Happy New Year!

From the blog 1000 Awesome Things:

That was a tough one.
Come on in and stop for a second to shake your head, dust yourself off, and look back at how far you’ve come.
Sure, it’s been a long year. Some crushing lows slapped you and smacked you around. There were times your heart dipped and you squinted back tears while your stomach squeezed so tightly you couldn’t sleep. There were moments you walked around in a glossy-eyeball daze — when loved ones hurt, friends didn’t stay, or someone dear to your heart slowly drifted away.
Sleepless nights, stressful nights, with teething babies, slurring customers, bad bosses, bickering boyfriends, or blank computer screens. You were feeling and you were dealing and you were reeling and you were healing.
But as you walked your hard path down your long and bumpy road some little drops of confidence dripped like coffee into your head and into your heart. As you stumbled and got back up a quiet inner strength slowly seeped into your bones. And as you climbed over obstacles set in your way some relaxed satisfaction and growing self-awareness glimmered like bright lights at the bottom of your stomach.
Yes, this year changed you and grew you in so many ways you don’t even feel or notice yet. As you struggled you empathized, as you slipped you understood, as you worked you earned…
… as you looked you learned
… … as you dared you grew
… … … and as you jumped you flew.
Your dreams are still focusing and your passion is growing. Your energy is still bubbling as your story keeps going.
You’ve been through so much and gained a year’s supply of experience along the way. You’re stronger than you were last year and stronger than you realize. Sure, there were times you bent, but you definitely didn’t break. There were times you caved, but you definitely didn’t flake.
Listen up: you got bigger, you got better, and you got the scars to prove it.
So stop for a second today to smile and look back at everything you’ve done this year… everything you’ve seen… everywhere you’ve been…
You’ve taken more illegal naps and had more blurry-eyed late nights.
You’ve danced to more wedding songs and smiled at more beautiful sights.
You’ve seen more scorching sunsets and heard more head-bopping songs.
You’ve tripped a few times, but baby, you kept rolling right along.
Yes, you’ve hugged more old friends and kissed some brand new pretty faces.
You’ve cheered more on the sidelines and visited some brand new pretty places.
You tasted more meals, you got more deals, and you’ve sniffed more flower blossoms.
And you made it all the way through this year because you’re so completely
AWESOME!

I hope everyone can look back at this past year and smile.
Love,
Leigh

Our Little Boy Scout

Because of Quint's love of scouting, Corwin has been exposed to it since he was born. It only seems natural that he would join in.

It was so cute how Corwin stood right there with Quint's troop and repeated the pledge, oath, motto, etc. with them.

Help

Leigh,
We need a new invite for Dad to join us on the blog. Could you please resend an invite for him? We've got an account all set up for him, but are unable to get him linked up to our specific blog. If you could help out, that would be great!!
Love you!

Cozy Coupe Christmas Morning

Jake and I stayed up late putting this car together. We were so excited to record Wyatt's reaction when he first saw the car. This morning I woke up to the sound of Wyatt walking down the stairs. So he caught a glimpse of the car before I hauled him upstairs so Jake could bring him down while I grabbed the camera. I guess this isn't a genuine first reaction. Oh well.

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I wanted to post some pictures right away while I'm thinking about it. It was great to talk to so many of you last night. We look forward to being able to add Wyatt's voice to the chorus of screaming kids running around Mom and Dad's house :)

Merry Christmas

You get none of that "Happy Holiday" crap from me today! There is one reason why we celebrate today. And that is the birth of our Savior. (Duh. As if you didn't know that.) ;)

I hope everyone's Christmas lives up to their expectations and that no one is disappointed. I love you all and am very glad to be part of this family!!

He'll be a good fellow

Jake has decided to apply for a fellowship in pediatric anesthesia.  That means that he will be specially trained to administer anesthesia to kids for surgeries and he will probably work at a children's hospital (like Primary Children's - cross your fingers).  That also means that he will do another year of training after his residency, called a fellowship.  Unfortunately, Utah doesn't have any pediatric fellowships in anesthesia so we will either tack on another year here in St. Louis or move somewhere else for a year.  Jake is applying here and wants to apply in Colorado and California.  He is a shoo-in here at Barnes (the director of the program kept telling Jake he would be great in peds, he should really do a fellowship, if he wants to get a fellowship here he better turn in his application, etc.) but I think he stands a great chance anywhere he applies.  It's not a match like residency, but we don't really know how and when these things are decided.  I guess we'll let you know when we do.  Anyway, this is great news and I'm really excited for Jake to be choosing a specialty that I think will bring him a lot of joy.  I thought I'd share :)

Dire Grove

Brrrr!!!! This is how I feel going outside now. I went out to the shed last night...crunch...crunch, and then opened the chilly shed door. Then I plugged in the Christmas lights.

What a great game though; I recommend it to any of you that like casual games.

A little bit of Wyatt

We gave Wyatt a haircut last week.  His hair had been getting quite long and I was constantly pushing it out of his eyes.  I just wanted to do a trim up in the front, back and over his ears.  But as soon as I tried to trim the back, he started squirming and I cut a BIG chunk out.  Jake decided we should just chop it off, so he began using the scissors to cut it all one length.  I cleaned it up with the clippers and it looks pretty good.  But I always regret cutting Wyatt's hair because I think it looks so cute when it is longer.  His hair is so light and wispy and I get sad seeing piles of it on the floor :( 

Today is Wyatt's first nap in his "big-boy bed".  We bought a new twin mattress before Jake's family came for Thanksgiving and one of our nephews slept on it while he was here.  Yesterday I got around to hauling it upstairs and putting his new bedclothes on it.  Wyatt was jumping up and down and hugging the bed (it has a Lightning McQueen comforter on it) and was very excited to have it in his room.  We put him to bed last night and he did really well - didn't try to climb out or cry at all.  I checked on Wyatt after he had fallen asleep and he had climbed out from under the covers, but was otherwise sleeping well.  Today he fell asleep in the car and transferring him to the bed was a breeze.  He would usually wake up when I would try to place him in the crib, but the bed is a much easier transition.  We'll see how the next several weeks go, but so far so good!  If I ever remember to buy more batteries for the camera, I'll take some pictures of these things...

Wyatt has learned to say "please" only it comes out more like "eese" (think cheese without the ch-).  It is his go-to for trying to persuade me to do something (Wyatt pulling me by the hand toward the basement: *in a pleading tone* "eese!") as well as to decline anything (me: "do you want a bite of chicken?"  Wyatt: *turning head* "eese!".  It's pretty cute and has, for now, taken the place of "no".

Crazy Snow Storm

We had a pretty crazy snow storm (actually not really that bad), but I had to wait about an hour at the bus stop today. I spent about 50 minutes of it out on the street, before I went into McDonald's. Apparently the first bus hadn't come either, which I found out by talking to a guy who had been waiting for it. I ended up calling UTA and they first said that "it had been there at 7:14". I said, well, we have been here since 6:45 and haven't seen anything (the 7:14 is the posted schedule time). He then put me on hold for about five minutes before coming back and saying that hte bus would be right there. We watched out the window for a couple more minutes before it showed up. It wasn't so bad the first 30 minutes, but then it got pretty cold. Coming home was no issue at all; I even was able to get across 35th south easily (I usually have to wait a bit before both sides are clear).