Lil' Buckaroo

Just wanna share a favorite...

Happy Birthday Wyatt!

I miss nursing.

Some days I'm glad we are doing bottles now, but most of the time, I miss nursing.

POTD: (Feb 28) Playing outside!

We had a fun day outside in the GORGEOUS spring weather we are having. Of course, he's bundled in this picture because we are in the shade... and he's wearing a hat because the ENT said to keep the wind out of his ears for about a month. So he looks like it's cold outside, but it's not really cold! Not only did he explore some dirt and rocks, we test-drove his new swing! Now he can swing outside with the big kids! He did fantastic and had a really good time.

POTD: (Feb 27) Mama's girl

I was lucky enough to take some family pictures for my friend, Sarah! This one is a favorite. Little Miss M was such a good sport and let me take a ton of pictures of her! She's just beautiful and sweet! At this point, she was tuckered out and ready for some quality time with her blanket & crib. I love this picture and I feel like it tells a story. Thoughts? Feedback?

POTD: our little trooper (& flirt)

Waiting for surgery--how adorable is that little gown?

In the recovery room!

Today Wyatt had to get tubes in his ears. He was a super star! He flirted with all the nurses, played with blown up rubber gloves, laughed at the antics of all the nurses and doctors who came to talk to us prior to the surgery. He was all grins and giggles. He did much better than I anticipated--I expected him to be throwing a fit since he didn't get to have breakfast. However, there were so many people there to wave and smile at him that food was none of his concern!

They took him back to the OR and he was perfectly content. It was weird to watch them just walk away with my son. He looked at me with just a bit of hesitation when the nurse came to get him. She reached for him and he buried his face into my chest and I didn't cry! I just played a game with him to pass him over and he grinned at her and did great. He looked at me and I smiled and waved and he went on out without so much as a peep!!

It didn't take long and the doc was back in the waiting room with me telling me Wyatt did great! He hung out in recovery for about 20 minutes before I was allowed to go to him. He was so glad to see me, but still no tears! He was hungry and clingy, but still happy! He was still flirting with the nurses. We were headed out of the hospital parking lot by 8:45 this morning!

He's a champ and doing great all day! He's been a bit fussy and a bit clingy. He's still rubbing on ear quite a bit. We'll see how tomorrow is and hopefully he's back to his old self!

POTD: Alaska goodies!

This is Sunday's POTD... I'm so behind. But, I promise that I took it on Sunday.

I am part of a fantastic group of online spouses of Military Aviators. We are a small group and periodically we have a secret swap partner. My partner is stationed in Alaska and she sent me a wonderful box of goodies. Here is just a little sample of what she sent!

POTD: Vintage Tricycle

This bike is a favorite toy for Hannah. It's such a cool bike! Check out the aging with rust and the rough pedals. This things was made to last and it still stands up the the kids playing with it!

POTD: Zucchini Bread--best snack EVER!!

David's absolute favorite care package include loaves of zucchini bread. Today I made a few loaves to send to him tomorrow. David likes it with chocolate chips. Wyatt's been eating more and more finger foods and he is a big fan of bread. I figured he'd enjoy the zucchini bread. However, I didn't think he'd be overjoyed! Just like his daddy... zucchini bread makes him very very happy. This is just one of several I got of him enjoying his snack. Later on, he had chocolate all over!

POTD: "Why, Queen Bee, of course..."

We are having a "Super Hero" party for our FRG this weekend. Part of that is a cape contest. I could not think of anything to theme for my cape. In talking with one of my team members, she came up with the "Queen Bee" idea. So, here is my Queen Bee cape and the luggage tag we used to help create it!

Oh--and the little red cape is for Wyatt... he's my little beehive! haha!!

I will not be able to get POTD updated for the next week. I am traveling and will not be able to get to a computer to do pictures. At this point, I'm not sure if I'll have the space for my camera. See you all in a week!

POTD: To Daddy, with love...

Every now & again, I tease Wyatt that I will send him to his daddy! I thought it would be fun to take a fun picture with this same concept. :) Wyatt had a blast playing in the box and I love the end result of this.

POTD: Baby Feet!

Note: I missed yesterday's picture, so I did 2 different concepts for today. This is making up for Feb. 7th's POTD.

I love baby feet. I cannot get enough of them. Wyatt's feet are getting bigger, but they are still so little and adorable. I have a picture similar to this when he was littler. I've been wanting to update it and today seemed like a good day!

The triangle of a Christian relationship...

Today I got to take some engagement pictures of Cory & Gina. I had this great opportunity to create a picture that I've always seen as a diagram. The diagram says that you have a triangle. God is at the top and the husband is on one lower point, and the wife is on the other. To get closer to each other, you have to get closer to God. I've always loved that! Today at Huachuca Oaks, I had an opportunity to create something like that!

Cory's help (& a bonus pic)

We have an amazing Brittany named Cory. Cory is very curious and likes to "help." Today I worked on a special Valentine/Thank You for some wonderful people in our FRG. I wanted to play with the light of the setting sun. Here is Cory checking it out.

This is why I love living at home! While I was outside playing with my camera, this is what was happening inside.

Mom is not winning this battle...

Today I have 2 pictures that I cannot choose from for the photo-of-the-day. Of course, they are of my favorite subject. :)

Wyatt has started sucking his thumb. He is still happy to take a pacifier and he doesn't really suck on it as much as he chews on it. He's got the top two teeth coming in and he's chewing on anything he can get into his mouth--and his thumb is quite handy. I'm not happy about this. I'm anti-thumb sucking. However, there is only so much I can do...

Here is a glimpse of our life. Wyatt cruising through the living room, trying to avoid my saddle. I need to get my saddle put away, but it's in the middle of the living room. He's most happy when he's cruising and we are all paying attention!

GGpa.

We are so very fortunate to have my grandfather living here too! It's such a blessing to have him part of our every day life. W loves his "G-Gpa" (short for Great Grandpa) and it's so nice for W to have this time with him. Every day, GGpa reads his newspaper while sipping his coffee.

Catching up...

Here is the picture that I was behind on. This is not today's picture, but Feb 1st's picture. I love this shot because Cory's face is so expressive. He's such an amazing dog and let's our son climb all over him.

Things I love about this shot--the lighting, the focus, the expression

Things I need to fix-- don't cut off the dogs feet.

What are your thoughts?

My project for February...

I know I'm a day behind already, but it's best to get a late start than not at all. However, I have committed to taking at least one picture every day in February and post it on my blog. I know this will help me grow as a photographer and I'm excited to see what happens.

I would love to hear feedback on the pictures I've taken. Do you like them or not? What would you like to see different? What do you like or dislike about them? Do you have suggestions to make it better?

Here is today's submission: My nephew at lunch... enjoying his milk after devouring his pb&j. :) Those eyes are amazing!

Where's Wyatt?

This is Wyatt in his walker. He loves his walker. He can make this thing go fast! However, it has started a new game in our house called "Where's Wyatt?" He disappears before your very eyes! You go to the kitchen to get a glass of water, by the time you've taken a swallow, he's GONE!


This is the view we normally see of him... walking away from us (unless I'm offering food--then he's coming at me quick!). You call him and he'll look over his shoulder so innocently...
Then he takes off! His favorite place is down the hall--specifically the laundry room. There are fascinating things in the laundry room! There is the washer, the doggy door, and most interesting (and apparently yummy) is the dog food! Where there is dog food, there are dogs! He LOVES the dogs!!
If he's not discovering the laundry room or chasing the dogs, then he's in the kitchen. The kitchen is a smorgasbord of big fun! He likes to play with the chimes hanging off of the cabinet handle (actually there just for little people). Or maybe help with the dishes...


But his absolute FAVORITE thing is pulling down and playing with dish towels! He grabs them and then takes off! He swings them about so victoriously. He will run to ggpa to show them off. If I try to grab it so I can use it, he runs away--swinging it in the air as he goes. If he's upset or bored or irritated that it's taking too long to make dinner... just give the kid a dish towel!

He's made me panic a few times when he discovers a new place and I can't find him. I'm sure this is just the beginning of many many times where my heart falls into my stomach. But for now, I'm just laughing at the idea that we now have to holler, "Wyyyaaattt... where arrrreee yoooouuu??"

**click on the pictures to see the full size image!**

Visit from Aunt Liz

Liz is probably the closest and most devoted friend I have. She's one of the most remarkable women I've ever met and I miss her terribly! God gave me Elizabeth as a friend on April 20, 2003. David was in Iraq for the first time and he'd not been gone very long. I had been praying for a good girl friend who I could relate to. After awkwardly staring at her through the entire beginning of Easter service, I finally scootched to the end of the aisle and whispered "Hey, do you want to sit together?" and the rest was history!

Elizabeth has never been farther west than Ft. Hood, TX (where we met). I was so excited to show her the desert and the beauty here that no one really expects. We had such a wonderful visit and I enjoyed showing her around!

The first day she was here, we went to Old Tucson. I wasn't planning a trip to Old Tucson--it was a last-minute brain drizzle. We got there about 3 hours before it closed. That's plenty of time to do Old Tucson during the week. The place was pretty empty. We got to see a few shows and just look around. We did most of the "rides" and Wyatt had a great time.


The next day we went to Bisbee & Tombstone. We stopped at the junk store in Bisbee and had waaayyyy too much fun just fondling and laughing at all of the items there. Liz's favorite part was the picture of someone's hiney for sale. Seriously. It was a black & white picture... and it was a saggy hiney. We weren't sure why they had such a high price tag on it. Then, we saw these classic hair salon chairs... oh boy we had fun!


From Bisbee we headed over to Tombstone. No trip to Tombstone is complete without the fun old time picture. We made sure to make it to the picture place and we were one of the last people to make it before it closed. The experience was a bit awkward as they give you these outfits with very little back to them (I'm thinking a hospital gown is about the same coverage). They gave us these men's boxers and then an outfit. There were signs all over the dressing room that we were NOT to tie the outfits. It wasn't too bad until we went out and there were strangers there and we both felt very exposed. Plus, it was COLD! We were barefoot on this very very very cold wooden floor. We had a good laugh getting ourselves ready.


We ended up gong back to Tombstone one more time to look for something for Liz to take home to her kids. We also went to Texas Canyon and drove through Sonoita. I don't have those pictures on this computer, so you will just have to imagine the beauty of those two places in your mind.

It was such a wonderful weekend. I was so blessed by our time together. It was the perfect break. I've missed Liz so very much. We always laugh together and we picked up right where we left off. I already miss her like crazy and really wish Ohio was a bit closer!

Guess who's crawling!

Look at those big baby... grays? browns? hazels?

Today Wyatt has discovered that he can get his belly off the floor AND move at the same time! He's not moving fast yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of hours before he is.

We also had another follow up with the pediatrician today. Wyatt still has fluid on his ears, a ton of congestion, and still some coughing from his bronchitis. However, he has improved quite a bit since Wednesday. He's gained back his weight and he's back to 18 lbs. 6 oz. I'm relieved that he's gained some weight back! The doctor isn't worried yet. He says that there IS fluid, but his ears aren't infected right now. He doesn't seem to be in any pain and he's not had a fever now for a few days! The congestion concerns me much more than the it concerns the doctor. He said today, "snot happens in little people." I guess we'll keep going with our routines of humidfiers & vicks vapo-rub. Until this clears, I am tempted to change his name to "Sir Snots A Lot." Poor kid!

He's a happy boy though. He's been happy all day today. He's been giggly and playful all day. It's been wonderful to have my happy boy back!

Here are some pics from today. This is a good show of what color his eyes are. What is your guess? I can't figure out what to call them other than "not blue." haha!! Put your vote of eye color in the comment section!!

Look--TEETH! Both are through and this is the first picture that I've been able to see them!

Teeth! (well... tooth)--and prayers please

Today Wyatt's second tooth (bottom right) came in. I'm hoping that this will help some with the fevers and the ear problems he's not been able to kick. We were back at the doctor today. Wyatt's been on antibiotics for so long that he's having some gut problems. We have a follow up on Monday to see if the fluid on his ears has cleared. If not, then we are headed for an ENT. I would really love for this to clear up and go away. If you could please pray for Wyatt to feel better and for his body to heal.

Here is a picture to hold you over for now. :) This is Wyatt after the Christmas parade. It was quite cold. The excitement of the parade and the walk back to the truck just tuckered him out!

9 month check up & stats

Today Wyatt had his 9 month well-baby check. It's interesting because he's not been well for several weeks. He's had an ear infection for a little over 3 weeks at this point. We are on the 3rd set of antibiotics at this point and I'm hoping it will clear his little ear. He came in at 16 lbs, 9 oz. which is a 2lb loss from when he first got sick. He's 27 1/2 inches long and his head is 44 cm around. He's got a big noggin. :) He is at the bottom of the scale for babies his age all around. The doctor isn't concerned yet. He said, "well, he's a small baby." That was his only commentary.

Wyatt has 3 words now. He's got up, uh-oh, and hot. I don't know if I can technically count "hot" because I am not sure he knows what it means. He does like the way it sounds though! The words "mama" and "daddy" aren't even on the horizon! He also plays "pat-a-cake" and waves all the time. He's still a happy boy and a huge flirt! He eats a ton of food! I wish I had this kid's metabolism! He is definitely taking after his daddy in that area. He is not crawling yet, but he does a pretty speedy low-crawl. He gets up on his hands and knees, but can't figure out how to get his arms moving to crawl. He's got the legs figured out, but not the hands. It's fun to watch.

Yesterday (Sunday, Jan 3), his first tooth finally cut through! He has his bottom left tooth and the bottom right is hot on it's tail! It should pop through any moment now. He's also got some top teeth trying to show up all at once.

We had a fantastic Christmas! Wyatt enjoyed all the presents. He opened a few, but I did most of the work. The day after Christmas we took a trip up to Colorado to see BamBam & Grandpa. We got lucky and got to visit with Aunt Susan too (who lives in Georgia!). Wyatt fell in love with all 3 of them and he ate up all the extra attention. He traveled great and was super on all of our flights!

That's about it from here! I hope everyone is having a fantastic January!