Our "little" lime tree

The lime tree that grows along with our family...

Do you remember this post from three years ago? http://lchahnwyatt.blogspot.com/2013/07/lime-tree.html

It talks about the lime tree that Dustin's grandparents gave to us as just a tiny little sprout in a pot. Well, that little sprout is now as big as our house. For some reason, I got the idea to pose beside this lime tree when I was pregnant with Southern so we could show the growth of the tree alongside the growth of our children. And now that our family is again growing by one more child, we posed by the lime tree. Sadly, both Poppy and DeDe have passed, so we aren't able to show them the latest picture.

August 2016, pregnant with Everett

July 2013, pregnant with Baylor

May 2011, pregnant with Remington

March 2009, pregnant with Southern

 Notice in the most recent picture, the lime tree is almost reaching our roof. In the 2013 picture, it is up to the bottom of the windows on the second story of our house. In the 2011 picture, it is only up to the bottom of the window on the first floor, and in the 2009 picture, it's not even as tall as our front door while in a pot!

And, a bonus photo. It doesn't feature the lime tree as well, but I love the happiness and love that I see in our boys' faces. I'm going to print this one out and take it with me to the hospital in the morning.

Last full day pregnant

Well, today is my last full day to be pregnant. Baby boy should be arriving tomorrow. We have an appointment to get induced tomorrow morning at 6am at the hospital.

He had his little hands in front of his face when we did the 3D sonogram back in July, but here are a few pictures of baby boy.

I am currently 38 weeks along, and we found out at my latest doctor appointment yesterday that my platelet count has once again dropped so much that we need to induce early. Luckily, I lasted longer this go round (Baylor was 6 weeks early), and everything should be just fine with the baby developmentally at this point in the pregnancy. I had a feeling about this doctor appointment, so I scheduled it to be at 4:30pm so that Dustin could come with me. I normally go in the mornings, but I was thinking he should be there, and I was right. After seeing the results of last week's platelet count, my doctor came into the exam room yesterday with "we're having a baby this week!" She then said tomorrow wasn't good for her, so would we like Thursday or Friday. Yikes! I left the decision up to Dustin since his birthday is on Friday. He was back and forth on the decision but ultimately settled on Thursday.

While the list of projects I had wanted to do before baby arrived is not anywhere close to being done, the baby's room is ready! Baylor had moved to "the big boys room" awhile back. I would sit and rock him in their room while they fell asleep and then take Baylor to his crib in his room. He soon decided that he wanted to stay with brothers in their room. So, back in December or January, we moved a toddler bed into Southern's and Remington's room. Baylor loved sleeping with them, and we were thinking of moving his dresser into that room and moving all of the toys into his room to have one bedroom and one playroom. Well, that plan didn't work out, but we did have a room with an empty crib, so God was working His magic.

We left Baylor's dresser in his room, but the bottom drawer was broken on it, and we needed a dresser for the new baby as well. We went "shopping" at Dustin's granny's house for Dustin's old dresser from when he was little. We ended up coming home with that one plus one more that we found in the attic of her old house. Southern and Remington had matching dressers, but they both needed bigger ones. So we did a little rearranging. Dustin gave his two large dressers to Southern and Remington. (Southern got the one that matches our bedroom furniture, and Remington got the one that used to belong to Dustin's great-grandfather). We moved Southern's and Remington's old dressers into "the little boys room" for Baylor and the baby. We moved Baylor's dresser with the broken bottom drawer into his closet to be used as a costume dresser. We threw away the bottom drawer, and now it's his shoe shelf. And Dustin got the two "new" dressers from his granny's.

I also rearranged the boys' names on their walls. I had bought wooden letters at Hobby Lobby to spell out their names, and I had painted them to hang over their crib when they were born. Since we had a new baby needing the crib, a new name was needed over it. And I had never gotten around to hanging Southern's name back up after the addition of their bunk bed. So I'm happy we got that all finished in time.

Baby Wyatt boy #4 will be named Everett Andrew Wyatt :) I've liked the name Everett since 7th grade when a new boy came to our class with that middle name. Dustin also liked the name ever since he saw the movie The Family Stone since one of the characters in that movie has that name. We even talked about it when I was pregnant with Remington before I discovered the name Remington in my baby name book and fell in love with it. We decided on Andrew as his middle name (even before we settled on Everett as his first name) because we honeymooed in Andrews, NC. We also went back there to stay for a few days this past Spring Break with our boys for our 10th anniversary (while I was pregnant with Everett). So I decided Everett's theme for his room should be mountains/elk/bears to remind us of our stays in The Great Smoky Mountains. I will eventually get some of our trip photos printed and put on the wall above his dresser. We already have some landscape pictures from our honeymoon framed and hung in the hallway between the two kid bedrooms from back before there were any kids.

So please keep me and Everett in your prayers tomorrow. We received a blessing for expectant parents from Father Tony this past Sunday after Mass. I hope everything goes smoothly!

Remington's FIRST day of Kindergarten

Today was Remington's first day of Kindergarten at Sts. Peter and Paul! We requested that he have the same teacher Southern had when he was in kindergarten because we liked her. We got along well with Mrs. Smith, Southern enjoyed having her for a teacher, and she already knew our family. I thought it would be an easier transition for Remington if he had a teacher that he knew.

Remington said his first day was good. They started the year with a half day to help, so Remington hasn't had lunch at school yet, and he said they spent most of today "just doing fun stuff".

Dustin had work today, but he went in a little later so that he could walk Remington and Southern to school with me and Baylor today. After he left us at the gate, Baylor and I walked Southern and Remington into the gym where they sat in rows with their classmates until the bell rang. Baylor and I then waved good-bye to Southern as he left with his class and followed Remington's class to their room. We got to see Remington and his classmates put their backpacks up in their cubbies, find their desks, pray, and say the pledge of allegience. Mrs. Smith had play-doh out on each kid's desk so they could start playing as soon as they sat down. Remington got yellow and started out making a banana right away. Baylor and I then waved good-bye to him and made our way home to wait until pick-up time.

Remington wants to be a painter when he grows up. He was most excited about going back to school "again and again and again". Remington's favorite book is Diego. His favorite color is pink. The lunch he's looking forward most to Mommy packing is a peanut butter sandwich. Remington's favorite thing about school is eating the snacks (they had pretzels today - "not the bendy kind").

SPP has three kindergarten classes this year, and Remington is in Kinder B.

Today was also Southern's first day of 2nd grade. Now that he's moved up to 2nd grade, he is on the second floor of the school building (super cool!). Also as a 2nd grader, this is his first year to use a planner at school. Each student is required to write in the planner every day what their homework is, the teacher writes down their behavior (Southern's today was "SUPER"), and the parents check it every evening and initial it. Southern was very excited about his planner and took the time to ask me everyone's birthdays so he could write them down after school today.

Southern's teacher this year is Mrs. McNeill. Second grade has two teachers this year, and both classes spend time with both teachers each day. Southern's homeroom is McNeill, but he will also go to Mrs. Schafer's class during the day. Both teachers have their specialties, so they will each teach different subjects. Southern was so excited to find out that he was seated across from his best friend Garner in class.

Tomorrow will be a full day of school, and both boys are looking forward to going back.

Baylor's 3rd Birthday

Baylor chose Diego for his birthday party theme this year. When I was looking online for Remington's birthday party a few months ago, Baylor got all excited and wanted to look too. I told him that he could look through all of the stuff and get ideas for his party, and out of all of the themes on the Party City website, Baylor wanted Diego. When I saw that it was all half off, I decided to order everything early. So we've been ready for his party for a couple months. We finally got everything out on Saturday evening (July 9th) as we prepared for Baylor's birthday party. The boys helped me make Baylor's birthday cake and cupcakes. Baylor picked out Blue Suede cake mix and vanilla icing. We made one round cake which I decorated with white icing, green icing for his name, green sprinkles, and Diego candles as well as a "3" candle. We also made two dozen cupcakes which I decorated with white icing, green sprinkles, and animal crackers. We also made the goodie bags which we stuffed with Diego plastic cups filled with small play-doh containers and play-doh cutting tools. The boys liked being a part of the process.

On Sunday morning (July 10th), we loaded everything into the car and headed over to Landa Park for Baylor's birthday party. We had reserved the zero-depth pool before it opened to the public, and his party was from 10am-12pm. We served hot dogs, chips, fruit, animal crackers, and cake. The kids all had a blast playing in the pool.

After the party, we headed back to our house for gifts. Baylor's godparents, David and Sharon Moore, joined us along with Dustin's granny, my mom, and Josh. Baylor got lots of fun things.

After the gifts were opened, Baylor and his brothers played with a couple new toys, and then we all watched a movie together as a family.

The next morning (Monday, July 11th) was Baylor's actual birthday, but Dustin had to work, so the boys and I stayed busy by attending a playdate. It was a bike/scooter parade at Torrey Park. The kids all decorated their bikes and scooters and then rode them around the park. We also had snacks together. After the parade, it was time for lunch. We drove over to Sonic to pick up some food and then headed home to eat. After lunch, the boys had leftover cupcakes, and Baylor had a candle in his. We sang happy birthday to him, and he blew out the candle.

Baylor loved his custom-made birthday outfit. He opened it with his gifts on Sunday and wore it on his birthday Monday. The shorts were Paw Patrol, and the shirt had 03 on the front with his name underneath.

When Daddy got home from work, we all changed into our swim suits. Baylor opened his gifts from Mommy and Daddy, and then we all got in the car. Our first stop was the 7-Eleven where we got free small Slurpies (they do that every year on 7-11) and free smores. Then we headed out to the river for swimming.

I hope you enjoyed your 3rd birthday, Baylor! We love you.

Baylor's 3rd Birthday Interview

Baylor still can't talk, but he's starting to try to say more and more words lately. I normally start asking these interview questions at each boys' 3rd birthday, but since Baylor can't really answer, I'm going to do my best to answer for him.

1. What are some things you like to do?
Baylor likes to do anything his older brothers are doing, he likes to go swimming, he likes giving Dracky treats, and he likes playing with toys. Some of his favorite toys right now are Paw Patrol, trains, action heros (especially Superman and Batman) and figures of animals.


2. What sports do you like?
Baylor likes running and kicking balls. He's also really great at throwing balls. He's tried his hand at putting golf balls and hitting tennis balls. 


3. What things do you like to do around the house?
Baylor is happy playing with his toys for long amounts of time. He is also starting to get into puzzles and likes to watch DVDs with his brothers.


4. What are some of your favorite foods?
Baylor likes chicken tenders, pizza, carrots, salads, all fruits (most especially raspberries and bananas), bars, cereal, and ice cream.


5. What do you like to wear?
Baylor likes his clothes with animals or cartoon characters on them the best.


6. What's your favorite color?
Baylor likes yellow the best.


7. Where are some of your favorite places to go?
Baylor likes to go places where he can run and be loud.


8. What makes you sad?
Baylor gets sad sometimes when he can't get his way. 


9. What do you do when you are sad?
To comfort himself when he is sad, Baylor likes to suck on his two middle fingers. He also do this when he is tired or asleep.


10. What makes you happy?
Baylor is a normally happy child. He is quick to smile and laugh. He likes to be tickled and kissed.


11. What do you do when you are happy?
Baylor has a great smile :)


12. Who is your best friend?
Baylor plays with his K18 (those starting kindergarten in 2018) friends every Friday morning - Maddie, Bethanny, Kylie, Grahm, Emily, and Ansel


13. What is your favorite movie and TV show?
Baylor likes Thomas the train, Diego, Dora, Sesame Street, Scooby Doo, and Paw Patrol best.


14. What are your favorite books?
Baylor's favorite books are the ones with flaps to flip or plastic bubbles to press.

Remington's 5th Birthday

We have had some really full days lately celebrating Remington's 5th Birthday.

His party was on Sunday at Torrey Park (per his request as that is his favorite park). The forecast was showing 80% chance of rain a couple days before, so we were brainstorming a Plan B, luckily however the rains held out, and we were able to celebrate at the park as planned. Remington chose a Wild Kratts party this year, which is one of his favorite shows.

We started the festivities by getting ready for his party. We spent Saturday evening preparing. Remington and Southern helped me bake Remington's cake. He had decided that he wanted a cake shaped like the Tortuga on Wild Kratts (their vehicle). While the cake was baking and then cooling, they helped me stuff the goodie bags. Each one was filled with a wildlife book, a magnifying glass, a few insect/reptile tattoos, and a couple small plastic wild animals. When the cake was cool enough to decorate, the boys helped me by deciding what color to dye the frosting (we mixed green with a little blue) and what design to pipe on the top in green frosting. We used their Tortuga toy as inspiration.

After we were done with the cake, it was time for bed. The boys went to sleep excited about the next morning.

When we woke up Sunday, we all got dressed. I pick out their clothes the night before to make for easy mornings. The boys wanted to dress up like characters in Wild Kratts, so they were happy to put on their outfits. Then we loaded the car and drove over to Wal-Mart to pick up the sandwiches, chips, oranges, bananas, and grapes. When we got to the park, we started setting up and decorating. That was not easy! It was so humid, and the tables were hard for me to move so I was a sweaty mess by the time the guests starting arriving. But it was all worth it!

We had a creature power game set up for the kids. Torrey Park has a big sidewalk that goes around the whole park, and the boys and I had taped creature power disks all along the path (I had printed them out on the computer the day before). Once a kid found a disk, they could lift up the top and read the name and description of the animal on the second paper. We also had "Bohemian golf" set up. Once everyone finished eating lunch, we did the pinata.

Remington picked out the pinata (it was a jungle scene), and he and Southern helped me stuff it on Saturday. We filled it with toy bugs. Everyone got a turn to hit the pinata with Remington going first, then going by age order, and then Remington finished it off at the end.

After the pinata, we did the cake.

After the cake, the party was winding down. We passed out goodie bags and cleaned up our mess. It took awhile to load everything back into our cars. We drove home and were joined by Granny Ehlers and my dad and Joyce. After we got everything moved back into the house, Remington opened his presents!

The kids played with some of Remington's new toys and games for awhile. Then we all took early showers and changed into pajamas. We ended the evening by watching Aladdin together upstairs. The boys had never seen it before.

On Wednesday morning (his actual birthday), Remington woke up, put on his new custom-made Wild Kratts shirt, and came downstairs to a surprise. He had a blueberry muffin with a lit candle in it along with some chocolate milk (his favorite drink) on the table under a Happy Birthday banner. We all sang Happy Birthday to him, and then he blew out the candle. He and Dustin sat down to muffins while Southern and I ran out the door to school (Southern had his muffins during the car ride). I walked Southern into school (normally we do carline since we have Remington and Baylor in the car with us, but Dustin had taken off of work that day for Remington's birthday so it was a rare treat for Southern to have me to himself. He was full of snuggles and kisses as I walked him, and held my hand the whole way).

The plan for the day was to head over to San Antonio to the Kiddie Park. Some friends from New Braunfels were going as well, and Carly, Claire and Cora joined us too. What fun! The kids had a blast, and Baylor didn't want to leave.

After the Kiddie Park, Aunt Carly treated us to a zoo train ride. Afterward I asked Remington what he liked most - the Kiddie Park or the train, and he said he liked them both! Baylor and Remington fell asleep on the way back to New Braunfels. We picked up Southern from school and asked Remington where he wanted to go eat. We had snacked after breakfast but never really had a lunch, so this was a late lunch/early supper for us (which worked out perfectly since Southern had his Cub Scout graduation that evening). Remington was super excited to have them sing Happy Birthday to him and put the sombrero on him. (Southern also had his 5th birthday supper at Mamacita's which I didn't think about until later. So maybe that will be our new 5th birthday tradition?)

 We had just about an hour at home to get ready for the Cub Scour graduation, so Remington was able to open the rest of his presents (the ones from Mommy and Daddy and a couple from friends at the Kiddie Park). He was super excited about the Wild Kratts creature costume and had to try it on right away. So fun!

 Remington's 5th Birthday Interview

1. What are some things you like to do?
I like to watch Wild Kratts. I like to play with little Legos. I like to play with bubbles with Southern and Baylor. I like to play with bug toys. I like to watch Penguins of Madagascar.


2. What sports do you like?
Dodgeball and volleyball and basketball. I like to play all of them.


3. What things do you like to do around the house?
I like to play on the iPad and I like to watch stuff.


4. What are some of your favorite foods?
Cookies, muffins, chocolate bars and vanilla bars.


5. What do you like to wear?
I like to wear my Batman Lego shirt.


6. What's your favorite color?
Pink


7. Where are some of your favorite places to go?
Target to buy toys, HEB to drink some lemonade


8. What makes you sad?
Whenever Southern doesn't want to play with me


9. What do you do when you are sad?
I play on my own.


10. What makes you happy?
Playing with Baylor


11. What do you do when you are happy?
I play with the stuff that I really really like


12. Who is your best friend?
Mommy


13. What is your favorite movie and TV show?
The Pengiuns of Madagascar Holiday DVD and Lego Scooby Doo


14. What are your favorite books?
Diego and Dora and Scooby Doo

Brown Bear by Remington

Remington "reading" Brown Bear by Eric Carle

22 Weeks Along

I am 22 weeks along this week, and our baby is said to be the size of a banana. We went to the doctor last week for an appointment - all five of us! - and got to see the baby live on the sonogram machine. I am so happy that our whole family got to be a part of this experience. The boys loved seeing their baby brother! They heard the heartbeat and asked the sonogram tech all sorts of questions. She was so good with them. She explained everything to us about what she was looking at and measuring.

Baby boy is growing well, and mommy is healthy. He weighed exactly one pound at the time of the sonogram, and everything lined up with being 21 weeks (his size. my belly's size, and the calendar) which is a first for me. My babies (and/or I) usually run big from what I can remember. Here are a few pictures from the day.