Big Thomas! (Lots of pictures)

Last weekend, we went to Baltimore to take Tyler to a Day Out With Thomas. For anyone who isn't familiar with Thomas the Train, they're a bunch of different train engine characters with faces on the front. (Tyler knows a ton of them by name and can tell them apart!) Anyway, we went with a couple-friend of ours who have a 3-1/2 year old son and a 4-month-old daughter. Can I just say that we had the best weekend, ever!? Our boys got along so well and had so much fun together! We explored every part of Baltimore's Inner Harbor, on foot, and packed in so much in 3 days, we'll never have to go back...because we've seen it all. We went to the National Aquarium on Friday, to see Thomas (and ride "big Thomas," as Tyler calls him) and to the Maryland Science Center on Saturday, then to the Baltimore Zoo on Sunday! It was exhaustingly awesome. And being with our friends made us see how easily we could handle a second child, especially since our kids will have almost the same age difference as theirs.

Here are some pictures of our weekend. I'm not posting any showing our friends or their kids, because I haven't gotten their permission to do so. But I swear, we went with another family!

Tyler and Daddy at the entrance to the National Aquarium:

Me and Tyler in the aquarium:
Tyler playing with the bubble columns (I think we could have stayed there all day and he would have been just as happy):
Early Saturday morning, getting a picture with "big Thomas":
Me and Tyler on the train platform, on our way to board Thomas the Train:
Tyler and Daddy in front of an old-fashioned steam engine:

Tyler was riding a kiddie train and didn't smile at Mike the whole ride (he must have gone around the track 10 or 12 times). Mike had been trying to get his attention and get Tyler to smile the whole time, and finally, Ty looks back at his daddy and gives him this face:

Tyler shows off his tattoo of Rosie, the steam engine:

Mike and Tyler in the Roundhouse:
Tyler was so excited he got to see Thomas!

After lunch and a nap (for the kids and adults, too), we all headed to the Maryland Science Center:

Tyler liked the dinosaur exhibit they had...he fits perfectly in a dinosaur footprint:

Upstairs, they had a bunch of cool hands-on exhibits about gravity. Mike enjoyed it as much as (or more than?) Tyler:

Arrggh, mateys!

Sunday, we wrapped up our weekend with a trip to the zoo. Tyler loved the turtles!

8 Weeks

Only 8 weeks along and I am showing about as much as I did at 17 weeks with Tyler. Other moms I've talked to have said that your body already knows what to do, so out goes the tummy! I was trying to hide it from my co-workers until I had my first ultrasound...and I still might be able to, because sometimes I just look fat and not pregnant. It's probably not the baby as much as it is bloating and gas, anyway. As much as I really did and do enjoy being pregnant, this is not the beautiful part.

Anyway, for anyone who is curious how much I'm showing now (and any other second-time or more mothers who want to compare and maybe feel better about themselves), here is my first baby bump picture:

And here's what our baby is up to this week:

I've gained about 3 pounds, (no throwing up for me!) my boobs are always sore, and I've been breaking out like a teenager. Like I said, not the beautiful part of pregnancy. But, our baby is the size of a kidney bean, and he or she has fingers and toes!!

7 Weeks

Good news, everyone! My digestive system and my hormones are finally working in harmony (the stool softener in my vitamins probably help a little, too). What a relief...haha. Now, the morning sickness is in full swing...at least I hope this is it in full swing and that it doesn't get worse! I started feeling a little bit last week, but those bouts were easily quelled with a small snack. Yesterday was pretty bad, although the spaghetti I had for lunch helped out more than I thought it would! Today, around lunch, I really started feeling sick, almost gagging, but I just hate throwing up, so I held it in. Mike mentioned getting Five Guys last night, but we had eaten out every meal over the weekend, I just wanted to stay home and have something even somewhat homemade, so we had kebabs and mashed potatoes. But, guess what I had for lunch today. Yup. A Five Guys burger. And it was so freaking awesome. Sorry Mike, but you suggested food to a pregnant lady, that's your own fault. We can get you Five Guys for dinner tonight, if you want ;)

So, I read that the baby is the size of a blueberry! Our little person is getting big! So are my boobs. Another thing I read was that your boobs can grow a full cup size larger in just the first 6 weeks of pregnancy! That's a "benefit" that my husband enjoys. Mike said to me yesterday morning, "Pregnancy boobs are so much fun!" Anyway, I guess I'd better go and find my maternity bras because the ones I'm using are becoming too small.

T-Y-L-E-R!

Tyler learned how to spell his name!

This just about sums it up

I must say, it hasn't quite set in that we're going to actually have another baby in the house soon. Another small, helpless, wondrous creature in the house to take care of and lose sleep over. Okay, maybe it's setting in now. Tyler's going to be a big brother. Mike and I will have kids...that's plural. With an "s." Can I freak out yet?

In some ways I'm completely confident. We've done this before, we've raised a sweet and freakin' awesome 2-year-old already. I know we can at least get that far with a second one. And Mike has really stepped up recently, he has taken on more around the house and is a really great Daddy. But in so many other ways I'm scared and nervous. How will we afford daycare? Will we need a bigger car? How will Tyler react when his little sibling is actually home with us, and he won't ever have Mommy and Daddy all to himself again? Can I love another child as much as I love Tyler? Soon, I know, these doubts will be calmed, but I still have 33 weeks of worrying ahead of me.

Another fellow mom introduced me to a wonderful weblog, All & Sundry. And the author, Linda, made a post that I was bawling over, because she put into words so much of what moms are. Some days I wonder if I can bear the weight, but most days are filled with the realization that I can handle so much more.

Big brother already

I'm 7 weeks along tomorrow and Tyler's pretty excited...the other day, we were in a store and the woman who owned it started chatting him up. She eventually asked him if he had any brothers or sisters, and without missing a beat, he said, "In my mommy's belly." So cute! The storeowner was kind of surprised at first, and then I think it registered what he meant, so then she congratulated me.

6 Weeks

So, I'm 6 weeks along today and am all stopped up again. Not sinuses, but way down at the other end. I remember this happening when I was pregnant with Tyler, but I don't remember how long it lasted. I think that my system eventually got back to "normal" during my pregnancy. The prenatal vitamins I'm taking now even have a stool softener! I don't remember that from last time...but who would have thought that a stool softener incorporated into my vitamins would be something that I would ever think was a wonderful idea? Other than the semi-bloated feeling and sore (but larger!) breasts, I haven't been feeling much different. Well, I take that back, I have been exhausted lately. Mike and I were playing Rock Band the other night, and we stopped so Mike could download more songs, and I zonked out while he was doing that. Needless to say, we had to put our world tour on hold for the evening.

Sometimes, with all the stuff going on and with it being so early in the pregnancy, I forget that I'm pregnant! It's not like I forget and eat sushi or anything, but it's more like I'll be thinking about our summer plans and then realize, "Oh yeah, I might need to get a maternity suit by then."

I'm so excited to tell Tyler more about the baby. He knows there's a baby inside my belly and that he'll be a big brother. Tyler kisses the little baby good night every night and every time we ask him if he'll help us take care of his new little brother or sister, he answers with an enthusiastic, "Yes!"

Here's a picture of me with my sisters-in-law, right before our big "girls night out" last weekend:

We had a really good time, and didn't have to worry about the kids! The dads got together and kept the 10 kids we have between us for the evening. We had a nice dinner where we laughed and drank wine (well, I had a sip), then we talked and talked and talked. It was a rare event, but I think we're hoping to make it a tradition.

Genius?

Last night, Mike opened up his laptop in the living room. Tyler LOVES computers and always wants to look at pictures of trains or himself on any computer we have. So he wants to see what his Daddy is doing on the laptop. Our Internet Explorer homepage is the Google homepage. Immediately, Tyler starts spelling the word "Google", but that was to be expected, since he spells everything (he used to just say whatever letters he saw, in any order, but we've been teaching him how to "read" letters of a word in the correct order). Anyway, last night he said,"G-O-O-G-I-E...google." Mike and I both stopped what we were doing. I don't know that I've ever even SAID the word "google" to Tyler, and it's weird because he thought the lower-case L in the word "google" was an i, but he still said "google." So, we asked Tyler to spell it again, and he repeated the same thing. We got all excited that we had a genius in our midst! So, Mike pulls up Microsoft Word and types out several other words (cat, dog, duck, boat). Tyler spells each one correctly, but can't tell us what they say. Well, actually, he told us they all said "google." A fleeting genius, at least.

What did that say?

Mike and I took Tyler to the mall over the weekend. As we're walking, I hear Tyler say,"Wow!" And I repeat it back to him absentmindedly, thinking he saw a toy car or something that made him exclaim. However, Mike stops and looks at me and asks,"Did he just read that?" I look around and realize we're walking by Baby Gap and there are three large window stickers on their store window that say,"WOW!" ,"POW!" and "BAM!" (comicbook-style). I crouch down and look at Tyler (who is now looking around at the people walking by) and I ask him, "Where's 'wow'?" He turned around, looked for a second, and ran over to the Baby Gap window and pointed to the window sticker that said,"WOW!"

I look at Mike and we both high-five Tyler :)

Big Brother

To our sweet Tyler,

You are almost 2 years and 3 months old, and we recently told you that you are going to be a big brother! Mommy and Daddy asked you if you wanted a little brother or sister, and you gave us an enthusiastic, "Yes!!" You told us that you wanted to help take care of the baby and that you were excited. Tonight, Daddy asked you where the baby is growing and you pointed to Mommy's tummy (because you know that's where you came from). Then you bent over and kissed the baby and hugged Mommy. Daddy and Mommy know that you are going to be a wonderful big brother, you are so sweet and loving and affectionate! But we know you'll also help teach your little sibling about trains and jumping and to love books. We can't wait to see you with your new little brother or sister!

You are a joy to Mommy and Daddy, we are so blessed to have you and are so happy to give you a sibling!

Love and BIG hugs,
Mommy and Daddy

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a helicopter!

The other night, while we were having dinner, we heard an airplane go by, and I said,"Tyler, do you hear the airplane?"

Tyler: Kekocter! (Helicopter)

Me: No, it's an airplane!

Tyler: No, Mommy, kekocter!

Me: Tyler, say "hel-i-cop-ter"

Tyler: Kekocter

Me: Say "heli"

Tyler: Heli

Me: Cop

Tyler: Cop

Me: Ter

Tyler: Tew

Me: Heli-cop-ter!

Tyler: (silence)

Me: Heli-cop-ter!

Tyler: Aiwplane, Mommy!

Picture Post

Okay, it's time to play catch up, but I'm tired, so this post will be pictures and captions!

Here are pictures from Dave's deployment party in NC:

Tyler and Reese, I think they were watching Little Einsteins :)

Tyler, not quite getting the proper use of a soccer ball...

And here's a cute one of the little boys following Lauren around, all carrying orange cones. What were they up to?

The following weekend, I took Tyler up to visit his other cousins (my sister's kids).

Tyler and Hannah loved cruisin' in Hannah's Dale Jr. racecar:

Tyler's Tita Chark & Uncle David gave him his birthday present while we were there. Hannah helped Tyler try it out:

Finally, we had to get a shot of Tyler and the girls:

A few weeks later, Chark and her kids came to visit us!

He knows what he wants!

To get Tyler to clean up a bunch of puzzle pieces the other night, I was sweetly talking to him and trying to entice him to help me clean. So, in a soft whisper, I said in Tyler's ear, "Tyler, can you please help Mommy pick up the puzzle pieces?" He looked up at me, smiling, and then very sweetly whispered, "No."

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Tyler was in the bathtub and I was sitting on the bathroom floor next to the tub. He had several cups stacked up along the tub and I was pretending to push them over the side and into the water. I would slowly start pushing a stack of cups and he would hold out his hand to stop them and smile and say, "Noooooo!" Then I would move on to another stack of cups and do the same thing. After a few more times, Tyler finally held up his and to me and said, sternly, "Mommy, stop it."

I guess Mommy's playtime was over :)

Ace of Cakes

Can I just say how much I rock at making cakes? I had so much fun making Tyler's birthday cakes this year! Since our house is so small, we had to have 2 birthday parties for Tyler, so we could invite everyone we wanted to invite. Granted, looking back, two birthday parties for a 2-year-old seems excessive, we all had a good time and got to spend time with some friends and family we hadn't seen in a while. Next year will be very low key!

Anyway, since we had two parties, I had to make two cakes. The first party theme was trains, so I made a train cake:






I had so much fun! I would love to try and figure out how to make different things with cake :) I used 2 boxes of cake mix and baked a large 9x13 sheet cake with one and 4 small loaf cakes with the other (chocolate and yellow, respectively). I let the cakes cool and then froze them overnight. They were really easy to cut/carve when they were frozen. The smokestack is made up of 4 or 5 Oreo cookies that I stuck together with buttercream icing and then iced all over.
For my next trick...er, party, we had a racecar theme for Tyler. So, I made a Lightning McQueen cake! I just bought a Lightning McQueen cake pan, so that was easy. Decorating it was hard. Well, I should say that mixing all the 18 different colors of icing was difficult! It took me longer to mix the icing and attempt to get the right colors. Anyway, in the end I think it came out well:

Is it too late to switch my career from engineering to pastries??

Conversations with a two-year-old

Driving to daycare in the morning, I intended to ask Tyler if he wanted to see his friends at Miss Bonnie's house:

Me: Tyler, do you want to see...

Tyler: Tanta!!

Me: Santa?

Tyler: Okay!
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Although Tyler knows all the letters, we're trying to teach him that words are made up of letters, and therefore each word begins with a certain letter. So we'll say, "Daddy's name begins with D, Daddy'sletter is D," and so forth. So, Tyler and I were talking (again, in the car on the way to daycare), when I asked him: "What's Daddy's letter?"

Tyler: D!

Me: What's Mommy's letter?

Tyler: M!

Me: What's Dylan's letter? (Dylan is his friend at daycare)

Tyler: (silence)

Me: Tyler, Dylan's name begins with D, just like Daddy.

Tyler: No, Daddy D! Daddy D!

Me: Can you share Daddy's "D" with Dylan?

Tyler: NO! Daddy D!

Me: All right.

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We passed the windmill bank on the way to work this morning and Tyler pointed to it, saying "A owse!" (A house!)

Me: That looks like a house, doesn't it? It's actually a windmill, just like Toby's windmill in your train show.

Tyler: Toby owse!

Me: (laughing) Yes, Toby's house.

Tyler: Weh Toby go?

Me: Toby's at our house, too.

Tyler: At Ty owse?

Me: Yes.

Tyler: At Daddy owse? At Mommy owse?

Me: Yes. We all live in the same house.

Tyler: Okay.

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When Tyler sees Nemo (the fish from the Disney movie "Finding Nemo") he exclaims,"Meemo!"
We thought it was cute, so we let him say it that way without correcting him for a day or so.
Finally, we told him, "Tyler, it's Nemo. Neh-neh-Nemo."
Tyler: Ne-ne-na-Meemo!!

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Mike has been trying to teach Tyler (of course) how to say, "boobies."

Mike: Tyler, say "boo"

Tyler: Boo!

Mike: Say "bees"

Tyler: Bees!

Mike: Boobies!

Tyler: Doobies!!

Tyler is 2!

Dear Tyler,

Happy second birthday to our favorite little guy! You are an amazing little boy, not a baby anymore, but a full-blown little boy! You run, jump, hop, tackle, hug, kiss, pat, grab and climb all over the place nowadays. You're a bundle of energy, always rearranging whatever furniture you can (right now just chairs, stools, and small tables), sometimes to climb on top of to reach something, but mostly to play with. Your imagination is coming through: you arrange chairs one in front of another and then board your "train"; you feed your Pat Pat Rocket that Daddy gave you for your birthday some milk because you think he's thirsty; you catch invisible bubbles in the air and eat them, or offer them to us so we can eat them...it's so engrossing watching you play!

You talk so much now, too! You can communicate with us and tell us how you feel and what you want so easily...it's hard to remember the time you couldn't talk, not that it was so long ago. I love hearing your voice each time you say a new word. Your vocabulary seems to grow every day (today you just learned "apple tree"). Daddy and I are so proud that you already know and recognize all the letters of the alphabet (in upper and lower case!), and many of the numbers from 1 - 10. You also know your colors and basic shapes! We brag about you all the time...What will there be left to teach you in pre-school?


You remember things that you did during the day and often tell me about them during our drive home after I pick you up from day care. You know the names of all the children you play with and you obviously have ones that you consider your friends, because we hear you say their names more often. You are obsessed with cars and trains, and even more currently, the Pat Pat Rocket toy from The Little Einsteins show. As we drive in the car, you make "vaROOOM" sounds every time we pass another car going in the opposite direction, making your "varoom" louder as the car approaches and softer after we pass (you're 2 and you understand the Doppler effect?). Every red car is a Ferrari to you, though :) You love playing with your train sets and looking at pictures of trains. When we can, we take you to see model trains or real trains, and you thoroughly enjoy that!

You are quick to apologize if you think you hurt someone, always by patting their head and saying, "Tahwee (sorry)." If someone looks sad, you will put your hand on them and ask if they're okay ("Okay, Mommy?"). And you have recently began hugging and kissing on your own. I especially love when you hug me around my legs and squeeze as tight as you can!

You're starting to show some leadership qualities, always asking (rather, telling) Mommy or Daddy to follow you, read you a book, copy you, or play with you. We gladly oblige whenever we can, but on the occasions we aren't able to play, you can easily amuse yourself for a short time.

You are in a big-boy bed now, which you can easily climb in and out of, and you do. Sometimes you will get up 5 or 6 times after we have put you to bed, but I think it's only because you want to be carried back and tucked in again by Mommy or Daddy. We also gladly oblige, because it's another chance to hug and kiss you before you go to sleep. You usually send us off with, "Night night, of you (love you)." Then, some time around 3 or 4 in the morning, you wake up and climb into Mommy & Daddy's bed, where you proceed to toss and turn until you get comfortable. The other morning, I woke up to find you and Daddy like this:

Tyler, you are growing up to be a sweet, stubborn, and funny little boy. I can't believe it's only been 2 years, but then again, I can't believe you're already 2 years old. Daddy and I love you so very much and are excited to see how much you will grow and learn in the next year!

All my love,

Mommy

Merry Christmas!

We have countless blessings to be thankful for and hope that everyone was able to take time out from the hustle and bustle of the season to be able to appreciate what this holiday is really about. Merry Christmas!!

Our Christmas was a busy one, chock full of family and friends, though! Mike, Tyler and I celebrated a private Christmas at home on the 22nd, enjoying a fire, cinnamon rolls, and hot chocolate while we opened presents. Our big gift to Tyler was a train table that Mike built and a wooden train set. He loved it instantly and I was so proud of Mike for building it!

Maymont Park

Before Thanksgiving, we took Tyler to see the beautiful fall colors at a local park. He had a wonderful time, and posed nicely for all our family photos!

Happy Thanksgiving...

Yikes, the last holiday I wrote about was Halloween, and time just flies after that. Before we know it, it's going to be 2008! One of my New Year's resolutions is to simplify, simplify, simplify.

Ahhh, New Year's resolutions. We make them every year, but how many of us keep them in mind throughout the year? Mike and I have made a joint resolution to go to church more often. Well, to just go to church, period. That would be a good start! I would like to finally take my P.E. license exam, and get a handle on our credit cards. But enough about that mess...on to fun times and photos!

The morning after my last post, my sister (Chark) gave birth to two beautiful girls. She named them Sabrina and Olivia. They are gorgeous and my sister looked amazing when I visited her in the hospital that evening.

My sister already has an 18-month old daughter, Hannah, who is wonderful and so smart, but still a handful. Now the twins are almost 8 weeks old, and Chark is just gliding along (or so it seems, to me. I, on the other hand, would probably be crying my eyes out and calling my mom every day for help!).

Exactly 2 weeks later, my cousin, Mary Jeanne, had her baby boy. It was a surprise, she and her husband didn't find out the sex of the baby before his birth. They named him Niccolo, and he has grown very fast! We saw him when he was about a month old and he looked like he was 3 months old! My cousin already has a daughter who turned 2 in August.

Shortly after my two newest nieces were born, Mike, Tyler and I drove up to Maryland to visit his sister and her family. We had a great time, but I was almost instantly overcome by my allergies (they have a dog). I totally forgot to take any allergy medicine, but figured I would be fine, since we were only staying there one night. Well, I suffered through the weekend, and the following week came down with a cold. My breathing worsened over that week until I couldn't take a deep breath. I finally woke up with a start on Sunday morning, around 3am, which I suppose was because I couldn't breathe. I ended up in the emergency room, where they diagnosed me with an upper respiratory viral infection and where I received 3 nebulizer treatments, a Prednizone prescription, and an Albuterol prescription. I saw my doctor the next day and he gave me another inhaler prescription. Two weeks later, I was still coughing and wheezing a bit, so we decided that I should be quarantined until I was definitely healed up. Thus, we spent Thanksgiving with just each other (Mike, Tyler, and myself). Although I missed my family and wanted to see my sister and the twins again, it was nice to focus on my own family during a holiday. I made a turkey breast, rice with mushrooms and peas, mashed potatoes with gravy, and green beans with bacon! It was pretty yummy if I do say so myself ;)

21 Months

Dear Tyler,
Last week, you turned 21 months old. I'm saying it in months because it makes you sound younger. To think that you'll be 2 years old in just 3 months is truly amazing, because you have learned so much in the short time your Daddy and I have been blessed to have you in our lives so far.

On Wednesday, we celebrated Halloween and took you around the neighborhood to Trick or Treat. You were dressed as a dragon, the cutest and most polite dragon in the neighborhood! You said "please" and "thank you" to all our neighbors, and they were delighted to give you a piece of candy. Many of them tried to help you out and put the candy straight into your bucket, but you'd rather take it in your hand and put it in the bucket yourself. We spoiled you for the night, letting you have 2 lollipops and a piece of chocolate. You don't normally eat any candy at all, so this was a treat to you (and maybe a sugar shock!). The sugar made you dance and run around the living room for a while :)

Last weekend, your Lolo and Lola visited. You had so much fun with them that you didn't want them to leave. You actually wanted them to take you along, but Mommy and Daddy would miss you too much, so you stayed with us. They helped encourage you to try out your "big boy" bed (we converted your crib to a toddler bed). You can now climb in and out of it all by yourself, and you love having books and toy cars in the bed with you. You always hug your stuffed dinosaur as you fall asleep every night.
You amaze me every day, my sweet boy. You are learning new words so fast, and pronouncing them so well! You can say "L's" very well, and love to point out all the traffic lights to Mommy as we drive to day care every morning ("A light! A light!"). Tyler, you also have started to recognize letters and numbers. You can spot an "o" in the words in older children's books and you recognize "9" easily, too.
Mommy loves reading books to you at night, we often read 3 or 4 books. I mostly let you decide which ones to read, and when you have to make that decision, you kneel in front of your bookshelf and put your hand to your chin and say "Hmmm". I think you got it from watching "Curious George" :)
Tyler, you have been calling your daddy "Daddy" for a while now, but only recently have you graduated from calling your mommy "Mama" to calling me "Mommy". Now, when we're home together, I can't hear "Mommy" enough! (Not that you don't try to say it often enough!)
You can easily play on your own, but you love having either Mommy or Daddy play with you...always asking us to follow you or play a certain game with you.
You are much taller now than you were a year ago, it seems you've grown a foot, but we just don't think that can be. But you can easily reach the countertop, hold more than one toy in each hand, and you can get by eating a meal without a booster seat (if need be).
You are a sweet, but stubborn little guy...it always takes coaxing from us to get you to switch activities or take a break from one to change your diaper. But you usually find a way to have fun doing your new activity and then you don't want to go back to doing what you were doing before! :)
Your daddy is very proud that you are so interested in cars, trucks, planes, and trains. Everything that goes "Vrroooom!" interests you, and your favorite movie has been "Cars" for a long time. Mommy and Daddy will splurge and spoil you with Cars toys, blankets, and books!
We love you so much, Tyler! You are our little man and you make everything we do worthwhile!
Love with all our hearts,
Mommy and Daddy