New design...

So, I've been doing a little work on the blog. Most of the changes would have been extremely helpful about 6 months ago. The changes come mainly because of many requests for reliable links about CHD's or for an easy way to access the pictures on the blog. I keep calling them changes, but really they are just additions. I have attached a couple pages to the blog. You will notice under the blog heading, there are several tabs. You may notice further that if you click on a tab you will find abounding information relating to the tab you selected. I will also be putting a search on the blog so as to make it easier to access past blog entries or photos. I hope you enjoy the new Wirt Family blog. And as I promised I will be posting more pictures of Adventures to Tapiola!
Heart,
The Wirts

Cornucopia of News....get it?

Well, my dear blog followers, (I mean readers...) I really tried not to do this. But, you will have to bear with me as I unload several weeks worth of news, photos, and videos. I know it pains you to have to read this much excitement all at once, and I do make an oath to do my utmost to spread the excitement about a little better the next time 'round. However, seeing as I'm already this far behind, I shall proceed.




First, I have some "riveting" (heh heh I crack myself up) Halloween photos I know you have been dieing to see. Seeing as I kept you all in suspense about our costumes for this long, I will now proceed to spill the beans. (The real reason I didn't want to tell you at first, is because I made our costumes completely, and I didn't want the expectations to be too high, in case they didn't turn out and we all ended up being different colored M & M's for Halloween... don't knock it, I've been an M & M before!)




I didn't get many pictures, as I was in them and not taking them. Also, I don't have any of the way awesome mask I painstakingly handcrafted (partially) for Tyler's costume. Don't panic. I will be taking a ton more close-ups of the boys in their costumes as soon as they are clean (the costumes not the boys). We went to a Halloween party that day and they both got a little dirty. So....without further ado:

Tyler is the Blue Power Ranger, (he refused to put his mask back on after we wanted it off for some pictures of his face, in which you will see he is more than thrilled.) I am Rosie the Riveter, although, only two people at the party knew who I was. I ran out of time, but was originally going to make a name tag that said "Rosie" for the non history buffs. I guess i should have made it anyway. Then, we have our little monkey, who lost his prop banana the day before. Don't stress. The banana has been recovered and will be in subsequent monkey photos.







Me, looking super excited to take two little ones, who could care less about the costumes I made, to the Halloween party.

Tyler's 1st pumpkin carving effort (only a little help from mom with the little saw).

Mom's 763 pumpkin carving effort. (total, not that day)



Next, we had a sunny day amid a cluster of storms and it was suggested that we go to the world renowned (and recently remodeled) Tapiola park in Astoria. It was a beautiful day and perfect for park visiting. I found it strange that we were the only people there. I accredit that to several construction projects going on around the park and perhaps folks not knowing how to get to the entrance.



For those of you whom have never or seldom been to Astoria, this should be a refresher in some of the culture and landmarks of the area. I have posted a picture of the actual landmark next to the replica in the park in case you have never seen the actual place or object. All in all it was a really cool park and Tyler had a great time.








Fort Clatsop










I think this a gill netter boat, but I didn't want to put a real pic on because I didn't want anyone to think I endorse gill netting. But the pics of Ty are cute.

The Trolley

The Flavel House

Pilot Boat

Astoria Column

Megler Bridge

The Liberty Theatre

Other cool artwork and stuff:

So all in all it was a great month of October. Looking forward to a great November. We have an appointment with the cardiologist and pacemaker specialist in a couple of weeks, so keep us in your thoughts and prayers. This will be the first Doctor appointment of any kind for Christopher for three whole months (other than when he had a cough and I took him to the walk-in clinic). He hasn't seen the pace maker specialist for 6 months. We are hopeful that everything will go great.

In the meantime, Chris is a very chatty and a very rambunctious little guy. He is always talking about something, and always on the move. He has finally cut his second tooth within the last couple of days. He is toying with the idea of crawling but loves to be held or jumping in his jump-up. He is starting to be kind of bashful around new people, though he doesn't cry much, he will hide his face.

Ty is loving being a big brother, and is usually willing and ready to help with anything when it comes to his little brother, even poopy diapers. He is a great help to me, and I am thankful for the extra set of hands, even if they're small. He is starting to carry on very involved conversations and has a great vocabulary, which sometimes gets him into trouble.

Tony is doing well in school, and I think he is enjoying being the top dog at school. He seems to like most of his classes and has really started to show an interest in some subjects. Although his favorite subjects remain fishing, and skateboarding. Unlike many teenagers, he doesn't complain when the sunny weather disappears. He is a true coastal boy and loves a good storm.

Dad is still volunteering for the PD, and even had some company when his cousin Nancy road along on Halloween night. He is a very hard worker, but also loves to play. All his boys love to wrestle with him, which has only resulted in one gray hair on Mom's head so far. This number is expected to rise in subsequent years.

I will be posting more awesome pictures of our adventures at Tapiola and a possible video momentarily. This post is too long to maneuver the photos any more. Huge hugs and enjoy!

Video Ahoy!

Hi kids, I wanted to put some pics and videos on here that I've taken recently. I also wanted to announce that my nephew Finnegan Mitchell was born on 10-10-10 at 2:30 pm. He was 8 lbs 14 oz and 22 in. long!!!! Way to go Liz!!! I haven't asked permission yet so I will wait to post pics if its okay with Finn's parents. But I am so excited to be an Auntie finally! I'm gunna spoil that kid like no other.

As for the pictures and videos, one would hope that by now I would have learned not to try to coax smiles out of tired or hungry kids. I thought I would give you guys a couple of shots of Chris' new tooth (another on the way). I tried to take pics last week but you couldn't really see it well. Also tried to get some more footage of Chris being mobile. He is very curious, and is usually not interested in any toys I get out for him to play with. He rolls immediately off the blanket and then lays on his tummy and slaps the floor with his hands. He likes the loud noises he is learning to make. He then proceeds to roll over to something that usually looks very un-amusing and does his best to make it amusing. He also does this funny little dance when there is some rockin' tunes on. Sometime I can get him to dance with me even when there isn't any music. Anyway, enjoy.

Pearly whites!

Chris' tooth that's been bothering him for a few days is finally through!!!!!

Holy photo festivals, Batman!

Just thought it was funny they were both raising their arms.

Big brother comforting litlle brother after he bonked his little head.

Being goofy.

Hugging.

Kissing.

Big cheesy smiles.

Cat spider.

Cool web.

Close up of my bad housekeeping. :)

Really big indoor spider, sleeping bats, and flying bats...sorry I didn't move the laundry for the photo.

Really big dungeness crab.

Captain Ty

Big ship, and ham.

So, the really sad thing is..... I took all these pictures in one day. Today. Tyler went crabbing in the morning with daddy, then the crab got cooked, then Tyler and I made all the bat silhouettes I spoke of in an earlier post, then the boys sat in the new recliner and loved on each other, then I found the big spider with the equally big web.

I'll explain why I took a pic of the spider web. I have never been afraid of spiders, well, not very. ( A few of you will get that line.) So anyway, it was a sunny day on the Oregon coast. I was changing Chris' diaper, and decided to open the blinds. (I had opened the window a few hours earlier, and there was no web there then, but I had shut the blinds, to keep it dim in the room.) Well, Chris was bright eyed and bushy tailed, so I decided to open the blinds. And there, roughly a foot from my face, was a cat spider of decent size. Now many might scream and run...hopefully taking the baby with them. But I've always had a real appreciation for all the work that goes into those webs. And so, I stayed and admired for a few minutes. Sadly, when I close the window this evening, his web will be destroyed as it was built between the open window and the house.

Now, I may be reading into this a bit too much, but just let me. Many people might say that cat spiders are fairly prevalent this time of year and it's not uncommon for them to build webs between tree branches, door jams, eaves, etc. Surely there is no coincidence there. I just find it curious that it just so happened that I opened the window today, as I am not too inclined to do that in Chris' room. And that I just happened to open the blinds when I was changing him. It seems to me that someone might've known I was going to do that and that that spider built that web right there so that I could admire and appreciate it without having to haul kids around hunting for something so awesome in nature (though I should do that from time to time).

Anyway, I know I'm odd, but I thought it was cool. So enjoy all the pictures, even if you hate spiders! Hugs and huge love!

ps. I had to add the creepy spider to the page in honor of my friendly window spider. Don't hit your computer with a newspaper, it's only a CGI spider. (Don't worry I would never leave such a controversial critter on my page for long) :)

Drumroll please....

And now the momment you've all been waiting for....... a video at long last!

This is just after we got home from a day trip to Portland so he was kinda grumpy, plus I do believe he'll be getting a pearly white chomper any day now, so that's kinda annoying him as well. But I wanted to post it anyway, since I keep promising. Enjoy. I heart all of you!

Unexpected Post...

Well hello everyone! I know you all weren't expecting me to do another post so soon, and don't be disappointed because it doesn't have any photos or videos yet. I just wanted to write another quick post. I don't really know why but I really like Holidays! I think it's because I'm a terrible interior designer and when a holiday is close you get some hints on what you can do, but you still get to be creative and add your own touches. So it's not that I'm really into Halloween, but I think it is going to bring a much needed change around here for me.

Tyler and I spent part of yesterday decorating. We didn't' do much but it was fun. We put up some cobwebs of course with some tarantula size spiders in them. He that was odd but kinda cool. Then we put up some scary eyes and a skeleton in our big living room window, and hung a huge jack-o-lantern banner on the door. I think today we may cut out some bat and crow silhouettes. If I'm feeling extra ambitious we are gunna make a black candelabra out of cardboard. We'll see I may be getting carried away. But we will definitely carving pumpkins next week! I love that! And of course i had to do a Halloween background for the blog.

I haven't started on the boys costumes yet, but I did get the fabric washed so that is a step! So as for me I'm off to feed some kids, but I promise I'll post some pics soon. We love you guys.