Tuesday, September 27, 2011

5 Months and 2 years and 9 months

Ty is now 5 months old! He's growing up way too fast! And it's not just becuase he's my second, he is already pushing up on his hands and knees and bouncing back and forth. He's been doing this since 4 and a half months. He's so happy and such a good baby! He's very content and has made the transition to 2 pretty easy. He's very different than Libby. He doesn't have a set sleep schedule, while Libby by this age was very scheduled (not because of me, she just is that way). He's still not sleeping 12 hours (although he's been doing better the past few nights).
He's such a lovable baby boy and I can't imagine our family without him! He's been smiling since Day 2 and cooing since he was a couple weeks old.  Here is the closest link to Libby being 5 months that I could find. I guess I didn't do a 5 month post on her. Ty's 4 month check up showed him to be a little guy. Staying in the 15-20% weight and average height.

Here he is trying to crawl already! 

 He loves to pose for the camera. He held his hands together and crossed his legs like this all on his own. Then looked into the camera and gave me one of his melt-my-heart grins. Love this boy!

He's been eating rice cereal mixed with fruits and loves it! He loves to eat! And now that he's tasting food, he thinks he should be able to eat or drink anything in front of him. Held a piece of pizza a little too close while I was at the Duck Duck Goose consignment and he grabbed it and put it to his mouth so fast and strong, all I could do was laugh. I didn't let him eat the pizza, by the way, but not for his lack of trying.
He's been eating great since the beginning. Didn't take any time at all for him to learn to chew and swallow. Hardly ever spits it out...

Until he tried veggies. He did NOT like green beans! He was making to funniest faces while I was feeding it to him, but the camera died before we could get any good ones. This is the only one we got:




Libby is now over 2 and a half years old and quickly approaching 3. I can't believe it! I keep thinking she'll be turning 2 this December.  She is finally getting the whole potty training thing down. She's gone 2 days in panties only (no plastic panties or pull-ups) and stayed dry. I haven't changed her dirty pants in over a week now. I think it finally clicked and I'm so glad for it! It'll be great to cut down to 1 set of diapers both for expenses and for my sanity. :)

She's definitely in the training stage and I have to work on my laziness to not let her get away with everything. She tests everything to see if she has to obey or not. She is very sweet and takes discipline well. I hope she's learning, but I've found out I have a LOT to learn in the process!

She's got a great memory and already knows 3 Bible verses and 4 or 5 worship songs! I love hearing her sweet voice singing "Holy God" (the Gospel Song) as I put her to bed at night.

As I mentioned before, this girl has always been scheduled and I have to be careful what things I incorporate into our nightly routine. It only takes a couple times in a row for it to stick! She now gets a book read to her, we sing the Holy God song and then pray while I rub her back when she goes to bed. She doesn't let me skip a thing. And now she wants to have a cup of ICE water next to her bed. Has to have the ice in it, too.

She loves to color and has actually figured out how to stay in the lines (mostly). She also loves her baby doll and it's so sweet to see her taking care of it. I can definitely see how much she's watching me just by watching her with her baby. She replicates everything, including taking her baby to the bathroom to have a "talk" with her.

I finally got around to trying out my new camera lens, but I have a lot to learn about it. It's a 50mm lens, but doesn't auto focus, so I've got to figure out a few more things about it.

Here are some shots I took of Libby while practicing:
  
 Love those beautiful eyes and eyelashes!
 Her baby doll (which she's had since she turned a year).


Rose is getting on in years. She'll be 12 in May if she makes it to her next birthday. Not sure if she will or not, but I'm trying to hold out for the kids' sake. Libby asks if Rose can sleep in her room almost every night now. Ty loves watching her walk around while he's laying on his playmat. She's been a great dog and still is, she's just starting to lose control of some of her bodily functions. I sure will miss her when she's gone and can't imagine a house without a dog!
  

So there's a quick snapshot into our lives right now.

Oh, I didn't even mention the fact that Matt's now back in school getting his Master's degree in business while still working full time. We don't see him much and life's already gotten a lot tougher in just the month and a half that he's been doing it. He has till NEXT December before he finishes and I'm already looking forward to that day! The evenings are now exhausting without the help of another set of adult hands. I didn't realize how much it helps, especially around dinner to bed time! By the time the kids are in bed, I'm ready to crash as well. It's not going to be fun not having him around as much, but it will totally be worth it in the end for him to have his Masters degree. (I hope:) )

He only has classes on Saturdays and Tuesday nights, but his homework and projects keep him busy most of the other evenings and weekends. I'm so glad he has this opportunity, but I miss our time together already!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

The Fair

I love how easy it is to add pictures on the new version of Blogger! Makes me want to get back into blogging again!

We went to Tennessee Valley Fair for a little bit last Sunday night. Libby got to experience all the fun of the fair (except for seeing the lights at night, we left before it got dark). She got to ride a couple of rides. She was scared of the rides at first, but after riding the swings, she wanted to ride them all!

Ty hung out in the big boy stroller and was good, as usual.


 They had a small petting-type zoo. I loved the piglets! Couldn't pet them, but they sure were cute!
 Libby rode on the swings with me. She loved it, as she does all swings. I have to say, I had a pretty fun time, too. The big swings at the fair used to be one of my favorite rides!



Then she rode on the cars. These are the first rides she's ever gone on! It made me want to take her to Dollywood some time this fall. Maybe I will. She had this excited grin on her face and was squealing with delight! 


We went to the rodeo for a few minutes after getting a funnel cake and I loved it! Didn't get any pics from there, we weren't there very long.

The Zoo

We went to the zoo recently and had a blast, as usual. I brought my camera and snapped a few pics while there.

Checking out the elephant.
 Annie was there with her big bright eyes.

Our wild family.
 The crazy Andrews.

Libby in the Chimp nest, saying "oo oo, aa aa."

And, of course, we had to take a ride on the carousel. Libby rode the giraffe.
It was a fun day and beautiful weather! We saw the fair from the zoo and Libby wouldn't stop talkign to Matt about taking us to the fair till he gave in.  We went last Sunday. Didn't get a ton of pics from that, but I'll post what I have soon.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Summer vacation!

This first one is actually from the pool at the Y. We got a 1 month membership from Groupon and took advantage of it!  We were at the pool at least once or twice a week through the month of August. Unfortunately, with a million other things to carry, I didn't bring the camera very often, so didn't end up with many pics from it. Nevertheless, we enjoyed it tremendously and would love to get a permanent membership to enjoy the benefits for all of next summer. Not able to now, perhaps next year.


We took a vacation to Charleston at the beginning of the month with Matt's parents and Andy and Meghan. It was awesome! The weather was perfect and the condo we stayed at was right on the uncrowded beach. We decided Wild Dunes is our favorite summer vacation spot and September is definitely the time to go. We'll probably be back many times in the coming years!
While we were there, Andy and Meghan got engaged!! We were super excited and I'm glad I can finally refer to her as "Aunt" Meghan without having to appologize for the slip-up. :) We're soooo excited to have her in the family!

Ty with Aunt Meghan.

 Can't get over how photogenic this guy is! I guess Libby was at this age, but it's almost impossible to catch a good shot of her now! She's moving constantly and making goofy faces when she is looking at the camera. Ty just smiles. Love them!
 I think I got a bunch of beach pics of Ty on the blanket.
 But I can never decide between them.
 Libby enjoyed playing football with Matt.
 Ty loved the water. Or, really, the sand under the water. He just dug his fingers into it and then, of course, tried to eat it.

 Libby's list before the beach of thing to do: Build a sand castle, collect shells and surf. She got to do all but the last. It was so fun that she was able to anticipate this vacation. She looked forward to it for weeks and kept talking about it.
 Like I said, goofy faces.
 Ty took a couple of good naps on the beach, but this boy loves his bed!



 We went in to Charleston a couple of nights and had a blast. Love that city! Got a couple of pics with me and the kids! That's a rarity.
 Ty, of course, enjoyed it. And he got to try a Gellato, and loved it. I don't think there is much this boy doesn't love at this stage. But he wouldn't let me eat my Gellato and kept reaching for it with all his might when he saw it.




 There were butterflies all over the beach! I couldn't believe it.
 More pics of Ty hanging out on the blanket.
 After the UT game on Saturday, we tried to enjoy every last minute we could on the beach as it was our last night there. While on the beach late afternoon, I noticed how long our shadows were and we got this cool shot of the fam.



 Daddy and Ty.
 Again with the cute faces. I love this little man!
More football with Daddy. She doesn't usually catch it, but she tries.
 Mom and son.
 Love these shots of Libby. Actually caught a few good ones where she's looking and her hair isn't all over her face.
 Beach Babe.


 Family photos, last minute on the last night. Decided to throw some matching clothes on and try to get a few shots before the sun was gone. So glad we did!





And we got a couple of the whole fam (including the soon-to-be newest addition) using the tripod.


 Love this one with their matching blue eyes!

Sunset.

We had so fun and it was great to get a little time in with Matt before his school really set back in. I'm already missing it and wishing we could go back. I was definitely not ready to leave, which tells me this trip wasn't long enough. A few more days would have been perfect. I'm so thankful to have had the time with the whole family!