Merry Christmas and then Happy Birthday!

Can you have a incredibly wonderful holiday and be utterly exhausted? I wouldn't have changed a thing except for my late nights of preparation. I need to get better at organization if I am going to survive future Christmas holidays followed by my son's birthday the next day. I am fully committed to making it "his" day and not the birthday that followed Christmas. I must say my "hat" is off to Wyatt and Ken for dealing with me stressed. I think I am getting better and I hope to develop a system soon so it is not at all stressful....okay...let's say so stressful.

This blog entry is mainly a photo journal (so it is long - be prepared) that starts with our trip to Santa. The photo above was taken at the Santa brunch that Gigi and Papa took us to and we all had a great time. Did Wyatt sit on Santa's lap...not this year, but he did say "hi" to him often. Wyatt was also given a gift from his cousins...An Elf on a Shelf. All Mom's should have one if you celebrate Christmas with Santa. You have to name your elf and Ken and I tried to think of something clever. Ken came up with the perfect name...Nutso (take the K and S off of Knutson and you have our elf's name. It was fun to see Wyatt look for him each morning and now after Christmas he still asks about him.

In trying to take photos for our Christmas cards these two photos show what an amazing job Ken did at picking out our tree. He has gone to get it on his own for the past 3 years and he is amazing at it. It smells wonderful (like we live in a forest) and it is so perfectly shaped that you would think it is artificial. However the needles shedding show that it is real.

Last year, I had a funny blog that told the story of trying to buy Wyatt a hat...he is a head above the rest in size and so this year I got him one that will fit next year too.





My Uncle John is a master with wood and he made Wyatt a big surprise this year! He made him cars and trucks out of wood that fit perfectly in their own little wooden box...shaped like a tool box. Wyatt couldn't get them out of the box fast enough.

He immediately started to play with them.

Lining them up is very important...traffic you know.
In this photo you can see the box made to carry them in.


Did I mention they have circles for windows? Perfect shape for his fingers.

Brutie (Wyatt's BFF) loves to play with them as well.

Thanks Uncle John!

December 24th - Christmas Eve Arrives!

I start to make Wyatt's birthday cake. A Dump Truck Birthday Cake. Have I made any sort of theme cake before. Nah! I'll look online and see a few photos...I can do that, right. I quickly saw I was way over-my-head, but my drive and Ken's confidence in me I decided to dive in. The grocery store is open the day after Christmas, right?

I had this image in my head as to what Wyatt would wear on Christmas Eve to church and I could have cried in delight when on my late shopping spree to Wal-Mart to get birthday supplies led me to an outfit with a red velvet vest with tie (pants and shirt that were included in purchase not shown in this photo). I already had black pants and white button down shirt...I just needed the finishing touch. This is by far my favorite photo. If I had it when I did the Christmas cards this would have been it. I will never forget this Christmas...he looked so adorable.

I think this should be a yearly shot...Wyatt and Pa enjoying Pa's train under his tree.

December 25th - Christmas Day

Wyatt helping Ken to put together his Wheelies Ramp.

Before we head off to Ken's folks for Christmas I had to get going on the cake. Is it beginning to look like a Dump Truck yet? I was beginning to wonder...will I have enough icing?

We had a glorious Christmas and in all the hype I did not take any photos.

I meant to take more photos of the dump truck cake creation, but once I got going I couldn't stop. It was a late night, but before I went to bed on Christmas Night...okay it was Sunday morning before I went to bed...the cake was done and the decorations were mainly up. Ken is great with decorations and as he puts it...wants to see my vision come to life. Who wouldn't love to hear that?

Ta- Da! Here is Wyatt's 2nd Birthday Dump Truck Cake.

Not exactly my vision, but I stopped before I thought I may ruin it. Less is more, right? I did run out of black icing, but Wyatt didn't notice. For those curious...two and half 9x13 sheet cakes (2 = white cake and 1 = chocolate). The wheels are ding dongs. Orange lights on the top of the truck, red brake lights in the back of the truck and the door handles were all M&Ms. In the dump truck after icing it was crushed Oreo cookies, chopped up Snicker bars (just about 2-3 snack size bars) along with a few brown M&M's. The dirt around the truck is crushed Oreos.

Trucks had to be the theme as Wyatt is all about trucks!

A view from the back. The license plate is also just icing.

I have to tell the story of Wyatt waking up on his birthday. Ken went and got him up as he woke before us around 8 am. Always anxious to be the last one out of bed and since I was up quite late I had closed my eyes for just an added bit of shut-eye. Since, Wyatt commonly comes into our room I thought I had a second or two and was surprised when Ken had gone into another room and Wyatt went into the living/dining room and saw all the birthday decorations and the "truck cake."

His absolute delight in the streamers and seeing the truck cake...'oh, Mama come see...look at the...look at the'...(assuming he is looking at streamers) then he saw the cake...'Oh, Oh, Mama the truck cake...come see.' I couldn't get out of bed fast enough. He was so excited...it was worth every minute and any stress.

Since all our immediate family was coming at 3 pm - Ken took Wyatt sledding (so far it is a yearly tradition) so he would be ready for an early nap. All bundled up and ready to go.

Believe it or not...after touring around they headed to the park and Wyatt went on the swings! Who doesn't do that in late December in Chicago?

Right before the singing and candle is ready to be lit!

We had been practicing blowing out the candle. I was holding his hands because he wanted to touch the cake with the candle being lit.

Wyatt was anxious to dig-in!

Pa took this video after we finished singing and you can hear him trying to blow out the candles. So adorable! I must thank all of our family who come to our small abode and squeezed in to celebrate Wyatt's birthday. They flooded him with love and gifts! Wyatt is in heaven...so much to play with and everything he loves.

Christmas will always be amazing for us. I will forever be humbled by the gift that God gives to me each day and especially the precious gift of Wyatt in our lives.

We hope you all had a glorious Christmas and Happy New Year. Wyatt is now 2 so 2011 shall be full of fun!

Mr. Fix It!

This week the nasty common cold caught up to Wyatt but you wouldn"t know it by his energy or attitude. Although, I think it did affect his shoe choice...he loves to play in our closet and last week I brought home my summer shoes from the office and Wyatt noticed them immediately. As you can see by the photo above they are easy for him to try on.

Wyatt is definitely a boy in all aspects of the word and is now into "fixing" everything around our home. This is his favorite spot to fix. So if you are in need of a handyman let us know...his rates are quite reasonable.

This weekend we will be visiting Santa...can't wait to see if my coaching of "we smile when we see and sit on Santa's lap" pays off. Stop your laughing and stay tuned.

A Day in the Life...

Wyatt's personality is starting to really form and my guess...he is going to have a really funny side. This "kodak moment" (strainer on the head) is a common sight in our house...I just had to capture and share it. If only he would have worn the head piece at Halloween. LOL. Along with added head accessories, Wyatt is perfecting his favorite song at the moment. Wish it was seasonal, but maybe come December we will have another song to add to the blog. His current favorite is "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and even though this video doesn't do him justice because he really does know the song, but it is cute just the same. He tends to get caught up in the fact that I am filming him. Ken's back-up singing is spot-on! I am finding that I am singing it to myself lately. Enjoy!

Hope you all have a great week! Blessings to you all.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

When is the last time you had a really good night sleep?

Even Wyatt's best friend...Brutie looks like he is enjoying a good night's sleep. I miss footie pajamas...so warm.

A Date with the VeggieTales!

Wyatt and I at the VeggieTales show - Wyatt's 1st show!

I took the day off on Friday to spend some quality time with Wyatt and to take him to his first LIVE show...the VeggieTales came to our church. We had tickets to see the 11:30 a.m. show, unfortunately that show had been cancelled so our tickets were upgraded for the 2:30 p.m. show. So, nice to have the upgrade. We had a great morning and a very short nap (1 hour) but things were going smoothly...always better than no nap at all. We arrived at church about 15 minutes before the show and sat in the fourth row. To my complete surprise Wyatt sat on my lap for the entire show. Yes, my almost two year old sat on my lap for the show...well, when he wasn't standing in it. Wyatt loved the singing and the "light show" that played on the ceiling in shapes. The show was really Wyatt's introduction to VeggieTales and I think they will be a hit in our house. We had been listening to cd's in the car and he loves the music and asks us to sing along.

No smile, but the characters in the background make me laugh as they all seem to be peeking out from around Wyatt.

The show had one intermission and well...we should have probably ducked out at that point. The lack on nap started to affect him at the end. However, we did make it. The opportunity to meet the characters for a photo op afterwards did not happen. We tried, but the line was long and he was "done" about 15 minutes or so before the show ended so I tried for a few photos in front of the banner in the lobby. Thanks to our good friend "Miss Lorri" who was volunteering at the show and gracious enough to take our photo to document the occasion. Tip: take some photos before the show when everyone is fresh and hopefully in the mood dto smile! : )

The show was great and still under the age of 2 he did so great. Loved to people watch as much as the show. So, friendly to everyone around us. I was so proud of him and so glad I took him. Our first official Mommy - Son Date!

This week is Thanksgiving and we are hosting so it will be a lot of fun! Wyatt will be able to have all the trimmings this year so that will be great to see. We are so blessed and thankful! Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

Are you counting down? No worries...I will do it for you. One month and eight days till Wyatt is 2! In so many ways he is already there. We are currently in the "nooooooooooo" phase. His general answer to everything is "nooooooooooooooooo" unless you ask him if he would like cheese and then he will run to the refrigerator ahead of you. However, with the "No" phase also comes the milestone of being able to eat by himself. I must admit I have been avoiding this milestone because of the mess. Yes...I am a neat-nick. Being the only female in the house, I am the clean one and am known for it.

I had a fear of going Wyatt's doctor appointment next month for his second year check-up and having to tell her that he is not eating by himself yet because I have a of fear giving him the spoon. Get over it, right! So, I went out and bought him new utensils, bowl and a plate that practically suction cups to his tray. The bowl in this picture is a dream come true...and I documented the first time I put applesauce in a bowl and gave him the spoon and walked away. As you can see he is a natural and neat!

November 17, 2010 - Wyatt ate 90% of his applesauce by himself!

Loves his new spoon!

Wyatt's Mom loves his new bowl!

Look at that form!

This week holds one more milestone that I know about for sure. Wyatt will be attending his first live show...VeggieTales! Friday we will be sitting down front...I know the songs will be a hit and hoping the LIVE show will be an attention grabber because tv/dvds are just not something Wyatt pays attention to for long...so we shall see what he thinks about the show. Stay tuned.

All smiles...

Wyatt is growing up so fast...I am feeling compelled to capture the moment daily. He looked so adorable in this outfit that I had to snap a shot of him...and he actually posed for me!

Wyatt has been quite the humorist lately and even loves to walk backwards down the hallway or walk on his toes to the laughter of his Dad.

Wyatt wore this to church today and I still can't get over that he will be two at the end of next month. I am just not ready...in more ways than one. Just like I am not ready for all the boy exploits that I will encounter. This weekend we have survived falling off the bed...tripping and hitting his head and fingers stuck in a door. All extremely minor...no injuries, but the drama of it all may have shortened my life a bit. LOL. However, with the drama comes the love for our hugs and kisses and the joy in seeing/being with Mommy and Daddy. Have a great week...the rumor is we are to have one last stretch of warmer weather. PRAISE!

An Apple a Day...

You just never know when you are going to encounter a "first." I am truly blessed to be able to work from home two days a week and it allows me to spend time with Wyatt I would otherwise not have at all. Today, I had fed him lunch before Ken had come home for a quick lunch. As Ken was getting things out of the refrigerator he had an assistant. Well, I had put an apple on one of the shelves and Wyatt immediately grabbed it. Ken told him he would cut it up and would give him some...with those words still hanging in the air, we watched in awe as Wyatt started to bite into the apple like he eats them all the time. I thought he must of seen "Pa" (my Dad) do it because I don't believe he ever saw Ken or I eat a whole apple without slicing it. We really didn't think he would break through the skin, but were amazed to see him enjoying the challenge.

Before we knew it...he was quite proud of himself as he got past the skin and into the middle. He ate 25-50% of the apple all by himself. Luckily, I had the camera nearby and captured the moment.

Wyatt was so excited to have the apple all to himself...you can even see the apple juice on his chin. Maybe it was just the excitement of wearing a Northwest Missouri State University sweatshirt for the first time...okay...nah, it was the apple. My sister-in-law gave me the sweatshirt as I had given it to my niece...now both Wyatt and I can wear our NWMSU sweatshirts.

Hoping you all have a fabulous "first" this week! Blessings.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to everyone! As the sunsets on this Halloween, I consider it Wyatt's first really...since he had an opinion on his costume and we carved a pumpkin. As you can see "Plan B" was/is a Train Conductor/Engineer. Trains are a passion of his so it fits his personality as well as having a costume that is "fur-free." Although, trick or treating was not too easy to understand and going up to front doors was not a favorite part of Halloween this year. He did like meeting new people.

Wyatt as a Train Conductor/Engineer - 2010

Posing while standing still is always a challenge!

He has two little pumpkins that were a big hit!

I knew that this year we had to get a pumpkin and carve it. I wish I would have recorded Wyatt's expression when we lit the pumpkin and turned off the lights it was priceless!

Ken and Wyatt scooping out the "innards."

It's so ewww let me help.

Our finished product!

The Happy Conductor! The Hat makes the costume.

Trick or Treating at Grandma and Pa's!

We hope you all have/had a happy and safe Halloween!