Dr. Wylie

On Tuesday, January 24th Jon defended his dissertation for his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership! His committee signed off on it so he is now, technically, Dr. Wylie!! We are so thankful to be finished and so blessed by all the support and encouragement we had along the way. (graduation coming this May)

Granna Wylie, Mr. Richard, BeBe and PopPop all came into town for the defense and a celebratory dinner. Here are a few pictures from "defense day."

The kids ran out to greet "Dr. Daddy" when he got home.
(No they don't actually call him that! But it was fun for the day!)

If he wasn't squinting from the sun you would be
able to visibly see the relief on his face :)

Later that evening Jon opened a beer and this is what it said inside the cap.....
what?!?!  After 200 and some-odd pages I think he's really okay!

ring.pop.

Thank you Mrs. Amanda!

these two.....

I am loving the stage Lydda Grace and Wade are in right now. They are just starting to figure out playing together, give each other hugs and kisses, show concern for one another, talk to each other.... it's great. Granted that with this comes fits where they scream at each other or Wade hits Lydda Grace with a (soft) bat... maybe next time that happens I'll lock myself in our bedroom and just look at these pictures :) 

1. Watching Angelina Ballerina together (sorry Wade!!!)
2. Reading
3. "bub bat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
4. LOVE this! Just playing and cuddling!

park

on a beautiful Saturday in January......

out to dry

While playing with a bit of yarn the other day LG decided to make a clothesline. I helped her tie it in place, gave her a handful of clothespins and let her go at it.... 

baby it's cold... no it's warm... no it's cold.... outside

This January weather is crazy! We're just rolling with the punches and getting outside as we're able! 

climbing in Daddy's car after he gets home from work... they LOVE this

flyswatter bubbles.... makes lots of tiny bubbles
it's very fun to dance and twirl to make the bubbles.... I should know, I did
lots of demonstrations for the kids :)

Thanks A. BekBek and U. HaHa for the bubbles and flyswatters :)
Wade likes to splash the bubbles

dear Wade

Dear Wade-

Twenty months is an odd time to write you a letter... but 18 months came and went all too quickly and if I wait until you are two I know you will be doing even more! It's very hard to believe that you will be two years old in just 4 months, that seems not to be a "baby" age in my mind and you are very much still my baby!

You are into EVERYTHING these days! I love to see what captures your attention, what makes you laugh and what you're capable of doing on your own (which amazes me every day). Here are some of the things that stand out to me about you at this age:

- You are so loving, cuddly and affectionate! One of your favorite phrases is "hol' meee! hol' mee!" and when you stand in front of me, reaching your arms up saying that it's very hard to tell you no! Often when you get up from your afternoon nap you're still just waking up and we can sit in the rocker and talk and cuddle. I love that time with you. You also sleep best when you're with someone. Just this past Sunday Daddy laid down with you for an afternoon nap and you both slept almost 3 hours! But I think my favorite thing about you being so cuddly is how quickly you find my lap! As soon as I sit on the floor (if you're not busy with something else) you beeline for me, turn around, and plop! right into my lap :)

- You are talking A LOT! We seem to have just come to the point where we can have a conversation with you and it is so much fun to see your comprehension and to try to translate what you're saying. Your favorite word (by FAR) is "no!" Most of the time that is just your automatic answer to a question... even when we're sure it's not what you actually mean (i.e. "Wade, do you want some ice cream?" "No!")
Other things you say that make me smile---- "mik" (milk... except that's what you call every drink), "i do!!" (your response to any question I begin by asking, "who wants to....?"), "neen nup, neen nup" (your version of the clean up song), "dit joo" (from reading that no one else would have a clue what that means... but that's what it sounds like when you say "get you" which is what you say when we tickle you or chase you) and "mank mank" which is really hard to figure out.... it's "pancake!" you eat pancakes for breakfast a lot and sometimes for snack!!

- There are a few things you really love: snugli ("nunni"), your thumb... ALL the time!, balls (every kind, shape, size, color, etc), shoes (mostly everyone elses), playing outside, climbing, closing doors, playing with Lydda Grace, snack ("nack"- which is pretty much anything like dry cereal or pretzels), playing chase

As with every age so far I love to see how your relationship with your big sister is changing. You two are finally getting to the age where you play together (and of course aggravate each other a good bit in the process!). You both love to be silly together, play dress up, play with duplos.... every once in a while you'll randomly run over to Lydda Grace and wrap her up in a huge hug (this has resulted a couple times in you completely knocking her over!). I pray that you two will become great friends.

Wade, you are such a joy to me, Daddy, and Lydda Grace!!!

I love you Wadester!

Love,
Mama

beans

it's nice to have someone to dance with

baby Miles

Molly and Carson have been our sweet friends since 2008 when we moved back to Clemson and Molly was an RA in one of Jon's buildings. Molly came to our apartment to meet me (I was pregnant with LG) and we've been friends ever since! After graduating they stayed in the area and have a sweet little one of their own. We've had a semi regular date night once a week for the moms and kids to hang out while the daddies work late on school stuff. 

This past week before Molly and Miles came over I was talking with LG and something came up that made me ask, "Lydda Grace, why don't you play with your baby dolls, you can pretend to feed and change them, that would be fun!!" To which she replied, "But Mom, they're not reeeeaaaalllll!"  :) 

I guess there's no substitute when you have a real baby to play with! She loves to "babysit" Miles when he comes to visit. 

We love you Snipes Family!!!

visit from Aunt Bethy and Uncle Mark

Bethy and Mark stopped by for dinner and a visit on their way back home after 11 days of holiday travel! We were so glad they stopped!!

waiting for them to arrive

yay! they're here! 

so sweet!

oh my goodness..... this child LOVES
Angelina Ballerina..... screaming over a new AB book
from A. Bethy and U. Mark!

a recipe invented by Lydda Grace

The other day Lydda Grace randomly said she had invented a recipe and wanted to eat a marshmallow peanut butter and jelly sandwich... interesting. So after Wade went to bed we tried out her "invention." I wasn't sure if she meant marshmallows ON a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.... but an actual marshmallow sandwich seemed much more intriguing..... so this is what we ended up with. She of course loved it :)

around the house

It was nice after all our travels to come back home and hang out and get back into a routine. After going to church on Sunday the kids and I didn't leave the house until Friday morning except for one quick Bi-Lo run! 

Reading with Daddy, on the mattress, on the floor, in the den.
Getting the mattress out is one of our favorite things to do.
The kids love bouncing around on it, reading, watching a movie, etc.
We probably do this about once a month, so it's a fun treat!

Our fox! a little scary as we yelled at it walked towards it
and threw a red rubber ball at it and it didn't move. Animal
control and our friends (who are a hunter and a vet) assured us this was
not normal behavior and we should probably keep an eye on it. We
haven't seen it since.... 

Wade loving a soft cinnamon sugar pretzel at our dinner get-together
at the Caldwells.

Lydda Grace got to choose a recipe to make from
her new cookbook. She chose lemonade..... We made
Daddy do most of the work and she and I did the stirring,
picture taking, and drinking!

Wow, he loves her a lot! 

one final Christmas post

My parents' next door neighbors are very dear to us! We love to visit Nana Betty and Papa Robert whenever we are in town. Here was our Christmas visit.....

Wade loved their little rocking chair that is just his size.

Visiting!

Papa Robert is inspecting the beautiful jewelry that they gave
Lydda Grace as a Christmas present.

Talking with Nana Betty.... probably saying "no" about something
that is his favorite word lately.... and by favorite I mean
he says it ALL the time!!!

Nativities are one of LG's favorite things, she is just drawn to them.

As I mentioned.... Wade loved the rocking chair! 

Learning to Read