Many apologies for the delay in updates. It is our hope that we have finally settled into a routine that will allow us to have more time for visits, play days and of course, blog updates. :) We are going to try a little different format this time, for efficiency!

Wyatt:
He's a bundle of energy and bundle of joy. We have so much fun with him and love watching him learn and grow. He will be 16 months old on November 15th and we can't believe it. He is running and jumping, standing on his tippy toes, turning door knobs, climbing on everything like it's a jungle gym, wrestling with Dad, playing tug of war with Rossi and giving hugs and kisses like they're going out of style. He points at everything he sees, eager to learn new words. His vocabulary is constantly expanding and currently includes words like Mommy, Dad, milk, up, please, thank you, bites, chair, and will repeat most words with his best rendition. It is astonishing how quickly he is learning to talk, scarying Stuart and I into using words like bottom, knuckle head, bozo and dummy. Every bad driver on the road is now called a crazy. I suppose it's for the better ;)
I believe he celebrated his first birthday in my last post, which has been many months by now. He had a fun and festive fourth of July, sporting an "All American Boy" shirt with red, white and blue shorts. He walked perfectly down the aisle as the ring bearer at our wedding and proceeded to play and dance the afternoon away, just like the rest of the guests. He spent a week jumping from each grandparent's house while Stuart and I spent time together on our honeymoon. He spent a Saturday at the Portland Zoo, where the animals were awake and playful, which made the visit even more fun for everyone. He especially liked the monkeys (of course) and the sea otters! I took him to the pumpkin patch with my friends Shannon and Kristi and his friend Hayden (Shannon's daughter). He ran around through the hay maze, laughed at the goats and chickens, and crawled through the above ground tunnels. He decorated a pumpkin with felt stickers -- a gift from our friends Jacob and Marisol. We took him to Disney on Ice: Toy Story 3 where he danced his little heart out and watched the entire show with perfect behavior. He loved it! He celebrated his second Halloween by dressing as a skeleton and running rampant around the apartment complex, on the play structure, and even trick-or-treating the apartment office, receiving a bag of goodies and a plastic spider toy. This weekend he'll get to play at PDX Playdate in Portland, a giant indoor jungle gym, where the other parents in my office are having a small get together. I'll bring updates on that next post:)
He spends several hours each day, 4 days a week with a family friend of mine and Stuarts. She and her 19-month old daughter, Aubrey come over to watch Wyatt while Stuart is in class. Aubrey and Wyatt have become the best of friends and we look forward to them growing up together!

Stuart:
Since my last post, Stuart has continued to enjoy his time as a stay at home dad. He was also to leave his job at Target to pursue something more relevant to his field of study -- Civil Engineering. He is currently taking preliminary classes and preparing to enter an intensive Civil Engineering program at Portland State University. He is working hard in school, taking an advanced calculus class and an advanced physics with calculus class. I do not envy him. Those were my worst subjects! He is doing well and we are very proud of him.

Sara:
I finished out my time at PacificSource as a Wellness Intern in mid-August. After applying, I as offered a fantastic job at ODS Health Companies as a Health Promotion and Quality Improvement Specialist. I have been at ODS for 3 months now and continue to enjoy my position. I work on projects and programs that promote health and preventive care for our members. I am so blessed to have found such a wonderful job that I enjoy AND get to do what I went to school for. It has been an incredible learning opportunity and I look forward to making a career out of it.

Family:
As many of you know, we were married on August 27th and made it legally official that we are now the Smith Family. Our wedding was simple, beautiful and oh so much fun. We are so happy that we could share such a special day with such special people. As I mentioned, Wyatt spent the week with grandparents so Stuart and I could take a much needed and hard-earned vacation to the Caribbean. We took a Carnival cruise to the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and Grand Turk. It was absolutely beautiful and relaxing. Although we missed Wyatt terribly, we had a fantastic time and arrived home happy, well-fed, tan and exhausted.
We also moved from our Newberg place to a place all our own in Tigard. It has cut mine and Stuart's commutes in half. It's a cozy little apartment nestled off Durham Rd. and Hwy 99W, but we love it. Our neighbors are great, the management is nice, and Wyatt can run anywhere and everywhere without being out of our sight. One of the best perks -- it's less to clean! :) We just got all settled in this past weekend and hope to have a drop-in style open house in the next several weekends.

I am looking into a photo uploading site, so I can share all of our family photos with you, even those of you without Facebook! If you do have Facebook, watch out there for photo updates on there. I will keep you all posted if I find time to get going on a photoshare site!

We'll be sending out Christmas cards again this year to family and close friends. If you'd like to ensure that you'll receive one, please let me know and confirm that we have the most updated address for you!

Love from Stuart and I, Hugs and Kisses from Mr. Wyatt!