++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...