One last night

Okay, here is the final video to come in Grandpa's special week... we made it a good one. This is never-before-seen footage of Wyatt's first camera appearance, when he was just 45 minutes old. Please excuse the very loud TV in the background and instead focus on the six pounds and six ounces of perfection in my arms!

P.S. If anyone besides Wyatt's grandparents are watching this... like our good friends from Jones101... you may notice a special shout out to Trent in this video, right at the end. We have a habit of imitating his very sweet little sleepy "yes" from a certain zoo video last summer, and it happened here, in the delivery room, right after Wyatt was born. Pretty cute!

Watching the jungle, and a surprise today

In honor of birthday postings, and just after turning 8 months old, Wyatt had a surprise for us today...

First tooth! And another one on the way.

Anyway, Grandpa Scott, here's your video... it is from August 28, the day we put this jungle thing from Grandma in his crib for the first time. As you'll see, he could hardly contain his excitement!

Nose diving

July 2, 2009... spending a very chilly holiday weekend in Higgins Lake.

ANOTHER post?!

Grandpa Scott, your birthday celebration continues... every night this week we're posting a new photo or video for you to enjoy at work. Think of it as Wyatt's personal gift to you. :)

This was shot on September 7, the night before we left for Bay Harbor.

Swim swim swimmin

Grandpa... in honor of your birthday, here's a video of you and Wyatt taking a dip in the sparkly lake! September 12, 2009.

Happy Birthday...

...to our most faithful (probably only) blog reader, who when recently asked if he checks it from time to time could name not only the title of our last post, but also the date... AND admitted to STILL checking it nightly, despite the five-month hiatus, always hoping for something new from his favorite little buddy... Grandpa Scott!

We love you! Wyatt extra-specially. :)

P.S. Video coming... check back later!

Our Spiritual Son

Check out this slideshow Justin sent me at work today. He was home with Wyatt and spent the morning working on it... so, so funny!

Who knew at only three months Wy could be so full of praise? Also, thanks to Jace Jones for a special guest appearance... apparently spirituality is all the rage with babies these days. :)

I know I haven't written a word about the boy in nearly two months, but what can I say? Life is busy with a baby! He is doing great, cute as can be, and still a little peanut. I think he only weights about 10 pounds, and we measured him on Sunday at 21.5". He's a blast!

Maybe I'll post some real video soon. He's turned into quite the little talker and I know some grandparents who might want to watch him babble. :)

Just a little smile...

...how can this not brighten your day?

Life moving on

Our wide-eyed little guy. He has become so ALERT the last couple weeks... when this baby is awake, he's awake! 

When Justin went to Winterfest last month, Wyatt and I spent the weekend at my parents' house. We had a blast! Aunt Steph even came for a night. We went out to dinner and talked about how we couldn't remember the last time we'd been out, just the four of us (plus the boy, of course). Here's Wy staring at all the toys over his playmat at Grandma and Grandpa's.

I went into work a couple days last week to do an ad for the Oakland Press while Elliot was home with new baby Jace. Wyatt was a champ, sleeping in his travel bed on the couch for a couple hours, then on me for another hour, before waking up to be held by Norman for awhile.

Using his new bath cover from Grandma Linda for the first time! So cute! This kid loves baths... and with all that hair, he gets one at least every other day. :)

Snoozing on his playmat in the sun.

Last week for the first time, I was in the other room when I heard a rattle, rattle, rattle and came running. It's unbelievable how excited I got to realize he learned something so simple!

I'm such a sucker for his sleepy face, especially his adorable little open mouth. I take a picture like this nearly every day!

Five Weeks

Believe it or not (we barely can), but five weeks ago right now I was at the hospital, in labor with our sweet Wyatt. We're definitely in that "time is flying by/but doesn't it feel like he's been here forever" phase. Here are a few of our favorite recent photos:

My cutie boys:

Trying to capture a sleepy smile on Valentine's Day:

Possibly Wyatt's cutest picture yet:

I thought it might be a good time to write a summary of his birth day for all the inquiring minds who want to know... so... here it is. I woke up at 6am not feeling well, and later realized I could time my not-feeling-well-feelings--contractions! I think they were about 7 minutes apart at that point, and I hadn't had a single one previously, so that seemed like a lot to me. Finally I got up and got ready for work, anxious to just sit at my desk and time them for awhile... I had a check-up scheduled at 1pm and decided I wouldn't do anything before then. So I got to work (where I told Elliot I might be in labor... which I'm sure he loooved hearing), and began timing the contractions. Until 11am they were consistently 6 minutes apart, and then at 11 they suddenly just stopped. Then let's just say around 11:45 my water broke!

I left work in a hurry and called the doctor's office, and the doctor told me to go home and get my bags (and my husband) and come in for my appointment. We rushed around the house grabbing bags, and I have to admit I cleaned up the kitchen and emptied the dishwasher. :) Got to the doctor and found out I was dialated to a 4. Drove across the street to the hospital, called my mom on the way, and then was admitted to triage around 1:45pm. We waited there for what felt like a year, and during this time my contractions came back hardcore. There also wasn't any phone/internet reception in there, so we couldn't let anyone else--Stephanie, Justin's parents--know what was happening... super frustrating. Anyway, we finally got into a room where I managed to change and meet our delivery nurse, Margarita. After sitting there about 10 minutes I totally caved and decided I wanted the epidural that I said my whole pregnancy I didn't want. Luckily I was able to get it very quickly, and it was perfect. Instantly I felt completely relaxed! My parents got there during this time and I said I'd like to see my mom.

Margarita wanted to check me before anyone came back because my contractions were so close together... she said, "at the rate you're going you could be a 6 or 7 by now." Then all of a sudden I heard, "you are dialated to a 9! If you want to see anyone they need to come back RIGHT NOW!" We hadn't brought our bags in yet, so we had no camera at this point. Justin went and got my mom and sent my dad for our stuff... this was at 3:50pm. We visited with them both for about 10 minutes and then Margarita sent them out and told me I had to push! I think that started at about 4:15pm and at 5:05, Wyatt was born. And that's when the real adventure began!

Joyful, Joyful

Wyatt James arrived on Tuesday, January 20... and we haven't been able to stop staring at him since. In fact, that's why it's taken two weeks to blog about him. I'm just going to post some pictures right now... his birth story is pretty awesome, so I'll save it to share another day. Suffice it to say I worked until noon and he was born at 5:05pm. :)

He is completely perfect, 6lbs 6oz and 19 inches long... with more hair than anyone can believe (except for me--I was sure he would have a ton of hair and had the heartburn to back it up)! He is such a joy.

Our cups overflow!

Christmas recap, two weeks late

Two weeks is better than nothing, right? We had the most wonderful week of Christmasing. The progressive dinner was great--I think everyone enjoyed "the kids" as hosts--and Justin and I certainly LOVED putting our basement to real use for the first time. We set a 16-ft table, and it was so nice to seat my entire family in one long row. The menu was brisket, our favorite cheesy potato casserole (no sour cream!), fresh green beans, and bread--simple and sooo good.

After everything was finished, we drove to my parents' to spend one last Christmas Eve night. Before going to bed, we sat by the tree in the dining room with only those lights lit, and it felt like a real-life version of Silent Night. So calm, so peaceful. It was pretty special. 

My parents generously gave us, among too many other things, a Canon Rebel. Can't wait to use it with the baby! Here are just a few of my favorite still shots from the weekend:

We spent the morning playing around with the camera and getting ready for the fam to arrive. I love Christmas in that house! So warm, so cozy.

Here's a great picture of my Aunt Sue and Uncle Kirk with Cooper, Jason's Christmas present to Steph (she got him about a month ago... after only having to wait 24 years!):

And Morgan, taking a break after opening presents. Check out her "sleeves" ... must be what the kids are wearing these days:

Friday morning we got up and hit the road for Higgins Lake. We arrived in the early afternoon and enjoyed our second Christmas dinner, then opened presents again! Justin's parents gave us a Canon FS100 camcorder. I love this gift because Justin has seriously wanted a camcorder for YEARS, and waited patiently all this time. I think the grandparents just want to make sure they have full access to baby action with one click!

Justin, looking cute while putting together a new desk chair for his mom and dad:

We stayed in Higgins Lake until Monday morning, so there was plenty of time for relaxing, movie-watching, eating, shopping, and hanging out with everyone. Sunday night was spent with Eric and Alex Carroll, who more often than not we only get to see at Christmas... and I have to say, it's one of the things we most look forward to in the whole season. I love to look back over seven Christmases now and think about the fun times we've shared... and I'm especially thankful they adopted me into their "boys' club!"

Sunday night with the Carrolls kicked off a week of great times with friends. Monday was spent in Livonia with Chris and Andrea Moyer and (newly engaged) Liz Baiocchi. Tuesday we had an end-of-the-year party for the teens at church, Wednesday we spent New Year's Eve at Shannon and Elliot's, along with Kelly and Ashley, Thursday we went to my grandpa's for the day, Friday was a nice, relaxing date night, and Saturday was Amy Boris's wedding! Yesterday by the time we got home from church, we barely had the energy to change into sweats before collapsing on the couch, literally for the next several hours.

Before I wrap this up, I was thinking about those seven straight nights with friends and how there isn't ONE picture to show for it, which is kind of sad. But then my very favorite John Mayer song came to mind. "Didn't have a camera by my side this time / Hoping I would see the world with both my eyes" ... "Today I finally overcame / Trying to fit the world inside a picture frame..." I just love this song. It's so true, often I think we miss being in the little moments because we're too obsessed with trying to capture them. And obviously, there's merit in preserving the memory... but last week it was so nice to kick back and laugh until our bellies hurt without stopping to pose for a picture. Those memories last, too. And every year at Christmastime, I'm thankful for the friends who come home and the late nights spent this very way! So yes... it was a good, long break.