++Our tropical Christmas++

Here's a quick recap of our trip to Florida. It was a nice mini-vacation for us. We were originally going to celebrate in Tennessee but when it ended up just being my parents and us, we decided to go to them instead. A beach for Wyatt, golf for Mark, shopping for me...who could ask for more?

Making pancakes with Nana (like the new "cheese" we get sometimes?)

"Ta daahhh" Wyatt shows off his sandcastle

Playing at this fun tree house playground in Downtown Naples (just prior to going out to dinner on the water...not knowing in was Nutcracker night and Wyatt was going to be traumatized by the costumed waitstaff.)

Checking out the birds at the Naples Zoo. If I look afraid, it's because I am. (also...here's your 30 week shot)

Looking at monkeys from the boat. No fences here---the water does the job.

Not sure who had more fun...I'm guessing the big boy in white.

Does this look like your Christmas Eve?

The little beach bum.

An attempt at a nice photo with Nana and Bompa. He's not too into having his picture taken these days. Good thing I'm getting a new subject soon.

Helping Nana unwrap her gifts. Again---this cracks me up with the view of the pool and golf course in the background. It just doesn't quite add up for me!

++Wyatt and Santa...the saga+++

Our Christmas has been a little disjointed this year so I decided to group some of the photos into themes rather than chronologically. This was the first year that Wyatt sort of got what was going on at Christmas. He definitely recognized the character of Santa and pointed him out wherever he saw him. I decided I would tell him how Santa brought gifts and ask what he wanted Santa to bring him. He wasn't sure so I thought I would manage his expectations by having him anticipate some of the things that Santa might actually bring. So I asked---"Would you like it if Santa brought you some blocks?" he said that sounded good. That is where the conversation ended. Two weeks later I get this cute little interview recap from school:

My name is: Wyatt

Christmas is about: blocks

I want Santa to know that: I want a firetruck

The gift that I will GIVE mommy this year is: a tree and a train

I really hope I get a: block for Christmas

I know that Santa is watching me because: Mommy said he was

So I'm not sure how much the led him on some of those answers but the block answer was all his...too funny!

Round two was preparing him for sitting on Santa's lap. It just didn't seem the same not having our little group of friends go downtown Minneapolis to the same place I always went as a child for my Santa photo. So, we took advantage of the free Santa meet and greet at the clubhouse in our neighborhood. Wyatt had no interest in going but we told him over and over that this was his chance to tell Santa he wanted blocks. When we got there he wouldn't get near Santa. Finally I just told Mark that we should just plop him on his lap and quickly photograph whatever happens (hmmm...you'd think I would have learned something from Halloween!).

See the fear in that face? He sits down, doesn't even look at Santa and just keeps saying "blocks....blocks....blocks..." Then, he got used to the idea, and was enjoying his candy cane, and didn't want to get off.
Well, believe it or not, Santa followed Wyatt all the way down to Florida and delivered a stocking full of goodies on Christmas morning (along with a note telling him that he left the big stuff at his house back home...where we were headed later that day).
The biggest hit: the flashlight!
And...just to prove that I held true to my word of simplifying this year...this was the complete Christmas take from Florida. Everything we took home with us fit into the trike basket Wyatt got from my parents. Mainly because Mark and I didn't really get gifts for each other, instead we got "licenses to buy". Me: a new camera (yippee!!! stay tuned---and if you don't see any noticeable difference in the photos, just humor me and lie) Mark: a new driver (unfortunately there won't be any lying about the performance there as his scores will tell the true story).

And Santa didn't disappoint. When Wyatt got home from the airport waiting in the living room were three big gifts (which included the BLOCKS---which dad seems to be having more fun with these days).
Christmas has continued to trickle in for us. There were a few more presents under the tree that didn't go to Florida. We received a few gifts in the mail and Grandma and Grandpa are arriving on Thursday for a quick weekend (and two big boxes from them arrived yesterday that undoubtedly hold more Christmas fun for Wyatt).

Finally...I forgot to post this back when it happened. Here is Wyatt at his school's Christmas program. I went in with zero expectations. He did go up on stage willingly...and stood there...with his finger in his mouth while all the little girls around him sang. The best part is that the whole way home he told us all about how he sang on the stage and saw us waving to him in the audience.

++One Year++

It's hard to believe that one year ago today our life looked like this:
Thank goodness we have our life mostly put back together down here and with the exception of the recent child adding project we have undertaken, we even have all of the photos hung, etc. Funny how it always seems like there are more little things to be done though.

I'd be lying if we said that we loved Memphis. It kind of reminds me of when we lived in Ann Arbor and basically had to ignore the news out of Detroit because it was just too depressing. Life is also governed by the mega-church which is a whole new phenomenon to the quiet Lutheran in me. They have huge campuses and health clubs and put on all sorts of carnivals and events for every holiday.

Living out in Collierville is just fine though. We can exist in blissful ignorance with all the McMansions (trust me, our house is modest compared to many here), huge SUVs and strip malls. I'm getting used to driving all over the place on these windy two-lane roads...but I still miss being blocks from the major arteries of Minneapolis (and won't even begin to go into how much we miss our dear friends...)

We know it won't be long before it's time to head off to our next spot. We plan to be there longer so I'm being picky. We'd like to get closer to family again so visits can return to long weekends rather than big cross-country treks. We'll never be able to get close to everyone though since my family has decided to spread to the two opposite corners of America. We could make it worse by moving to Maine though! Everyone keeps asking when we are moving. Right now we're hoping that nothing does come up as we need to get through the last 9 weeks of this pregnancy and ideally the first month or two of the new baby before I'll be remotely ready to take all the boxes...again. I am hoping to avoid another oppressive Memphis summer though. For now we are enjoying the fun friends we have met down here and the fact that it was 70 degrees here yesterday!

++Ho ho ho++

We're blogging remotely from sunny Florida this week. I can't complain at all as it seems the rest of the country has been snowed in. We've been treated to low 80s and sun every day! Wyatt is loving the beach and the pool and most of all, the golf cart. I think he could just hang out on it in the garage for hours.

I don't think I will download photos until I get home so I'll have to treat you to some from the last days before we left Memphis. Here's Wyatt giving himself a Santa beard.

Here's an outtake from our Christmas card shoot...I think I took about 250 to get one. I was working around the fabulous ringworm and trying to be artistic and get the Christmas lights on the bush behind him...uhhh...as you can see I still have a lot to learn (and we may need to be a little more generous with the lights next time).

Today we're off to the zoo. My parents have been here for twelve years and never gone. Nothing like having a toddler to open your eyes to new things in your own town. For those of you in the rest of the country---keep warm! Check out Susan's blog and see that winter has even invaded Seattle.

++Random: Round two++

Project bed continues around these parts. The big news is that the bed arrived. Wyatt was really excited to help his dad put it all together.

He was also eager to show off the end result. And jump... We also have a matching dresser and night stand. I'll take a picture of the whole room once the transformation is complete...which includes getting rid of the crib. After a rough week Wyatt has been doing better staying in his bed when we put him down. However, we keep discovering him on the floor in our room in the middle of the night. He doesn't say anything...but we look and find a little mound sleeping on the carpet. No pillow, no blanket, just Wyatt and carpet. Not sure what to do about this one. (note: if the headboard looks huge it's because we don't have the boxspring on yet and the mattress is set at the lower of two settings...even though he acts like King Wyatt we didn't get him a throne bed.)

Now onto the next project... My poor baby girl is getting the shaft when it comes to rooms. The nicer room upstairs is the guest room. This room only has one little window. I guess it gives us lots of options for arranging the furniture! We decided to leave it blue. The bedding has blue in it and there aren't any other blue rooms in the house. Plus---we'll be moving before we know it and then we can get her a better room and set it up for good. After Christmas we'll move full speed ahead on completing the room for baby girl.

I'm learning the hard way about the dangers of saying ANYTHING to a toddler. A long time ago I dubbed a time when Wyatt was running around the house sans pants a "no pants party". Well, now he asks for a no pants party every day. It has evolved into other things as well...a no shirt party, a no sock party. And, as you can imagine, most of these times aren't much of a party for me as I would prefer to have my child fully clothed. Mark would probably like to take this opportunity to point out the muscles in Wyatt's legs as he did to me last week. Now if we can just get his height to pull through Mark's dream of his super-athlete can be on it's way...

Last Friday we went to the Collierville Christmas parade. It was actually unseasonably cold for down here. It felt cold even to us northerners because we don't really have the right gear. Wyatt did agree to wear a hat and mittens though which surprised me. The parade was at night and there were lots of bands and floats with lights. Wyatt liked the firetrucks the best...big surprise there!

I'm all done with Christmas shopping. It's been really low-key this year since we'll be in Florida and can't really bring much with us there and we have to ship our gifts to the rest of our family...lots of online shopping for me! This will be the first year we will spend Christmas without celebrating with most of our family. In the past we were able to work it out to hit both groups either before or after the holiday. As I prepare for Christmas it just doesn't quite seem the same without all of that...but I just keep reminding myself that the three (almost four) of us are a family now too.

++Random: Round one++

I have all sorts of photos that I have taken thinking "this will be good blog fodder" fully intending them to be individual posts for your enjoyment. Well, I'm way too far behind to do it that way so here comes a random hodge podge of life here.

Here we are ("my girls" as Mark calls us) at 26 weeks...on Thanksgiving. I'm heading towards 29 weeks now--does that really mean only 11 more to go? I can't decide if that's good or bad.

Our Thanksgiving crew. Wyatt decided not to partake in any of the feast except for two helpings of cooked carrots. He also informed us that he was ready to go home right at 8pm...his bedtime. Oh---and the brined turkey was yummy. I highly recommend it!

"Washing dishes" is a favorite pastime these days. It's a great way to kill a half an hour but it is a tad messy...especially since he hasn't quite grasped the concept of volume and tends to pour from the big cups to the small ones. Our floors have never been so clean.

We put our tree up right after Thanksgiving so we can get our money's worth since we'll be gone the week before Christmas. It was really fun for everyone since we didn't put one up at all last year. I had kind of forgotten about lots of our ornaments and decorations. Wyatt got a kick out of the ones that Mark and I had as kids. He also had fun matching the colors of the ornaments (blue with blue, red with red, etc.) "They're exactly the same!" he'll tell us. This is him "helping" his dad on the ladder. Did I mention we got a misfit tree by accident? We assumed it would fall and be fuller, but it didn't.Wyatt helped his dad put the star on the top of the tree. Every morning when he wakes up and walks by the tree he says "uh oh mommy, tree lights off" so we plug them in and he says "ta daaa" as I must have said that the first time I did it.

Finally, an update on the ringworm. It's pretty much gone. It still looks bad in these photos because they are a week old. It's much more faded now. Hopefully he'll be ringworm free by the time we head to Florida.

++Happy Birthday Larson!++

To our favorite three-year-old: We hope your day is full of lots of diggers and firetrucks and trains and cupcakes and frosting...and most importantly lots of the color green. We love you buddy! XOXO Aunt Kate, Uncle Mark and Wyatt

++Our latest visitor++

We have a new visitor in our home these days: ringworm. Yes, it's lovely. The doctor must have sensed the look of horror on my face at the diagnosis as he assured me that it not only isn't a worm but it is also fairly common and easy to get rid of. It started out looking like a pimple on his face and then just grew into a dime sized circle that wouldn't go away. We're so spoiled with Wyatt's health that I'm just not accustomed to going to the doctor for anything. So first I sent some close-ups to my sister doctor for triage. She agreed it needed treatment so we took him in.
The rest of us have been fighting a cold. Mine just seems to keep hanging on. It makes sleeping, which isn't the greatest anyways these days, all the more challenging (hence the 5:45a blog post).

Here are a few fun photos I took of Wyatt who was having a blast playing in the leaves in our front yard over the weekend (you can see our friend the ringworm as well). Yes...just another thing that seems not quite right about living here...the leaves are changing and falling while people are putting up Christmas decorations. The color schemes just don't work for me.

++Making room for baby++

Not long after we learned about #2 being on the way, I started to think about (and dread) the transformations that would need to take place physically with our house to get ready for the new one. When we bought the house a year ago we insisted on getting a house with two bedrooms on the main floor for a new baby if that were to happen. In the mean-time, we put Wyatt in the room across the hall from us to keep things easy.
As time has passed, I started to realize that evicting him from his room would be easier said than done. Because his room is so centrally located, it just seemed mean to take it away from him, put the new baby in it (who is getting all the attention anyway) and essentially banish him upstairs (a place we don't spend a lot of time right now). So...once again I am eating my words and leaving Wyatt, who is old enough to know better, and putting the new baby upstairs, because she isn't. Secretly I'm hoping it will help me shed the pregnancy pounds...but all the while I know there is another bedroom up there and if I get tired of the up-and-down I can just sleep up there too (don't think Mark will complain about that!). All the while just crossing our fingers that we get another one that sleeps through the night at 8 weeks.

The flip side of all this is the crib and bed issue. In addition to the room swap, I have been dreading taking Wyatt's crib away. He seems to love it and most of all: he is such a good sleeper! I didn't want to mess with a good thing. We've been talking up the bed big time. More importantly, we picked him out some bedding that hit on all of his favorites: firetrucks, buses, diggers, taxis, tractors, etc. All the while being surprisingly cute to look at (thank you very much Land of Nod). Well, the box came yesterday (we're still waiting for the new furniture). Wyatt couldn't wait to take it out and look at it. Then he wanted to test it out:


We then moved it into his room and played on it for a while longer. At bedtime when it was time to read stories, he insisted we do it on the "blanket" and when it was time to go into his crib--nope! He wanted to sleep on the floor. So we left the room with Wyatt on the floor on top of his new comforter fully expecting to see him in a couple of minutes...nope again! We put him in his crib before we went to bed. He asked about his blanket again first thing in the morning. Tonight I think we will bring the mattress into his room and go with it until the actual bed arrives...this could work out fine. That is, until we encounter the first night he decides he isn't ready for bed...


More on the rest of the transformations to follow...including some photos of the babies new room (that's getting a paint job this weekend).
I'm working on brining my turkey for the big day tomorrow. I'm trying out this apple cider brine. I'll let you know how it goes! I think the hardest part is finding something big enough to submerge your turkey in...especially since it's not cold enough here just to put it out in the garage!

++Down here++

Just trying to think of what's new down here so I can update the blog. I haven't taken any photos since we've been back from Wisconsin...shame on me.

The baby is growing just fine. She is super busy...just like her brother was. I don't mind though, it's a constant reminder that everything is okay! Here's Wyatt checking up on her:

We're working on converting all things baby blue to baby pink. Wyatt's new bedroom set is ordered and on it's way. We've been talking it up big time. I'm secretly really excited for it to arrive because I want to start putting the baby's room together. I took two huge loads of clothes to a consignment store a couple of weeks ago (all the while thinking to myself "that ultrasound better not be wrong!"). My sister and I had amassed quite the collection of cute baby stuff. It's funny because when I hung it all up I noticed all the different colors...if you look at the girl stuff, it's all pink! It doesn't help either that I'm not much one for lavender.

I've also gone back to knitting. I sort of let it go after Wyatt was born. I'll be the first to admit that hand knits are so much cuter for girls than boys. I also learned my lesson about what types of things to knit. I'm going to make one newborn sweater and hat set and then just a bunch of hats until she's older. I spent months knitting stuff for Wyatt that only fit him for a little bit...and I was too afraid to put on him because he spit up so much! Here's what's first on the docket (I was hoping to order that super cute baby and the sweater...but the sweater will have to do)

Beyond that we're starting to get ready for the holidays. We're spending Thanksgiving here with our friends and heading to Florida for Christmas. My hopes of having the entire family here for Christmas were dashed by the fabulous airlines and the fact that somehow it needs to cost over $600 to fly from Seattle to Memphis. So we're off to the beach instead (and Nana and Bompa too). I'm trying really hard to keep it simple for Christmas this year. Last year Wyatt ended up with way too much it was overwhelming for all of us. We'll see if we can follow through on that one...

++Party Recap++

We're home again and back into the swing of things. It seems "winter" has arrived in Memphis. They talk on the news about the brutal cold temps...in the 40s. I'll take those any day.
Being gone for a week is really a three week process (when you have kids). One week for gathering and packing, one week for being gone, and another week to wash everything and put it all away. We're heading to Florida in December so it's almost hardly worth putting things away...we only have a couple of weeks before we pull it all out again. Glad that we had a fabulous traveler. The 20-month old behind us took the cake for the naughty kid. As hard as I tried to be sympathetic as a fellow mom I was still annoyed...and worried her hellion was going to wake my sleeping angel. Mark and I spent the whole time lamenting that we're finally in a good spot for traveling and we have to start all over again!
Here's a few photos from the 100th party. They're pretty Wyatt-centric to keep it interesting for the masses. In reality Wyatt wasn't much into the idea of the party. He was a good kid, but mainly just hung out with his aunt-to-be Taylor. I took lots of photos of the event, including quite a few of the guests with Busha as they were leaving. It was kind of fun but I decided that being a REAL photographer is hard work. I think I'll stick to shooting Wyatt.

The birthday girl.

Wyatt with Taylor.

Our little family...there was going to be no picking up for this photo...smiling either.

Our big family...which just keeps growing!

This is Wyatt and his second-cousin Jadyn. They always seem to find each other at the end of the gatherings. I tried to take a nice photo of them, but they were too busy showing off their jumping skills.

++This is what 100 looks like++

We're super excited to be in Wisconsin this weekend to celebrate Mark's grandma's ("Busha" to Wyatt) 100th birthday. When I bought the one 100th card they sold at Hallmark last week the woman couldn't believe it. What's more amazing is that she still lives alone, cooks for herself and writes us the most wonderful, thoughtful letters. Tomorrow is the big party and I think she got about a 95% acceptance rate to our invitation (I'd like to take the credit since I did the invite but I think the person, and the milestone, were a bigger draw). We tried to get her on the Today Show with Willard Scott but longevity must come with the date...all the people they mentioned were upwards of 105!

Wyatt was a great traveler on our two flights to get here. I think we are definitely over the hump of the age where airplane flights are miserable. He has burst into tears a couple of times for no apparent reason and told us, "I want to go home". Poor kid. There's nothing much we can do to help him out with that one. Besides those moments he's having a blast with his grandparents.

Stupid me left my camera battery on the charger when I wrapped the cord around it and put it back in the drawer so we have been driving all over Stevens Point trying to find a replacement option that won't cost nearly as much as the camera. Typically I would go without but my job was to be photographer at the party. I do my best with my own camera. Check back in a couple of days for photos from the party of the century...literally!

++Halloween was a scream++

My friend Sarah, who blogs too, told me I could post my pictures and pretend everything was just perfect this Halloween. I could. But the real story is so much more humorous...after the fact.

This was what Wyatt looked like every time we had him put on his costume (4 times!)...the crying period was after the twenty minutes (or longer) of trying to get him to agree to put it on in the first place. Holidays are fun, aren't they?


Here we are at the Cogans' Halloween party. Mark was in Baton Rouge for a football game so Wyatt and I went alone...along with my pumpkin that I bring everywhere I go.


Wyatt was interested in carving pumpkins for about 30 seconds. Mark did the rest of the work. I dug the seeds out for roasting...yum!

Here's the best photo I got of the guy in his costume. Taken quickly because he was late for school (due to the mayhem described above). If he looks distracted, it's because there was a truck in the neighbors driveway. At least he stood still!

Walking into school with friend and neighbor Sydney.

Our neighbors threw a party in their cove before the trick-or-treating began. We had lots of yummy chili and other goodies. Wyatt decided he was all done with the whole holiday as soon as the Sumo Wrestler arrived and he was scared. No more party. No trick-or-treating...nothing.


Here's all the kids in their costumes. Just pretend Wyatt is there...he was at home with Dad.

He did have fun watching the kids come to his door (and just helping himself to candy from our own bowl!). Sydney's parents stopped by for a beer and she played for a while, after neighbor Alex stopped by and left, Wyatt decided to "try" trick-or-treating. We went to three houses. He was then ready to go back home. He didn't even want to stop for a photo with his Pumpkins. The big one is for him...the little one is for baby sister!

When we came home, the costume came off. Today I told him he could wear anything he wanted. What a treat for both of us...