Wyatt is a Rock Star!!

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Wyatt's First Haircut!

Wyatt is now 18 months and he went in -today for his first haircut. His hair was different lengths all over his head (some short, some long) - he was starting to look a little scraggly. He had a little bit of curl in the back which is/was adorable, but we had to risk losing the curl so he could look a little styled.

When we went into Doodle Doos he was in a great mood - lots of toys to look at and play with. He sat on the boat chair and Ms. Cynthia gave him a Lollipop which put him in a great mood. She got out the scissors and did some trimming and he was OK with that, but not overly thrilled. Then she got out the buzz trimmer and he was having none of that. He made it clear to me, Ms Cynthia and everyone else at the shop that he was not happy with this turn of event. However, as soon as the trimmer went off and he was off the chair he was back to his happy Wyatt self. He even gave Ms. Cynthia a high five on our way out.

Before his haircut at Doodle Doos.

Right after his haircut at Doodle Doos.

At home - view from the back - no curls :(

From the side. He went from looking like a baby. To a little boy in the span of 15 minutes. I only cried a little bit.

New Summer Haircut

Check out Meredith's new summer haircut.  Short and Fun!! You know, because it is February and it makes sense.  :)

I am just too cute and I cannot lie . . .

She's Got Rhythm . . . She's got Music...

 Dancing with Props.  

Having Fun.

Christmas Activities.

As you may remember the kids and I tried to do a different Christmas-y activity for the 24 days before Christmas. It was a lot of fun and I wanted to share some of the picture I got with you.

Trip to a Winter Festival.

Hay Ride - Freezing!

Talking to Santa.

Giving Santa a High Five.

Running away from Santa.

Decorating mini cupcakes for our neighbors.

Eating the cupcakes for our neighbors.

Riding the Polar Express.

Making snowman pizzas.

Eating the dough for the pizzas.

Gingerbread House.

Decorated pine cones.

Wyatt loves the "ishies."

Every morning I turn on the light in the fish tank so Meredith can feed her fish.  Well, in the past few weeks Wyatt has started going into Meredith's room after Meredith feeds the fish.  He gets her little pink stool from the side of her bed and moves it over in front of the tank and will stand there for 5-10minutes just watching and talking to the fish.

Wyatt climbs the couch

Just  for fun.

Our Trip to Build A Bear.

Trying to plan family outings when Ryan is home on the weekends is one of my New Year Resolutions. As often as possible, variety is good. (I wouldn't mind some ideas by the way.) However, thanks to Mimi and Papa this month our outings have been very easy. Our first trip was an afternoon out to Build-A Bear, some lunch and ice cream.

On our way into the mall.

In front of Build A Bear.

Choosing our new stuffed friend.

"Doggie!"

Waiting to fill our New Friends.

Stuffing out new friend.

Grooming out new friends.

"Doggie!"

Brush that bear.

Our new friends ready to come home with us.

Every Year.

Every new year I start out with all of these great plans.  Things that I want to accomplish.  Everything from learning to crochet to taking more family pictures.  Do I get everything done?  Heck No!  But it gives me a goal - something to work for through out the year.  Granted, the last four years I have learned A LOT about setting more realistic goals for myself and to make some of those goals family focused -  so at the end of the year I can feel good about what I have accomplished for the year. 

This year one of my goals is to post two entries to our family blog per month (at least.)  I am writing it down and making this commitment.  However, I would like to add a disclaimer - if I have to stop sleeping for whatever reason, I will be allowed a pass.  So, here we go.

Happy New Year!

Welcome Year 2011. 

A New Year.

A New Start.

A New Beginning.

What can we accomplish this year?

Let's see

Getting Ready for Christmas

This year in our attempts to get ready for Christmas I had this wonderful idea - lets do a Christmas-y activity every day before Christmas - 24 activities.  Well, I am running out of activities.  Here is what we have done so far.

1. Write and decorate wish list to Santa.
2. Finish Decorating outside.
3. Read a Christmas Book and Sing a Song.
4. Decorate mini Christmas cupcakes to share with our neighbors.
5. Buy and hang a new Christmas decoration for each baby.
6. Make snowflakes for decoration.
7. Make our own Christmas decoration.
8. Make and Decorate sugar cookies to eat and share.
9. Go to school Winter Festival and see Santa.
10. Watch Polar Express with real popcorn.
11. Make snowman pizzas for dinner.
12. Shop for new Christmas PJs.
13. Make snowman pizzas for dinner.
14. Drive around the neighborhood and look at Christmas lights.
15. Go to Neighborhood Christmas Festival and see Santa (again).
16. Eat Dinner around the Christmas tree.
17. Make Christmas gifts.

We have 7 days until Christmas and I am running out of activities.  I need ideas.  Have Any??

SUPERHEROS!

First practice and game.

Great dibbler, esp. the first day.

Checking out the competition.

Meredith with Sawyer - who she oddly bonded with very quickly.  He was adorable and very class clown like.

Meredith had her first season of soccer this year.  Her team was called the SUPERHEROS.  Six kids - a pretty even mix of 3 and 4 year old kids.  Her first game and first exposure to the game was a mix of fun, sad and scary.  Fun for Meredith.  Sad for me - she is getting so big.  And scary for both of us.    Her coach was a 16 year old boy with lots of soccer experience and good intentions, but no clue how to talk too 3 and 4 year old kids. 

Her first game was a lot like the soccer game described in a children's book.  Six kids running in a pack after a tiny little soccer ball.  Not really knowing what they were doing or where they were going.  During the first two games Meredith was very much a spectator.  On one occasion she actually stopped to pick some flowers she saw in the field.  It was a lot like a storybook.

By the last two games Meredith had a better hang of it.  Meredith was never an explosive player.  But she was consistent.  She had much better focus than most of her team mates.  Her coaches could count on her to go out when they needed her, to follow directions (mostly) and to participate when she needed to .  She was great.

Like Banging my Head Against the Wall

Last night - 12:48am.

Wyatt is up with a bad tummy ache (we think) - he has been crying and yelling for over an hour.  He is finally calm and I take out the tylenol drops for a dose that might actually help him sleep.  He decides that he wants to play with the bottle and the box.  It starts off well enough - he puts the drops in the box, he takes it out of the box, he puts it in the box and he takes it out of the box . . . and so on a so forth. 

As he gets more and more tired he starts to get more and more frustrated.  Now he is having a hard time  putting it in the box which makes him cry in anger and frustration.  Once he gets it in the box he cries even harder in anger and frustration because, wait for it, it is in the box.  SO, he cries when it is in the box and he cries when it is out of he box.

Sometimes, I just can't win.  Like banging my head.  After a few rounds of this most frustrating game I took it all away and distracted him with a piece of French bread.

Cuteness Check

Yep,  they are still the cutest kids ever!

Wyatt Finger Paints :)

Before inspiration hit, Wyatt painted like a normal child. 

BEFORE:

When his inspiration struck him, things went a little wild.  I believe that Wyatt may have been inspired by one of our favorite books, "I AINT Gonna Paint No More", by Karen Beaumont

AFTER:

Happy Halloween!

Getting ready for Halloween kept us busy.  Check it out :).

First, we picked out pumpkins.  There were many choices.

For reasons that are beyond me, our children seem to like the pumpkins with warts - Yuck!

We had plenty of time to be silly, or course.

Then we got to work. 

TA DA - We did good.  Good work all around.  Please meet our witch and our girl ghoul.

A few more decorations. We made 2 girl ghosts and 2 boy ghosts - take a guess which are which.

Then we get ready to trick or treat.

Candy!  Candy!  Here we come :) Please see "Tinkerbelle on the way to the Prom" and "Cute Monkey with his Treats."

They are just SO CUTE.