Wyatt's gift

Growing up near my whole family I always wanted to receive a special package in the mail.  The surprise of a box sitting on the doorstep with my name on it.  The possibilities would be endless!  

So the fun of having married into a family that is spread out over the country has allowed this dream of mine to be fulfilled - surprise packages on the doorstep!  Of course the name is hardly ever mine, but still the fun is there.

Opening the gift 

Since Wyatt had his big fourth birthday this week, I'll be sharing more on his actual day later, but for now, here's a peak at an early gift he got from Oma and Opa!

Showing Levi how the buttons work (the real controls are on a back panel)

It's a wake up clock - have you heard about these?  It's a regular/standard digital alarm clock. The big bonus, it lights up when it's time to get up. This model glows green and the clock changes to a digital smile face to let your kid know it's okay to get up.  There is also a nap time feature where I can set a "timer" for nap, or for us quiet alone playtime. And then when the clock turns green it's time to go.  I'm so thankful for this gift!

Using tools to put in new batteries

Granted there is a learning curve to it. Wyatt still doesn't really want to stay in his room. And the alarm sound scared him, so we just set the light feature now.  Still our sleep time and rest time are becoming calmer and more focused, which allows me a few moments to get things done, which helps the family dynamic immensely.  

Wyatt loved showing Levi how the clock works. And of course what little boy doesn't like the chance to use some of daddy's tools to get his new gift working? 

I'd say this little boy's birthday started off with a bang.

Race Track

During that wonderful snowstorm we had a few weeks ago now, we spent way too many inside. If it had just been snowy, we would have been outside everyday, but the temps stayed below 12 degrees most days.  So we had to be creative on how to spend our days. 

So we made a table tent in the dining room. And it was exciting. 

But the ramps that the table legs made was the real hit.  They are the perfect width to hold Wyatt's favorite cars, and Levi's animal cars. Both boys were all about sitting under the table, with a flashlight and race cars. Perfect boy activity for a cold day!

Snowman party

One of those great blessings of living near family is that we get to enjoy them for the smaller occasions and celebrations.  Like snowy January day... not an actual holiday. 

My mom made cupcakes and got a ton of goodies to decorate those cupcakes and brought them to our house.  Half were mini-muffins, so we made snowmen cupcakes - full size muffin on bottom, mini muffin in the middle, marshmallow for head. 

Wyatt was very into decorating them, although he wasn't as into eating them - I know shocker. Levi on the other hand loved eating them, in fact why waste time decorating seemed to be his philosophy. 

It was a fun way to celebrate winter and hang out as a family. There's nothing like messes and food to bring a family together. 

While one naps...

As much as he should, Wyatt has decided to stop taking naps. Of course this doesn't mean he doesn't get quiet time, because he does. But as a result our days have been a little less predictable because Wyatt is only getting about nine hours of sleep a day now. So it never fails that he just crashes around 3:30 or 4:00 in the afternoon and even Armageddon wouldn't wake him.

And we had one such day last week. While I was working on putting together an afternoon snack for the boys, Wyatt got all of his stuff animal friends and climbed into mine and Patrick's bed and was out. Mind you this was in a span of maybe ten minutes.

So Levi and I had play time while Wyatt took a little nap.

I think Levi really enjoyed it. He's such a ham that he soaked in the one-on-one attention and had to show me all of his toys, as if I was a stranger who had never seen them.

Either way it was fun. Wyatt got a much needed rest. And Levi got to soak in some extra love. Success.

Christmas Wrap-Up 2012

Yeah, so now that my birthday week is behind me... and all the Christmas decorations are put away... I am going to write a super summary of our Christmas! (yeah see life got the best of me...)

Yep almost a whole month after the fact!  Chalk this up to crazy mommy schedules... or just a lack of focus...

Both boys loved their gifts from out of town relatives - Wyatt got a great baseball and bat, which he still loves, and won't share with his brother. 

We celebrated Christmas Eve eve at home with a special Christmas movie night. The boys got to open their first gift from under the tree. It contained new pj's for the boys, some Christmas movies, popcorn and goodies to make awesome hot chocolate. 

Christmas Eve started with a church service, that Oma, Opa, Aunt Bridget and Matt joined us for. They had all come up to spend the Christmas holiday with us. It was fun to be in the service as a big family as we normally don't take up a whole row!

Christmas Eve evening was spent at Nana and Chief's again. We had a wonderful dinner - Levi greatly enjoyed it. Uncle Jordan was there, which was a great blessing. Wyatt adores Uncle Jordan and asks about him all the time. 

Then the boys changed into pj's and we started to track Santa's travel across the world. Wyatt loves watching the progress. 

We spent the evening opening gifts. Wyatt and Levi loved opening gifts and seeing what fun surprise it held. They both tore open gifts with enthusiasm. But when that tired wall hit, it hit hard!  So it wasn't a late evening. 

Christmas morning the four of us got to wake up to surprises left by Santa. Wyatt was excited to find Lightning McQueen and Mack, which he played with for quite a while. Levi was all about this little vibrating bug Santa left in his stocking. And both were glad for little special treats to snack on. Not that breakfast wasn't great - we did an overnight blueberry French Toast casserole - totally doing that again!

While the boys napped Patrick's family came over to celebrate more Christmas fun. Oma even brought a real Virginia ham, a nice plus to having family in Richmond as it is Patrick's favorite. Surprisingly both boys sat at the table and ATE!  I know, a Christmas miracle.

Of course we opened more gifts - Wyatt's treasured gift came from this round of gifts, a new story Bible, which he takes everywhere with him!  Over all I'd say everyone was extremely blessed by the great gifts. 

Then the adults spent some quality wedding planning time as Aunt Bridget is getting married this summer!  So while the boys played with the new toys, the girls got to planning and talking, oh and cookies tasting... But that is all for the summer.

So yes, this isn't the best post on our Christmas I could have done, but life happens. And this year I spent the time on the floor playing with toys and reading stories and planning life instead of documenting... not that I won't be documenting future events... just this one time, this got pushed way off. 

So here's to 2013 and all the fun it has in store, because it has already started with a bang!

First Haircut

In the craziness of Christmas, and then post Christmas, and then birthday, and then well life... I got behind - I know you know that...

Well anyway, before Christmas, Levi got his first hair cut!

Oh and I did it!

My little bug with shorter hair

I know I was a little nervous - but I couldn't justify spending $14 on a haircut for a little boy. So I bought a special cookie, told Wyatt he could watch a special movie and set Levi up in the kitchen for his first hair cut.

The cookie worked so well I was even able to get some pictures taken to document the whole thing. Talk about luck.

The magic of cookies...

I guess this just goes to prove I'm quickly moving to a mommy of two boys, and not a toddler and a baby...