Happy birthday, America!

We all donned our red, white, and blue as we went to the big parade in Belleville. We almost didn't make it and we most certainly would have been devastated if we hadn't.

After the parade we went to the park and let Wyatt run around before we all got hungry and Claire got fussy. We stopped by mom and dad's for a little bit and then came home for naps.

 

After we were well rested we headed over to our neighbor's house for some swimming and food. Wyatt had so.much.fun! I think he felt like such a big boy getting to hang with the big kids. There were twins there that were such mother hens! It was so cute watching them help Wyatt around the pool, swim with him, and push Ryan out of the way. Wyatt was definitely missing out on attention.

I stayed as long as I could with Claire barely hanging on, but she finally let me know she was done so I can home, bathed, fed, and put her to sleep and hung out until it got dark. Ryan and Wyatt continued with the festivities. My biggest regret is that I left before the dessert came out!

Once it got dark enough Ryan brought Wyatt home and we did some fireworks with him. He really enjoyed it!

Then we settled in on the front porch to watch the fireworks. The hosts of the party put on a nice show!! It was like our own personal fireworks display! We could also look to the left of our house and see Dardanelle's fireworks too. "More lights" and "light gone" is what we heard from Wyatt the whole time.

(I caught the first picture and Ryan got the second. Not to bad, ha!)

 

It was such a fun day! I wish Claire could have enjoyed it a little more with us! I hope that next year the weather is just as gorgeous as it was this year!

 

Easter 2013

We had a nice Easter this year, our first with Claire!

 

The Easter bunny came to see the babies and Wyatt was most interested in his Peeps.

 

We got ready for church and my babies looks soooo precious! I about died over Claire's cuteness in her bonnet! And Wyatt...my little boy is looking less and less like a toddler and so much more like a boy.

 

Church was good! We actually got there on time and Wyatt went to children's church for the first time! I am so excited that he's (almost) 2 now and can go. I may get to pay attention during the sermon now! Ryan stayed with him for his first time, but he said we should be able to drop him off and him not be missing us. I hope! They made this and I'll probably keep it forever!

After church we went to eat at SKK a new restuarant in town. I won't be returning. Ryan likely will. Ew.

 

After naps we hunted Easter eggs!

 

Wyatt wasn't really interested in putting the eggs in his basket. He was much more interested in picking them up by way of his truck.

 

He is so goofy.

 

 

It was a great day with beautiful weather!

Valentine's Day

We had big plans for Valentine's Day this year. A big romantic dinner, tons of flowers, and a movie.

 

Oh, that was just a fantasy, right?

 

We actually planned to go eat breakfast this morning. Ryan was taking his Valentine and his two babies out to a lovely breakfast and it was going to be great.

 

Key word there: Was.

 

Claire was very congested last night. It was pitiful. We both felt so bad for her. We would hear her sneezing and just trying harder than what she should to be breathing clearly. It sucked, frankly.

 

We woke up way later than what we had intended. Read: not enough time to get myself and two babies ready for breakfast on time and Ryan to work at a reasonable hour.

 

I threw myself a pity-party.

 

Oh well...that's real life. Ryan's promised me (us) a breakfast date on Saturday morning and I've pretty much vetoed it. He is so lucky to be married to me, no?

 

As Ryan left me in tears, literally, to go to work I regrouped and decided it really was going to be okay.

 

I gave the babies their presents. Wyatt got some clothes, a watch, and some new shades. He is such a cool cat. Claire got some more clothes too, because that's just what she needed.

 

I should throw in there that we do still have a dog...one that got sick this morning...by sick I mean as Wyatt and I did laundry I came back into the living room only to see 4 puddles of puke and a sad little puppy sitting by the door. Poor guy. I know he was trying to get outside. He got extra lovin's today and not because it was Valentine's Day.

My little congested girl...I had her sleeping right under the humidifier and it helped her a ton. I even snuck in a nap right beside her. Don't tell Ryan.

CHEESE!

We played with our CD player alllll day today.

And my tiny love with her festive bow. We've got newborn pictures tomorrow. Hoping it goes well!

 

So there was our Valentine's Day. We enjoyed dinner being brought to us and it was good. I'm going to miss getting dinner from church members. That ends next week...then we may try enlisting some grandparents. Ha!

 

Hope your day was filled with lots of love!

4th of July

The 4th of July was last week, but because I am a complete lazy bum every evening I haven't gotten around to posting a few pictures from it. We started out by going to a parade in Belleville with Wyatt's Poppa. First though, we stopped at Mimi and Pawpaw's to drop some stuff off since we'd be eating lunch there.

In our reds, whites, and blues. I am so in love with Wyatt's shorts- they are America flags and cute cute!

We went to the parade that lasted maybe 15 minutes and then went to the little festival type thing they had afterwards. It go hot pretty quick so we didn't stay very long. Next year though I may be a little more tolerant now. I think I'm just cranky and the heat and I don't mix well right now.

We then headed to Mimi and Pawpaw's to eat lunch. After lunch we got to take a family nap. It was much needed, especially for this little lady. Once Wyatt woke up we hit the pool.

He just loves swimming at Mimi's house! I am hoping that he likes the beach next month!

We had a nice, relaxing 4th of July!

Memorial Day

Wyatt was a little gem and slept in until 9:30 this morning. After we had muffins, we got around to head to Mimi and Pawpaw's. Little did I know I would have such an amazing helper.

It's like taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back with house work. 

Wyatt spent some time in the pool, but it didn't last very long. It's still just a teeny bit chilly for the baby, but I enjoyed some swimming once my dear, loving husband threw me in the water.

We also got some yummy peach cobbler.

Lucky for us mom and dad were frying some fish in dad's new fryer. Him and Ryan were like to kids getting it set up and ready.

YUM. I do love me some fish, hush puppies, and fries. I'll have to agree with Ryan when he says it was probably the best fish mom and dad have made. 

Wyatt has gotten to be such a stinker! He absolutely cracks us up with all the faces he throws at us.

Dad had some cobbler and offered Wyatt some. He took a bite, but didn't go back for seconds which is unheard of. Once dad went and got some ice cream he tried offering Wyatt a bite again, but he wouldn't dare go near the spoon. Finally he got close enough to try it and when he quickly realized it wasn't cobbler and ice cream instead he was such a little bird.

Life would be so boring without that baby.

While Memorial Day is in fact the "unofficial" kickoff for summer, it's much more than that. I am very thankful for those who have and currently are serving for my freedom. I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday as well!

Crooked Creek

Friday evening we headed to the Crooked Creek to do some floating! This is the first time we've been on the creek in a really long time. I think it was 2 years ago on the same creek in fact. I got pregnant a few months later and last year we had a newborn so it just wasn't in the cards. Oh, not to mention there was zero water since it was a million degrees all summer.

Allison, Haley, and myself...We loved being reunited!

 

We had a friendly fishing competition going on between us and can you guess who won?

 

Bingo if you guessed me! I'm telling you I am quite the fisherlady!

Ryan and I even got a double once! Woo!

 

I also tried out a kayak. I did like it, but truth be told I am pretty lazy when it comes to floating. I only paddle when need be and that usually isn't very often. I've got me a pretty good driver. 

We had a lot of fun with friends on the creek. It was so nice getting to camp and be outdoors.What a nice kick off to Memorial Day weekend!

Mother's Day Weekend in STL

Last Thursday we loaded up the vehicle for a trip to STL. By loaded up, I simply mean that we crammed food, snacks, luggage, and a baby into the Edge and headed north.

 We decided to make the trip a little easier on Wyatt so we split up the first day. We drove to Republic, MO about a 3.5 hour drive and had dinner with some people that Ryan does business with.

We had dinner with them and their two kids, Cash and Tinley. Cash who is nearly 3 did such a great job entertaining Wyatt at dinner. They sat across from one another and just mimicked each other the entire time. The Garner’s were quite amused with just how much our little guy can put away when it comes to food! After dinner we headed to Bass Pro Shops so that Wyatt could burn off some energy. Chasing around him and Cash was quite an adventure for the daddies. Lindsey and I just walked around talking about motherhood and I got to get some sweet baby holding in! Holding Tinley while chasing after Wyatt gave me a glimpse into life with 2 kiddos. Whew- I can definitely see I would have my work cut out for me.

Once we left Bass Pro we retreated to our hotel and finally got the baby down to sleep about 11. ELEVEN. His bedtime is anywhere from 7-9 depending on naps and to even see 11:00 was a shock. I finally got him chilled out enough to fall asleep and we didn’t hear from him until 6:30 that next morning.  Early riser on vacation he appears to be.

After we got around and back on the road for a 3 hour drive, I picked up my book again. Wait- let me backtrack for a second… Have you ever been carsick before? Well I most certainly had not. Never. I can ride through the most winding roads and not even be phased by it. I can read it a car without a care in the world. This time, however, going up towards Branson I was reading the book I had picked up, The Lucky One, and all of a sudden it hit me. I was nauseous. I immediately felt like I was about 9 weeks pregnant thinking I was dying and the mere thought of anything made me queasy. I put my book down and told Ryan I seriously didn’t feel good and that’s when he informed me I must be carsick. Me, being the know-it all that I am, insisted that was not the case and it may be something else. Unfortunately he was right because as soon as we got out of the mountains and out of the car I was 100% back to normal. It was by far the most yucky I have felt in a very, very long time. Back to the story though…I was reading my book and as I was reading a character in the book Nana, just happened to love the Atlanta Braves. I thought it was such a coincidence that we were headed to watch the Braves games because we too love the Braves.

We arrived in STL around lunch time and immediately headed to Saint Louis Galleria for none other than The Cheesecake Factory! So, so yummy! I enjoyed a 4 cheese pasta and Ryan got some tuna. We ended with a bang having a Reese Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Fudge Cake. Ohh my word. So good. So fattening. So terrible for us! So worth it!

After eating we did some shopping and then headed to the hotel to hopefully get the baby to take a nap before the game since it started at 7:15. Yes, baby’s bedtime. Eeek! After trying and trying to get him to lay down and him refusing for about an hour. I finally fed him some more, gave him some milk, and he passed smooth out. A momma knows when her baby is tired and it would be so helpful if they would just go with it, wouldn’t it?! After taking about an hour and a half nap we got him up and dressed for the game.

He did so, so good at the game. Even then people around us complimented us on how well he was behaving!

When he would get tired of our seats I would take him and let him walk around the stadium. This worked out perfectly for us!  He was such a great baby and we were so thankful. It was 10:00 when the 9^th inning rolled around and we knew we had to call it quits for the night even though the game was tied up! It wasn’t until around 11 that the game was over and the Braves had won! THANK GOODNESS we didn’t stay any longer than that! Our hotel was downtown close to the stadium, but I still get weird about being out so late especially with a baby no matter how many sports fans were walking next to us. Maybe it’s my small town ways! Ha!

Chipper got a standing O his first time at bat.

Can you tell we have a tired baby?

Saturday we got up, got around, and took Wyatt to the STL zoo. If you haven’t been to this zoo you seriously need to! It was beautiful!  Every exhibit was so clean, the animals didn’t appear depressed, and the best part was the exhibit closely resembled that of their natural habitat! I was so thankful for that. I honestly believe that Little Rock should be shut down and then animals released to a sanctuary because it is nothing more than a joke. So sad for the animals there. We said I don’t know how many times how great the zoo was and how beautiful (and HUGE) it was! We plan to go back soon when Wyatt can appreciate it more!

This little duck ate 3 french fries right out of my hand. First time for that and probably the last. 

After the zoo we came home so Wyatt could get a nap. He was getting cranky after about 5 hours of no nap. He fell asleep in the car and when we got to the hotel and I got him out he stayed asleep-something he never does. I laid him down on the bed and he snoozed for 3.5 hours before we had to wake him up and get him dressed for the game.

The second game was just as great as the first- we won! And, we had a very well behaved baby who did wonderfully again. We got more compliments on our sweet, easy-going baby and even got back by 9:30. Ryan was claiming he was dying of hunger so we called up a local pizza place and had them deliver pizza to us once Wyatt was bathed and in bed. Pizza was delicious and I felt like a 17 year old staying up late, eating pizza in bed except this time I was with my husband and it was 10:30.

Sunday, we got ready to leave after we fed the baby. We made it all the way to Branson before we ate at Fuddrucker’s for lunch. Wyatt did so awesome with the road trip. We could not have been more proud of him. We made it home right at 5:00. Since I had finished my book, I was bound and determined that I was going to the movies to see The Lucky One. Neither grandmas could watch the baby so I declared that I was going alone. Ryan was somewhat shocked and kept asking if that’s really what I was doing. I pinky promised that I was in fact going to the movies alone…something I had never done before…and he shouldn’t feel bad that I was going alone. I think I needed a mental vacation actually. 4 days straight with a baby and husband is physically and mentally exhausting and no one can deny that. The movie was just okay. I didn’t like the things that they changed and could have actually gone without watching it, but it is what it is.

It was also my 2^nd Mother’s Day! I got a sweet card and another tumbler to add to my growing collection and I also got to clean up a boo-boo that Wyatt got as soon as we got home. I wish I had a pretty posed picture of me and my little boy, but sometimes real life is what you get…scraped knees and all!

Hope all you mothers out there had a great day. My sweet momma left me a sweet card in the mailbox, so I was very thankful for that. Ryan and I have great mothers and we are so very blessed to have such good relationships with them!