Michael & Wyatt

Our traditions have changed a bit over the past year. Before, it always made most sense for us to travel to our parents’ or siblings’ homes. Back in school, we had Friendsgivings and celebrated with local friends when we couldn’t travel home for the holidays. Since September 2023, the center of our holidays has been our son. So, we’ve hosted holiday meals, opened Christmas presents, and hunted Easter eggs all from our own home. Caleb loves the Christmas lights in downtown and the pumpkin patch. We’ve plenty of those local. His school has holiday parties with all his friends. In the spring, it’s custom to hang out on the patio as much as possible and Caleb has joined us in that. The summer holidays are still being celebrated at Gigi’s lake house and neighbors’ swimming pools. We love the updates to our traditions with Caleb, and we can’t wait to keep them going while evolving to welcome our newest addition.

We are lucky that our families are right here in North Texas. Michael’s parents, “Grandpa” and “Mimi,” live about an hour away and we trade off visiting them for the weekend and having them over to our place. Not too long ago, we all went to Hawaii together – Michael’s parents go every year, but this was Wyatt’s first time in Hawaii. We look forward to going back with them in the future with our kids in tow. Wyatt’s mom, “Gigi,” lives less than an hour away. She just bought a retirement house on the lake, which has become the summer destination for kids, grandkids, and extended family. Wyatt’s dad, Peepaw, lives on a ranch about 1.5 hours away. We go there for fishing, hunting, and horse riding. Wyatt has two brothers and between them, our kids have half a dozen cousins. We’ve also got extended family in Central and South Texas and friends, chosen family, who are all excited to welcome the new member of our family. When we adopted Caleb, we found out with less than a week to get ready for him. When we finally returned home, we had a living room full of Amazon boxes - nearly the entire registry - and Gigi had stopped by to put together the bassinet. Our newest family member will have friends to play with, grandparents to spoil them, and special places to make memories with a loving family.

We both work hard during the week. Wyatt works as a trauma psychologist with veterans and soldiers and as a college professor. Michael teaches percussion to 6th-12th graders. He also performs with several other musicians. So, we cherish time for fun and for relaxation. On a typical weekend, you can find us enjoying ourselves around the house together. We love being outside working on the yard, the garden, or the barn. Sometimes we Door Dash dinner and sometimes we grill out on the patio where we’ll also eat and watch TV together in the evenings. Otherwise, we’ll visit the downtown square where several of our favorite restaurants (and pie shop) are. Michael’s hobbies include horseback riding, drawing, and collecting. Music and animals are of upmost importance. Wyatt goes hunting in the fall and spends the summers fishing. He enjoys pretty much anything outdoors – hiking, swimming, and grilling are at the top of the list. While we’re pretty independent and enjoy these hobbies on our own, some of the most special times are when we share in each other’s passions. Wyatt loves riding horses with Michael and going to his concerts. And Michael enjoys a trip to the lake with Wyatt. Since becoming parents, we get out a little less. But it hasn’t stopped us. When the weather is nice, we’ll still sit on the patio at our favorite restaurant. They allow kids and dogs, so Caleb and Daisy go with us. Caleb loves walks/runs in the park and so does Wyatt. Michael enjoys bringing Caleb out to see the horses and can’t wait to start riding with Caleb more. We still make time for ourselves, too, and are lucky the grandparents are happy to take Caleb for an afternoon or even for the night so that we can get out. This past year we saw Hamilton at the Dallas Opera House and Pentatonix at Christmas!

In September 2023, we found out Caleb was on his way with about 5 days' notice. We got ready and flew out to be there when he was born at 4 am. We signed the adoption papers two days later, which happened to be Wyatt’s birthday. We were sleep-deprived already, but it was the best birthday he’s ever had! Caleb is healthy and, unless he’s hungry, he’s happy! He’s got a great smile, which he wears more often than not. He likes to laugh and will hop up in your lap and almost ask you to tickle him. He takes less than 5 minutes to warm up to new people but always greets us with the biggest smiles. Wyatt got three months of leave from work when Caleb was born and appreciated every second (even the hardest ones) of that time with him. He started at a really great daycare/school in January 2024 and he seems to love it. He greets his teachers with smiles and hugs every morning. They send us pictures throughout the day and our favorites show him with the other kids. He’s very social. He became a fast playmates with our friend’s kids when they stayed with us for a few days over the summer. It gave us a glimpse of what he’ll be like as a big brother, and we loved it! We can’t wait for him to have that experience every day, and for our new addition to get to experience the same love and laughter!

Michael might seem a bit quite at first… but his good friends and I know better. He has a silly sense of humor that’s sometimes subtle but also sometimes quite out there. I appreciate the way he makes me laugh so easily. My favorite thing about Michael is his passion – for his music, his students, our pets, and our home. At almost any time, I can either hear music coming from his home studio or hear him playing with the dogs or horses, or both. His students love him, too. He tries to make it to all their concerts, and they always seek him out afterwards to excitedly ask him how they did. His impact on them is special to see. Michael loves a good true crime TV show or cold case documentary. I do not. I’ll stick to my HGTV, deep sea fishing, and cooking shows, and he will graciously watch these with me, too. He’s also an excellent artist (I can barely draw a stick figure). On more than one occasion he’s fallen asleep with a sketch book in his hands late at night. As a musician, Michael has performed across the U.S. – Massachusetts, Florida, Washington, California, and, of course, Texas. He’s even performed in Tokyo, Japan. I’m pretty sure, though, that his favorite place to be is in our home, cuddled up on the couch with the dogs and me. He’s devoted to this place and this family. It came as no surprise that Michael brought all these same qualities to being a dad. His devotion to our family quickly and easily extended to our son. For all of Caleb’s needs – and most of his wants, too – Michael is there for him. I especially enjoy seeing how silly Michael is when playing with Caleb. Chasing, tickling, reading, you name it – Michael gets the biggest laughs out of Caleb with his antics. I’ve no doubt Michael will only become more passionate about our growing family and our second child will experience the same joy and laughter he brings to all of us already!

Wyatt is an extremely hard worker with a million balls in the air, but he will drop all of them to be there for his family and friends. I was first attracted to Wyatt’s sense of confidence. Over time, it’s given me a sense of safety and steadiness in our life together. And it seems to give Wyatt a calmness that relaxes his family, friends, and probably his patients as we feel supported and secure. Wyatt provides incredible care for so many people, and he’s constantly trying to find new ways of enhancing our lives. While some may find my interests and passions a bit quirky, Wyatt is always supportive of my artistic endeavors and my obsession with our animals. He’ll put in headphones to sleep so that I can play drums late at night and tear down and rebuild a barn for horses we didn’t even have yet. He remembers little things that are important to me and supports me in following through with them. He makes special days even more special and does his best to make bad days better. I know Wyatt finds meaning in his office, transforming the lives of his patients. I know, too, that he finds peace at the lake and on the ranch. But I think he finds his true joy right here in our backyard, cooking and simply spending time with me, our son, our pets, family, and friends. Wyatt has talked about one day becoming a father since I’ve known him, and I now can see why when I see him with our son. No matter what else is going on, he lights up when he sees Caleb. As busy as he is, Caleb’s needs and quality time with Caleb come first. I can tell, though, that Wyatt has even more to give. I don’t know where it comes from, but he’ll have just as much energy and love to give to another child. I can’t wait to see what this next chapter holds for him and us!

We’ve got a whole farm here. Or maybe a zoo. We have a 3-year-old dog named Daisy and a 2-year-old cat named Ginger. Daisy is high energy and Ginger is very relaxed. They’re both great with our toddler – very patient and loving. He loves to chase them and we’re working on his “gentle pets” instead of the more enthusiastic version. We also have 3 horses at our home. Teddy is a 3-year-old mini horse. Caleb got a little saddle and helmet for Christmas and we’re looking forward to finishing our training with Teddy so that Caleb can ride with us. Tiki and Major are our full-sized horses. They’re very curious when it comes to Caleb who joins us in the barn and smiles happily at them. We’ve two cockatiels, Ernie and Lulu. Caleb loves to watch them and gets excited with they sing. Coming soon: chickens! These gals should complete the full farm.