Every year with Wyatt, he becomes more and more aware of of this Christmas thing is, and all the fun that comes with it.  We try to do a Christmas activity everyday.  It can be as simple as Christmas dot to dots I printed off the computer, and as big as seeing the Christmas decorations at Disneyland.  Gingerbread houses and visiting Santa at Bass Pro Shops are always on the schedule.  These are just 2 of the family traditions that I look forward to every year.

 Wyatt brought a candy cane for Santa.  He was insistant that he bring a gift for Santa!

Our extended family doesn't get together too often for family pictures.  I'm not sure why.  Our family's not ginormous like other families.  We look at the same people every time we get together, so I guess we take it for granted.  My mom, however, took the initiative and scheduled a day for us to get together.  We kept things simple.  Just a park, a tripod, and us.  Looks like we got a pretty good shot.

With the news of the next Christoffersen bebe on its way, I have decided to reopen my blog that at one time was centered around infertility and all its struggles.  The title has been revamped, and the topic will now center on me, my body, this little one that decided to join us, and how our family is dealing with everything.  If you do not want to know about what made me sick for breakfast, don't read this blog.  If you don't want to know about my raging hormones and that I cried my eyes out during "The Joy of Painting" don't read this blog.  And if you don't want to read about female bodily functions, then please, do not read this blog.  If you do want to read about all these lovely things, click here!  Consider yourself warned.

I know several of you have asked questions about my pregnancy, and I'll answer them soon enough.  But for now, I'm going to relax, enjoy my Christmas tree, and enjoy all my many blessings.  I hope you do the same.

So there was another reason why I was excited for Thanksgiving this year.  Wyatt had some special news to share with the family.  Here's the video.  Just in case the audio is hard to hear, I added captions of our favorite phrases that were said.



Yep, you heard it right.  And if you know us at all, you'll know what an incredible freakin' miracle this is.  If you don't know our story and you want to know, here's the blog I wrote last year about our struggles.

I love love love October and Halloween. So many fun things to do and make. Here's a taste of our October!

Stuffed Pumpkins


Bass Pro for Halloween Crafts and the jack o'lanterns in the fish tank






Bonnie Screams with the Corbett crew










Trunk R Treat as the Mystery Inc. Gang.  Scoooby Doooby Doooo! And yes, Duke was spray painted with black spots to look like Scooby Doo.  He thought he was being punished. 





Wyatt's Halloween Party






Pumpkin Painting The Nightmare Before Christmas



Mickey's Halloween Party

That's how Wyatt started his speaking part at our church Primary Presentation today, as he firmly grabbed the microphone and made sure to project his voice, for all to hear!  Since I couldn't video tape the actual speaking part, here's a sample of what he said...

I love reading my friends blogs and seeing what everyone is up too. I especially like Kim's blog. She's living this romantic adventure in Istanbul, Turkey for her job, and its always interesting to look at her photographs and wonder what it is like there. Kim actually works for the U.S. Government as the Cultural Affairs Officer and is participating in the 29th Istanbul Book Fair. She sent out a challenge to the kids of the United States to create a paper leaf for a large tree they are constructing, and on the leaf, each child is to write a message about friendship. You can read more about it on Kim's blog and on the official website. Wyatt has developed this insane interest in maps, globes, and travel. He points to a location on the globe, asks what is there, and then always follows it with, "Can we go there?" He also has an amazing sense of direction. He knows his left and right already, and has known it for quite some time. I've had kindergartners who struggled with it all the way until Kindergarten Graduation! Wyatt is able to tell you exactly how to get from our house to my mother's. He can even tell you how to get to his swimming lessons on Jones, using the freeway, and his Grandma Jeri's in Henderson! So this was the perfect project for him.

We talked about where Turkey was, and showed him on the globe. Then we discussed what friendship was, and how he thought a good friend should be. The following was his message he came up with:

Friendship
means to be
helping, watch
Scooby Doo,
and play with cool
toys.You give presents
and be nice. You take turns
and let them sit with you.



We, of course, had to decorate our message with a Scooby Doo sticker, because Turkish children needed to become aware of the wonderful world that is SCOOBY DOO!

After sticking the leaf in an envelope, Wyatt ran down to the mail box, and we sent it on its way! We hope the Turkish children like it! We sure has a lot of fun making it!

We started our little "Mommy Preschool" with some neighborhood moms today.  Wyatt needed to wear orange since that was the color he was learning about today.  And seeing how he comes from a hunting family, we have lots of "hunter orange" in this house.  Even Duke's collar matches!  Have a great day at school little buddy!

My OCD for organization has carried over into the blog world.  Having one blog to talk about different topics is just way to confusing for me.  So I have created separate blogs for separate subjects, because I figure if you want to know about cute little family things, you come to this blog.  But just because you come to this blog, doesn't necessarily mean you want to read about infertility, or weight loss, or me going to Disneyland for the 5 millionth time.  And to be honest, though I love that you all read my blogs, it's really just an outlet for my thoughts and something I do for myself.

My 2 new blogs are Our Special Disney Moments and That Should Be A T-Shirt.  We were able to get Disneyland Annual Passports this year, but it hit me, how can I possibly tell the same story over and over again?  Boring!!!!  So I started looking for special individual moments from each trip that made that visit unique.  Our Special Disney Moments blog will chronicle those moments, and when the passport expires, I plan to make it into a book.  That Should Be A T-Shirt is my new silk-screening design business that I've started.  It will showcase past projects and advertise upcoming projects you can actually purchase from.  I'm thinking I'll offer 1 or 2 projects a month, available for a limited time.  And I take custom orders too!

So if you like reading my many ramblings, in a very organized manner, then feel free to visit my 5 bazillion blogs as often as you like.  If you're not that into it, no worries.  I've got family members that never read my blog either.  You'll fit right in!  ;)

Wyatt loves swimming and he loves swimming lessons. They give him the same sweet little teacher that knows how to feed into his ego and laugh at his jokes. Its been so fun to take him to the pool and the lake and not fear for his life every moment! He's my little fish! Just like his dad!

If you've been reading my weight loss blog, then you know I created a reward for myself and Wyatt if I reached my goal. Disneyland Annual Passes! I have never gotten something this big for myself ever in my life. And everything about Disneyland brings me such joy, so this was the best reward I could ever give myself. I am really blessed to have brothers-in-law that live in California and graciously open thier home to us whenever we want to come. I would have never been able to afford these passes if I didn't have thier loving home to stay in. I'm so lucky!

I'll let the pictures and the videos speak for themselves, but here's just a few thoughts about our trip.

• Wyatt is now big enough and certainly brave enough to go on every "Big" ride in Disneyland, minus Indiana Jones (5 more inches to go on that one). He loves Space Mountain because of the music. Grizzly River Run gets his feet wet. Wyatt always looks for the Snow Monster in the Matterhorn.
• When waiting in line for Soaring over California, I explained to Wyatt the ride was like a plane ride. Wyatt then asked, "Are we coming back here or going home?" I was confused and asked him what he was talking about. "On the plane! Does it take us back here, or does it take us home?" I could never explain what the ride really was until the moment it started. Then Wyatt looked at me and said, "Is it just a movie screen?" "Yes," I replied. "Oh! Ok!" It all made sense to Wyatt at that moment.
• We made it a goal to do things we never had time to do before, like ride the horse carriage down Main Street and the Ominbus back up. And buy homemade candy from the Candy Palace because we've been stalking, I mean, calling the candy hotline (714-781-0112) for weeks just to find out what they were making for the week.
• Between 8 and 9 pm in Town Square is the best time to get a picture with Mickey and the gang. Just sit on a bench and stalk the gate until they come out. And the train station is an awesome place to watch the fireworks.
• Even though I think I'll leave the park by 5 pm, that really means I won't leave until after 10 pm.
• Byron discovered flying into Long Beach Airport is an adventure, especially walking across the tarmac just to get into the airport from your plane.
• Long Beach is a beautiful place, and I want to live there.
• Byron and his brother John went swimming with the dolphins, again!
• If you bring glowsticks to a Thai restaurant on the PCH, Uncle Peter turns into a four year old (in a good way).
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

There were only three little blog posts for the month of August from the self proclaimed computer queen herself? More are coming. Here's something to tied you over.

Byron was away for a full week with the 16 and 17 year old boys from our church. Wyatt is a different boy when his father is gone, and as much as I would like to say that I am the calming figure in the house, we'd all know that would a lie. Byron is the one that keeps us all grounded and diffuses any stress in the house. So when he's gone, there is a different energy in the house that I have to work around (even though I am the one who creates it). Its important for me, though, to accept the fact that my husband has these opportunities to go places and do important things. I could just whine and moan that he's leaving, or I can accept it, and create my own positive experiences for myself and my child. I try my best to rely on myself. Though I do know I have very kind G-mas nearby, I don't feel the need to go running to them just because my husband is bailing out of town.

So this week, I planned ahead. The goal: Keep Wyatt so extremely busy that he exhausts himself. An exhausted Wyatt is a sleepy Wyatt, and a sleepy Wyatt is a Wyatt that takes long naps and goes to bed early. The problem with this, is that these activities also exhaust me, and I end up wanted to go to bed earlier than Wyatt! Case in point, the first part of the week was spent babysitting a baby friend we adore, going to The Springs Preserve, a playdate with new friends, a lake trip with KB, swimming at KB's pool, all fun fun stuff. By Friday, I was DONE! And we sat on the couch watching a 12 hour marathon of Phineas and Ferb on the Disney channel. I didn't move a muscle until about 7 pm, when I finally did take Wyatt and the dogs for a walk.

So, our last day without Byron was celebrated with good friends, Patricia and Cooper at the Secret Garden at the Mirage to see the dolphins and tigers. It was lots of fun, I could have sat there with a slushy and a snack and watched those dolphins all afternoon. And my final attempt to exhaust Wyatt worked. He slept for 4 hours, enough time for me to nap, watch a TV show, and even scrapbook! Byron came home that night, I fed and tucked both my boys into bed, and ran 3 miles with Duke, just enjoying a brief moment of NOT having a 4 year old stuck to my hip.

Maybe the exhaustion was starting a little early...there was a temper tantrum in the dolphin viewing area and a TIME-OUT was needed...for Wyatt and myself.