Happy Birthday Wyatt!

Dear Wyatt,
Today you turned 3 years old. Your Dad and I sat in bed last night remembering the night you were born. The past 3 years have gone by in a blink of any eye and they have been my favorite so far in this journey called life. Your Daddy and I are so proud of who you are. We love you so much!

This morning you woke up to a favorite breakfast . . . banana chocolate chip muffins a hard boiled egg and of course a doughnut from your two favorite visitors Lincoln & Yaya. We got dressed and headed to church for Bible Study. We came home and had eggy salad with guacamole for lunch. We did whatever you wanted this afternoon which consisted of watching a show (of course) playing legos, playing cars, wrestling and reading library books. Sometimes I get so caught up in having things planned that I often don't get to enjoy the quiet moments with you. The moments where there is nothing to do so we decide to turn the couch into Poppy's boat or a fire truck. The moments where we cuddle up on the couch and read book after book. You're teaching me each day to let go of the list and just live. Thank you for that lesson.

 Tonight we went bowling for the very first time. You loved it! We had pizza and cupcakes and had the whole place to ourselves!

I cannot wait to watch you learn and grow this year! I've read that we have the most energy we will ever have in our lifetime at 3 years old. I guess I better get ready for an awesome year! Thank you for being you Wyatt Bryant! You continue to amaze me each and every day!

 Feeling lucky and blessed to call these two my own

 I took this video of you reading. Your love for books and reading just warms my heart! 

 Of course you fell asleep on the way there since you are still refusing to nap :) 

 Even Harper got a chance to "bowl" 

Memorial Day

We had such a great weekend relaxing and hanging out. We took lots of rides in the "shruck" and trips to Starbucks. On Friday night Mimi and Poppy watched the little man while Jeff and I headed down to the city to meet up with some friends.

On Saturday we went to Lowes (our new home away from home) and picked out bathroom fixtures for all of our bathrooms. This was the only way to keep Wyatt occupied while making decisions.

On Saturday night we went to Charlie's Birthday party. The Islers live down the street from us and its so fun having neighbors so close.  It was great to hang out with friends and watch these little ones celebrate Charlie turning 4.

Sunday we spent all day on Poppy's new boat! We went out to lunch, rode paddle boats, played in the sand and relaxed. We're so thankful that Mimi and Poppy have a boat that we can enjoy.

Our first family vacation as a family of 4

This weekend we went to OCNJ for a few days. We stayed at a resort in Galloway and went to the Cape May Zoo, The beach and Story Book Land.


Wyatt, you're growing up so fast. You've been taking swimming lessons this summer and you even jumped off the dock at the lake with Daddy tonight. After your first jump you said "I'm so brave". You loved jumping in the waves with Daddy at the beach and weren't even afraid after you went under a few. You rode the rides on the boardwalk and loved it even though you would never know from your facial expressions. You had so much fun at Story Book Land that you cried when it was time to go home.

Harper Mae I couldn't have dreamed of a happier baby. You find so much joy in everything you do. You're happy as can be almost every minute of every day. You love watching Wyatt and can now even army crawl to steal his toys. You loved the sand and the ocean! The minute I put you in the water you kicked your feet like crazy!! You're growing up so fast, I do my best to soak in every second I have with you. I love your chubby cheeks and auburn hair. I can honestly say that I don't mind that you wake up every single night to nurse still. I love spending time with you and I don't want it to end.

I hope and pray your relationship with one another continues to grow. I love the way you take care of your sister Wyatt, making sure she doesn't have something she's not supposed to, bringing her toys or giving her kisses. Harper I love the way you laugh at Wyatt, you could watch him play all day long.

Better late than never right?

I need to change the name of this blog since we've welcomed our little princess Harper Mae into the world.

I can't even believe she's 3 months old already. . . Where did the time go? I blinked and 3 months went by. These past 3 months have been extremely hard and extremely joyful all at the same time. The end of the pregnancy was hard. I was huge, chasing around a very busy toddler. I remember wanting her to come so bad but then trying to cherish every last second I had with my boy. At my 36 week apt with Dr. Delaney she expected me to deliver in the next 2 weeks. So, I went home, packed up and planned on having a baby. That baby never came. I went back for another check up and was even more dilated. This process continued until my due date. At my 39 week check up she sent me over to the hospital convinced that I would have her that afternoon. We took this picture right before we left for the hospital.

Once we got there and she still didn't arrive I opted to come home and wait it out at home. My Mom stayed and everyone anticipated me going into labor that night. But, I didn't. I waited another week anticipating her arrival at any second because I was so dilated but nothing ever happened. I went into Dr. Delaney's office feeling a ton of pressure and she said I had been walking around at 6 cm dilated. Sooo off to the hospital we went. I had no choice but to be induced and although I was upset that I missed out on the excitement of "going into labor" It was a much smoother transition for Wyatt. We were able to have moments like these:

Moments that I'll never forget. Moments where I thought to myself ' How is it humanly possible to love another child as much as I love this one sitting here with me? Will I love her as much as I love him?'

My labor was every woman's dream. . . I got the epidural after feeling very few contractions because I was already so far along. The nurse I had was actually a friend of mine, how cool! I pushed for a little while and out she came. Oh and those questions about how I would love anyone as much as Wyatt, well something inside of you changes the moment they come out. Its like Something in your heart just moves over to make room for another one to love and adore just as much as the first. Wyatt walked into the room with the brightest eyes. I'll never forget his face. 

One good thing about being induced was that the entire family was there waiting for her arrival. After a few minutes alone with our new little girl her family came in to meet her. After I was all stitched up they wheeled me to the maternity floor. Jeff went to go pick up dinner since we hadn't eaten and while he was gone we struggled with some post par tum bleeding. thank goodness my sister was still there. I guess i couldn't get away with such an easy labor. In some ways the second time around is so much sweeter because youre mor prepared so you can enjoy it that much more. We soaked up every second with her. 

Welcome Home Harper Mae!

Washington DC

Daddy was away all last week in DC. To say we missed him would be an understatement. You don't realize how much Daddy helps until Daddy is gone. We kept ourselves busy at the house while he was away . . .So we planted flowers  . . .

We went shopping for new hats because Wyatt is obsessed with hats

We went fishing with Poppy
We went out for Ice Cream
We snuggled the boys.

On Friday morning we left to meet Jeff in DC for the weekend. We went to the National Zoo on Friday afternoon and had a blast.

We had dinner Friday night with my friends from college and little man was not a fan of sleeping in his pack and play so he had a sleepover in Mommy and Daddy's bed. Needless to say, he was the only one who slept. On Saturday we went to the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum. It was fun although there wasn't a ton for toddlers. The Natural History Museum did have a discovery room which was neat.

Here we are measuring the alligators head while some other kid is trying to snatch the tape measure out of Wyatt's hand.
After the museums we went to the National Harbor (looking back I wish we had just gone there Saturday morning because they have a children's museum but by the time we got there it was too late in the day to go. We had lunch at a restaurant called "Ketchup" looked at the boats and then headed home.

This was the perfect place for the two of us since Ketchup is our favorite food :)

Thankful we can travel with Daddy but Thankful Daddy is home!

What a difference a year makes. . .

I decided it was time for some new clothes for the little man. I hate spending money and I can pretty much count the number of articles of clothing I have bought him on one hand in the last 18 months of his life. Obviously my love language is not giving gifts and yes I do admit I have an issue with spending money. He pretty much looks ridiculous right now in his mismatched hand me downs that are all too big and his hillbilly baby mullet hair cut that I gave him. So, I decided that if I couldn't fix the hair maybe the Gap could fix his style. . . Once shopping I  realized that I don't have a baby anymore but a little boy. I had to shop in the front of the store instead of the back, how sad :(. He's growing up so fast and I literally can't keep up. I was downloading Easter pictures and realized what a difference a year makes.

 Last year's Easter Egg Hunt

This year's Easter Egg Hunt  (yes this is the best picture I could fine because he doesn't sit still long enough for anyone to take his picture)

 Last year's Easter Basket

Finding this year's Easter Basket

Happy Easter 2013 

He's talking up a storm, literally repeating everything you say like a little mini parrot.
I want to be a good mom and write down all the fun words he says but there are so many I lost track. One of his favorites is Truck. Pronounced chuck. He loves his  Poppy's chuck! He loves being outside and asks to play outside from sun up to sun down no matter the weather. I'm glad summer is on its way and I can't wait to spend every waking minute OWESIDE with this busy little man!

Valentine's Day

 He's a heartbreaker alright . . .

We needed an excuse for a playdate so we used Valentine's Day. . .

 

we made Valentine cards

 read Valentine books

 and had lunch with friends