18 Months...Almost!

Happy half birthday to Tyson! He will be 18 months on the 13th and it really amazes me how much he has changed in so little time!
Here is a synopsis on Tyson. First, he is amazing! He learns so quickly and loves other kids. He is always trying to share his toys and snacks with his friends when they come over.

Example: A few weeks ago, my old roommate, Julie, came over and brought her little girl who is Tyson's age. As soon as she came in the door, Tyson ran to the piano and kept looking over his shoulder at her. Then, he ran over (well...walked as unsteadily as he could) to get his airplane toy, drove it up 6 inches from Alessa's face and pressed the button to turn it on. Then he just stared at her to see if there was any way she could even imagine a cooler toy! Alessa was groggy from her nap and was not impressed, so Tyson proceeded to get his shopping cart, truck, and another toy to show her. Later, he even tried to feed her his snacks (by hand). He just wanted to impress this little girl so much! It was so cute to watch but heart-wrenching at the same time to realize that for the first time in his life, what he wanted, I could not give him. I imagine I'll feel the same way when he turns 15 and wants to start impressing the ladies again! Here he is with another cute girl from our church! We have a friend, whose daughter by this age knew all of the States and capitals and where they fit on a map of the United States! While Tyson isn't as interested in his geography yet, he is picking up a few terms!

So far he can say fish, duck, milk, book, ball, sock, shoe, jacket, rock, tree, truck, car, bath, blanket, cheese, juice, cracker, cookie, pretzel (that one's new!), eye, no (he uses that one a ton!), mama (finally), daddy, green, purple, yellow, knock-knock, hello, bye-bye, please (prease), Jesus, bubble, hanger (strangely enough), whoa, uh-oh, bug, clap, lap, circle (although he doesn't know what it is) and snack.

He can also make the noises of a train (choo choo) car (beep beep), elephant, squirrel, owl, cow, sheep, pig, bird, dog, cat, horse, duck, snake, lion, bear, gorilla (more of an action), monkey, frog, and sometimes mouse.

He doesn't eat well (at all) but he has the sweetest temperament and is so patient with me. He has learned to leave his blanket in his crib (that one took a few tantrums) and loves to do things by himself. He also loves his shoes! Yesterday, in our rush to get to church on time, we forgot Tyson's shoes. When we were getting him ready for bed later that night, he saw them and wanted to wear them to sleep! We let him wear them for a little while but took them off before putting him in his crib. He wouldn't stop crying, so after a while I picked him back up and asked him what was wrong...apparently he was missing his shoes! At any rate, I'm glad I'm a mom! I love this little guy so much and feel lucky to be with him every single day!

Here is a video of him just the other day. I may be biased, but I think he's the cutest kid in the world!

Happy MLK Day!!

This year, to commemorate Martin Luther King, JR., we rode the bus to downtown and went to a sweet convention! Supposedly San Antonio hosts the largest march in the United States! Sadly, we missed the march, but we did get to listen to some great gospel music, listen to some speeches, and be reminded of the importance of leaving the world better than we found it. I found it very inspiring! We had pictures, but unfortunately I lost the memory card to the Blair's camera and now they are lost forever...bummer deal! Sorry Nichole!!

DisneyWorld!!

This year after Christmas (in order to miss the crowds), we went to the wonderful world of Disney with Christian's side of the family! It was so much fun!
Tyson loved playing with Christian's hat! I think it was worth the $5.00 just as a toy!
Tyson loved pushing around the garbage truck at Epcot! He really put every ounce of muscle he had into pushing that truck! He loves watching the real garbage truck come by during the week. Luckily for us, the garbage man will come by once or twice a week for probably his entire life :) We tried to take pictures of all of the grand kids together as a gift to the grandparents. We took dozens of pictures! This one is one of the better ones! The funny thing is I don't think it's even good enough to photoshop!!I think our family picture idea would have worked better if we had just stuck Evan and Tyson in this shopping cart! Look, everyone's happy and smiling all at once!One of the days we had a Girl's Night Out and all of the sisters and mom got to go to all of the countries without husbands or kids. It was awesome! I married into the best family! Here we are at Norway (mom's taking the picture) next to a nasty troll!In "England" they had the Beatles singing in concert! I loved every second of "Eight days a Week" and "She said She Loves You" and was very sad we only caught the end of the concert. I was thinking of my dad the whole time since he loved the Beatles growing up! It was very cool!Tyson had to catch his naps whenever he could and usually that meant I had to find a show where I could sit or in this case, go around and around "It's a Small world" until the park closed!By the end of the week, Tyson learned to like the rides (which made waiting in line more difficult) My father-in-law would run everywhere to get fast passes and most of the time we didn't have to wait at all, which was awesome! Here we are on the carousel which we probably could have done a million times without getting tired of it! It was definitely one of Tyson's favorites!Overall it was one of the best family vacations I have ever been on! There was no fighting and there were tons of games and fun and always plenty of oreos to snack on! Thanks so much for inviting us to come on such an amazing trip!

Happy Anniversary!

Christian and I have made it three years! Wahoo! These days every day is worth celebrating staying together! Three of the things I love about Christian:

1. He shaves even when he doesn't want to just to make me happy!
2. He makes sure he's doing his part and most of the time that means more than his share of taking care of Tyson, laundry, studying, and taking care of me!
3. He listens to my ramblings even when it is late and all he wants to do is sleep!

I know these aren't really romantic things but they are some of the simply important-to-me things that he does which I love. Thank you Christian for all of your commitment and love! I knew when I married you that you would never turn away from me. I am so grateful for that assurance and devotion. I love you!!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone! We loved the cards and calls! We loved hearing about the joys of this last year and wish everyone an outstanding 2010! What a gracious gift we were given in the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. May we all try to be more like Him! Here is an update on our holiday season!

1. It was wonderful to have Christian on break! I am so glad we are married!
2. Our favorite Aunt Laurie came to visit for Christmas and it was so much fun having her here! We loved it!
3. We got to go to Disneyworld to celebrate the New Year...more of that to come!

Christian surprised me with a beautiful pine tree this year which later hatched a nest of nasty wood eating bugs! I'm glad we didn't notice this fact until after Christmas! Anyway, on Christmas Eve it is a tradition in my home to open a new pair of pajamas. This year, Tyson got my sister's pajamas (which happened to be in her words, "worse than the kitchen catching on fire!" -which did happen at my mom's house that night!) Oops! Christmas Eve we went to the Garlick's house and ate delicious Tacos and Wassail! We played games and did the Nativity. It was a beautiful evening! Tyson got to be Joseph. It was funny because he had to crawl by the donkey and Mary!Christian as Ceasar :)Christian doubled as the narrator and Laurie was our angel!Tyson and Laurie on Christmas Eve!
Here's our family on celebrating!
Christmas morning was fun in our own home! We had friends over for a big breakfast! We had green pancakes, cinnamon rolls, eggs, bacon, and of course the traditional poppyseed bread! It was so much fun and I think we'll have to keep this tradition alive! We spent the day napping and playing games. For dinner we went to the Luffs and had a divine ham dinner! I think Courtney is one of the best cooks in the world! Thanks guys for the wonderful time!

Some of the other fun things we were able to do with Laurie during her stay were visit the historic riverwalk, tour the old Germantown Fredricksburg, and enjoy the Japanese Tea Gardens. Here are some pictures of the fun we had!Here we are on the riverwalk where we went to see the Christmas lights and take a boat tour from our good friend Jake! It was so good to see him and learn about the cool history of our city. Thanks Jake! We had a blast!In Fredricksberg there was an outdoor ice skating rink. The best was watching the kid in shorts!
Here's our son breaking horses!Another look at our cute boy!
There was a wooden nativity in Fredericksburg that was just put up this year! Laurie really liked it and it reminded me of my mother in law who has a miniature one in her home! It was really cool!This is one of my favorite pictures of Tyson! Laurie was so great at catching him at the perfect moments!
Laurie's last day with us we went to the Japanese Tea Gardens and walked around. I love this place because it is so serene.At the gardens, Christian found a frog. It was pretty cool.
Tyson and his daddy playing in the leaves!Laurie was so great with Tyson! He would reach up to grab her hand on walks and he loved all of her warmth and goodness! We are so grateful we got to spend Christmas with her! Thank you Laurie for the wonderful time!