Christmas in November!

While my sister's family was in town, we took the opportunity to get together and not only celebrate Thanksgiving, but also celebrate Christmas.


We started out our Saturday by taking the boys to a local pottery shop, "Color Me Mine," to make Mimi her holiday platter. (This has now become a tradition that we will continue each year.)

The dads even came to help us out - they knew it would be tough to coral all 4 boys. So Dad-d and Wy-man had some bonding time as I took photos. ;-) Each boy had their foot tickled in order to make their snowman footprint just right!

Even Luke got in on the action!Here's a look at the 4 footprints prior to being created into snowmen. We left the rest of the painting up to the professionals at the store...it was safer that way! (Wy-man's is the fat footprint on the right hand side. The gal even said after Wyatt went, "Aww, we are going to have a fat little snowman out of this footprint.")

Then we came home to enjoy a nice dinner and present opening.
And the men were thoroughly excited, can't you tell?!

Wy-man received a Cars scooter and helmet from Aunt Ashie and Uncle Seth. He was so excited for this present we had to bust it out the next day!

But the greatest gift of all (next to reason for the season - the birth of Baby Jesus), was the family trip we received from my parents. And we can't wait because....

Thanks Mom and Dad for such a wonderful holiday. We can't wait for our trip next year! Love you!

Mashed Potatoes?!

Tonight when I picked Wy-man up from daycare there was snow on the ground. (This is the first time that snow has accumulated on the ground and he has been old enough to understand.)

But tonight his explanation of the snow was too cute not to share. We walked outside and headed to the car and as we trecked through the snow, he exclaimed proudly to me "Mashed tate-tas on the ground?!" I was a little confused so he said it again. It was one of the cutest things ever.

So when we got home and he was ready for bed, I pulled out the video camera to see if he would remember what he said a couple hours prior...and he didn't disappoint.

Enjoy!

Giving Thanks!

Thanksgiving was full of wonderful memories. Part of my mom's side of the family drove in for a couple days and we celebrated both Thanksgiving and Christmas while they were here. It was a super busy week. Here's my tribute to our Thanksgiving celebration!

Wy-man found Dad-d's disposable camera and is now obsessed with taking photos. (Except he was taking them all of this chest.) ;-)
Because of the holiday vacation, Wy-man was able to enjoy some one-on-one time playing bumper pool with Papa.

And of course my mom had the tables decorated beautifully!The boys got to color their own Thanksgiving place mats...
And took some time away from coloring to show me their holiday cheer. ;-) (This is what happens with a 6, 4 and 2 year old pose.) And we can forget about "Baby Gook". (Luke is such a doll, isn't he?!)
We had 18 people gather for the feast.

Here are Pat, Sue, Bonnie and Claire. (Pat is my mom's youngest brother).

Scott and Dianne came in from Sterling, IA and their oldest daughter Megan and her husband Kaleb drove up from Manhattan, KS. (Scott is one of my mom's older brothers.)

And this is the Lampe crew sans kids - (except if you look closely, you can see Wy-man. He didn't want to sit at the kids table)!

We had a wonderful time catching up and eating WAY too much, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Thanks fam for making the holiday so special!

Wednesday's Words of the Week

Once again, I can't seem to post weekly, so here's for another three weeks of Wyatt-isms.

1. "Why?" - I knew this stage would be coming soon, but didn't expect it so soon. He now asks "Why" to everything.

2. "I-pack" - meaning Ice Pack. Any time he gets hurts he asks for an "i-pack." (And he's been getting hurt a lot lately.) :(

3. "Dense" - he loves to Dance and will frequently ask me to "dense" with him. (He must take after his mama...and he has some good moves too.)

4. "Mom teach gas. Mama Robot" - Most of you know that I teach aerobics two nights a week (Zumba) and for a couple weeks Wy has been saying "Mama Robot." I had no clue why he was calling me a robot. Then it dawned on me the other night when I was putting him to bed. He said, "Mama teach gas. Mama robot." I figured out he has been saying, "Mama teach class. Mama aerobics." What a smart cookie that he could put those two things together - when I don't typically refer to teaching class and aerobics in the same sentence when talking to him.

5. "My hold youuu." - Back in August when a couple of my great girlfriends came to visit and their girls were saying this very thing and I wondered if Wy-man ever would. And...he didn't let me down. This is one of my favorite Wyatt-isms.

6. "E is." - Lately Wy-man likes to ask me where something is, will go and find it and then exclaim, "E is." (meaning "Here it is.") So cute.

7. "Roll Rolls" - The other morning I was making cinnamon rolls and Wyatt asked what I was making. When I told him he started asking for "roll rolls." Now, when he wants me to make them, that's how he asks.

8. "Why?" - Have I mentioned he says "why" yet? ;-)

9. "Heey" - Any time Mike and I do something (like eat food off his plate, take a toy away, etc.) he will say, "Hey?!" It's quite adorable the way he says it.

10. "No, my good." - This statement began when I would ask him if he was poopy. He would look at me and say, "No, my good." His usage has now broadened to anytime we ask him to do something that he doesn't want to do. Like tonight, we were on web cam (he's in Kansas with Mike) and I asked him if he was going to go 'nite, nite' and he told me, "No, my good." Man is he ornery.

11. "My NEEED juice." - Last night we were at my mom's celebrating Mike's b-day and Wy-man was eating cake. He looked over at me and said, "My NEEED juice." really emphasizing the NEED. I looked at Mike, then my mom and said, "Did he just tell me he NEEDED juice?" What a stinker.

A Good ol' Shiner!

As most of you already have seen on my Facebook, Wy-man had to go in for his second round of stitches in the last eight months. (He wanted to even out the scars on his eyes, I guess.)

Here's how it all went down!

Thursday night we were getting ready for bed around 8:45 but Wy-man was up a little later than normal. I told him it was time for bed so he gathered ALL of his stuffed animals (that he had brought out to the couch for reading time) and took off running into his room. He tripped about 3 feet from his bed and that was just the right distance...when he fell, he cracked his head open on the side of his toddler bed. His eyelid began gushing tons of blood immediately (good thing I was wearing red pj's).

I scooped him up, ran him into the bathroom to apply pressure in order to stop the bleeding. It was at this time that Mike met me in the bathroom and we knew it was going to be another trip to Acute Care. So we grabbed our stuff and headed out.

On our way there, Dad-d called Barry (a family friend) to come and help him out. (He knew mama wouldn't be able to handle holding Wy-man down.) So Barry and his wife, Haley, met us up at Acute Care. And we made it just in time...8:58. (Two minutes before they close...let me tell ya, they were so happy to see us.) ;-)

Barry and Mike did the dirty work while Haley kept me calm in the waiting room. (We are so lucky to have them as friends...we couldn't have made it through the night without them!)

Mike told me later on that night that in between screams, Wy-man kept telling him, "Don't let them hurt me dad-d!" I commend Dad-d for being so strong. I couldn't have done it. Wy-man and I are so lucky to have him in our lives.

And in case you are interested, here are a few photos I have taken the past couple days. (And if you have a weak stomach, these photos might not be for you.)

Here's Barry holding Wy-man after he got his stitches. Good thing Barry was there because Wy didn't want to come to Mama...only Barry!

This photo was taken on Saturday night - two days after the accident. It's really turning black and blue.

And here is his shiner on day three - taken tonight before bedtime. Poor little guy!

Curious George

This week we made the last minute decision to take Wy-man to see Curious George Live. We had such a great time - I am so glad Dad-d suggested it. What an awesome evening of family fun. Wy-man thoroughly enjoyed himself...he clapped, he danced, he cheered and even sat through the two hour show.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the evening:

Daycare Dumps

As parents we want to do everything we can to protect our little ones, but that isn't always possible. And nothing bums me out more than showing up to pick up Wy-man and having to sign an "ouchie report." So signing the form and finding out that Wy-man was bit in the arm today was no different.And while the bite wasn't horrible, it still makes his Mama wish that I could have protected him. (Sorry the photo didn't turn out great...it was taken by my camera phone, but you get the gist.)

But as Wy-man and I were discussing his day over dinner, I asked him what he did today. And while he could have told me about playing outside, playing with the sensory table or playing trucks (like his typical response), he told me that he was bit. He then proceeded to tell me the name of the child that bit him (but I won't use the child's name). I then pried a little more and asked him how it happened...he went on to tell me he was 'drinking water.' And what makes this story even more shocking, that was exactly what the ouchie report said had happened - he was in line at the drinking fountain and was bit by another child. I was so shocked he even remembered the incident and could tell me what happened so accurately.

After everything transpired, I was no longer saddened by the incident, instead I was truly impressed with his intellect. How many two year olds can fully answer questions about things that happened 1 hour ago, let alone 8 hours prior?

And while I know this won't be the last report I sign, I am so glad to know my child could tell me what happened, is getting and great eduation at daycare AND didn't try to bite back!

My Ice Cream!

Today Dad-D and I decided we should treat ourselves to some DQ ice cream. Dad-d got his usual (peanut buster parfait), I got my staple (snickers blizzard without chocolate syrup) and we got Wy-man a dilly bar. It seemed like an unbeatable solution at the time....

...and it was until we got home. Once we sat down at the dinner table, Wy-man decided he didn't want his dilly bar, he wanted MY blizzard. (I should've known.)

So being the smart mama that I am, I got out a bowl and put a large scoop of my ice cream into his bowl. When I pushed the bowl in front of him, he looked up at me in disgust, pointed to my dish and said, "No, MY ice ceem." (Since he can't say cream.)

So, I gave in. I scooped another mound of the blizzard into Wy-man's bowl, gave him my cup and began to eat from his dish - mind you, I was also using his little spoon since he also took my spoon away.

Every time I would try to scoop more ice cream into my tiny bowl, he would grab his blizzard cup, pull it close to him and yell, "Hey, that's mine!" It was too funny yet so frustrating at the same time.

So here's a little glimpse at what I was left with...

Gotta love a strong willed child! I wonder where he gets it?!

Ahh, the things we do for our children...(and for those that don't know...ice cream is my downfall, so the fact that I gave it up for Wy-man is HUGE!)

Trick-or-Treat

This was the first year that Wy-man was able to fully understand the concept of Trick-or-Treating. We got into costume, grabbed Wy-man's personalized treat sack and were off. (For those of you that don't know, my mom - Mimi, works part time at an awesome embroidery store, so Wy-man has MANY personalized items.)

Our first stop was Doug and Nina's (our neighbors that Wy-man just loves). He couldn't wait to walk on over... ...and ring their door bell. And of course, they had a 'special' treat for him. (A full bag of M&M's...not just the snack size.) Wy-man's eyes light up so wide. Our second stop was Barry & Haley's house. Here he received handfuls of candy and even got a box of fruit snacks. Wy-man then made himself at home, walking right in to hang out for a while. After we stayed our welcome, we had to capture the moment with a quick snapshot before heading to Mimi and Papa's.

It was at Mimi & Papa's that we were able to truly see the real joy in Wy-man. My mama had her camera ready and was able to capture this most precious site!

Once we came inside, Wy-man had to help every time the doorbell rang. So he was in charge of putting the candy in the kid's buckets. And believe it or not, he gave away candy rather than trying to claim it all for himself.

Then we had to take our annual photo with Mimi & Papa before enjoying a scrumptious Halloween meal that my mama prepared just for us!

And funny story took place the day after Halloween....

Dad-d came home on his lunch break and snuck into Wy-man's candy bag to eat a few boxes of Nerds. When Wy and I got home that night, he was throwing something away in the trash and discovered the empty boxes. He pulled them out of the trash, exclaimed "MY CANDY!" and then had an absolute meltdown. He was devastated that someone would eat his candy. (Dad-d now has to hide the evidence in a different trash can if he sneaks a snack!)

Halloween Parties Galore

Halloween was very eventful this year. We started off with Wy-man's school Halloween party. I was able to take off work for an hour and go over for his parade. He was the cutest cowboy around, if I don't say so myself.
He also posed with Ellie (his good friend in his class).

Friday evening we went to Dad-d's work Halloween party...so Mama took the opportunity to dress up and be Wy-man's cowgirl. I thought we looked pretty cute. There was a magician, jumpy toys, dancing, hot dogs and plenty of games to enjoy. After the party we went out for dinner at Chevy's - dressed up an all.

We ended the Halloween festivities at an adult party. Mike dressed up as John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever and I went as a disco chick. We had a lot of fun but aren't as young as we used to be. We called it a semi-early night so we could enjoy Trick-or-Treating with Wy-man the next day.