal loudly.

We were a little slow this morning but we made it.

In other news, Will has his very first basketball practice tonight. He is super excited!

Christmas is quickly approaching and the excitement is spreading around here. We haven't gone to see Santa yet, but we are planning on making the trip soon. The boys do have a direct line to Santa though. They have Frethan the Elf on the Shelf. (Thanks Hanna!) They LOVE LOVE LOVE this elf. Each night, Frethan (they named him a combo of Fred and Ethan) uses his Christmas magic to fly back to the north pole and report to Santa all the good and bad things the boys have done that day. The next morning he flys back and lands in a different spot.

The boys are amazed each morning when they find Frethan. I say, "How did he get up there?" and they say, "He used his Christmas magic Mom!" Wyatt will say things during the day like " Will, the shelf on the elf is watching" (he gets a little mixed up sometimes!) Yesterday Wyatt was whining about something he didn't want to do. He started pouting and I said, "Wyatt, is that how we are supposed to act?"...nothin..."Is that how Mommy and Daddy want you to act?"....nothin..."Is that how God wants you to act?"....still nothin...."Is that how Frethan wants you to act?"...He perked right up, smiled and said, "noooooo!"

I see where I stand!

Weston at 6 Months

2010-11-22T16:52:00.000-06:00

Weston Jack at 6 months:

weight: 16lbs 11 oz

height: 26 1/2 inches

50th percentile in both

diapers: size 3

clothes: 6-9 months

eats: oatmeal and veggies 3 meals a day; nurses 6 times a day

new trick: starting to sit on his own - still a little floppy, but he can do it!

Loves:

playing with toys on his belly,

playing in his exersaucer,

watching his brothers,

laughing at everything,

giving super giant bear hugs and sloppy kisses,

eating,

rocking and rocking and rocking

and giving dramatic facial expressions :)

He got his first cold a couple of weeks ago but he's feeling much better now!

I put him in his aquarium play thingy and he flips and scoots right out of it!

Still the happiest baby ever!

Don't Blink

2010-11-17T12:39:00.000-06:00

"Don't Blink
just like that you're six years old and you take a nap
and you
Wake up and you're twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife
Don't blink
just might miss
your babies growin' like mine did"

Thank you Kenny Chesney (and whoever wrote it) for a great song. It seems like yesterday Will was a newborn baby, we woke up one day and now have 3 kids!! Wow, it goes so fast! And they are so big! 3 little miniature men all cute and smiley. Of course it's not always like that, but on the days where I feel exhausted and lazy and unmotivated (the list goes on, but I'll spare the details), I try to remember that it goes by so fast. Each day is a blessing and they won't be this little long. I better enjoy the moment now before it's gone.

"Take every breath God gives you for what it's worth"

"So I've been tryin' to slow it down
I've been tryin' to take it in
In this here today, gone tomorrow world we're livin' in"

"Don't blink"...good words to describe this past month. It has flown by. In an attempt to slow it down and take it in, I will recap in pictures.

Will turned 6 and Wyatt turned 3. I can't believe it, but yes, it happened. Because we were so busy with vacations and soccer and church activities and Halloween, etc., etc., we decided to have a last minute small party for the boys in between both birthdays. Will wanted a Star Wars cake and Wyatt wanted Spiderman. (it was originally Mickey Mouse - ordered and everything- until a last minute change of heart. Thanks Wyatt)

They partied with their cousins and had a great time! And opened lots of presents of course!

They both wanted new bikes for their birthday. Specifically, a "dirtbike bicycle" was requested from Wyatt and a "bike with NO training wheels" was requested from Will.

I promise they have pants fit now :)

Little Weston cuddled up and enjoyed all the attention. If there is one thing he loves, it's to be held and rocked, which he was the entire time!

On Wyatt's actual birthday, we took him to Logan's (the peanut place). He was SOOO excited and wanted to wear his "birthday hat" the entire time!

He even went up all by himself with the waitress so everyone could yell "yehaaw". Now that he's 3, he thinks he is big stuff. He always says, "that's what we do when we're big and 3."

After a good birthday lunch, we headed to Trunk or Treat at church. The boys had a blast going from car to car and getting all that candy!!

On Halloween, they dressed up again and went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Once again, we got TOO much candy.

Well, there has been so much more going on that I didn't grab the camera for, but the boys have had a super fun time this fall so far! Weston goes for his 6 month well visit tomorrow. Yes, I said 6 months. That means he is now 6 months old....I know, it shocks me too. Gotta slow down and take it all in.

Disney- The Final Chapter

2010-11-12T21:34:00.000-06:00

Our last day in Disney World. :( But it was a fun one! We had promised Will that we would come back to Hollywood Studios so he could participate in Jedi Training and fight Darth Vader. The first time we saw this attraction, we decided it wasn't a good idea to stand in the extremely LONG line but we would come back and do it first thing on another day. On our last day, thinking we could beat the crowds,we rushed straight there as soon as the gates opened. In the few minutes it took to walk to Star Wars, the first 2 shows were already full and it was now a 2 hour wait!! This "training" is for 4-12 year olds so Will and Landon both got to fight, but they only take 15 kids per show (hence the super long wait). Luckily the kids don't have to wait the entire time, as long as they are in line 20 minutes prior to their show, it's fine. SOOO, Trent and Brent volunteered to wait the whole 2 hours in the hot sun! What great dad's!

While the "rent" dad's were tirelessly waiting in line, we decided to take the kids to other rides, etc. Papa decided he would enjoy this break and found a nice shady bench to sit and relax. He also, very generously, offered to watch Weston while we ventured off for a little bit. We were at Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground when Rachel decided she (and her kids) were ready to go back. The rest of this story is from her as Nannie and I were enjoying the playground! Rachel walks up and sees a look of panic on dad's face. Apparently while everyone was gone, Weston was in papa's lap and started grunting pretty heavily. As any experienced diaper changer would do, Papa lets him finish his business before changing the diaper prematurely. All was well until Papa noticed the diaper wasn't holding all the "business". It was now running down Papa's leg and up Weston's back. Here he was stuck on a park bench in the middle of Hollywood Studios with no one around to help. *look of panic begins* He has to cover the stroller so he can lay Weston down without contaminating everything, find the diapers, wipes, and extra clothes in the makeshift diaper bag (which is a hiking backpack packed FULL with extra snacks, drinks, ponchos, everything we might need for a day at Disney) and do all of this while keeping little Weston from screaming. He successfully manages to find everything and change Weston in the stroller -which is not easy even with a "clean" diaper! And Rachel walks up right as he is gathering up the "dirty" clothes. Whew!! What a nice, relaxing rest in the park! Nannie and I return once everything is done and get a good, sympathetic laugh at the story.

Meanwhile, the "rent's" are just about finished with the waiting marathon, Will and Landon get chosen for the upcoming show and we are ready to see our little padawans in action.

Will and Landon with tickets in hand!

They get their robes and light sabers and listen to the "jedi master" on how to fight Darth Vader.

Do a little practice fighting....

Then enter Darth Vader!

He talks to them in true Star Wars fashion about coming over to the "dark side" and the jedi master is right there telling them to be strong and use "the force".

They each get a turn one on one with Darth Vader...

Padawan Will

Padawan Landon

They have learned quickly and Darth Vader turns to leave in defeat.

Watch out for the storm troopers!!

The force is with them as they rally him off the stage.

What a great show! Totally worth the wait right?! Yep, totally worth it!

For the rest of the afternoon,we head over to Epcot to visit the countries and get a couple of cool souvenirs from Nannie and Papa.

Wyatt in his Pluto hat.

Will and his Pluto doggy.

We saw a cool sunset through the pyramid....

And ended the day like this.....Yes they had to sleep with their new toys!

Even Weston slept with his new Goofy (for a minute!)

Thanks Nannie and Papa for our Magical Memories!!

Gee Thanks :- P

2010-11-08T10:41:00.000-06:00

This little post is coming as a request from everyone around us who think this story is hilarious. I, however, do not see the humor in it. I will go ahead and post in hopes that one day, when I am skinny again, I will be able to laugh.
Last week as we finished a very yummy supper I patted my tummy and made the comment, "whew, I'm so full. I have stuffed myself." Will looks at me and says, "yeah Mom, you're fat." Trent and I both gave him a little lesson on etiquette and how saying that would really hurt someone's feelings. We don't call people fat. In an attempt to redeem himself, he gets a big smile on his face and in a happy little voice says, "Wow Mom! I REALLY like your tummy. You must have eaten ALOT!"....."is that better?"

Yep, Will, that's SOOO much better!

My Day

2010-10-28T21:05:00.000-05:00

To steal a FB quote from a friend "the universe seems to be puking on everyone this week". I kinda feel that way right now. No wait, that was Weston puking on me, and he added a little poop to go with it. Back to that in a minute...Today was what I call "a day of great intentions with a very low success rate" kinda day.

Lets start at 4:00am when Wyatt (you know, the sweet little boy hyped up on albuterol and prednisolone who has turned into some unbelievably hpyer, loud and irritable child) had a bad dream and crawls into bed with mommy and daddy. Fast forward to 6:00am when the alarm goes off after I have been only "half sleeping" (yes this is an actual type of sleep you learn from mommyhood) for the past 2 hours. This happened to be the first night where we didn't have to wake up in the middle of the night for a treatment so I was really hoping for a good night sleep... I digress. Alarm goes off, chaos begins. Finally everyone is dressed and ready, the kids are eating, the baby is being force-fed cereal (a total mess but hopefully he'll get the hang of it soon), lunches are made, treatment completed, oops forgot to make coffee - oh well I'm in a rush anyway, who has time for coffee, we are out the door and at Will's school at 7:56am- a whole 4 minutes early! I need to go in the school today to get supplies for a PTO project but I have to circle the parking lot twice because I pass up the far away spots in hopes of a nice near the door spot. No luck- I gather all 3 kids and slowly make it across the parking lot meanwhile dodging all the parents in a hurry to drop off their kids before the bell. No supplies left. Yes, all that extra lugging kids around for nothing. Oh well, at least it's Thursday and Wyatt goes to preschool so I'll have a little down time today, maybe a nap? We make it back across the parking lot and take the van straight to a gas station because the gas light says we now have "10 miles to empty". Because of the change up in routine, Wyatt is now whining, "But I want you to drop me off at school now mommy....Mommy, it's my turn to go to school....why are we going here....getting gas is no fun..." -I said he was irritable. Deep breath, go home for 15 minutes to gather Wyatt's things - it's the October birthday party at school today so I can't forget to get our assigned items to bring. Back in the van and head to his school. We park, get everyone out and lugg across the parking lot only to get greeted at the door by "Oh, we're not having school today because the power is out. Sorry!" Seriously!! I have a dentist appointment in 1 hour and now have 2 kids to bring. A very sad Wyatt whines all the way back to the car, "but Mommy, I really, really, really wanted to go to school today. What about my party?!" I console Wyatt and call Dad, luckily he is not busy this morning and can watch Wyatt for me. (This cheers Wyatt right up!) We rush to Nannie and Papa's house so I can feed Weston and get BACK to Hendersonville by the appt time. I get Weston out of the carseat and HELLO we have an explosion. Attempting to change this diaper/nuclear disaster was not easy. In fact, it took me and dad both to change him. He is now fed and changed and I make it to the dentist right as she is calling my name. Whew! By 12:30, we are back home, Wyatt is napping and I'm feeding Weston again (yes it's the story of my life right now) and all is well. I have time to email the PTO pres and ask what happened with all the supplies?! Oh she took care of it all on Monday, I guess I shouldn't have been such a slacker sorry. By 1:00pm I get to go wake up Wyatt because it's time to pick up Will from school. A whole new whining session begins. We get Will and I realize I haven't renewed the tags on the van which expire in 2 days. Okay, so now we are waiting in line at MARTA with all the other slackers that wait till the last minute. This is such a fun place to be with 3 kids for 45 minutes. While in line at the county clerk (thank goodness they have a drive thru) Trent calls to see how my day is going. So sweet! Except we can't talk because Weston is screaming (yep time to eat again), Will has unbuckled and trying to console Weston which leads Wyatt to want to do the same except he can't re-buckle himself. Will trys to help - this is apparently NOT what Wyatt wants right now - after a few threats and some loud screaming, all is calmed down and we are legal again for another year. We head home to get homework, breathing treatment and baby fed. After another bad mommy moment from me with the homework situation, I leave Will to complete it on his own. He does it correctly and quickly! Go Will!! Now we rush to get to our Halloween playdate at the park for 2 hours until soccer practice begins at 5:30pm. We get everyone costumed up and head out the door only to realize it is FREEZING outside now. What happened??? I now have a baby at the park in the wind and cold in a short sleeve shirt with no socks and no blanket and we only plan to be here about 3 hours. Another bad mommy moment.
Luckily my friends let me borrow a blanket and we stayed in the sun as much as possible. The boys loved getting candy and playing in their costumes, but now it's time for soccer practice. Give the blanket back, head to the other side of the park for practice and call Trent. Oh, he's working late tonight and can't make it to practice, great. After 30 minutes of shivering in the cold, I take Weston and Wyatt back to the van and we watch practice from there. Good thing because Weston is now hungry again. This day is almost over right? We head home, call Trent (still working) and grab some bbq from Buck's. We sit down to eat at 7:00pm and Trent walks in about 10 minutes later. Whew!! So glad he's home! He's happy to give the kids a bath and put them to bed. I want to get in my pj's and crawl into bed myself (yes I know it's like 7:30 but it's been a long week) but then I realize we have no sheets on the bed because I forgot to get pull-ups for Wyatt and he slept in big boy underwear last night. Therefore, we had a nice surprise this morning when we woke him up in OUR bed. So instead I decide to document this wonderful day. I guess I can now go put sheets on the bed and make coffee for in the morning. Good night.

A Disney Birthday Spectacular - Chapter 2 of 3

2010-10-27T16:41:00.000-05:00

Everything Disney is so grand, the title had to match, right? It was a pretty spectacular birthday. I don't know if anything could beat a party at Disney World!! Will turned 6 years old on the 29th and we spent most of the day at Animal Kingdom. We ended with fireworks at Magic Kingdom and 4 very tired little boys! We had reservations for breakfast at Tusker House and the boys were SOOO excited!

We ate with....

Mickey Mouse

Donald and Daisy Duck

and Goofy

Will wore a pin all day long that said it was his birthday and even got this cupcake with a candle to blow out!

After breakfast, we rode rides ALL DAY LONG! Some people in our party rode the river rapids 7 times that day (4 times in a row without even getting off!) Those said people were DRENCHED! The lines were once again amazing! Will was big enough to ride a super cool roller coaster, Mount Everest. He didn't like it too much because he thought the Yhetti was going to get him. But he LOVED the dinosaur ride where very large life-like dinosaurs were actually coming at you, I don't get it...anyway.

We went on Safari and saw very cool animals very close to our jeep! This lion was walking around like he was a king or something. hehehe

The pictures from the Safari were compliments of Trent because, like pretty much everywhere else, I was busy feeding Weston. Yes, I fed Weston any and everywhere. With my trusty hooter hider, well, actually I have the brand udder cover, it was no problem.

Trent even decided to get an inconspicuous shot of me...

Animal Kingdom also has a very cool set of bongos, and, of course, the boys all had to try them out!

After a fun filled adventure at Animal Kingdom, we decided to go to Magic Kingdom, get a few rides in and watch the big firework show.

We sat in a pretty cool non crowded place (beside the carousel and dumbo) and the fireworks were going off on both sides of us! It was neat to be in the middle of the show!

We saw a Mighty Donald and the Great Pumpkin...

And by the end of the day, the boys were zonked!

This week at the Napier's

2010-10-26T15:54:00.000-05:00

I will get back to the Disney pics next time around, but I wanted to jot down the current happenings at the Napier household this week. It's been a full one for sure! I'll start with good news! Will got his very first ever real school report card! Yep, he has completed the first 9 weeks of school and he has done very well. He received all "M's" (in Kindergarten the grades are M- mastered, I - can't remember that one, and B - beginning. He has mastered all the skills for the first 9 weeks and only had 2 checks in the "needs to work on" category. He needs to work on "disturbing others while working" (aka talks too much) and " following directions" (aka he talks to much while the teacher is giving directions). These sound pretty negative but the teacher said he is a real pleasure to have in class and once she asks him to be quiet, he does. She also said he is one of her smartest students.
On other subjects, Halloween is coming up which means lots of parties, hayrides and trick or treating. It also means Wyatt will be 3 years old! His birthday is Saturday and we will have another full day. We have a soccer game in the morning, hopefully go out to the "peanut place" for a birthday lunch and then trunk or treat at church that night. He'll be super excited to get to wear his costume!!
Wyatt has had a tough time these past few weeks. For about 4 weeks now he has been coughing constantly. It's mainly when he runs and gets winded (which is all the time). He'll have these little coughing fits, turn really red and I have to make him sit down to relax for a while. No other symptoms, just coughing. It gets really bad at night too. The dr gave us medicine to try for a week. That didn't help, so I took him back and he was wheezing, needed a breathing treatment and has to go back in 3 days. He has to take a breathing treatment every 4 hours (even through the night) and a steroid medicine. He does really good with the treatments but he is SOOOO hyper with all this medicine. He goes back to the dr on Wednesday so hopefully he can discontinue all this mess! He still sounds like he is breathing hard even when he's resting on the couch. It's just so pitiful to make him sit with that machine all the time. He pretends he's Darth Vader or an elephant (whichever he's in the mood for) so he doesn't mind too much.
Well, now Weston's crying, guess it's time for him to eat!
Make it a great day!

The Great Disney Vacation - Chapter 1 of 3

2010-10-20T09:55:00.000-05:00

Yay!! I'm finally getting around to posting about our Great Disney Vacation!! What a crew!! Yes, all 11 of us went to Disney World for a week of fun and entertainment! We had such a good time and it will only take 3 posts to get everything journaled! I have WAY too many pictures but have filtered it down to a somewhat more manageable level. Anyway, the week we went happened to be the same week as Will's 6th birthday. What a cool birthday present!! The ages for the kids were as follows: Will-6; Landon - 4; Wyatt- 2; Noah- 2; Weston- 4 months. They were amazed by the characters and all the "storybook" rides like Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh, etc. The Haunted Mansion was the very first ride we rode and I think it scared most of the boys a little more than they expected - they didn't ask to ride that one again! We were able to ride all the rides multiple times if we wanted to because the lines were so short!! We waited about 10 minutes per ride and most of the time, that was just how long it took to walk to the front. All the kids were able to ride most of the rides as well. The ones that Wyatt and Noah were too short for, we would get a switch ticket and walk right back up to the front for a second ride. Wyatt and Noah were very good about waiting - Wyatt would say "When I get big enough, I'm going to ride that too."

Not quite big enough for Splash Mountain but he waited patiently for the rest of us to ride.

We ate LOTS and LOTS of good food on our trip!!! We had a reservation each day for a big meal and the food was awesome!! We ate at Hollywood N Vine (with the Playhouse Disney characters), O'Hana's (a family style luau), Coral Reef (aquarium restaurant), Donald's Safari Breakfast (with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy), Tusker House, and Tepon Edu (Hibachi Style). We also had some very good food at the quick service places our awesome travel agent, Bryan Harris, suggested. Bryan is an expert on Disney (as well as other places I'm sure!) and with his tips and advice, he made sure we got the most from our vacation!

The boys were amazed looking at their Playhouse Disney friends walking around the restaurant before we went in. Wyatt and Noah didn't like them coming to our table, but Will and Landon would get up to sing and play with them. Wyatt loved to hug the characters in the park, but when it came to eating, he preferred them to keep their distance!

Wyatt had no problem hugging Donald and Daisy right after we ate!

We visited all the parks more than once and really fit everything in that we possibly could! It was a week of walking alot, eating alot, and laughing alot. What could be better?!

This was pretty cool to see Lighting McQueen and TowMater...

We visited San Fransisco about a hundred times during this trip. We kept going past it as we circled the park time after time. I love this picture- you can see Weston's feet sticking out of the stroller and Wyatt is being mr. joe cool!

Of course we took a picture in front of the castle!! That is a must do!

Most of the days we would stay until closing (which during the fall is a more reasonable time, usually 8 or 9pm) so we could watch the fireworks. Magic Kingdom has a great show, Hollywood Studios is a very cool show and Epcot is great too (Animal Kingdom doesn't do fireworks for obvious reasons!). They were all very different and worth staying to see.

Will liked them, Wyatt would cover his ears and snuggle up really tight but watch, Landon and Noah didn't like them at all. It's the loud noises I think. Anyway, they all had a great time with everything else!

The resort where we stayed was AWESOME! We stayed at Pop Century and it had so many larger than life pop icons...the boys thought it was the coolest! We stayed in the section dedicated to the 1950's, in the Lady and the Tramp building.

They also had a very cool kiddie pool area with "jumping water" that the boys LOVED.

I have so many more pictures and stories to tell. Chapter 2 is dedicated to Will's birthday and Chapter 3 is dedicated to Jedi Training (yes that is a whole chapter in itself!).

I will post those over the next couple of days.

Have a Magical Day!!

Mr. Rolley Polley is 5 Months Old

2010-10-13T21:47:00.000-05:00

Weston has grown so much this past month! He is now rolling over and doing "sit-ups" every time he can. He is beginning to look like a little cheerleader with the leg lifts!! Can't you just see it now? Go Team Go!!!

And he has already learned the fine art of "open mouth, insert foot"! (He gets that from Trent :)....oh...uh...I'm just kidding honey!!)

All joking aside, Weston really is settling into his very own personality. He is low maintenance, mild mannered, and extremely happy. He is very content to sit and watch his brothers, or me or tv, or really anything. He is beginning to play with toys and put everything he grabs to his mouth. I would think he would be ready to start cereal but we tried that... AND...no, he is not ready to start cereal. As I'm preparing the cereal, both Will and Wyatt were making loud gagging noises and saying, "ewwww, gross what is that? yuck!! why are you feeding that to him? that's disgusting mom" Weston is looking at me like, "Really Mom? What in the world are you feeding me?" He would open his mouth for each bite and then push it all right back out with his tongue. I know he'll learn to "acquire" the taste for rice cereal (and the boys will just have to get over that!), but maybe by next week he'll have a little more mouth/spoon coordination.

On the rolling over thing, he has it down pretty good! He rolls over ALL THE TIME now but has convinced himself that he cannot make it back over from his belly. He can. I know this because I have seen it on multiple occasions. I guess sometimes he just feels the need to scream at the top of his lungs until I roll him back over. I don't know, maybe it's a game or something.

You wouldn't be playing games with mommy now would you Weston?

For his official 5 month stats: he weighs 16lbs and...that's all I got, sorry Weston. Next month will be the always fun "well baby check-up" so I'll have more stats to share then.

Meanwhile, here are some more pictures of him in the gray, plaid highchair. (Note to self, take more pictures of Weston when he's NOT in the highchair)

I'm Happy

I'm Playing

I'm cute as a button!!

Randomness

2010-09-23T13:23:00.000-05:00

After the previous post and the tough stuff the kids have been through lately, maybe some smiles would do us good. So.... time to spread a little cheer and talk about some fun things we've been up to .....

What better to make a person smile than cupcakes? I mean, 72 tiny cupcakes individually iced and decorated in bright colors and sprinkles....what could be better?! This is what I took to Will's school to celebrate his birthday. The kids LOVED them

Notice Will sits with all Girls...apparently he talks too much with the boys . I can't imagine that :)

As for this past weekend, we went to a Family Retreat at church. It was so much fun! They had a giant slip n slide that Will slid down over and over and over and over....

Will and his friend Braden completely drenched in soapy suds

That's Will with the red hair...he got his hair painted at a festival for school that morning.

Wyatt, however, did not like the slip n slide so much...

He preferred to stay here.... And here.....

He would stand at the top of the big slide, take a giant jump and say "wheeeee".

And here he is jumping with lots of girls (he is hidden behind the girl in the yellow shirt). I heard a very loud squeally scream coming from this jump house....it was Wyatt, not the girls screaming.

So Weston, what do you think about this whole deal?....

We came back from the Family Retreat with a fresh new start to the week and yesterday, Will celebrated a Butterfly Launch at school. As a school, they have watched 500 caterpillar larvae grow into Monarch Butterflies. Wednesday was the celebration to let them all fly away and begin their migration to Mexico. Yes, Will can tell you all about it! They had lots of songs and performances from each class. The students even painted this great artwork "A Butterfly's Life"

The Kindergartners all stood together to sing a few songs....

Will was so excited for this day and he would practice his songs all the time!

When they let the butterflies go, it was pretty cool!

It was nearly impossible to catch on camera though....

Anyway, the kids loved it and it was a great learning experience for them.

In other random news....

We have a tooth!!! Yes, Weston has his first tooth poking through the gums...not quite all the way through yet. And it's on the side not the front...weird huh?!

AND.....

...we are leaving tomorrow for the Happiest Place On Earth....yes we are leaving for Disney World!!!

Have a happy week....we sure will :)

Sweet Oscar

2010-09-20T22:04:00.000-05:00

Our sweet Oscar passed away last night. He had a neurological disorder that may have resulted from an injury to his spine where he was losing function in his legs. This had been going on since the spring and although it was getting worse each day, he could still run and play with a slight limp. Last night he completely lost all function in all 4 of his legs, could not stand up or even hold his head up. Trent took him to the emergency vet clinic where he then had to make the extremely hard decision to let him pass away peacefully or try to prolong his life with medication and surgery. The vet said he would probably not make it through the night on his own, and even with medication and surgery, the outlook was very "grim". She said with his age and the severity of the condition, we did the best thing.

Yesterday afternoon we were playing in the backyard and the boys wanted to give Oscar and Grizzly a doggie treat. Oscar didn't jump up and run to the treat box like normal, he just laid in the grass. When Will brought the bone to him, Oscar tried to get up, yelped really loudly and fell flat on his nose. He couldn't put any weight on any of his legs and couldn't hold his head up very well either. I took the boys inside and Trent took Oscar to the vet. While we were inside I was trying to act like everything was okay and distract the boys with cartoons and toys. About an hour later I noticed that Will was still holding the bone for Oscar. I asked him about it and he said, "Since Oscar couldn't eat his bone, I wanted to save it for him in case he wants it when he comes back." He kept holding the bone and when we ate supper, he put the bone on the table right beside his plate. I asked him to move it to the counter but we could still give it to Oscar later. It was bedtime before Trent got back and we told the boys that Oscar was gone. We told them that the doctors tried really hard but Oscar died and went up to Heaven. Wyatt was sad and asking questions, but he was okay. Will was very, very upset. He said, "Why did he have to die?....I just loved him so much.....who will I play ball with?....oh mom, now he'll never get to eat his bone." I told him we could bury the bone in the backyard and that way it can go to Heaven so Oscar can eat it. Both boys really liked this idea and Will said, "Katie (my parent's dog that passed away about a year ago) really loves bone's too mom, I think we should bury 2 so she can have one too."

Will about 9 months old

Trent and I got Oscar when he was a year old right after we got married. He has been here for the boys' whole lives.
He sure gave us lots of problems with his digging and chewing and escaping fences, but he gave us lots of sweet times too. His absolute favorite thing to do was chase a ball. Trent spent alot of time with him throwing the ball and teaching him to do things. Oscar was a very quick learner and a great retriever. He loved to play with the boys too, no matter what they were doing. He was always right there with them.

Oscar was a sweet, lovable, goofy dog that we will miss terribly.

Bye Bye Sweet Oscar. We hope you get your bone in Heaven and get to play lots of ball.

We love you!

4 Months ....for now

2010-09-15T13:12:00.000-05:00

Weston Jack turned 4 months old on Monday. Yes, 4 months old....that means he can start eating cereal and vegetables and start rolling over and before I know it, he'll be crawling and talking and then starting kindergarten. Okay... deep breath... the time is going so quickly! I wish he would stay in this happy baby stage for a little while longer. Everyone says, "I can't wait until they start doing this or that....", well, I say -I've been there before and it doesn't get any easier! Sure, some things get better like the nursing every 3 hours and changing diapers constantly and carrying him everywhere, but as they grow you are introduced to a whole new kind of busy!
The journey of parenting is ever changing and a constant challenge. I guess that's what makes it interesting!

Back to the present...Weston is officially 4 months old.
He weighs 15lbs and is 25 inches long. This puts him in the 60th percentile on both stats. He is still VERY happy. I really think he is the happiest baby ever. He hardly ever fusses just to fuss. He is either hungry, tired or has a poopy diaper when he cries, and once that is fixed, back to happy...seriously!

This month he has really started using his hands. He likes to grab his foo-foo, pull it out of his mouth and then try really hard to get it back in. In fact, he is doing this exact thing right now on the floor beside me. He can't get it back in yet, but he doesn't fuss about it, nope, he just keeps trying. He also loves to grab toys and examine them. He's not really playing yet, but he is sure interested in giving them a good look over. He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to cuddle with a blanket or his bear. He cuddles them in his arms and rubs his face. So sweet!
(update on him playing in the floor beside me...In the few minutes it took me to type this out, he tried to get his foo-foo back in but couldn't, didn't fuss about it, cuddled his little bear and went to sleep. How easy is that?!)

Anyway, he has also found that his feet make a pretty interesting play toy.

Notice the "John Black look" - yeah, he gets that from Trent!

I'm pretty happy that he can stay occupied with his feet and a few toys right now, because next week we are leaving for Disney World! Hopefully he won't get too bored riding around in his stroller all the time! Will and Wyatt are SOOO excited!!I can't wait to go and I'll be sure to take lots of pictures!

2-Wheelin'

2010-09-07T11:51:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we asked Will if he wanted to take his training wheels off and try to ride his bike. He said, "YES...Yay!!" We were at Memur and Pepaw's house and they have a nice long, grassy, gradual hill that would be perfect for practicing his 2-wheel skills. He was SOOOO excited but asking lots of questions at the same time. Will tends to blurt out whatever is on his mind at the time, so questions that some people would have but not voice, are always voiced with Will! He was so excited and asking, "what if I fall? Will it hurt? What if I can't get back up again? What happens when I need to stop? What should I do when I go too fast?".....and on and on and on. He asked about 50 questions in a 2 minute time span. Anyway, he jumped on, Trent pushed him around 1 lap and then let go. He never fell down! He kept going and going. He did great! When he started to lean too much, he put his feet down to catch himself. He can start on his own and stop on his own. He even got going really fast down the hill, took both feet off the pedals said, "wheee" , caught himself again and kept going!
He did a great job and is an official 2-wheeler now!

I speak Wyatt

2010-09-03T09:42:00.000-05:00

Yes it's true. I am completely fluent in "Wyatt". You've never heard of this language before? Well, it's spoken around our house all the time and I seem to be the only one (besides Wyatt himself) that understands. He has such a deep voice and combine that with the strong "Wyatt" accent, it gets difficult to understand sometimes. When Wyatt talks to grown-ups at church, school, grocery stores, etc, this is what happens. The grown-up will lean down, ask him a question, say "oh, uh huh" and pretend to understand everything, then they'll look up at me with this "I have no idea what this child is saying, please help" look and I'll translate his response to the more common "English" language. It's a system that works fairly well for now. Hopefully soon, his ESL classes will start to show some results. Oh well, at least I'll have a bilingual preschooler - that's pretty cool right?! In the meantime, here is a short cheat sheet for some of the cuter things he says.

Hop-cycle course - translates to: obstacle course

Example quote from yesterday: "My built a hop-cycle course with balls today mommy"

Ottoman- translates to: Almond

Example: "My really really want some ottomans mommy"

Buttons - translates to top portion of female anatomy

Example quote from last week: "My want big buttons too mommy. And my want milk in them." Don't worry, I talked to him about that one.

He is really very sweet with his comments and is constantly coming over with a big hug and saying, "My like you mommy".

Nannie was giving him an "Eskimo kiss" the other day and he asked, "why that called Eskimo kiss?" He then answered his own question and said, "is that how Eskimos love?" So sweet!

He loves to sing, especially at the piano but he WILL NOT sing if you ask him to or if anyone is looking. Here is an example:
He was singing "Jesus Loves Me" at the piano. I got my camera out very discretely and started filming him. He sees me, stops what he is doing and then refuses to sing anymore. In fact, a couple of days later, he sat down at the piano and said to himself, "I really want to sing Jesus Loves Me but mommy will take my picture." I told him I wouldn't, but he didn't actually start singing until I put the camera up in a cabinet and promised I wouldn't even listen to him. Whew... he's a stubborn little stinker!

Another First...Wyatt's in Preschool!

2010-08-18T12:14:00.000-05:00

Wyatt started Mother's Day Out yesterday at First Baptist Hendersonville. He absolutely loved it!! He has been talking about it nonstop for weeks and was so excited to go for his first day. He got to pick out a backpack and new tennis shoes and he loves to show them off. For the backpack he picked Toy Story and for the shoes he wanted "light up sketchers...no actually z-strap sketchers". I really think this was only because Will has those, but I'm in trouble if the brand-name pickiness is already starting at 2 years old! We settled for some Walmart z-strap sketchers...same thing to him but much cheaper for mommy! Anyway, he had a great first day, no tears at all! We dropped Will off at school and Wyatt said, "okay, now lets go to my school!" He ran right into his classroom and when I picked him up, he was smiling and he said, "mommy, guess what? I just slept at school!" He met new friends and played outside and ate lunch from his lunchbox (another thing he was WAY excited about) and slept on a cot. Whew! I'm glad he had such a fun day!

Wyatt loves to show off the backpack!

With the boys starting school and especially Will starting real, big boy Kindergarten with lunch lines and gym class and hall monitors and 5th graders ...I could go on and on but you get the picture, this letter seems to sum up all the emotions Trent and I are feeling right now. Betsy sent it to us, and it was given to her when Trent started Kindergarten. It's so hard to watch your little man venture out into the real world with real problems and not be there to brush him off or wipe his tears. If I'm so worried about Kindergarten and elementary school, I can't imagine what college is going to be like. I'll have 12 more years to prepare I guess!

Thank you Betsy! Such a sweet letter and I really hope the world treats our boys gently.