And we're walkin'...!

I just wanted to share my exciting Mother's Day gift. More updates will come soon, I promise!

Hello, Spring!

We have certainly enjoyed the tid-bits of sun as much as possible. Wyatt loves the green grass, and I think not being able to see "boundaries" is exhilarating for him. He turned 9 months old on Wednesday!
And, YES, he is crawling. He is not just crawling, but he's FLYING. We all knew this day would come, and we knew he wouldn't be slow or patient. He is a mover, and he crawls like nobody's business. He has mastered the art of going from any position to crawling, sitting, or kneeling. Along with the crawling, he almost immediately started pulling himself up on anything and everything, including Rossi! He pulls himself up, shuffles along, and even goes from one piece of furniture to the others, letting go for that brief moment. He'll let go with one hand, or he'll let go completely for a few seconds, just to see if he can do it, then grabs on again or plops down to his bottom. I am terrified how quickly he is learning to walk, and I don't know if we're prepared for that just yet, but it is so exciting and fun to watch him learn and grow!
He is fluent in "Mama" and "Baba" and "Paba" (Daddy) and other various syllables. I swear he's saying "Hi," but I don't want to be one of those moms who turns every utterance into a word. He's getting there though!
He's a great eater, still eating some baby pureed food, but he is mostly eating small chunks of adult food! Right now, he's having avocado, banana, and Cheerios -- his favorite brunch! He also loves apple and pear chunks, chicken shreds, and scrambled egg yolks. The kid will eat just about anything, and I love it because I can feed him all the healthy things while he's young! Before he gets too stubborn! ;)

I've finally completed Public Health Week, which is a huge load off of my shoulders. The mid-week events were not as successful as I would have liked them to be, but the large Friday safety event was a huge hit, and it made all my hard work worth it!
I only have less than 2 months until graduation, and it's going to be a hard 2 months! My classes this term are proving to be very writing intensive, and I definitely have my work cut out for me. I currently have a 3.36 GPA, and I am thrilled to see evidence of all my efforts in my schoolwork. It's so exciting to be so close to the end!
I've applied for a position in Tigard at PacificSource Health Plans. It's full-time, and I am extremely qualified for the position's duties. I submitted my application today, and I am already anxious to hear back. We are hoping and praying that this will lead somewhere promising!
I'm also still working at Ruby Tuesday, and Stuart is working his butt off at his jobs. We could not be more excited for June to come, so we get situated up in Newberg and find better work options for him until he returns to school in the fall.
We'll be having a graduation celebration when we get back to Newberg, probably June 18th in the mid-afternoon. We will keep you posted!
Also, with Wyatt turning 9 months old and all the craziness of life, I decided to plan ahead and reserve a day for Wyatt 1st birthday. None of the details, of course, but his birthday party will be on Sunday, July 10th, probably in the afternoon, at our house in Newberg. Pencil it on your calendar!
Until next time...

Brian, Myself, and Dad at my birthday bowling

Wyatt, enjoying the sunshine about 2 weeks ago

Trying to watch the NCAA games!

He really wanted to help Daddy put together his new toy!

As promised..

Now that the insanity of finals has calmed down, I am updating my blog as promise! Thanks for your patience :) Considering it's been a while, I feel like I should have a lot to update on, but I guess we'll see!
Wyatt is 8 months old now, and he is a blast for sure. This is definitely my favorite age so far! We had our first sickness, with Wyatt getting a mild ear infection and "possibly" viral pneumonia. Our pediatrician seemed to lackadaisical about it that we tried not to worry. We pumped him full of fluids and got him as much rest as possible, and his body beat the infection in under a week. Score one for his little immune system! He was a good sport throughout being sick, as usual, and now that the sickness has passed, he is even more fun. His top 4 teeth are also on their descent, which means anything he gets, he not only puts in his mouth, but usually tears to shreds! Hilarious!
He is still log-rolling as his primary mode of transportation, but he log rolls to wherever he is intending to arrive, sits up, and has now started pulling himself up on anything he can get a good grasp on (which is usually our leather couches, and the grip doesn't last long!) He moves from a sitting position to all fours and rocks back a forth, maybe even taking half a "step" so we're expecting crawling to come sometime soon!
He laughs at everything, and he's definitely ticklish in his ribcage, which makes it easy to cheer him up if he's mad. He eats mostly solid foods and absolutely loves Cheerios and carrot sticks. Such a little person!
His talking is increasing, and he uses syllables almost constantly, using a variety of "ba" "da" "ga" and other simple "ah" sounds. We' just started working on sign language, and I'm really excited to see how well he picks it up and have him start using it! Fortunately, he has his own made up signs for a lot of things, like reaching his arms to be picked up and rubbing his eyes when he's sleepy. He is such a fun little man; I am so excited to spend tons of time with him over spring break!
Yes, it's finally spring break. I've complete my LAST EVER undergraduate winter term, which feels AMAZING! I managed to do really well this term, and I'm feeling optimistic about next term, considering it is all classes that I'm really looking forward to taking. Plus, I'll only have 14 credits again, which feels like such a breeze after my terms with 18 (and after that awful anatomy class!) Only one term left until I'm done with classes, and I just cannot wait! Then I'll launch myself in to the workforce and pray for a job, which gets more daunting with every term that goes by. I've already got an internship lined up with Multnomah County Environmental Health. It's a 10-week, unpaid position, but it's exactly what I want to do, and half of my hours would be on my own time, at home or in the field, so I could still spend time with Wyatt before I have to get a 9-5'er. Despite being unpaid, I am really excited about the opportunity, and I think it may be worth it. I've applied for paid positions, but none of them are very exciting, and I haven't heard back on any of them, so it might be a sign!
I'm also back at Ruby Tuesday waiting tables. It's nice to have adult time that's not sitting in a classroom or the library, but I definitely miss Wyatt. It's nice that I only work about 2-3 hours each shift, so I'm never away from him for too long. It does take away my time with Stuart though, which is really getting old!
He's still working 3 jobs, and we are absolutely thrilled for June to get here, so he can move on to a job with more normal hours. However, we aren't looking forward to leaving our babysitter. She has been such a blessing, and she is so great with Wyatt. It's going to be difficult to replace her!
Wedding planning is moving along smoothly. August 27th, 1pm, don't forget!! I don't know why everyone thinks it's so difficult. It also just might be that I'm not nearly as picky as most women, and I'm more excited about the celebration than the formal wedding nonsense. But, hey, that's just how we are! We just want to have a good time!
Brian and I and a few of our friends ran a race last Saturday called Shamrock Run up in Portland. Brian and friends ran the 15k (9.3mi), and my friend and I ran then 8k (4.97mi). It was a great accomplishment, and we're all really excited to have finished the race and actually done surprisingly well! I think Brian is done running forever, but I've signed up for the Earth Day Run on April 23rd up in Tigard, which is a 10k (6.2mi). I will keep you posted on how that goes. I'm a little nervous, but the races are really fun, and it's great motivation for me to get out and run!
In more unfortunate news, my 1997 Toyota Camry broke down last week as I was headed to Portland for the race weekend. It does not sound good! I do believe this family is just cursed with car trouble, and someone needs to become a mechanic, so they can fix all of our problems, ha ha!
Well, Wyatt is up from his morning power nap, so I am off to play with my little guy. Have a great week, and for those of you on spring break, enjoy your week off! I know I will!
Until next time...

a couple weeks ago -- working on crawling!

His favorite fishy - Nebraska shirt, Blazer socks!

Pulled himself up on his car

Pulled himself up on Mom's legs!

Coming Soon..

I promise I have not forgotten about you. I vow to bring you a family update as soon as the term winds down. Things are just a little crazy with school, Public Health Week, work, and life!! I just wanted to let you know.. it's coming! Check back in about two weeks, and I'll write a marathon post!
Love you!
& Wyatt says HI!!!

Our Happy Boy

So it goes..

Life is crazy!! Wyatt is mobile and a force to be reckoned with, getting into everything (and munching most of it!) Childproofing has begun. He is so much fun to hang out with, and I love watching his personality form. His surgery went off without a hitch, and he bounced back faster than even the doctors expected -- always good news! He is currently a huge fan of our phones, the laptop, tags, anything that crinkles, rolling across the floor, and any pureed vegetable. He uses his feet for everything, and they never stop moving (even kicking around in his sleep -- so funny!) He's loving solid foods and has totally mastered spoon feeding. However, he hates fruits! He won't eat applesauce, pears, or bananas, but he LOVES peas, green beans, squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes. How backwards is that? He likes the yucky stuff! Haha.

Not wanting to eat applesauce!!

He's learning to chew now, which means more entertainment for Mom and Dad. His two bottom teeth are in now and completely visible, which just makes his grin a million times cuter. He's working on crawling, but he is still quite a ways away. His primary mode of transportation is log rolling, which he's gotten really good at. He's great at sitting unsupported, but when he wants to be on the move, he just leans forward to his belly and rolls along. Whatever works!
I love spending so much time with him, and I'm so fortunate that my school schedule works out to well! Next term looks like I'll primarily have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays again, which means I'll still have lots of time with my little man!
Speaking of school, this has been a very busy term! As I've talked about many times before, I've gotten really involved in various groups and events, which is resulting in really awesome things for me! As a co-founder of OSU's Public Health Club, I was elected to be the Public Health Week Chair. Public Health Week is a nation-wide event that OSU hosts a segment of, and I'm in charge! It's been a lot of work, but I've apparently been doing a pretty good job! I got a call from Multnomah County Environmental Health with an invitation to intern over the summer in EXACTLY what I want to be doing with my career! In public health, it's really hard to get a good job without having a foot in the door or about 2-4 years experience, so I am really hoping this will give me what I need to start building a career in Environmental Health. It's mostly self-driven, which means I'll be able to do about half of my work from home. You know what that means -- more Mama & Wyatt time! Just what I was hoping for :) We have fun!

 Stuart is still working his butt off at all three jobs, but there is potential for cutting it down to two! Target has decided that with the holiday season over, they're going to let several people go -- Stuart is NOT one of them! Which means, he's sticking around and taking over the hours of those leaving! This is great news, because he'll be able to leave TJ Maxx!
We're planning to move to Newberg after I graduate in June. My mom is in the process of buying a house in Oregon City, so we will rent her old house in Newberg until further notice! Stuart will head back to school in the fall at PSU and finish up his engineering degree. Once we're both done with school, we're hoping to find a permanent home closer to the Portland area.
It's past my bed time, and Stuart just got off work, so I'm off!
Until next time...

Happy boy!

Now time is really flying..

Wyatt officially feels like he's growing up too fast. He is now sitting unsupported, making sounds like "da" "ba" and "la" (still no "ma" unless it's "MAAAAAA" haha), and he has one tooth emerged and another close enough to the surface that you can feel it. From the sitting position, he'll lean forward to reach a toy, and I swear he is just going to take off crawling -- not literally, but this is what I mean by time flying! Before we know it, he'll be crawling all over, and our house will never be the same. He still loves bath time, and he's always upset when bath time is over, even if the water is cold or drained! He got a new inflatable rubber-ducky tub from Brandon and Deanna, and it's perfect now that he's sitting up. Plus, it only takes a few gallons of water to fill, versus the adult tub that wastes so much more water than he needs.

Bath time in his new tub

He's become a huge fan of his wooden blocks from Grandma (my mom), more so eating them or knocking them down when I stack them than anything else.

Blocks

 He loves anything that crinkles, from tissue paper to plastic bags to the container his baby wipes come in. So, we got him a book with crinkle pages. He seems to love it!
He's got a mind of his own, now getting mad when I take things away from him and screaming when his bottle is gone. If he can't reach something, the crying begins unless I give it to him, give him something else, or let him wail for about... oh, 30 seconds. He distracts himself pretty easily by the other toys surrounding him.
He's getting along great with the babysitter. Only being there twice a week has been really nice for me, because I get to spend the majority of my time with him. I like to think he appreciates it too :)

Trying to learn the sippy cup

School is chuggin' along. Fewer credits this term, which is really nice, but they are more difficult credits. However, being 5 months away from graduation is enough motivation for anyone, I think. So far, I've been able to stay caught up, and since Wyatt cut his teeth finally, we've both been getting a better night's sleep!
Stuart is still working his butt off, although it's slowed down a bit now that the holiday season is over. He is still working 6-7 days a week, and I am certainly not jealous of his hours. We are so thankful that he is willing to work so hard to support us!
I am still selling Scentsy, and it is going wonderfully. I got the Monthly Sales Award last month, and I'm nearing a promotion this month, which means another commission boost.
My work with Clackamas County starts this month, and I'm thrilled to jump into that. The Peer Health Advocate program I was supposed to be involved in fell through because one of the mandatory meeting days fell on the day of Wyatt's surgery, but I've been automatically accepted for next term, so I will be able to get involved then!
Wyatt's surgery is next Monday, January 24th. It's a minor surgery, and it has nothing to do with his health or well-being. The doctor told us not to worry! The only thing I'm nervous about is that they have to put him under! That and the recovery. He's tough, I'm sure he'll bounce right back with a little TLC.
I'm also getting my burn scars looked at by a dermatologist and hopefully removed in the next few months. Supposedly, it's a much easier process than surgery or anything, but we'll see!
Wedding planning has been going great. We have the time and location all finalized, our photographer booked, and our save-the-dates ordered. Also, we won a contest to get our DJ for 1/2 price!! I've even got my dress :) But, possibly one of the most exciting parts -- the honeymoon is booked!! A 7-day cruise through the Eastern Caribbean. We are beyond excited. A vacation together is much anticipated and well-deserved!
Well, Wyatt just fell asleep for a nap, and I've got things to do! (He was helping me write this post!) I'll try to update again in February, but school will only get crazier as the term goes on. You'll hear from me as Wyatt grows, though!
Until next time...

Welcoming 2011 With Open Arms..

We are thrilled to welcome a new year today! We were so blessed in 2010 with our beautiful boy and a year FULL of learning experiences. We look forward to what this year has in store for us -- graduation, Wyatt's first birthday, and our wedding! And, of course, all of the wonderful days and events in between.
Wyatt is a solid little man. He even stayed up to ring in the new year with us! He is somewhere around 21-22lbs, but he hasn't been to the doctor since his 4-month wellness check up. He will go back mid-January, so we'll give updated statistics then!
He's a very happy boy, full of laughter and SO well-behaved. He is learning to sit up unsupported but still a bit wobbly. He's doing great with solid foods, having conquered peas, green beans, and carrots. So far, he likes it all! We're trying to introduce watered down apple juice, but he hasn't taken a liking to the sippy cup. We'll keep at it! He's a great eater. He's also great at exercising now too. His exersaucer has gotten a lot of use. It's a toy shaped like a car that he's able to stand in the middle, bounce wit his legs, and play with the toys set up around his seat in the middle. He LOVES it, and he loves that he can see everything that's going on in the process. We're hoping to get him a walker, so he can actually wander around and explore without us having to carry him. He's getting SO heavy!!
We celebrated Christmas a little non-traditional this year. Christmas was my mom was the weekend before, and Christmas with my dad was the Thursday before. Christmas day we woke up and celebrated at home, then visited my family for a couple hours before spending the day with Stuart's family. We managed to keep it very relaxed and stress-free, which was definitely our goal.
We were blessed with so many wonderful gifts this year and are so grateful for everyone in our lives. We have such great friends and family who are so supportive and loving. We couldn't ask for better!
Wyatt was, of course, showered with toys! He has more toys than any 5-month old could possible know what to do with. So, one toy at a time, he is having a hay-day. The bright colors, sounds, and lights that all of the toys have in common hold his attention for longer than I thought possible! He also received very cute toys and the first step toward his college fun -- a baseball-themed piggy bank!
Stuart is still working his butt off, finally finishing out the holiday rush. Fortunately, things will slow down a little bit now that holiday shopping is slowing down, which means more time at home with us! He is still working all three jobs and plans to continue for as long as we are in Corvallis. I wish he'd cut it down to two, but I'm proud of him for working so hard for his family. He's a great catch!
We've spent the last 10 days house/dog/lizard-sitting for a friend of a friend. They have a beautiful house in the hills of Corvallis, and we felt absolutely spoiled getting to live there. I especially loved using her kitchen stuff! All top-of-the-line! They have two hounds and two lizards, so we had our hands full.
I enjoyed my time off from school and loved getting to spend all my time with Wyatt. It's exhausting, but I just love getting to hang out with him! The bad news -- he's gotten used to having me around all the time, so now if I'm not there, he's not a very happy camper. We're hoping this fades out, considering he will be with the babysitter twice a week, without me!
I head back to school on Tuesday for my second to last term of college. Wyatt will go to the babysitter's on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30am-5:30pm, while I'm in class and Stuart is at work. We are so glad he goes to the babysitter so little!
Wedding planning is coming along great. We've managed to get a lot done in a little time, and we're (I'm) hoping the trend continues.
It's going to be weird for me to go back to the grind, but last term flew by, so I am sure this one will too!
Happy New Year to everyone! May your 2011 have more ups than downs!
Until next time...