My bumblebee

Wyatt made this adorable bee costume at his "Mini My-Y Club" class this week. It's just a 4 week class at the Y on Thursday mornings for an hour and a half and he's been loving it! He was so proud that he painted this himself and that he got to eat some honey that the bees made! (I obviously don't do many crafts with my kids!)
I took this picture of Wyatt after he got up from his nap that day. He doesn't always wake up in a great mood, but if Sadie is already awake and downstairs with me, he's instantly happy when he sees her. And in this picture, he was looking at her and just couldn't contain his joy! And this outfit is so fitting of a story I have been meaning to put on here. He is such an 'urban' kid--I'll tell you what I mean. We were at Farm and Fleet a few weeks ago looking for the cheap knock-off crocs for Sadie and Wyatt wanted to sit on all the tractors. Of course, we had to sit on every single one of them and Sadie had to follow suit. Wyatt was wearing this outfit and sitting on all the tractors, when one of the workers from the store walking by said, "You are such a big boy, driving the tractor. Where are you going on your tractor?" His answer? "I'm going to Starbucks." Oh boy! What have I done? Thankfully the worker was a female and just looked at me and smiled, but I'm sure his grandpas and great-grandpas would be mortified!

Swimming (Torture) Lessons

I have been wanting to do a post about Wyatt's swimming lessons for awhile now, but haven't had any pictures. I really wish I had a video of them, but once I tell you how our swimming lessons go each week, you'll understand why I don't!

This past semester has been the first time Wyatt has taken swimming lessons without me in the pool with him. But I knew he was ready to be on his own (especially at 3 years old) and whenever we've been in a pool as a family, he loves to swim around on his own with the noodles and his floatie on his back. So it was time.

But as I've written in the past, Wyatt doesn't like trying new things and swimming has been no exception. I signed him up to be in a class with his friend Bella (who loves the water and has no fear of new things), thinking that this would help ease his uncertainty. The first day of class, he was on the verge of tears all the way up until he got into the water and then he totally broke down bawling. He cried for about half of the class and his instructor (Chelsea, bless her heart) had to hold him the entire time. The next week got a little better and he cried for only about 10 minutes. The following week he cried for only about 5 minutes and then had a blast the rest of the time. But I learned that he'd stop crying whenever I left the pool area and watched from upstairs. As soon as I was gone, he'd quit crying.

We've now been in swimming lessons for several months and the actual lessons have been goign great. He'll do things on his own and swims the length of the pool with his floatie on (without having to hold on to anyone). However, he still bawls and kicks and screams when I walk him into the pool area. The rest of the parents there just laugh when they see us coming because it really is quite humorous. He kicks and screams, I hand him to Chelsea (or one of the other instructors), he gets in the water, I leave, and he quits crying and joins in all the fun with the rest of the kids. It just kills me---when will it end?? Somedays I am so frustrated about it and then other days I just laugh because it's so hilarious!

So this is why I have no video from his class! Last week I was able to sneek in at the end of the class and he was fine with me watching him and Bella swim. So here are a few of the pics I got...maybe one of these weeks I'll have another parent videotape our "grand entrance" that we make each week.

This smile just cracks me up---from a kid that kicks and screams!!!

Wyatt and Bella in the locker room

They thought they were so funny!

Sorry the quality is so poor---I desperately want a new camera. But you get the idea!!!

Benefits of Rising Gas Prices

Well, there aren't many benefits to the rising prices of gas. We're now at $3.92 in La Crosse and as everyone tells me, it's only going to get worse! Great! However, we are one of the many families who have had to make lifestyle adjustments because of the rising prices. And I have to say that many, if not all of them, have been beneficial.

I spend less time running errands=more time with the kids.

I plan out my errands so I don't make several trips out=more time with the kids at home AND more discipline on my part.

Probably the best one---We've been biking A LOT more!!!!

Although Wyatt doesn't bike all over town in his new bike, I had to put a picture of him on here with his 1st 'big boy' bike since he just loves it! He wants to ride it all the time. In fact, the day after we got it, he woke up at 6am and asked if we could go outside and ride it!

Sadie's version of her 'bike'. She's still learning how to push forwards and not just backwards.

This is how we spent our entire day on Wednesday. We biked to Bible Study, to the post office, to swimming lessons in the afternoon, and to the grocery store (Matt met us there after work and took the groceries home in the car). It was so much fun and best of all, it was FREE!!!

I have a feeling we'll be spending lots more time on our bikes as the gas prices continue to rise, but I'm trying to look at it as a positive thing (other than the fact that we have moving trucks to fill with gas this summer!)

Beloved Blankies

My kids love their blankies. It started with both of them when they were just a few months old. They both had pacifiers but I took them away around 3 months old because they were both waking up at night just because their pacifier fell out. Wyatt quickly found his first two fingers in his right hand to suck on and wrapped the silky part of the blankie around his fingers on the other hand. He still does this every time he goes to sleep and as a result, he LOVES going to bed since that's the only time he gets his blankie. It worked so well with Wyatt that I did the same thing with Sadie. She didn't transition quite as easily and it took her a few weeks to get used to not having a pacifier. It probably didn't help that she never found anything (thumb, fingers, etc) to replace it. However, she does do this silly thing with her blankie and she sticks her little tongue in and out real quickly and sucks on the edge of her blankie. Whatever it takes! She too gets so excited to go to bed because she gets her blankie. It's been a lifesaver for us whenever we are away from home or have a babysitter since they are so easy to put down. I took this picture right before we got in the car last weekend to go to Madison---it was naptime and I brought the blankies out in the family room as we were getting everything in the car. Both kids just laid down on the floor and could have fallen asleep right there---as long as they had their blankies!!

The beginning of the end

We are officially in the countdown to our move. We leave La Crosse in 3 weeks and I can't believe how quickly it is coming. For the past few months, everytime someone would ask me when we were moving, I just said "Oh, not until late June." Well, now it's almost June and it's starting to hit me that we have a lot to do in the next few weeks (throw in 2 weddings and it's quite overwhelming). There are a lot of logistics that have to take place--like packing up everything, making sure we have enough boxes, making sure we have enough help to load and unload our stuff, making sure the truck is big enough, etc. And this move will be unusual, although not unlike some of our other moves, because we'll be leaving La Crosse June 12st but not moving to Ohio until the end of July. We are looking forward to having the 5 weeks off, but not looking forward to being "in transition" and without income for 5 weeks. So, we are moving everything to my parents house (basement and garage) for 5 weeks and then packing it all up again and moving to Ohio. Crazy? Yes. But we see it as a blessing to be able to spend some time with family and friends before heading off for the year and being farther away from everyone we know.

Yesterday was the first time it really hit me that we will be leaving La Crosse. Up until this point, I've just been planning the logistics of the move and not even thinking about moving--leaving friends and everything familar to go to a new city and start all over again. You'd think that after all the moves we've gone through that we would be pretty good at this. And I think we are all pretty excited about the new life we'll have in Columbus. But leaving my friends here in La Crosse is going to be very difficult. I was sitting at Bible Study yesterday and thanking all the women who were in the class I co-taught this semester and one of the women looked at me and said, with much emotion, "We are really going to miss you and I will never forget you." Tears welled up in my eyes and I was totally unprepared for my reaction. Then another friend of mine just burst into tears. I was so touched by their thoughts and began really thinking about the fact that I will be leaving all my friends here in La Crosse. They have been the ones who have supported me on a daily basis as we struggled through residency and adjusting to the crazy life that comes with it. They are women who can relate to me without having to say a word and know what life with little ones is like. Many of you know that Matt and I haven't really felt like La Crosse was 'home' and have planned on leaving once residency was done. We've always looked forward to being finished and moving on to the next thing, but now that the time has come, I realize how difficult it's going to be. God has truly blessed my life through some amazing women and I am sad to be leaving them.

The thought of going to a new home and new city is very exciting to me. The thought of not having my friends there with me is not.

But through all my reflecting, I have come to realize one thing---God is faithful. Without going on for too long, I remember when we moved to La Crosse and how difficult things were at first. Matt and I had both prayed about residency and really felt that God was leading us to La Crosse and that this was where He wanted us to be. When we got here, I felt lonely as a stay-at-home mom to a 5 month old and not knowing how I would meet people. I missed my friends in Des Moines terribly and wanted so badly to be with them and their kids. But God provided a great living situation for us in resident housing where I began to meet many other resident wives who stayed at home with their kids. They were always outside playing or getting together when their husbands weren't home for dinner and I was quickly accepted. They gave me advice on being a resident wife, being a mother of a young child, and helped me navigate life in a new city (where to get your hair cut, where to work out, where to shop, etc). They understood my frustrations when Matt seemed to be on-call all the time and were there for support. They could relate to driving old cars, having piles of school debt, and going out for dinner only on Tuesday nights when burgers were 59 cents at Burger King.

After living here for about 6 months, two staff wives at the hospital began a Bible Study/support group for medical spouses. What a huge blessing this was to me! I was meeting with women who were in the same situation I was in or who had been in the same situation in the past (and had lived to tell about it:) while studying God's Word and growing in my faith. Over the past two and a half years, our group ahs joined a national organization called Side by Side (affiliated with CMDA-Christian Medical and Dental Assoc) and has grown from being in a home with a handful or people to meeting in a church with over 50 women and over 70 kids! This past year I was blessed to be able to teach/facilitate one of the classes. It gave me an opportunity to use the gifts God has given me and I learned so much about myself and the women in my class.

My friends in La Crosse are such a part of my daily life and I know it is going to be very difficult for me to leave them. I have laughed with them, cried with them, prayed with them, rejoiced with them, and lived through happy as well as difficult times with them. They are friends that will hold a special place in my heart and whom I hope to stay in touch with no matter where we all end up.

All this to say, that I know God is faithful. When I moved here I thought I'd never find friends like I had in Des Moines. And although they aren't the same, they are different friends who have met different need in my life during the last three years. And I know that God will do the same when we move to Ohio and then again in a year when Matt finishes his training. So as I busy myself over the next several weeks with packing, changing our address on everything, updating contact info, etc, I hope I can also take some much needed to time to spend with my friends who I'll be leaving.

Nicole, Me, Kara, Jess, Deb

(Medical Education Christmas Party 2005)

Kara, Me, Nicole

(Medical Education Graduation 2006)

Jesse, Christina, Janet (with Kara's baby Nora), Me

(Medical Education Graduation 2006)

Me, Maria, Jess, Nicole, Stephanie, Christina

(Medical Education Christmas Party 2006)

Nicole and her daughter Lauren meeting Sadie in the hospital

Nicole, Stephanie, Me, Sadie, and Jess

(Sadie's baby shower)

Adri holding Lili, Me holding Sadie, and Nora holding Jac

(Sadie's baby shower--all babies born within a few weeks of each other)

Patty holding Jac, Sadie, and Devan

Jennifer (Gibson), Beth (Devan), Nora (Jac), Dee (Maddie), Me (Sadie), Andrea (Amelia)

Side by Side Bible Study Winter 2007

Me, Jess, Nicole, Steph

(Girls Weekend in Chicago)

Weekend in Chicago--in cab!

Steph, Me, Sarah, Jess, Nicole

(Medical Education Christmas Party 2007)

Rod and Matt

(4th of July)

Resident Housing Fun--Summer 2007

Jackson, Wyatt, Hayden, Audra, Hallie

(4th of July Fireworks in backyard)

Sarah, Drew, Wyatt, Me, Sadie

(Apple Orchard Trip Fall 2007)

Hayden, Caleb, Lauren, Jackson, Wyatt

(Christmas 2007--handing out fruit baskets with Ward and Patty Brown)

There are a few things I noticed as I looked through all these pictures and decided which ones to put on here:

1. There are several of you who I don't have any pictures of....something I need to do before we leave!!

2. I have a lot of pictures of Wyatt and Sadie and all the other kids!

3. Thank goodness for the Christmas and Graduation parties, otherwise we wouldn't have many pictures of all of us together!!

4. We have truly been blessed!

Mother's Day

What a great day I had! Matt got up with the kids and they headed to our local favorite coffee shop that also serves homemade donuts. The house was so quiet and I was able to sleep in until 8am! I was awoken to Wyatt's little face saying, "Happy Mother's Day Mommy. Look what I got you?" He was holding a plate with my favorite blueberry cake donut and then handed me a vanilla latte! All in bed--how much better does it get?

Matt handed me a card from the kids and a card from him---Wyatt wasn't nearly as excited about the cards as he was the coffee and donut! The kids were very eager to pile in the bed with me as I opened my cards. And of course, as happens ever year, I was in tears. Wyatt and Sadie made a really sweet card for me, but Matt's gift for writing always overwhelms me. He never ceases to amaze me with the things he writes---I love keeping his cards and reading them over and over. They never get old!

It was a great way to start off the day and also a great way to start the week. Maybe we should do this every weekend!

This Kid Cracks Me Up

This post is a random assortment of pictures and stories that just make me laugh! Wyatt cracks me up sometimes with the things he says or does and I wanted to put some of them on here so I'd be able to someday look back and remember these funny things.

Wyatt and Sadie at the zoo with my Mom (we were in OH looking for housing)

A few of our recent conversations:

"Mommy, I feel ill. I think I need some medication."---what 3 year old says "ill" and "medication"? He usually says "sick" and "medicine", but for some reason the other day he decided to use these words!

"Mom, I can't eat right now."

"Why not Wyatt?"

"Because my foot hurts me."

These glasses are just too much! This was on our way to Bible study one morning.

This was what he was wearing the other night. I'm not sure how the pants ended up coming off, but then the cowboy boots came on and the goggles from his work bench just top it all off. (Notice Sadie looking at him in the background).

It got even funnier when he started talking on the phone with Nani.

When he gets tired, he calls everything "Bodie" (pronounced beau-dee).......For example, he'll pray at night and say, "Thank you Bodie or he'll say "My bodie hurts" or he'll tell us to "Stop being a bodie". This seems to be his favorite made-up word--and it's all-encompassing!

Whenever he asks for something that he doesn't think he'll get, he likes to look at us and say, "Wouldn't that be fun?"

Gymnastics

Wyatt just finished gymnastics for the year and it's been so great for him. He has learned how to do things he wouldn't normally try on his own. He now loves climbing things (although I sometimes still have to help him down) and the other day at a local fast food restaurant, he started swinging on the bars that formed the line to the cash register. Here are just a few pics from his last day of class.

If he saw me, he was distracted for the rest of class. As you can see in this picture, he was watching me and saying, "Watch me Mom" instead of listening to his teacher---something we still need to work on.

Just a bit distracted looking out the window for me. Notice the rest of the class in line!

Spring at Last

OK, I'm going to warn you that this post has a lot of pictures. I went a little picture crazy (and of course, they aren't even all on here) as we were enjoying being outside for the first time in months! We were at my parents again this weekend as we were searching for a new car in the area and spent much of sunday afternoon playing outside. Wyatt, Pops and Matt played football and Sadie enjoyed getting acclimated to the outdoors.

Pops and Sades

Precious babes watching Daddy run after the football

Getting used to walking on uneven ground


I just missed the cutest moment by about 1/10 of a second......but you can kind of see the excitement in Sadie's face. She was walking towards Matt and got so giddy when he got down to her level.

What a handsome guy!! I'm so blessed.

Playing running back and linebacker!

This picture just describes Wyatt---he loves to be in charge and tell everyone what to do. He was telling Matt and my Dad to come over to him for a huddle. Classic.

I love this picture of Wyatt and Matt

Tough guys!!

Exhausted! Wyatt said he needed to take a rest and insisted that the guys keep on playing!

Matt and the kids on Pops' tractor

Wyatt has been so hesistant about Pops' tractor for over 3 years now and Matt finally got him to go on it. I'm sure so many kids would love to get to ride on one of these all the time, but Wyatt wanted nothing to do with it in past summers. But apparently this year is different! He was even smiling and driving on his own.
It was almost 80 degrees again today and I felt like we should spend every moment outside--as if we'd never experience nice weather again! But summer is coming (at least it has every other year in WI) and we will have many more days to spend outside. I guess that's one of the great things about WI winters is that it makes us really appreciate the summers!