Winter Wrap-Up

I do believe that spring has sprung but I haven't blogged in awhile so I'm going to rewind to the snowy, cold and blustery weeks we've just endured to catch up!

Valentine's Day was extra sweet this year.  Lainey got to decorate a Valentine's box for a party at church.  This was one of the highlights of my elementary school experience.  Target had the cutest decorating kits and fancy boxes but we went old school and wrapped her shoe box in a paper sack.  Then I let her loose with the glitter glue and stickers.  She had a ball.

I took her to Target to pick out Valentines for the party and shocker, she went with Frozen.  She's been working on writing so much lately and she signed every single Valentine all  by herself!  She's been writing her name on anything and everything ever since. I can't believe she can spell and write her own name... sniff sniff. I really feel like I'm going to blink and she's going to be off to college.

Dropping off the Valentine's was fun.

Eating a few sweet treats was fun, too!

But the best of all was opening her box full of cards, treats and trinkets from her friends!

We did a "love" and Valentine's theme for our preschool group the week of Valentine's Day too.  The kids loved sorting, counting, graphing and then of course eating little candy hearts as well as doing a craft with them!

On Valentine's Day Jed took Wyatt to teach him a thing or two about how to love his ladies well.  They went shopping for sweet gifts and flowers.  Oh and doughnuts.  They definitely know the way to our hearts! :)

Wyatt needs to hang out with more dudes.  Note his shoe selection.  He does this all on his own but we giggle and encourage him of course.

Tiegan continues to be a sweet sweetie and is smiling all of the time now!

Winter afternoons (or mornings or evenings in her case) are great for naps.  I am thankful that most days I get a significant window of time with all 3 sleeping peacefully.

Lainey is most certainly Tiegan's favorite person.  She talks to her all of the time and their interactions are absolutely precious.  Often she'll say, "I can watch her for you, Mom" (and she DOES)!  When I return she'll say "she was quiet the whole time!" :)  She's ALWAYS willing to fetch diapers or wipes or pick out her clothes for the day.  She is such a little Mommy and I love it. I can tell all of Tiegan's milestones will be exciting for her like they are for me.

We do A LOT of coloring and painting around here.  I like this shot because it shows my righty and my lefty hard at work!

Tiegan is definitely still the most popular person in the house.  They're always crowding around her in the bouncy seat or when she's in the swing.  I've had to start putting her down for naps upstairs to keep them away and more than once I've had to chase after Wyatt up the stairs as he goes to "check baby Tiegan!"

Not much has changed this winter with Wyatt and his love for his trains.  Thanks to my cousin Mike, our collection of wooden tracks has expanded so we have a set upstairs on his train table and I keep a bin of tracks downstairs too.  We play trains, we read about trains, we watch Thomas on IPTV or Netflix, we do train stickers, we listen carefully for the trains that pass not too far from our house, etc.  I hope one of these days we can get the kid on a real train!

Tiegan pretty much lives in her jammies.  It's just been so silly cold that it doesn't make sense to worry about a onesie, pants and socks versus a warm fleece sleeper.  I love putting her in my favorite items that Lainey wore.  This is my not even 3 month old baby snuggled up in a pair of 6 month size pjs.  She's growing TOOOOOO fast!

Winter treated us well this year.  We stayed relatively healthy and enjoyed our many at home days!  I can't say I'm anxious for next winter to come but I am sure there will be sweet memories to be made.

Life lately {November}

Life with 2 (almost 3!) kids just doesn't slow down.  We like it that way around here.  We enjoy our busy, fun filled weeks.  I can't believe how quickly November passed us by!

When I take out a learning activity, no matter what it is, Lainey just devours it.  I love this about her.  I was busy folding laundry the other morning and let her do her thing with these letter tracing cards.  Back in September, she was really slow with these.  I don't mean that in a bad way, because it was new to her and even holding a writing utensil was not very natural.

It's incredible what can change in just a few months.  She worked much faster and traced, then wrote her letters more efficiently, even grasping her pen correctly.  It was so fun and encouraging to watch!


Wyatt is a riot right now.  110% boy, loves his momma, loves his trucks, trains and cars and LOVES to nap.  I cannot believe how big he looks in this picture.  I know he's 2 but he is just still my baby.

Wyatt did his annual croupy cough in the middle of the night a few weeks ago.  This time I had a few tricks up my sleeve and didn't panic and drive like a maniac to the ER.  Luckily he improved and we held out until our doctor's office opened the next morning.  He just took a day or two to recover so I am hoping mayyyyybe he will grow out of this tendency.  I was also thankful to (hopefully) get it out of the way before the baby arrives.

He's pretty much attached to my hip most of the time when we're home.  He's constantly grabbing his blankies and climbing into my lap for a snuggle and is more and more interested in things I'm doing in the kitchen, helping with chores, etc.


Our community group and our church held two different events this past year to pack shoebox gifts for Operation Christmas Child.  This is such a fabulous ministry to be a part of and support and it was really fun to involve the kids more this year, especially Lainey.  She carefully packed at least 8 boxes herself this year, meticulously choosing each and every item and making cards to put in them too.  Such a fun way to teach kids about the blessing of giving to those in need!


November brought us a couple of fun snow falls and our kids LOVED every second of it!





Love those red cheeks after playing outside!

And hot chocolate is a must!

And this is how we ended many, many November days.  To say we are excited and ready for her arrival is an understatement!

Snowed in!

We didn't really plan on being snowed in today but that we were.  What was supposed to be an inch of snow ended up being a lot more.  Not mad about it!  It was sure fun to look at through the window.  I got to enjoy my little ones inside where we were cozy and warm.

I could have put him down to sleep... but I didn't want to.

Her new favorite snack.  Tastes best in a bowl that's almost as big as she is.

Watching the snow fall.  Isn't she beautiful?!

Telling Wyatt all about that white stuff falling from the sky.

It was a little too windy to go out... that and I just didn't want to.  So, we brought some snow inside.  Lainey had a snow tea party with Simon.

He sleeps a lot.

We just started bathing these two cuties together.  They both love it.  So do I.  Nothing smells better than a baby after a bath!

Truth be told, it was a good day but there was a fair share of whining and fussing being cooped up all day.  My kind husband came home with a Starbucks in hand for me, knowing it had been a long day.  He loves me.

Our plans for tomorrow morning were already cancelled but we must get out and brave the elements!  Anyone want visitors? :)

Family Day {and other stuff}

Today we spent a fun morning together as a family.  Between weather, family visits, bathroom renovation re-do's, trips and having a new (although he doesn't seem quite so new anymore) baby, we haven't had a chance to do all that much lately.  We made muffins this morning, Skyped with my family in North Carolina to catch a glimpse of sweet baby Will and then headed to Merle Hay Mall (the mall with it all).  This mall really does have it all, even the Red Rock Wildlife Education Center.  They have wolves, bears, a coyote, red foxes and more.  IN THE MALL.  I know, right?  They had a short program and they talked about snakes and bats.  Kind of lame, but still a fun time.

After that we went to Felix and Oscar's for lunch.  Thank you Groupon.

Lainey is bringing back the mean mug.  She thought she was pretty big stuff with her own cup (of water).  I should mention that Wyatt, not surprisingly, slept through the entirety of our family outing.  Apparently, he thinks we're lame.  After lunch we came home for naps and then later we bundled up and went outside.

What a fun family day!

Earlier this week, they forecasted another giant snow storm.  Flop. We only got 5 or 6 inches but it was the most wonderful 5 or 6 inches of light, fluffy snow we've gotten all winter!  Friday morning it was sunny out and about 20 degrees so during Wyatt's first nap I bundled Lainey and myself up and we headed outside!

 

So, she wasn't loving it so much at first.  Maybe she was mad that I stuffed her into some 12mo snow pants that are just a tad too small.  I promised her I will get her some that fit next year.

We were given this awesome play house from one of Jed's co-workers and this was the first time she got to see it and go inside.  I think she would have been a thousand times more elated had she not had to wade through the snow but she did like it in the end.

Simon, however has been enjoying the play house in the back yard for a few days.  Simon LOVES the snow too.

I think she did have a good time playing outside for the whole 20 minutes we were out there.  All I heard the rest of the day was "Side?" (outside) "Show?" (snow) "Sled?"  There's 3 more words for the list!

Love this picture.  Unbundling, runny nose and all!

I think 3 "snow storms" are enough for one winter and now we are really looking forward to spring.  Hopefully it's just around the corner!

Crazy Eyes Wy

Wyatt earned this nickname early on from his Dad.  He has some intense and serious eyes sometimes, especially when he was a newborn.  These days, his eyes are focused ... usually on one thing and one thing only...

His big sister!

See?

And again.

Wyatt is just starting to really watch and focus on things and the thing he likes to watch the most is Lainey.  It's no surprise, she's pretty busy so there's lots to watch.  I'm sure her tricks will be rubbing off on him before we know it.

Those handsome eyes!  I think he will be my blue eyed boy.  Lainey's eyes are a dark hazely brownish color.

She will have to teach him how to dance.  Her moves are awesome.  No matter what she's doing, when she hears music, she dances.  This is one of her classic moves - bouncing while twisting side to side.

She will have to teach him how to hold his head up because he's not so good at it so far!  He really hated the bumbo the first time we tried it this week.

See Wy?  Like this!

Ahhh!  Much better!  This only lasted a few moments before the tears came back.  He must have really hated it and been struggling because the kid really never cries.  When Dad got home later that night, he was loving it though!  He was saving his skills to show off to his Dad!

Also, not a huge fan of tummy time.  He doesn't usually cry, he just struggles.  Do you see the size of his head?  No wonder he can't hold it up!  That is a 95th percentile head circumference people!  I guess he's going to be extra smart.

Had to get a picture of this girl's hair.  I love her curls.  It's so funny to think about how just a few months ago, she barely had any hair.  It's growing fast.  She is pretty good about sitting still and letting me put it up in a pony or pigtails, which is a must because otherwise it's out of control.

We had another little snow storm yesterday.  I wasn't about to bundle her up and take her outside myself so we brought some snow inside.  She had a lot more fun with it this time.

Look who's watching her? :)

Wyatt has the sweetest smiles.  I think he saves the best ones for me.  He is my sweet baby boy!

Nodding off... like usual.

Want to know how I got her to smile so nice?  I asked her to say "Penelope," to which she gleefully replied, "P!!!!!!!!!"  P is her best friend and Lainey talks about her constantly.  She can also say P's parent's names, and we hear about them all of the time too.  It's adorable.  The funny thing is, when she and P are together, they don't even pay that much attention to each other.  Not yet anyway.   They're best friends - don't really have a choice at this point!

I caught these two pictures just a few days apart, but this is actually a daily occurance in our house...

I texted this one to my sister and jokingly said that maybe Wyatt has narcolepsy!  Either that or I'm just not attentive enough or quick enough to get him in his bed to nap, but seriously!  Lots of babies at his age fight sleep and get fussy (Lainey sure did), but not Wyatt.  This kid is awesome.  He is healthy and a great sleeper (obviously) and a great eater.  We are so blessed.  He must just get so exhausted from watching all of his big sister's antics I guess.  

We are loving watching these two interact and I know their relationship will continue to grow.  Honestly, I was pretty nervous to have 2 kids (well) under 2 (they are 15 months apart), but God has given me grace and helped me to view certain things that are sometimes challenging in a different light.  Children are such a blessing!