Stocking

Last night Ross successfully put Wyatt down for a nap in his crib, giving us a couple hours of normal adult time. I used the time to finish making Wyatt's Christmas stocking that I started last month. I've been sneaking in 5-10 minutes here and there when Wyatt lets me and used last night's break to power through to the end. His theme is reindeer, which I thought could be fun for a kid (Rudolph and his posse) and adult (hunting/outdoors).

I made stockings for Ross (moose theme) and I in 2000 when Christi lived with us in Tacoma and my parents flew up for the holiday. I had five stockings to make that year but it seemed harder to find the time to finish just one this time around. Funny how kids make the day fly by.

We had a rocky night last night with Wyatt sleeping in the crib next to our bed instead of between us. All-in-all I'd say it was a success but his fussing had me up every 20-30 minutes patting his bottom and returning his pacifier so he could drift off to sleep before the wailing began. Luckily Ross let Wyatt and I take a three hour nap on the couch this morning while he headed off to Eastern Washington to pick up a truck load of firewood. It hardly seems fair- a nap for mom and manual labor for dad. What can I say- he's always been good to me.

Wyatt is really beginning to experiment with his voice lately and boy is it LOUD!! He practices making all kinds of noises that we have playfully put into the following categories- 1) goat; 2) pig; 3) monkey, and my favorite; 4) porpoise.

Remember that scene in the movie "Splash" when they ask the mermaid what her name is and her high pitched squeal breaks all the televisions? That's exactly the noise he makes when he's calling for me or not getting what he wants. I think the days for my ear drums are numbered. I've seriously considered putting on Ross' shooting range headphones for hearing protection...

Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for this year. We are really counting our blessings, which include the birth of our healthy son, a home to call our own and Ross' job- which allows me to stay home and raise Wyatt full-time.

If I had to guess on what Wyatt is most thankful for, I think he'd say:
1) Milk
2) Naps with dad
3) Songs with mom
4) Getting rocked to sleep
5) Car rides
6) Bath time
7) Cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpa

Ross had to work this Thanksgiving for the second year in a row so Wyatt and I spent the morning together watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, followed by the Dog Show.

I have so many great memories of Thanksgiving mornings with my mom, making stuffing from scratch and watching the parade, and I hope that is a tradition we can carry on in our home. Wyatt wasn't too interested in the floats but he really liked the musical numbers and there is no doubt we have a musical kid on our hands.

After his morning feeding we had a massive breech of his Huggies, which resulted in a nice long bath for him and and good scrubbing of the couch. Thank goodness it's not real suede!

Since I'm the new mom, Ross' family cut me some slack and the only thing I was asked to make was deviled eggs. Would you believe that I couldn't even get past boiling the eggs before Wyatt decided he had enough of mom in the kitchen? I ended up packing the car and passing Wyatt off to Auntie Julie so I could finish putting the eggs together but she didn't seem to mind.

Julie had a full house with all the cousins, grandma Nancy and uncle Nick and aunt Lily from California along with Lily's boyfriend Ryan. Nancy made a great bird and Julie made practically every other dish, which included mashed potatoes, green beans, yams, rolls, stuffing, cranberries, gravy and green salad. Yummy.

For dessert, we had a pumpkin pie, blueberry pie, brownies and this adorable spiced cake that Lily decorated. The turkey's hat is actually a gummy thumb left over from one of the twins' Halloween stashes- nice. I think the kids had at least two pieces of pie each, plus whipped cream or ice cream. Those kids were never going to go to sleep!!

Grandma Nancy even completed a Thanksgiving miracle- getting Wyatt to sleep in Noah's room for 2.5 hours so I could eat dinner without wrestling my 10-lb bundle of joy.

Right now my boys are on the couch napping and watching college football. Ross is in heaven.

Nice Shootin' Tex

Wyatt and I are home alone today and it's been a day of "messes". We started the day off with his worst diaper yet- I have no idea how it contained that deposit. I feel like I should write Huggies a thank-you note for years of diaper research. I wonder if they've shared these findings with NASA.

Then for the second straight day he has turned "standing time" into "barfing time". Each time my shirt is doused and he gives me a goofy, spit dripping grin that melts my heart.

He capped off the night with the trifecta- peeing all over me, his socks and the couch. I took this snap shot to capture the moment. Doesn't he look proud?

Visit from Nana and Grandpa

Sorry so much time has gone since my last post but the days seems to fly by...

Since my last post we had a week long visit by my parents, Nana and Grandpa, and today I officially resigned from my job to be a stay at home mom. It was a tough decision to make as I have enjoyed five wonderful years at UW but the thought of leaving my baby behind while I worked nights and weekends, not to mention my 70 mile, two-hour daily commute was just too much.

The visit with my folks was so great and I think Wyatt really enjoyed the visitors. Nana and Grandpa were of course life savers and spoiled the three of us rotten by cooking all the meals, cleaning the house daily, doing all the laundry, doing some home improvement projects and soothing Wyatt during peak crying times.

Nana even got Wyatt to take a nap in his crib for the first time which is a relief since he has been sleeping on me since the day he was born. Since then, I've gotten him to sleep half nights in his crib twice but it hasn't been easy. Just when I thought I was getting the hang of it, he has protested the crib for the last few days. Surely my will is stronger than his, right?!!

I took Wyatt to the doctor's on Halloween for a check up and he had completely fallen off the weight scale. Where he had been steadily chugging along merrily at the 10th percentile, he had nose dived to the 1 percentile. With a few feeding adjustments I was able to get him from 8 pounds, 7 ounces to 9 pounds, 1 ounce in five days and things look to be back on track at the 3rd percentile. His cheeks are getting fatter by the minute.

Now that our visitors are gone, Waytt and I are back to days one-on-one. We spend the majority of our time smiling, singing and having deep conversations about life. He is getting really close to laughing and rolling over and he is really into "When You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands" and "Head and Shoulders". Luckly for him, his mama loves to sing.