The rest of 2012...

 

Waiting to start the Tuna 200
(and waiting on van-mate #6!)

Waiting on J'esus to finish his leg...how appropriate?!

The whole team (Deadliest Catch) at the finish.
We made it all 200 miles!

Posing with our awesome toothy pumpkin

The Green Ninja and Spiderman ready to battle it out for candy

The City of Oaks Half Marathon

Griffy's first flight with Grandpa!

 

Little G turns 3!!!!!!

Time to blow out all three candles...

and hold up three fingers!

Griffy's favorite toy: a piggy back truck

Woohoo!

Little G Men

Sawyer and the G-man carnage...yum.

Christmas Eve at the Milbauer's

Gotta love Lincoln Logs!

A little boy and his trucks...

G in his new Cars blankie

Sawyer and G in their FAVORITE Christmas present.

Sawyer checkin out the clearance on the train
through his first Lincoln log cabin

Griffin and Jonette singing Christmas carols

It was a very full Well-House on Christmas day!

The cousins playing with Angry Birds

Cruisin'

I made a promise to myself that I would finish out the year in pictures BEFORE the year actually ended.  (What a concept?!) So here I am on New Year's eve with my final post for the year!

October was pretty busy.  Eleven running friends and I embarked on a 200 mile relay from Lake Benson (Garner) to Atlantic Beach.  It was a blast!  I learned al ot about myself on that trip.  I learned the proper technique for sleeping on the ground (if tired enough), how to avoid stray dogs at night (outrun them), how to fit six people & all their crap in a van (carefully), how much a van can smell after 6 people have been running for the past 5-6 hours (really bad), how well I can run given all the above circumstances, how peaceful eastern NC is at 2am, how many stars you can see when in the middle of NOWHERE, how generous my van mates can be (pacing each other even though we were all exhausted and had our own runs to do), how awesome the other teams/runners were to each other AND I learned that I can't wait to do another. ;)  Palmetto 200 here we come!!!!

Halloween went off without a hitch.  Sawyer designed our pumpkin with LOTS of teeth and I was lucky enough to have tooth carving skills so it turned out pretty cheery.  The Green Ninja and Spiderman hauled in LOTS of loot and were quite pleased with themselves.

Little G turned 3!  Until you have children you forget how truly difficult it is to get that third baby finger up without the other two coming with it.  ;)  It took a few days to truly master the skill of showing us how old he is now.  Griffin is growing like a weed and surprising us every day with new skills and words he's mastered.  It's still a challenge to understand everything he says, but its much better.  Griffin also took his first flight with Grandpa Wayne.  He loved it! He was very quiet during the flight, just looking out the window.  As soon as we landed he started telling us all kinds of animated stories about what he'd seen and heard (cause it was LOUD).  Whenever he's asked about his plane ride, a very animated story always follows.

The weekend before my 37th birthday I ran the City of Oaks half marathon.  I ran this same race last year and was excited to do it again.  I managed to beat my previous personal record by 13 minutes!  Granted I had a LOT of room for improvement, but considering I woke up at 610am and the race started at 7am...I was a bit flustered.  BUT the Tuna taught me that I can roll out of bed and run...and so that is just what I did. ;)

Thanksgiving was gone before we knew it and now Christmas has gone as well.  We had a wonderful Christmas.  Griffin totally understands what is going on and is absolutely amazed by EVERYTHING.  It's awesome to experience Christmas through the eyes of a three year old.  So far, with both Sawyer and Griffin, three has been my favorite age at Christmas.  I know there are many great years to come with the boys, but the wonder and amazement of a three year old is unmatched. 
The other thing I loved about this Christmas was ALL the fabulous art work from Sawyer. (So, maybe 5 is a pretty awesome age too!) Our house was decorated from top to bottom with Sawyer's hand made arts and crafts.  We had tons of great wall art, paper ornaments, ball ornaments, candles and candle holders...all courtesy of Sawyer.  I love looking around my house and seeing the creations of little boys.  (The snowman with bloody fangs and the Christmas "creature" were all time faves!)

I've got to sign off now before we hit midnight and this post doesn't make it in 2012!

I hope you all had a fun-filled winter and I wish everyone the best in 2013.

Love,
The Wellhouse Family
Andrea, John, Sawyer and Griffin

Fall 2012

Sawyer's Pre-K Graduation



"So what do I do now?!"

The whole family at graduation.
The little boys are getting hot and disgruntled!

 

End of summer peaches are the best!

Musicians

The Thinker

Somebody call for a couple of Superhero's?!

This looks like an accident waiting to happen... ;)

My Superheros!

Sawyer ready to go to Kindergarten
(G ready for pretty much anything!)

 

 

Sawyer survived his first day with a smile!

 

Griffy the fridge magnet
(aka Timeout at the Wellhouse's)

Friends Scott & Jess in Virginia Beach

Carrie, Beth and I after the VA Beach
Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon

I think is the longest I've gone between posts!  2012 is almost over!!!!! 

Griffin - He was for the most part completely potty trained by mid-August with only a random accident here and there.  Still in pull-ups at night...we'll keep working on that aspect.  (It's so hard to remember to wake up and go pee pee.)  He talks A LOT, but we only understand about half of what he says.  His speech improves every day so little by little we are picking up more and more.  We moved G to a new preschool shortly after Sawyer started kindergarten.  It has turned out to be a great move both for G and for us.  (G's new pre-school is right on the way to Sawyer's kindergarten so it saves us easily 30 minutes drive time per trip.)  It's a small school so it has a very warm, cozy feel.  He loves it so far.  It's located on the old Dorothea Dix campus which is beautiful and has the best view of the city I've ever seen. 

Sawyer - Wow.  What a whirlwind kindergarten has been?!  Sawyer is doing great...me, I'm still adjusting.  The barrage of fees, supplies, rules, countless teacher work-days and an overwhelming lack of control has left me feeling completely lost most of the time.  BUT slowly we are learning the routines and figuring out how to get information in a timely manner.  Sawyer is already correcting my Spanish which I guess means he's learning and that is after all the point...so on we roll through this crazy year of change.  The most impressive thing about kindergarten is the sudden realization that Sawyer is growing up.  He is capable of so much more than we ever realized.  I think that's what kindergarten is truly about...teaching the parents that their children are little people capable of making decisions, being responsible and exerting their independence.  He doesn't always make the perfect choice, but what matters is that he is making a decision and learning from it.  (And I have learned to loosen the reigns and take LOTS of deep cleansing breaths...)

Me - I'm doing pretty good.  As you all could see by the pictures, I ran the VA Beach Rock-n-Roll half marathon Labor Day weekend.  Holy cow!  It was crazy hot (~90 degrees F at the finish) and easily 90% humidity.  The most tortuous part of the race was the finish.  I could see the finish from over a mile away...it just taunted me.  The guy next to me swore it was moving back with every step we took forward.  Despite the rough run, it was great seeing our good friends Scott & Jess!  They are thriving in VA Beach as optometrists...living the dream! ;)

John - He's been busy at work and shuttling little boys to and fro.  We've finally carved out a some time on Weds for him to work on music. (The boys and I grab dinner out and go to swim lessons.) I'm thinking he's making some progress, but I haven't heard anything yet.  Stay tuned!

That's it for now!
Hope you all had a great Fall!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
The Wellhouse Family
John, Andrea, Sawyer and Griffin

Oak Island 2012

Mommy and Little G in the surf

Good morning, little boys!

Grandma Heide and Aunt Ingrid sunning with the boys

Little G cheesing for the camera
(in his awesome beach hat!)

Sawyer's a Merman!

Mommy pulling the boys in the surf

Hang on tight!

Sawyer belly surfing
(Mommy getting a massive work out!)

Grandma Heide and the boys on South Port Ferry
(on the way to Ft Fisher aquarium)

Mommy and the boys getting wind blown

Watching the sun set, playing in the sand
(Aaaww, this is THE LIFE!)

My running buddy, Beth, and I after the
Catch Me If You Can Mother's Day 5K

My favorite neighbor, Beth, and I after the same 5K
(Don't we look fabulous! Oh well, we ran HARD.)

Griffy stopping to smell the roses
(Raleigh Little Theater Rose Garden)

My rose took a beating from the boys.
(Roses just don't make good swords...)

Little boys will find dirt
no matter where you go!

We spent a nice long week at the beach in Oak Island, NC.  Every year this trip gets better and better.  The boys are bigger now and can enjoy almost everything the beach has to offer.  (Still a little young for putt-putt golf, though.)  John drove down with us and stayed the first half of the week.  Then Grandpa Wayne flew Grandma Heide and Aunt Ingrid down for the second half of the week.  (And took John back to Raleigh to work.) The boys had a variety of family throughout the week, which worked out great.  Little G had a whole week to work on potty training too!  He's doing really well for a 2.5 year old.  Still a work in progress, but I'll take it.  (We are so ready to be through with diapers...ick!)

On Mother's day I ran a 5K at 7am with some of my other Mom friends and then had brunch at the Raleigh Little Theater Rose Garden.  It was very nice although a bit tricky with two busy little boys.  (My rose paid the price!)  Oh well, that's what life is like with little boys.  I wouldn't trade it for anything! ;)

That's it for now.  Sorry for the short post, but I've written this post TWICE due to a software glitch and need to get it DONE before summer is over! ; )

Hope you are all having a great summer!
Love,
The Wellhouse family
(Andrea, John, Sawyer and Griffin)