Last weekend I got my camera back! I wish I could say that I have a bunch of new and exciting pictures, but I can't. Things have been pretty 'quiet' around here. That doesn't refer to the actual noise or energy level of the house- it just means no big news. Wyatt is still a little parrot. He has too many words to list. He is also developing his animal sounds. Goat and cat are my personal favorites. Wish this was a blog with sound. His noises and ramblings are hilarious and almost nonstop. Today he is pretty sick. He is running a super high temperature. Other than to take naps and a 20 minute trot around the living room (during which he managed to partially unwrap a couple presents, tear up some mail and terrorize Noah) he has been laying in my lap all day with his bottle in one hand
and his quilt in the other. It is so sad. A super high fever for a day or two seems to be the way his body fights even the most minor bug. I am not medicating him and letting his body burn out whatever it is so he will be feeling better for the upcoming festivities. If you look back at my blogs from this time last year I'm sure there are some entries about a fever or two. This time I know that is how he gets sick and I am not going to put him through any traumatic doctor's appointments.Last weekend Greg's parents watched the boys and Greg and I visited Waco. We attended Uncle Blair and Aunt Regina's church's Christmas presentation and then stayed the night and part of the next day with my cousins, Dan and Amanda. We had a great time visiting with family and it was incredibly relaxing. I wish the boys had been with us to play with their cousins and feed chickens. But of course they had a blast with their grandparents and didn't even pause when they saw us come in the door. I think Noah only got in the car with us because we told him that we were going to be back in a week for Christmas.This weekend we are going to have some quality family time, just the four of us, before setting out for the grandparents'. This may be the last update for awhile, but I will return with Christmas pics. I am determined to get more and better pictures than I did last year.My pictures do not match my text very well. Sorry. 
The first one is me enjoying my hot chocolate the same way every mom with toddlers enjoys everything! The next one is Noah sliding down the new firepole Greg added to the swingset. As you can see, Noah has it mastered. Most kids that come over are too scared to try it. It is ten feet high. The last picture is our lettuce. Our summer garden was somewhat prodcutive but always looked on the verge of death. However, our winter garden this year is beautiful. I wish I had planted more. Right now we have lettuce and spinach and the peas and carrots are coming along. Much to Greg's delight, and my bewilderment, we have cilantro popping up everywhere. I think Wyatt may have spilled some seeds. This has been perfect winter weather for fast, robust veggies. I even have tomatoes ripening on my widowsill that I got off my last tomato plant just before it melted in the last frost. Homegrown tomatoes in December! Gotta love Texas.
The past couple of weeks have been filled with lots of friends, family and Christmas shopping. Last Friday the boys and I visited Christie and Ben way up in Cedar Park. We took the boys to go see Santa. Noah almost got sucked into an elevator (mostly my fault), we had to wait in a really long lign for Santa and then Noah peed in Santa's lap (only because we were next in line when Noah told me he had to go and I didn't want to lose our place and made him 'hold' it). Luckily, it was a frontal accident and I don't think Santa even noticed. Ben and Wyatt were both terrified of Santa. He managed to soothe Wyatt with a book long enough to get a picture. Christie and I were not going to pay $20 for a 5x7 from a guy with a digital camera and a
printer, so we took pictures for each other. Our screaming baby Santa pictures are just as good as his were! After the mall we went back to Christie's house and the babies napped, played and ran amok. I managed to leave my sunglasses and my camera at Christie's house. So that explains why there are no pictures from this weekend. Christie, who loves to show off pictures of her kid as much as I do, emailed me the pictures we had taken so I could have something to blog about. But I still haven't gotten all the pictures off my email so hop on over to Christie's blog to see more from that day.
Before I get a bunch of nasty comments and phone calls, let me explain. I really thought Wyatt needed a haircut! It was in his eyes and getting tiny, but impossible, tangles in the back. If I just kept cutting it along his eyebrows and next then pretty soon he'd have a goofy, poofy bowl cut. Plus, I did it after a day of tangles and pulling food out of it. Good thing I don't have a girl because when I am in a moment of frustration with the boys' hair I just pull out my trimmers. I did use the longest guard I have on Wyatt. I couldn't beleive how much he had- I cut off about 4" on the top! I miss his hair and regret cutting it. In my opinion, he now looks like the class bully. Not in this picture, of course. I wouldn't post anything too unflattering unless it was just too funny not to. Noah took this picture and several more really good ones of Wyatt smiling. Wyatt is more willing to smile for Noah than for me.
Other than giving and receiving bad haricuts, this week we have spent a good majority of our time on the playground. Here is Wyatt riding his new swing for the first time. I had to plead for Greg to put in a swing for Wyatt, but it turns out that we should have put in two or three. I spend most of my days now pushing the boys on the swing, breaking up fights over the swing and laying out a swing ride schedule for them and our neighbor's kids. The swing is a big hit. Noah and Wyatt want to be on the playground all the time now. I'm glad it got chilly out so at least when I drag them in kicking and screaming they settle down a little easier when I wipe their runny noses and they realize they can feel their fingers again. I'm very proud of Wyatt's vocabulary, but I am beginning to hate the words 'outside' and 'swing'.
Wyatt is totally focused on talking right now. He tries repeating just about everything and is very particular about his pronounciation. He does tend to put a 'y' at the end of somethings. Like 'hugy' instead of 'hug'. He says 'brrrr' when he goes out in the cold and waves his arms and tries to say 'peee-ewwww' when I change his diaper. I recently discovered that 'mommy' means he wants something to drink. An urgent, loud 'MAW-MEEEEE' means he wants a bottle (which I'm trying to wean him from so my doctor won't give me that 'tsk, tsk, bad mom' look the next time I take him in). Of course he lovingly calls Greg 'dad', usually over and over again when he is playing with him. I guess he doesn't feel the need to give me a title. Isn't the whole reason we have names is to get each other's attention? He obviously feels like he already has all of mine, and most of the time I feel the same way. He is working on saying 'Noah', but right now it sounds like 'No-nah' which is still pretty cute. He just woke up from his nap so I better go!
All we did was gobble, gobble over the Thanksgiving weekend. We went to Dallas for the holiday. Greg and Noah went on several bike rides. We shopped some. We ate ALOT. Our Thanksgiving feast was fabulous. Dori took some family photos for us and we tried to get a picture of the kiddos, but the camera wasn't cooperating and there was a BBQ pit in the background. However, we accomplished the impossible- all four sitting together laughing their heads off. I shouldn't say 'we'- it was really Papa and Sarge. It was Papa holding up Sarge's front legs and making him do a dance routine that got the kids laughing. He
even had Sarge dancing on Dori's head at some point. Dori did capture some good pics of the boys and the four of us, but I didn't want to post any and spoil our Christmas card. We also visited Geoff and Dene one evening. The kids played and we enjoyed some yummy fajitas and pumpkin cheesecake (gobble, gobble). We have always thought it funny how alike Mckenna and Noah are, in personality and in mannerisms and speech. But we are just discovering that Avery and Wyatt are also very similiar babies. It's like I have the male versions of Dene's girls.
Saturday we went to the Homestead's craft fair in Waco. The kids spent over an hour in the petting zoo and ate an unbelievable amount of kettle corn. Noah found a new best friend in his second cousin Lauren and Wyatt learned to make goat noices. It was a fun gathering of lots and lots of family. We were all amazed at how much each other's kids had grown. Good times.
Yes, Yes, it has been a long time. I honestly cannot remember what all has happened since my last post. So I will just try to catch up on how quickly my boys are growing up! As fast as Noah is
growing, he will be a teenager by the end of the week. I really believe he is very smart, but what is more amazing are his social skills. He is known amongst our friends and church (and, at times, total strangers) for his animated storytelling. He loves to tell people about all the exciting things in his life, from how many cup holders are in aunt Dori's minivan to reinacting scenes from movies. His stories entertain those listening and they totally brighten our day because he has a way of highlighting the great things in our lives, reminding Greg and I just how blessed we are. If he could write, I'd let him do the blog. Maybe I should figure out how to do a video blog and just let him narrate our lives. He'd probably tell you about our "whole family" bike rides. He would definitely tell
you about Mimi, Papa, Grandma Jean and Grandpa Bob making a short visit last week and taking us to the Texican Cafe. That was the highlight of our week. Yesterday we did some Christmas shopping and worked on the slide for the playground. Both boys can hardly wait to have it finished. Today in Sunday school Noah made a little turkey and he had to put something he was thankful for on each feather. He put his playground on one of them. That he was thankful for a playground he isn't even able to play on yet, really tugged on Greg's heartstrings and motivated him to get to work on it this afternoon. Unfortunately, he still does not have the slide up because we had to go back up to church for other activities and events this evening. Here is Wyatt making his camera-flash-anticipation face. Wyatt is on the cusp of toddlerdom. He understands everything we say and has a definite opinion on all of it. He has learned to nod his head and, much to my dismay, to shake it as well. He is trying to repeat more and more words lately. He even has a few phrase like 'dog poop' and 'shop vac'. His most used words are trash, eat, dog, slide, sit, dad, please and fish. He loves to help around the house, which explains his vocabulary. He also has learned the word 'that', which he uses whenever he wants to know the word for something. His favorite game right now is to take all the small trash cans in the house, bring them into the kitchen next to the big one and transfer every thing fromt the small ones into the big one- one piece at a time. At our church thanksgiving dinnner
tonight he begged to get down from his highchair and then proceeded to walk around picking up pieces of food and debris that people had dropped on the floor and putting them on the highchair tray. I hope he keeps up this tidy obessesion into adulthood. He difinitely got it from Greg. And last, but not least, is a picture of our furriest family members. Our kid before we actually had kids. I used to have oodle of Riley and Yeti pictures but now my bytes are all the boys. So here is Yeti looking all sweet and clean after his bath... that he had to have because he rolled in something that was too vile to even write about. I didn't take a picture the next day when he rolled in it again and had to have another bath. Is it a surprise I don't give them as much camera time these days?
This picture is just one from about 20 I took of Noah after his haircut on Wednesday. I have a couple very cute, very grown up pictures of him, but this one just seems to capture his recent over abundance of boyish silliness. As Fillmore's driver, he just had to have long hair for Halloween, but he was glad to get rid of it ASAP.I know I told ya'll to visit my Flickr site, but I bet you didn't see much when you got there. My fault- I had the security settings wrong. So try again.This weekend Greg began construction of a massive fort/playground for the boys in the backyard. We had to place it in such a way so that it is not visible from our street or the one behind us because Greg's design doesn't exactly follow our
neighborhood's deed restrictions. I don't know why they don't think a 14ft play structure is a good idea. Like all Greg's building projects, it is incredibly overbuilt and will be standing, along with our deck, if our area is ever hit by a bomb. I will try to keep the blog updated with photos of its progress. Both boys are enjoying 'helping' dad with the construction. With the 
exception of a couple potty and drink breaks, the three of them spent the entire day, from the time they woke till they went to bed, in the backyard. We fired up the grill yesterday morning and threw on some pork ribs that we let cook for about 10 hours. They were soooo good. And, we didn't melt any piece of the deck or house! I think Greg is getting the hang of it!
Oh yeah, I keep meaning to tell everyone that I do read the comments you leave on the blog. In fact, I love them because I like to see who is keeping up with us. You can comment anonymously without signing up for anything and then just sign within the text. There is not a way for me to respond other than directly in the posts. Thanks to all those who have left comments.
So here is what Noah and I have been working on for the past two weeks. Fillmore! For all of you who are not emersed in the world of animated film, Fillmore is the VW bus in the movie Cars. He is also who Noah chose to be for Halloween. I'm glad he picked him instead of Sally, the Porche. I don't know of any Porche-shaped boxes! I hunted down a water heater box and shaped it into Fillmore and Noah and I spent a lot of time painting him. He is to scale and the paint job is pretty close to the original. I even made a bunch of hippy bumper stickers out of mailing labels on the computer. Noah has been out-of-his-mind excited about Halloween. He loved wearing Fillmore. We went for an early trick-or-treating round down our street and then went to a fair put on by a chruch near our house. We entered him in a
costume contest and he won 'Craziest Costume.' He got a ribbon and was intereviewd on their little stage. He spoke up clear and boldly when they asked him questions over the mic. It was soooo cute. He is very proud of his ribbon. After the fair we did a second round of trick-or-treating. By that time most everyone had turned off their porch lights, but the few people still answering their doors emptied their candy bowls into Noah's bag. He had so much fun pretending to drive Fillmore around the neighborhood. Wyatt was Mickey Mouse. It is the same costume Noah wore for his first two Halloweens. We are getting good use out of it. I think Wyatt is the cuter Mickey, though. He also loved wearing his costume and stayed in full character all night. Mama and Papa G joined us for the evening of fun.
This weekend Greg and I attended the Margarita Ball in Dallas, a huge charity even put on my the Dallas Margarita Society. It was kind of a professional networking thing for Greg. For me it was just fun. Since it was a black tie affair, Greg and I got to get really dressed up. So here is a very rare look at us all prettied up. I think we were the best lookin couple there. I love my dress. Anyhow, it was a great night. I think it is the latest we have stayed up (willingly) since college. Mom kept the boys for us because it was an all night event that necessitated a hotel stay. Of course they hardly even noticed our absense between all the cookie baking, lasagna and doting grandparents and great grandparents. Earlier that day we met up with a good friend of Greg's for lunch at Cafe Brazil. Here Wyatt is enjoying the rest of my Chai latte. Don't worry, it is just seasoned green tea with steamed milk. But I am pretty sure I was getting 'looks' from people who thought I was
letting my baby drink down a giant capuccino. Sunday we had a Halloween/Birthday party at Dori's house. I will write more about that tomorrow because I am just tooooo tired right now. I did create a flickr account so everyone could view more of my photos. Most of the time I have more photos than I do things to write. I think the photos are the best part. Visit my flickr.
We didn't do much last week. Just hung out, played, made messes, cleaned the messes, etc.. Thursday was 'Molly Day'. She wore an especially cute shirt that Wyatt just loved. Here they are talking about it. As they get older they interact more and more like real little people. They definitely have a brother/sister kind of relationship. Sometimes they play wonderfully and other times they do nothing but antagonize each other. Those days can get pretty loud around here. Becky and I have taught them the same signs. It is so funny to watch them communicate. When one wants something the other has he/she signs 'please' furiously at the other, gets mad when they don't get what they want, takes the thing, and then the other
screams and signs 'please' back just as urgently while trying to steal the thing back. At least they are trying to be polite. Tonight Wyatt was fussing during dinner because I had forgotten to get him a drink. So I got him some water. He threw the water across the table and did his please sign for milk. How do I get mad at him for throwing the water across the table while he was so politely asking for milk? Today I taught him how to kiss. I ask him for a kiss and he comes at me mouth open, tongue out and plants a zerbert like smooch on my face. Even though it is pretty slobery, I love it. It is my baby drool facial.
I had so much to post today that I split it up into seperate entries. So, to get the full update, in order, start with 'The Next Godsey Cyclist' and read your way up. We had an exciting weekend!
So, on the drive home from our night of camping we stopped in at the bike shop to get a new tube for the tire Noah flated the day before. We left with a new bike. We told Noah when he learned how to ride his bike he could ask Santa for a new, big boy bike. When we took the training wheels off on Friday, Greg and I knew we wouldn't be able to wait until Christmas. He was too big for his old bike and it was geared way too high so that he couldn't go as fast as he wanted to. But I totally was not expecting to buy a bike so soon. Greg is just so thrilled that Noah is riding that he just had to buy him this awesome little 16" Specialized BMX. This is the first time I've seen Greg make such a big purchase on impulse. I guess I now know his weakness is bike stuff for the boys. He would never even make that kind of hasty purchase on bike gear for himself. Anyhow, Noah LOVES his new bike even though it is a little harder to ride. He and Greg are already talking about the dirt jumps they are going to build at the back of our neighborhood. Don't worry, we are getting a full face helmet on order ASAP.
Saturday morning we packed up the car, to the very top, and headed to Emma Long Park on Lake Austin for a one niter camping trip. It was the boys first camping trip, more importantly, it was our first camping trip with the boys. They had a blast but it was so hard! It was a trial trip and I think we may wait a couple years till we attempt it again unless we can con family or friends to come along for support. We really did have a good time though. We were right on the lake so we had a gorgeous spot with big trees. Noah rode his bike all over the park, focusing primarily on riding throught the biggest mud puddles he could find. The boys went swimming,
we went on walks and of course we had a campfire (in a grill because there are no ground fires allowed). Noah roasted his first marshmallows and hot dogs and we made smores. At that point in the evening I was not in the mood to take cute pictures of marshmallow covered kids. Sorry. Wyatt was just crazy. He doesn't sit still and play with anything. He was uninterested in the fun dirt and sticks around us. Instead, he wanted to do everything we did. Unfortunately, setting up
tents and building fires are not great activities for babies. He did like the lake and playing in the tent. Here he is 'napping'. We brought along his playpen and set it up in the little tent so he could have his own little room. He did good for about half the night, but when the cold front blew through and the temp dropped about 30 degrees, he woke up. I went in to find him on top of his blankets, socks pulled off, with a huge leaky diaper and freezing cold. After an hour of warming, changing and soothing he finally fell back
asleep between me and Noah. This was my first time ever to sleep with my boys. They are everywhere when they sleep. I think they took up about two thirds of the tent. It was really cute to see them all curled up intertwined with the dogs who loved the big expanse of big blankets. We were cozy the rest of the night as the wind howled outside. The boys both woke up in wonderful moods even though Noah was a little cold and couldn't wear shoes becuase to the mud puddles he just had to stomp in the night before. We warmed them up with some hot chocolate. I even put
some in Wyatt's bottle because I forgot a sippie cup. He loved it and learned how to say 'ha choc' about two seconds after his bottle ran empty so of course I had to give him more. After a yummy breakfast and got our stuff loaded and got outta there. The boys are now at home, bathed and resting. I should be too but I just had so much to blog!
Has it really been 10 days? That must be the longest ever. Greg was out of town a few days and we had a busy weekend. Friday we had our neighbors over to grill some fish. After burning yet another hole in the shade cover, Greg finally just cut out a big section of it. Saturday morning we went on a great mountain bike ride with a nieghbor- his wonderful wife offered to keep the boys along with her two! We had a great time and she said the boys were angels. Wyatt spent most of his time playing in her daughter's room, climbing in and out of her dollhouse and playing at her dress up table. He is going to be very stylish- and probably beat you up if you say otherwise. 
Last week while Greg was out of town (of course) Wyatt busted both lips- the picture to the right. I took the boys to an indoor play area and Wyatt was climbing all over a giant playground with a sign strongly discouraging any child under the age of 3 from playing on it. He had a great time. He busted is top lip tripping over his own feet, on flat ground, walking through the baby section of the play area. He bled everywhere but kept playing without much of a pause. Later that day he again tripped on his feet at home and jammed two bottom teeth into his lip. Oh, that day he also tripped over the threshold on the backdoor and somehow gouged his arm on something. That one I didn't notice until I picked him up and got blood all over me. After much protest I put a bandaid on him and all day he kept pointing to it and 'talking' about it.Saturday night Greg and I went to the fancy grand opening of Wimberley Glassworks. Greg built the business' new studio and workshop. It was fun to dress up and rub elbows with a very different crowd than we are used to in Buda.Yesterday Noah had his first trip to the dentist. We have a great kid dentist and Noah did awesome. His baby teeth are fine, even though he is missing half of one tooth, one is pushed back and there is a chip on another (all from a bike accident or two). But it looks like his teeth and jaw favor me and he will be spending much of his teenage years at the orthodontist. Better start saving now.
This last picture is typical Wyatt. Wild is the best word for him. It is almost impossible to keep him in clothes. He loves his shoes but he wants to wear them his way which rarely means they match. When we go places I bring the shoes in my bag and put them on when we get to our destination and he is too distracted to notice. He has on only one sandal in this pic. He was putting my socks in the laundry room for me. Wyatt loves to put things away and clean up. Every night he has to put his milk cup in the sink before going to bed. He also claps for himself and occasionally says 'good job', which comes out 'goo jok'.
Noah is almost riding his bike sin training wheels! He rides with only one right now. He can totally do it, he just needs some confidence. Like me, he is easily frustrated and defeated by physical tasks. Greg is an excellent teacher and takes it all in stride.
Our week was pretty uneventful. Here is Noah helping me make brownies for our 10th grade Sunday school class. He loves to help me cook- you can see why. Wyatt is talking more and more. Even though there are only a handful of words he uses consistently, he repeats words and noises we make all the time. His top molars are trying to push through and there have been several miserable days of teething off and on. Teeth never seemed to bother Noah. It seemed like they just all appeared one day. Wyatt's teeth really make him cranky. But he is so good about letting me look in his mouth. I tell him to say
'Ahhh' and he opens his mouth as wide as he can and does it while I poke around. The other day I was in the laundry room a few minutes and when I came out he was sitting in his high chair. I guess he figured out how to climbed in by himself. Today he climbed the ladder into our attic. Don't worry, I spotted him. Good thing we don't have stairs or balconies. The lawn mower and vacumm are Wyatt's best friends. While I vacumn he either rides on the cannister or hugs it and murmurs sweet nothings to it. He loves things that are louder than him. 
Greg got a new bar-b-que pit. Our youth paster gave us his old one. Greg cleaned and repainted it, had a pole welded to it, stuck it in a hole in our yard and mounted deer antlers on it for handles. I think it is a bit of an eye sore but he LOVES it. Last night he grilled on it for the first time. He used a little too much lighter fluid because the coal was not igniting. He lit it, the fire flared, singing most of the hair on his face and left arm and burning his knuckles so that today they are big gooey blisters. Best of all, he melted the shade cover on the deck. This picture was about a nano second before things got a little too hot. Despite the problems, he got the steack grilled, it was yummy and he still loves the pit. He is going to have to modify the shade cover, though.
Here are Noah and Wyatt at the same age. I have to make these comparisons every once in a while. It amazes me how different they are coming from the same two people. At this age, Noah's hair was just about at its' curliest. Wyatt's hair is board straight and is not even heavy enough to lay down. They do have the same open mouth smile and blue eyes but that is where the similarites end I think. Can you tell I am getting good use outta my baby stuff? It would really be funny if they had the same outfit on. I should see if Dori has a picture of Dacy in that highchair with that bowl.
and his quilt in the other. It is so sad. A super high fever for a day or two seems to be the way his body fights even the most minor bug. I am not medicating him and letting his body burn out whatever it is so he will be feeling better for the upcoming festivities. If you look back at my blogs from this time last year I'm sure there are some entries about a fever or two. This time I know that is how he gets sick and I am not going to put him through any traumatic doctor's appointments.
The first one is me enjoying my hot chocolate the same way every mom with toddlers enjoys everything! The next one is Noah sliding down the new firepole Greg added to the swingset. As you can see, Noah has it mastered. Most kids that come over are too scared to try it. It is ten feet high. The last picture is our lettuce. Our summer garden was somewhat prodcutive but always looked on the verge of death. However, our winter garden this year is beautiful. I wish I had planted more. Right now we have lettuce and spinach and the peas and carrots are coming along. Much to Greg's delight, and my bewilderment, we have cilantro popping up everywhere. I think Wyatt may have spilled some seeds. This has been perfect winter weather for fast, robust veggies. I even have tomatoes ripening on my widowsill that I got off my last tomato plant just before it melted in the last frost. Homegrown tomatoes in December! Gotta love Texas.
