January? Where Did You Go?

Somehow today is mid-February and I didn't blog ONCE in January!! I haven't even finished Christmas yet! So in order to catch up this one post is going to be all about January! 

January was a very strange, difficult, and ridiculously busy month. Most days, I couldn't tell if I was coming or going, and definitely didn't have time to sit and blog!!

January started off with a few more days of Christmas break, which was super enjoyable! Once school started and gymnastics picked back up, our days were starting to get filled fast! Our business has hit the floor running. Starting a business definitely takes more hours than there are in a day, so we had our fair share of coaches calls, networking events, and day to day tasks. We probably looked at 20+ houses this month and put in lots of offers! (I should just write a whole post about the business) So for the sake of this post, let's just say work kept us BUSY!!! 

In early January, my dad suffered a major setback with his knee replacement surgery. Extended hospital stays and loads upon loads of doctor's visits were the story of the month. Emotions ran high, energy ran low, and our brains were fried!
The boys kept us busy with school, and gymnastics, and their just normal day to day requirements. I think we ran on auto-pilot most days and just kind of rolled from one event to the next! I did take some pictures, so here is January in a nutshell.

Intentionality was not my strong suit this month. I wasn't intentional with my time, with my children, with my husband. Thank goodness for these little picture reminders to help me see the good we had, when all I can remember is the busyness!!!

Wyatt's First Gymnastics Meet

Wyatt has been enthralled with gymnastics ever since he started 1.5 years ago. In August, he moved from Blue Valley Rec to 360 and his love for gymnastics has grown even more! He literally gymnastics all over the house! That's what we like to call it :) The world is his gym! I love it!! Initially, Coach Eric said the three littlest boys on the team (Wyatt being the youngest) were going to start competing in March, but they all developed and honed their skills much quicker than he imagined, so he was ready for them to start competing in January. We had gone to a meet in November just to kind of watch and see what happens, so that would hopefully decrease the "newness" of what a gymnastics meet is all about. So when January's meet rolled around, Wyatt had an idea of what to expect, although he still was quite nervous. Moreso because he just wanted to get a perfect score and he was worried he wouldn't. Silly boy! I told him nobody would get a perfect score, so it didn't matter! Just do your best little buddy!! And that was exactly what he did!!!! He was so focused, never cracked a smile! He sat on the chair between events and just waited his turn. I imagine he was probably going through the routines in his head. He was just so darn cute to watch!

Look at that team of little cuties! They went in height order, Wyatt being the shortest, which meant he went last on each even. The oldest boy on his team is 12, with Wyatt bringing up the rear at age 5.

 First up, pommel horse and mushroom.

 Second, rings- his favorite!

 Third, floor routine! His second favorite!

 Next, parallel bars.

 Then, high bar. On this event, he actually was swinging and lost his grip and fell. His coach caught him and there was a fluffy mat under him, so he didn't get hurt. He popped right back up on the bar and finished his routine.

 And finally, vault. Which I didn't get any pictures of, but you can see the set up for it right behind the picture of him on the high bar.

Then it was time for the awards ceremony. We knew he would be judged against the other 5 year olds in this meet. It's usually 5 and  year olds, but since this was such a large meet, they had to break them up. But that was good for his first time since it lessened how many kids he was up against. He wound up placing 2nd, and was so excited!! He did tell me afterwards though, "I just imagined myself standing up there on the #1 spot though!" Later, we found out that if he hadn't fallen off the high bar- which is a full point deduction, he would've taken first! But we were so darn proud of him!! He really did do his absolute best and watching him was so AMAZING!!! Honestly, I can't remember the last time I was that nervous for anything!!! Butterflies like I hadn't felt in a LONG time!!

 Their whole team took 1st place and were soooooo thrilled!!

Look at that cute medalist! We are so so proud of you Wyatt!!!

His scores: 

1st place on Parallel Bars and Still Rings

2nd place on Floor

3rd place on Pommel Horse

4th place on Vault and High Bar

All Around score- 50.5 (2nd place)

Wyatt's Build a Bear Adventure

Wyatt thought over and over and over again all December long- "What should I ask Santa for?" He went back and forth between Star Wars Bionicle, Build a Bear Gift Card, Lego's, and an RC Rover. He just didn't have any idea what to ask for! Well, turns out Santa brought him the Imaginext Rover I told him NOT to ask Santa for because it was too expensive. So it was a good thing I had told Aunt Sara that he was hoping to get a Build a Bear gift card, but I wasn't sure if Santa was going to bring that. So she gave him the next best thing- 5 little boxes individually wrapped with a $5 bill inside. The perfect amount of money for a trip to Build a Bear!! So as soon as school was back in session, we hit up the mall just as it opened and went on a Build a Bear adventure!

He's a smart cookie and knows if he doesn't buy an expensive bear, he can buy more accessories for it! It was a tough decision, but my boys like their traditional teddy bears so he picked out this little tan one. He filled his heart with lots of great characteristics, and stuffed him with just the right amount of fluff- not too much!!

 And then came time for the accessories. This was a tough decision. So many Star Wars outfits. So many fun clothes, and shoes, and toys for his bear!

 In the end, he picked out a Chiefs outfit. After all, the Chiefs were about to head into the playoffs!! And because we had a coupon, he also got a pair of Star Wars jammies.

 He got him all dressed up and then it was time to name him. Um......this might've been the hardest decision of all! Wyatt always says he likes to pick a random word and add a -y to the end to come up with his bears name. Well, nothing was coming to him. Then he settled upon Harry, but then Henry popped up and he knew that was his new bears' name!

He definitely passed the snuggling test at home!

Welcome to the family, Henry!!

Snowball Fight

We got to out the farm late afternoon Christmas Eve and we were so excited to see a little bit of snow as we got closer and closer to Grinnell. The boys were hoping there would be some left around Grandma and Grandpa's house! We got out of the car, said hello, and the boys immediately got their boots and snow gear on! They didn't want to risk it melting in the first 5 minutes we were there!

It wasn't a whole lot of snow left, but it was just the right amount for a little snowball fight!

Santa Came!!

Nevermind its past Spring Break- I'm playing catch up! Just pretend its cold, and snowy, and Christmas music is still flooding the radios!

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Santa came early just for us! Instead of waiting till the night of Christmas Eve, he came the night before, since we were leaving town on Christmas Eve. Santa scored big time! He surprised those boys once again!!

 Wyatt got the Imaginext Space Rover, even thought I told him not to ask for it! I thought it was too expensive and didn't want to tie up Santa's finances with such a large gift. But Santa bought it anyway- he must have got a really good deal on it! Wyatt was beyond surprised to see it waiting just for him!! Grant asked Santa for anything remote controlled! So he got a huge off-road F-150! Big surprises all around!

 Shed had the boys do drawings all Christmas season and he told them to leave their book out for Santa to check out and he may leave them an extra surprise and he definitely did!

 They made sure he ate all the cookies and drank all the milk, and of course he did!!!

 Their stockings were filled with little pens and games and markers and tiny trinkets!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Preparing for Santa's Arrival

In typical fashion, we celebrated our own family Christmas on a little bit different timeline due to traveling. Someday I pray we can be in our own house on Christmas Eve every year. But this year, we celebrated on the night before Christmas Eve. We opened our presents to each other this evening (post coming), and then we prepared for Santa's big arrival!

Luckily, Grant wrote Shed a note earlier in December asking if Santa could come a night early just for us, and of course Shed and Santa said YES!! So we made sure we were ready! There's lots to do you know!

 First, we went outside to sprinkle our reindeer food and played around in the Christmas lights!

 Wyatt made a quick jammie change and then we got our cookies and milk ready for Santa! Chocolate chip cookies and chocolate milk are always Santa's favorite at our house!

Then, we read our last Jesse Tree ornament, the Christmas story, and Twas the Night Before Christmas!

And then it was time to hurry off to bed so Santa could come!!!