Merry Christmas and happy new year!

Merry Christmas, everyone! We had a lot of fun on Christmas watching Chase open his presents. (Frankly, most of the presents under the tree were for Chase!) He got a walker, some fun toys, books, and cute clothes, but mostly he just loved all of the tissue paper.

Maggie also got a stocking full of doggie toys. Below she is playing with her squeaky hot dog toy, refusing to give it up.

Early in December we went to a Jazz game against the Miami Heat. We decided to take Chase with us, so of course we had to buy him a cute little Jazz tee. It was fun but I think we'll wait til he's a bit older to take him to another game.

We have so much snow here in Woodland Hills! After that first snow storm in early November, we didn't get anything for a long time. Then halfway through December it snowed every couple of days. Then, the day after Christmas, we awoke to an extra 18 inches! Needless to say, I didn't even leave the house from Christmas eve until Sunday. (I really need to take a picture of this snow! All my SD friends will think it's crazy!)

Speaking of SD, go Chargers! FINALLY! It was such a crazy end to the regular season but why did it have to get to that point in the first place? Anyway, enough about that...

Chase is SIX MONTHS OLD! Can you believe it? He had his doctor's appointment today and he's 15 lbs. 14 oz. and 26 inches long, still small for his age, but normal for him, we figure. We also spent the day looking for a child care center for him, because I am going back to work next week. I got a job as assistant manager at the Buckle at Provo Towne. It's crazy to think that we won't be spending all day with him anymore, but what can we do? We hope he will have fun and gain some social skills.

We wish everyone a happy new year! We're sorry the Christmas cards were late but we figure you can enjoy our holiday cheer throughout the week. Talk to you all soon!

Snow, Spit, and (No) Sleep

For all of these Alaska people I live with, this much snow this early is nothing big. But for me, it seems weird not to have holiday decorations up during the first snow (that sticks, anyway.) I heard it was going to rain early this week, but on Tuesday morning, the rain turned to snow. Then yesterday, we got two to three more inches. Pretty crazy! This is a view of the trees behind our house.

Maggie in her little doggie coat. She loves the snow but hates the cold.

Views from our house.

We didn't really celebrate Halloween with costumes, but we did carve our pumpkin. If you can't tell, it's an upside down bat.

The Spitter: Chase is growing so fast! Some of the things he's doing are hilarious, while others make life a little difficult. As you can see from the video, spitting for no reason is one of his new favorites. He also loves to play with his toes, "fake" cough, pet Maggie, and make weird surprise noises. He had his 4-month appointment last week, and he's almost 13 lbs! (Finally back up to the 10th percentile or so; the doctor's happy.) However, he also can roll from back to front very easily - IN HIS SWADDLER! So we hear him crying after a nap or in the middle of the night, and he's totally rolled over. But the problem is that he absolutely won't fall asleep without being tightly swaddled, in a special swaddle blanket with velcro. On top of all of this, I think he's going through a growth spurt. For a kid who's been sleeping through the night since 6 weeks old, this seems like a huge set-back for us. I have been so tired this week, as has Ross. Chase has been waking up to feed or because he's rolled over anywhere between one and SEVEN times per night. (Actually I think the night of seven times was when we tried to get him to sleep un-swaddled.) When will it end?!?!? All in all, it's great to see him laugh and entertain himself for at least a little while.

Cute Overload

Billie (Ross' mom) got Chase this jumper because he loves to stand up on our laps. So far he really likes it, but he's obviously so small in it. It's hilarious! Isn't more than just his head supposed to peek over the top? (Check out the picture below!)

I think chewing her raw hide bone for an hour wiped Maggie out. But she's not giving it up to anyone!

"I love my jumper... I especially like that I'm just tall enough so I can slobber all over the edges!"

The other day I heard Ross playing rock band, but I knew that Chase had just gotten up from his nap, so I wondered where he was. Here's what I found: Chase strapped to Ross while he played the drums, and Chase enjoying every minute!

Three bucks

As many of you know, we live (with Ross' parents) on two acres in the mountains about 1500 feet above the rest of the valley. Although you can occasionally see deer in the valley, the sights are nothing like they are here. Since about two weeks before Chase was born, there have been three big bucks (I like to think they are the same ones all the time) that hang out in our driveway, on the trail behind our house, even on the sidewalk right outside the door. Sometimes we take Maggie out in the evening and there they are, no more than 20 feet away. Well, I finally saw two of them together and had my camera handy, so I snapped this picture. Of course, they started walking away as soon as I walked out on the deck. Lately, there have been so many deer that not a day goes by without seeing at least one, and it's usually closer to 5 or 6 at a time. I just hope we don't see any more "wildlife," like, I don't know, a cougar.

Here are a few pictures of Chase. I haven't weighed him lately, but he's starting to look chubby, at least to me. Here's a pic of him having "tummy time," which he generally hates, and one with him sporting a cool mohawk. I don't have a clue how his hair did that, but when I tried to smooth it down, I couldn't. It took a bath to do it. We took him for three-month pictures the other day. His happy attitude lasted about 10 minutes, but at least we got a few good ones. I'll post a couple of them when we pick them up next week.

Squeals of delight

As you can see from the video, when he's in a good mood, Chase enjoys chatting with us. We've decided that he makes noises that sound like a cat that's in a fight, so it gives us something to laugh about.

We went to California last week because Ross had a training in Torrance at Robinson Helicopter's headquarters, and we had a fun time. Chase went to his first baseball game, Angels vs. Yankees! (We forgot to bring the camera.) He was cooing so loud that he was making some girls in front of us laugh and wonder what sort of animal was behind them. Of course everyone thought it was so cute that we brought the baby to the game.

Chase also has a new cousin, Gina, who was born on Sept. 16. Grandparents got a picture of the two newest members of the Wyatt clan together a couple of days ago. Congrats, Paige and Geoff!

August

Two months old... And yes, Chase's eyes really are open like that all the time. The other day, he was smiling a lot, so I got the camera to try to capture it, but he suddenly decided he had to learn about the camera rather than continue to smile. So we may not be able to prove that he smiles for a while.


I know, it's been a while since I posted. Well, here's what's been going on (and a few other random items):

• I am officially jobless. Well, I don't have a paid job anymore, that is, and I am so relieved. Not that I didn't enjoy my job at Habitat, but it just got so hard toward the end. Working full-time with a little baby and no nanny is completely insane, I realized. I don't know why I thought I could do it. So I am now two days into being a full-time mom. Now that I don't have a job, I have so much that I want to do that I almost can't think straight! We'll see how long this stay-at-home mom thing lasts.
• I got a new laptop! And it's mine, ALL MINE! I don't have to share it with any boys.
• I have no idea what I used to watch on TV before the Olympics were on. I am sorta going through withdrawals. It was so convenient that it was in China, because I could watch it live while I fed Chase VERY early in the morning.
• My brother got his mission call to Johannesburg, South Africa. Congrats, David! (You know you're old when your brother who is ten years younger than you gets his mission call.)
• I have decided I am going to apply to Teach for America. I want to teach high school social studies.
• Ummm, where did the summer go? Why did school start again already? I am absolutely dreading cold weather.
• I am making a goal to read for at least one hour every day.
• I started going to the gym again. It's nice to exercise. I still can't jog though, because of my leg. It hurts a lot less but it's still numb and my ankle is slightly stiff.
• Ross accidentally left his old (by that I mean "previous," because we only had it for four months) computer on top of the car on the way to school one day and it became lost forever. We try not to think about it. But now we both have our own laptops. As long as Ross doesn't leave the car seat on top of the car, we should be alright.
• We were house-sitting for some people in our neighborhood last week and their chicken died. Luckily they had only had it for a couple of weeks because their 7-year-old won it at the state fair. We fretted about it for hours and hours before we called them and when they called us back they told us their prayers were answered. At least their dogs, cat, and horses are fine.
• Chase is finally starting to fit in his 0-3 month sized clothes. I'm excited because we have so many. A 7-year-old in our primary class said, "He's so skinny...he looks like a fake baby."
• I know newborn shoes are useless but they're too cute to pass up. That's why Chase wears them.
• The name Chase was in Parents Magazine's 226 Brilliant Baby Names article under "Country Clubbers." What the...? Well, maybe he'll be a pro golfer and Ross and I will be able to retire young.

Well, that's August. We'll add more than one post next month, I promise!

More pictures

I'm pretty tired to write much. Just wanted to post a few pictures from the last few weeks.

Things are going a little better. We think that Chase is doing a little better - sleeping a little more, crying a little less. However, sometimes we just think that we're a little better at coping with it. Not quite sure. One nice thing is that no matter how difficult he is during the day and in the evening, he sleeps really well at night. If I didn't wake him up for a nighttime feeding, he'd probably sleep all night!

He's still a skinny little guy. Not exactly sure how much he weighs, but we think it's less than 9 pounds still. He seems to be growing longer though! I'm trying to feed him more and monitor how much he's getting to fatten him up a bit. But if he's anything like me as a baby, that won't happen for a while.

Chase sitting up on the couch.

Wide-eyed.

For some reason the Chicago Bears pacifier is one of the few he likes. Daddy is happy.

Making faces at Mommy.

Chase started smiling (not just because of gas) a couple of weeks ago. But it's hard to capture with the camera! Here's a sort-of smile.

Chase...sleeping?? Mommy's happy!

Ross said, "Take a picture of me...This is my life." (Rocking Chase so that he stops crying while Maggie plays with his feet.)

All clean!

I don't know about this being-in-the-real-world thing!

I thought this drawing captured quite well the looks that have been plastered on Ross' and my faces at various points throughout the last two and a half weeks. It's been a hard couple of weeks since Chase's birth. He's pretty colicky, which basically just means that he cries for a few hours every evening (and sometimes during the day, too) for no apparent reason. Every day is a new experiment in comforting him or getting him to sleep. So far we've found that he likes car rides, the sound of the clothes dryer, a "sleep sheep" that makes nature sounds, and nursing. Other than that, we are experimenting with nighttime baths, the baby swing, the front pack carrier, and a pacifier. All of these things work some of the time and not others. At least we know colic usually only lasts for a couple of months...

Chase and I both had doctor's appointments this week. Chase went in for his first pediatrician appointment. He has grown about a quarter of an inch, and is back up to his birth weight, plus a couple of ounces. Everything looks to be good with him. He's eating constantly so he should be a tubby in just a little while (ok, probably not. He's really skinny.)

My doctor's appointment was about my leg. Now it's not only numb, but it's starting to hurt A LOT. My doctor thinks the pain is probably a good sign that the nerves are healing, but he's not sure. So, he gave me a referral to a neurologist, who I am going to see next week. Who would've thought that the worst thing about the few weeks after the baby came would be a painful leg? The good news about my doctor's appointment was that they made me weigh myself, which I told myself I wouldn't do for a few more weeks, and I've already lost 28 lbs.! I was actually surprised. Looks like I have about 10 more to go. But I'm in no rush.

Once again I have to say how great Ross is with Chase. He's a great dad, and it helps so much that he offers to take Chase when I need a break. He is so tired, and I feel bad because he is back in school five days a week and at work four days a week. I even had to buy him some Visine earlier this week because his eyes are so red from lack of sleep.

And with that, I hear Chase crying again. More pics to come soon!

SO TIRED

Ross and I are tired. So tired. I know, everyone out there is saying, "Duh," or "It's your own fault; you had the baby." But wow. We were sort of prepared for the middle of the night feedings but we weren't really prepared for middle of the night crankiness (or middle of the day crankiness for that matter.) It's funny how three days ago when I heard Chase crying I was shocked at how loud he was. Now, I'm totally used to it. I guess these first few days and weeks home are trial and error to find out what works for us and for the baby (and to try to establish a good routine for Chase.)

I'm feeling pretty good overall. I was prepared for needing healing time but didn't realize how sore my muscles would be in my back, neck, and legs. I actually had a problem during delivery that we didn't realize until the morning I was discharged from the hospital. Apparently the baby's head was pushing on a nerve in my pelvis pretty hard and it ended up affecting some nerves in my left leg. I didn't notice it at the time because I had the epidural, and I didn't realize it was a problem until Tuesday morning when I still didn't have feeling in half of my left leg below the knee. I am told that it is not a side effect of the epidural, that it occurs, though rarely, in women who haven't had one. The main problem is that I have a bit of a limp and that it could take weeks to get back to normal. I can tell it is getting better - gradually - because now instead of being totally numb it's starting to feel like pins and needles. Basically, it hurts a bit and is numb a lot and I can only walk as fast as 2 mph. (So how am I supposed to lose my baby weight?) And honestly, even if it is an effect of the epidural, I am still all about getting one again!

I have to say how helpful it is having my mom here and how awesome Ross has been this whole week. He is just as tired as I am, and he's usually the one who takes the baby when he's cranky but not necessarily hungry. He's been lucky to have this whole week off from work and school. He has to go back to work tomorrow, and I'm not sure if he's bummed to go back, or excited to be back to the outside world no matter how boring his job is. And it's nice having my mom to hand over the baby to when necessary, and for helping us with general housework and errands.

No matter how hard these first few days have been, we have a super cute baby! It's been worth it.

Hungry face

I had to throw in a picture of Maggie! She was a little curious and rambunctious the first day we brought Chase home, but she is being so good now! She's still curious, but she understands that she needs to be gentle around him.

This was the first successful time in the swing. We are hoping Chase will like it more and more.


I have my daddy's "sleepy eyes."

And my mommy's long arms!

I love it when daddy walks around the house with me.

With Grandma Nelson

Chase is here!

Just one day old!

He is so tiny!

First family picture

Well, he is a summer baby, but I didn't make it to my induction by one day. Late Saturday night I started having contractions but they were very irregular. At first I didn't believe they were really contractions (not sure why, considering I was 6 days overdue.) Soon I realized they were contractions but they were still irregular so I wasn't sure we should go to the hospital. I did NOT want to get sent home.

At about 9:30 a.m. Sunday my mom came into my room (she came into town on Friday) and asked about my contractions. She and Ross together finally convinced me that we should go to the hospital and that they likely wouldn't send me home. I got into the hospital at about 11:15 a.m. and although my contractions were 3 minutes apart by then, I was still expecting them to say I was at 2 or 3 cm. But I was already 6 cm! I couldn't believe it. I got my epidural in a hurry (which was magic) and by 12:45 p.m. I was 10 cm.

A little less than two hours later, Chase was born! He weighed only 7 lbs. 4 oz. (which is tiny for my family) and was 20.5 in. long. He has dark hair, mostly in the back (an old man haircut) and we joke that he already has Ross' eyebrows and sideburns!

To everyone who has already sent congratulations, THANK YOU! We will be getting in touch with you over the next week (as soon as I start feeling a little better) and we will keep pictures posted on the blog.

Oh, one last thing... here's a link to his hospital photo:
http://www.utahportraits.com/hospital/index.php?action=view&BabyID=062208cnw

Looks like he'll be a summer baby

Two days past my due date and... not even close to going into labor. The doctor keeps asking me if I've had any contractions and I always have to say "I don't know" or " I don't think so." But I'm pretty sure the correct answer is "No" because I'm not dilated at all. So, I went again to the doctor yesterday and ended up with an appointment to get induced on Monday morning, June 23. I asked what the chances of me going into labor on my own before that are, and basically got the answer, "well, anything's possible, but... slim, really."

The nice thing about all of this is that I have a few extra days to prepare, and I get to plan for it easily. I don't have to scramble around at the last minute getting the last necessary items for my bag. I can just pack everything on Sunday night, almost like I'm going on a vacation. (I can't believe I just compared having a baby to going on vacation. Sorry, all you mothers reading this!)

The funniest part about this is that I think Ross is more annoyed than I am that I haven't gone into labor yet. Although I am looking forward to normal weight, clothes, exercise, caffeine, etc., I have plenty of things to do before the baby's born at work and at home, so I can wait a few extra days.

Pregnant and Emotional

As of this picture, I was probably about 5 1/2 - 6 months along. As of today, I am 39 weeks and two days, aka five days from my due date. I don't have a lot of pictures of me in the last few months, probably because the few I have other than this one scared me when I saw them.

On Memorial Day, Ross and I attempted to see the new Indiana Jones movie but it was all sold out, so instead we decided to see Baby Mama, the only other movie that was still available. Ok, that movie is a COMEDY. Why was I balling throughout it, especially near the end? I had to sit in the theater and wait to stop crying until the kid who cleans the theater came in. Luckily Ross didn't make fun of me...

Ross' First Solo Flight

In March Ross did his first solo flight. I have never seen him fly so I had no idea how tiny the R22 was until I saw this picture. He looks totally squished! Now I understand why he can't fly when the wind is faster than 15 mph. It doesn't even weigh 1000 pounds!

I'm not sure I really want him to take me up in that helicopter (once I'm able to fly with him, of course, after the baby's born.) I think I'm going to wait until he's flying the bigger helicopter to go on a ride. I prefer not to have to follow the instructions he's required to give passengers - "If you have to vomit, do it in your shirt." Gross.