To God: Thank you.

Do you ever have those moments where you just stop and thank God for all he has given you? Where you look up at the sky and just say, "Thank you."?

The other evening as we made our way down my in-laws driveway, I had my brother-in-law sitting next to me with a sleepy Morgan on his lap and I just had to thank God for all he has blessed me with. Not only do I have an amazing, handsome, and perfectly healthy little boy and a loving, compassionate husband... I have such a beautiful extended family, also full of beautiful healthy babies. It is something that can so easily be taken for granted.

I was watching A Baby Story on TLC and as the new mom and dad welcomed their new son into the world, they were so elated to finally have him in their arms... they failed to notice that he was missing four fingers on his right hand. The dad, a former professional baseball star, had previously talked about how excited he was to teach his son to play baseball. I waited for the father's discovery to turn to tears as he thought of the dismal future his son now had in baseball. Instead he said with a smile, "I can't wait to teach him to play soccer." I never imagined Wyatt coming out anything less then perfect. While watching this I realized that even the loss of fingers can't put a damper on a baby's sheer perfection. But I still couldn't help but scoop Wyatt up in my arms and blissfully count each of his tiny little fingers and thank God that every one of them was there on his chubby little hands.

Out of 10 nieces and nephews, with #11's arrival quickly approaching, all of them have been healthy. They are all so smart, so talented, and in my eyes the cutest kids in the world. Sometimes it is scary to think that life can be so good. I catch myself waiting for something to happen... that my #12 (or #13 should Mackenzie beat me to the punch!) will be the one that struggles. My sister-in-law, Amanda, told me that you just can't live life like that. That you have to enjoy every perfect moment for what it is and not keep waiting for the bad to come. Because you might find that it never does but you will spend your whole life being unhappy while you wait. It is still hard though... to just be happy with the many blessings life has given and continues to give me. I just can't comprehend this level of bliss. It just can't be this good... but it is.

So maybe Wyatt refuses to say mama (though he has... he still much prefers calling me Ca-Ca). He can give kisses now and that completely (if not more so) makes up for it. So peas are not his favorite vegetable... he loves green beans so its a wash in the veggie department. He despises the idea of shoes... but I am fortunate to have a husband with a job that allows me to buy him a new pair every month. Such little trivial things when you look at the big picture. Wyatt could call me Ca-Ca the rest of his life and in my eyes he is still the picture of perfection. And what I see in him no one else in the world could possibly understand... so that's really all that matters. I will never again be able to look at Wyatt's 10 little fingers and not count my blessings on each and every one of them.

To all my babies: Payton, Isaiah, Sofia, Elijah, Madison, Luke, Logan, Avery, Morgan... and the thumb on the end, Wyatt. 10 beautiful blessings. I am so thankful for every one of you and the individual joys you each bring to my life. And Zachary James... we are anxiously awaiting your arrival, as now I get to start counting on Wyatt's chubby little toes.
Forever and always... Auntie Katy. And for Wyatt, Ca-Ca.

Nobodys perfect... but you're as close as it gets.

I'm sure everyone is sitting on the edge of their seats... wondering what is going on in the world of Wyatt.

But no need to be worried... we're alive and well.

Its not that I don't have anything to write about. The amazing things that Wyatt does on a daily basis could fill an encyclopedia, let alone a few pages. The problem is that not everyone wants to read about how amazingly adorable my son is when he blows bubbles in the bath. Nor do they care to hear about his 2 hour naps, 12 hour nights, or potential potty-training triumphs. In fact I'm sure most people want just the opposite, waiting to hear about my sleep deprived nights, diaper blow outs, and teething terrors. So today, that is what I will share. Along with a few triumphs (I just can't help it!).

The problem with the sleep experts is that they all think they are just that... experts. So which one do you listen too? Which book do you buy? After talking with a few moms and getting completely opposite advice, I decided to just suck it up and take it day by day, or in this case night by night. Wyatt went from sleeping through the night at 10 weeks... to waking up once at 6 months... twice at 7 months... to small spurts of sleep followed by what seemed to be hours of crying at 8 months. Bryan will tell you that it wasn't that bad (though he was able to sleep through most of it) and he may be right. There were long stretches, sometimes weeks, of good sleep... followed by a few rough nights. After relentlessly scouring online resources I found this to be somewhat normal but it was still a reality shock to my body to have to wake up in the middle of the night again. I would do anything for Wyatt, including rocking him all through the night, but I am definitely happy to hopefully be past our presunrise bonding time.

I assume that a lot of the problem has come from teething. A common factor in fussiness I suppose. Were currently working on tooth #4... 2nd one on the top. So far so good and I thought the end was in sight until someone informed me that the molars were if anything... worse. I can't imagine how that is possible seeing as how I am on my 5th tube of Origel but only time will tell. On Auntie Amanda's suggestion, I did find that the Little Munchkin Food Feeders seemed to help. I would put an ice cube or frozen peach inside of them for him to suck on. This was my saving grace a few nights... not only tasty but entertaining as well. Oh so thankful to have a Supermom in the family that has done this a time or two... or four!

We recently added a new addition to the family. Introducing, Sage. After seeing Wyatt's adorable smile while petting the puppy at the Sportsmen Show... we decided we had to have one. We picked her up the next day and brought her home to Wyatt's delight... and Bentley's dismay. So far the family is doing well. Wyatt loves chasing her around and she loves pulling at his footie jammies when he is trying to eat breakfast. It has definitely pushed out my desire to have another baby. Anyone who has baby fever before the first birthday should get a puppy... it will definitely help you hold off for another year... or two.

We recently mastered going up the stairs. Now we are working on going down but the progress is slow. This may be in part due to the fact that every time he starts to slide down a step I have a panic attack and swoop him up. In due time he will learn... but in the mean time my anxiety level is a bit to high to allow him to work on it. We are also progressing on walking. He can stand and push anything that will move around with ease. Bikes, baskets, chairs. My poor hardwood floors... I'm not pushing it since the brain development that corresponds with crawling is crucial but I can't help but be excited for those first steps. Soon enough... and then I will quickly miss the days of crawling as I chase him around at top speed.

So that is where we are at. Quickly approaching the one year mark (9 1/2 months now) it is all I can do to keep from crying when I see how big he has gotten. Every day he does something new or babbles a new sound that reminds me that he is no longer a newborn. While I am excited for what new adventures tomorrow will bring I can't help but want to just hold on to today. Since having Wyatt I have definitely learned to appreciate every day and not take a single minute for granted.