Merry Christmas!

The holiday season is almost behind us. We had a ton of fun and are still enjoying Dustin's time off from work and time spent with family. There's a lot to catch up on, but for now, please enjoy this video clip of Southern and two of his cousins dancing in Grandma's living room on Christmas Eve. So cute!

Yo Gabba Gabba LIVE

Southern recently received one of his Christmas presents early. It was a trip to San Antonio to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live! :) I was so excited to take him and was anticipating this day for weeks.


I didn't know if he would really understand what was going on until we got there and actually saw the characters he knows and loves, but he did. When we were a few minutes away from the event, I told him we were going to see Yo Gabba Gabba. And he screamed in excitement and threw up him arms!! What a smart little guy. In the short video clip below, you can see his reaction:



We drove up and found a parking spot fairly quickly. We went inside, found our seats, and after a short wait, the show started. Southern was wide-eyed at first and couldn't look away from what was going on in front of him. It was so fun to see how much he enjoyed it. And from watching the show with him at home, I was familiar with all the characters, songs, and dances as well so I even enjoyed it all myself. In this video clip, you can watch a bit of the YGG gang starting off the fun. The first few seconds are a little shaky as Southern was bouncing in my lap to the beat:




In total, the show lasted about an hour and a half with one 15-min intermission. We were close enough to see everything well but not so close that the tickets cost a fortune. I was very pleased with it all. In this video clip, you can see the beginning of the balloon song that is from one of Southern's favorite YGG episodes:

During this song, hundreds of balloons were dropped onto us from the ceiling. I think that was Southern's favorite part of the night. And we got four to take home with us. I'm so glad we did this for our little guy. He really had a lot of fun, and he kept waving good-bye to the YGG gang even as we walked out into the parking lot to get into the car! :)

Apple

Southern's new favorite word to say...





(shown in the video above)

Circle of Life

My last post was a very sad one. But life has it's ups and downs. And in the words of Alan Jackson in one of Dustin's favorite songs, "Remember when old ones died and new were born. And life was changed, disassembled, rearranged..."

So today we have a happy announcement. Southern is going to be a big brother! I am 10 weeks pregnant right now. We went to the doctor yesterday and got to hear the heartbeat and see this tiny new baby wiggle around on the screen.

Here is a picture in 3-D. You can see the head near the middle and the umbilical cord near the bottom right.




Here is a still photo of the heartbeat. The ultrasound tech said it was at a normal level for a baby of this age.

And the last photo just shows our little one again. The head is on the left, and you can see tiny hands and feet. The light spot near the head is the heart. I could see it throbbing on the screen as she took these.

I didn't actually get to see my doctor during this visit. She was called away to deliver a baby right after I had my ultrasound done, so I will have more details later. Right now we just know our baby is alive and healthy, and that's what's most important.

We'll Miss You, Poppy!

Southern missed meeting one of his great-grandfathers, Jackie Ehlers, by 6 months. And now we have another sad annoucement. Another great-grandfather, Earl Wyatt, has passed from this earth. He and Southern had a wonderful relationship in the past 18 months. Poppy was so proud of Southern and was always interested in what he was doing and learning. I am so happy for all the memorable visits we shared, but I am saddened that Southern most likely won't remember him when he's older. Thank goodness for pictures...

Poppy and DeDe came to visit us in the hospital on Southern's 2nd day of life. They were so excited :)

When Southern was just a couple weeks old, we celebrated Easter in Yoakum with family. Here is the whole Wyatt gang.

Poppy and Southern in their first picture alone together. Southern was about 3 1/2 months old. Poppy and DeDe were taking turns holding him on the couch and Dustin snapped this picture as they were walking us to the door before we left.
And more recently, here are Poppy and Southern together at the "Country Place" near Petersville at the beginning of this month. Poppy enjoyed showing Southern his cows, and Southern of course just loved it. I think cows may be his favorite animal. He can out-moo a cow any day!



I only wish that Southern could have spent more time with him in the years to come. What a shock to hear about Poppy's passing when he was so healthy and full of life. There was so much to learn from Poppy, and Southern loves learning so I always pictured them doing so much together. Poppy was one of the greatest men I knew. He will be missed dearly.

We love you, Poppy!

Pumpkin Patch

This year was Southern's 2nd year to visit the pumpkin patch in Seguin. Dustin and I discovered in while in college at TLU, and we've been going every year since. Here's us back in 2006.

And here's Southern's first trip to see the pumpkins in 2009...

And here's our little guy this year... not so little anymore!

Wish List Follow-up

So the pull-along dog toy and the chatter phone are both purchased and ready for Southern to enjoy on Christmas. What a lucky boy! :)