The Rest of August

We didn't do too much during the rest of August because Kev went back to work.  It's really sad to wake up in the morning to the sound of "da-da" from the monitor and realize that you have to get up instead of sleeping in like you've been allowed to do most of the summer.  So it's back to life as usual.  I do have a few pics (and hopefully some video) to share so here we go!

So Wyatt was too excited to actually eat anything (including cake and ice cream) during his party.  A few days later, perhaps his birthday day, we had some leftover cake.

I think he liked it!

Let me just tell you that this was fun.  Wyatt had a couple really good, clean hits (especially the first one that I tried to take a picture of because I didn't think it would be good enough for video--lesson learned)!  He also had a few 3 year old attention span moments where Kevin would set him up and step back and Wyatt would run put the bat in the bush.  That's my boy!

This one went the wrong way...do you see the ball?

Even Maggie got in on the fun!  She did pretty good too!

 

Here's Wyatt being 3!

 

 

Here's Maggie getting a turn and Wyatt being 3 some more!

Kev and I got to go to a Braves game...on a school night.  Needless to say, we were pretty wiped out the next day, but we got our free Chipper Jones bobble-head figures and had really great seats (if you need sporting event tickets, use scorebig.com) for about half the price.  One thing we found out after we got our dinner was that you're allowed to bring food and drink from outside the park, so we could've saved a little money there, but this pregnant lady really did enjoy the delicious corndog and boiled peanuts that my love bought for me!  We also got some souvenir cups with Chipper's signature printed inside them.  For those of you who don't know, this is Chipper's last year and he's the most awesome Brave ever!  It was a real treat to get to see him in one of his final games.

Look at all those flags of playoff years and one World Series Championship!

The man himself, warming up--we totally got lucky with 3rd base seats!

Here he is in his first at bat, about to hit his first homer for the night!  He hit another one later.  It was a great game and we had a fun time!

Check-up Time!

It's nice to have both kids' well check-ups in the same visit.  Luckily, only Maggie had to get any shots; Wyatt just had the flu-mist.  Let me start by saying that if this your first visit to my children's check-up stats reports, you may want to browse some other posts to get an idea of the size of them.  When we say we have large children (who were born regular-sized), we really mean we have large children.  They've managed to stay off the charts since their earliest baby visits.
Wyatt's 4 months
Wyatt's 18 months
Maggie's 9 months

Maggie's managed to be big like her brother, but not as big (thank goodness!).  Her percentiles are still as high as his though, since girls generally are smaller than boys.  So without further ado, here are their current stats:

Wyatt turned 3 last month so here are his 3 year old stats (above the 97th %):
height: 41 1/3 inches (3 ft. 5 1/3 in.)
weight: 45 lbs.

Maggie hit the 18 month mark a couple weeks ago (above the 97th %):
height: 34 3/4 in.
weight: 31 lbs. 7 oz.

So Maggie's slowed down significantly.  She's still squeezing into some of her 24 month clothes, but quickly growing out of them.  She fits comfortably in 2T and some 3T (I think 3T pants will be too long when winter hits).

Wyatt is wearing size 4 pants and size 4/5T shirts.  He needs bigger shirts because they're a little longer and he's never been lacking in height!

They're both developing tremendously in language.  Maggie is saying tons of words.  Wyatt started Cubbies this year (part of the AWANAS program) and is doing great at memorizing his Bible verses.

I'm really looking forward to all that's in store for my babies over the next year!

The Zoo!

The last day of July brought a last minute trip to the zoo, which is about an hour away.  We got there about an hour after it opened, took the kids to see all the animals, and got out right before we were starving and picked up some non-expensive food for the ride home.  The kids had a blast and we loved watching them have a blast!  We didn't take a ton of pictures, but here are a few that we did get.  I wish we had gotten pictures of feeding the giraffes, but it's probably for the best because giraffe tongues are slimy!  Maggie, our daredevil, got into it just from seeing the other kids do it and Wyatt surprised us by doing some feeding as well!  They loved it!

Let me just tell you that she loved everything!

Tiger love!

Elephants!

I'm not sure what they were looking at, but it was fun watching Wyatt getting into posing on the turtle a little bit!  Next year will be even more fun!  Yay!

Wyatt is Three!!!

It happened again. My little big man had another birthday!  I made the mistake of asking him a few months ago what kind of party he wanted and what kind of cake.  All we (and everyone else) heard about the whole summer was that Wyatt was going to have a Thomas cake! He told everyone he met that he was going to have a Thomas cake and it was going to be "de-wicious"!  Let me just tell you that he has just exploded into words (when he's not throwing a scream-fit) and is quite funny on most occasions!  I hear a lot of things that I know he's heard from Kev and me, and a few things he heard from tv or grandparents.  Then there's the things that just come out of nowhere and we're just left shaking our heads and wondering where this first miracle of ours has come from!
So anyways, we go next week for his check-up and Maggie's 18 month check-up so I'll post those fun height and weight stats as soon as I can.  For now, on to the birthday party and the famous Thomas cake!  For those who don't know, Wyatt is a typical boy and as such, has developed a love for all things Thomas the train.  I think 98% of his birthday gifts were related to Thomas and he loves them! He also got a rhyme Bible and a t-ball set and he and Maggie have definitely enjoyed them.  I'm so glad the weather seems to be cooling off and they'll get to enjoy t-ball even more!
About his cake: I decided this year that I was going to make his cake...I had no clue I was going to be making this cake when I decided this, but I refused to purchase a cake that I felt completely capable of making myself.  I googled how to make a train cake on many occasion and found quite a few different ideas and this is what the final product looked like:

The distant shot with "Annie and Clarabel" (the extra train cars).

Thomas!  I couldn't find yellow icing for his number 1, but Wyatt didn't care a bit!

Thanks to my awesome friend Abbie, who was able to come over to help me and encourage me as we cut and pieced together the shape of Thomas.  It's really scary, until you eat the leftover pieces! ;)

Opening presents--Cars wrapping paper and Thomas inside made for one very happy boy!

So excited for t-ball!

We're so blessed by our family and friends who came to watch Wyatt open his presents...and eat cake and sandwiches!

Checking out his present and Maggie getting in the action.

Oooooh! Who doesn't love money! (it goes into his college savings fund--I know, we're so mean!)

Sitting in his new Thomas chair and reading a card!

Thanks to our family and friends for helping make this a super, fun day for Wyatt! He had a blast!

Myrtle Beach '12

The end of July brought a fun trip to Myrtle Beach with Kev's parents (Nana and JJ)!  We got to stay right on the beach and one night we took the kids to a fun place and let them ride a couple rides. They had a blast!.
Day 1:  Arrival, check-in, dinner, and hitting the beach. After showers and pjs, we headed back out to watch some fireworks before going to bed.

He could not get enough time playing in the dirt!

Maggie was our water baby!

burying Nana in the sand!

sweet love with JJ!

Turns out, our kids love the shower!

Even Wy couldn't get enough shower time!

 



Day 2:  Rise and shine and hit the beach!  Then lunch, naps (Kev and I took this time to get some more beach while Nana and JJ awesomely watched the sleeping kiddos).  Afterwards, we took Maggie and walked around a neat little tourist location with lots of shopping (and we didn't buy a thing).  Then it was dinner and back to the tourist place to let the kids have some more fun before bedtime!

This girl has NO fear!

Digging for the buried treasure!

He found the treasure chest! (hey!--to him it's a treasure chest!)

Carrying his gold deblunes!

We bought a boogie board and Wyatt had a blast!

I'll never forget this day!

Thank you JJ for getting these shots on your camera and to Nana for entertaining Maggie!

Relaxing in the shade with Nana!

 

Riding the train with Nana!

Wyatt LOVED this ride! He got to ride it twice.  This was getting ready for the first ride.

That turn was fast and fun!

Ready to ride in J. Gordon's car...he's our favorite!

We determined that the carousel would be safe enough for me to ride with Maggie.  She wasn't sure when I first put her up there, but she had a blast as soon as it started! I love these memories!

 

Day 3:  Rise and shine and get in a little more beach before showering and heading back home!  It was a great trip and I'm so glad we got to have a little more fun before our family summer ended.  Thanks JJ and Nana for taking us out there and showing us the ropes!

I literally had to drag him to the water on the last day so he could enjoy it one last time. Daddy took him out into the waves and he held tightly, but loved every minute!

 

Number 3

So it's been 6 weeks since the ultrasound and finding out if Wyatt and Maggie are getting a new brother or sister.  Kev wanted a girl and I wanted a boy, but either way, we felt truly blessed and excited with all that God has given us.  We were going to be excited no matter what gender this baby turned out to be.  We are called to be parents and are excited that God is entrusting us with another little one to lead and guide and grow to glorify His kingdom.  This has been our constant and unchanging prayer for each of our kids and will continue to be so for this newest blessing as well!
So without further ado, Wyatt and Maggie are getting a baby

brother!!!!!!!

This came as quite a surprise to us as Kev and I were almost completely sure since early on that this baby must be a girl.  The only time I thought we might be having a boy was when my instincts kicked in, but I just assumed it was because I wanted a boy so I released those thoughts and continued the girl thoughts.  The heart rate was higher, which usually (but not always) indicates girl, and I felt like my pregnancy symptoms/cravings/aversions were more similar to my pregnancy with Maggie than my pregnancy with Wyatt.  Therefore, I felt like this was a girl for sure!  I was scouring the baby names book to find a good girl name because I was that certain.
The night before the ultrasound, we asked Wyatt what he thought the baby would be and what he wanted the baby to be.  He told us very matter of factly that the baby was a baby brother.  That was the first time that I really had doubts about the supposed baby girl!  I've heard too many stories about children's intuition being spot on and the rest of the night and the next morning, I was in a state of wonder.  We took the kids with us (won't be doing that again if we can help it!) so the sonographer asked Wyatt what he wanted and he told her a baby brother.  Imagine my shock when she finally got to that part and said, "Wyatt's right!"  At first I didn't really believe her and asked if she was sure.  I even told her I didn't see what she saw on the screen so she adjusted a little.  It quickly became quite obvious that this little baby growing and wiggling and kicking inside of me is indeed a little boy!
As surprised as we were, we were still super excited!  I still have days where I just feel a little disbelief.  For those days, I refer to the ultrasound pictures on the fridge!

As of right now, I'm almost 27 weeks.  Baby boy is my most active baby yet.  I sure hope he's not this active when he's born.  I need him to sleep a good bit like normal babies!  It finally hit me earlier this week that part of his active lifestyle could be due to the fact that I have been craving coke and drinking it most days.  This is huge because I rarely drink anything other than water (and sweet tea if we go somewhere).  Unfortunately, I have an aversion to water during my pregnancies that wears off, but this time it took longer to wear off and my body just wants coke instead.  I'll be glad when the cravings stop, because I truly believe that this much coke is not good for anyone! We are so excited to meet this little one in early December/late November.  Wyatt has been excited from the beginning and I'm sure Maggie just doesn't know what she's in for.  However, they have both been giving the baby kisses and talking and singing to him (via my belly button) and that just makes a mommy's heart so happy!

Charleston 2012

I've been wanting to visit Charleston for some time now.  I'm not sure why, other than the fact that I've never been there and I've heard it's nice and one of my best friends and her hubby live there.  So I finally talked Kevin into it and it was awesome.  We found a good hotel with a rebate deal and it just happened to be smack in the middle of the places we wanted to go!  We were about 20 minutes from everything (traveling at tourist speeds of course!).   We went to the nicest of the beaches in the area and the biggest waterpark in the area and that had a huge toddler area that the kids just couldn't get enough of!  We also were close to my friend and downtown and got to go eat dinner with them one night.  I think it's safe to say that we had a great little family getaway and we'll probably try to go back again in the future!  I know that there's several other things that will appeal to the kiddos as they get older and that makes me excited!  Now for the fun pictures!

Wyatt digging right in! He was all about playing in the sand--we couldn't get him in the water for anything on our first venture out! 

Maggie's first experience in the water...I think she likes it!

At least they're both in the picture!

My dirty princess!

We discovered that Maggie is quite the daredevil during this trip! She would just walk away from us to go under the waterfalls and sit and splash--she had no fear!  (but we sure did!  We needed a life-jacket with a leash for this little girl!) 

I know you can't see part of her face, but she sure is cute! 

Wyatt had as much fun as Maggie, but he was a bit more cautious...thank goodness.  I don't know what we would've done with two daredevils! 

Maggie went down the slide all by herself and she shot down like a rocket.  I caught her the first time and she came down with enough speed and force to shock the other parents waiting to catch their little ones.  She almost knocked me completely over.  We decided Kev should catch her if we did it again since my belly didn't need to be receiving that kind of blunt force trauma!  This was the third time she went down and it wasn't quite as fast as the other times.  I think it's because she pulled her knees underneath her sooner the other times she went and being in a ball is what caused the speed!

I wish we wouldn't have forgotten the camera on our last morning when we went back to the beach.  Wyatt had been saying the whole time that he was going to find the buried treasure and gold deblunes when we went to the beach (he loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates).  So we're on our way that morning when he says it again and I'm frantically searching the car for something to be our treasure chest.  We got some loose change in it and Kev buried it while I distracted the kids.  Once the X was in place, Wyatt was ready!  We sent him off to find the X and directed him a couple times.  I think the look on his face will forever be ingrained into our memories.  He was so ecstatic!  It's the little things you do for your kids that really make parenthood that much better!