Wyatt is Here!!! May 16, 2011

We started this journey last year in October when we got the phone call from mom and Jack that Tressa had another baby and that he was being put up for adoption. At that moment KC and I knew that we were his family. It didn't take much time to think about it and we asked if we could possibly be a candidate. The process started.....fingerprinting, home evaluation, background checks and paperwork. We were also waiting for parental rights to be terminated so that Wyatt could leave the county. Tressa and Tim still had visitation rights so he had to stay in San Diego. In the meantime, we visited him when we went to San Diego. He was always happy and interactive with us. Finally, May came and rights were completely terminated. His case worker personally drove him to us on May 16th. He adjusted so well and so quickly. He has always been a great napper and sleeps very well through the night. The only thing we had to work on was his eating. He was only eating baby food and drinking milk from a bottle. It took me a few days to eliminate the bottle but he did pretty well with the transition to a sippy cup. The solid food transition has taken some time. I am writing this entry in November and he still struggles with a few little issues with eating. All in all though he is a great eater, uses his fork most of the time and will try new things.

So, from May to November we have taken him to AZ and NM for Kursty's wedding and to meet the Knoop Clan. The kids and I spent the summer with mom and Jack where we got to see lots of friends, go to the Wild Animal Park, celebrate Cali and Seth's birthdays and much more. We then moved into the CG Pacific Grove house by the Pt Pinos Lighthouse. What an amazing experience it has been....a better school, neighborhood, location, view, etc. We took a Nor Cal road trip and saw lots of big trees. Wyatt is blending right in and getting comfortable with us. He has been a joy to our family and a wonderful addition. The adventures will continue!!

Pictures: Wyatt learning to eat table food, Hanna pushing Wyatt in the swing, the Chases and Knoops in Santa Barbara with Grammie and Papa Anderson and Wyatt's 2 year old pictures.

Seth & Cali at their Spring Sings

Thanks to our awesome Olson Music teacher Mrs Pelton (also a close friend) the kids were able to perform some fun songs. Seth's class did patriot songs and Cali's class did the "Sound of Music" songs. They were 2 separate nights and both a lot of fun. Cali is standing with Kelly Pelton.

Child Labor Laws??? We don't listen to those in this house.

Hanna is becoming quite the little helper and I LOVE it. She is always willing to help with something. Here she is putting away the utensils (in her favorite outfit) and vaccuuming the stairs (don't hate me because our rose colored carpet is sooo pretty). Thanks Hanna for keeping the house so clean.

Seth's Biography Report

This is Seth's 3rd grade biography book report. He chose to do it on Neil Armstrong because he has been saying he will be an astronaut when he grows up since he was little. He loves science of all kind. He did a great job on his report and I was so proud of him. I love kids and their big dreams!

Olson Elementary Talent Show, March 2011

This is the girls at the Olson Elementary Talent Show in April 2011. They were certainly the big hit and they left a memory with everyone. This is why I love my girls!

Easter Weekend in Monterey, April 2011

Our Easter weekend was fun. KC had to work the weekend so we made the best of it. These pictures show the Easter egg hunt we had for the kids at the base followed by the pillow sack race (in Ally's honor) and a new game to us, the egg roll introduced by the Draves family. In these photos are also pictures of the City of Marina egg hunt and Easter morning with the kids (KC got to come home for the night before Easter and the morning of). We colored eggs the night before with KC. There are also some pictures of Cali's classroom Easter party that was the Thurs before Easter. So overall, we stayed busy and had lots of fun with lots of friends.

Sports and my kids May 7, 2011

Today was Cali's first track meet and I didn't want to miss it but as luck would have it KC had duty all weekend. So, I did my normal...tried to be in 2 places at once thing. I took Cali to her meet and I was able to see her win the first run for her age group. Then, I got Seth over to his baseball game where I only got to see him stand ready at the third base. I had to get back to Cali's track meet to hopefully see her run again and I did. She got 3rd in that race. Then, me, Cali and Hanna went back to Seth's game where he was waiting for us because his game had already ended. I felt so bad that I had miss the whole thing. He is really enjoying baseball and I love to see him play.
Above is Cali's first run that she won!!