Jayden

Surprise! Recently Greg and I have become a licensed foster/adopt home. This past weekend we received a call to take in a newborn baby boy right out of the hospital. We do not know how long he will be a part of our family, but we will love him like our own for as long as we have him. Due to the nature of this forum, I would rather not say much more but phone calls and emails are welcome!

The Two Cutest Boys Ever!

I am just finally getting the hang of giving the boys good haircuts. It took a lot of practice and many funy hairdos, but I think I know what I am doing now. They looked so cute and so grown up after their haircuts last night that I just had to get a pic. Big boy haircuts, no more diapers, giggling at bodily noises- I officially have boys now. Not babies. Sigh. Since I wrote about Noah last time I guess I should write about Wyatt. He is as wild as ever. I know many of you don't beleive me that he is a little spark plug because at the most recent family gathering (after he had been through three days of nonstop Christmas mayhem) he slept in my lap most of them time. So to back me up I will include a picture I took this morning. Being small for his age doesn't seem to stop him from doing anything. Even though he is my wild one, he is also my cuddler. He loves hugging and giving kisses. My mom says he requires lots of 'touch time' throughout the day to keep him under control. In the mornings he usually wakes up screaming and mad, but once I hold him for a few minutes and get food in front of him he is totally transformed. I have not spent as much one on one time teaching him stuff like I did with Noah. But he seems to absorb a lot of what Noah knows and is learning. He can count, say his alphabet, recite some Bible verses and he is a great singer. But he never does any of it on command. Wyatt being Wyatt is constant amusement for us. The boys are in a heated disagreement about something so I better go be ref!

Why Try?

Why try to explain why or apologize for my last blog being so long ago? The boys move and grow so fast. I'm just trying to keep up. They have so much energy. Noah is almost six! Our homeschooling is going great. We think he is extremely smart. He is reading beginner readers. His favorite lesson is Math. In the past couple months he has developed a love of art. Not really drawing, more coloring and painting. He probably spends at least an hour, more often two or three, coloring every day. Riding his bike is another favorite past time. He has Greg's natural athletic ability and can ride his bike up and over just about anything. With a lean build and huge lungs, he will be an awesome cyclist. Unfortunately, he has my mentality when it comes to competing- he is easily defeated and discouraged. We are working on that. Every Tuesday night we go to the Dirt Derby which is a short track mountain bike race (as many laps on a 2 mile, motocross course that you can do in 20-30minutes). Noah races in the kid's category and he is amazing, but he doesn't much like the competition and he gets discouraged if he feels like he is doing poorly. Greg is his coach and biggest fan. His is patient but insists that Noah finishes strong and doesn't give up. Recently Noah was diagnosed with Asthma. Greg and I have no experience with it and we are struggling with how to manage it. It is seasonsal, but severe enough to need daily steroids. Hopefully, he will grow out of it. Since starting treatment I have already noticed an increase in his energy- whoo-hoo! As you can see from the last photo, we visited the Alamo recently. If you remember back to the post titled "La Quinta is Spanish for 'Cool Mini Fridge!'", that was about an overnight trip to San Antonio while Greg was working a tradeshow and the first time for the boys to stay in a hotel. This past trip was the same tradeshow and the second time for the boys to stay in a hotel. This time it was not a La Quinta but the Westin on the Riverwalk. Much fancier. We went swimming in the heated pool on the roof of the fourth floor over looking the river. I even took the boys into the sauna. Wyatt love it but Noah wailed that his face was melting so he waited outside the door while Wyatt and I enjoyed some heat therapy. Once again, it was a great little vacation for the boys. As excited as they are about a night in a San Antonio hotel, I think their heads would explode if we took them to Disney World.

Wyatt is three! And I think this picture typifies a three year old. This is the neighbor's cat. This is one of five kittens of the neighbor's prior cat which mysteriously disappeared. Wyatt has played with him since he was three days old. It has to be this lifetime bond that keeps this crazy cat coming back to our yard. Whenever he and his brother hear us outside they come running only to be squeezed, roughly patted and dragged around by the boys. They even scale the backyard fence to jump into our yard with the two dogs. Either they are severely attentioned starved or the neighbor's two little girls are much harder on them than the boys. It is fine with us. The boys love them and we have all (or should I say 'the few') the benefits of having cats without the expense, litter box or torn furniture. Enough about the cats. The next couple of pictures are of the boys knee boarding!!!! Greg and I are so excited that they are finally old enough to start enjoying our past times with us. Just for the record, Wyatt got up on the knee board on his first try one month shy of his third birthday. Noah did great too. He has a little more fear than Wyatt so this was a big deal for him. Since then, he has gone several times, getting right up on his knees and he is even starting to play with shifting his weight to move around in the wake.

Since Greg and I were out of town for Wyatt's real birthday, we celebrated it at the lake the weekend before. It was just us and he was thrilled to get a few gifts and have everyone make a big deal of him.

We have function to go to this evening so I will have to continue this later...

Please Motivate Me!!!

I need motivation to keep this blog going! I told mom the other day that I feel like our little family life doesn't seem blog-worthy. It is pretty much 'here is a picture of Wyatt in the river, a photo of Noah at the lake' and 'Greg with no shirt on'. But I love reading the old blogs and it is the closest thing I have to a journal. The boys are growing fast and I am already forgetting things about their toddlerhood that I thought I would never forget. So, to my dedicated followers, drop me a line to let me know I still have readers. Motivate and inspire me to continue this blog jog of life. I am timing myself right now to see how long it really takes me to do a post. Hopefully it takes less time than I thought and I can eliminate one excuse. And since the other two excuses are asleep right now I should have plenty of time...

Yea, so the summer is coming to a close. If you have been keeping up with my flickr you have seen pictures of the boys with their cousins, the boys running amuck, Greg perfecting new tricks on the wakeboard, and very little of me. We have had a very busy summer. Mom and dad moved into our lovely town of Buda ('Bew-Duh' for you outsiders) and are slowly becoming countryfied. This is the first time for Greg and I to live so close to parents. It is great! The boys love pop-ins at Mimi's! Refer to Dori's Flickr for pics of the new place. Noah and Wyatt just love riding their bikes and scooters up and down their neverending driveway. Big news for us- We bought an acre of land! It is gorgeous and we can have chickens! (Disclaimer for our nieghbors: we will keep the chickens confined to a coop and no roosters) Here is a picture from which you really can't tell much. It has around 30 big oaks on it. We marked exactly where we set the tripod for this picture and hope to take photos as the construction of our house progresses. That probably won't start for several months. We have a lot of clearing, site work and design to do before that. Of course Greg is designing and building it. I can't wait! The property is in Manchaca ('Man-Chack' is how the locals say it, but I like Man-chaca). As the crow flies it is only a mile or so from Mom and Dad's new place, but by road it is a good 10 minute drive because we are both 'so far out there' as mom says a lot these days. A whole 15 minutes from SuperTarget!! Anyhow, if you can see past the giant brush piles of cut cedar, the huge rocks, tall grass and chiggers our property is gorgeous!

Another thing keeping us busy this summer and distracting me from my blog is my part time marketing job with MST. Love the job, but it is hard to do it and be a stay at home mom. Plus, the Wonderfully Made work here and there and church activities and the occassional Wii party. It is all just too much.

Oh! You are reading this because you want to hear about Noah and Wyatt! Sorry to keep you waiting. They are doing great. Wyatt is energetic, imaginative and all the other 'nice' adjectives people politely use for crazy little boys. Really, he is a good boy, just more boy than good sometimes. His favorite things in life are boats, the river, trailers and terrorizing the neighbor's cats (hey, those cats still run up to him everytime he is outside). He is out of his mind excited about his upcoming birthday. For a long time I would ask him how old he was going to be on his next birthday and he would start at 7 and I'd say 3, then he'd say 5 and I'd say 3, and he'd settle at 4 and walk away. He has recently conceded to be 3 but still says he is taller than Noah. He is definitely a big man trapped in a little guy. But I think his toughness and confidence is good because he is small for his age and there is a good chance he always will be. Noah is still outgoing, easygoing and sweet as can be. Even though he is entering that wierd little boy stage where they make awful sound affects for everything and like to be overly goofy. He starts kindergarten this year. I am planning to homeschool him because I loathe the school he is supposed to attend and we probably won't live here by this time next year. We have been trying out some curriculum this summer and he seems to be catching on easy enough. It only takes 1-2 hours a day to do it. I can't imagine what they do with them at school for 7 hours. Probably lots of potty breaks, snacks and recess. Throw in a trip to HEB and that pretty much sums up our days at home too.

So, remember to send that word of encouragement. I want to be a dilligent blogger, but I need your support!

I will add pictures later... it is my bedtime

Yes, we did make it back from Indonesia. My blogging is just not what it used to be. You all know that Dori and I started our own a little announcement design/photography business. We have had a fair number of small projects- just enough to fund new stuff for our cameras. On top of that, I am now gainfully employed by MST Constructors as the marketing manager. It is kind of a long story as to how and why I am working with Greg's company (in marketing of all things) but the short of it is that they have had problems keeping the position filled, I had the skills they needed and I was doing some of it already. So they hired me on as part time. I only go into the office twice a week when the boys are at our church preschool and the rest I do from home. As if I'm not busy enough, we also have a lot going on with church and I have been doing slideshows and scrapbooks of our Indonesia trip. I know everyone is anxious to hear about Indonesia but I will have to make that a seperate post. On Flickr I have been posting photos from the trip. Tonight I am trying to upload the last batch.
Soon I will also be posting photos from Easter, the first river trip of the year and last weekend's camping trip. We have done more fun stuff this spring but I keep forgetting my camera. I have so much stuff to remember (diapers, snacks, towels, sunscreen, the perfect toy auto for our destination, etc.) that last week I put Greg in charge of getting my camera. That, his wallet and his sunglasses are all he has to collect when we go somewhere (yet he is still the last one in the car.
So we had Easter at the lakehouse. We played in the freezing water, dyed eggs, hunted eggs and ate the eggs. Dacy is pretty much the same size as Noah now- a little heavier in fact. She will ougrow him really soon. Noah and Dacy are 18 mths apart yet Wyatt and Dacy are only 13 mths apart. But you would never guess by looking at them. Noah and Dacy look like twins. I wish I had a really good photo of them together. All four kids play together really well. Now that Wyatt is really talking, the other three (or at least Dacy) will include him. He loves to play with dolls and little animals so he and Dacy kind of buddy up. The four of them have got to be the world's cutest set of cousins.
The other night we were sitting at the dinner table and, as with most nights, we were struggling to get Noah to eat his food. He has gotten better in the past 6 months but he has his bad evenings. This particular evening he was trying really hard, but he was doing more talking and whining than eating. We began our usual 'eat-your-dinner-or-else' lecture series. Noah interupted with "I want to be good, but you guys are just making it so hard." We thought that was hilarious but we had to supress our smiles and continue with the threats of eating cold fish for breakfast.
Last weekend we went camping at McKinney Falls State Park which is only 15 minutes from our house. Greg and I ride the mountain bike trail there all the time, but we have never really been through the rest of the park. Since all the other campgrounds within 60 miles of us were booked we went to McKinney Falls and camped at one of the last three spots they had left. It was a primitive site so it was a hike to the car, bathrooms and there was no water directly on our campsite. We were suprised by how beautiful and big the park is. It is right on Onion Creek. The primitive sites are on the banks of the creek, tons of huge trees tower over them and the ground is nice, flat green grass. So we pitched our tent Friday night and had a great time. We cooked steak and hot dogs and roasted 'watermelons' (Wyatt can't say marshmellows so he just calls them watermelons). Everything was really awesome except the actual attempt at sleeping. We now know that the boys can not sleep next to each other. Wyatt is like Greg and wants to cuddle. Noah is like me and doesn't want anyone touching him while he sleeps. I madesthe mistake of bringing just enough bedding so that they had to share. Their arguing coupled with Noah's horrible cough made for a miserable night. Oh, and we are dog sitting Sneezer so we had three dogs pacing in our little four man tent while we tried to sleep. About 3:30am we finally decided to put Wyatt between us (I had to give up my thermarest), let the dogs out of the tent (at this point we were unconcerned if they wandered off or ate the trash of the neighboring site) and let Noah have half the tent to himself. Once we got it all figured out we slept till 8 which is a pretty late morning for this household. We brought the boys' big wagon, Wyatt's trailer and all our bikes, so the next morning we all rode the 3 mile paved trail, the boys pulled the wagon up and down the dirt path and Greg went for his own mountain bike ride. Hopefully, we will get to go on another trip before the weather gets too hot.
Later that day we went to Maddie's 5th birthday party at the Little Buckaroo Ranch. The boys rode a Shetland pony. Wyatt was so excited to go to this party. He insisted on wearing his shirt with the cowboy boot on it, his cowboy hat with the bandana and his boots. He loves anything having to do with cowboys, horses or farms. Last week he had climbed up on a little play structure and said "I'm grown up." I asked him what he was going to do now that he was grown up. He said "Get a farm. Be a cowboy." It is funny that his two loves are boats and cowboy stuff. They don't really go togther. Anyhow, he was ecstatic to ride the pony. He did so good. He was totally unafraid, did exactly what 'Cowgirl Miriam' told him to do and she remarked at how well he did for his age and didn't beleive us when we said he had never been this close to a horse before in his life. She assumed we had some regular contact with horses, that is until Noah got on the pony. He had fun and listened, but he flopped around on the back of the pony and kept pulling the reins to his chest and his toes were pointed all wrong. But he enjoyed himself and looked cute in a cowboy hat.
I probably won't get to uploading all my pictures on Flickr tonight so keep checking back in the next few days.

Momnesia

Trying to remember and keep up with all the cute little things these boys do is nearly impossible! They had a thing on the Today Show this morning about how when a woman has a baby her brain is altered by all the hormones and that, combined with sleep loss, leads to 'Momnesia'. Greg and I just thought I was going crazy. As we got older I would get crazier and his body would fall apart- we planned to even each other out. Good news- I just have Momnesia. I guess it cures itself when the kids get older and the stress declines. All that to say that I can never remember the things that I 'reminded' myself to remember when they happened. I do recall the other night, on the way church and Wyatt popped up with "My Birthday is coming up". We told him no, that he was only two and a half and still had quite a while until his b-day. Noah then said "You will be three on your next birthday". Wyatt sighed and said "I'm getting old." As if his 30th was looming. Both Wyatt and Noah went from baby to little men. Instead of the little, unsteady toddler demeanor, they look like trim, confident little people. Wyatt's personality fits his look. He talks in a gruff, little man voice, his expressions are very serious and matter-of-fact. And, like Noah, he is a little salesman always looking to make a deal and negotiate. Another cute story- Wyatt loves to say 'thank you'. Especially to Noah. He thanks Noah for everything. The other night they were playing in their room and I heard Wyatt say "Thank you, Noah"- probably for something like parking his car in a good spot. In a very big brother knows all kind of way Noah replied with "That's what you should pray. You should tell God: "Thank you for Noah"." I thought that was funny. In the evenings Greg does a Bible story with the boys. Before he starts, we go over the books of the Bible with Noah. He can recite all the books of the Old Testament and the four Gospels. A week or so ago Wyatt started piping in while Noah was reciting. We were amazed at how closely he had been listening and how well he knows them. So now he repeats each book right after Noah. There are few things cuter than a two year old saying 'Deuteronomy'. Not to brag too much, Wyatt can say almost his whole alphabet too. That really isn't my or Greg's doing though. We often listen to a children's CD in the car with the ABC song. The car taught him.

For those of you who don't know, Greg and I are leaving tomorrow for Indonesia. Yes, you hear right- Indonesia. We will be gone for nine days. For safety reasons, I don't want to say to much about the trip right now, but when we get back I will write all about it and post pictures. We are going to work with a Christian Classical School. The boys will be with Greg's parents. They are totally excited about living in a world of sno cones, waffles, movies and deer watching. So keep us and the boys in your prayers this week. We will be doing some exciting things!

Blah, blah, blog

I am just not in a blogging kinda mood this evening. In fact, I'm not often in a blogging mood these days. Maybe it is because I haven't taken as many pictures as I think I should, or I don't feel witty or I am just tired. But so many people enjoy this, especially Greg. So here I am trying to put something together. Since the last blog Noah has turned the big 5. Sadly, he is officially a boy now. Out of the T for toddler. He is getting all tall and stringy. We had his birthday party at Dori's house in Wylie. We were planning on having a big jump house, but while the bounce house guy was standing at the door it began to hail. So much for the jump house. Since Noah's four cousins are his only friends in Dallas, Dori had some filler kids come to the party. Noah loved it- even without the jump house. Apparently, running amok in Dori's house playing cars, dressing up like princesses (the girls only) and eating cup cakes was a rockin' party for the kids. Actually, I'm.... older... and I think that sounds like a pretty good party too. The week of Noah's B-day Greg and I went to Vegas for a few days, leaving the boys with Mimi. The construction industry loves Vegas, surprising, huh? So Greg and I are Vegas experts. This time we stayed in the all suite Venetian. The room was awesome. We ate like royalty and, the best part, we went to the spa and had a couple's massage. Who needs gambling and clubs? I think we went to bed before 11 every night. Oh yeah, and Greg worked a lot (really, he did). Of course the boys had a blast with Mimi. They were good boys and Mimi was sad to see them go which was a relief to me. Here is where I have run out of things to say so I will talk about the pictures. I took the boys to the zoo a few days ago. It was beautiful, we were the only ones there and we had a picnic. We were even there to see the tigers get fed. I was really excited for the boys to see the tigers tear into what looked like deer legs- I thought it was pretty cool- but they were totally unintrigued and were much more interested in the giant land turtles lying almost motionless in the dirt. Actually, the turtles were right up against the fence and seemed to 'play' with the boys, as much as giant 50 year old turtles can. I love this last picture. I have a really cute one of Noah posing perfectly in the chicken. But this one just says so much about Wyatt and Noah. Noah is doing his best to help his little brother and Wyatt is not really concerned about what is best.

Web Worms

The new Flickr photos are now up, but I've changed my Flickr address. I have a pro account now so refer to the right side menu to look at the old and new Flickr sites. While you are perusing the right side notice that, thanks to the talent of my favorite sister, Dori and I now have our own photographer websites. Also, if you have not recently visited the Wonderfully Made site, take a look. We have done some updating. Pass it on to friends and family. I know, I know we have more URLs than most stay at home moms, but you can't give us a hard time because I'm sure you are anxious to click away at our new sites. You know you love window peeking into our lives or why else would you be here? It's okay, I love it too. I wish I knew more people who blogged and Flickred. Since I am working on my photo site tonight I don't have time to do an in depth family blog. So here we are in a nutshell. Wyatt is very two- enough said. Noah is eating constantly and wetting the bed, which he normally does not do, so I think he is about to hit a major growth spurt. Greg, as usual, is magnificently playing the role of devoted dad, attentive husband, successful bread winner and lake muck cleaner-upper. And I, for the second time since we've had kids, may see the bottom of all the laundry hampers by the end of this week (I hope ya'll are empathizing and not saying "Ewwww!")

We're Baaaaaack!

For those of you who have stuck with me and continually check my blog even though I have not posted in over two months, thank you. I am back and ready to chronicle our lives in 2008 for the whole world to read. I'm not even going to try to update you on everything that has occured since my last post. You can visit my Flickr site for the best pics from the last couple months, but don't do it tonight- I can only do so much in one night. Christmas seems like a good starting point. We headed to Dallas on the Thursday before Christmas. We stopped in Waco and had a great time of fellowship with my cousins and their families. The boys were so anxious to get to Mimi's house that they didn't sleep a wink between Waco and Dallas even though it was after 10 when we arrived. Mimi's house was clean and beautifully decorated. That didn't last long when the four of us (plus dogs) and our 4Runner FULL of stuff came through the door. Our first day in Dallas was great. We went shopping, soaked in some Christmas cheer and even went ice skating at the Galleria. Jon Conal had hurt his ankle at school and Wyatt would not have anything to do with the skates so Noah and Dacy skated with Dad, Greg, Mimi and Dori. They did great. Noah was cautious and wobbly, but Dacy took to it with confidence and was pretty good. The next day, Saturday, things took a turn for the worst. The boys both began showing signs of an unpleasant stomach bug that morning (I won't go into gorry details, but they were not throwing up). By that night I had a full on stomach flu in the worst way. So while I sat in the recliner with a blanket over me between trips to the bathroom, mom pretty much took care of the boys and their tummy issues. She is such a great Mimi. I was sick for pretty much the rest of the week. The kids recovered by Christmas though and Christmas morning was amazing. All us adults just sat back and watched the kids tear into their gifts. It was so much fun. We discovered Noah has a talent to unwrap gifts at a superhuman speed while sincerely, and in unique Noah animation and high pitch excited voice, thank the gifter between each package. The kids rolled around in their pile while the rest of us opened our presents. Like always, we were spoiled. Mom began feeling sick that evening so grandma, Dori and I took over the finishing touches on dinner. Unfortunately, with all the illness in the house, our delectable Christmas dinner did not get the attention it deserved. I forced myself to eat a plate full but it came back to haunt me the next day. Which brings us to our visit with Greg's family the day after Christmas. Again, we thuroughly enjoyed watching Noah, Mckenna, Wyatt and Avery tear into gifts. By far, the biggest hit were the cameras Mama G found the kids. Noah and Mckenna got real digital cameras especially made for kids and Wyatt and Avery got pretend cameras that make real camera sounds. All four kids were taking pictures of everything. Most of Noah's pictures are of Mckenna taking pictures. They even took pics of the movie they watched that night. When we got back home we showed Noah how to put the pictures on his computer. I think it makes him feel really grown up. I will have to post some of his work soon. Because I felt so crummy and spent most of my time in the bathroom, I don't have much else to say about our Godsey Christmas, but the kids had a really great time playing with their grandparents and cousins. It was nice to get back home because we were worn out, but a little sad when we got home to a pathetic brown tree devoid of pretty gifts. Such a long time untill next Christmas. Actually, we celebrated a mini Christmas with the McDanel side over the weekend which always helps to ease us out of the season. This weekend has been wonderful. We have just hung around the house, shopped, visited with friends and enjoyed time with just our little family. Yesterday we took the canoe to Lady Bird Lake (aka Town Lake) in Austin. We put in at Barton Springs Pool and paddled out to the lake and west to the MoPac bridge. We brought the dogs along too. We had a great time watching turtles swim in the clear water, ducks flutter across the water as we passed and huge swanns take flight. It was the dogs first canoe trip and they behaved and seemed to love it. The hike and bike trail was bustling with Austinites enjoying the gorgeous weather. It was a great afternoon. Being the cute family everyone awwwwws at is always fun.

Merry Christmas!

Isn't this the cutest little elf?

LaQuinta is Spanish for "Cool Mini Fridge!"

Winter is here! I love this cold weather! I dressed us in jeans and soft sweatshirts this morning. It's great. Since the last post we have had some very exciting days. A couple weeks ago Greg had a three day business trip to San Antonio. Since SA is only an hour away, the boys and I decided to join him on the second night. We arrived at his hotel around 7. This was the first time for the boys to ever stay in a hotel room. From the moment we walked in the lobby they were in total jaw-drop awe. They were thrilled with the elevator, amazed by the electric key card, excited by the room with two big beds, overjoyed with the view of the pool and highway from four stories up, and downright giddy over the in-room mini fridge and microwave. Did I mention we were in a LaQuinta? Anyhow, the hotel was right across the street from the River Center so we walked over to have dinner at the famous Casa Rio on the river. Dinner was only mediocre but we enjoyed the mariachi band and the margaritas were awesome. Noah asked for a to-go box for his chips and queso just so he could have something to put in the room's mini fridge. When we got back to the room we decided to take a late night dip in the heated pool with the boys, but they headed straight for the hot tub. I wasn't too sure about toddlers in a hot tub, but it was the most fun I've ever had in a hot tub (sorry Greg). Our ridiculous neighborhood pool for which we pay yearly HOA dues, closed at the end of August, so we have not been in a pool in a couple months. I didn't have floaties for the boys, so they just decided to learn how to swim that night. After a few tries Noah was doggy paddling across the hot tub by himself (it was a deep hot tub). Wyatt can't keep himself afloat yet but that doesn't stop him from throwing himself into the water, confident someone will pull him to the surface again. He always comes up with his eyes wide open and a smile. Noah is a little more sputtery. It was a crazy time. Greg and I really enjoyed watching them have so much fun in the water. It was a late night and the boys fell asleep after only a couple giggles and a few threats from us. The next morning Greg had to work bright and early so the boys and I were alone for the day. We began with the continental breakfast in the hotel. It was a huge spread and the boys each had a giant danish, a bowl of cereal, yogurt, a banana, orange juice, and a glass of milk. This is important for the next part of our adventure. We returned to the pool that morning. This time the hot tub was too hot so we swam in the big pool. Trying to monitor the two of them by myself was nuts. They both wanted to jump off the side and would wait just long enough for the tip of their brother's head to surface before throwing themselves in and relying on me to get to them in time to help them back to the steps. Noah slipped off the steps while I was getting Wyatt to the edge. He sunk a little and choked on some water. This triggered him to start vomitting. I got him out of the pool, but he was heaving so profusely that there was no way to get him all the way to the trash can. So he preceded to let go of his massive continental breakfast all over the pool deck. I'm a mom, I can handle it, but the two business woman who had just come out for a peaceful morning of sun bathing were not as hardened. They went to the opposite corner and opted to turn their chairs towards the highway overpass with their backs to us and the pool. Oh well. Noah was fine and we swam for another half an hour. Then we cleaned up, checked out of the hotel and walked over to the River center to cruise the mall. A mall is a mall so we got some big cookies and sat by the river to watch the tour boats go by. The boys were fascinated by the boats. After checking into the cost, I decided the tour boat rides were a pretty good deal and the boys really wanted to go so we got our tickets and boarded. I haven't taken one of those tours since Jr. High when I had no interest in history, much less the history of the San Antonio River. But I'm old now and find that stuff really interesting and the San Antonio River happens to have a lot of history. The weather was great, I enjoyed the tour and the boys loved the boat- perfect way to spend the morning. After that we headed home so we could get back in time to greet the little boy across the street who I watch after school. Our little 20 hour vacation one hour from our house was a huge success and the boys were exhausted. That is a picture of them in the car on the way home (It's creepy how Noah sleeps with his eyes open in the car). Who needs Disney World? Try the LaQuinta in San Antonio for the under 5 vacationer.
Last week Wyatt received in the mail the fireboat Mimi bought him for his birthday (there were some shipping problems). He loves the fireboat, but he also, like any two year old, loved the box it came in. He put it in his bed and wanted to sleep in it. Greg and I decided this was one of those weird two year old requests that would be okay to grant. You can't always spoil the fun, right? Believe it or not, he actually slept all night curled up in that box. Silly boy.
Once again, I have too much to write and not enough energy to write it. To be continued...

A Hive of Excitement

Logging into Blogger this evening for the first time in too long, I was introduced to the new Blogger Play. Click that link- it is mesmerizing. It plays all the photos being downloaded onto public Blogger sites (like this one) at that very second. I still haven't seen any photos with kids as cute as mine. Speaking of cute kids, here is one looking not so cute. A mysterious, funky, itchy rash appeared on the backs of both the boys the beginning of last week. I wasn't too worried, thinking they just had a reaction to some sun lotion or something. The next day Wyatt broke out into red, swollen hives all over. A little freaked out by his puffed up innie-now-an-outie belly button and how itchy they were, I took him to his doc ASAP. Apparently hives, unless there is an obvious allergy, are hard to connect to a source. So it was a treat the itch and wait kind of thing. A little benedryl and hydrocortisone and they went away within two days. So for a couple days he had one rash on his back and another one over the rest of his body. The advantage to having more than three or four kids is that you become an unofficial pediatrician. I want to have more just so I can look at a kid covered in uniform red bumps with lightened centers and no other symptoms and know exactly what it is and how to treat it. Just this week I have been able to use some of my Dr. Mom knowledge. All four of us came down with a bad viral thing this week. It began with me feeling bad over the weekend. By Monday evening both Greg and Noah were burning fevers. Noah woke up okay and I put him in school to be called a couple hours later to pick him up because he was feverish again. Greg stayed home Tuesday and slept all day with a 103 fever. Wyatt was doing great (a house where everyone is horrible ill but the two year old is not a fun place to be) until today and he his temp got as high as 104. My Dr. Mom experience told me there was nothing to worry about because Greg and Wyatt are prone to really high fevers, sweating, no appetites etc and they get over it quick. Noah and I don't usually get fevers, we still eat just fine and we are sick for longer. So where the sickness began-with me- it is also ending. Moms don't get sick days- especially when everyone else is sick! The goose egg was another test two weeks ago. I'm still not clear on exactly what happened- it involved an encounter between Wyatt and a large, metal bucket before the sun came up one morning. He didn't cry long, seemed alert, enjoyed the ice I gave him, so I went back to bed for the last 15 minutes of dawn. I felt a little guilty when I got up and saw how big the bump had gotten- so I took a picture.
Enough of all that sick talk. I didn't do much blogging for Wyatt's b-day. I was planning on doing one whole blog just about him. Now I can't even think of what to say. I haven't even taken him for his two year check-up yet. He seems pretty normal. A little on the energetic and talkative side. If you haven't yet, read Christie's latest blog- it is hilarious and more entertaining than mine. But I can relate to the incessant talking while in the car, at the table, in the grocery store, playing cars, etc. I have an even more vocal 4 year old to throw into the mix. When Noah is talking Wyatt is either repeating him the best he can or just doing some noise to be louder. I can tell when Greg is spending too much time at the office because he comes home and wanders around trying to lower the volume of chatter and clutter in the house. The rest of the time he just adds to it. We celebrated Wyatt's b-day at Mama G's with little fan fair. I posted the best pics on Flickr. One of my recent favorites is the series I put together of his 'jump and spin' into the grass. One day he just decided it would be fun to do, it made Noah crack up laughing and that was enough for him to do it over and over. I think I will end with a great picture of Noah. I will try to be better at keeping up with the blog. I will agree with Christie that little boys seem to get all their energy by sucking it directly out of their parents. But someday we will be able to harness it to get the lawn mowed and dogs washed.

I'm Two!

Where to start....

I have been so bad about taking pictures the past couple weeks. Everytime I remember my camera we are usually on another lake, river or pool trip. And, really, how many more pictures of the boys in swimsuits and life jackets this summer do I need? I'm looking forward to the season change and new photo ops. Maybe you will even get to see my kids (and Greg for that matter) with shirts on! The boys and I have made several trips to the pool and went on some outings with friends. The boys have turned into total water bugs. A couple weeks ago we were at the pool. The three of us were in the big pool- Noah had his life jacket on and Wyatt had arm floaties. I was tryin got teach Wyatt how to float on his back. Noah, a little jealous I think, asked me to teach him how to swim. I told him I couldn't until he was able to totally go under water, which he has always been scared to do. I don't know what got in to him, but that very second he climbed out of the pool, shed his life jacket and jumped in. He hit the bottom (it was only 3.5') and bounced up, treading. So now he is a fish. He jumps in and out the shallow area with no flotation and jumps in the deep area with his jacket on. It is great. He has so much more fun in the pool now and I don't have to be there to catch him! Well, not wanting to be outdone by his brother, Wyatt jumped in. He has floaties but he jumps in, goes under and bobs to the surface. Now he is really fearless. So the two of them are all over the pool now, playing and I get to rela! (That is not a typo- that letter is not working on my keyboard. My computer is not doing too well but I'm determined to keep it going.) They are just as crazy in the rivers and lakes too. Greg and I are having more and more fun with them each day. They are going to be such cool kids. Sorry for the bragging. I took them to our local gymnastics gym yesterday for the second time this year. Every Monday morning they open it up to just parents and preschoolers. The boys wore themselves out. There is a huge pit in the floor filled with foam blocks over which they practice the uneven bars and the vault, etc. Noah climbed up on a platform about 6 feet over the blocks (I don't know eactly how deep the blocks go) and did a superman jump off. Again, not to be shown up, Wyatt followed. He is so small though, that he would fall between the blocks and just be totally buried. Other moms were looking at me in disbelief, and maybe a little disapproving, but the boys were having so much fun. The owner of the gym thought it was great. We'll have to go more often. All three of us were dripping in sweat by the time we left. I'm waiting to put Noah back into gymnastics when he turns five and will actually be able to be a part of a real instructional and competitive class. This past weekend we celebrated Mema's 76th birthday in Wahlburg. It was really fun to see all the family. With si little ones under 5, there was plenty of entertainment. They all play really well together. Of course I forgot my camera at a big family gathering with great picture opportunities. It was a busy day. Sunday evening we went on an impromptu canoe trip up the Blanco River from 5 mile dam. We only went a couple miles but it was really mellow, pretty trip up and down the shady side of the slow moving river. We stopped to swim, skip rocks and throw the biggest rocks we could find as high as we could and watch them KUR-Plunk in to the water. It was great. Noah begins preschool net week. He is very ecited to be a Monkey this year. So am I. Oh yeah, the pictures. The first one they are washing the motorcyle, getting it ready to sell. yep, Greg said a final goodbye to it on Friday. He also parted with the sailboat. It was sad, but he is such a good husband. He sold them so we have some money to invest and save for some land in the future. The net two pics are Wyatt enjoying the popsicle he earned by eating a big pile of green beans and the net is him unhappy about his mouth hurting from the frozen lips caused by the popsicle.

Wonderfully Made Announcements

Dori and I have gone into business together. We create photo announcements for occasions like births, engagements, adoptions and moving. So pass on our website address and contact to friends and family. We need referrals to keep building our portfolio. Visit wmannouncements.com. The site is still under construction and will continue to grow.

Sum, Sum Summertime

The blazing hot weather is finally here! That means sprinklers, watermelon and popsicles. As much as is possible, the boys and I are enjoying the fiery TX sun. A couple weeks ago we visited Landa Park in New Braunfels with our friends. We stopped by the famous Naeglin's Bakery and got some amazing cookies and breakfast pastries. Landa Park has several playgrounds, springs, pools, falls, really big ducks, a train and the Comal River runs through it. The friends we went with each had boys a little younger than Wyatt. We played, had a pic-nic and swam. It is a beautiful park and I recommend it to anyone looking for a free, refreshing time in New Braunfels. We spent a weekend at the Lakehouse . The guys hauled muck out of the lake while us girls cooked and decorated flip flops (a crazy mom idea in celebration of Dori's b-day). Last week we visited our close friends Becky, Molly and Evie in Schlulenburg. They have a couple acres in the middle of nowhere with chickens. It was a blast and really fun to see Molly and Evie. Molly is a terror- her and Wyatt get along great. Evie is sweet and enjoyed the attention poured on her by Noah. Wyatt enjoyed trying on all Molly's bracelets, necklaces and sunglasses. I think he wonders why he and Noah don't have all that cool stuff. Becky suggested getting him some 'man jewelry'. Hmmm... I think sunglasses are enough for now.
Some of you may know that Greg and Noah were in a wreck just before our FL trip. Everyone was okay but the company truck he was driving was totaled. Big mess, but the happy ending is that Greg's company bought him a new vehicle (new to us, anyway). He is now driving a black 2000 4runner. He loves it. The boys love it too. Every black SUV is now a 'cool 4runner' to Wyatt. He cries when I put him in the Rav because he wants to ride in the 'brand new truck'. It's the McDanel coming out in him. Noah is fascinated by the idea that the white truck went to the junk yard. Out of the blue I get questions like 'will the truck in the junkyard get smashed?' and 'does the truck still have it's wheels?' Noah is starting the ever-so-fun tough questions for mom and dad stage. 'Will Fluffy [the fish we had to flush last week] live again when he gets to the ocean?' 'When will you [mom] be old and have a messed up face?' 'Can I get married when I'm 15?' 'Who's bigger- God or Jesus?' I can't think off all the funny ones he has asked me lately- I need to start writing them down. The other day he asked me if we were going to Birdbath and Beyond. Of course everything he says Wyatt repeats so things are twice as funny hearing Wyatt's version.