Wyatt's 1st Birthday!!

As promised, here is the post from Wyatt's 1st birthday! (I may be busy, but I absolutely can't forget to document this milestone!) I decided to go with a circus theme, thanks in large part to inspiration I got while perusing Pinterest. We just had a small party at my mom's house with family and a couple long-time friends, but I did manage to put together an invitation and get them mailed out approximately 4 days before the party!

Here is the invitation...

A shot of the "circus treats" table...



The "build your own hotdog" station...

 An up close picture of the circus animal sugar cookies Ashley & I made (thanks Karlee, for the yummy cookie recipe!)...

The cupcakes for everybody BUT Wyatt to enjoy...



And, of course, the allergy free cake that I made just for my sweet, happy, food allergy-ridden ONE year old...

Turns out the "allergy free" icing was more of a sticky, ooey, gooey, glaze mess, so I wasn't able to make the cake nearly as pretty as I had hoped. Either way, Wyatt had LOTS of fun with it!

Here is the progression, starting at the candle....

And ending in the bathtub!! (After he managed to fling chocolate cake & gooey white icing all over the living room before proceeding to rub it ALL over himself!)

After he got cleaned up, he got to play with his new toys (he's not walking by himself yet, but his new dinosaur friend sure is helping him practice!)

And of course, the obligatory family picture! :)

It was a great day with lots of fun memories, and Wyatt loved it all!! I am still in disbelief that my baby boy is already a YEAR old, but what a great year it has been!!

Wyatt, you are absolutely the sweetest little boy any parents could ask for. You have made this past year of our lives SO wonderful--I don't know what we did to deserve such a precious little guy, but God has blessed us in countless ways in giving you to us! At 1 year old, you are into EVERYTHING (crawling around--really fast!, opening drawers & cabinets, flinging out anything in said drawers & cabinets, knocking things over, pulling up on anything you can, and cruising around all the furniture!) You still have no teeth, but Dr. Daddy says they are on their way in any day! You are babbling up a storm & sometimes we can hear a real word every now and then ("mama" is still the most pronoucnced, which of course, I love!) You point at the mouse & the moon when we read Goodnight Moon at night, you love trying new table foods (especially any cut up fruit or potatoes), and you get really excited anytime you see an animal! At your one year check-up, you weighed 19 lb, 2 oz (5%) and were 28 1/2 inches long (10%). You are a little guy right now, but I have a feeling that's not going to last for long. You are the light of our lives and although I can't believe how fast the past year has gone by, I am trying to savor EVERY minute with you as keep growing bigger, stronger, and more like a little boy than a baby. I love you, sweet boy! Love, Mommy

It's Official!!!

Hi friends! We are still here, just experiencing some HUGE life changes these past few months that have kept me away from this blog WAY more than I would have liked! The biggest news at the moment is that Sam just bought his very own dental practice at 15th & Bryant in Edmond!!! Ward Family Dentistry (formerly known as Tower Dental) is located directly across the street from Peach Wave (in Spring Creek) and right next door to Bank of Oklahoma. His office is open Monday-Friday and is happily scheduling new patients, so if you or anyone you know is in the market for a new dentist, please give his office a call at 405-359-0074.

The temporary sign went up yesterday (the permanent sign will take several weeks, so we wanted to get something up in its’ place for the moment), which makes everything look even MORE official! Here is the proud owner/dentist, Dr. Sam Ward, in front of his office:

The decision to open this practice came about in such an unexpectedly last minute way that we cannot begin to doubt God’s hand in all of this. We have faith that He will help provide everything we need to ensure success in this this new & exciting (and sometimes downright scary) adventure, but we really appreciate your prayers as well! This is certainly one of the biggest leaps of faith we have ever taken.

We know that this is just the beginning of LOTS of hard work and time, but we're so excited that we've been given this opportunity! Obviously I am very proud of Sam and all the hard work he’s put in over the past 4 years to get through dental school, as well as the commitment he has made to get his dental career up and running so quickly. On top of all that, he is still such an amazing husband and daddy to our sweet baby boy.

And speaking of that sweet boy, his 1st birthday is coming up in just over a week!!! I can’t even believe how fast this past year has gone, but I will most definitely try to post about his birthday soon. I know I’m horrible at updating the blog and even uploading pictures to my own computer, but rest assured that my camera and iPhone are FULL of pictures/video of our little man. (I'm not a bad mom, I promise! :)) Here are a couple pictures from the past couple of weeks…

That last picture is of Wyatt trying quinoa pasta for the first time. We also found out a few months ago that he is SEVERELY allergic to a lot of things (milk, wheat, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, oats, etc.) so I've been super busy researching all of that too. (I told you things have been CRAZY lately!!) That is an entirely different post for another time though.

In the meantime, if you live in or around the Edmond area and need to schedule your 6 month cleaning--give Sam's office a call! :) Please don't neglect your teeth. (This message brought to you by the wife of a dentist who is shamelessly using her blog to plug her husband's new business.)

See you soon!!

Tagged!

I was tagged by Annaleise for the 4X4 Tag:

1. Four places I go:

*OC Admissions Office
*Church
*Starbucks
*Target

2. Four favorite smells:

*Wyatt Owen Ward (excluding dirty diapers, of course)
*My husband right after he gets out of the shower & smells so fresh and so clean, clean
*Fresh cut grass in the spring (until I start sneezing…)
*Pumpkin Spice candles in the fall

3. Four favorite movies/TV shows:

*Modern Family
*Mean Girls
*Dumb & Dumber (go ahead, judge me)
*Return to Me

4. Four Recommendations:

*Travel as much as possible! Even when budgets don’t allow for extravagant vacations, get out and go SOMEWHERE! There is so much to see in this world, and sometimes it takes getting out of your routine & familiarity to really appreciate all that life has to offer. Plus, it makes you appreciate your own bed even that much MORE when you’re back!
*Don’t waste time & energy living for the future. You are in the present, so live in the present. I’ve caught myself doing this a lot over the past several years while waiting for Sam to get out of dental school. There’s nothing wrong with planning for the future, but make sure to appreciate what you have right now as well. Your life today is all you have, so make the most of it!
*Never order plain cheese pizza. It’s a waste of money when you pay the same price as another one-topping pizza, and you get skimped the extra topping. They may “say” they put extra cheese on there, but we all know that’s a lie. Live a little. Viva la pepperoni! Or sausage! Or mushrooms! (If you’re into that sort of thing…)
*If you have babies in diapers (or even if you don’t), join Amazon Mom. It will save you a TON of money on diapers & other baby items, plus you get FREE Amazon Prime shipping. I’m getting so lazy that if I need ANYTHING other than perishable food items I just use my Amazon.com app on my iPhone and my stuff magically appears on my doorstep within 2 days. It’s AMAZONG. Get it?

I tag Marie, Jeanna, Jill, & Amy K.

In the past 10 days...

Wyatt has...

Played at the park when it was 70+ degrees outside...

And then bundled up in his snowsuit 5 days later to stay outside for 30 seconds.

He has learned to sleep in new positions...

And loves to prop his feet up on the crib bumper while he sleeps.

He has read lots of books (Goodnight Moon is one of his favorites)...

 And chewed on every toy imaginable (he especially loves his laptop & his puppy).

He has eaten lots of yummy new foods...

 And made lots of messes!

He pretty much smiles from the time he wakes up...



Until the time he goes to bed.

He loves piggy back rides with his Daddy...

And also hanging out with Mommy.  But apparently I never take pictures of myself with him.  Whoops.

So now, as we prepare for Snow Storm #2 to hit, I thought it would be a good idea to update the blog!  He's 6 1/2 months old now, but here are his 6 month stats:

Weight: 15 lb, 10 oz (20%)

Length: 26 1/2 inches (50%)

Foods He Likes: green beans, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, apples, pears, peaches, oatmeal, turkey, ham, chicken, and beef. We tried a couple Puffs, but he's not quite ready for those yet! He will eat pretty much anything, but definitely prefers the carrots out of all the veggies, which is why his little nose has been looking extra orange lately! :)

Other Loves: The Itsy Bitsy Spider, scooting around the floor, sitting up by himself for about a minute before falling over, squawking, and when other people make the gagging noise. For some reason, he thinks the throw-up sound is HILARIOUS. I have video, but I'm too embarassed to post it on here. Well that, and I'm not positive HOW to post videos.  He also peed on himself (twice) yesterday while we were changing his diaper, and he cracked up at himself.  Like, he seriously thought it was the funniest thing ever. I'd say he's "all boy"! 

I love this little guy SO much!

Wy-O's First Christmas

Okay, so one of my 2011 "goals", not resolutions, was to update the blog more frequently.  So far, I'm failing.  But, given the fact that it's only January 13th, I still have almost an entire year left to redeem myself!  Random sidenote: Today is January 13th.  This means that if Wyatt had been born on his due date, he would be 6 months old today!  But, alas, the little stinker didn't want to come out until July 17th (and not even then without a fight), so we'll wait a few more days to give the 6 month update.  Try to contain your excitement.

We are still trying to get back on schedule after a whirlwind of a December.  First things first--Sam passed his national board exams!!!  We got the great news at the beginning of December, which was perfect!  Sam had 3 weeks off for Christmas Break, I had 2, and it was SO wonderful to spend the time together with our little man and not have to worry about school or work AT ALL!  5 months from now he will be Dr. William Samuel Ward, D.D.S.  Boo-yah!

Our break started off great with a couple fun Christmas parties and a "dinner & the movies" date to celebrate Sam's 27th birthday, but then came to a screeching halt on his actual birthday when I came down with the nastiest stomach bug of 2010.  I spent his entire birthday in bed with a trash can by my side, thanking the good Lord for the phenigran shot I got earlier that morning.  As if that weren't bad enough, Sam came down with it ON Christmas Day, then both my grandparents, my mom, and both my brothers got it on the 27th.  And to top it all off, we traveled to Lawton after Christmas and left on the 28th, but not before passing the bug on to both of Sam's parents as well.  We kind of felt like angels of death, but in reality, I think sweet little W was the culprit.  Everyone kept kissing him and passing him around, which meant they were passing all the germs back and forth as well.  Luckily, the little guy never threw up, and (knock on wood) I think everyone is healthy again now.  That was icky.

Wow, this post is getting long, and I haven't even talked about Christmas yet!  We were blessed to see both sides of both of our families during the break.  We started off with the Baird Christmas...

Where Wyatt got not 1, not 2, not 3, but FOUR Sing-A-Ma-Jigs from his Grandpa Baird...

We then spent some time at my mom's house with my mom, brothers and Grandma & Grandpa Qualls (while unknowingly contaminating all of them with the nasty stomach bug).

We decided to start our own family tradition of Christmas Eve & morning at home, so here are a few of the obligatory "no make-up, pajama" pictures...

 Wyatt actally really enjoyed helping rip off the wrapping paper--way more than I thought he would...

 And he also LOVES the Sophie the Giraffe that Santa brought him...

Christmas Day we headed back to my mom's for the evening, where Sam spent the entire day in bed, but not before we got a few pictures.  I think he looks pretty good, considering how bad he felt...

The day after Christmas we headed to Lawton to visit Sam's family, but got a VERY late start due to the stupid stomach virus.  I am going to blame the illnesses for the reason I don't have many pictures of our time in Lawton, because Sam is always MUCH better about taking pictures on the camera than I am.  If anyone in Sam's family is reading this, please send me any pictures you have from Christmas!  Here are a few I did remember to take on my iPhone.

Wyatt helping unwrap his new Leap Frog...

 which he is obviously VERY interested in...

And here is the mountain of gifts at Sam's parents' house.  I think it's safe to say that at least 1/3 of these were for Wyatt from his Grandma & Grandpa Ward...

Playing with Grandma...(and Sophie the Giraffe)

 And helping Grandma Wink celebrate her 87th birthday!!

We got home on the 28th and unloaded all of Wyatt's gifts onto the guest bed.  I felt really bad for him, because he really didn't get much for Christmas this year...

FALSE.  But this little Santa loves them ALL!! 

We are so blessed to have such loving, amazing families. And if we had created a Christmas card to mail out to all of our friends and family this year (which we obviously did NOT), it would have looked something like this:

Whew, that was a long post.  If you're still reading this, I'm impressed.  Here's to updating the blog more frequently in 2011...Happy New Year!