so big....

Walt is getting so big so fast (it seems to us). You know everyone that has kids always tells us, oh they grow up so fast.... We believed them to a point, but you really don't know until you are there. He is smiling all the time and laughing some of the time. He gets the giggles though and it is just the cutest thing that a little baby can do.

He still loves the bouncy chair, but now he also loves to lay down and just kick and stretch out.

Happy New Year! enjoy some other pictures from our Christmas

First Christmas

Well, our first Christmas as a family of three was wonderful. We took off last Friday for Des Moines, we stayed until Wednesday. It was great to be at my parents' house for the holiday. They had not seen walt since he was just 2 months, so they were delighted to have some extended time with him. Jessica has been studying abroad in Argentina since August, so we got to introduce her to her new nephew. She was so happy to meet him. She lives with us in St Louis while she is finishing her masters at Washington University. So it was sad to leave her, but she will be here soon. We met our new cousin, Ava who was born on Nov 15, as well as spent some more time with my brother's daughter, Victoria.

Enjoy the pictures I know that there is a lot!

love

sara

Photo day

So our good friend Chris who is also our next door neighbor came over today to take some pictures of the family. None of the pictures of the 3 of us turned out perfect. But I thought that I would share a couple with you. We had a nice relaxing weekend.

What's the deal with this white stuff?

This weekend is Walt's first exposure to snow, and by the picture it looks as though he likes it. This has been a pretty low-key weekend sandwiched between two that are very busy. With last weekend having Jarrett and Jill in from Chicago and spending next weekend in Des Moines, we're pretty excited to have no obligations. Walt has something of a cold (he's stuffy, but that's about it), so he's been a bit on the fussy side the past couple of days. In addition to that, he may be teething - we can't tell for sure. He's been making some strange mouth movements as well as drooling a lot (well, at least more than normal) and has responded well to chewing on things. All in all, it's been a pretty busy past couple of days.

We'll talk to you all soon,

Birthdays, Visitors, Football, oh my!

Sorry Blog readers, we have been busy as I am sure that most of you have been with the upcoming holiday season approaching.

Life has been grand around the Wichard house. Walt is talking a lot more and enjoying going to Peggy's house during the day while we work. He has still been sleeping well at night, which make mom and dad so happy!


Last weekend we celebrated Sara's birthday and welcomed in our friends Jill and Jarrett from Chicago. We had friends over on Friday night and then hung out at Nik and Kelly's on Sunday for football.

Here are a couple of pictures of Walt and his friend Evan. Also, a picture of Sara and Jill.

Mommy and me

I have not had many pictures taken of Walt and I since he was born. I tend to be the person behind the camera. So tonight I had Bob take our picture. It turned out very cute.

Sorry that we have not blogged more this week, but this was the first week of all of us at work and Walt at his babysitter. Walt goes to an in-home daycare in Webster Groves- it is about 5 minutes from my school. His sitter is named Peggy and so far so good. Everytime that I pick him up he is happy, fed, and clean. The routine is that Bob takes him in the morning and then I pick him up. I think that the excitement of Peggy's house tires him out. He has been sleeping through the night for the past 4 nights. So that means that Bob and I have been sleeping through the night as well. We are so happy! And well rested.

Saturday with the Wichards

Today we had the Wichards up to our house. Bob's grandma lives in Fenton (suburb) and Bob's aunt and uncle were in town from Portland. So we had everyone over for a BBQ. It was great to see everyone. Walt was an amazing guy. He has been drooling and smiling a lot!

Tonight we are going to try to root Mizzou to Victory over Kansas! Bob is officially on the bandwagon.

1st Thanksgiving

Well, Walt made it through his first Thanksgiving. Although like the rest of us he did get a little bit of a tummy ache (thanks mommy!) We traveled down to Cape Girardeau to celebrate the holiday with the Wichards. He got to meet his Great Grandpa Allen and Great Grandma Dortha. We had wonderful food and great conversation. Nanny as always was snapping pictures and got some great ones. Friday we headed back home, Bob had a Blues game last night. They won 3-1, although Walt and I were not able to watch it because it was not on TV.

New Trick

Well, it's been pretty good for young Walt this week at home with his dad. He's been pretty good at staying on his schedule, and for the most part he's been pretty easy to handle. Yesterday we pretty much just stayed around the house, but we did take a long walk through the neighborhood. Today, however we went to see mommy at school. While we were there, we laid Walt on his tummy, and he wasn't happy with that, so he rolled over. Take a look at the video (sorry for the Blair Witch camerawork):



That's about it for now. We're looking forward to seeing a lot of family this weekend for Thanksgiving, and I'm sure that we'll have some pictures from that.

Bathtime....again!

Hello! Happy Saturday. We had a busy day today. We went to Costco and Babies r us. At Costco it seemed that a lot of people were already Christmas Shopping! We were just getting some basics. After our busy day Walt was pretty tired. Before we put him to bed tonight we gave him a bath. He is just so cute, I couldn't resist some more pictures. Walt is smiling so much. He is happy all the time (well unless he is dirty, gassy, hungry, or tired :)

He is also talking a lot, so we have long conversations. Daddy thinks that Walt is talking Hockey, Mommy thinks that he is singing songs. Either way, it has been fun. If we can figure out how to upload a video we will try to do that soon.

after bath routine

We (walt) gets a bath 2 to 3 times a week and we have started a little play party after each bath. He still likes the bath, but when he hears the water running, he closes his eyes and seems to brace himself.

So after the bath, we go on the floor of his room in front of the space heater, to warm up a little. He smiles so big and just loves it. We read books, have tummy time, and of course sing.

Here are some pics from our after bath fun today.

2 month update

Well we just got back from the Drs office and "OUCH!" Walt had four shots, 2 in each thigh. He was really brave, but by that 4th one he had had enough! He is resting comfortably in his bed after eating and taking some tylenol. But here are his new stats!

weight- 10lbs 12oz (25th percentile)

height- 23 1/2" (75th percentile)

So he is a tall and skinny guy. The Dr is still impressed with how strong he is, especially his head.

More pics to come later on this week.

Weekend in Des Moines

Well, Walt and I made our first trip to grandma and grandpa's house by ourselves. We left Daddy at home. (Although Daddy missed us he had a lot of fun guy time with his friends, which made us happy)

The drive both ways to Des Moines was pretty uneventful, Walt was really good in the car. On the way home we only had to stop once, which was so awesome.

Our time in Des Moines was wonderful, we wanted to visit my parents and my friend Amanda had a shower in Des Moines this weekend so it was a perfect reason to go. The shower was great. Amanda is having a girl and all of the girly baby stuff is just too cute.

My parents had not seen Walt since he was just over 1 month old, so they were just enamored with him and how much he had grown. They threw a little open house for their friends and our family to come and meet him. He was a great sport. The open house was also to introduce my brother's daughter. She will be 1 at the end of the month, but she is new to our family as well. Her name is Victoria and just a precious girl.

All and all it was a great trip! Walt can't wait to go back for Christmas.

Happy Birthday Nanny!

family of shoes

I couldn't resist taking this picture. All of our tennis shoes were downstairs and Walt's are just so tiny. My mom found the air jordans at a garage sale. When we were at Nordstorms today, a shoe salesman commented that he had the same ones when he was a little boy! WOW! Walt is vintage!

Go Vikings!

So Walt finally fits into some of his Vikings gear! And guess what he wore the clothes and the Vikings smoked the Chargers! Yea! Some of you may not know that Sara is a huge Vikings fan. Her dad grew up in Minnesota and passed the love for them to her. The family also cheers on the St Louis Rams but considering they are 0-8, it has been a rough year to be a fan.

It was a big week in sports for our guy, we took him to his first Blues game (at 7 weeks- I know I am little embarrassed to admit it). He slept through the first two periods and then ate and cheered through the 3rd. To all of our dismay the blues lost to the Coyotes 3-2.

This weekend Nanny and Poppie came to visit. I don't have pictures of their visit yet, but I will post some soon. Walt loved playing with them. He loves being spoiled.

This weekend, we went up to Chicago for our friends Jamie and Liz's wedding. It was a gloomy day and the rain seemed to follow us all the way up. Walt was great in the car, we were a little worried, we won't lie. I was thinking that it might be an 8 hour trip vs. 5 hours. But Walt proved me wrong and it only took us 5 1/2 hours. We got in on Friday night, and stayed downtown. This is a picture of Walt and Sara on the balcony of the hotel overlooking downtown.






On Saturday, we went to lunch with Dave, and then went to the wedding. Here's a picture of Dave and Bob with Walt:















This is a picture of Walt dressed up with the family.


On Sunday, we had brunch with many of our Chicago friends. It was a good opportunity to catch up and to have everyone meet Walt. Sorry, but there aren't any pictures of Sunday's brunch.

And, here's a picture of Walt in his Halloween Costume (at least his second one). He's a cow - and at many points, he was a mad cow....

bath hair

So Walt had a bath today, which he still seems to enjoy. After the bath while I was drying him off, I pulled his hair up and then he went down for a nap. When he woke up his hair was still a little curly and sticking up all over the place. I love curly hair on kids, so I would love it if Walt took after me and had some curly hair. We will see.

We are off to Chicago for the weekend for Jamie and Liz's wedding. So this will be our first time traveling with Walt. Wish us luck and we will post pics and an update when we return.

Busy Weekend

Well, we had a pretty busy weekend this... um weekend. On Saturday, we started off going out to Todd and Paige's for a party. Then, Walt hung out with Nanny and Poppie, on Saturday night while Bob and Sara went to the Blues game. That was tons of fun. On Sunday, we went to breakfast and hung out at the park during the day while Bob played soccer. Walt even took in his first hockey game (in person). He went to Bob's hockey game and then had some dinner afterward.

Additionally, Walt had some very good nights sleeping. He had two consecutive nights of sleeping over 6 hours - which pleased Mommy and Daddy. Here is a picture of Walt in [part of] his Halloween costume.

plans, why make them?

Just wanted to share....

So Walt and I were about to leave for the Market (mommy wants to make some chili) when Walt let me know that his diaper needed to be changed, and boy did it.

Well I had a very cute outfit on him and while I was dealing with changing, Walt had other plans as he squirted all over the outfit. So here he is pretty proud of himself (in new make-shift outfit). Check out that great hat!

New Friend

Last night the 3 of us headed Southwest to meet our new friend Evan Thomas. Tom and Lisa are doing great and baby Evan is adorable. Walt and Evan were so cute together. They are approximately the same size and just too cute. We took their picture on top of a Blues jersey and Evan started crying and I kid you not Walt grabbed Evan's little (well bigger than Walt's) hand.

It was so fun to sit there with them chatting about babies and life. How different both of our families have changed in a year, and how wonderful they have become.