My First Born

Sweet Wyatt,

I can't believe that 6 years have passed since the day of your arrival. It feels like it was yesterday. Time has flown by.

Six years ago I still had three weeks until you were due. I was hoping you would hold out until April 8th so that you would be born on your great grandfathers 80th birthday. God had other plans. I laid down for a nap and when I woke up and rolled over to get out of bed my water broke, it was 10am. Daddy was at work so I called Gram and Papa to come get me. The drive that should have taken them 20 minutes turned into an hour because there was a wreck on the highway. I was okay because I had not started having contractions. Your poor daddy kept calling from the hospital to find out where we were.

I finally got to the hospital and the doctor on call put me on pitocin to start my contractions. After 10 hours of having contractions every minute and a half I still hadn't made any progress so they decided I needed a c-section. At 10:21 pm you arrived. A beautiful boy weighing 7 lbs 13 oz, with a head full of thick blonde hair. Nurses from all over the hospital would stop by our room over the next 5 days to see you because you had so much hair. Most people said that they had never seen a blonde baby with so much hair. I think you may have had more hair then than you do now because it covered your ears and went down past your collar.

We decided to name you Wyatt Harrison. Your gender was a surprise, but we knew you were going to be a boy. We didn't even have a girl's name picked out. We picked Wyatt because Tombstone, a movie about Wyatt Earp, was one of our favorite movies. We had a tough time picking your middle name, but one night at church a few months before your arrival one of my friends suggested Harrison. It was perfect. Harrison Ford is daddy's favorite actor and now you love that you're named after Hans Solo and Indiana Jones.

Over the last 6 years you have grown into an amazing boy. You love your brothers so much and I can see the elder brother traits coming out in you. You remind me of me when I was little and I wonder if I bossed around my younger siblings as much as you boss around your brothers. I know you don't do it to be mean, but I think sometimes you forget you're not their parent. They love you too. I'm so glad you have each other. I know you'll be best friends for life.
You also love Jesus. When you heard Chris Tomlin talking on the radio you said that it was Jesus. I told you that it wasn't and you said "Well, that's how Jesus sounds when He talks to me." You've built churchs for ants so that they can come and learn about Jesus and stop being mean and biting people. You ask questions about heaven all the time. I can't wait to see what God does with your life.

You are so smart. You've learned how to read without any trouble. You love science and have declared that you're going to be a scientist who lives on the North Pole and does experiments (you promised to build me an apartment there so I can come visit). You've also said you'll be a scientist who invents new medicine to help people that are sick. Your mind is always working and sometimes I wonder how I'll ever keep up with you.

Just yesterday you told me that you like girls. Oh my! You said that there are so many pretty girls that you just can't pick one to marry. You've still got some years to decide sweetheart, but I know that it will come faster than I'm ready for.

I am so proud of you. You are amazing. Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

Love you,

Mom

Blossom Tree Painting

I have a tab in my google reader marked "crafts for boys". The other day I let Wyatt scroll through it to pick something to do and this is what he picked.
The project came from here. Our methods were a little different, but we ended up with a similar product. We used our dot painters (this link is not where we bought the paints, but where we got them is no longer in business) for the blossoms and a permanent marker for the tree and branches. Wyatt really liked this project and ended up making several of them. It was fast, easy and low mess which is always good in my book.

Funny Face Plates

I got this idea from another blog and unfortunately I can't find the original source. The original person actually used real plates and permanently put the faces on them. I just drew faces on paper plates with a permanent marker. I used blueberries for eyes, string cheese for hair, colby cheese for the mustache and ham and a ritz cracker for the bow tie. The boys loved it and we just kept refilling their plates. And yes...Seth is dressed as Mr. Incredible and Wyatt is dressed as a Cowboy. That's how we roll.

Really, I Mean It

Seth has started saying "Really, I mean it" about everything. If he gets in trouble it's, "I promise I didn't mean to do that. Really, I mean it." If he likes something I made him to eat it's, "This is the best thing I ever ate. Really, I mean it."
So for the record I would just like to say. Thank you Lord for beautiful sunshine so that I can get the kids outside to play. Really, I mean it.

Muffin Tin Monday - GREEN

We enjoyed our Muffin Tin with dinner the other night. I made homemade pizza (I'll post the recipe later) and the boys had their muffin tins for side dishes. This muffin tin was awesome because it got them to try some things they hadn't before. Suprisingly Wyatt (my most picky eater) liked it all. He especially liked the asparagus (it was raw and normally I steam it...so from now on I'll serve it to him raw). The granny smith apples were VERY sour so the peanut butter dip came in handy for that.
We had asparagus, avocado, brocolli, ranch, green bell pepper, more brocolli, a green spoon, peanut butter (for the apples), green granny smith apples, green grapes, and green apple pudding.
To join other Muffin Tin Families and see what everyone else is eating head on over to Muffin Tin Mom

Healthy Taco Soup

This soup is packed full of protein and low in fat. The original recipe called for ground beef, but I substitute ground turkey or meatless crumbles. My whole family enjoys it.

Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Turkey (cooked) or 1 Bag Meatless Crumbles
1 Pkg taco seasoning (there are low salt varieties that are good)
1 Pkg Dry Ranch Mix
1 Can Diced Tomatos
1 Can Rotel
1 Can Ranch Style Beans
1 Can Black Beans (drained and rinsed)
1 Can Yellow Corn (drained)
1 Can Enchilada Sauce

Directions:
In a large pot add taco and ranch seasonings to meat. Add enchilada sauce, tomatos and rotel. Bring to a a boil and then add all beans and corn. Simmer until hot. Top with low fat/fat free sour cream and low fat shredded cheddar cheese. Serve with Baked Tortilla Chips.

Muffin Tin Monday is YELLOW!!

The theme for this weeks Muffin Tin Monday was Yellow. I'm really enjoying the color themes that we've been doing and honestly, the boys are loving them too. Wyatt saw me putting up this post and asked why he never gets to do Muffin Tin Monday anymore. I told him that we do it while he's at school and he said that I should send one in his lunchbox. So, now I'm on the hunt for something I can do in his lunchbox. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
For this week's lunch we enjoyed: Yogurt covered pretzels, a Yellow banana, Strawberries and Blueberries, Yellow Bell Peppers (which Seth loved, but Reece wasn't fond of), Ranch for the Bell Peppers, and Quesadillas with Yellow Cheddar Cheese.

It was such a nice day that the boys had their lunch outside. We've been stuck inside a lot recently with rain, so it was really great to get out and eat.

Bridge Builders

The hole from the boys Dino Dig is still in the backyard. Seth and Reece decided that they needed a bridge to walk over it. You know, because it's so massive that they just might fall in and we would never see them again.
Everytime I see the boys playing together I am so thankful that they have each other. They may fight like crazy, but in the end they are never without a playmate and a friend. I'm so glad that God chose to give them each other.

Busy Mom's Fish Tacos

Friends, dinner doesn't get much easier than this. Seriously. A sweet friend brought these to us after I had Eli and I've made them twice since. They are soooo good and soooo easy. Just what this busy mom needs.

Ingredients:
Tortillas
Bag of Cole Slaw Mix (the kind without any dressing added)
Ranch Dressing
Frozen Tilapia Filets (we use the kind from Costco that are Tortilla Encrusted with Lime and Cilantro)

Directions: Cook the fish according to package directions and then cute into small pieces. Mix ranch with cole slaw. I just eye balled the ranch, but I would guess it was about a 1/4 cup (use however much you need to coat the slaw). Pile your tortillas high with the coleslaw mixture and fish.

That's it. Dinner is on the table in less than 20 minutes.

Pure Sweetness

Muffin Tin Monday!! Wooho!

Won't you join us for another exciting edition of Muffin Tin Monday? We're excited you're here! So, pull up a chair and join us for some yummy food right out of a good old fashioned muffin tin! Seriously, everything tastes better in a muffin tin. Don't believe me? Just give it a try.
Today we have clementines, ham, string cheese, vanilla yogurt, craisens and gold fish.