Luckenbach, Three Years Later

Not much time to write. We had a great time, stayed an extra day. Ran Wilder ragged. Read a lot. Cooked. Drank. Visited the birthplace of our family unit. It was great. Some pics below ... love to all. --k.


Three years later, a family pic under the oak grove we got married under. We were very saddened to see it was showing the first signs of oak wilt disease. In a few years, these few huge old trees that have shaded Luckenbach for so long will most likely be dead.


Wilder sits by our brick. It reads: "Jerry & Kris. Hitched. Oct 25, 2003" (I think ... it's hard to read for sure in this photo.)


Wilder just being Wilder.


Wilder and I discuss the finer points of rocks.


The general store/bar decorated for Christmas.


This is NOT what it looks like. But it sure does make you do a double take, eh?


Luckenbach, in still life, with a kiddo in tow.

Maybe It's Time We Got Back ...

to the basics of love!

A line from Luckenbach, Texas, which is where Jer, the Wildman and I are driving to tonight on a whim. We just decided this morning — well, more like I decided and talked Jerry into it. We're heading out around 7 so that Wilder can sleep most of the way, staying at the Peach Tree Inn in Fredericksburg, and tomorrow we'll head out to Luckenbach to show the boy where his parents were married. I'm sure he'll run around like a chicken with his head cut off and check out all the Harleys and meet the locals and try to steal their beers. Good times ... Good times ...

Anyway, we'll take pics and post here soon. Can't wait to get down there. It's a special place for Jerry and I and the last little road trip we'll be able to take 'til post-tax season.

Love to all, k.

Wilder on Christmas: "Yule Rules!!"

Well, our first real Christmas (we don't count last year when Wilder was but a wee gelatinous blob o' flesh still) went great. Wilder is teething and has therefore had a tiny bit of the turd in him the last couple days, and last night he kept Jerry and I up more than an hour voicing his displeasure at Santa not having arrived in the actual flesh yet, but this morning, despite puffy eyes (Wilder, me AND Jer), he was doing the "YAY IT'S CHRISTMAS" dance, which consists of some wild shuffling of the feet coinciding with rather loud intonations of joy.

To sum it up, he got a junkload of toys, most of which he's enjoyed rather well today, a few the puppy has enjoyed (read: half-mutilated) as well, and only one, if I can recall correctly at the end of a VERY LONG day, that I regret buying (Note to Dress Me Elmo: Shut the HELL up already. No one cares about your shoelace.) Favorites? Bongo drums. A toy vacuum. And some puzzles that are fun to take apart (put together? not on your life.).

Anyway, enough rambling. The kid is sleeping, I haven't taken a shower much less brushed my teeth (yes, it's 8:25 p.m. -- eww), AND I've got a bottle of Grand Marnier to dive into once I'm cleaned up. I'll let the pics below tell the remainder of the story. But suffice to say: WOW WOW WOW ... kids sure make Christmas fun.


"Look you guys! This really cool Radio Flyer Rocket has BUUUUUTTTTOOONNNNNS!"


"I know you can ride it, but did I mention it has BUUUTOOOOOOOONNNNNS?!?"


Wilder unwraps his bongo drums. Now, for his Matthew McConaughey impression ... kidding!


Cheap rubber dinosaurs are cool ... LOOK!


Hanging with grandad (note the hand on grandad's beer bottle ... nice try kid)


Cuddling with Aunt Cati


Who is this elfen cutie who has invaded our house?


YAYYYYYYYY CHRISTMASSSSSS!

Vocabulary, Palate Continue to Grow

Wow. It never ceases to amaze me what a difference a few weeks makes in a toddler's life. Wilder has gone from incoherently babbling like a tongue-speaking snake charmer to saying as many actual words as we can throw at him. Puppy. Kitty. Baby. (The basics, of course). Apple. Love you. Thank you. Betty. Etc. (He doesn't actually say "et cetera" ... that was to indicate ... well, you know. Heheh.)

He's sleeping in our room because his Grandad and Aunt Cati are in town. This morning he woke up in his Pak 'n Play, peeped over the side, saw Jer and said "Papa... Papa. Papa. Papa." When this failed to sufficiently wake Jerry to go and pick him up, he tried a new tack. "Kitty. Kiiiiiitttttyyyyyy." For the record, kitty didn't get him either, but it sure gave Jerry and I a good early-morning giggle.

Two nights ago, when Jerry Sr. and Cati got here, we all decided to go have sushi. I thought about packing Wilder some food, but thought: "He can eat sushi, right?" Not the raw stuff, of course, but other cooked sushi fare would be all right. Turns out he will! He slurped miso soup down like a hungry sumo wrestler. Popped edamame like it was popcorn. Even gave California rolls a shot and loved them. We've tried pretty hard to give him a lot of different flavors and variety in his diet and so far he's resisted very little. Hope it lasts ...

Anyway, that's about all for now. I'm sure I'll be posting Christmas morning photos and maybe a little video here soon (please don't make fun of my appearance -- I'm rocking the Rick Springfield mullet look in the process of growing my hair out). We've got everything wrapped and under the tree. One last thing to do, and that's put together Wilder's Radio Flyer Rocket Car tonight and stick a big bow on it.

Merry Christmas to everyone! Much love, K, J & W

Now If We Could Just Get Him to Mow

Most of you know Jerry does a lot of the cooking in our house (I'll resist the urge to make excuses for my lack of kitchen domesticity here). Anyway, the other night, as Jerry cooked dinner, Wilder slid one of our dining table chairs into the kitchen, gathered up some pots and spoons and proceeded to treat the chair's top as a cooktop, moving pots around and stirring away. He also gets his push-popper out whenever one of us (usually me ... see, I CLEAN) gets out the vacuum, and follows us around as if he too is vacuuming. It's pretty cool to see your spawn wanting to do the things you do.

Here's a stealthy pic of him "cooking" with Daddy:
 

Ambulatin' Away

Watching Wilder crawl and walk for the first time was exciting, of course. But when both those things had been accomplished, I thought, "Well, that's that." Shows you how little I know ...

In the last couple of weeks, Wilder has really been testing the outer limits of what his body can do. I have a feeling it has something to do with the Betty Acquisition. Since we got her, we've been spending a lot more time outside, which means Wilder's had greater amounts of space to roam in. It's given him confidence. He's also seen how something his size, Betty, can run and jump and go nuts. I think she's inspired him.

Anyway, some of it's hilarious -- "Hey, I can walk backwards! Look at me! Walking backwards! Walk backwards some more! ... Oh, hey, there's the wall." And some of it's just scary. As in, I have no "inner-sense of self-preservation" scary. He tries to dive face first off the bed. Outside, he runs twoard the street full speed. Stairs and drop offs don't seem to scare him at all. So far, no major tear-inducing accidents. But I'm starting to realize our boy is a fearless, spill-taking thrill-seeker.

Uh. Oh.

And now for a photo. Seems Jerry couldn't resist the charms of Target when he bought Wilder this "My First Christmas" hat.

Bubble Fun

Just a few pics from dinner and bath time tonight:


You can't tell in this photo, but Wilder had milk all over his face and head. He has developed this really not cute habit of letting milk dribble out of his mouth onto his chin. I figured I could let it annoy me or I could turn it into a game. So I started smearing it all over his face and head, making him giggle uncontrollably. I'm sure I'll regret this ...

Bubble hat!!


Just a damn cute photo.


And, because one damn cute photo isn't enough ...

Also, I just wanted to add that Betty is currently sleeping in Wilder's room of her own free will. Man, I LOVE it that my kid has a dog that will for her entire life be his best friend. Now, if I could just figure out how to get them both still and focused long enough to take a picture. Sedatives? Kidding ...

xoxo,
k.

Wilder and Betty Girl

A picture of Betty, and another of her and Wilder. Note about getting a 12-week-old pup and a 1-year-old in the same frame for a nice shot: Very. Difficult. We'll keep trying, cuz they're awful damn cute together.

Wilder Gets a Sister ...

Of the four-legged variety! Ha, probably had a few of you there for a second, eh?

So yes, we got a fuzzy black adorable little furball of love for Wilder for an early Christmas present. It happened suddenly and unexpectedly yesterday — here's the scoop.

A woman I work with approached me, telling me she was going to send me an email with some pictures of a puppy she was trying to find a home for. Her parents' dog had had a litter and she picked out this little girl for her friend, who for some reason or another couldn't take her. You know when you get that little feeling that says something is meant to be? Well, I got that.

OK, long story short — somehow Jerry miraculously agreed to take the dog in. I'm not sure why, but probably because he's the BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD : )

So now we are the proud owners of a lab/golden retriever/border collie mix I think we're going to call Black Betty (BB or Bette for short, depending on who's calling her), in honor of Wilder's favorite song. I will post photos very soon. So far she's an awesome pup — very chill, sleeps through the night, cuddles well, does her business almost exclusively outside and follows Wilder around like he's her new best friend. It's so cool to think of the two of them growing up together.

Tree Hunt 2006

On Saturday we decided that this year we'd rather make picking out our Christmas tree a family tradition, and given that, going to Kroger and pissing and moaning about $60 trees didn't seem like the precendent we wanted to set for our little boy.

So, for the first time, the Scotts headed to a tree farm. Thanks to the Texas Xmas Tree Growers Association website, we found one less than an hour away. Well, at least it would have been less than an hour away if the town of Terrell didn't shut down US 80 for its holiday parade. Yep, a major friggin' highway was shut down for a few miles so the resident yahoos in Terrell could get their march on. Oh well ...

So we finally land at Walls Family Farm and boy oh boy was it a fine time. Cold as all get out at first. Wilder was looking at us like, "Hey lame parents, I'm freezin' my tush off." But he soon cheered up. Jerry kept going, "What about this one?" every 12 to 15 seconds. I finally had to tell him I'd know our tree when I saw it. He chilled. And once the pressure was off, we found it quite quickly. Jerry made quick work of cutting it down and as we waited for it to be bound, we had hot cider and Wilder checked out the chicken hatch.

It was a great experience and I already can't wait to do it again next year.


Wilder and Mama on the tractor ride over. It was C.O.L.D.


The Wee One finds a Wee Tree to say "hi" to.


The Tree. Papa and Wilder stand by it prior to the chop.


Wilder toddles around while Daddy cuts down our tree.


Good job Daddy!!


Ahhhhh. The SUN!!

We're Back!

My deepest apologies to our blog visitors. I haven't been very good about posting lately. I tried last week to post, but Blogger went down for maintenance in the middle of it and I lost the post right as I'd finished it. Haven't been back to try again since.

All is well in our world. Well, actually we've all been down with the crud for awhile now. Strangely, Wilder's the only healthy one in the bunch of us. He's teething like crazy -- molars and incisors -- but handling it really well, a real trooper.

Anyway, I know everyone comes here for the photos, so here are some from the last few days and from the end part of our Florida trip, in no particular order. Much love to all, KJ&W


Wilder getting tossed by Pop. We were trying to get a good shot for holiday cards. Not sure we got it, but we did get plenty of great outtakes.


A contemplative tub moment.


Tub time. Good time.


Trying to make off with Daddy's beer bottle. Sneaky little naked monkey.


Another Christmas shot outtake. Look at those chompers!


I'm gonna get you suckamomma!


Hangin' on the Cocoa Beach Pier.


Mmmmm, lemonnnnnnnnnn. Goooooooood.


Three generation of Scott fellas: Great-Grandaddy Vechel, Wilder and Jer


Wilder hangs with his new buddy Becky. She's the very sweet daughter of his Mamaw Margaret (see pic below)


Wilder sure does LOVE his Great-Grandaddy and Mamaw!!

More From FLA

Today we got a sunny day and some time on the beach and swimming in the Atlantic. Brrrrr ... but tolerable. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera. But here are some more pics from our second beach excursion yesterday:

Ahhh, the ocean air.


Granddad fed the gulls so Wilder could get a closer look ...


He really dug them. Kept making bird noises back at them.


Argh Matey!

FLORIDA: Granddaddy Central

Hello from not-so-sunny Florida. Actually, we've seen plenty of sun while we've been here, but right now it's pretty overcast. It's Saturday morning, 9:30, and so far today we've took a nice walk on the beach, had plenty of coffee and eggs and bacon, and relaxed. Which is pretty much exactly as I pictured this vacation.

Wilder's met his great-granddaddy, great-grandmommy Margaret and hung out a lot with his granddad Jerry Ray, who's staying with us here near the beach. We also met Margaret's daughter, Becky, and her husband George and visited their home near the Indian River. I have to say "hi!" to all of them as we found out they visit this blog and have seen Wilder grow up here.

Despite the fact that we're all still germy, we're having a blast. Some pics from the first couple days below. More to come ...

Wilder's first beach visit this morning.


Hanging out with his great-granddaddy Vechel. They sure do love each other!!


First sandage on the footage. Woohoo!


With Mom and Granddaddy -- the first time the ocean hit his feet he cried a little, but got over it quickly.


Hey, the beach is fun!!


Wilder contemplates the ocean's vastness and life's complexities.


First thing he did upon waking up? Climbed on Granddad's lap, making for a fine pic.


Looking cool (or slightly "special") in Jerry Ray's sunglasses.