Cruise Vacation: Part One

We just returned from an exciting week--our first family vacation! Because we took so many great pictures that we want to share, we'll divide our vacation blog posts into three parts. Today's post covers our time on the cruise ship.

The Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas was a great ship! On the first day we found our room, practiced the muster drill (see the lifeboat in the mid-left of the above picture?), had a lovely dinner, and climbed into bed around 7:30 p.m. Yes, we were weary travelers!

And here's where we crashed. Our stateroom was pretty cozy, but it got the job done. Wyatt slept in a pack-n-play most of the night before crawling into bed with Mommy and Daddy. We were really surprised with how well he slept considering he's not used to having "roommates"!

During the following days, we started our mornings off right with breakfast. Wyatt enjoyed the pancakes in the Great Gatsby Dining Room. The amount of food one can consume on a cruise ship is astonishing!

After breakfast we usually headed to a playgroup held by the ship's Kids' Club. Unfortunately, Wyatt was the only baby who attended, but one day he had a friend join him--none other than Captain Rune, who took a break from steering the ship to play with our little sea-dog.

Once playgroup was over, we spent some time wandering around exploring the ship, and then we headed back to the stateroom for naptime. And it's a good thing Wyatt rested because we had fun activities planned for after nap, one of which included swimming in his private pool! (Thanks, Nana, for the pool!) Wyatt was the hit of the Pool Deck as everyone stopped to comment on how cute he was!

Another fun activity was Family Disco night! Wyatt had a blast running around the lighted dance floor, clapping his hands and being the center of attention.

Dinner each night was a little challenging because it was three courses and took at least ninety minutes. Needless to say, Wyatt was not okay with sitting still that long, so Daddy and Mommy took turns walking him around outside the dining room in between courses. One of the best nights was formal night. Don't Daddy and Wyatt look nice in their suits?

Overall, Wyatt handled cruising pretty well. He went a little stir crazy at times (hey, we said it was a cozy stateroom, didn't we?), but he generally had a good attitude. And he loved the heaps of attention he got from all the seniors on the cruise!

Tomorrow...Part Two: Key West!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Brad!

Aw, Mommy's little bubby is turning 24 today! It's hard to believe how far he has come since the days of neon-colored Chuck Taylors and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Now he's a full-fledged grown-up with a home and family, and he's a natural at being a daddy! We're proud of you, Uncle Brad and we love you very much. Have a wonderful birthday!

Halfway there!

Today marks the halfway point in Little Brother or Sister's gestation. In other words, he or she is officially half-baked! To keep you updated on our progress and to have this special time documented for the new little one, we'll be doing periodic pregnancy updates. Mommy found this pregnancy survey on several blogs that she follows and decided to give it a try. Here goes!

Pregnancy: 20 weeks

Weight Gain: Oh, Lord. Who knows!?

Sleep: Okay, but I have a few awakenings each night. Usually it's for a potty break or leg
cramps.

Gender: We're building a mystery.

Name: Still in discussion. We'll post a poll on those in the next couple of weeks.

Feeling: Pretty good! I have way more energy than I've had during the first half of the
pregnancy.

Health: No problems yet (knock on wood!).

Movement: An occasional swirl or tap.

Belly: Definitely bigger than it was with Wyatt at this point.

Next Appointment: Feb. 3, and it's the big ultrasound!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

A Seat at the Table

One of the many Christmas gifts that Wyatt received was this nifty booster seat. He loves sitting in it at mealtimes, probably because he's really eating at the table with Mommy and Daddy now. Speaking of eating, we now give him his own spoon and fork with which to feed himself...

He needs help getting the food onto the utensil, and he usually lets us know by shouting, "Hop! Hop!" We dutifully place food on the fork or spoon and he precariously raises it to his mouth. The food makes it down the chute about ninety percent of the time.

Yes, ninety percent of the food reaches his mouth. The other ten percent? Well, it usually ends up in his lap, on the edge of the table, on the floor, in Nellie's mouth, smeared on the side of the booster seat, or sticking to his bib. Needless to say, mealtimes are messy with a self-feeding toddler.

Good thing he likes to help clean up! That's right, you put a Clorox wipe in front of him and Wyatt will wipe the table with it. (And notice our other cleaning up "helper" behind Wyatt in the picture. Nell is becoming quite the scavenger.)

Aw, hasn't our little man come a long way since his very first meal of solid foods NINE months ago?

So cute!

And in case you're wondering, here's what the old high chair looks like now:

It has become our new shoe/dog toy/miscellaneous-grocery-bag-of-junk caddy. We're getting our money's worth on that thing! Maybe we'll clean it up and store it in the garage before the next baby needs it. Then again...

Wordless Wednesday: The Many Faces of Wyatt

Christmas 2009

Ah, Christmas. What an exciting, busy, family-filled, memorable time of year. It is even more so with a toddler running around, eagerly opening gifts (his own and other people's) and smiling from ear to ear.

We started our festivities on Christmas Eve afternoon with a trip to Mamaw Ruth's house. Wyatt was excited to open his first gifts of the season and completely oblivious to the red bow in his hair...

See Mamaw's little dog, Gizmo, hiding beside the television there? She wasn't too sure about that wild boy invading her territory, so she sought refuge in the nearest little cubby hole she could find. Poor puppy! The rest of us had lots of fun, though!

After Mamaw Ruth's house, we went to Grandma Stenglein's house. Wyatt was quite comfortable being the center of attention...

We also got to see Aunt Laura, Aunt Danielle and Uncle Michael for the first time in awhile! It was fun to watch Wyatt react to Aunt Danielle's impression of a piggy snorting. After opening more gifts and spending time with everyone, it was time to go home and prepare for Christmas morning...

Notice the look of concentration on his face! This kid takes present-opening seriously! Wyatt did a fantastic job of it. We made sure to save his big present for last so he would stay interested in his other gifts. Speaking of his big present...

It was so large we didn't wrap it! We just put a "slipcover" on it. Wyatt liked pulling it off, though.

And here's what he found underneath...

A play kitchen! He loved opening all the doors and turning the knobs. In fact, he spent all of fifteen minutes standing there playing, which is a lot for a busy toddler!

After a Christmas breakfast and a nap, we were off to more festivities...

At Nana and Papaw's house Wyatt continued raking in the loot, including a cute pair of light-up tennis shoes. Baby Ava got many cute toys, too, but she's so sweet that a bottle was enough to make her day. Next year she'll be running around with Wyatt--look out, Nana and Papaw!

After having fun and some good food at Nana and Papaw's house, we were off to our final destination, Farmersville...

At Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Randy's house, Grandpa Danny showed Wyatt how to play foosball. We think Wyatt won the game based on his expression in the photo above! Wyatt also had fun playing with the new John Deere riding toy that the Peters and Brill families got him!

We ended the night at Mamaw Mary and Grandpa Danny's house...

Exchanging gifts with Mamaw, Grandpa, Uncle Michael, Aunt Danielle and Aunt Laura was a great way to end our Christmas celebration!

We are so appreciative of all the gifts our family gave us and Wyatt. You really are too generous! The best gift of them all, though, was the time spent with all of you and the memories we made. Wyatt is so lucky to be a part of the Hensley and Hickle families!