Santa came!.....I must be on the good boy list! 

 This year was a really fun year with Wyatt at Christmas.  He is finally old enough to open the presents on his own and get excited about them!

"Cool, pants, Just what I wanted!"

"A Cars 2 race track, Just what I wanted!"

"Oh a movie!  Just what I wanted!"

"A game, Just what I wanted!"

"A talking Mater!!!  That's what I asked Santa for!!"

Putting the tracks together!

The finished product!!

Presents at Nana's house.....first up, clothes from Uncle Matt and Aunt Elizabeth.....and yet we again heard, "Just what I wanted!"

My new leapster 2 from Nana and Cooper!  Wyatt has been almost inseparable from his game since he opened it!

"Cool, a big wheel!"

We had Christmas with the Linn's side on the 26th.  It was a blast!....but a bit too chaotic to take pictures....or I forgot the camera...either one!

The kids all did well together, no fighting over presents or anything like that!

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year!

Humor

Wyatt has developed his own sense of humor lately....for better or for worse!  He thinks some things are hilarious as all boys do, but other things he doesn't even notice.  His favorite funny things....burping, tooting, and poop.....those fall under the boy funny things category!  The other things he doesn't quite get yet are jokes.  Here is Wyatt's attempt at jokes lately!

Some New Winter Pictures

 Wyatt has been busy being an artist lately.  We got him the Crayola paints that are clear unless on a certain paper.....I love them!  No mess and easy clean up!

 This is Wyatt saying, "Cheese.....and leave me alone, I'm painting!"

 Reindeer cookies.....he thinks they are the best thing ever....especially when eaten with a pirate hat on!

 I'm not sure what he's doing here....a funny pose with his cookies by the tree!  He's got a funny sense of humor!

 This is a better picture of Wyatt with the tree!

One of Wyatt's favorite activities....eating....and talking....at the same time!

Brian and I are pretty excited for Santa to come this year.  Wyatt is finally old enough to really open presents and get excited for Christmas.  I just hope he's been a good enough boy to get his gifts!

Merry Christmas everyone!



SNOW!

The snow has finally arrived in our little town! It was just a few inches, but Wyatt couldn't have been more excited. He did let me take one quick picture before he jumped in!

'Snow ball?'......luckily the snow wasn't wet enough to form a ball.....just throw a dusting at me!

No, Wyatt's hands aren't that big.....his gloves weren't big enough so he opted to wear my gloves for a few minutes.

This may be our first quick snow and outing....but I know there will be many more this year. Our little....big....chatterbox will definitely be spending more time surrounded by the cold white stuff!

Pumpkins

Brian's pumpkin says it all, "Trick or Treat"! Wyatt picked out this big daddy pumpkin just for his daddy.

Wyatt picked out a Lightning McQueen pattern for his. He put his hands in the pumpkin this year, but wasn't too interested in the pumpkin, the tools were way cooler! I did both of these pumpkins.

Once done carving this one, Wyatt kept taking the lid off and on.....not sure why!

For anyone who knew Brian in high school...this look from Wyatt shouldn't surprise you! I asked him to smile...and he gave me this look!...at least Brian smiled:)

More birthday fun!

"That Silly Daddy," as Wyatt said when we were looking through the pictures! Brian needed to take it for a ride too!

We are singing him Happy Birthday...and he's not hiding under the table....progress!

What are those gold things!....pirate money?!

Blowing out the candles on his pirate cake!

Our family with a three year old! What a blessing he's been to our family!

Dune Racer

Everyone got a turn to ride and drive this awesome new toy (except Landon didn't drive...not big enough yet:)

What a look!

Driving Miss. Emilia

"Super fast car!"

The boys sticking together!

Loving every second of it!

The Best Gift Ever!

We got Wyatt the best gift ever this year! Each of us wanted one when we were kids, so we just had to get one for Wyatt.

Three of the four kids waiting patiently for the big reveal!

And there it is......a Power Wheels Dune Racer......He was totally shocked and immediately in love with it! It was great to see the look on his face when he realized what it was.

Wyatt jumped right in and was ready to take off...as were both of the girls, Grace and Emilia.

Safety first, this two person vehicle has a set of seat belts as well as metal side bars. Wyatt was able to drive it with only a three second demonstration from Brian. I guess driving is an innate skill.

And he was off! It took a few minutes for him to master turning and stopping when we yelled stop at him (when getting close to a tree, car, or post).

Brian and I couldn't have asked for a better reaction to what we knew would be the best gift ever!

Happy Birthday Big Guy!

Today was Wyatt's big big day....His 3rd birthday party with our family.

As always, I made and decorated his cake for the party.....can you guess our theme?!

Let me introduce you to Captain Hook...I mean Wyatt! He actually wore the hat and patch for about five minutes.....and picked out his own shirt (a snow monster)

Here he is giving Lorrie and I official pirate ship orders!

One of Wyatt's presents, from Lorrie, a backpack that will replace his diaper bag at daycare!

Just the right size for our big man!

As you can see....he's 3!

They Say It's Your Birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday Wyatt!! Today you are 3 years old! I seriously can't believe you are that old already. Everyone says the years will go by fast, but in the moment you never believe it.

We made cupcakes to bring to daycare the night before...he just couldn't understand why he couldn't eat one after they were done baking! We needed all 12 of them for his friends!

He had a great day at daycare and came home with some great gifts....including a new whistle....we'll see how long it lasts with the way he blows on it!

We then went to McDonald's for dinner! The best place every if you're three! Here is our little monster, or walrus Wyatt!

We got him The Lion King for his birthday. What a great movie!!

While Wyatt and I baked cupcakes we also made this little cake for us to share tonight. It was really fun to see him blow out his candles this year. He knew just what to do!....but it did take him several tries.

It's been quite the year for us and Wyatt. He's gone from barely talking to have a conversation....using diapers to almost being potty trained....and from 2T to 4T.

We are excited to see what the next year brings for our little...I mean big boy!

More pictures of Wyatt's big birthday party to come....after our shin-dig on Sunday!....let's just say he's getting the best gift that every little kid wants!

More Fall Photos

Picking out pumpkins in the fall is something that we have added as a tradition in the Balk family since we added Wyatt. This year as an almost 3 year old was the best yet!

Wyatt, Lorrie, and I visited a pumpkin farm today just south of town. It was free will offering with all proceeds going to a food charity. Wyatt wasn't aware of this....just that there were tons of pumpkins to run around!

I was able to get these two pictures of him with the help of his Nana. He ran and ran and ran....who knew it was so fun to play duck duck goose with the pumpkins!