Rainy Days

Well, it was a rainy day and Nathan and I thought we would be cool parents and take Wyatt to see a real, big, huge, loud firetruck. When on the road, he points out every truck. "Mommy, Big Truck." "Mommy, White Truck." "Mommy, Truck with lights." You get the picture. I have learned more about transportation this past year than I ever dreamt I would know. Since it was raining and we were tired of being stuck inside, we piled the family in the car and headed to a fire station. My parents joined in on the festivities. To our surprise, the excitement of firetrucks turned into fear once Wyatt realized exactly what "we are going to go see firetrucks" meant. As we got out of the car at the fire station, he froze. As we got closer to the truck, he cried. With tons of coaxing, he allowed Nathan to hold him and as Robert (the volunteer fireman) showed us around, he slowly began to warm up. He decided to pose for a few pictures, but refused to sit in the drivers seat, try on the boots or let them turn on the siren. Although he acted differently than we expected, he ended up having a blast in the end.

Soccer Days

Wyatt has been having a blast at the beach. We came to St. Simons for a long weekend, and spent Saturday at the soccer fields. My nephews looked like professionals on the fields. Grant scored the most goals on the team (as usual) even though he is by far the youngest on the league. Wyatt didn't look to bad himself. I think he is picking up a few moves from his cousins.

Weekend Getaway

Due to the high stress of Nathan's job, we decided it was time for a weekend getaway. My mom took Wyatt to St. Simons a few days earlier and we joined them on Wednesday. Lauren did amazingly well on her first trip. I always thought Wyatt was a good baby, but I'm happy to say that Lauren makes him look like he was high maintenance in comparison. On Wyatt's first trip to SSI when he was 2 months old, he had periods of screaming until he was blue. With Lauren, we hardly heard a peep. She just either slept or sat quietly while she looked around. I hope she stays this way, but I do realize she could change. She is only 6 1/2 weeks old. My mom says that I had the same temperment as Lauren, so maybe she won't change.

When Wyatt first saw us, he went crazy. His smile went from ear to ear. It was so sweet to see him reunited with his puppy. He kept hugging her and saying "Hi Puppy," "Love you puppy." Although excited to see us, he appears to of had a blast here without us. His weekend was filled with soccer practices, bike rides, trips to the beach, movies with his papa, wrestling matches with his cousins and multiple trips to the playground. Oh, and I can't forget to add....his first trip to the emergency room. Wyatt fell backwards while eating a popcycle and hit his head on my parent's fireplace. They had planned to do a staple, but decided not to because the doctor said it would hurt and since it was on the back of his head, any scar would not be seen due to his hair. He didn't cry while being examined and appears to actually be proud of his boo boo. It must be a guy thing. My dad has one in the same spot on his head from High School football so it makes it very cool for Wyatt!!

Those Special Moments

Since Lauren has been born, there have been several occasions when my heart just melts. Wyatt is at such a cute stage now. Everything he says (well most everything)and does is just so sweet, especially when it comes to Lauren. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Wyatt seems to love Lauren so much. We often overhear him saying Love you Lau-Len. He says this without any encouragement from Nathan or myself. The contents of this blog are being printed and kept in a book for Lauren and Wyatt to enjoy when they are older. To be honest, that is the motivation for me to continue to take a few moments to keep writing. I hope to capture special moments for them so that they have something to look back on.

I may keep this entry laminated and on me at all times when they are teenagers. When they are fighting, I can just pull it out and say, "see how much you love each other."

Here are a few, of many, sweet moments we have experienced between them over the past few weeks.

On a daily basis, Wyatt asks to hold Lauren. As he holds her, he kisses her. I always have to hold my breath because I am often worried about her health during these kisses. I want to allow him to do it, but worry about how much pressure he is putting on her as he bends over. Don't worry though - each hug and kiss is monitored.
He even has taught her to pick her nose....

The other day Wyatt was holding Lauren and she started to cry. One of my psychology books suggest that you always ask the older sibling why he/she thinks the baby is crying and to explain that babies only cry when they are hungry or tired, ect. The point is that the two year old does not view the crying as a way to get attention from mommy or daddy, but as a way to express a need. The other day, as Wyatt was holding Lauren, Lauren started to cry. I, as I always do, piped up with "Wyatt, why do you think Lauren is crying?" His response did not come in words, but in actions. The next thing he did was start to pull up his shirt in hopes of nursing little Lauren. It was just too cute!! Unfortunately I do not have a photo to show. I wish I could walk around and capture all moments on camera, but it just can't happen.

Wyatt often comes up to us when we are holding Baby Lauren and crawls into our lap while saying "Two Babies." He folds his little body into our second arm and lays his head on the opposite shoulder. Every time he does this it melts my heart. I thank God that very second for giving him a loving heart and not one of jealousy. So many friends of two little ones have shared stories of books/cds/punches being thrown as they are loving/nursing their youngest child. Fortunately I have not had to deal with that. So far Wyatt has seemed very accepting! Thank God for my TWO BABIES!!

Many Blessings

Since the birth of Lauren, I have come to the realization of just exactly how blessed we are. So many people pitched in to help Nathan and I as we adjusted to life with two little ones. Nonna and GG went above and beyond by keeping Wyatt while I was in the hospital. They came to the hospital armed with gifts "from Lauren" to make the introduction to Baby Sister a success. I'll never forget Wyatt's face. I could only imagine his thoughts.....How did Baby Lauren know I loved trains so much??

My dad came to the house and also helped with Wyatt. They spent the day at the train museum, played at the playground and in our basement. Thanks Dad for all of your help!!

Wyatt and Lauren's cousins Samantha and Emily also came to help. They held Lauren for me and played with Wyatt! Wyatt was very sad to see them go home!! Thanks ladies!! We have pictures, but they are on my mom's camera. I will have to update them later!!

Aunt Alicia, Aunt Kriya and Baby Wade also helped by taking Wyatt to the playground! Wyatt loves his aunts so much and had a blast!!


And finally, in all honesty, without my mom I am not sure if I could have survived. My mom unselfishly took 6 weeks out of her life to come stay with us and help us out. I definitely "needed" her for several weeks due to the c-section. The additional weeks were an added bonus. Huge bonus. She made the transition for us so much easier and I will forever be grateful until the day I die. Due to the c-section, I was unable to lift Wyatt. She was there to help lift him in and out of the crib and whenever else it was needed. She helped by cooking meals, doing laundry, taking Wyatt to school and Music Class, cleaning dirty diapers, singing lullabies, and driving me around when I could not drive yet. We will forever be grateful for the time she spent with us. Although the list goes on forever as to why I am thankful for her help; I must add the main, most important reason I am thankful.

I feel especially thankful for my mom because, by her staying with us, she allowed me the opportunity to bond with my Baby Girl to the degree I was able to while still being able to spend time with Wyatt. Every morning, mom and Wyatt went downstairs to eat breakfast and watch Super Why. During that time, I had the opportunity to lay with Lauren. Had my mom not been there, I would have been up, pouring cereal, changing diapers and rushing off to school. In addition to feeling like I have had so much time with Lauren, I have also had the time to spend with Wyatt alone while mom kept Lauren. I know that this experience has helped make the transition to big brother a huge success. All of this has been such a blessing and very rare!! Thank you mom for all of your love and support and for temporarily making our basement your home.


I know Wyatt is really going to miss his MiMi now that she is gone. I'm hoping she enjoyed being with them so much that she will move to Atlanta. That would make us so happy!!

Puppy Ball Stalker

I have not been good about keeping up with my blog. We had a few hectic weeks. Poor Wyatt came home from school with a cold that he then passed along to myself and little Lauren. Since Lauren is so little, it took a few weeks for her to get over it. Unfortunately, she still gets stuffy at night.

Despite the colds, we have still made our daily trips to the Lide and the Wee (Slides and Swings). Next to our neighborhood park there is a tennis court. I've named this entry Puppy Ball Stalker due to our trips to this park! :) Why? Well, let me explain. Wyatt calls tennis balls - Puppy Balls. He named them this when he was about 18 months old and it was so cute, the name just stuck. How did he get the name? Well, our dog loves to chase tennis balls. The result?? Puppy Balls. I know the experts recommend that you not encourage the baby talk, but I can't help but know deep in my heart that he won't still be calling a tennis ball a puppy ball or a swing a weee when he goes off to college. With that said, we do the opposite of what the "experts" recommend and we also refer to them as puppy balls and the wee. Wyatt, being a little boy that is obsessed with sports, always ventures to the tennis courts to watch the people play tennis...hence the name of this blog....Puppy Ball Stalker. That is what I feel like on a daily basis as I sit and watch the guys play tennis. Wyatt has, a few times, had an imprint on his face of a chain link fence from where he plants his face up against the fence. It's very cute. I guess he may take up tennis one day, along with golf, soccer and football. Those are the sports we currently practice on a daily basis. I'll try to sneak a picture of Wyatt intently watching the tennis courts when I can and will post it. I don't want to become too much of a stalker though. :)

In addition to visits to the slides and the swings, we have been busy going to school, Music class and playgroups. Wyatt also went to his first Georgia tailgate for this year. GOOO DAWGS - great win over the Tennessee Volunteers. As most of you know, my family bleeds orange (for UT) so this was a great win for me! :) Nonna was gracious to take Wyatt and I had the day to relax at home with Baby Lauren. We all had a great day!! Thanks Nonna!!




I wish I had more pictures of the actual tailgate, but I didn't get to go. Wyatt had a wonderful time playing with his cousin Cae! I wish we lived closer as I know they will be good buddies.

Updated Photos - Lauren 3 1/2 weeks old

Just wanted to share some updated photos of our little lady. Wyatt grew so fast that Nathan and I often find ourselves saying, "I can't remember Wyatt being this little." So, with that in mind, I thought it would be best to take some photos of her while she is still little. When Lauren was born she weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces. As of yesterday, she weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces. I couldn't believe it, but she stayed awake for all of the photos this morning. The pictures provided give you a sanpshot of our hour. I think we took a total of 96 pictures, but I figured that might be overkill to display them all in the slideshow. I hope you enjoy!!