++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.