We are almost to the finish line! This past Saturday Gary, the Contractor, lead us took us on the final walk though. We never do anything quite anymore, we showed up with my parents and the kiddos in tow. There were a few things that need a little toughing up, but all in all it is PERFECT!!!! Dad even seemed pleased with the results.
Of course we couldn't just have an uneventful meeting. Wyatt decided he had to check out all the knobs in the house, which was fine until he turned the laundry machine water hook up. The spout shot a stream of water from the laundry room about 30 feet, over the second floor landing and hit the front door! Wyatt screamed, hit the floor and army crawled for the door. John hurdled Wyatt and ran to turn off the spout. When it was all said and done, Wyatt was soaked from head to toe, John was wet from the belt down and everyone else had wet socks. I don't think Gary will forget us anytime soon :)
We recently went though a major lesson in parenting... I am posting this for the other mom's out there that may soon be hurdling this developmental stage.
Wyatt laying in Ava's bath tub - told me he was "all clean"
At some point in early January Wyatt woke up and decided this was his world and he was going to take it by storm. Enter 'Toddler the Terrible'! What happened to my adorable baby boy that said "please" and "thank you", loved to be cuddled and listened when I talked? He had disappeared leaving John and I in a constant state of frustration. We tried everything... yelling, time outs, and yes I am ashamed to say even a spank. Don't judge me, it hurt me more than it hurt him. Nothing seemed to get though to him! After more than a week of this demonic behavior I'd had it! John saw on my face that I was about to crack, he took the kids while I escaped to the grocery store (it's pathetic when going to the grocery store is therapeutic). I returned 2 hours later with a renewed lease on life, Wyatt was napping and John had me read this article: Getting your toddler to listen
Fast forward 1 week and I can honestly say this article may have saved my sanity and turned 'Toddler the Terrible' back in to our Wyatt. I am not saying we still aren't dealing with an occasional temper tantrum, but it is 1000 times better. I've learned a hard lesson - sometimes the actions of my child are reactions to my parenting approach. It's hard to look in the mirror and realize that you are part of the problem. But we're trying and adjusting to the challenges as they develop. MARSHALL LAW: We work together to become better people!
Our Little Miss Ava turned four months old on the 19th. Monday she had her well-baby check up and I am happy to report she's doing GREAT. She's now 25.5 inches long, which puts her between the 75th to 90th percentile. 14 lbs 6oz, putting her in the 75th percentile. Finally her head measured in at 41cm, in the 50th percentile. All good numbers :)
She's getting to be so expressive, laughing and cooing all the time with the biggest grin. Our Lil' Peanut is interested in everything happening around her, and with Wyatt as a big bro that means there's never a dull moment. January 9th she rolled over for the first time! She flipped herself to her stomach then immediately back over looking up at me with wide eyes that seemed to say "MOMMY, what the heck just happened!".
2013 has brought with it many more decisions to be made. John and I picked out flooring, which I think was the last major decision before closing.
Bathrooms
Main living area
Bedrooms
As long as the cabinets arrive on time we are on schedule to close at the end of the month! This impending deadline has kicked our preparation into high gear. I've got a 3inch notebook filled with more to-do lists, house info and design ideas than I know what to do with.
A couple of frustrating issues have come up with the builder. The most recent is that they stained the hand rail on the staircase in an oak color... it doesn't match anything else in the house. Why did they do this... because it's "standard" they tell me! I call BS! I think someone jumped the gun and wasn't thinking about the big picture. Let's hope they fix it!
We still don't know what we're doing with Exton Lane yet. We thought it was going to be shown yesterday - but they cancelled at the last minute - boo, however at least the house is clean today!
Santa visited our house and left a few surprises for the kiddos~
Ava was just as happy as could be. She and I had a little quite time early Christmas morning. She gave me the most wonderful gift - a full night of sleep, a smile and a coo.
While Wyatt is still a little too young to anticipate Santa's arrival, he certainly got the idea when he came down that morning!
Marnier, Grady and Poppop arrived later in the morning. We had such a nice morning. Started it off with our traditional mimosas with ham and cheese croissants. Followed by a marathon present opening session. This was also Ava's first time meeting her 3Pop!
Trying to catch up here, the blog got away from me with all the holiday stuff going on.
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Another crazy holiday season... We started off with a trip to PA. This was Ava's first major trip and she was stellar! Lil' Peanut slept from Chester to Deb & Al's house, it was almost too easy!
I'm so glad we got to spend a few days up North. Wyatt got to play with all his cousins and grab some love from the grandparents, aunts and uncles. Ava got to meet all of the extended family for the first time.
The schedule was packed with holiday events. Saturday was a family Christmas party. Jenny got the gift of the year from Chipper, a new Nikon camera! Needless to say I had so much fun playing with her new toy I now realize I don't have one picture of the family party of my own :(
Sunday was a trip to Hershey Park. Wyatt LOVED the amusement park. I think he's going to be a little roller coaster man! While we were there Ava got to spend a little 'getting to know you' time with Mimi the Great and Baba.
This video is of Wyatt's first amusement park ride and he and his cousins having a ball on some of the other attractions. What great memories we made that day!
Monday morning (Christmas Eve) we finished exchanging gifts and enjoyed breakfast before heading home. The trip home was almost as easy as the trip up, except for the sloppy weather. We saw Santa and Mrs. Clause driving south on 95 in a red SUV with SANTA CL on the license plate! I'm not sure who got more excited, me or Wyatt!
We made it home just in time for dinner, a quick change of clothes and off to church we went. I've never missed a Christmas Eve service (except for the year it was canceled by an ice storm) and I wasn't about to start now. After the kids had been cooped up for a 5 hour car ride I should have known that an 8pm service wasn't the best idea... We made it until the peace, which is about when the kiddos lost theirs. We made a b-line for the door and home we went. I least we tried and Wyatt sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.
Wyatt dressed up for church
We tried hard to get a cute sibling picture of these two in their matching pjs, this was as good as it got. This pretty much says it all...
