Dino Party for Micah's 1st Birthday!

A couple days before his big event, Micah got his first haircut.  Here's the BEFORE of Shaggy pre-haircut...

and AFTER.  Oh so handsome and all grown up!  Ms. Katie was swift with the scissors and did an awesome job while I piled the yogurt melts into Micah's hands.  This boy will do just about anything for sweet treats!

How does a haircut turn a baby into a little boy just like that?

Party Time!!!!!!  We came up with a dino theme for our Birthday Baby's party!  Big brothers' first choice was Star Wars but, with a little prodding, they agreed on dinos as a second runner up!

ONE

Laughing with Poppy

Micah is not taking any unsupported steps yet but he can get his legs moving with a little help!

Time for cake...

...and while we were occupied lighting the candle, this little scoundrel was inside eating a green cupcake ahead of the crew.  Daddy catcha' buddy!!!!!

Guilty and very green

First bite EVER of cake....

Finger lickin' good.

It didn't take Micah long to figure out that he likes sugar (and we had plenty of green diapers to show for it afterwards.  Disgusting!)

Micah cleaned up every last bite and was still smiling!

Pinata time!

then on to the dino dig....  we had fresh mulch delivered the day before the party which made for a fun dirt pile to hide dino treasures.  It was a very dirty, fun adventure....

the mulch had a bit of a stench but the kiddos didn't seem to mind.  The parents stayed far away!

and Isaac had to head back to take another peak in the pinata to see if there was any candy to be found!

2 buddies!

3 buddies!

 Micah is not so sure about wearing Uncle T-dog's shades

 Cousin Danny holding Isaac (left), Wyatt, Dax, Ashtyn holding Micah, and Cousin Caden

Most gifts went to a donation for Childhood Cancer in honor of our sweet neighbor currently fighting the battle, but Micah's grandparents and cousins spoiled him with a few things to open...  What fun! 

 Love this profile!

Wy Guy reading Micah's new book from Auntie B with Daddy!

 and my 3 little dinos finished the afternoon with a ride in their truck...

and apparently the truck broke down so Wyatt and Isaac got out to give it a tune up....

 and Micah got a piggy back ride from his daddy!

then the boys enjoyed a little water time with Papa! 

It was such a fun day!  Thank you to all of our sweet friends and family who came over to celebrate with us!    I've got to note that both Grandma and Grandpa McCulley, Mimi and Poppy, and Grandma and Papa Great were all here even though I didn't get pictures, along with Auntie B (Micah Jay loves his B!!!!). We are so thankful for such amazing friends and family.  So blessed to have you all in our lives! :)

Dear Wyatt.....

Dear Wyatt,  Here's a record of WHO YOU ARE at FOUR!

Favorites
Shows:  Wild Kratz, Curious George, Word World
Movies:  Star Wars, Chipmunks, David and Goliath, Boz Imagination
Color:  orange
Sports:  "all of them!"
Activities:  Pretending, wrestling Daddy and your brothers, building with Trio blocks, playing with any kind of weapon
Buddies: Daddy, Your Bros, Cousin Dax, Owen (from preschool), Jax and Kohen (from Dax's church!), Judah and Dylan (from our church!)

Strengths 

• endless supply of energy....  you are like the energizer bunny!  You get about 11 hours of sleep at night and rarely take a nap.  You'd never choose to go to bed on your own-You try hard to distract us of the time and think of anything under the sun that might allow you stay up just a little bit longer!  I will really appreciate this in you when you are school-aged, I'm sure!
• thinking of others/generous heart....  you are always wanting to give your toys away to kids who don't have much or save your money jar collections for Dandy (our Compassion child).  You're always telling us what you're going to make or buy for us next!
• an amazing memory!  It's unbelievable to me the things you remember from way back when!
• a strong will....  when you put your mind to something, you do it very well!
• imagination/creative mind:  you love to invent, pretend and create
• your cautious....  maybe a bit too cautious sometimes, but I still think this is a huge strength!

Cute Quotes

• I told you that we were having shells for dinner and you asked, "Did you get them at the beach?"
• You said to me, "I'm going to take you to a Barbie movie and buy you pink light up shoes!"
• You to me, "Your friends would think you are prettier if you only had one earring in each ear."
• You to me, "I think you're prettier when your hair is wet but not very pretty when it's dry" 
• You trying to politely ask for some time with your Daddy when he got home from work, "Mom, can you please zip it lock it?" 
• You to me, "I love you more than all of the sunshines and clouds stacked on top of each other."
• I overheard this conversation you were having during your quiet time while playing Jonah and the whale with your trio blocks, "Jonah, you disobeyed God so I'm gonna cut out your Holy Spirit"
• After coloring in your Bible you say to me, "You do marker in your Bible"  
• You to me, "Did you used to be a princess?" Me, "No buddy.  What do you mean?" You, "I mean the day you got married, you were a princess, right momma?"
• When I asked what snack you had at school, "We ate raisins and popcorn and had juice to drink.  I asked for water but they ran out so I just had to drink juice."  You always prefer water!
• You to me, "I'm a better pray-er than you"
• A very sweet prayer at lunch, "Thank you God for washing all our sins away and thank you for our food. Amen."
• When I said you had an eyelash on your cheek, "Mom, how are you going to put it back on?"
• A sweet bedtime prayer, "Thank you for the animals, Jesus, my whole life, my blocks and toys.  Amen."
• "Are you thinking what I"m thinking?"
• "When we go to heaven, I think we should take some coins to give to God"
• "I was thinking maybe this afternoon we could go take pictures outside of Chic-fil-A" You know that mommy loves to take your picture and you love to eat at chic-fil-a.....  you are a smart cookie in winning over this momma's heart!
• every night at dinner you do this with your daddy and Isaac, "On the count of 3 we're going to tell Mommy thank you for dinner.  OK?  One, two, three (in unison), thank you for our dinner Mommy!"  I almost cried the first night you did this on your own accord! :) 

A Weekend Away With Wy guy!

We gave Wyatt the option of a birthday party with his buddies or a one-night hotel stay on the Plaza with Mommy and Daddy.  He wavered a bit and tried to negotiate for both, but much to our surprise, he ultimately settled on the latter!!!!  Woo HOooooooooo.  There was very little planning required and it was a vacation for Joe and I as well.  What a precious memory with our Wy Guy to celebrate 4 years of life together!  There probably won't be too many more years when he chooses us over his buddies so we took full advantage of the two-on-one time with him.  We began our weekend with a movie, The Lorax!  Great show, yummy popcorn, and such fun company....  Wy gave it a thumbs up on the rooftop afterward!

Very proud to be FOUR.

The first thing Wy wanted to do when we checked into our hotel was to play hide-n-seek....  so we did just that as many times as possible in hotel room!

How did Daddy ever think to look in the bathroom?

Momma squeezing every ounce of lovin' from my favorite firstborn!

I'm biased, but I think my 4-year-old is pretty darn handsome!

and a little bit silly

and can be so stinkin' sweet too!

Love you, Wyatt Joseph..........  to eternity and all the way back!  "Now, that's a lot of love!" you would say to me. ;)

Daddy took advantage of running into the Apple store and coming out with an ipad????!  Hmmmmmm, this was not a mommy-approved purchase, but my boys think it's pretty awesome! :)  OK, so it wasn't nearly as impulsive and spontaneous as I make it sound.....  Joe had already tucked the cash away from a bonus he'd received, but it was a little detour from the weekend itinerary, or so I thought!  We live in such an i-everything kind of world that I'm a bit resistant to all of the fingertip technology....  I see so many miss out on moments with the people right under their noses because they are so engaged in cyber-world.  Off my soap box, but I just don't want to be 'that mom'!!!!  So the ipad will have limited usage in this house, that's for sure!  But I'm glad it gives these boys some good bonding time!  They have a mutual affection for the ipad!   

My Wy guy stretching over to touch the hotel sign.... not sure why he was doing this but it made for a good documentary of our Marriott stay!  I should add that Daddy had Marriott points which made for a super cheap adventure. 

A few more photos of our super cool 4-year-old on the way to the Kansas City St. Patrick's Day Parade!

Wyatt's favorite buddy hands down.....  "Daddy Jojo" he often calls him!

Wyatt thought these green guys were pretty cool and they were everywhere!

My favorite littlest leprechaun waiting for us to return home from a weekend of fun.  Not that he missed a thing....  he was well taken care of and smothered with affection from his Mimi and Poppy! THANK YOU for helping us celebrate with our Wyatt by loving on our lil guys!!!!!!

And my favorite middle man doing a little 'green work' with his daddy!

Wyatt, thank you for choosing this special opportunity to hang out together with our attention fully on you  this weekend!  Mommy and Daddy had a blast and will add this to our favorite memory bank.  Did I mention that I love you?  Did I tell you how proud I am of you?  You are very loved and make us so very proud.  Thanks for being you, which is exactly who you are meant to be! :)  We are so honored the Lord chose you to be a part of our family..........  we're forever grateful for your life!