Family night of Christmas fun

We headed out for a long night of Christmas shopping, dinner, and a trip to see Santa. Tyler was all dressed up and ready to tell Santa, again, what he wanted for Christmas. This Santa had a little radioflyer bike sitting right next to him, it was almost too much for Tyler to bear. He kept saying, "on, on". We decorated our house for Christmas, I have adoreable pictures of Tyler helping put the ornaments on the tree. Tyler loves sitting in front of our tree and looking at the lights. He continues to look under the tree and says "presents". Every time we come back down stairs from a nap or in the morning he gives out this little excited sigh, as if to say "oh the tree is still here!" I have a too cute picture of him on cousin Carson's present (still in the package, and half way still in the bag) wanting to ride it around and test it out. All of Tyler's presents from Santa are hidden but we can not wait for Christmas day. This Christmas is going to be so different for Tyler. Last year at only 9 months he didn't enjoy it quite the way he will now. This Christmas will be just as exciting for us as it will be for Ty.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. This year was my parents for Thanksgiving, will be Chad's parents for Christmas. We were able to fly down Wednesday morning so we could have a little extra time. As soon as we got there Mom had the fresh gingerbread cookie dough made up, she and Tyler rolled out the dough and made gingerbread cookies. Tyler got to pick the different shapes he wanted, he choice a snowman and a gingerbread man. That afternoon Papa took Tyler out for a ride on his bike. He had a seat put onto the back and I have great pictures of them both with their bike helmets on ready to ride. Thursday we had a wonderful dinner, and we were all soon ready for naps. That night had our traditional game night with the family. Friday we all headed out for a big breakfast at Bob Evans, Chad can't go without at least one breakfast there. Tyler ordered the kids pancakes and about finshed them all. If he can eat any meal it is usually breakfast. That night we had a huge dinner with family again, lots of food and pies. After dinner we put Tyler and his cousin Brayden in their matching pjs and took off for the mall to get pictures with Santa. They were so cute, Tyler immediatley told Santa he wanted a "hemet" (that is helmet) and a "bite" (which is bike) for Christmas. On Saturday we awoke to a wonderful breakfast then we all packed up and went out for a day of shopping and lunch. That afternoon Papa and Tyler went out to play with their new remote control plane. We have great pictures of Tyler flying it all by himself. We had such a wonderful time. As always mom and dad were sad when we had to leave, we think they were sad to see us go as well :)

The perfect rainy day

Tyler and I had a wonderful rainy day today. We made a big pancake breakfast as a family before Chad headed off to work. After breakfast Tyler and I curled up on the couch to watch one of Ty's favorite movies "The bee movie". He doesn't normally sit all the way through the movie but he woke up earlier than usual so he was getting a little sleepy. After the movie was over we went upstairs to play in his playroom. We kept busy with games of ball and playing with the mr. potato head. As it was getting close to lunch time we headed downstairs to get out the play-doh. We had so much fun making shapes and animals. He is taking a good nap now (always better on a rainy day). When daddy gets home we are off to a christmas show filled with music, shopping, food, and of course Santa. I get so excited for christmas time.

"Hoween"

Tyler's first Halloween that he was able to enjoy candy and trick or treat with friends was a blast. Chad headed home at around 2:30 that Friday and we video taped Tyler getting his monkey costume on. He still didn't know what to make of this Halloween we kept talking about, but he did know it was "Hoween" and he was going to be a "montey". We set out for a cute little historical downtown area where all the outdoor shops have employees dressed up and handing out candy. We met friends down there who were waiting while they listened to stories being read outside the library. Tyler and his buddy Canon rode in a wagon as Caroline and Clarie walked beside. Tyler wasn't sure what to make of it as we kept stopping to say "trick or treat". However, he quickly was interested in what was being dropped into his pumpkin basket. Soon it was too much for him to take and he had to look at all the candy. We didn't make it very far before we had to begin breaking out the "pops" (lollipops). He and Canon quickly became a sticky mixture of lollipop juice and costume fuzz. After we collected all our candy we went over the fire station where they all were able to climb on the fire trucks and meet the firefighters. We ended our night going over to eat dinner with our friends letting the kids all run out their sugar rushes. We have adoreable pictures that soon will be posted. It was such a fun night, Tyler still talks about "Hoween" and all the candy.

Tyler the wild man

Tyler's favorite things these days are buses (school buses are the the best), motorcycles, football, and bikes. We are beginning the look for Tyler's first bike. He has become mommy's big helper. He loves to help me vacuum, feed Bailey, put clothes in the dryer, etc. He has become quite the little independent boy. He is also quite the little dancer, he and mommy love to dance around the house. It makes it much more fun when Bailey gets excited and chases us. We took our first trip to the pumpkin patch where Tyler got to feed the animals, take a hay ride, play on tractors, and pick out his own pumpkin. We are getting very excited about halloween. Tyler will tell you that halloween is coming and he is going to be a monkey. Chad and I can't wait, aside from the huge sugar rush we can only imagine how much fun Tyler will have. We will have lots of pictures to share. I think that potty training is around the corner for us. Tyler tells us when he has gone in his diaper. This could be fun! Tyler has a new cousin, born two weeks ago. We leave tomorrow to travel up and see Warner for the first time.

Ty, Bailey and I leave for Fl again

Nana and Papa were needing some Tyler time so Tyler, Bailey, and I all flew to Fl last weekend. We had a whole week planned filled with sea world, the zoo, the beach, swimming, etc. On Monday morning we loaded up the car heading to the beach. As I was putting a bag of snacks in the back seat Tyler all the sudden threw up everywhere. We called off the trip to the beach but still just thinking Tyler may have eaten something that didn't agree with him. We were wrong, he continued to throw up 7 more times that day. On Tuesday he was doing better but still weak so we took it easy that day. By Tuesday night the rest of my family had gotten the bug. My mom and I spent Wednesday taking care of the family. On Thursday we went ahead with our sea world plans and had a blast. Tyler LOVED feeding the dolphins, he still talks about them every day. He clapped his hands and danced around at the Shamu show. We have some great pictures of him watching Shamu as he swam by in the water. It was a long day and he and his cousin Brayden were worn out but they had so much fun. On Friday morning we made it to the beach and had breakfast. Tyler and Brayden played on the playground and ran out into the water. It was a beautiful day and the water was perfect. We got the kids home to take a long nap while my niece, sister, and I went out to get halloween costumes for them to wear to Zoo Boo that night. The zoo in Fl has Halloween activities for kids 12 and under. Brayden and Tyler went as firefighters, they were too cute! We went on hay rides, we went into the petting zoo, they got a chance to take their costumes off and play in the water. They were exhausted after our night. On Saturday morning we went up the local fire house, Nana found out they were having an open house. Tyler was amazed with the big fire trucks, and loved the sirens. Papa got Tyler and Brayden a wooden fire truck, Tyler is really into playing with his trucks and cars now. He even makes the motor sounds to go with it. After the fire house we went on to my nephew's house where my neice, Annie, was making brunch for everyone. After we ate the kids went out to play with the dogs and Sassy the horse. Tyler got his first horse ride. He enjoyed riding Sassy but LOVED to feed her apples. We then left from my nephew's house and headed straight to the airport. We were able to fit almost everything we had planned into three days. The whole family was ready for some sleep after that week.

Annual camping trip

On September 19th we headed out for our annual camping trip, although this year it was with our friends here in NC. This was the first group camping trip for them and for some, their first camping trip ever. It couldn't have turned out any better. The kids all had a blast. The weather was perfect. This was Tyler's second camping experience, although he wasn't able to have as much fun last year. This year he ran around playing with all the other kids. He had so much fun just being dirty and eating a bunch of junk. I guess that's what camping is all about. On Saturday morning all the men took a hike with ALL the kids, they came back worn out and ready for naps (the kids were tired too). Everyone had so much fun we are attempting to try another camping trip before the end of the year.

18 months old today

We can not believe that Tyler is 18 months old today. I planned to take Tyler out to the park and play for a while in the morning. I was getting ready and changed to leave and Tyler was reading books in his bed when all the sudden he came walking into my bedroom. We knew the day was coming that he would be climbing out of his crib, he just decided that 18 months was the cut off for a crib. After our morning of play it was time for his nap. I was waiting to hear the sound of little feet running throughout his room but it never happened. He decided he would lie still and take a nap. Tonight should be interesting to see if he will settle and sleep or if we will spend the night trying to keep him in bed. He is way too big these days. His favorite time of the day lately has become when daddy gets home. I just sit and laugh as they both go running through the house, complete with barking Bailey on their heels. They are the typical daddy and son silly, loud and just being boys.

Traveling all over

On Tuesday August 26th Tyler and I began our many days of travel. We set out for Georgia to pick up my dear friend Lisa, the bride to be. Our intentions were to set out for Ky incredibly early Wednesday morning. However, with a full energy Tyler and slow moving, in need of coffee girls we didn't get the start we wanted. Once we did get on the road Tyler did very well. He watched his movies, slept and kept us entertained with his excited squeals at all the trucks and buses that went by. Once we got to Ky we were able to eat and attend worship with my nephew Paul and his girlfriend along with my good friend Linsay. After worship Tyler and I were on the road once again, only 30 minutes this time, to a very anxious set of grandparents. Judging by the timely manner that the door was opened and Granny and Granddad emerged from the house I can only imagine how long they were standing at the door waiting for us. Tyler enjoyed a couple of days of tractor time, helping Granny pick veggies from the garden, and helping to feed the horse. On Friday Tyler and I were off about 1 1/2 hours north to pick up daddy from the airport and to stay with Aunt Sherry and Uncle Rod. They own and live in a beautiful home with a amazing cafe, in which our cousin owns and runs, and a tea shop that our Aunt Sherry owns on the first floor. We were so exicted for a full weekend of time with family and me attending brial events. Our plans were crushed when Saturday evening Chad came down with a high fever and feeling terrible. By Sunday after worship I had also begun to feel a little queasy. Aunt Sherry and Uncle Rod happily took over care of Tyler and had the best time with him. Tyler did a lot of entertaining over the weekend to the cousins and aunts and uncles in town. Chad and I continued to remain sick, however with Uncle Rod (the doctor in the family until Steven graduates) prescribed advise and medicine for us. The wedding was Monday morning and I was able to get up the isle and kept focus to stand through the ceremony and not get sick. Chad said that Tyler was very vocal when mommy walked down the isle and also called Aunt Lisa's name a few times when she appeared. Sadly after we were announced into the reception Chad, Tyler and I had to exuse ourselves. It was terrible that we were so sick and were unable to stay and enjoy ourselves. What was even worse is that Tyler was to be going to spend a week with Granny and Granddad and mommy and daddy were taking a week vacation alone. Chad and I attempted to keep on our vacation schedule but some things were changed and or cancelled. We enjoyed time together but of course the week wasn't exactly what was expected. Granny and Granddad brought Tyler home on Friday and he came home telling us lots of stories of the tractor, the barn, Granddad's motorcycle, the horse, and the cows. They had so much fun with him taking him to the park, showing him off to friends and family, and just spending every moment with him. He now even tells strangers that we encounter while out in stores about the barn and the tractor. Now nana and papa are waiting for their turn for Tyler to go spend some time with them. Tyler is very lucky to have such different places to visit when going to see grandparents. He enjoys the horses and tractors when we are with Chad's parents and then also is able to enjoy the beach and swimming when we visit my parents.

Busy, Busy

My niece Megan and my great-nephew Brayden stayed with us until last Wednesday. Brayden is crawling everywhere and into everything so he and Tyler played well together. Tyler is really going to be a wonderful big brother. He would get Brayden's bottle for him when he would drop it. He would get Brayden toys and show him how to play with them. Ty did need to be on mommy's lap every time Brayden was there so there was a little bit of jealous feelings. We enjoyed the park, the pool, walks, and just playing in the play room. Tyler is amazing at learning his letters. Usually after breakfast Tyler pulls mommy on the floor and we work on our letters on the fridge. He can show you letters, A, B,X, Y, O, T and is learning more each day. He LOVES his books and we usually read a little bit through out playing every day. He runs to his books yelling BOUT, BOUT and picks out a favorite. He loves three particular books because they all have a mouse in it. Our books are getting worn fast, but I love it. It just means we put them to good use. He loves the I Spy game, so we play that often. He still loves his bubbles but has upgraded to a bigger blue bubble stick (you will see in pictures that will be added soon). He actually did swim for the first time last week at the pool. Instead of just going under water he went from daddy to the steps and back again. We are going to be looking into swim lessons. He will tell you on a regular basis "my mess" meaning I'm a mess. He is full energy but a ton of fun and a lot of laughs. He is just amazing.

Summer is almost over

Visitors are still in and out in between some trips of our own. Two weeks ago Tyler and I traveled to see my brother (Uncle Jim) his family and my best friend Lisa. We brought my niece back with us allowing her to stay for a week. The following weekend my brother and his wife came through to pick my niece up and my sister flew in for a visit. Tyler has had so much fun with aunts, uncles, and cousins. He is amazing in the pool, at 17 months he just dives in. He jumps off Chad's shoulders and falls into the water. We are nervous when he falls and dunks himself but you can see him under the water and he smiles the whole time. He never takes in water, he just has naturally learned to hold his breath. My sister flew home last Wednesday and Chad's older brother Jared, our sister-in-law Jessica, and our nephew Carson came into town that night. We have had a blast with them the last couple of days. Tyler has been really getting a taste of what it will be like to be a big brother and share his toys. He is actually doing very well with that. Tyler is the older cousin by 10 months but soon he and Carson will be getting into trouble together. We went out for a walk and instead of riding in his stroller Tyler wanted to be out and helping Aunt Jessica push Carson. We had a play date here today also so we had a total of 7 kids here playing. They had so much fun. Chad's brother has to leave tomorrow morning but after they leave we go to pick up my older niece and her son at the airport. They are coming to visit until next Wednesday. Tyler is getting some good time with some of his cousins.

Fun time with friends and family

After papa and nana left to go back home some of our friends came into town to stay a few days. We had so much fun. Tyler had such a blast playing with his friends. They played in the sprinklers, in the play room, on the playground at the mall. The kids had fun, the grown ups had a blast. Chad was a sport having 4 kids and 3 women in the house all at the same time. We had a few days here, just the three of us, before Tyler and I left to go visit Lisa and my brother. After spending some quality time we came back, bringing my niece Liz back with us. She is spending the week with us here. We have been busy swimming every day (sometimes twice a day) and going to the park. On Saturday my sister is flying in to spend a couple of days with us. We keep busy here, but we are loving every minute. Tyler is getting bigger by the second. He is such a funny boy. He has had a yellow bubble wand that is basically his security blanket that he carries with him everywhere. We have to wash them frequently. He can tell you his name when you ask him (he actually started that about 3 weeks ago). He loves bible class and sings along with the songs. It's sad how quickly he is growing up.

Nana and Papa visit

Once we returned from Ky my parents (nana and Papa) got here to spend a week with us. It's been a fun week. They bought finger paints for Tyler, he had fun just getting messy. Papa has gotten Tyler spoiled with 2-3 walks everyday. We have been having fun going to play grounds, flying the helicopter, and reading lots of books. Tyler has a thomas the train video now that he loves to watch. Trains have been added to his favorites list now. He is developing quite a vocabulary and repeats words contstantly. Nana and Papa bought him a little football which he carries around with him everywhere. We know that we have a sports boy on our hands. If there is any type of ball game on tv (soccer, baseball, football, etc) he stops and watches for a while. Chad is so excited for football season now. Mom and dad have to leave to go home on Thursday but we have more visitors coming into town on Sunday. Summer is just a busy time.

Time on the farm

Tyler got to spend a whole week on Granny and Granddad's farm. He kept us busy all day long. By the end of the week Granny and Granddad had broke down and pulled out all three tractors for Tyler to ride. He helped feed Rawhide (the horse) every day. He had daily trips out to the barn to see the cows and try to get a peek at the "barn cat". He had so much fun feeding the geese, and going down to the pond to see the fish. He never showed a bit of fear with any of the animals. In fact we had to make him keep his distance with some of them, he wanted to get up close enough to touch them. He even went out in the boat to fish with daddy and Papaw. Chad, Granny, Uncle Steven, Aunt Kara, and myself took Tyler to his first amusement park. We had the expectation of staying only a few hours, thinking Tyler would get bored quickly. We ended up staying until 4:30 and even then he really wasn't ready. He had one expression on all the rides, which seemed to us that he wasn't really enjoying himself. Then we went to take him off, he would cry and hold on to the rides. Once we got to the water section Tyler was in heaven. We couldn't get him to leave. He had so much fun. We started him off on the little slides, but that really didn't do it for him so before long he was going down the big slides and loving every minute. It was a blast. On Friday (the 4th) we had a big cook out and had a baby shower for Chad's younger brother and his wife (Steven and Kara). By Christmas Tyler is going to have two cousins on Chad's side to play with. We had a great week and will be leaving again for Ky in August. This time Ty gets to spend two weeks up there, one week all by himself since mommy and daddy are taking a little get away.

Rewind to Father's day

First let me apologize for being so behind in our updates. We have been traveling so much it's been hard to keep up with our blogs. Tyler and I gave Chad a wonderful father's day. We brought him his cards and chocolate milk in bed. Daddy gave Ty a sip of his chocolate milk and that was about the last he saw of his father's day milk. We came down stairs and made daddy's biscuits and gravy, eggs, and bacon. After church we took him out to lunch. When we got home daddy's and Ty went out to enjoy Chad's father's day present (a remote control hellicopter). On the Friday following father's day we had friends come to visit from Atlanta. Melissa, Jennifer, Reese, Peighton, Jacob, and Eli all came to spend the weekend. We had so much fun. We stayed busy going the park, the splash pad, taking a ride on a choo choo train, just to name a few things. The kids had a blast. Chad was a trooper with a house full of women and kids. The very next week Tyler and I made a trip to Atlanta to hang out with friends and help Lawson celebrate his big 1st birthday. Tyler got to play with all his friends in the park, and eat some yummy birthday cake. We got home Saturday night, took Sunday to unpack -wash clothes - then repack to fly out to Ky.

Ty's favorite things

Tyler has developed quite a list of favorite things. He LOVES the water, we actually just got back from being in the pool. He is becoming quite the litte swimmer and shows no fear when he is out of the float. He was just jumping off the first step into my arms with a big smile, even after coming up from under the water. He loves footballs, baseballs, etc. He actually has a favorite baseball (that his Uncle Jim and Aunt Faye got him) that he takes with him everywhere, it's his security blanket. He enjoys helping mommy take care of Bailey, he is anxious to help me feed him breakfast and he is amazing how quickly he picks up the routine of Bailey geting a bone after each time he takes his medicine. When I have the pill bottle out it takes him about a second to run to the closet where we keep Bailey's bones. He LOVES to dance, and dances when any music is playing. Daddy tries to imitate Ty's dance moves but they are harder than they look. He has also developed a love for choo choo trains and planes. While we are in the pool we have to stop and watch the planes fly over our heads. He gets very excited when it's time for family walks, he helps hold Bailey's leash. He still loves to be outside and we try to have family outings about twice a week. One of his favorite spots is the park, he is getting really coordinated on climbing up and going down the slides. He is showing quite an attention span for learning. Ty and mommy try to sit down once a day and learn colors, animals, shapes, etc. He has really begun to develop an excitement in learning new things. In a few weeks we leave to spend some time in Kentucky. We plan on taking Tyler to his first amusement park, it should be a lot of fun for all of us.

More trips to see family

After getting back into town on Tuesday we had enough time to get unpacked, things washed and re-packed for a trip down to see Grandad, Granny, Uncles, and Aunts. It was nice to be with Chad's whole family (both brothers, wifes, and baby Carson). Tyler was not feeling his best on Saturday but still managed to enjoy some time outside with a water sprinkler that Aunt Jessica had. He played for a little longer before taking a turn for the worse. He slept about 20-30 minutes at a time before waking up due to not be able to breath very well. I think that may have been our worse night sleep ever, it was so sad to see him so uncomfortable and not be able to fix it immediatley. It seems he has a simple cold but enough to make him feel miserable. He is doing a little better now but his poor nose continues to run. It looks like we will have a little down time before traveling again or visitors here. Our pool has opened here so I'm excited to begin having our pool days.

Parties and more trips

We started out our weekend with the Rockband party at our house on Friday night. We had so much fun. Tyler gave a try on vocals before bedtime (we have great pictures of him with the microphone). It was a miracle that Tyler and Cannon slept through the loud music we were pumping out of the speakers downstairs. Jenny, Smitty, and Lawson made it to the party just as it was getting good. Chad has some great pictures and small movie clips of the bands in action. The next morning, Saturday, we packed up and flew out to Florida. We had a pretty good trip down, aside from Bailey's ears popping as we were landing. We had such a relaxing time. Tyler is getting to be such a big boy. He loves Choo Choo trains now, he thinks any loud motor he hears is a Choo Choo. Papa had to go out and buy him a train to play with. We played in the pool, cooked out with family, and were even able to slip away to a movie while Papa and Nana kept Tyler. Tyler had the best time in the pool, he wore himself out the first day splashing and playing for 2 hours. Chad enjoyed the down time, getting away from work stress for a little while. We flew back home on Tuesday, the trip home went even better than the trip down. We may try flying with Bailey more often, it may work out well for us.

New friends

We had so much fun with Steven and Kara. We all went together (Chad included) to help them register for new baby Ford. It is so exciting to think of Christmas this year with Tyler's two cousins. We have been busy with week getting together with friends we are making here. Tyler is enjoying all the playdates we have been having. We had friends over Wednesday morning and Tyler had 4 friends to play with. On Friday night we are having a small party at our house so that we can all play rockband. It should be a lot of fun - girls vs. guys! On Saturday morning we fly out to Fl. to visit my family. We can't wait for my parents pool and hopefully fit in a beach trip. We are staying so busy this summer and the calendar keeps filling up every day. From visitors to making trips it doesn't look like we are slowing down until after Labor day. Chad has been working on the web site this week so soon it will be updated.

Mother's Day

Chad and Tyler made mother's day awesome for me. I got some really sweet presents, and on Sunday morning they surprised me in bed with my card and breakfast. Tyler quickly climbed into bed with me to share the chocolate doughnuts. That was his first taste of chocolate doughnuts and by the look on his face and speed in which he was eating I feel very special that he shared with me. After church and lunch Papa and Nana got here to spend the whole week with us. We were very busy with trips to the park, to the overlook spot at the airport to watch the big planes, and playing outside in Tyler's sandbox. Chad and I were able to sneak out on Tuesday night by ourselves to celebrate our anniversary. Papa and Nana were all too happy to be able to stay home with Tyler. Papa bought Tyler a plane to fly outside and he couldn't get enough. He wanted to fly it day and night. They left this morning and we are cleaning and getting ready for Uncle Steven and Aunt Kara to get here tonight. We are planning for a busy weekend, take a break and get ready to all fly to Florida on Saturday (including Bailey). We are a little nervous to see how he does on a plane for the first time. Hopefully he will do fine (with no barking)

Traveling again

We just returned home from another trip to Atlanta. This time we spent 5 days and they were all filled. We had 1 -2 play dates planned for each day, getting around to visit all our friends. Tyler had his first visit to a big tower playground at McDonalds. Reese and Ada helped watch over him and he made it all the way up to the first tunnel but then was scared. No worries mommy got to enjoy it too as I climbed up to help him down. We had Lindsay take Tyler's 1 year pictures in the park and then stayed to play with friends. We got to visit cousin Carson, who is now 3 months old. Soon they will be running around together helping each other get into trouble. We wore Tyler out, since we have been home he has been taking such long naps. He still loves being outside, and actually we just got back from a trip to the park. He is really excited to see birds, planes,& trains. I'm surprised we don't wake up the neighbors when we are outside right after breakfast. He screams in delight when he seeing the birds in the back yard, or the planes flying. He is saying so many words these days, he says outside "oudy" and Bailey "Babo" and usually wakes up in the morning saying "juice". Such a little man. Nana and Papa will be here on Sunday and plan to stay the whole week. We have lots of activities planned!

More visits

Last week Granny and Grandad got here to see us (well to see Ty). When they got here Tyler was so cute showing them all his toys in his play room. Tyler loves to be outside these days so we spent time at the park and out back playing with our toys and blowing bubbles. On my birthday we all went to the japanese resturant where they cook in front of you. Tyler was too busy watching all the cooks and wasn't too interested in eating. Actually these days he is way too busy playing to want to sit still and eat anything. We have been challenged with trying to get him to eat. Then early Friday morning we left for Atlanta to spend the weekend. On Saturday we celebrated Chad's birthday and had a cook out with all our friends, Tyler wore himself out playing with all his buddies. We had the best time. It was good to be home.

Fun in the sun

We flew out on Monday the 7th, to spend the whole week with my family. As always Tyler, being the social butterfly he is, made many friends on the plane. Not many people can resist his smile. As soon as my mom picked us up at the airport we were off to meet my nephew for lunch. He has a great job with many perks so he treated us to lunch at a place right across from where he works. We got a phone call from papa almost immediately saying he was making a trip home in between classes and had to be sure his grandson was there so we made a point to eat quickly. Nana and papa were all prepared for Ty with lots of toys, the sand was ready in the sandbox and toys for the pool. Nana had stocked up with all of Tyler's favorite foods and made tons of things for him to have. He is just a little spoiled. I think after this week he is offically a beach baby. He loves the water, loved playing in the sand. He would cry when it was time to come in for a while to take naps. Every evening Tyler would take a walk with Papa in the neighborhood. I would tell Papa that he could walk and not to carry him since he is so heavy, but I would look out and see Tyler holding up his arms and you could just see Papa's heart melt and up he would go. My sister Angel, Tyler's cousins Megan and Brayden all went with us to the beach on Wednesday morning. We had the best time. Tyler was so into playing in the sand at one point he began flipping it in the air and all over us. On Thursday we had a busy day, Tyler and I went with Papa to campus so he could show off his grandson. Then Brayden came over to spend the day with us. Tyler will be so happy when he can really play with him. That evening the whole family came over for some dinner and to hang out. On our last day Tyler just had to have some outside time so Nana took him outside and got some great pictures of him playing in the grass. It was such a good week. We hated to leave Daddy home, hopefully next time he will come with us. Tyler is getting more verbal and has added bath, ball, doggy, Nana, Papa(papew) to his vocabulary. He is learning new things every day, it's hard to believe how big our little boy is getting.

Settled in

We are finally feeling settled here. We have begun to get know people at worship, and catching up with old friends from college. Tyler has been making new friends, and has now begun attending bible class. We met some friends for story time at the local library this morning. We grabbed some lunch afterwards and came back to our house to let the kids play. Tyler loves playtime with other kids so he had a blast. Tyler is beginning to say more and more words. His new word is bath, his most favorite thing. His other word lately is banana, his other favorite thing. He is getting to be such a big boy. We fly out to see my family on Monday and will stay all week. The following week Granny and Grandad come to visit. That is just the beginning to our planned trips and visitors. It will be a busy summer.

Easter weekend

Tyler and I went out to pick out his easter basket. Tyler picked a baseball basket and carried it around most of the day on Saturday. My family has a tradition to have a easter basket filled with goodies hidden somewhere in the house to be found before worship on Sunday morning. We filled his basket with gummies, marshmallow peeps, and a basketball hoop for the bathtub(which has made bathtime even more exciting now). I hid it behind the couch and we searched together. He was so excited to find it. We had some good friends come into town (aunt Jenny,uncle Smitty, and Lawson) and we all went to Jenny's parents house for lunch after church. Her parents have an amazing yard with a huge garden. We took Tyler and Lawson out to the flowers and got some awesome pictures of them in their easter outfits. It turned out to be a beautiful day. We have a ton of pictures to add to our web site which we hope to have added soon. Thanks to everyone being so patient with us. Tyler and I leave to fly to see my family in a week. I'm so excited to take him to the beach again. The last time he was on the beach was when he was about 7 months. Tyler loves water and being outside so much I have a feeling this trip will be a lot of fun.

Getting adjusted

We have finally gotten somewhat settled. We are mostly unpacked, aside from the movers putting a few things in the storage section of the garage that doesn't belong there. Once we get that sorted out and take the storage boxes to storage we will only have things to hang on the walls. It is such a pretty city, Tyler and I have been out taking drives to try and find things around here. We live in a nice neighborhood with lots of sidewalks,and lots of dogs (Bailey seems to bark all day long at the dogs taking walks). Tyler and I have already been out walking. Although now so we don't always take the stroller, he likes to walk with mommy. He doesn't always want to hold mommy's hand, since he is a big boy, but until he gets a little more steady on his feet mommy holds his hand while on the sidewalk. He and Bailey have formed quite a little bond. He really likes to share all his snacks and meals with Bailey. I have to make Bailey leave his room when it's nap or bedtime, he just ends up being more of a distraction from sleeping. Maybe one day when he is in a big boy bed Bailey will be able to sleep with him. Tyler really likes dogs, Granny has even taught him to tell you what the doggy says. Granny traveled here with us and stayed for almost a week to help us get unpacked. Actually she was here for Tyler but she had the best time and we were able to get unpacked so much faster. When she left for the airport Wednesday morning there were some tears shed by both Tyler and Granny. He didn't like it when she walked out the door which made Granny get more upset then she already was. We are already setting our traveling schedule so we will be spending some quality time with Granny, Grandad, & Papa, Nana very soon.

Tyler's BIG birthday

We celebrated Tyler's birthday on Saturday the 8th so that we could have the party with all our friends from Atlanta. We had a really good turn out with about 35 people there. Tyler brought in family from all around, Granny and Grandad, Aunt Angel and cousin Megan, Aunt Faye and cousin Liz, and Papa (Nana wanted to be there so badly but was staying home to care for a family member who needs 24 hour care) The party was a baseball theme since Tyler's favorite toy is his plastic bat. We sent out invatations that looked just like tickets to get into a baseball game. We set up the house with lots of red and white balloons and streamers, and Tyler was dressed in his red t-shirt with a big 1 on the front. There was a concession stand for the food, the kids all were given play money and had to pay for whatever food they wanted. The concession stand was stocked with cracker jacks, big soft pretzels, hot dogs, chips and baby ruth bars. We had a baseball pinata set up and Tyler got to give the first couple of hits. Tyler had his own baseball smash cake, which he enjoyed VERY much. The big cake for everyone else was chocolate with fresh strawberries in the middle, decorated with a baseball field. We handed out party favors in cardboard popcorn boxes filled with baseball stickers, soft baseball, baby ruth bars, baseball bubbles, and bubble gum inside a small baseball bat. Tyler had so much fun, and so much sugar that day, he never really went down for a nap. It was a great party.

Moving

Well, as many of you know we are moving to North Carolina where we will be for approximately a year and a half. We have been somewhat preparing for this for about 6 months, however it still seems unreal that the time has actually come. This will explain the going away party pictures. Leaving all our close friends is not an easy thing to do. Tyler and I have enjoyed many play dates, in fact he just went down for a nap after playing pretty hard with Allie, Ada, Roxy, and Lawson. The move is a lot easier to swallow since we know we will be back here after Chad's project is finished in NC. Many of our friends at church tell us we will be missed but Tyler is just not allowed to move. We of course will be making regular trips to visit but we know that Tyler will change quite a bit over the time we are in NC. We are preparing for his big 1 year birthday party before we move. We were so happy that it worked out to have it here with all our friends. Tyler will enjoy having all his friends here. We will try to get all his party pictures up as quickly as we can, of course the move may delay them a little.

Tyler walking like a pro

Within a weeks time Tyler has become quite the pro walker. He spends more time up walking than crawling now. He is quick on his feet and is a master at turning corners. We have a feeling that he will be running by the time his 1st birthday is here. It's so unbelievable that our baby will be 1 year old in 2 1/2 weeks. The time just flies by. He is getting a large collection of teeth in, all at the same time. Two of them are his molars so it hasn't been too fun for him lately. He and our dog Bailey are becoming good buddies, after the loss of Bigler it's fun to see them bonding. Tyler enjoys throwing Bailey's toys and gets so excited when he brings them back and drops them at Tyler's feet. Tyler has found the game of feeding Bailey his cherrios to be the best game so far. The only thing we are working on with Tyler is teaching him that we don't kiss Bailey with your mouth open.

The good, the bad, and the busy

Well, first of all please accept our appoligies for time getting away from us. We have had such good intentions to sit down and blog yet somehow times gets away from us. Tyler is a very active boy and keeps us on our toes. He is closer to walking without aid from us or any toy, wall, etc. He is so cute when he gets going, he will just laugh as he walks about 5-6 steps at a time before crashing to the floor where he laughs even harder. It seems that he wakes up every morning to doing something new. He now signs for milk, which he does first thing in the morning while we are changing his diaper. He signs for eat, and more "please". All his signs seem to revolve around food :) His words are Dadda, Mamma, Nanna, Pappa. He loves the "where's mommy's nose, eyes, ears, mouth" game, which he is extremely good at. His cousin Brayden is up visiting this week, at only 2 months old Tyler is very confused on why Brayden isn't playing with him like he would like. However, he is very gentle with him and puts one finger on his face and hands. Tyler just loves being around other kids, which makes us look forward to expanding our family. We begin again with the agency next month. We have also been a bit occupied with our precious first born dog, Bigler, who we are very afraid is nearing the end of his life. At only 8 years old we were not prepared to deal with this just yet. He seems to have a disease that the doctors can not seem to determine. At any rate he is declining fast, and after going blind over night a couple of days ago we are faced with the unpleasant conversation of what to do next. We have spent a small fortune on many tests, blood work, etc. and just don't feel like we can put our baby through any more. He has been such a good dog for so long we want to do what's best for him. We take a small sigh of relief that we are not at the age where Tyler will ask where Bigler is, although we know one day we will be faced with that conversation. Tyler is a good buddy to our other dog Bailey so we are hoping that will help Bailey not be lonely.