Wyatt's first Birthday

Apple cider
Apple slaw
Apple cupcakes
Apple pie
Apple cider donuts

Ok, so I went a little overboard but I enjoyed every single second of it. We loved celebrating our little man's first year with family and friends in our new home. Today we had a special family day - went out to lunch, went to the lake, dug in the sand and enjoyed watching Wyatt do all of his favorite things . . . 
 push his walker all over the house, pet the boys, eat cheerios, growl like a bear, clap his hands and his newest trick . . . show us he's one! 

As I look back on this year, I am so thankful for how God has blessed our family with this sweet little boy. I absolutely love being his Mama!

Dog Jog

We signed up for the dog jog last weekend and had so much fun! Here are a few pictures of our run with the boys. 

 All ready to run!

 Sharing a water bottle after the race!

He was one tired pup. Apparently we didn't train them quite enough. 

I would highly recommend signing up with your pooch next year, its tons of fun.

We bought a house. . .

I've never considered myself a lucky person. I've never won a contest or been randomly chosen for something cool. But, 2 weeks ago we got lucky!

If you know us you know we're house hunters. For years now we've been searching for that perfect house to raise our family in.

We love West Chester and we narrowed down our search to a fun little neighborhood we found. You can read about it here. Doesn't the lake just suck you in at first glance? Boys fishing and catching tadpoles is what every Mom dreams of for her little boy. 

 I basically told Jeff that I only wanted to live there and nowhere else (I tend to get things stuck in my head). He set up a search on the MLS so that whenever a house went on the market in that neighborhood we would get a notification e mail. We've looked at 5 or 6 houses in that Neighborhood but all were just a little more than we could afford. Especially with my new salary being $ 00,0000 a year.  The Wednesday before Easter Jeff was on his laptop (surprise surprise :) and he looked up at me and said "We're moving".

We bought a multi unit when we first got married and have lived here for the last five years.
(I never thought we'd leave this compound that I've loved and hated for the last 5 years)

We weren't able to see the house until Saturday but we drove by it quite a few times before then. Us and about 5 other very interested young couples who were peeking through the windows. We looked at it Saturday and submitted our full price offer by 2 pm. 

After 1 day on the market they had 6 offers submitted. They narrowed it down to 2 including ours and somehow we got lucky. I'll never know if it was my awesome realtor :),  pure luck or God providing exactly what we needed at exactly the right time.

For years I've selfishly wanted my own house, my own yard, my own porch, my own space and peace and quiet at night without tenants. When my sister moved in I stopped longing for my own house.  I stopped wanting my own space because I love sharing it with her.  I love seeing her every morning. I love that Wyatt knows his Aunt Cait and Uncle Jeffrey more than most 6 month olds. I will miss living with them more than I know how to describe in words. For some reason that I may never know, now is the right time for us to move even though we'll miss them so much.

I guess we'll just have to convince our new neighbors to put their house on the market ;)

Here are a few pictures of the house.We have a lot of decorating/updating to do but the house overall is in great condition!

Blessed Birthday . . .

There are so many things I am thankful for this year. . .

• A baby that my heart desired for oh so long . . .
• Living with my sister and brother in law. . .
• The opportunity to stay home with Wyatt . . .
• 2 very handsome schnauzers . . .
• A selfless supportive husband that loves all 4 of us to pieces . . .

Today was perfect. Started out with Library class for Wyatt. Sold a random cupola from my roof for $60.00 to a nice man on Craigslist. I love selling things on Craigslist and making money because I do not like spending money. Now I had $60.00 to take to the farmer's market. If you've never been to the East Goshen Farmer's Market, check out the list of venders here. We walked around, had a moms pop, bought some expensive chicken and strawberries, and then played in the park.

Wyatt experienced the sandbox for the first time with Ollie. Both of them enjoyed digging holes and eating sand.

Then we decided to swing

 I came home,  fed the baby and then headed out to girls night. I love being with my girl friends.

I came home to this:

I love him. 

It was the perfect day.

Wyatt, Ridley, Cooper and Ollie love Baby Led Weaning!

I've been making my own baby food for a few months now and really enjoying it. Wyatt's friend Campbell (who he actually shares a birthday with but has never actually met because he lives in CA) does baby led weaning. His super cool Mama swears by this new method to introduce solid foods to your baby. 

We decided to give it a try . . . 

 He absolutely loved feeding himself.

Surprisingly he actually ate quite a bit of sweet potatoes and so did his friends :)

For obvious reasons I can't use this method every day but once and a while when I have the time to give a baby and 3 dogs a bath its kind of fun! Not to mention it kept him occupied and quiet in his chair long enough for Jeff and I to finish our dinner which was kind of nice.

A day in the life of Wyatt

Sometimes I find myself wondering what other moms do all day, sometimes I look back on the day and wonder what I did all day. . .

Sometimes we do really fun things like go to Longwood Gardens with the Moms group from our church.

Sometimes we do awful things like go to the gym. A bad experience for everyone involved -- Wyatt was hating life in the kids club because, well I don't know why, I guess because I wasn't there. The poor girl who had to hold a screaming baby for a half hour I'm sure wasn't loving her life either.

So, we'd much rather do things like go to our Raise a Reader class at the Library. 

I highly recommend doing classes at the local library if you have the time. Its so much fun for the kids and a great place to meet other moms too!

My favorite Gluten Free Restaurants

Lately I've been getting so many questions about the gluten free diet especially when it comes to eating out. Jeff and I love to eat out and I've done lots of research for the Exton/ West Chester area.

Here are just some of my favorite places to find gluten free food...

1. Iron Hill - this is one of our favorite places to go in town. They have an extensive menu with many choices. My favorite things to get are the wings (they bake them instead of fry them) and the shared hummus plate with veggies. You can get full meals here and their menu does change seasonally so you can order new things. One plus here is that they serve Red Bridge which is a gluten free beer. 

2. Nonnas - is an Italian restaurant in town and it is amazing. They have gluten free pasta and can pretty much make any of their dishes gluten free for you. They also have gluten free bread that you have to ask for.  Top it with gluten free chocolate cake and you will walk out of there stuffed!

3. Bonefish Grill - Has an amazing gluten free menu. It is not as extensive as other restaurants but you can get chicken, fish or steak with various sauces and sides. Although the famous bang bang shrimp is not gluten free they do have another appetizer which is called Saucy Shrimp that is almost just as good. The flourless chocolate cake that they serve with rasberry sauce and vanilla ice cream is to die for. Sometimes Jeff and I go there just for the dessert.

4. Outback Steakhouse - They have a great menu and an awesome chocolate thunder from down under dessert as well.

5. Shoo Mama's - This is a newer sandwich/deli type place that opened up in West Chester right at the intersection of 202 and 926. They serve breakfast sandwiches on bagels and tator tots that are gluten free. They also serve all kinds of sandwiches on either bread or a bagel. The cream cheese they have is amazing - we ate lunch here the day I went into labor ;). This is a great place to stop if you're traveling or in town and want to pick up lunch to go.

6. Issac's Deli - Issac's has a gluten free/allergy menu that you can ask for when you get there. They do have a flat bread that is gluten free so you can basically build your own sandwich. I reccomend the magpie :).

7. Cheeseburger in Paradise - So I just ate here the other night for the first time in a long time and realized they serve their burgers and sandwiches on a gluten free bun. I ordered a burger with the bun and it was really good. Their fries are also gluten free which is a huge bonus because a lot of chain restaurants do not have a separate fryer.

8. Red Robin - Also has a gluten free bun for burgers and sandwiches. I believe their fries are also gluten free.

9. Harvest -  My all time favorite place to eat. Their gluten free choices are usually marked on their main menu. They also have gluten free bread so you can order a pizza/appetizer made on the gluten free bread. They order it from a local bakery so each week the bread is a little different. Most of the meals are under 500 calories so its a healthy option.

10. Peace a Pizza - serves gluten free pizza. Two locations (one in Exton and one in down town WC is very convenient for us).

I hope you enjoy these restaurants as much as I have! Feel free to comment if you know of any other great gluten-free restaurants/menus in our area :) 

Easter

Wyatt's first Easter weekend was super exciting. We went over to Jeff's parents house for lunch on Saturday and he had an Easter Egg hunt with his cousins. Even at 6 months old he loved picking up the eggs and shaking them to see what was inside. 

So excited about all of his eggs!

Searching for eggs with Mommy

 

Wyatt stealing eggs from his cousin James. 

Nana and all of her babies :)

On Sunday we went to church and then headed over to my parents for lunch. They just recently fenced their yard so the boys had a ton of fun playing out back. 

While all the dogs were playing out back, I slept in the rocker. I woke up and thought I had dozed off for 5 minutes, apparently it was 2 1/2 hours and it was glorious!! 

 

 

Wyatt loved exploring his Easter baskets. Especially the singing and dancing bunny basket from Mimi. 

 

I made a few gluten free treats for Easter.

I can't really take credit for the cake, my friend Kesh had a cake decorating party and she made cakes for all the girls to decorate. It was so much fun! We had so much fun spending time with family, hope you did too :)

Baby Food Baby Food

Since my struggle with gluten, I've learned that what you put into your body really affects you. If I eat crappy things, I feel crappy. Breast feeding was really hard for me but I stuck with it because it is what's best for my baby.  I knew once we started solids that I wanted Wyatt eating fresh organic fruits and vegetables. I also knew that it would save us a little money and I'm always up for that but I didn't realize how much work it would be.

I started out with pears. The first batch I did I only made about 4 pears. I learned my lesson after that and did 12 at a time. Its easier to make bigger batches. After peeling and cutting (which takes the longest) I put them in a pot to steam.

After they steam, I transfer them to the magic bullet. I've also been using this Cooking for Baby book that my sister got me from William and Sonoma.

I have to hire a babysitter while I blend them because Mr. Wyatt man doesn't like the loud noise. My babysitter usually keeps him happy.

After its blended I pour it into little freezable cups or ice cube trays. After the ice cube trays are frozen I transfer the cubes to freezer bags. I like using these containers because I can just pop the whole thing in the microwave to defrost when I need one. The ice cube trays are great for storage in the freezer though.

 So far I've made zucchini, green beans, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, plums and pears. I've found that when blending sometimes it helps to add  a little of the water to reach the consistency you want. For very watery vegetables like zucchini, I add a pinch of oatmeal to thicken it up. Right now pears and sweet potatoes are at the top of his list.

My babysitter takes his job very seriously. We find him on the job after hours many nights.

Vacation with a Baby . . . truly vacation???

Jeff and I have always liked to travel. We hoped that Wyatt would enjoy traveling as much as we do so we decided to take him along on  Jeff's business trip to Cape Cod.  We decided to drive through the night in hopes to not upset Wyatt's schedule (I like to pretend I'm one of those moms that has a schedule). We left the house around midnight Monday night with the car completely filled with baby stuff .  Well, we aren't as young as we used to be because we only made it 4 hours before we had to pull over and nap. The rest of the trip consisted of driving a bit, pulling over and sleeping and then driving a bit more. I guess we didn't realize how sleep deprived you are as new parents. We finally got there around 9 on Tuesday morning and luckily were able to check in early.

We spent the morning swimming in the indoor pool and Mr. Wyatt man loved it!

Jeff had to work each day so Wyatt and I spent the day swimming, playing in the hotel room or taking walks along the beautiful sea shore.

 

I think it would have been a little easier if he were just a couple months older because we wouldn't have needed as much stuff.  He just started sitting up yesterday but wasn't able to sit independently on the trip. I do highly recommend this cheap playmat from Ikea for travleing. It comes with a zip up case for easy traveling doubled as the perfect suitcase for all his toys. 

Going out to eat each night with a 5 month old was a little tough but we managed. I even found a restaurant on the Cape that had gluten free fried food. It was UH mazing!!

Wyatt loved visiting Daddy at work. He even wore his "future ranger" onesie to the National Park Service office 

We spent our last day there riding the ferry to Martha's Vineyard to visit long time friends of ours. David and Ellen Berube welcomed us into their home and gave us a lovely tour of the island (good thing because it was snowing when we got off the boat). I'm glad that our tour guides didn't mind the fussy baby in the backseat. Apparently Mister Wyatt man preferred the walking tour of Martha's Vineyard instead of the driving tour. Too bad for him it was 34 degrees outside. 

Watching the boats from the ferry

David and Ellen took us to lunch at The Black Dog (one of my favorite places for obvious reasons)

Snugging with his Daddy on the ferry ride back. 

We left on Saturday night, stopped and had dinner with my cousin Abby in RI and then ventured home. Poor Jeff drove most of the way and pulled over around 1 am when he couldn't drive anymore. I woke up and decided that I was determined to help him and drive the last 2 hours home. I made it 20 minutes before my eyes started closing and I too had to pull over. We both slept for another half hour and woke up to find the car battery dead. I guess I had left the keys in the ignition or something like that :/. Mister Wyatt man woke up and thought that  3 am was now his 7 am. It was a long 2 hours home and a long Sunday . . . Thank goodness we lost an hour for day light savings because I don't think I could have lasted another hour that night.

Vacation with a baby didn't always feel like a vacation. When we got home I felt like I needed a vacation just so I could sleep but I wouldn't have it any other way. A page has turned in this book called life and I'm loving the new words on this page.