Arriana Lyn

Ok, so it has been 8 months since I posted but I'm back now. I would like to introduce everyone to Arriana Lyn. She was born January 17th, 2011 at 3:20 am weighing 6 lbs. 12 oz and 21 inches long. She was almost 4 weeks early and born on her brother's birthday. The only problem that she had due to being so early was being Jaundice for awhile but she did not have to stay in the hospital any extra time for that. Now that she is 5 and a half weeks old things are going well. She was 8 lbs. 6 oz at one month old so she is growing very well. Her brother loves her, so far(since she is not able to steal his toys yet). He always wants to hold her and kiss her and play with her. He always wants to know if her eyes are open and if she is crying.

I'm still here!

I'm sorry for not having posted in 5 months. There are a couple things that I didn't capture in the slideshow. The first is that we have moved out of my parent's house. Bert and I have bought half of a duplex in Amherst. It has been really nice having our own place but also having Grandma and Grandpa still really close (2 miles). The other thing is that Bert has gotten a local job. He is now working at Swiderski Equipment in Waupaca as a farm equipment tech.

For the slideshow I've kind of picked through the pictures of the last few months and put some of the more fun ones on. I hope you enjoy. Be especially mindful of the picture after the slideshow: A picture can say a thousand words!!




I'm sooo big...(read shirt carefully)!!


That's right, Wyatt will be a big brother in early-mid February 2011!!

Please!!

Here is a little video of when Wyatt and I went to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Iowa. We were making Gingerbread men and Wyatt learned that the white frosting stuff tasted good.

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Wyatt!

That's right, Wyatt turned 2 on Sunday. It was a fun day, Elmo style. His dad was able to make it home (drives semi over the road). We also had a small party for him with all of my local relatives. He did really well entertaining everyone until he got tired. Yesterday Wyatt had his two year check-up and it's not just our imagination, Wyatt is tall for his age. At 36.75" he is in the 95%; as for his weight he is finally catching up and at 28.5 lbs he's 50%.


Wyatt showing his love for Elmo

Wyatt goofing around "in" his new Fill and Dump Wagon (for his new blocks).

Grandma helping Wyatt blow out his candle.
Wyatt did eventually ditch the spoon to the easier (and messier) hand method of eating cake.

Wyatt opening his new "vaveo" (video) from Grandma and Grandpa.

Our big helper!

Being at Grandma and Grandpa's house has allowed Wyatt to show how big of a helper he can be around the house and with the animals. Here are a number of pictures depicting this. While my brother Kyle was in town we visited the "Building for Kids" in Appleton and have some pictures from there. Also just some fun ones from around the house. I hope you enjoy.


It's time to feed the Goats.


Grandpa even lets my help collect the eggs.


I harvested an apple for a snack.


Someone has to carry in the green beans.


Carrying in the corn.


Helping Uncle Jim and Aunt Leslie pack up.


Helping "shuck" the Kidney Beans.


More bean shucking.


The laundry basket is a little heavy for me so Grandma helps me carry it.


Helping grandma water the plants.


Might as well rest under the palm tree.


Action shot!


My steering wheel.


Playing in my sandbox with Grandma.


Wearing my Twins cap (for the first time).


Being careful on the ropes with mommy helping me.


Enjoying trucks in the rubber sandbox.


Where's the fire? I'm ready!


I snapped a picture of Aunt Leslie and Grandma at the Bacon Reunion.


I can carry a kid!

It's been a while

I figured that I would finally post again. I've been pretty busy working and taking care of Wyatt and just haven't had the time to post very often. Anyway, my job is going well. I'm starting to get adjusted to working full time. The members (residents) that I work with are generally pretty nice. I'm beginning to learn what I knew I would: It's hard working in a nursing home because you never know when someone you like is going to pass away. Otherwise it is going well. Bert's job is going well. I always wish he were home more often but that comes with driving Semi over the road.

Wyatt has been doing well also. He's growing and learning so much all the time. He also loves being and Grandma and Grandpa's house. He gets to do some much. We recently got him a kid slide and he loves going down that. He's starting to understand that he has to sit down first but he seems to like to go down it on his belly face first (we try very hard to prevent that and are trying to teach him the proper way of going down). He also has a one track mind sometimes. He will go to my parent's cupboard and start saying "cracker" because he knows where the graham crackers and animal crackers are. One thing Wyatt really likes doing is helping Grandpa feed the animals. My dad has 4 hens that are currently laying eggs (he also has 12 "chicks" that aren't old enough to lay eggs yet) and he let's Wyatt carry an egg up to the house. That has pretty much stopped now because the other day Wyatt was holding onto the egg a little too hard and put a finger through it. I guess that's about it. I hope you enjoy the slideshow. I tried the Picasa website, hopefully it works okay.

Move and New Job

I am finally taking a few minutes to update our faithful readers on the goings on of the Stone Family. A lot has happened since I last posted on May 27th. The two biggest of those are we moved and both Bert and I have started new jobs (so maybe that's three things). I am now working as a CNA at a Veterans Home in King, WI (near Waupaca if you know where that is). I did two weeks of inservice classroom training which held during day-shift hours, one week of evening mentoring (1:45-10:15 pm; or 1345-2215 since it's a Veterans home) and I am now 2/5ths of my way through my Night shift mentoring (2200 - 0600). I am pretty tired but luckily I have a nice mother and cousin who help out watching Wyatt while I get a few hours of shut-eye after I get home in the morning (daycare lady has vacation last week and this week). Next week Wednesday I start my third and final mentoring on Day shift and then starting July 16th I am on my own. Scary!

Bert, unfortunately, is back on the road driving Semi. The mechanic industry isn't really hiring right now and driving helps financially quite a bit. That makes grandma and grandpa-care very invaluable to us which we are tremendously thankful for. Anyway, Bert has finally gotten through his new employment training and on the road steadily. He just took a load to Orlando and now is on his way to South Dakota.

Wyatt is doing very well. He has more freedom at grandma and grandpa's house. Oh yeah, I'll take a quick step back. We have moved to Amherst, WI and in with my parents for the time being. This, again, is partly for daycare purposes, but also because Bert and I wanted to get a feel for the area to see where we would best like to live. We have long terms plans on what we want to be doing and where we will be living but we are still undecided for the short-term (except living with my parents). Anyway back to Wyatt. We finally consider him a WALKER!! He took his first unaided steps the day before he turned 15 months but, because of his dynamic crawling skills, it took him a little over two months to realize walking might be a better option. He still does a good bit of crawling but he now knows how fun it is to walk, too. He does use every opportunity to practice that skill as well. I've taken a few fun pictures of Wyatt exploring his new house, so enjoy.


Helping Grandpa mow the lawn (don't worry the mower was not running they were just pushing it).


How did you find me, mom!


Helping grandma vaccuum the floors.


Look at those clothes go round and round fast ( The front loading washing machine is one of his favorite things to watch).


Where did my tractor go?


I found it!