Welcoming Autumn

I apologize for my absence! I'm really awful at blogging -- or sticking to blogging, rather. It's been months since my last update and so much has changed! Wyatt turned 3 in July. He's such a smart, funny, handsome little man. He has fallen in love with baseball and running "super fast." We had a baseball birthday for him (two actually!) at a local park, complete with hot dogs, peanuts, cracker jacks, and delicious baseball cupcakes. It was a fun time but lots of work for Mom! Wyatt also loves to ride his "bike" and his scooter. He plays in his sand and water table almost daily and LOVES doing Legos with Daddy. He wants to do everything by himself and usually does a great job. He's using full sentences when he speaks and has manners that Mom and Dad are very proud of. He has an incredible sense of direction, often telling us "that's the way to Grandma and Grandpa's" or "that's how we go to get to school." He will be my little GPS before too long! He starts swimming lessons next week, which he'll take twice a week for 6 weeks. We'll see how he likes it and hopefully sign him up for another series! He has officially been attending "Jr. Pre-school" for a full year and has done a great job. He is always getting better at sharing, using his words to express his emotions, and listening to instructions.He spent last week at a Spanish immersion summer camp. He seemed to really enjoy it, and we've had a fun time practicing different words and phrases in Spanish. We are hoping to keep the Spanish learning coming, though it won't be through a full immersion program. He starts at a new Pre-school on October 1st. We are excited about the new school setting, teacher, and cirriculum. He's a smart boy, and we are looking forward to what new learning Pre-school brings for him. We'll be moving to the Raleigh Hills/West Slope area of West Portland at the end of the month. We are looking forward to being in a quiet neighborhood with a yard and a shorter commute! I am still working at ODS, though it is now called Moda Health. Stuart will enter the Civil Engineering Professional School this fall at Portland State University. We spent the summer doing weekend trips here and there. Stuart and I both ran Hood to Coast with Stuart's dad and will run Warrior Dash this weekend. I also ran the Shamrock Run in March, Eugene Half Marathon in April and will run the Champoeg Half Marathon in September. We went on several camping trips to Cape Lookout, Detroit Lake and one coming up at Stub Stuart with the Gardner family; up to Seattle for some baseball with Doha Mike, Cookie Diane and Uncle Bynan; out to Lincoln City with Grandma, Darren, Brandon, Tylor & Uncle Bynan; down to Corvallis to watch Uncle Penso play baseball with the Medford Rogues; zoo trips; attended a few weddings and special occasion parties; and look forward to summer winding down and thus our schedule clearing up! September and October hold some work travel for me, but with winter comes more time here in Portland, which we love. We are planning a trip to Hawaii in April for a wedding and romantic getaway for Mom and Dad. A trip to Disneyland is on the horizon -- we're not sure if that's for Wyatt or us, but it can be both, right? Stuart and I just celebrated our second wedding anniversary and fifth year together. It's amazing how fast time flies! We are loving our little life and family in Portland and can't wait to celebrate many more years! I think that's all for now! We hope to see friends and family again soon with the upcoming holiday season. I'll try to post Halloween pictures, as I'm sure Wyatt will have a great costume and love trick or treating this year! Until next time!

January recap

I realize that I have missed my January post, but that doesn't mean I can't still recap it!
We enjoyed a nice and mellow New Years party with a group of friends from college and kicked off 2013 by picking up Wyatt for coffee (and chocolate milk). We all headed back to work and school too soon after!
Stuart started up winter term and got honor roll for fall term! So proud of him! It is sounding like he won't need to take summer courses, so we are looking forward to a moderately normal and stable summer!
Wyatt "graduated" into the next class at school, so now he is with 2.5-3.5 year olds. He's full potty trained during the day, and it is wonderful! We haven't started working on night time potty training yet but he often wakes up from naps dry and gets up to go potty at night. He's so smart!
Other Wyatt highlights include his love for puzzles, which he is actually very good at! We even had to start mixing up puzzles because he was doing them too easily! He knows his basic colors and shapes, and he can say and sing the whole alphabet unassisted!! He can also spell his name, mommy and daddy. When we're on a walk or driving, he'll call out the letters he sees on buildings and license plates. So fun! His counting is getting higher and higher. I think he is up to 30 now!
He is still a terribly picky eater. He likes toast, scrambled eggs (sometimes), oranges, graham crackers, roasted broccoli, PB&J, fruit snacks, and soy sauce marinated chicken. We are hoping his palate will start expanding soon!!
I am still working away :) my vacation time over the holidays was glorious and I miss my boys while I'm at work! We have lots of fun weeknights and weekends! I am off to DC next week for a conference, Santa Monica at the end of February, and Oakland in midMarch. Sad to be away from the boys, but they are all awesome opportunities that I'm really excited about! I'm extremely passionate about what I'm working on, so spending days with other people who are too will be such a great! No to mention the 5-star accommodations and all meals on the company a dime!!

Some photos from the last few weeks:

Christmas 2012!

As usual, we had a very busy and very enjoyable Christmas. We started off with a celebration at Grandma Diane's on Sunday evening. Wyatt got some really cool stuff -- and so did we! He loved his Cars pop up play tent. He played in it immediately, then proceeded to watch TV from it, eat in it, and nap in it once we got it home. He also got a play kitchen, with which he "made" us eggs and pie for breakfast on Christmas Eve. There was even snow at Grandma's house, so it felt like a White Christmas!

Then, we had Christmas Eve brunch at Grandpa Mike's. Once again, we were all totally spoiled!! Wyatt got a new tablet, which he's getting better at every day. And that means Mommy finally gets my Kindle back! :) He also got a new puppy -- Astro the robot dog! He also got an alphabet train 10ft puzzle, which we've done at least ten times a day every day since we brought it home!

Christmas morning, we went to the Kraxberger family Christmas. We came home with bags of loot and a tired kiddo! After a long nap, we had Christmas with the Smiths. Sunday we'll celebrate the Gardner Christmas. Photos from these Christmases are coming soon!

All-in-all, we are always so blown away by the generosity of our family and friends. We are so blessed to continue to be spoiled well into out 20s, to have little man be spoiled rotten, and to be surrounded by family and friends we love. We are so incredibly blessed!

Merry Christmas, friends and family. May your 2013 be full of love!

Tis the season

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, spending lunch with the Smiths and dinner with the Gardners. Wyatt and Stuart kept up fine with having two Thanksgivings in one day!
Wyatt's still doing fun, cute and silly things, and he's growing up so fast. He's out of diapers now, except overnight! Yay!
We went and got our tree today. Though we planned to go to a u-cut farm like usual, our plans with some friends fell through, so we cheated and went to a lot instead. Next year we will get back on track!
Happy December!