Tyler's First Steps

Here are some of the first few clips of Tyler walking...........he started walking on Easter Sunday! So, now, a week later, he's flying, sometimes literally running.

Daddy and the stomach bug

Looks like Daddy caught the same stomach bug last month that also attacked the boys.  Good thing Adam was close by to help Daddy feel better.

Mini Mozart

You never know what you'll find under Tyler's highchair

We have an awesome high chair..........It's the Fisher Price Space Saver chair that fits directly on an existing kitchen chair.  And once in a blue moon, I get the inkling to actually clean the chair that it sits on.  This is not a fun job when it's been months since it was last cleaned.  As stated above, you never know what you'll find!!

In this picture, there are many items:  3 crayons, 1 pen, a whole oyster cracker and several crumbs, part of a peanut butter and cheese cracker, 1 blueberry, some mozzarella cheese, and then a whole bunch of nasty!

Torturing a 3 year old

Ok, so we should have probably known Adam was not going to like the Dinosaur exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum.  But we gave it a shot!  Maybe next year....

Two cool guys...

January Snow.......schools were out for a week!

We had a huge snow storm the last week of January.  I think the total in inches over the course of 3 days was around 8-10 inches.  It was fun, but hard to play in because the first snow was too fluffly, then a layer of ice formed, then the second part of the snow coupled with the ice made it too hard to walk through.  

My friend Amber was staying with us for a few days, and it was fun having her "snowed in" with us!  We made snow cream as our tasty morning snack........Adam didn't like it!  He preferred to eat only the chocolate sauce we put on top.  

While Mommy was trying to shovel the driveway, Adam was being a big help in moving the snow.  Until he accidentally peed in his pants!  We had to change him from waste down out in the garage......he didn't seem to mind the cold!

Mommy's Little Helpers

The boys love to help me cook dinner.  It's wonderful because then they are not getting under my feet while I'm trying to get dinner ready.  Looks like it was pancakes for dinner when this picture was taken!

Oh WOW, it's been TWO months!

Oh my, it's been two months since I've last posted on our blog!  Not to get into too many excuses, but we have been missing our camera's battery charger, so no pictures have really been taken since Christmas.  But, we're back in business now, so I hope to update more often.

I've been very intrigued by some of my friends who are doing a "365 blog."  That's where you post a picture about something every day.  I'm not going to make it a New Year's Resolution, or anything, but I think I'm going to try it.  We'll see how well a stay-at-home-mom can do with it while taking care of a 3 yr old and 15 month old.  I hardly have time to think to myself lately, so keeping up with a blog?  geez!  Tyler is currently pulling on my PJ pants, whining and crying to be picked up.  Why?  Who knows.  Guess I better go find out!

Christmas Trains

The day after Thanksgiving, we took the boys to see the trains at the Duke Energy building in downtown Cincinnati.  Adam was in heaven!  Duke puts up the display every Christmas season, and it's a great family trip to share with the boys.  This year, Sue Sue and Pawpaw were also able to join us for lunch and trains.  We all had a great time!

Tyler's Viral Rash

Tyler had his first cold of the season this month, and the poor guy is such a trooper.  Since all doctors now seem to agree not to give cold medicine to children under 2, we didn't give Tyler anything but ibuprofen for a mild fever.  And he did remarkably well, especially with the humidifier in his room during sleep time (and that's another story trying to clean those things out this year!).  

But, with Tyler's cold, he developed a rash each night.  It was the strangest thing I'd ever seen, and at first I was worried he had scarlet fever.  I had a piano student with strep and scarlet fever, so I was worried Tyler may have caught them both.  When I couldn't get a hold of my dad one night (a family doctor), I called Tyler's pediatrician after hours.  She confirmed that rashes can develop from any viral infection, and that's what it sounded like to her.  The next night, my dad told me the same thing, so I felt much more comfortable then.  

I had to take a picture to document the occasion, and this one was only one of the areas he would get a rash.  He also had them on his thigh, his upper arm, and his eyebrow - all at different times and days.

Halloween was last month...

Oh yes, yet another holiday that I never got around to posting about. So here are a couple of photos of the boys this year all dressed up!

Happy 1st Birthday, Tyler!!!

And Tyler's birthday was also back in October, but alas, where does the time go?  I can't believe our baby is ONE!!!  That's just crazy!

Tyler is certainly turning into a precious little boy.  He has such a personality and is so similar, yet so different, than his big brother.  

1.  Tyler scoots.  Yes, he scoots on his little bottom and basically refuses to crawl.  I promise to get some video of it because it's just adorable!  He gets around where he wants to go just fine - who needs crawling?  We are going to have to nickname him "Scooter."  He's pulling up to his knees, so I don't think he's ready to walk any time soon.  He's just taking after Uncle Chris who never crawled and went straight to walking.

2.  Tyler's a great eater!  Particularly loving goldfish, canned fruit, green beans, and BANANAS!  Oh goodness, I didn't know a child would love bananas more than Adam did at this age.  He loves them so much that he calls ALL food "nana."  When he's hungry, you'll hear him calling for "nana."  (Sorry, Nana, we'll have to work on what that name really means!)

3.  Tyler laughs all the time.  Especially when he knows he's being adorable.  And when big brother is entertaining him!

4.  Tyler's arms are twice as long as you think they are!  He can grab something that I would think is too far away, and he's always reaching for everything.  Especially things he shouldn't be getting into.  We have to be really quick and constantly keep an eye on him.  Magnetic child locks in the kitchen are working quite well!

5.  Tyler is F-E-A-R-L-E-S-S!!!  He's not afraid of anything, unlike his cautious big brother.  I found Tyler sitting on the second step from the top of our basement stairs reaching for the next lower step!  Not sure how he did that without tumbling down the entire flight of stairs.  Looks like we'll be installing some safety gates which we never had to do with Adam!

6.  Tyler LOVES to dance!  I've definitely got to get video of this.  He dances every time he hears music.  I believe he's going to be our little musician when the time comes!  Adam does not dance very much now, and he never did as a baby.

7.  Tyler favors his left hand, so we'll see if he turns out to be a lefty like his Daddy.  

Tyler's birthday party was so much fun - cupcakes!!  We had some great visitors in town, as well.  The kids were certainly spoiled!

Uncle Dan and Aunt Torrie

Nana and Granddaddy

Click Here for more pictures from Tyler's birthday!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Adam!!

OK, so Adam's real birthday was way back in October, but I am just now getting the opportunity to upload some pictures and post about his fantastic 3rd birthday! How sad is that?

Here are a few tidbits of information about Adam these days.........he's really turning into such a wonderful big boy!

1. Adam still loves his thumb and blanket. Not sure which one he'll give up first, and right now, they both make life easier for him these days. If he's upset, his blanket makes it all better, after Mommy does, of course. He loves to "make a hole" with his blanket by wrapping it around his left first finger and holding it under his nose while he sucks his left thumb. Sniffing his blanket is like a 3 year old's drug of choice. One sniff......just one more!

2. Every word Adam says is completely legible. He's so precise that about 95% of people can completely understand him. He's so thorough in his talking and always has been. He's really getting into cause and effect lately. Although, not to the effect that discipline is easy with him. Oh, boy, that's another story!

3. Potty-training - where did it go?? It's pretty non-existent now. I'm just waiting for Adam to decide that he's done with diapers and pull-ups. One day, he's just going to decide on the spot and will want to wear real underwear........please just let it be soon! Apparently, that's how his mommy switched from diapers to underwear - on the day SHE was ready. :)

4. Adam loves "Baby Tire!" He's really good when he plays with him and entertains him. Of course, not when Mommy actually asks him to or when she needs him to. But, we're working on that. For the most part, Adam loves playing with Tyler, and REALLY loves to make him laugh. They are just adorable together! I am envisioning a strong brotherly bond growing through the years......

5. We may have finally found something that works for disciplining Adam - taking away toys one by one. Timeouts are not working, spanking doesn't really phase him, discipline has been really frustrating!! But as soon as we tell him that we're about to take toys away when he doesn't listen to us, or if we take one of his favorites away, he calms down pretty quickly. And then he earns his toys back when he's good. Let's hope it keeps working!!

6. Adam LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins. He's even getting into singing along which he's never done! Adam has never been a big singer or dancer, so it's always funny to see him interact with the shows now. We are going to see his sing with his class next week at school - can't wait to share pics and stories from that adventure!

Click Here for more pictures from Adam's birthday celebration!

Daddy finished a Triathlon!

Daddy completed his first triathlon last Sunday!  He kayaked 6 miles, ran 5.5 miles, and biked 18 miles.  Whew!  He finished in 4 1/2 hours, which was great for his first time considering how difficult the course was, too.  We're so proud of him and were there to cheer him across the finish line.  Everyone is looking forward to his next triathlon!

Happy Anniversary!

(A day late, but none the less...)

Happy anniversary to my best friend and wonderful husband!  It's been 7 years since we said "I do," and I love you even more today.  There's NO way there's a better husband out there, because you are the best!  We have two beautiful boys, and I pray every day that they will turn out just like their daddy.  I love you!

We no like Ike

Who knew a hurricane could come barging through Cincinnati!  Not so much rain, actually none at all, but high winds with gusts up to 75 mph.  And who knew that the biggest tree in our backyard would fall into our house.  By the grace of God, our house has no significant damage.  The gutters will probably need to be replaced, and maybe the deck is scratched up.  We don't know because we haven't had the tree removed yet.  But we are so thankful to God that nothing happened to any of us or the house!  God was really looking out for us because the umbrella in our patio table is still standing straight up, surrounded by tree branches, and Adam's climbing toy was not hit at all by the trunk of the tree.  It's amazing!  

The tree was so large that we probably won't have a lot of shade in the backyard now.  The big tree took out at least one more smaller tree in front of it.  The large tree actually looks like two different trees now on the ground.  One half is laying on our deck and the other half is laying on top of our neighbor's fence, which isn't damaged either.

Ben and I were sitting in the family room when the tree hit, and I've never seen Ben jump so high and so fast in my life!  We quickly ran upstairs to get both boys (they were napping), and we ran across the street to our neighbors just in case more trees were going to fall.

Of course, pictures really don't do justice to the size of this thing, but here's a slideshow with some shots we took.  

From Trash to Recycling

From Recycle Bins

Trash day for us is Wednesday each week. This week, all of our trash actually fit into the 2 trash cans we own because we finally got around to recycling. Unfortunately, our trash company does not provide curbside pickup of recyclables, so it was up to us to get started. Thanks to my trip to IKEA, we are actually excited about it! Our lovely system pictured here is brought to you by IKEA, the store with a solution for everything. And thanks to IKEA, our children will live in a healthier world because we are helping every little bit we can by recycling.


**Update: I typed this post several weeks ago but was unable to insert my picture of our bins, so it's been sitting in my *edit* list for a while. Today, I took our trash out to the curb in ONE trash can! Be proud!

Adam's First Day of School

Last Tuesday was Adam's first day of preschool. He's attending the same school he went to last year, but this year, he's going two days a week! Wow, what to do with my time! Well, it's been interesting considering Tyler usually takes a good morning nap. But, since we're on the go when it's time for him to nap, he's cat napping in the morning. I think he's going to adjust well simply because he really won't have a choice.  

Below is Adam's picture from his first day of school, and I've also included his picture from last year.  I can't believe how much he's changed!!!

2008

2007

Our schedule is crazy-busy these days!  I hope we can find some time to breathe!

Monday - MOPS/MOPS playdates

Tuesday - School for Adam and YMCA for Tyler and me

Wednesday - Actually nothing, so I guess we should head to the Y

Thursday - School for Adam and Bible Study for me at church

Friday - Playgroup with MOMS club

I've taken on leadership roles in MOPS and our bible study, so that'll keep me even more busy.  Man, what was I thinking!  But, I know it's going to be FUN!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Sunday was Ben's birthday, and we had a great family celebration. Going out to dinner with our great friends on Saturday and just taking it easy on Sunday was pretty much the weekend for us. Adam is really starting to understand what birthdays are, so it will be so much fun when his third birthday comes next month! Oh, and try not to be too jealous of the beautiful "cake" I made.