Things we want to share...
December 2010
Now that Kyle is 3 years old, he is ready for his first dentist check-up! He was quite a trooper! He took directions like a champ and came through with a clean bill of health!
We all know that Christmas is a time for traditions and family. We are no different. This is Tyler's first year visiting Santa Clause, and I can't say that he was that thrilled about it. One of the traditions we have started in our family is choosing and cutting the Christmas tree, and for the second year in a row, Kyle had to help his daddy carry it. Next year it might be a 3-person job!
Here are some random pictures of the boys. At this age, Tyler is starting to get very interested in things with hinges, like doors - he is opening and shutting them a lot! For some reason we met Mom and Dad at Dairy Queen one day (they were keeping the boys or something), and Kyle wanted Tyler in his lap. They both seemed to enjoy that. The dog chilling with Kyle is Storm, our Rat Terrier.
On December 18, we went to Justin's Dad's family Christmas. It is a large family with a lot of children. The night before, Kyle entered the annual cookie decorating contest and enjoyed decorating and eating cookies. Tyler was quite a hit with all the girl cousins, and as I think the youngest member of the family at the time, he got quite a bit of attention! I included a picture of Justin's grandma with both of the boys, Justin's mom sleeping with Tyler, and a picture of us with Justin's family and his grandparents - there are 4 generations in that picture!
Kyle helped me bake cookies for Christmas Eve! We went to Justin's parents' house for Christmas Eve, and Santa came that evening! Kyle is starting to get the concept of Santa Clause by this point, and Tyler is just happy to have wrapping paper top play with. Tyler is also starting to take a step or two here and there, but he isn't walking, yet.
On Christmas morning (Saturday) we all went to Effingham, IL for Justin's mom's side of the family. We did not stay long. Let me back track to Tuesday. Tuesday Tyler was sick. He was vomiting, and, well, I won't get too graphic here. He was over it in a day. Wednesday, I got sick. Same symptoms. Thursday night we went to Justin's parents' house and stayed the night (we discussed whether we should come, based on the recent illness, and his parents encouraged us to go, honestly). There were 13 people at their house Thursday and Friday. So, here we are on Saturday, Christmas morning, at Justin's mom's family's Christmas in Effingham, IL. We weren't there long when Justin's brother got sick (vomiting). Then his sister-in-law wasn't feeling well, so they left. If memory serves, they had to pull over on the way home for both her and his brother (2nd brother sick). Then his mom got sick. We decided that we should leave, but not before spreading the infection to the rest of the family! We are, of course, a very generous people! We left shortly, and throughout the course of the next couple of days learned that 9 of the 13 original people at my in-laws have gotten sick....along with over 15 more people in Effingham! I had friends over a few days later, and even though I disinfected everything in the house that I could think of, illness struck still, just in time for New Year's. I believe the grand total was right around 29 people infected by my little Tyler. That sickness (which left many sitting in the bathroom with a trash can in front of them) is now affectionately known as, "The West Flu." Needless to say, there are not many pictures from Effingham that day.
Kyle really enjoyed building with their new blocks! To end the year, we went to the St. Louis Zoo for Lights at the Zoo. We were amazed at how beautiful it was, and will probably go back again multiple times!
I would like to start by apologizing to my non-Facebook friends and family members! I have been slacking off in posting pictures of the kiddos and keeping you up-to-date on the happenings in our life. I see that I have since Halloween to update you, so although I will keep it as abbreviated as possible, there will be several posts over the next few days to try to catch you up to today.
November 2010
At almost 3 years old, Kyle has learned to crawl into the crib with Tyler. He really enjoys climbing in and keeping Tyler company when he wakes up. Tyler has started successfully feeding himself with a spoon, and is happy about it!
For Kyle's birthday (November 17) Kyle and I decided to try our hand at a Black Forest Cake. I think it turned out pretty well! We invited several of Kyle's friends to celebrate at the McDonald's Playplace on Mid Rivers Mall Drive. The kids really enjoyed having the opportunity to run wild and drive the grown-ups crazy! He also got his first board game, Candy Land. He LOVES playing board games, and he picked up pretty quickly on how to play! Unfortunately, I did not have my camera at his birthday party (can you believe I forgot it???), so had to rely on my phone. :(
For about 3 months during this time, I took on babysitting a neighbor girl while her mom did training for a work at home job. She is 2.5, so I had a 3-year-old, 2.5-year-old and a 10-month-old all at once for a while! That was tiring, for sure!
We spent Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's house last year. There were several family members who attended and it was really a very pleasant time. Since my sister was in town, we also celebrated Christmas, Kyle's birthday (which was November 17) and Dad's birthday (December 7) at this time. This was the first time Mindy and Jamey got to meet Tyler in person. They were there I think about 3-4 days before I went into labor with him and had to go home. Unfortunately, the next time we saw each other, Tyler was 10 months old! The whole weekend really went very well. Kyle also likes Mom's bubble-jet bath tub - Mamaw puts in extra soap and he has bubbles so high he can dig tunnels and hide in them!
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