Happy Halloween!

This is Wyatt's third Halloween. It's hard to believe. The first one I vividly recall the onesie t-shirt with a pumpkin on it that he pooped through. It was a doozy! Last year Wyatt a dressed as a monkey to attend his neighbors party. We barely made it through the door and he pooped, so I had to take the whole costume off to change his diaper and try all over again! This year, thankfully, no poop. We had a very bad nap day, so we went trick or treating at 5pm. Wyatt once again was a monkey this year. He has entered his shy stage with strangers, so he wouldn't even say trick or treat. However, we did manage to get a thank you to all of our fun friends who passed out candy. We were home and in bed by 7pm. At least Wyatt was. I am on my way to try running a marathon or something to get the baby out of me!

Welcome Back!

We are sorry that our Fall 2006 update is coming to you midway through the semester, but I guess that is how things go. We are once again really enjoying our time here at Covenant and continue to experience God's grace and mercy in our lives in many new ways.

Our summer was busy but quite an experience. From week long power outages to traveling to California for six weeks...we really didn't have much down time. I took a new job this summer. As much as the coffee shop was a wonderful place to work and meet a variety of people to engage with, I decided a job that allowed me to be home in the evenings with Heather and Wyatt was the best fit. I work on campus in the Development Department working on donor relations. The job is a great fit and will hopefully be the best suited for when the baby comes. I really only worked a few weeks this summer before I was headed off to California for my internship with Harbor Presbyterian Church.

My experience at Harbor was invaluable. I was given the chance to basically follow really great leaders of a church planting movement and listen to their vision, learn from their wisdom, and offer and extra support and help when needed. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend the summer except for the few weeks I had to spend apart from my family. If you would like to see more about Harbor Presbyterian Church, check out their website at www.harborpc.org.

This semester I am taking some great classes and continue to grow from the great wisdom and knowledge of the professors here. I already feel like I am swimming in a pool of things to do that won't be finished by the time our daughter is born, so keep me in your prayers. She is due November 21st and I hope that I will be able to finish a lot of work before then.

Heather is doing well and anxiously awaiting the birth of our little girl. She is hoping for a Wyatt-like arrival (two weeks early)! Keep her in your prayers as she recovers from a fall down the basement stairs. Nothing happened to the baby, but she has a sprained ankle as a result. These last few weeks of pregnancy with a sprained ankle have been rough.

On a lighter note, a great friend of mine from Covenant and I will be traveling to Chicago this coming weekend to run the Chicago Marathon. We have been training since last spring and are very eager to enjoy the race!

Be sure to scroll down to read some of our more recent fall experiences. There are some fun pics of Wyatt from the summer and the fall. We will surely be updating you withing the next month or so when the baby comes! Until then, thank you again for your prayers and continued support during this great journey. We want it, we need it, and we are so grateful for it!

God Bless,

David

The Poopsmith

(an old potty picture)

Today Wyatt said he wanted to poop in the potty. His usual morning poop hadn't taken place yet, so I thought what the heck let's give it a try (we've been practicing for quite some time). Wyatt sat on the potty for over thirty minutes while watching a video and eating a fruit leather from Trader Joe's. He really was trying...we even heard the gas to prove it, but still nothing! He kept standing up looking to see if he made "plop plops" but nothing ever appeared. Eventually, however, he stood up and we saw YELLOW! Wyatt did it...well, not the poop, but he pee peed in the potty for the first time! He was so excited that he did it, so he picked up the bowl and carried it to the potty and dumped and flushed. It was an exciting day. About thirty minutes after the diaper was put on, Wyatt finally pooped...little pebbles. The poor guy. We picked the worst poop to experiment on. The little guy just couldn't get it out!

CLICK BELOW FOR SOME ADDED AUDIO ENTERTAINMENT...Wyatt's choice!

http://www.overtherhine.com/music/mp3rarity/Poopsmith.mp3

Big Boy Bed!

Earlier this summer we posted a picture of the big boy bed when we brought it into Wyatt's room. It has been in there for months now, and we've just been waiting for the perfect time to introduce it to him. After all of the summer travels and returning back to St. Louis I decided that this past weekend would be the best time to transition. And by transition...I do mean basically...kick Wyatt out of the crib to make room for the baby. So, on Friday night, David took Wyatt outside and I moved the crib into the baby's room and set it up for her. We basically took the approach that Wyatt wasn't allowed to get out of the bed and he'd have to ask for us to come and let him get out of the bed. We expected we'd have some disciplining to do, but our expectations were quite wrong. I had never thought that Wyatt would cry about the big boy bed. I just thought he'd try to sneak out and we'd have to spank him. Well, when we put him down Friday night he said he wanted to sleep in the baby's room because his crib was in there and when we put him in the big bed...he went bolistic. He was so upset! My heart sank and I had know idea what to do. David of course asked a very Davidlike question..."Have you read anything about this?" My response, "yes, but about three months ago...i have spent more time talking to other moms." So, we bunkered down and sang "You are my Sunshine" about fifteen times until he settled down a bit. David laid on the edge of the bed and I rubbed his back while we sang. We told him he had to stay in his bed, we loved him, and walked out the door. He cried about one minute and never got out and slept the whole night through. The picture above is from the morning after we woke up.

Naptime...a little different. On Saturday, we put him down and he cried a little and then started playing in his bed. He hadn't go out...yet. David was studying in his office and I was lying in bed when all of a sudden I hearn a loud pitter patter of feet. I told David and he ran upstairs and while he was en route I heard a quick paced pitter patter once again. David opened the door and Wyatt was trying to climb back in bed looking over his shoulder with a look of fear when daddy walked in. David said, "Don't you get out of that bed!" And our little boy melted in his daddy's arms because he had messed up. David said goodnight and closed the door, and Wyatt hasn't climbed out since then!

He loves to sleep in the big boy bed at night, but naps are another story right now. He just has a harder time falling asleep in a different bed when it is daylight. He's not climbing out and for that we are very thankful!!!! I am sure he'll grow into a more solid nap in the big bed soon enough.

Until then, David and I feel like our first baby is truly not a baby any more. I really felt like crying that first night, but I am so proud of our little man!

(Picture to come...we are having technical difficulty.)

Eckart's Farm

On Sunday, Wyatt was still suffering the effects of cough and runny nose, so we kept him out of the nursery at church. Thankfully, his demeanor hasn't really changed. So, we went apple picking at Eckart's Farm about 30 minutes out into the country. We saw goats and cows and other fun animals. Wyatt even attempted to feed them by hand. We took a tractor out to the apple orchard and had a great time picking Green Delicious, Jonathan's, and Sun Crisp apples. I think on Tuesday we'll make our apple pie. After
that, we hopped on the tractor and rode to the pumpkin patch where we picked a great pumpkin. I took Wyatt to Wal-mart the day before and tried to get a pumpkin but they didn't have any, so I made it up to him by taking him to the patch. He was very excited! We took the tractor back to pay for our apples and Wyatt enjoyed a nice snooze on the way home.

Towers

Wyatt discovered the novelty of building towers last Christmas when he was given a set of blocks that Pop from Tennessee made him. Since then, his towers have evolved from three or four block stacks to some rather intricate castle like structures. He will sit for 45 minutes by himself just to keep working on a tower...and of course the inevitable happens...the tower falls and he just starts all over again.