Family Photos 2012

We finally hired a photographer and had our photo shoot at OSU. My favorite family pictures!

15 month old G

Grayson just had his 15 month check up and big shocker he weighs over 3lbs more than Wyatt did at this age at 28lbs .5oz and is 32 inches tall (2 inches shorter than Wyatt). I have to admit that its fun to compare the boys. Grayson is such a sweetie these days. Lots of fun but into everything and fast as can be. He ends up with lots of bumps and bruises unfortunately. Well speaking of G, he just woke up so I better run.

6 months!?

Wow I've been a BAD blogger.. I have gone about 6 months without writing anything. Amazing how time flies. Well, lots has happened since I last posted. I have a 3.5 year old and a big 1 year old. And by big, I mean big. Grayson weights 2 lbs more than Wyatt did at 1 year and is an inch and a half shorter. Boy do I love his rolls. We celebrated Grayson's first birthday last weekend at the Toy Factory. His 'theme' was barnyard animals. Unfortunately he came down with what the doctor thinks is RSV the next day and has been sick ever since. I'm hoping we're on the mend now though. Grayson is very talkative and is finding his voice more and more every day. He says lots of words i.e. "DAW" for dog, "BAW" for ball etc etc., but does say MAMA very clearly. He gives loud kisses to get my attention and loves clapping his hands whenever you say "good" whether its about him or something random. I just can't get enough of him; but I am sure glad he is finally sleeping through the night. Our Wyatt is turning into quite the comedian. He also makes up his own games i.e the "Poopy Butt game" which he's taught to the other kids (I'm sure his teachers love this),"Piggy in the middle," "the run run run, jump game" and "Nest" (where he pretends he's a bird "hatching eggs out of his butt." Yes, his words. He is so lovable, often telling me "Mommy, I miss you and I love you." He is so nurturing when mama isn't feeling well or is cold- wanting to snuggle or cover me up with his blankets. Wyatt and I went to a college gymnastics meet the other night and it was SO much fun. I loved taking him to something (for me), that he enjoyed too. He's getting easier and easier all the time, even getting himself dressed and tearing up the streets with his balance bike. Will thinks he's going to be an avid mountain biker and has already started shopping for his first mountain bike. I just signed Wyatt up for a gymnastics class at OSU. I think he'll love all the jumping, climbing, bouncing and balancing. I think we'll also sign up for soccer or karate this spring. This one keeps up laughing, although there are some occasional major frustrations ;) As for me, I'm still building my private practice and loving it. It's been really enjoyable so far and I have about 4-5 clients a week- which is perfect. I also am teaching my 'Live and Learn with your 1-2 year old' class on Thursdays which I take Grayson to (Wyatt is in school). This Spring I will be teaching a Nurturing Parenting class for parents, in the evenings. I am guessing its going to be a busy spring- but the extra $$$ is always nice. Will found himself a single daddy for 4 nights last week while I worked or had meetings. It was a busy week but he did great. Its awesome seeing how attached the kids are to either mommy or daddy. Alright, I'm off to watch some t.v. with my hubby. Hope you are doing well!

Some pictures of our summer 2011

cousins Mason (9 months)and Grayson (5 months)
Gray likes holding his cup
Wyatt and Grayson with cousin Faye in OR 2011
Fam pic- Newport, OR
Wyatt (3YRS) and cousin Mikey (5YRS)- camping on the Columbia river, WA 2011

Here we go!

Life is about to get busy very soon. I'm still building up clientele in my private practice. So far no complaints. It's been great and I'm getting more familiar and comfortable with the insurance stuff (although there is much more learning to happen as I get on new insurance panels). I'm also going to teach a parenting class at the community college again this fall (one day a week) and Wyatt will be starting preschool next week (2 days a week)! We go to an 'orientation' on Wednesday so I am anxious to see what he thinks about it all; and very anxious about leaving him the first time (already imagining the scene) :( He has asked me a few times now if we'll be staying with him when we go this week so he has some concept that eventually we won't stay. We also start up private swim lessons again tomorrow and a class with The Little Gym on Friday. I guess this all means that summer is about to end. Of course living in Oregon as we do, this is always kinda sad. The fall season here is awesome but that also means the rain will start soon and boy did we have one LONG rainy season this last year.

Grayson is now 5 months old and starting to finally sleep for 4-6 hour chunks of time at night. Its been a bit rough (he's easy to put to sleep but was waking every 2hrs wanting to eat) but he is now in his own crib for all naps and nighttime. Hurray! Grayson can now sit unsupported for a couple minutes at a time (although I still need to have a safety net nearby to protect his noggin). He is very into his toys as well as chewing on things and eating. He makes it known that he isn't happy when we are all eating and I'm taking too long to get him his bite. So far he's eaten bananas, peas, carrots, avocado (didn't like), blueberries, sweet potatoes, prunes etc. He is generally a happy, easy going baby as long as he's not hungry or tired. His tired cues are much easier to read than Wyatt's (who didn't show much of any if I recall correctly) as he starts rubbing his eyes and getting a tad fussy.

Anyways thats about all for us.. more later!

happy birthday to my big boy

We celebrated Wyatt's 3rd birthday yesterday. He had a Clifford the Big Red Dog party at our house and it was a lot of fun (and work!) We had various 'doggy treats' for snacks and pizza and salads for lunch. All of his closest 14 friends came and helped him celebrate by swimming, playing in the sand box and bounce house. It was a warm day so the pool was the biggest hit. Wyatt had a couple meltdowns and seemed embarrassed when everyone was singing "happy birthday" to him and then didn't want to open presents after the first few, but all in all he loved his party and was bummed when everyone was gone. He did however, thoroughly enjoy playing with all of his new toys though. Thank you's to everyone!!

Today is his actual birthday and we are taking an introductory class at The Little Gym where Wyatt's grandparents got him gift certificates to. We can't wait :) Later on this week we are taking the boys to the Zoo. Will be Grayson's first trip to the zoo and Wyatt's 3rd. Its fun to see how he 'takes things in' each time we do something like that.

Here are some pictures of the party:

happy 4th 2011!

It's been a sorta rough week with sleep and schedules for both boys this week, with the holiday and all. Apparently letting Wy stay up until after 11pm, 2 nights in a row made for bad sleep the next 2 nights too (fireworks in Oregon don't start until after 10pm). Grayson has been having some nighttime crankiness which is tiresome for us (and doesnt help Wy fall asleep)- we've been putting him to sleep in his crib with little problem lately, but the last 3-4 days haven't been easy. I even called his Pediatrician to make an earlier appointment than we had scheduled for his 4 month well-baby check up, to rule out reflux etc. I am thinking I will cut out dairy for a few days and see if anything changes- fun.

Anyways our 4th of July weekend was a tiresome blast. In short we did some bbq'in with my parents, saw a baseball game & fireworks on the 3rd, and then on the 4th went to a fun party with friends and then met up with other friends on our way home for the 'big' fireworks.

The rest of this week has been a blur of summertime fun. Wyatt and Mikey are taking private swim lessons on Wednesdays and are getting to play at the outdoor swim park before and after. Its been SO nice for Audra and I to get to relax outside of the pool with the babies.

Today the boys and I went to Storytime at the library where they have different activities going on after. Then we went to The Laughing Planet for lunch with friends, then met my mom at my office on her lunch hour (I needed to hang some stuff on the walls to complete the decor) and then I dragged the boys to Trader Joes to stock up on groceries for our visitors this weekend. Will's dad, step mama and step-bro Erik are coming tomorrow. On that note I better go do some cleaning!

took some pictures..

Here are some pictures in our back yard that I took of 3 month old Grayson and almost 3 year old Wyatt.

my news...

I've got exciting news... (well for me anyways haha)! A fellow mommy friend found an extremely inexpensive office right in the heart of downtown Corvallis to rent and wanted to find someone to split it with her. So I jumped at the chance to try out having a private practice. I've always dreamed of being my own boss but never had the guts to leave my County job with all of its great benefits and steady pay- but since I walked away from it when Baby O #1 came along, and are no longer used to me bringing in a salary, this was an easier decision.

So I've been super busy figuring it all out, making calls to insurance companies, getting an EIN, getting liability insurance, finding the right professional association to join, picking out paint colors for the office, searching Craigslist for furniture, going through boxes of papers and resources I'll need, updating my resume for credentialing through insurance panels, ordering business cards, getting my website going (well getting stuff written for Will to put on the website he is setting up for me) and so on and on. And this is on top of being a MOM which of course is still my number one job :)

So here you have it, why I haven't gotten to respond to some emails or kept my house super clean lately (not like it ever is perfect).. ha

Ok gotta run- Little G doesnt like to be put down for long!

Our Easter in a nut shell

What a funny saying "in a nut shell," huh? It was a fun fun weekend with way too much candy :) I think Easter was more fun this year for Wyatt and parents than even Christmas. Boy did he get a kick out of waking up to his Easter basket and then egg hunting.

Papa and Gramma and all of their boys
Mikey and Wyatt still BFF's