Tyson and Quinn's Corner

Quinn - 8 months

2012-01-26T18:14:00.001-05:00

I'm a little late!

Weight: 17ish pounds. She'll be weighed again at her 9m appointment.

Height: Not sure. She'll be measured again at her 9m appointment.

Size: Size 2 diaper. Wearing 6-9m clothes in brands that have them. She's still not wearing the majority of her 6-12m stuff, but we're starting to creep into those sizes. Yay! She has a whole lotta cute stuff that she can wear. Everything else is random. 6m onesies and Carters pjs, a few 9m Carter's pjs. 6m pants fit her best, 6-12m one-piece outfits.

Hair: Getting longer and thicker.

Teeth: 2 bottom teeth are fully through. I keep thinking more teeth are following, but none have popped through yet.

Sleeping: Sleeps in her crib for naps and bedtime. She goes down for the night between 7-8pm and wakes for the day between 6-7am. She takes 2 naps per day, one longer one in the mornings (2 hours) and a shorter one in the afternoon (1-1.5 hours). If we catch her at the right time, naps and bedtime are a breeze. She goes right to sleep.

Unfortunately, still waking at least once per night and only a small bottle will soothe her enough to get back to sleep. We know she can sleep through the night, but for whatever reason she cannot do it consistently.

Eating: Big news here! She was eating 35-39oz per day + one solids feeing. We started her on 2 solid meals each day and cut out a bottle as a result, so she's to a more reasonable 28-32oz per day.

We also started challenging her dairy allergy and so far so good! We did a week of 1/4 Similac Sensitive + 3/4 Alimentum and we're up to 50/50 now with no major reactions. Woot! I have renewed hope that we can use some of the 250+oz of frozen breastmilk.

She's LOVING solids and feeding herself. We went through all of the stage 1 foods and are into the stage 2 stuff + Cheerios and puffs. I need to come up with more finger food ideas because she is starting to prefer feeding herself. With the exception of mashed bananas, she's liked everything she's tried. Her loathing of mashed bananas baffles me because she eats (and loves) them cut into tiny pieces. Silly girl!

Movement: She's army crawling and just before her 8 monthday, she started pulling up on her own. We've had to lower her crib already. I'm not ready for another early walker!

Milestones: Self feeding, pulling up, first Christmas, starting dairy.

Favorite toys/activities: Tyson still wins out for favorite toy and activity. She is just enamored by him. She follows him around constantly. She also likes to play with any and all of his toys.

Dislikes: Being hungry or tired.

Words: Chattering and screeching. Says "ba"

I'm done with this sticker!

We love you Quinny!

Our babies are growing up

2012-01-14T15:35:00.000-05:00

Ryan gave me an iPad for Christmas and I LOVE it! Someone else in our family loves it too.

I was up early with Tyson and Quinn while Ryan slept in last weekend. As I was changing Quinn's diaper, Tyson made his way downstairs by himself. When I got to him, just a few minutes later, I found him sitting on the couch with my iPad.

He had turned it on, unlocked it, found his way to the screen with the apps and was playing one of his games, Shapes. Are you kidding me? He's 2 and a half and he's already knows his way around technology? To be fair, his nanny has an iPhone and an iPad and he's played with both, but still. My brother warned me that I would have to share my toy with my son and he was right. Now anytime I have it, he asks to play a game.

Then, there's sweet just-a-few-days-shy of 8 months Quinn. She's been standing for quite a while, but only holding on to our hands and we pull her up. She's now figured out how to pull herself up on our ottomans. Big girl. :tears from mama:

And, she's figured out how to feed herself.

They need to stop growing up so fast!

2011 Year in Review

2011-12-29T23:24:00.000-05:00

In January, Tyson worked on his laptop alongside Daddy.

In February, we all had a snow day and I think that's when you decided to stop smiling for the camera.

Mama and Daddy also got to work on Quinn's nursery:

In March, we were too busy to do any blog posts, but work continued on Quinn's nursery and Tyson just kept growing:

In April, we started playing outside with regularity:

Mama put the finishing touches on Quinny's nursery:

May, of course, was a big month around here! We celebrated Tyson's 2nd birthday:

We also welcomed our baby girl:

In June, we made our first trip to the lake for the summer:

and Quinny turned 1 month old:

We celebrated the 4th of July:

And Tyson moved from his crib to a big boy bed:

In August, we enjoyed the summer at the pool, the lake and the fair:

And Quinn turned 3 months:

In September, Quinn became closely acquainted with Baxter:

And Tyson was a little more interested in his baby sister:

We celebrated Halloween in October:

November was a busy month for us! We celebrated our 8th Anniversary and Quinn's First Thanksgiving:

In December, enjoyed the holiday season with Sparky the Elf:

It's hard to believe it's almost 2012. We can't wait to see what the new year has in store for our little family!

Quinn - 7 months

2011-12-26T23:29:00.000-05:00

Weight: Not sure, maybe 16ish pounds. She'll be weighed again at her 9m appointment.

Height: Not sure. She'll be measured again at her 9m appointment.

Size: Size 2 diaper. Still wearing most of her 3-6m clothes, 6m Carters pjs, onesies and pants, 6-12m one-piece outfits.

Hair: Getting longer all the time!

Teeth: 2 bottom teeth are fully through. I think she may be working on some top teeth now.

Sleeping: Sleeps in her crib for naps and bedtime. She goes down for the night between 7-8pm and wakes for the day between 7-8am. She takes 2 naps per day, one longer one in the mornings (2 hours) and a shorter one in the afternoon (1-1.5 hours). Naps in her crib are getting much better! If we catch her before she's overtired, she'll put herself to sleep for naps.

She's still waking at least once per night either for a paci or for a small bottle. We know she can sleep through the night, but for whatever reason she cannot do it consistently.

Eating: 4-5 7oz. bottles of Alimentum throughout the day, one 4oz bottle in the middle of the night if she wakes. Solids 1x per day, in the evening. After a slow start with the solids, she's figured it out and she's doing really well now. She's tried and liked oatmeal, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, peaches, pears and applesauce.

Movement: She's army crawling! It started about 2 weeks ago and it's the funniest thing. She just inch worms her way around, but she gets to where she wants to go and much quicker than we want her to. She loves hold your hands and stand up and she'll stand by herself and hang on to our ottomans.

Milestones: Solids, teeth, crawling, visiting Santa.

Favorite toys/activities: Tyson, by far. She LOVES him. She also really loves the little picnic basket she got for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa W.

Dislikes: Being hungry or tired.

Words: Still just chattering and screeching.

Even though I can't get her to smile for the camera very often, she's really a very content baby! We love having this little girl in our lives. ♥

Santa!

2011-12-19T23:10:00.000-05:00

This year and last year, we visited Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Pendleton Fire Station. Ryan's Uncle Steve is a volunteer fireman there and he invites us to join their great (and free!) celebration.

A few of Santa's reindeer (or reindeers as Tyson calls them) hang out and wait for Sant to visit all of the little kids:

Hi spooky reindeer eye.

Not just reindeer, we also had cousins!

And more cousins:

Cookies. Yum.

and more cookies.

A baby sister too!

A little bean bag toss while we're waiting in line...

Finally, a turn to sit on Santa's lap! Tyson was less than impressed. He looks a little scared at first, but Morgan and Quinn don't mind at all.

Santa's trying to talk to him and Mr. Sassyface doesn't want anything to do with him:

Quinny's taking in every word.

By now, he's just ready to get the heck out of there!

All in all, he did better than last year. Look at how teeny Morgan was last Christmas...only 3 months old!

On the way there, asked him what he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas. He said "umm, cars." I asked him what else and his response was, "umm, scissors". I don't think he got his requests out though. Maybe next year.

Photo Gallery Wall

2011-12-13T11:52:00.000-05:00

I've adored photo gallery walls for years. The Pottery Barn catalog always has the most amazing gallery walls and I knew someday I wanted one for my house.

The problem is that because of the floorplan of our house, I couldn't envision a good spot for one. After reorganizing a bit (and taking down the print that used to hang there), I decided this little space in our foyer would be perfect. Yes, the thermostat is in among the frames too!

Enter the gallery wall!

Since it is a corner on the far edge of our foyer, it's a wee bit dark and hard to get a bright picture of it.

I found the vast majority of the frames at Goodwill and a few at Ikea. I refused to pay more than $3 for any frame and I spray painted them all off white (the trim in our house is antique white).

I hung most of the frames with 3M Command Velcro Hanging Strips. I love those things! They are super easy to use, they hold the frames tightly, no holes in the walls, and the frames don't wobble on the wall.

I love that I now have a place to display all of our beautiful photos and as my babies grow and change, it will be easy to swap out the photos for new ones.

Christmas Glow

2011-12-12T22:34:00.001-05:00

Using Beth's tutorial, (found via Pinterest, of course!) I took some glowing pictures of our main tree and mantel. Merry Christmas!

35mm

f/1.8

1/20 sec

ISO 3200

I'm also linking up to her Show your Glow link party:

Catching up with Sparky the Elf

2011-12-12T22:21:00.000-05:00

We haven't forgotten about our little Elf, in fact, Tyson is more excited about him than ever. Every day when he finds him he yells "It's Sparky the Elf Mom!!" I think this little boy is going to be very sad when Sparky leaves us until next Christmas.

Enjoy Sparky's escapades over the last 6 days.
It is getting harder to find good spots for him. No wonder parents resort to having their elves make mischief.

trying so hard

2011-12-12T22:16:00.000-05:00

Remember when I said my favorite baby stage was when they were big enough to sit up and play with toys, but not mobile enough to go anywhere? That precious stage lasted a mere two weeks with little Q. She's trying so hard to crawl.

This makes me sad for so many reasons. My baby is growing up. Way, way too fast. Taking care of her is about to become 100x more difficult. Mobile babies are hard, ya'll.

She starts out sitting so nicely.

Then the lunging starts

She pushes her legs out behind her

And she's ready to go!

She can't quite get the mechanics of moving her arms and legs but it won't be long. She can already pull herself around a bit on her belly. Watch out world!

couch jumping

2011-12-04T21:25:00.000-05:00

Probably not the best thing to encourage but it was sure fun.
Absolute joy on his face.
We laughed and laughed.

And laughed some more.

All while listening to Christmas music :)

Real life, happy smiles from my sweet boy. None of that super cheesy fake stuff here.

I love this picture. I love this boy.

Oh, hi Sparky!

Catching up with Sparky!

2011-12-03T21:13:00.000-05:00

He's making the rounds in our house!

Relaxing in Tyson's stocking.

Literally the Elf on the Shelf.

Hitching a ride on Santa's shoulders.

Tyson is having so much fun with him, but I promise to be back with pictures of the babies soon too!

Hey Sparky!

2011-11-30T22:53:00.000-05:00

Hangin' out in the tree!

Sparky, Day 2

2011-11-30T09:57:00.000-05:00

For some reason, Blogger refused to let me post this last night. Yesterday we found Sparky hanging out in the fruit bowl with the bananas!

Silly Sparky. He is bananas.

Sparky, the Elf - Day 1.

2011-11-28T22:13:00.000-05:00

We found him nestled in next to our Colts snowmen. :) Hi Sparky!

Thanksgiving Weekend 2011

2011-11-28T22:08:00.000-05:00

Just a little recap of our fun, busy and exhausting Thanksgiving weekend.

A turkey cheeseball I made.

Well, to clarify, I made the felt turkey head in about 5 minutes (thank you Pinterest!) and arranged the crackers and pretzels. The cheeseball was made by Psi Iota Xi Sorority in Peru, Indiana. If you can get your hands on one of their cheeseballs, buy it. No, buy 10. And freeze them. And enjoy them all year long. They're that good. If you're a cheeseball fan, of course.

Morgan (13m) and Quinn (6m) on Thanksgiving Day:

I don't know why Tyson WILL.NOT smile for the camera. I guess this is how we'll remember him at 2 years old. Smirky. Bothered. Interrupted.

We proudly cheered on our Hoosiers as they lost (again) to Purdue. Maybe IU should just give up football altogether. Despite our dismal team, these two make some pretty cute fans, including sweet Baxter cat hiding out in the corner.

On Sunday morning, we met our Elf straight from the North Pole! He's watching Tyson and Quinn and reporting back to Santa directly each day. Tyson named our Elf Sparky, but he wants to change his mind every so often and rename him Scout.

We decorated for Christmas and spent most of Sunday in our jammies while Daddy was at the Colts game.

Of course, we had to play with Lightning McQueen and Mater all weekend long.

And then had "Thanksgiving" with Grandma and Pa W on Sunday night. Pizza for Thanksgiving? Delicious. And easy!

Thankful

2011-11-24T12:00:00.002-05:00

We are thankful for each other, for our amazing healthy children, for our supportive families and for all of life's many blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Quinn's 6 month stats

2011-11-21T13:36:00.000-05:00

Weight: 15 pounds, 2.5 ounces (25%)

Length: 26 1/2 inches (75%)

Head Circumference: 45 cm (95%)

Her head is still huge!

Tyson's 2.5 year stats

2011-11-21T13:33:00.000-05:00

We have a big boy on our hands!

36.2 pounds (95%)
37.5 inches (75-90%)

Quinn - 6 months!

2011-11-20T15:35:00.000-05:00

Age: 6 months and a few days

Weight: She'll be weighed Monday.

Height: She'll be measured Monday.

Size: We just moved into a size 2 diaper. She's still wearing some 3m Carters (onesies), 3-6m pants, 6m Carters pants are too long, but pjs fit perfectly. I'm ready for her to fit into her 6-12m wardrobe!

Hair: Still growing, but more down the top middle so it's kind of a baby mohawk. It's still pretty short and thin along the sides.

Teeth: Her first tooth (lower left) popped through yesterday at 6 months, 1 day. I think the lower right one is soon to follow because she's still drooly.

Sleeping: She's sleeping in her crib in her room at night now. No swaddle, no sleepsacks, just pjs. She doesn't seem to like the sleepsacks and fights them the whole time.

She goes down for the night between 7-7:30 and wakes for the day around 7am. She takes 2-3 naps per day, depending on how long she sleeps. Naps in her crib are hit or miss. Sometimes she'll only nap for 30 minutes, other times it's 2 hours.

She's still waking at least 1-2x per night, either for a paci or for a small bottle.

Eating: 4-5 6oz. bottles of Alimentum throughout the day, one 4oz bottle in the middle of the night. We've weaned her off of the Prilosec with no apparent discomfort! We gave her her oatmeal for the first time yesterday and she was pretty unsure about it. She did a little better today, but she's not taking to it like her brother did.

Movement: She still rolls all over the place, but she is an unassisted sitter! She can sit and play with her toys like a big girl. This is probably my favorite baby stage because she can sit up, interact and play but she can't crawl yet. Although yesterday she made it up on all fours and was lunging for toys.

She's tall enough to bounce in her jumperoo now.

Milestones: Sitting up all by herself.

Favorite toys/activities: Chattering and smiling, Tyson, Baxter, playing with toys.

Dislikes: Being hungry or sleepy or burpy.

Words: None yet, just chattering and screeching.

What a weekend!

2011-11-19T18:11:00.000-05:00

I don't have a ton of time to update or post pictures, but A LOT is going on here this weekend.

1. Tyson in potty training bootcamp. We're having many failures, but several successes too! We're so incredibly proud of him, especially since he had never peed on the potty before yesterday.

2. Quinn turned 6 months old yesterday and ate her first taste of oatmeal today. And, a 6 months, 1 day, she has started lunging forward on all fours and her first tooth is visible (lower left) on her tiny gums.

Our babies are growing up!

8 years

2011-11-15T11:38:00.000-05:00

One cat.
Two beautiful babies.
Three homes.
Four million kisses (an exact count I'm sure!).
Five Mexico vacations.
Six cars.
Seven jobs.
Eight years.

Happy Anniversary to my love!

Quinny Laughs

2011-11-06T12:29:00.000-05:00

No one can make her laugh like her big brother. :) Not sure why it turns sideways, but you get the idea.

Quinn is ready for winter!

2011-11-03T22:33:00.000-04:00

Tyson and Quinn's winter hats arrived this week. I had them made to match their coats. Unfortunately, Tyson's coat is backordered. Oh, and he also refused to wear his cute new hat. Luckily, Q doesn't fight me too much with taking her picture -- yet.

Quinn is ready to wear her new hat and coat! The hat is a little big and the sleeves on her sweater coat are too long, but it gives her plenty of room to grow. Doesn't she look thrilled?

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:18:00.000-04:00

Look at me! I can sit up on my own (for a few seconds at least!)

Tyson requested a Mater pumpkin. It needed a little bit of reconstruction after carving.

The cutest little duck. Quinny says quack, quack!

Tyson is the sweetest little farmer!

We're ready to trick or treat!

Let's go that way...

His first treats! He was such a sweet boy and said thank you to everyone.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Quinn - 5 Months

2011-10-23T22:23:00.000-04:00

Hello!

Age: 5 months

Weight: Not sure, but she's definitely gained. She'll be weighed again at her 6m well baby visit.

Height: Not sure, will be measured next month.

Size: She's still wearing some 0-3m clothes, but mostly 3-6m. 3m Carters, some 6m Carters pjs. She's wearing a size 1-2 diaper.

Hair: It's really gotten longer, so I think our days of Quinn's crazy hair may be past us. It's laying down more since it's longer. We miss the crazy!

Teeth: Zero but still drooling.

Sleeping: Eh. She went through a growth spurt over the last month and started waking up in the middle of the night again. Some nights she sleeps through and others she wakes up several times. She's still sleeping in our room but we ditched the swaddle blanket a few weeks ago.

She goes down for the night around 7-7:30 and wakes up anywhere from 5-7am usually.

She's awake for much longer stretches during the day and takes 2-3 naps.

Eating: Five 6oz. bottles of Alimentum throughout the day. Still on Prilosec for her reflux. We'll be starting solids next month.

Movement: She's rolling EVERYWHERE! Rolls from back to belly and belly to back, can inch around on the floor, can tripod sit for a few seconds before toppling over. Loves to chew on her toes and she can sit up from an incline position. She cannot be left alone on any surface without an enclosure.

We brought out the jumperoo last week and she likes to play with the toys. She's not tall enough to get bouncing yet though.

Milestones: Showing interest in toys, her stork bites on her forehead and nose are fading, moving all over the place.

Favorite toys/activities: Chattering and smiling, watching her big brother, playing in her activity gym, riding in the stroller, baths. Loves her paci. Overall, she's a happy girl and rarely fussy.

Dislikes: Being hungry or sleepy.

Words: None yet, just chattering and screeching.

She loves her toes!

She's so strong and can hold herself up for several seconds at a time.

Daddy was here to entertain and make her smile :)

Her cheeks have really filled out!

Our silly girl!

Happy 5 months baby girl!

Catching Up

2011-10-15T12:33:00.000-04:00

It's been a while, but I'm still here.

Ryan was out of town for work a few weeks ago and Quinn came with me to Tyson's room while I was doing his bedtime routine. Despite these photos, he really didn't appreciate her being in his bed. He kept saying "Mom, pick her up". :)

Quinn - 4 Month Stats

2011-09-19T23:28:00.000-04:00

Quinn had her 4 month well baby visit with the pediatrician today. She's a healthy, growing girl! In the words of her doctor, "she looks great!"

Weight: 13.0 pounds (40th%)

Length: 24.75 inches (75th%)

Head Circumference: 43 centimeters (90th%). Who knew she had such a huge head! I have noticed that depending on her clothes, it can be a challenge to get her tops over her noggin. :)

And just because a blog post isn't complete without at least one photo...Baxter thinks Q's changing table belongs to him. He didn't care if she was already on it.

I guess her head does kind of look huge from this angle, huh?

Quinn - 4 Months

2011-09-18T18:04:00.000-04:00

Age: 4 months

Weight: She'll be weighed tomorrow at her 4m well baby visit, but she weighed 12 lbs 7oz at her GI appointment last week.

Height: I'll update tomorrow!

Size: She's still wearing her 0-3m clothes and a size 1 diaper. I tried a 3-6m onesie on her today and it was huge.

Hair: Crazy. Same as always. It's grown quite a bit and you can see where it's coming in lighter.

Teeth: Zero, but she's been drooling for weeks. She's also chewing on her hands a ton, so I'm not sure if that means teeth soon or that they're still months away.

Sleeping: Can I say I love this baby? She is consistently sleeping from from about 7-7:15pm until 6am. I wish she would learn to sleep in on weekends, but I'll take a baby that consistently sleeps through the night! She's still sleeping in our room.

She also takes several naps a day, ranging from 30 minutes - 2 hours. She's only awake for about 2 hours during the day before needing a nap.

Eating: Five 5oz. bottles of Alimentum throughout the day. Still on Prilosec for her reflux. I thought it was getting better and then it got way worse.

Movement: She rolled from her belly to her back, she's found her hands and toes, can grasp hanging toys in her gym, and she's thisclose to rolling from her back to her belly.

Milestones: Rolling, holding her head up.

Favorite toys/activities: Chattering and smiling, watching her big brother, playing in her activity gym, riding in the stroller, baths. Loves her paci. Overall, she's a happy girl and rarely fussy.

Dislikes: Being hungry or sleepy.

Words: None yet, just chattering.

What We Wore Wednesday (Friday)

2011-09-02T15:27:00.000-04:00

I'm a little late this week.

Tyson, looking quite disheveled, but it was the best I could do!

Shirt and shorts: Gymboree

Quinn:

Romper: Carters
Hairbow: Target

What We Wore Wednesday

2011-08-24T20:13:00.000-04:00

Apparently now neither of my children will look at me. Oh well. I think I'll be facing this problem for quite some time!

Shirt: Target

Shorts: Old Navy

Shoes: Crocs

Book: My First Colors

Onesie: Garanimals, Wal-Mart
Socks: hand-me-down from cousin Morgan
Bow: Monkey Moo Bows

Do We Look Alike - Month 3

2011-08-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

Tyson:

Quinn:

I think they look like siblings, but not as much as they did a few months ago.

Quinn: 3 months

2011-08-21T21:55:00.000-04:00

Age: 3 months

Weight: Not sure, she won't get weighed until her 4m appointment.

Height: Again, not sure, but she's getting long!

Size: 0-3m clothes, size 1 diaper.

Hair: Still crazy! Getting lighter and longer though. Can wear small bows now :)

Teeth: Zero, but she's starting to drool. a lot. So did Tyson, but he didn't get teeth until almost 6m.

Sleeping: She's doing great! We've got a bedtime routine down now. She goes to sleep between 8-8:30pm and wakes up around 5am. She takes a bottle and goes back to sleep until 7 or 8am. She's still sleeping in our room in the rock and play sleeper. I'm not sure when we'll move her to her room. I'm just not ready yet.

During the day, she naps intermittently although her naps are getting shorter while her awake periods are getting longer.

Eating: Six 4oz bottles of Alimentum throughout the day.

Movement: Still wiggly! Always kicking her legs if she's playing on her back.

Milestones: Can support her upper body on her forearms during tummy time. Smiles all the time. Holds her head up very well.

Favorite toys/activities: Chattering and smiling, watching her big brother, playing in her activity gym, riding in the stroller, baths.

Dislikes: Being hungry or sleepy.

Words: None yet, just chattering.

State Fair

2011-08-19T07:00:00.001-04:00

Last Friday, we took a trip to the Indiana State Fair! We got there just in time to enjoy the daily parade. Tyson was pretty impressed with all of the vintage tractors.

We saw goats, pigs, cows and a few horses.

And of course, we sampled the food. Ribeye sandwiches for me and Ryan and glass of milk from the Dairy Barn for our picky eater. Hey Tyson, you have some milk on your cheek...

Unfortunately, the very next evening, tragedy struck at the Fair. Ryan's cousin, Hillery, was one of the injured. She spent the night in the hospital, went home Sunday afternoon and was back to the hospital yesterday. She's back at home recovering now and our thoughts and prayers are with her as well as her good friend who is still in the hospital with serious injuries.

What We Wore Wednesday

2011-08-17T19:22:00.000-04:00

Shirt: Gymboree
Shorts: Osh Kosh
Shoes: Crocs, the summer standby

Bubble: Carters
Socks: Okie Dokie, JCPenney
Hair bow: Monkey Moo Bows
Diaper: Pampers Swaddlers :)

Tyson - 27 Months

2011-08-15T15:55:00.000-04:00

Age: 27 months and about a week.

Weight: Somewhere around 33lbs based on our home scale, which only measures to the half pound.

Height: Officially 3 feet tall.

Size: 2T clothes, size 5 diaper, size 7, maybe 8 shoe. I really need to get him measured before it's time to buy real shoes again. He's been living in Crocs this summer.

Hair: Blonde and cute. I think I may let it grow for a while, but who knows.

Teeth: Still 18 and still waiting on the last two 2 year molars to come through.
Sleeping: For as many changes as he's endured recently, I'd say his sleep is still great. Since we moved him to a big boy bed, it's a little more challenging to get him to sleep on time for naps and bedtime. His newfound freedom has him roaming his room when he's not ready to sleep. For the most part, he sleeps in his bed, but we've found him sleeping on the floor behind his door and under the chair in his room.
Eating: Seems to be on a fruit strike, which is bad news for us since he will not eat a single vegetable. I used at be able to count on him to at least eat fruit. But, he did start eating chicken nuggets this month...any new food is a huge victory for this child that refuses to even TRY anything new.

Movement: He can go almost up the entire flight of stairs without holding on to anything :) He used to just crawl up on his hands and knees.

Milestones: Started sleeping in a big boy bed. Being nicer to his baby sister. Had his first movie night at home with mama and daddy and popcorn. He *loved* the popcorn. Yes, my kid is over 2 and just had popcorn for the first time. I was scared of him choking on it!

Favorite toys/activities: Playing at the park or in the backyard, going on car and boat rides,

Dislikes: Transitioning from one activity or person to the next, bedtime and naptime, rinsing his hair in the bathtub, timeouts.

Words: He's started asking lots of questions..."what's that?" is what we hear over and over and over again. He's funny. I know toddlers say funny stuff, but he can entertain for hours!

What We Wore Wednesday

2011-08-10T18:13:00.000-04:00

I see this on a lot of blogs, but since I'd rather remember my favorite kids' outfits than mine, I thought I would do a What We Wore Wednesday, kid's edition. :)

Shirt: Jumping Beans, Kohls

Shorts: Cherokee, Target

Shoes: Crocs

Onesie: Kate Quinn Organics, gift from one of my BFFs, Amber, aka Hip Hostess

Socks: Okie Dokie, JCPenney

Miss Quinn's Nursery - the furniture

2011-07-27T07:00:00.001-04:00

While Ryan worked on the ceiling, I wasn't just supervising. I had projects of my own that I was working on.

These dressers were given to us by Ryan's parents. They used to be in the guest room of Ryan's grandparents' home. When his grandparents moved into a nursing home, their home was rented out so all of the furniture needed to be moved out of the house. We had two empty guest rooms at the time (years before we had babies or even considered having babies!) so the furniture came to stay with us. His grandparents have now passed away so we asked for Ryan's dad's blessing to paint them for our little girl's room.

The tall dresser has a total of 5 drawers. Sneaky. It looks like way more than that!

Both dressers have these fun details at the bottom:

And cool fully functioning casters as the feet. Makes them super easy to move around to clean underneath or to rearrange the room.

The short dresser also has brackets that hold a HEAVY mirror. The glass is a little mottled in the corners, very cool. Hopefully Quinn will get to use it one day. In the meantime, this short dresser is perfect for a changing table with just a pad on top. I already started removing the hardware on this one. Oops.

This dresser actually has 6 drawers.

I also had this vanity that I wanted to incorporate into the room. I bought it on Craigslist at least 3 years ago. It was only $20 and it sat in my garage for all of those years. Needless to say, Ryan was not happy it sat there for that long! In my defense, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it.

The finish was in bad shape, so I just had to go with it. Peeling veneer, cracks in the wood, but structurally, it's sound. It also has cool details like the keyhole and the casters.

So after a lot of wood filling, sanding, priming, painting and polyurethaning the dressers now look like this:

I found the new pulls on Ebay for $2 each.

And the vanity, with new glassy-looking knobs from Hobby Lobby, looks like this:

I bought the crib at Wal-Mart for $75. It was originally $89.99 but since it had a teensy scratch that was visible through the box, they gave me 20% off. Score!

The chair and ottoman were repurposed from Tyson's nursery, which by the way I just realized I never posted his finished room. I'll get on that.

So there you have it. All of the furniture for our baby girl's room. Stay tuned for more room details!

Miss Quinn's Nursery - The Ceiling

2011-07-26T07:30:00.000-04:00

The ceiling in Quinn's nursery, like all of the ceilings in our house, are this heavily textured business. Ugh. I really dislike them, but not enough to spend the time or money to deal with the hassle (and mess!) of scraping them all down, repairing the ceilings and then painting. Maybe someday.

When we did our first crown molding installation (in Tyson's nursery), we quickly figured out how to scrape the ceilings so the crown would sit flush or close enough to flush to the ceilings. Since I knew I wanted beadboard on the ceiling in this nursery, scraping down the texture in the entire room was inevitable. Gah. So.much.work. And so messy. We couldn't work on it as often as we would have liked, so the scraping process took us a few weeks of working on it intermittently. I don't have any pictures because I didn't want to ruin my camera with all of the dust and mess!

After the scraping was done, the next step was the beadboard. We were all set to use the big sheets of beadboard that you can buy at Lowes and HD. We had even calculated out how many sheets we needed to buy, but hadn't pulled the trigger yet.

One weekend while browsing the Sunday newspaper ads, I found packages beadboard panels on sale at Menards. After doing the quick math, we found out that these packs would be cheaper than the big panels and Ryan thought they would be much easier to work with. So we went with these instead and I must say, it worked out wonderfully!

We didn't have much to work around with the ceiling and the room was easy, since it's really just a large rectangle. We, er, Ryan, only had to cut around the vent, the light fixture and the hardwired smoke detector.

Here goes...the first panels are up!

Ryan works so hard!

You can see the size of each beadboard panel in this photo:

Once all of the panels were up, Ryan went through the tedious process of filling all of the nail holes, caulking the joints between the panels and painting the ceiling. We painted it the same semi-gloss antique white color of the rest of the trim in our house.

The final step of the ceiling project was to hang the chandelier. It cost us nothing since it was originally hanging in the dining room of our house when we bought it. It was bright and shiny brass and I spray painted it white.

I wasn't even sure if the light would still work. It had sat in our basement for 4 years and survived a flood. I had to give it a good scrubbing before I could even attempt to paint it. That thing was a gross, dusty, cobweb-y mess.

After installing the fixture, I painted the walls. That was my big contribution to the room. :)

I painted the entire room in the evenings one week while Ryan was out of town.

The ceiling is complete, walls painted and the chandelier hung. The only thing left to do is to install the crown molding.

The ceiling was by far the biggest project of the room, but I LOVE how it turned out!

There are LOTS more details to come, stay tuned!

Miss Quinn's Nursery

2011-07-25T08:18:00.000-04:00

I think I'll probably do this in several posts--and I can't believe I haven't already done it yet--but here goes!

Quinn's nursery started out with this nursery that I saw online before I even knew if we were having a boy or a girl. I loved the color scheme, the freshness of it and just how simply beautiful everything looked. So, I stashed it away (aka, saved it to my favorites) and hoped for a girl. :) I also had plenty of ideas lined up for a baby boy, too.

I also knew that regardless of the sex of our baby, we were doing a beadboard ceiling in the room. Ryan thought I was crazy, as he usually does with most things I suggest, but after browsing a few online photos he was on board.

Our nursery started out looking like this:

And now looks like this:

I'll be back with the details of the room!

A big boy bed.

2011-07-24T16:35:00.000-04:00

Tyson fell out of his crib one evening last week, so we (Ryan) decided it was time to convert his crib to a toddler bed. I have to admit, I was terrified. I have read and heard many horror stories from my mom friends, so I was not optimistic in the least.

We're keeping our fingers crossed, but the transition went well through the first night and first nap. After crying for 12 minutes, yes we counted, he slept all night in his bed. I have to admit I shed a few tears too. My little baby is growing up.

We heard him chatting this morning and when we went into get him, we found him sitting in the chair in his room reading a book. The first nap didn't go quite as well. We found him sleeping on the floor, right behind the door, during his nap. At this point, if it's sleep, we'll take it! I'm just hoping it continues to go well.

He was pretty proud of himself after waking up the first morning in his big boy bed!

We're so proud of you, buddy!

Bumbo Seat. Then and Now

2011-07-24T11:59:00.001-04:00

Do We Look Alike? Month 2

2011-07-23T23:54:00.000-04:00

Quinn - 2 Months!

2011-07-23T17:06:00.000-04:00

Age: 2 months

Weight: 10 lbs and a half ounce (25%)

Height: 23 inches (75%)

Size: Can still wear some NB size clothes, but mostly moving into 0-3m stuff for length. Finishing up our last box of Newborn diapers.

Hair: Dark and cray-zay, as evidenced below. :)

Teeth: None.

Sleeping: I dare not to jinx it, but she's sleeping through the night! We feed her for the last time between 10 and 11pm and she sleeps until 6 or 7am. Woot. Naps are getting a bit more consistent. She naps anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours after she eats and plays for a bit.

Eating: As much as it saddens me, I'm currently weaning. We found out last month after a lot of testing on our sweet baby that Quinn has a milk protein allergy. Since over half of babies with an allergy to milk protein also have an allergy to soy protein, I gave up all dairy and soy for 3 weeks. But, each time we gave her any substantial amount of breastmilk, her belly got distended with gas (again), her skin started to break out and she spit up a LOT. I think she may have another allergy. Boo. She does so much better on the Alimentum so we're sticking with that until her GI doctor gives us the go-ahead to start challenging the allergies. Our fingers are crossed that she grows out of it.

She's taking 4oz every 2.5-3 hours during the day, roughly 6 feedings per day.

Movement: She's holding her head up really well and will bear weight on her legs if you stand her upright. Still wiggly, but no rolling yet.

Milestones: Took her first trip to Bloomington, went to her first wedding, happily plays in her activity gym, started smiling (yay!) and started making some cooing sounds.

Favorite toys/activities: Riding in the car or stroller, playing in her activity gym, being held, baths.

Dislikes: Burps, gas, being hot or cold, diaper changes, waiting for food.

Words: Just some adorable cooing sounds!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-13T16:14:00.000-04:00

Our Little Firecrackers:

Tyson: 26 Months

2011-07-13T16:03:00.001-04:00

Age: 26 months and a few days :)

Weight: Not sure, but he was 32+ lbs at 2 years and I'm sure he weighs more than that now.

Height: Again, not sure, but I know he's grown since he was measured at 35.5 inches at 2 years.

Size: 2T clothes, size 5 diaper, size 7 shoe. He outgrew his shoes overnight. I'm not even joking. One day his shoes fit and the very next morning, they no longer fit him. How does a child grow a shoe size OVERNIGHT?

Hair: Blonde and cute. Mostly tame right now since it seems to be the perfect length.

Teeth: 18! I've confirmed that 2 of his 2 year molars have finally popped through. I think the other 2 are on their way because he is drooling and chewing on his hands constantly.

Sleeping: As good as always. In bed by 8pm, wakes up somewhere after 7am. He's taking one good nap each day, roughly 2 hours. Sometimes more, sometimes a bit less.

Eating: Grr. Eating remains a struggle with him. Sometimes he skips meals altogether, sometimes he eats a ton. He's decided he likes apples and right now he loves yogurt.

Movement: Nothing really new, but he still loves to run, jump and play. He's constantly on the go.

Milestones: Took his second trip to the zoo (Ft. Wayne this time), fed his baby sister, with some help from mama, celebrated his third 4th of July. We had planned to let him stay up for the fireworks, but he freaked out after hearing some fireworks being let off during the day so we opted to wait until next year.

Favorite toys/activities: Riding in mama's car, riding in grandpa's boat, playing outside, going down his slide (and then climbing back up again), playing in the sprinkler. Still loves his trains and cars. Loves to hear mama sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". He asks for "twinkle star" :) He still loves to watch the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Dislikes: Transitioning from one activity or person to the next, bedtime and naptime, rinsing his hair in the bathtub, timeouts.

Words: Everyday he says longer and longer sentences. It just blows me away to see so much improvement from one day to the next. He is consistently saying 4 and 5 word sentences that we can understand. Rarely does he say something that we have no idea what he's talking about. He's started saying "me" or "I" in sentences as opposed to always speaking in the third person. He can sing most of "Twinkle Star", can count from 1-9 and knows a few higher numbers, knows shapes (the regular ones like squares and triangles and more complicated shape concepts like cones and cylinders).

Brushing the goats at the Fort Wayne Zoo:

Eating popsicles:

Riding in pa's boat:

Feeding baby sister:

Do we look alike?

2011-06-24T21:11:00.000-04:00

Big Brother:

Little Sister:

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T22:37:00.000-04:00

Happy Father's Day Ryan! Tyson and Quinn are lucky to have you. We hope you enjoyed your day!

Happy Father's Day to the two grandpas too!

Quinn: 1 Month

2011-06-19T09:50:00.000-04:00

Age: 1 month. Already. Sniff.

Weight: 8lbs 4oz (25th %)

Height: 21 inches (50%)

Size: Newborn

Hair: Lots of dark hair

Teeth: None yet.

Sleeping: Just when we think there is going to be some consistency with her sleep, she changes it up on us. She's still napping most of the day and then usually sleeps one long stretch at night.

Eating: She's eating well and finally gaining weight on pumped milk instead of nursing. We've been giving her 3oz bottles every 2.5-4 hours during the day. She usually goes one longer stretch at night, sometimes 4-5 hours! A lactation consultant we saw thinks she may have a posterior tongue tie. The tongue tie may be preventing her from latching properly. The improper latch causes me pain and causes her to nurse inefficiently, which explains her early weight gain struggles. As a result, she has to work really hard and doesn't get much milk. We have an ENT consult soon, so I'm hoping for some answers.

Movement: Quinn is a wiggler! I'm amazed at how much she can move. She can already get herself rolled on to her side so I'm guessing it won't be long until she can make it all the way over. She also likes to be held upright so she can hold her head up and look around.

Milestones: Longer periods of wakefulness, she seems more aware of the what's going on around her.

Favorite toys/activities: No favorite toys yet, but loves to be held. Likes bathtime, except for when it's time to get out. Loves her pacifier.

Dislikes: Diaper changes, being cold, being hungry and burps that won't come out.

Words: None.

Mad about getting her picture taken:

ooh, that's better.

In deep thought.

an intellectual pose. hmmm....

So sweet and getting so big. Still not as big as her brother when he was born, though!

Jessica meets Quinn!

2011-06-17T17:00:00.000-04:00

Quinn is going to love her Aunt Jessica!

Tyson: 25 Months

2011-06-15T11:43:00.001-04:00

Age: 25 months

Weight: Not exactly sure. 32.4lbs last month. Regardless, he is one solid boy!

Height: Again not sure. 35.5 inches last month.

Size: 2T clothes, size 6 or 7 shoe, size 5 diaper

Hair: Needs another haircut asap. We will be taking him this weekend to get one.

Teeth: At least 17. I have confirmed that one of his 2 year molars has popped through, but I can't see inside his mouth well enough to know if any more are through yet.

Sleeping: No major changes. We can count on him to take a 2 hour nap, usually starting somewhere between 12 and 1pm and sleeps on average 11-12 hours each night (8pm - 7-8am). We have had to be a little bit more flexible with bedtimes than we were before Quinn arrived, but he doesn't seem to mind much. He is waking up earlier since his sister arrived (6:30 on average), but that could be because it's lighter outside in the mornings.

Eating: Still not great. No new foods this month and still no veggies. The boy sure loves fruit, though! He does not like watermelon and still likes cherries.

Movement: He can do complete somersaults now. He used to just bend over at the waist and stand on his head. Now he can do them on command! Loves to run, jump, hop and play.

Milestones: Became a big brother! Took our first trip to the lake this summer, first boat ride, first fishing trip with pa (Grandpa), first summer concert.

Favorite toys/activities: Being outside, playing on his swingset, playing in the water, taking walks, reading books, riding in his wagon to see the ducks.

Dislikes: Diaper changes, settling down for naps and bedtime, coming inside after playing, washing hands, leaving Brooke and Lauryn.

Words: Too many to count! He amazes me with what he says and understands. His sentences are getting longer (3-4 words on average) and he's recognizing more numbers as he sees them.

Checking out baby sister:

He LOVES his sunglasses!

At the concert with cousin Morgan (7.5m old):

Our sweet big boy:

We love you buddy!

Daddy's Little Alarm Clock

2011-06-14T15:22:00.000-04:00

Big Brother:

Little Sister:

Welcome to the world, Quinn Suzanne!

2011-06-13T21:20:00.000-04:00

I can't believe she's already been with us for nearly 4 weeks. This update and birth story is long overdue!

I had my 39 week OB appointment on Tuesday, May 17. I had said throughout my pregnancy that I did not want to be induced because I did not have a very positive induction experience with Tyson. Unfortunately, the Wednesday before, I had slipped in my kitchen and hurt my back. I thought I had just aggravated my sciatic nerve and the only way I could get relief from the pain and be able to walk normally again would be to deliver our baby girl. I asked my doctor if she had any availability to induce me that week. When she told me she was on call the next day, we had a tough choice to make. We could go ahead and induce on May 18 or wait it out. I really struggled with the decision but the pain and inability to walk or carry Tyson really made the choice for me.

At 3pm on Tuesday, we got confirmation from my doctor's office that we were scheduled for the induction at 8am the next day. I worked a full day on May 17 to get everything done at the office and prepare for my maternity leave. We rushed around that evening trying to finish packing our stuff for the hospital stay, doing laundry and spending time as much time as possible with Tyson. We both slept really well the night before and were much more relaxed, quite unlike the night before I was induced with Tyson. I did wake up a litte before 5am and could not get back to sleep so I just got up and got ready.

We got to the hospital right at 8am after a little more traffic than we were expecting and a short trip to McDonald's for breakfast. I wouldn't be allowed to drink or eat anything during labor so I needed some breakfast!

I got checked in, taken to our room and the changed into my gown. My nurse came in, took down a bunch of information and started my IV. When she got around to checking my cervix, she found that I was already 4cm dilated. That was a big surprise since I was only 2cm the day before at my appointment. She was encouraged by the news since it usually takes the longest to progress from 0-4cm.

The nurse started the pitocin around 9:30am and my doctor came in a little after 10am to break my water. Immediately afterwards, my contractions really started picking up. It was my goal to hold off on getting an epidural as long as possible or maybe not get one at all. I tried as many different positions, but the fetal heart rate monitor kept coming off and I couldn't do any kind of intermittent monitoring because of the pitocin. It made it hard to deal with the pain when I couldn't really move. Before the shift change at 11am, my nurse started setting up my room for the delivery. She said that she thought I would go quickly and it turns out that she was right!

By 12:30, I had only progressed one more centimeter, to 5. By 2pm, I couldn't take the pain of the contractions any longer so I called my nurse. I asked her to check me one more time and I was at 6cm so I asked for an epidural. The anesthesiologist arrived quickly and worked fast. I had the epidural by 2:30 and started feeling much better. My nurse thought that I would progress quickly once I got the epidural because I would be more relaxed and not fighting against the contractions.

My nurse came in at 3:05 and wanted to check me because of what she was seeing on the monitor. With every contraction, our little girl's heartrate was decelerating and the nurse thought the baby was really getting close to arriving. I thought she was crazy because I had just been checked an hour ago and was only at 6cm. In the half hour after I got my epidural, I had progressed to 8cm.

Ten minutes later, my nurse came in again for the same reason. She said she thought I was complete and again, I thought she was crazy. But, by 3:15pm, 45 minutes after receiving my epidural, I had progressed the final 4 cm and was at 10cm! I started with a few practice pushes while they called my doctor to come up to my room.

Baby's heartrate decelerated a few times and was not coming back up, so they gave me some oxygen and started preparing for a vacuum delivery. Luckily, as soon as I got some oxygen, her heartrate came back up and the vacuum was no longer necessary. My contractions were still coming, but they became irregular. I think she would have been born earlier if my contractions had stayed consistent. There were times that we were all just in the room, waiting for another contraction so I could push. That was a bit uncomfortable if you can imagine.

All in all, I had about 10 sets of pushes, a little less than a half hour, and our baby girl was born! As soon as she was put on my chest, I could tell that she was smaller than Tyson. Not at all what I was expecting since I had measured so far ahead my entire pregnancy. She was perfect.

Quinn Suzanne was born May 18, 2011 at 3:41pm, weighing 7lbs 12 oz and 19.5 inches long.

Her birth was completely different than what we experienced with Tyson. I was awake and aware of everything that happened, instead of being so exhausted like I was with him. Ryan and I really got to enjoy the first moments after we met our new daughter, unlike with Tyson. It really made me realize just how much we missed out on with him because we were so, so tired. I guess it shouldn't surprise us that their births were so different because they are completely different babies and I'm sure that will continue for the rest of their lives!

Just a few minutes old:

Relaxing with mama:

Sweet girl.

Time to go home!

Beautiful flowers from Ryan:

Home at last!

DIY Crib Skirt

2011-05-17T08:45:00.000-04:00

After I decided that the main color of our daughter's nursery would be lavender, I started on my hunt for the perfect bedding. I fell absolutely in love with the lavender Harper bedding from Pottery Barn Kids.

But, I bought PBK bedding for Tyson's room and while it is beautiful and I still love it, as a second-time mom I know crib bedding actually gets very little use. Tyson's beautiful crib skirt had to be removed as soon as we lowered his crib for the first time. It was a big expense for something that we only ended up using for a few months.

When I read the crib skirt tutorial on Young House Love, I knew I could make a knock-off Harper bedskirt myself. I already had the white fabric. It was from grommet curtains that rusted the first time I washed them. FAIL. At least the rust allowed me to salvage some of the fabric.

I went to Hobby Lobby and bought 2 kinds of ribbon and 2 rolls of Heat & Bond tape. After about 2 hours of measuring, cutting and ironing, I had my crib skirt. Not bad for about $9! Now I won't mind as much when I have to remove it to lower her crib. But, I can always change the length of the fabric too! Total win.

Tyson's 2nd Birthday Party!

2011-05-15T15:01:00.000-04:00

I wanted to keep Tyson's birthday party festive and fun, but also keep it simple for me since at the time, I was nearly 38 weeks pregnant. I decided to go with a balloon theme because he loves balloons right now. I also knew it would be something I could easily find and stick with a color scheme -- red, orange, yellow, green and blue.

First up, the decorations! I made this balloon wreath after seeing it on this blog. I bought a #2 at Hobby Lobby, spray painted it red, covered it with glitter and hung it from the center of the wreath using fishing line.

I sewed this fabric party garland using the tutorial from The Purl Bee. We also bought one of those party helium tanks and Ryan blew up lots of balloons.

My mama helped me make the birthday banner using her Cricut and cardstock.

My friend Christie designed the cupcake and fruit skewer toppers.

Uncle Reggie helping to celebrate!

Ryan was mixing up some mint juleps--it was Derby Day.

I ordered a 1/4 sheet cake and 2 dozen cupcakes from Kroger. Best decision ever. I was planning to make the cupacakes myself, but I decided to make it easy and just order them. They were delicious!

The birthday boy!

Time to open presents:

Birthday Boy!

2011-05-13T21:28:00.000-04:00

Ryan and I went in his room together when he woke up on the morning of his birthday. Love his sweet bedhead!

Blurry, but cute smile :)

Then, we went downstairs to show him his big birthday present...a new roadster tricycle!

He was a bit unsure of it at first.

But he warmed up and got a closer look. Checking out the tires...

Playing with the bell.

And attempting to take it for a spin around the living room. He's still a bit short for it, but I'm guessing that won't be for long!

After he played with his tricycle for a while, Daddy made him a special birthday breakfast of pancakes. He refused to eat them. Silly boy!

Tyson is TWO!

2011-05-11T13:42:00.000-04:00

Somehow in the blink of an eye, our little man turned TWO! We can hardly believe it's been that long since this 8lb 6oz bundle arrived and changed our lives in an instant.

Day one:

Day 730:

I'm stealing this format from my mama friends for his monthly updates. Thanks ladies!

Age: 2 years

Weight: 32.4 lbs (90th percentile!). It was his first time being weighed on the big boy scale. No more infant scale for us.

Height: 35.5 inches (also 90th percentile)

Size: 2T clothes, size 6 or 7 shoe, size 5 diaper

Hair: Had his third haircut about a month ago.

Teeth:  At least 16, maybe 20.  It's virtually impossible for me to see inside his little mouth to see if his 2 year molars have popped through yet.

Sleeping: He's still a rockstar when it comes to sleep. We can count on him to take a 2 hour nap, usually starting somewhere between 12 and 1pm and sleeps on average 11-12 hours each night (8pm - 7-8am). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will continue once baby sister comes home!

Eating:  Eh. You wouldn't know it by his weight, but he goes back and forth on how much he eats and what he will eat. We can almost always get him to eat fruit (of any kind), yogurt, applesauce, cheese, cereal or crackers/pretzels. We cannot get him to eat a single veggie, despite all efforts. He drinks 3 cups of 2% milk each day and as much water as he wants.

Movement: He loves to run, jump, kick a ball, and play.

Milestones: Walking up the stairs without holding on to anything! Can walk down the stairs upright as long as he has something to hold on to, no more shuffling down on his belly or his bum. Continuing to put words together, counting (knows 1, 2, 3, skips 4, knows 5, 6, skips 7, knows 8, 9, 10), knows many of the letters of the alphabet by sight, starts to sing "Moon River".  We also switched his carseat to forward facing the day after his second birthday.

Favorite toys/activities: Thomas the Train, toy cars/trucks, the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters. He loves to be outside more than anything! Loving his new swingset, likes to walk to a nearby pond and see the ducks, excited to see any kind of truck, especially the trash trucks on Wednesday mornings. Still loves the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but not too interested in much else on television.
Dislikes: Coming inside or not being able to go outside, getting settled down for a nap, washing his hands before eating (he used to like it).
Words: Too many to count! Putting more and more words together, repeating everything we say, talking constantly.

Tyson's 2 Year and Family/Maternity Professional Pics

2011-05-09T22:54:00.000-04:00

We had pictures taken a few weeks ago for Tyson's second birthday and a few family and maternity pics. They were taken by my friend, Jacquie Carman, http://www.jacquiecphotography.com/.

I thought she did a great job capturing him just as we see him on a regular basis--laughing, running, jumping and playing. She certainly had a challenge with photographing him, but I love them all. Thanks Jacquie!

Daddy's Little Helper

2011-05-05T06:54:00.000-04:00

Grandma and Grandpa W are giving Tyson a playset for his birthday. Grandpa delivered it to our house on Sunday and Ryan got right to work putting it together. Tyson decided he would help Daddy :)

Tyson has no idea what he's helping with, but we're sure he's going to love it when it is all set up. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa W!

22 and 23 Months Long Overdue

2011-04-28T22:06:00.000-04:00

I have been a total slacker when it comes to blog updates, but I promise I have an excuse. There has been a lot of preparation going on in this house for our baby girl's arrival in a little over 3 weeks. More on that to come.

Dear Tyson-

You amaze us every single day. You are such a loving, funny and sometimes challenging little boy. I'm guessing you weigh a little over 32 pounds and I'm not sure how tall you are, but I swear you grow taller by the minute. We'll find out exactly how big you are in just a few weeks at your 2 year appointment. You can still wear some of your 18-24m clothes, but we're quickly transitioning into 2T because your clothes are getting too short. I'm just anxious for real spring and summer weather so you can wear clothing that fits! You're still wearing a size 5 diaper and I can't imagine that will change any time soon.

We've been talking a lot about your baby sister that's on the way. You point to her crib and say "baby sister". You also try to lift my shirt and look for her. As much as I'm excited for you to meet her, I'm also sad that you won't be my baby any longer. I'm trying to take every minute I can to snuggle you (or as you say "nuggle") and tell you how much I love you. It often brings tears to my eyes as I put you to bed at night. Just tonight, without prompting, you said "night night baby". It made my heart melt. Speaking of sleep, you're a great sleeper and Daddy and I often comment about how lucky we are. You're in bed most nights by 8pm and sleep often until 7am or later. You're on to one nap per day, usually around lunchtime, for about 2 hours.

Eating is a daily struggle. You love your milk, but you're still incredibly picky about what you will and will not eat. From what I hear from other moms of toddlers, it's totally normal, but frustrating for Mama and Daddy. We can almost guarantee that you will eat bananas, cheese or homemade banana bread.

You recently started combining words and repeating everything we say. You like to say "hab it" (have it) and love to point out what's going on with the weather. Being outside is your absolute favorite and all of the recent rain has put a big damper on that. You also love to take walks to the pond near our house to see the ducks.

You're much too busy to read many books right now, but you love to play with your toys and you play very well by yourself and with Lauryn. You and Lauryn also love to watch the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but I really think you are learning a lot from it. You know many of your letters by sight and know some shapes and colors.

You're so close to being 2 and it's obvious in many ways. We are amazed at how much you've changed in your second year and we're excited to celebrate your birthday with you.

We love you sweet boy,
Mama and Daddy

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T21:41:00.004-05:00

We had a quiet Valentine's Day celebration at home. Ryan surprised me with beautiful flowers from him and Tyson. We made dinner at home of crab legs, dessert from PFChangs, and I made some delicious cookies to share with my coworkers. I was hoping to get a cute Valentine's Day photo of Tyson, but he was less than cooperative this evening. Hopefully he's in a better mood tomorrow evening.

Happy Valentine's Day all!

19-21 Months

2011-02-08T21:31:00.015-05:00

Dear Tyson-

Wow, buddy, Mama has failed you and I'm sorry. I have not done your monthly update in 3 months! Clearly, you've changed so much in these last 3 months. We've had months of spending time indoors. I know you're as ready as the rest of the folks in the Midwest for the weather to warm up and just waiting for your chance to spend some time outside. You've changed in lots of other ways too.

First of all, you've grown so much! We had your 20 month appointment with Dr. R and you are one big boy. I'm pretty sure you grow taller every single day. I swear just last week you could walk under the bar in the kitchen and now you hit your head if you try to walk under it without ducking. Many of your 18-24 month clothes are starting to get too short, both in the belly and in the legs. Please try to hold on for the rest of the cold weather and not grow too much. Mama wants to start buying cute spring and summer stuff, not more wintery items! Speaking of spring and summer, we'll definitely be moving you into the 2T sizes. You've also gone up one and a half shoe sizes, into a 6.5 and we moved you into a size 5 diaper.

With the exception of your 2 year molars, you have an entire mouth full of baby teeth. We've started brushing your teeth at the sink like big boys do. It's sometimes a challenge to get the brushing done before you try to run away, but you like to take your turn brushing your teeth on your own after Mama is finished *really* brushing them.

Don't worry about that crazy hair and duck tail. We've recently taken care of that too!

We thought your language had exploded a few months ago, but were most definitely mistaken. It's impossible for us to count the number of words you say now, but it has to be in the 100-200 range with new words daily. You've also started repeating what we say, so Mama and Daddy are trying very hard to watch our language around you. You like to point out things that belong to Mama and the things that belong to Daddy throughout the house. We used to read one of your favorite books, Baby's 100 First Words to you and now you nearly read the entire thing to us. We point to a picture and you can tell us what it is. Colors seem to stump you right now though. Depending on the day, you can count to two and recognize a few letters, mostly vowels. I'll credit the Wheel of Fortune for that one. Throughout the day, we have several of the same conversations, but you like to go through the list of your favorite people and ask where they are. Daddy? Brooke? Lauryn? Baby Mo? Reggie? Jaime? Grandma? Pa? Last month, Daddy went on a business trip to Chicago. Every morning, you asked me where Daddy was and I told you he was in Chicago. By the end of the week, you were the one telling me that Daddy was in 'cago. Even now, whenever Daddy is not around when you ask for him, your first question is work? and then 'cago? You are one smart cookie!

We're slowly trying to get you used to the idea that you are going to be a big brother quite soon. There has been quite a bit of work on the nursery that interests you tremendously. Daddy's tools, noises he makes while working and all of the big and little wood pieces are very exciting to look at, point at and touch. You also now know that Mama has a baby in her belly and you try to look for your little sister by pulling up Mama's shirt. So cute.

We've gone on some outings, you've spent lots of time with family and we've spent a lot of time playing and reading. We took you to get your much-needed second haircut and Mama has already started planning your second birthday party. It's going to be here before we all know it, along with your baby sister. You're still a picky eater, but we try to give you a good variety of things we know you'll eat. We switched you to 2% milk and you didn't even notice. All in all, it's been a busy 3 months and we're amazed at how much you've grown and changed.

Helping Daddy cook during our snow day:

Spending lots of time cooped up inside makes us go a little crazy:

But Brooke brings you coloring books (and washable markers!) so you can be entertained. You look entertained by Mama taking your picture:

We love you sweet boy!

Love, Mama and Daddy

the Crown Molding Project

2011-01-23T21:39:00.018-05:00

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, I finally convinced Ryan to put up crown molding in our foyer and dining room.

Dining room, before:

Foyer before:

More foyer, before:

Last before shot of the foyer:

The work begins! He taped off where the bottom piece of molding would go. We did a 3 section molding, with the crown in between. It gave us more of a stacked or thicker crown look.

My job was to paint the trim and crown pieces.

Installation has begun! You can see the top piece of molding (attached to the ceiling) and the bottom piece. The crown goes in between these two.

The finished product!

We have a small section of our foyer that is two stories with about 8" where there was a gap. Ryan just took the crown all the way across so we have two pieces that stick out a bit. It was a perfect solution to these weird sections.

Ryan did such a great job! It took a lot of convincing and it took several weekends of hard work. This was only his second crown molding project, but I think it looks completely professional. I appreciate his need to be a perfectionist and it turned out beautifully!

Valentine's Day Mantel

2011-01-23T21:07:00.008-05:00

As I browsed through several of my decor and craft blogs over the past few weeks, I was inspired to do a Valentine's Day mantel.

I have always decorated a bit for Valentine's Day so I had some things on hand, but I did add a few new things this year.

First up, I spent yesterday making some felt flower balls. I found the tutorial at one of my new favorite blogs, Eighteen 25. I was going to attempt to make her heart shaped wreath, but after cutting so many 3" felt circles, I thought three flower balls was enough. Maybe next year!

I love the way they turned out! Not bad for $5 in styrofoam balls and $3 worth of red felt. It's a really easy craft if you have the patience to cut loads of felt.

I already had the silver pillar holders and the white pillar candles. I also put some Valentine's M&Ms in a glass apothecary jar that I received as a Christmas gift.

I also found this Valentine's Day subway art from Eighteen 25. A free printable poster...can't beat free! I had it printed at Walgreens in the 16x20 poster size. I did buy the frame at Michael's, but I can always reuse it for something else.

The heart garland was $4 at Michael's and I already had the LOVE sign. I'm pretty sure I bought it at the Target Dollar Spot last year.

I'm linking up to The Stories of A to Z Valentine's Mantel Linky party.

New Desk Chair

2011-01-10T21:05:00.007-05:00

The before, a $9 chair I found at Goodwill, sitting in our messy garage (don't judge - we were in the midst of a big project at our house).

I had been searching for a ladderback chair for a while and even bought one on Craigslist. Unfortunately, that chair was super uncomfortable. But this chair was the total opposite! It was in great condition, no wobbly legs, cushy seat and uber comfortable, or as comfortable as a ladderback chair can be.

It just needed a touch up for our office. After a few coats of black matte spray paint and $6 invested in jazzy new green zebra fabric, it's perfect. :)

I'm so happy with how it turned out :)

20 month stats

2011-01-05T20:18:00.002-05:00

Our pediatrician does well baby visits at 16, 20 and 24 months during the second year and Tyson's appointment was yesterday. We've got a big boy on our hands!

30 pounds! (90th percentile)
34 1/2 inches (90th percentile)

I couldn't resist this...Tyson and Dadddy "working" on their laptops together :)

Oh, the tantrums.

2011-01-05T14:52:00.003-05:00

I know they've only just begun and are bound to get worse before they get better, but it just seemed to come on all of a sudden. (We had him checked out at his 20 month well baby visit just to rule out any kind of ear infection or other reason for the moods). My ever so sweet little boy has been throwing wild tantrums several times a day since Sunday afternoon. Who knew waking up from your Sunday afternoon nap could be so disconcerting?

Mama has now experienced her first public trantrum. At least it was in Babies 'R Us, but it still did not stop the glaring stares from strangers and pregnant soon-to-be mamas. Call me crazy, but I never thought my child would be one of those screaming kids in a store.

I have also experienced tantrums because it was time to eat, he finished something he liked or I gave him something he didn't, because we couldn't watch "Mick", his train ran out of batteries, or he couldn't find it at all and the list could go on. I know it's all normal and part of toddlerhood and sometimes his fits are downright funny, especially when we look at what caused it in the first place. I just wish they wouldn't happen so.much so quickly. At least give me some time to adjust to it first!

Amidst one tantrum yesterday, I did manage to teach him how to say the words "help" and "please". We've been working on please for months, but I think he finally got it! At least it's something positive.

20 weeks, Baby #2

2011-01-03T19:56:00.002-05:00

I guess since I'm already halfway there, I'd better start taking some pictures! Sorry baby girl :)

So far, this pregnancy has flown by and I'm sure the next 20 weeks will go just as fast. We have quite a lot to do, but I know we'll figure out a way to get it done.

Mama and Daddy are so Proud

2011-01-02T16:42:00.003-05:00

It all started with this adorable gift from mama's cousin Jessica. An IU hat, scarf and mitten set.

We (with the help of Jessica) taught him to say IU. It sounds really cute and like it's all one word: "eyeyou". Now he recognizes it everywhere...Daddy's IU hat, Mama's IU t-shirt and says it without being prompted.

He makes his parents so very proud! :wipes tear:

2010 Year in Review

2010-12-30T20:44:00.017-05:00

Is it just me or did 2010 absolutely fly by? I can't believe it's time to review Tyson's first full year!

January, 8 Months Old. He was regularly crawling and pulling up, but still such a baby:

February, 9 Months Old. Cruising everywhere with ease:

March, 10 Months Old, started walking and apparently hates St. Patrick's Day:

April, 11 Months Old, baptized:

May, 12 Months Old, his first birthday!

June, 13 Months Old, Father's Day with Grandpa H and Great Grandpa H:

July, 14 Months Old, Happy 4th of July!

August, 15 Months Old, lots of playing outside:

September, 16 Months Old, First Haircut:

October, 17 Months Old, Happy Halloween!

November, 18 Months Old, One and a half years already!

December, 19 Months Old, Merry Christmas!

2010 was a great year for us and 2011 will bring it's own set of adventures, including a little sister for Tyson in May :)

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T16:47:00.025-05:00

One of Tyson's ornaments this year:

Our big tree on Christmas morning:

Tyson having a snack before opening gifts:

Opening the first gift!

Some new books. Yay!

He ripped the wrapping paper one tiny piece at a time.

Playing with one of his new toys:

His very own laptop! It was such a hit that he had to take it with him on our trip to Great Grandma's house later in the day.

Some yogurt melts from Santa!

Eating his breakfast at the kitchen bar instead of in his high chair. Such a big boy!

Mmmmm applesauce...

Silly face!

Tyson's big gift from Grandma and Grandpa W...a ride-on fire truck! He had to go to bed before Daddy and Grandpa got it put together.

Taking the fire truck for its first spin around the foyer this morning

We had a great Christmas with both sides of the family. Thanks everyone!

Riding the big slide

2010-12-24T12:03:00.004-05:00

We spent yesterday morning at the Children's Museum and Tyson got to ride the Jolly Days slide with Daddy. He wasn't so sure at first, but he ended up loving it!

Tyson Met Santa Claus

2010-12-24T11:44:00.007-05:00

He didn't really like him or Mrs. Claus very much, but little Morgan didn't mind one bit!

He also got to meet two of Santa's reindeer. They're much smaller in person than I had imagined.

The best part of the day? Checking out the firetrucks at Uncle Steve's firehouse in Pendleton.

He even got his own fireman's hat!

Shutterfly Photo Cards

2010-11-29T17:02:00.003-05:00

We sent the sweetest Mother's Day card to Tyson's favorite Grandmothers this past Mother's Day. They both loved it and it was easy to create, inexpensive and more personalized than a card from the drugstore.

Mother's Day Damask Mother's Day 5x7 folded card

Find unique and elegant Mother's day cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaN3Dho2YtWfC

You can get your own giftcard from Shutterfly by going here

Tyson's Professional 18 Month Photos

2010-11-18T20:28:00.007-05:00

Just a little sneak peek. We're using some of them for our Christmas cards, so I'm saving them until I get the cards sent out. Taken by Kristi Hibbetts.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2010-11-15T22:44:00.006-05:00

It's hard to believe it's been 7 years! Happy Anniversary Ryan! I love you and can't wait to see what's in store for us.

DIY Chalkboard

2010-11-15T22:27:00.005-05:00

Long before Tyson was even a brief thought in our minds, this blog was primarily about our lives, our house and my decorating projects. It took me a long time (18+ months or so), but I finally have the DIY bug back. It's certainly not for lack of trying or good intentions, though. I have approximately 10 projects currently going in various states of completion.

So, here's one that I actually finished!

It started out as a print of a ballerina in a frame that I found at Goodwill for $15. I wouldn't normally pay that much for just a frame, but I kept going back to it thinking it would be perfect for something.

I cleaned it up pretty well and painted it with 2 coats of chalkboard paint. I ordered the vinyl "Menu" from an Etsy seller for $3. I orginally thought I would paint or distress the frame a bit, but once I was finished, I realized it had enough distressing of its own. It was already a creamy yellow that would work well against our cream beadboard backsplash.

The final product:

I was a little concerned that the chalkboard part wouldn't actually work because of the material of the original print. It was kind of a cardboard material, but it works!

I was a busy girl working on 2 different projects tonight, so I'll hopefully have at least one of those to share soon!

Holiday Cards!

2010-11-13T15:45:00.004-05:00

Is it already that time of year? I have been thinking about designing our holiday cards for nearly a month now. I’m just anxious to get our pictures back from our photographer to make it official. Last year, we used Shutterfly.com and ordered the flat cardstock Fa La La card. With one Christmas-y photo that I took of Tyson, the cards turned out better than we could have imagined. We loved them and we received loads of compliments on the card we sent out last year. So, how do we top it for this year?

First off, I need to make some decisions. I think I have it narrowed down to a few options. I definitely prefer the flat cardstock cards as opposed to some other options. I prefer simpler designs and Shutterfly has plenty of them. So far, I’m thinking of either the Pretty Poinsettia Print card or the Bright and Merry card. Or, maybe the Scrapbook Style Blue card. Such a hard decision to make! For our friends and family, you’ll just have to wait and see which one we decide to use. Happy (early) Holidays!

If you're a Blogger and you want to win 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly, sign up here.

18 Months

2010-11-13T13:59:00.010-05:00

Enjoying the last few warm days of fall:

Poor, sick baby:

Dear Tyson-

Only 6 monts until your second birthday? Time must slow down soon. You have a pretty nasty cold right now, but we're getting through it. You continue to be a total joy in our lives. You have the best attitude, nearly always happy and smiling. Of course there are moments when you're tired, sick or your teeth hurt, but we're lucky that they are few and far between.

Despite our best efforts, you still have a very limited diet. Brooke tried for eight days straight to get you to try (even once) a vegetable, but you refused. Mama is okay with you not liking certain foods, but you don't even try them first. Maybe some day. This month, you have liked to have cereal snacks with mama, sitting on the stool at the counter. You're still not steady enough to do it completely by yourself (they are backless stools after all), but you do a great job and look like such a big boy while you're at it.

Mama and Daddy are so impressed with how much you say now. I think the number of words has to be at least 20 or more now. You've started repeating what we say, good or bad. While you played football with Daddy, he taught you how to say fumble!, but in your voice sounds more like bumble! You are still loving to watch football and each time it's on, you grab your own small football and throw it or kick it around the room. Daddy is ready to sign your NFL contract as a kicker or punter.

We love you so much and continue to be amazed by you each and every day. Love, Mama and Daddy

30 Days of Thanks

2010-11-04T10:29:00.003-04:00

I so meant to start this on November 1, but somehow I failed to actually get around to it.

#27: I am thankful for a giveaway on the Southern Hospitality blog. I've been a huge fan of Rhoda for a while and a new lens for my camera would be fabulous!

#28: I am thankful my husband made it home from another business trip safely and that Tyson was kind to his mama while Daddy was away.

#29: I am thankful to live in a country where we can vote in peace. Even if we may not be happy with the outcome of the election, we still have the right to vote.

#30: I am thankful for a new month and a lovely holiday season to look forward to.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-02T10:43:00.006-04:00

Even though we're not Star Wars fans (I'm sure to my brother's dismay), Ryan and I decided months before Halloween that Tyson would be Yoda this year. Doesn't he make a perfect one?

We had a great Halloween weekend! A party with some of mama and Tyson's friends...lots of little kids around his age, dinner with Grandma and Grandpa H, Aunt Jaime and Uncle Reggie and new baby cousin Morgan made for a busy Saturday. On Sunday, we had a cookout with our neighbors before the trick-or-treating started. We decided that Tyson wouldn't trick-or-treat this year, but he had a blast handing out candy to all of the kids.

Love the little Master Yoda!

16 and 17 months

2010-10-11T17:49:00.007-04:00

It's hard to believe I've gone over a month without a blog post. Sorry family and friends!

Dear Tyson-

You just turned 17 months old and you've changed so much in the past 2 months. You have finally started watching the television. Your favorite shows so far seem to be football (any game, it doesn't matter) and the Wheel of Fortune. Your Great Grandma B sure is proud of that one! Whenever you see football or the Wheel, you instantly start clapping. You even know what to do when someone yells "touchdown!".

When it comes to understanding us and talking, we are constantly amazed by just how much you understand. You have started saying so many more words these past two months. I don't know if we're at the word explosion everyone talks about yet, but you can say so much and most of it is decipherable. You still say Daddy all the time, but you say Mama or Mum with some regularity too. Down, done, boom, uh-oh, whoa, den (again) are all words we can understand. You try to say dog (da), milk (ma) and I think you are trying to say up, but I'm not quite sure.

You know how to give big hugs and kisses, high fives and fist bumps. Although times can be difficult with temper tantrums, Mama and Daddy adore being around you. Your eating habits are pretty much the same and I wish they would get better. We keep trying to get you eat different foods and you keep refusing. Right now, some of your favorite foods are grapes and canned peaches.

Books have always been a favorite of yours, but recently they have become an obsession. We read the same books over and over again because you love them so much. Everytime you want to hear a book again, you hand it to us and we ask again? and you tell us den! I think the books are just making you that much smarter. You can point to many of your major body parts when we ask. You know nose, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, head, belly, toes and feet.

I think sometime over the last few months you have turned into more of a little boy and less of a baby. You even decided to give up your pacifier on your own. Mama is thrilled to not have to wean you from it, but it sure makes naptime a little more complicated. You just can't seem to get calmed down for your nap and the paci certainly helped!

We just love watching you learn and grow everyday. Love, Mama and Daddy

First haircut

2010-09-09T21:17:00.040-04:00

I finally caved and agreed with Ryan that Tyson should get his first haircut. We had been discussing it for some time, but I like(d) his hair longer. Besides, it was all of his baby hair and a haircut would make him look too grown up.

My realization came as we were walking around the Marshmallow Festival in Ligonier, Indiana this past weekend. With his mullet hanging over the top of the Ergo, he fit in a little too well with the folks at the festival and I decided it was time for the big cut. No offense to the fine people of Ligonier, Indiana.

Where better to have his first haircut than the vintage barber shop where Ryan's Uncle Steve works? Uncle Steve gave Ryan all of his haircuts as a kid and he has memories of spending Saturday mornings at this shop with his dad and brother. The actual space has changed since Ryan was a kid, but evidently, they recreated the same atmosphere in their "newer" location. Same barber chairs, same floor, same number stand, etc.

A before shot of his long, luscious (albeit somewhat mullet-esque) locks:

Tyson and Grandpa being silly in their lighted glasses.

He was not content to sit by himself on the booster, so he sat on Daddy's lap the entire time. Getting ready for the cut:

He did great! No crying and only minimal wiggling. It's a good thing that we had snacks on hand, because they kept him quite content.

Look at that long, sweet baby hair.

Whatcha lookin' at?

Getting close to being done, but first, more snacks!

hellooo mama.

This face was directed at Grandma. Who knows what kind of silliness she was saying at the moment, but he was not impressed. Just give me my snacks!

The final trims. . .

And ta-da! No longer a baby. Doesn't he look so grown up all of a sudden? Grandma kept saying that she would just tape all of his hair back on his little head.

Still in need of snacks.

A certificate makes the event official. :)

Reggie and Jaime's Ladybug Baby Shower

2010-08-29T21:40:00.038-04:00

Yesterday, Ryan and I hosted a couple's baby shower for his brother Reggie and sister-in-law, Jaime. They're expecting their first child, a little girl, in October. We had a blast and I hope Reggie and Jaime enjoyed themselves as well. We can't wait for Tyson to meet his little cousin!

I can't thank my Mama enough for helping me pull the day off. It wouldn't have been possible without her. Beware, lots of photos ahead!

Banner over the gift table:

Diaper cake that I made:

Ladybug book for the cake topper. Perfect.

Cupcakes with edible sugar ladybugs. Delicious!

The centerpieces for the tables were black buckets I found at Target, filled with bright green tissue paper and "cupcake toppers".

I was so glad to find a place for my cute green and white striped vase. Thanks for the suggestion Mom!

I couldn't find place card holders that would work, so I bought these 70 cent ladybugs at Hobby Lobby. I hot-glued a mini clothespin to hold the cards and a little block to the back for weight and support. I *heart* them.

Us with the guests of honor:

Our little munchkin. He napped through the majority of the festivities.

We had a great time!

Playing Catch Up

2010-08-20T21:47:00.017-04:00

Somebody has been a little behind on blogging and unloading photos.

Last weekend, we met up with Ryan's fraternity brother and his two boys at a park near our house. We tried to go to Bouncer Town, but quickly discovered that it had gone out of business. The park was a great find, though! Great toddler-friendly equipment, lots of shade and a nice fence around the entire play area. Ryan appreciated the rubber mulch and he has said that he now wants that stuff everywhere because it felt so good on his bad back.

Tyson wasn't so sure of the slide. He went down it a few times, but as you can see, he gets a bit more hesitant each time. Oh, and for my photog friends, most of these were taken in full manual. I'm so proud of myself!

Mama, I'm not so sure about this . . .

Toys at my level. Perfect.

We visited the Indiana State Fair. I took several photos, but the majority of them did not turn out for various reasons. Lighting, camera shake, out of focus. I had it all. Too bad because we had a really nice time. Tyson loved the animals and it was nice that he got to spend time with all of his grandparents at the same time. He's a lucky boy to have his grandparents so close!

Ryan and I had to share a lemon shake-up :)

Tyson and I went on a playdate today at a splash park. He *loved* it! The puddles were much more exciting than the actual sprinkler pad. Mama got to visit with some other mamas and Tyson got to play with lots of kids his own age. I didn't have my camera out much due to the watery conditions, so I don't have many photos at all. The little man was worn out and quickly fell asleep in the less than 10 minute drive home.

Brooke (our nanny) and I took the babies to the pool this afternoon. It was quite nice to be there today since the neighborhood kids are back in school. The pool was quiet and we had the entire baby pool to ourselves.

Lauryn and Tyson. She constantly takes whatever Tyson has in his hands, whether it be toys, sippy cups or anything else and he just lets her. Such a little gentleman already :)

Oh, and I'm a cheater. These pics were taken in (gasp!) Auto. I always overexpose in full sun and since it was really bright, I stuck with Auto.

Oh, and molar #4 has popped through so I'm pretty sure that officially makes 5 new teeth in 5 weeks (up to a total of 12) with very little difference in Tyson's demeanor. How did we get so lucky?

15 Months!

2010-08-07T14:39:00.039-04:00

Dear Tyson-

You're 15 months old today! Already 1/4 of the way through your second year. Time is FLYING.

You are growing so quickly and Mama and Daddy think you change everyday. Just this month, three of your molars have popped through. We think the fourth one is on the way, but it is still hiding. That makes 10 teeth total. Speaking of teeth, you love to brush yours! Mama starts, but you like to finish up the toothbrushing by yourself. You are back to wearing bibs everyday because you drool so much, so there must be more teeth ready to pop through.

Just this month, you have become so independent and you understand so much of what we say. The list of things you understand could go on and on. You still only have the same three words you had before, but you babble so much that we know we'll be able to understand more of your words very soon. One of your most favorite things to do is push buttons. You have to push the buttons on the alarm key pad, the refrigerator, the garage door opener and the thermostat. Mama and Daddy can hardly walk past one of these things without you having your little finger ready to press the buttons! You have also learned how to blow kisses and it is just.too.cute!

We have moved you up to a size 4 diaper. That means you're growing big and strong! Even though we know you are growing, your appetite seems to change from day to day. One day, I swear you are a bottomless pit and the next day you hardly eat anything. Right now, you like biting into things so mama has been cutting your food into strips instead of little bits and pieces.

It has been so hot this month that we have not been able to spend too much time oustide, even though you LOVE being outdoors! We have been to the lake a bunch and even took a trip to the fair. We also celebrated your great grandpa's 96th birthday. Even though everyone offered, you refused to eat the cake or ice cream. You also got to meet your Uncle Tom. He had a pretty quick visit, but hopefully we'll have a longer visit with him sometime soon.

Daddy is still your favorite person by far. You can spend hours watching him working in the yard and you follow him around the house. Wherever Daddy goes, Tyson wants to go too. Happy 15 months sweet pea!

Love, Mama and Daddy

Mama has been slacking on the blog posts this week, so I'll just recap the entire week. First off, celebrating Tyson's Great Grandpa Fred's 96th Birthday:

Uncle Steve and Ryan:

Tyson and Grandma H:

Tyson talking with his Great Great Aunts Minnie and Bernadine:

The birthday boy!

Making silly faces at mama:

Watching Daddy work outside in the yard:

Helping mama in the kitchen:

The 15 month old man:

Hello Molars!

2010-07-29T20:31:00.001-04:00

In less than 3 weeks, Tyson has had 2 molars pop through and another one is soon to follow. He's up to 9 teeth now. :)

Elkhart County Fair

2010-07-27T21:31:00.017-04:00

This past Saturday, we visited my hometown fair in Goshen, Indiana. Tyson LOVED it, especially the animal barns! He waved to the animals, petted a few of them and tried to climb in their cages. He cried when we left each barn and went to the next one. He saw pigs, goats, sheep and rabbits. We also saw a pony and a cow, but not too close. I think the fair is going to be a yearly adventure for us.

Obviously not this year, but a vintage Fair sign

Checking out the piggies:

Petting the goats:

Trying to climb in the pen with the goats. Silly boy.

I thought this goat had kind of a pretty face. Am I crazy?

I think Jessica is loving the bunny more than Tyson.

A 4H clock in the middle of the fairgrounds.
Tyson and Aunt Jessica. Well, she's not really his aunt because she's not my biological sister, but we're as close as sisters as we can be. :)

A little friend hitched a ride on Tyson's stroller for a bit.

The little man in the Ergo. I love that thing!

We had a great time, ate lots of fantastic fair food and had so much fun watching Tyson with the animals. I hope Jessica can come back for a visit again next year!

Thank you!

2010-07-21T20:48:00.005-04:00

Tyson just received the cutest outfit and shoes from Aunt Lori and Uncle Tom. Super cute t-shirt and swim trunks:

Love the guitars!

And, the Chuck Taylors...are you kidding me? ADORABLE!

Thanks guys! :)

Concentration

2010-07-20T20:59:00.005-04:00

Mr. Personality

2010-07-19T20:52:00.008-04:00

This kid has the silliest faces!

Sorry about his gross nose...he finds getting it cleaned a form of pure torture.

Not sure what this is, but he does it ALL the time.

14 Months Old

2010-07-05T09:16:00.012-04:00

Dear Tyson:

You are 14 months old and well into toddlerhood. You keep us on our toes everyday, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

You have not slowed down one bit and in fact, I think you're moving faster than ever. We spent 5 days with Grandma and Grandpa H at the lake and you kept them busy too. You and Grandma took lots of walks and collected acorns, rocks and sticks. I think they'll be finding rocks in various places for months to come. It made Uncle Reggie and Aunt Jaime realize what's in store for them when their baby girl arrives in October.

We celebrated your second Fourth of July holiday. You slept right through all of the fireworks even though we were worried that you would wake up from all of the noise. You played with your flag and rode around in your cousin Alli's wagon. It was a really hot and humid day, so you did not get to spend as much time outside as you would have liked.

Grandma tried to get you to try some new foods, but you did not care for the beets or cottage cheese. Maybe another time! You're still a great eater and you have not met a fruit that you don't like. Bananas and blueberries are your current favorites. Mama is still struggling to get you to eat your veggies, but I found a yogurt that has veggies in it. Luckily, you love yogurt and don't even know you're being tricked into eating your veggies!

Just this month, we've been swimming, to the park, on walks and on big trips in the car. You love to play outside and just be outdoors. For the most part, you are a happy little guy. You love to clap your hands, laugh and smile. You're getting pretty good at understanding us and while you've been talking for months, you're finally saying words that we can understand. You say mama, da-yi (daddy) and done.

You love Daddy so much right now. He is quite possibly your favorite person in the whole world. When you don't know where he is, you love to yell for him. We can't wait to see what you learn and figure out this month!

Happy 14 months sweet baby!

Love, Mama and Daddy

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T20:17:00.008-04:00

Starting off the day in his patriotic pjs :)

It was a hot day, so we didn't last long outside in the morning. His cheeks got flushed within minutes.

So we tried again in the evening, but he was too wound up to let me take many pictures of him.

Happy 4th of July everyone! It was much different this year than last year. Remember this little man?