Chuck E Cheese...

where a kid can be a kid...and parents need a big fat nap afterwards!

Whew! What a way to kick off Wyatt's birthday week! Lita put together a wonderful birthday at Chuck E Cheese with friends and family. I don't think Wyatt really knew it was a party for him but he had tons of fun just the same. His favorite part was the train that went around in a figure 8 pattern for 30 seconds or so. I don't know how many tokens we put in that thing but it was at least a dozen! He also enjoyed the horse ride called the "Ken-chuck-e-Derby"...how appropriate, huh? He didn't freak out when Chuck E came out, he let him put the birthday crown on him and even danced with him a little bit.

We came back to Lita's house afterwards and opened presents from Uncle Jason and Aunt Hope. He got two new Tag Jr. books and some movies and the big hit was the Morgan's Mine Thomas Take Along set. He stayed up until nearly 11pm last night and then the first thing he said this morning when he woke me up was "Mommy, Thomas, Toby, Play". And from what I hear, Wyatt must have been a very good boy because Santa is coming to see him here, all the way in Texas! I don't know how we are going to get all of this stuff back to Kentucky, but I think with some creative packing, we can manage.

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family! We are truly blessed to have our handsome little boy and so many who love him as much as we do!

Ahhh Sunny and 70's in December

While it doesn't quite feel like Christmas time without the cold and snow, it sure is nice to be wearing sandals and tshirts in December! We are having a blast down here in Texas with Michael's family. We have visited lots of people already and we are getting ready for Wyatt's big Chuck E Cheese party this afternoon with Abuelita's family.

Wyatt was so great on the flight down here. He absolutely loved flying. We got him a mini Southwest plane to play with and he got to sit in a seat by himself next to the window on the last part of the flight here. I will definitely take pictures on the way back of him flying like a big boy. Southwest is great because its open seating and if the flight isn't full, they just let us sit however we want even though we didn't have to pay for a seat for Wyatt since he's under 2 (for the rest of the week anyway).

Yesterday we drove to the beach at South Padre Island to let Wyatt play in the sand. The water was a little cold but it was very difficult to keep him out of the water once he got a taste of his toes in the water. He would have run in full force if we had let him. Still, he enjoyed the afternoon and it wore him completely out...he was sound asleep before we even made it half a mile down the road.

Sprinkle Master

Wyatt has been spoiled already this Christmas by our friends who know just what Wyatt likes. So far he's collected his fair share of Thomas toys and books, his two favorite things! Here is a pic of him opening a present from Christina and Mark the other night. Thanks guys! I had forgotten about the Little Critter books, they are really cute stories, especially for busy little boys!
Since Santa is going to make an early stop to our house tomorrow night, we decided to make some Santa cookies tonight. Aunt Hope and Clifford came over to help us but Wyatt didn't care much for the cookie making until the sprinkles were involved. He loved that part! Big shout-out to Jess (my own personal Martha Stewart) for providing the cookie mix and icing.

Wild Weekend

So the hustle and bustle of the holiday season has truly begun for us this weekend. We kicked it off with Wyatt's Christmas program at school (video will be added soon) where he sort of rang a bell while the big kids sang a couple of songs. Mimi came up to watch and babysit on Friday night while mommy and daddy went out. I surprised Michael with his Christmas/Birthday gift early on Friday afternoon by whisking him away to Cincinnati for Star Wars Live in Concert at US Bank Arena. We met Javi and Carol there and enjoyed the symphony orchestra and very large screen from our seats in the rafters. Unfortunately Michael already did not feel well on Friday, suffering from the beginnings of a sinus infection but he was a trooper and loved his present.

On Saturday, Wyatt and I packed up and headed to Mimi and Pop's house to hang out for a little bit before visiting with more friends at the West residence in Louisville. We had a fabulous dinner and I was able to work off those extra calories by chasing Wyatt around who was trying to keep up with the big kids. Wyatt was spoiled with not one, not two, but four different Thomas toys! He was definitely worn out when we left there and was snoring in his carseat before we exited their neighborhood.

Sunday morning we penciled in a playdate with Miss Ella and her mother. Wyatt and Ella were so excited to see each other and they played really well together. We constructed a gingerbread train and the kids had fun decorating it and eating a few pieces of the candy along the way too! Ella loves to cook and she had a real knack for placing the candies just right. Wyatt was more interested in watching cartoons.

Santa Train

We had a great time on the Santa Train again this year. Wyatt and Jayca had fun eating cookies and looking out her window (she had a better view) and visiting with Santa, Mrs. Claus and Rudolph. Wyatt still wasn't 100% sure about the big man in red but he did give some high fives to Santa and Rudolph and hugged Mrs. Claus. And of course there were plenty of great picture opportunities as you will see below...

O Christmas Tree

On Thanksgiving evening we worked off our turkey by putting up the Christmas decorations. Wyatt helped hang some ornaments and put the angel on the top.

Wyatt in Wonderland

We got up this morning thinking we'd run a few errands and the main objective was to get Wyatt's hair cut. The last time I had his hair cut, the lady butchered it so I was trying to grow his hair back out. I was afraid to take him back there so I decided to suck it up and pay more to have it cut at Kiddie Kutters and I am SOOO glad I did! This is the same place that did his first real haircut and after that I tried a couple different cheaper places but it is just plain worth it to spend the extra money. We picked out a Thomas movie for him and he sat in the same firetruck from his first haircut. He was absolutely wonderful! He sat still and watched his movie and the lady even was able to use the electric clippers on him which we had not attempted since the first time it freaked him out. He looks so handsome with his new haircut!

Wyatt experienced his own true heaven this afternoon at Berkshire Trains in Lexington. We had heard of this store through friends and finally got a chance to stop in there today. They have a play table at the front with all kinds of Thomas trains and an electric Percy train in the front window. He was completely engrossed with that table while Michael and I looked around. Michael had been thinking about getting an electric train to go around our Christmas tree this year and we lucked into a returned Thomas set that was 40% off which put it in the range we would actually pay for such a thing. Since Wyatt is so crazy about trains and Thomas in particular, I think this is going to be a good investment and hobby for Daddy and Wyatt.Wyatt loving the Thomas tableWyatt, very sad about leaving the Thomas tableBack at home with the electric Thomas set

Update

Not much new going on here. Wyatt had strep throat at the beginning of the week and stayed home with Daddy on Monday and Tuesday. He did NOT want to go back to school on Wednesday. He perked up after a little while but the morning was definitely rough.

We are gearing up for the holidays and Wyatt has a new favorite movie in the rotation, Polar Express. We even bought him the book and he likes to flip through that too when we turn off the tv for some quiet time. It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is upon us. We will be hosting Turkey Day as usual and it will be extra special because we will also be celebrating the 1st anniversary of Wyatt's adoption!

I was going to post some recent pictures but I just realized that I haven't taken any yet in November. I guess I need to get my camera out and start snapping!

Pictures

Family Pictures

Aunt Rachel set up an outdoor photo shoot for us with the mother of one of her former students who is now doing professional photography. She did an amazing job and I want to share the proofs, but they will only be available on her website for the next 2 weeks. Because of copyright issues, I can't post the pictures themselves but if you'd like to see them, email me at nicm22@yahoo.com and I will give you the website and password.

Happy Halloween!

Thanks to Julie, Wyatt had a very cool costume this year for Halloween. He was an Imagination Mover (Playhouse Disney show for those of you who aren't familiar). He enjoyed seeing the other kids out on the street and some of them even recognized his costume. Mimi came up to visit and brought Wyatt some Halloween treats as well...some markers and Handy Manny coloring pages, some crackers, raisins and juice boxes.Wyatt with his neighbor girl(friends)