Happy 3rd Birthday, Tyler!

My baby is not a baby anymore - Tyler turned 3 today! We decided to go out to dinner and let Tyler choose where he wanted to go. We had our fingers crossed that it wasn't going to be McDonalds or Chuck E. Cheese. He ended up picking Famous Dave's BBQ, which we thought was a bit odd, but then we took one look at Emily who was smiling and realized where the idea came from. After all, they do serve Kraft Mac-n-Cheese, Fries and Oreo cookies as a Kid's Meal - what's not to love, right? Anyway, we had a great time and Tyler opened his birthday presents. His favorite was Alphie. I can't believe they brought that toy back. I remember that when I was a little girl!

Some of Tyler's traits and "favorites" right now...

• Color - Yellow
• Movies - Toy Story, Nemo and The Little Mermaid
• Cartoon Characters - Spongebob and Mickey Mouse
• Foods - Clementines, Blueberries, French Fries
• Drink - Chocolate and "Pink" Milk
• Frequent Saying - "Nuh Uh" or "Yeah Huh"
• Tyler walks in Emily's shadow and mimics her constantly.....good and bad actions! :)
• He loves boots.  He was constantly wearing his rain boots and Emily's boots around the house so we recently bought him a pair of light-up Toy Story cowboy boots.  He loves them!
• He is a night owl like me.  Emily is always the first to fall asleep between the two of them. 
• Tyler is sooooo independent!  This is probably another trait he picked up from Emily.  Whenever someone tries to help him, he responds "no, I do it!"
• He is such a sensitive little man, and whenever you show that you are upset by something he did, he runs over and gives you a kiss and a hug and says, "I sorry, mommy."  He also randomly comes over and gives me a squeeze and says, "I miss you, I love you."

Best Shot Monday: Bounce Party

This past weekend we went to a birthday party at "Bounce U" in Allentown. Emily was a little cautious a couple years ago when she went to her first party at one of these places. She was probably around 2 or 3 years old and the slides were HUGE in comparison to the slides at the park. It took us until almost the end of the party to get her to try to go down one.
Tyler on the other hand, has always been fearless. He went to his first bounce party last year right after he turned 1. He was still too young to go on the big slides by himself, but he just loved going down them with my husband. He turned 2 this past December and was more than ready to try the big slides this past weekend - SOLO. Before I could catch him, he was already climbing up the little square steps leading up to the huge slide. I was a little nervous at first but then thought, What's the worst thing that could happen? He could fall back off the steps and land on the big puffy pillow-like base at the bottom. Everything is padded at this place! He struggled to get up at first with his tiny little legs, but made it to the top and flew down the slide sideways - laughing! Emily just stared at him coming down, astonished! One of the slides required them to come down in a potato sack, so Emily would help Tyler since he couldn't manage climbing up and holding the sack at the same time. As you can see below, they had a blast!

For more Best Shot Monday pics, head over to Tracey's Blog

Best Shot Monday: Tyler's New Favorite Shirt

This is the T-shirt that was recently sent to Tyler from relatives across the pond in England. Thanks Nanny Ros and Tony! They were visiting Austrailia over Christmas and brought back funny T-shirts for the kids. You can't see it in the picture, but the kangaroo's pouch flips up to reveal a baby kangaroo underneath. Tyler just loves it, and between he and Emily it is constantly being flipped up and down. Emily also received a shirt and loves it, but I didn't get to take a picture because she wouldn't stand still for 2 seconds!!



For more Best Shot Monday pics, head over to Tracey's Blog

Wordless Wednesday: Resting after a Long Day

Leaving for England tonight to meet Stu and the kids. Hopefully Tyler will be this rested and calm when I get there, but I doubt it! :)

See more pics over at Wordless Wednesday here and here

Best Shot(s) Monday: The Zoo

We finally had a break in the cold weather the other weekend, so we decided to take a trip to the zoo. Many of the warmer weather animals weren't in their cages yet, but we still had a great time just being able to walk around outside without freezing.













For more Best Shot Monday pics, head over to Mother May I

Wordless Wednesday: All Played Out

See more pics over at Wordless Wednesday here and here

Getting So Big

I sit back and look at Emily and Tyler and wonder where the time has gone?

Tyler turned a year already back in December, and he is getting so big! He was such a little peanut for the longest time, but his appetite seemed to double ever since he got off the baby food and stared tasting "real" food. Looking at him, you would never think he could eat so much. Just tonight, he was sitting in the kitchen next to me while I was cooking and started having a mini meltdown because it was taking so long. I sat him in his chair and he ate 2 whole clementines as a pre-dinner snack! After that, he polished off a healthy portion of tortellini and had vanilla pudding that Stu whipped up for dessert. He has really been trying to use a spoon/fork to feed himself for the last month or so.

He is also much more steady on his feet now and is getting into absolutely everything! He still really only says mama and dada occasionally, which is so unlike Emily at this age. Even if Emily couldn't say actual words, she would be jabbering in her own little language. Emily was always a little chatterbox and still is to this day (like her mommy, I've been told). :) Tyler is definitely much more quiet as far as speech, but I am beginning to see he understands a lot more than we give him credit. I had been showing him this video where it repeats basic words over and over and has children point to various body parts, etc. as the word comes on the screen. Tyler doesn't pay attention half the time and is only interested in watching Emily. I play the video anyway, and the other week we were amazed to see that he must have actually been paying attention. As the words came on the TV and were spoken, Tyler pointed to his nose, mouth, closed his eyes, waved, and put his arms up, as instructed by the voice on the TV. We couldn't believe it - it was out of nowhere!

Emily is also growing up so quickly before our eyes. She turned 4 back in late September and acts some days like she'll be turning 14 this September. She still has her whiny bouts at times, but it definitely has improved 100% over the past year or so. She is such a good helper around the house; always has been really. She gets up in the morning, dresses herself, and comes to me afterward to tie her shoes and sometimes help her with a button that is giving her a problem. If we have extra time in the morning, she even sometimes goes in and makes her bed, lining up all her stuffed animals without even being asked. She is also a wonderful big sister to Tyler. They just adore each other. He follows her everywhere, and she tolerates him climbing on her, pulling her hair and knocking off all of the books on her shelf after she just put them away.

Her favorite thing to do at the moment is play board games. She wants to play them every second we have from bath time to bedtime each night. Stu usually end up playing with her while I settle Tyler down for bed. Her favorite game at the moment, which is driving us crazy by the way, is Candyland - Dora edition. Like watching Dora on TV isn't enough! Stu and I still blame that show for the cause of Emily speaking so loudy ALL of the time. Those of you who are forced to watch this show as well know what I mean. She never talks quietly - she shouts everything! Emily just never learned the concept of "Use your indoor voice" no matter how hard we try." And the more excited she gets to tell us something, the louder she gets! Below are a couple recent pics of the gang. Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday: Bathtime

See more pics over at Wordless Wednesday here and here

Best Shot Monday: E-A-G-L-E-S

These were taken over the weekend when The Philadelphia Eagles beat the NY Giants in their playoff game. I really liked how the 1st picture turned out of Tyler, but I had to include the second one as well of him watching TV. He seemed to be really involved watching the game for a little while so I wanted to snap a quick shot. It was only later when I was reviewing the pictures that I noticed that McNabb (who is on his jersey) was actually on the TV screen while I was taking the shot.

Oh, I also wanted to mention that we just noticed over the weekend that Tyler's 7th tooth is staring to come in: the bottom right tooth next to the middle. Our little man is getting so big!

For more Best Shot Monday pics, head over to Mother May I

Wordless Wednesday: Cupcake

It was all fun and games until.......

Emily decided to taste Tyler's cupcake!

See more pics over at Wordless Wednesday here and here

Happy 1st Birthday, Tyler!

I can't believe my little guy turned one last week already - where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday when we were bringing him home from the hospital. Over the past year he has brought such joy into our lives. His laughs, his kisses and all of the random expressions he makes just warms our hearts. But nothing compares to his smiles and expressions he makes when he is around our daughter, Emily. He adores her and you can tell the feeling is mutual when you see how she interacts with Tyler. She goes out of her way to bring toys to him, give him hug and kisses and help him practice walking. We love you, Tyler!

Some of the milestones Ty accomplished over the past year:
First smile – 6 Weeks
Rolling Belly to Back – 3 Months
Rolling Both Ways – 4 Months
First Food: Cereal – 4 Months
1st Tooth (bottom right) – 6 Months
Sitting – 6 Months
2nd Tooth (bottom left) – 7 Months
Crawling – 7 Months
Pulling Himself Up – 7 Months
First Word: Mama – 8 Months
3rd & 4th Teeth (front teeth) – 9 Months
5th & 6th Teeth (upper later incisors) – 10 Months
First Steps – 11 Months

Theme Thursday: Favorite Holiday Memories

I've had so many wonderful Christmas memories over the years. I just love this time of year! But out of all of them, I'd have to say that last year was one of the most memorable because Tyler was born just before Christmas, on the 22nd. I ended up having a C-section in the late afternoon so they were pretty set on only releasing me from the hospital on Christmas day sometime after lunch. I was determined to get home before Christmas so I started walking around my room and sat up in th chair a couple hours after surgery. I even would make trips out into the hall to get som ice (mostly to show them I was doing well). After much hesitation, the doctor finally agreed that I could go home the morning of Christmas Eve. He was probably just sick of me asking all of the time. After all, Emily had been geared up for Christmas and Santa for months. I had to make it home to share that with her and see the look on her face Christmas morning when she saw all of the presents under the tree.

As soon as I got settled in my room after the C-Section, we called my mom to tell her the news. Emily, who was 3 at the time, was spending the night up with my mom. My mom told her that she had a new baby brother and I heard her start to cry. I was afraid of that happening since for the past nine months Emily had been ademate that she was going to have a little sister. I would say, "But Emily, we could be having a little boy baby." She'd get a bit huffy and say, "No. It's a girl." Then I would ask her why she thought it was definitely a girl and she would say, "Because I want a baby sister...so we match." We actually only picked out Tyler's name on the way to the hospital. I had been hearing Emily talk about having a girl so often that I think Stu and I were also convinced that it was going to be a girl. Well anyway, Emily came to visit her baby brother the next day and you could see her eyes light up from the moment she saw him. She just kept staring at him and would let out little giggles, saying "He's so tiny!" You can tell from the pictures below how much she loves her new baby brother, Tyler.

Go visit The Land of K. A. for more togetherness shots

Christmas Card 2008...Finally!

Boy, I am really running behind this year! I managed to take a photo of the kids a couple weeks ago and only got around to making the card this weekend. I started browsing Snapfish, Shutterfly, etc. to try to find the photo card I liked best. Then I thought about how much I liked Stacy's card and got to thinking that I should make my own template. I have a collection of backgrounds, fonts, you name it that I've collected over the years to make different projects. Anyway, here is the final product for this year's Christmas card. I have also saved a blank template in .psd format so you can add your own picture and text. Anyone who is interested, just email me at stushellyreeve@gmail.com and I'll email you the file. I'm all about sharing. Also, feel free to give me any constructive feedback. This was my first digital card template. I'm used to the more manual crafting methods like cutting, pasting, stitching, stamping or chalking when I make my cards or scrapbook pages. I haven't forged into the world of digital scrapbooking too much.

What a morning...and the day isn't over yet!

Oh my - what a morning I've had! Where should I start? I usually wake up around 5:30am, mostly so I can wake my husband up so he can get ready and be out the door by 6:20am. He rarely ever hears the alarm. Then I usually grab a quick shower so I can be ready when Ty and Em wake up.

Well, let's just say that's not how it started today. Our alarm clock this morning was Tyler's little cries coming from the next room. I looked at the clock, said a few choice words, kicked Stu out of bed and went over to Tyler's room. He was kneeling with his face pressed against the rails looking up at me with sad eyes, as if in baby jail.

I got Tyler changed and dressed in less than a minute and was off to wake up Emily. She of course picked this morning to take her good old time and didn't want to get out of bed. I hurried her along, asking her to brush her teeth, start getting dressed, etc. so I could grab a quick shower. Slow as molasses, she did manage to get her favorite tights on by the time I was finished...but that was it. The tights are another story. She wants to wear skirts and her crazy stripey, flowery, or polka dot tights every day, regardless of the freezing weather. I don't know where this little 4 year-old of mine developed such a strong opinion about what she wears over the past year. She says, "But mommy, it's fashion." Oh my - what am I in for?

Anyway, so Emily was distraught because she couldn't find a skirt so I had to stop throwing the lunches together and run downstairs to get a skirt out of the dryer for her. I threw the skirt on her bed and asked her to finish getting dressed so I could do her hair and tie her shoes after packing the lunches. In the meantime, I went to check on Tyler and saw a brown wet patch on the back of his shirt that had obviously seeped up from his diaper. He was now looking at me with a smile on his face. What else could slow down the process of getting out of the front door?

Emily put on her coat while I was changing Tyler for the second time and was heading to the car when I was packing up to leave. We got Tyler settled at daycare and Emily took off her coat in his classroom. I looked over at her and stopped in my tracks. She wasn't wearing a skirt! She was wearing her shirt and her favorite tights, of course, but had forgotten to put on the skirt. The whole time I saw her before we left she had her pink winter coat on so I didn't notice! Luckily no one saw but me, so I told her to quickly put on her coat. We found a spare set of clothing in her classroom that I had put there "just in case" ages ago, but she didn't want anything to do with the spare jeans. She kept insisting that they weren't her jeans. I showed her the bag with "Emily R." written on it and said, "See? This is your name. Your clothing, Em." She proceeded, "That doesn't spell my name. I am E-M-I-L-Y; not R too." Oh, she was testing my patience. Then she had a fit, saying that they were "Baby Jeans" because they were a little short and had an elastic waist - not the cool sparkly button jeans she has now. And plus, she wanted her skirt, not jeans!! After much discussion, and a little bribery, I managed to calm her down. By the time I left daycare she was smiling again and said, "Wait until we tell Daddy you forgot my skirt." Always my fault! I guess I better get used to it. Well, that was my morning and what a morning it was! Hopefully the rest of my day will go better.

Wordless Wednesday

Emily showing some concern when Tyler kept trying to eat the leaves

See more expressions over at Wordless Wednesday here and here.

Best Shot Monday

Tyler was a few days shy of 9 months in this picture and he just loved looking at himself in the mirror. He would push his face up against the mirror like he was trying to see the person who was inside. He would also sit on the very edge and play peek-a-boo with himself and give a little laugh. It was so adorable to watch.

For more Best Shot Monday pics, head over to Mother May I

Theme Thursday: Togetherness

As soon as I saw the theme of "togetherness" this week, I thought of this picture. Before Tyler was born last December, Emily was the only child and was by herself in almost all of the pictures that I took of her. I am really enjoying seeing the interaction between the two of them and being able to capture that. I still make sure to take plenty of pictures of him solo as well so he doesn't develop the "2nd child syndrome" and complain later on that I never took any pictures of "just him." Haha

In this picture, Emily was showing Tyler how to decorate the tree. They had such a fun time together. Emily was busy putting all of the little hooks on her Spongebob, Carebear and Dora ornament sets and taking Tyler's hand so he could help her put them on the tree. She did get a little frustrated though when Tyler kept taking off all of the ornaments they had just hung and would put them in his mouth. She would say, "No, Tyler. You don't eat ornaments." I was busy snapping away, hoping to salvage a couple shots for the annual Christmas card.

Go visit The Land of K. A. for more togetherness shots.

Best Shot Monday

I was gathering photos from when Tyler was born up until now to make a digital photo book when I came across this picture. I took this when he was a week and a half old and I can remember like it was yesterday the way he would curl up and snuggle in my arms. He would lay there for long periods of time like that until it was time to eat. Now he is 11 months old and is as squirmy as ever! I try to hold and snuggle with him, but he either tries to climb on me or arches his back way back to pretend he's falling. This makes him "belly laugh" and it is the funniest thing to see.

I can't believe after looking at him in this picture that he is going to be a year next month already. Where has the time gone? He is just growing up so quickly. For the past couple of weeks, he started standing on his own for about 5-10 seconds at a time and then would drop down to a sitting position. Then tonight after his bath, we were playing on the floor and he took his first steps towards me!! Emily was in the room and started screaming at the top of her lungs, "Daddy look! Tyler walked to Mommy!" She was ecstatic to say the least. After giving him much praise, we stood him up and he took like 2 or 3 steps on his own again a few more times. I tried to get my camera to capture him standing, but as if he knew, he refused after that point to even stand on his own and just started rubbing his eyes and played the "tired card." Any other time I would have been happy that he wanted to go to bed so I could get a little down time to myself, but I was trying to capture a picture here, darn it! Oh well, maybe next time...

Best Shot Monday

I took the opportunity to post these Halloween pics since I just started the blog yesterday and didn't get to share them. Emily had been set on being Sleeping Beauty for months - it's all she talked about. It turned out that there were a total of 4 sleeping beauty costumes in her class alone (the age of Disney Princess envy)! Much to my relief, she didn't seem to mind, saying "We all match!" It will be many years until prom when she realizes what a nightmare it is for two girls to wear the same dress!