Me and my boys

On Friday, Hannah headed to my moms for a long weekend. While she was gone,  I had lots of fun with my boys.  My cleaning and cooking skills went out the door and we enjoyed a few meals out and and I enjoyed not lifting a finger to clean anything (until today!)

My main goal while she was gone was to convert her room into a big girl room. She now has a twin bed and a pretty, girly room.  Wes is in the process of building a headboard and I still need to buy a few things to complete the room, but I'll post pictures when it's all complete. 

My other main goal was to spend some quality time with this guy....

I LOVED giving him my undivided attention and spoiling him all weekend.  Poor fella has never had mommy all to himself  for this long and I think he loved it....and so did I. 

I feel really refreshed and ready for my sweet girl to be home!!! 

Making Memories

For Christmas, my mom got Hannah and I matching aprons.  Hannah's says: "cooking it up with mommy" and mine says: "cooking it up with Hannah."   I love them and I've been anxious to put them to use, and yesterday we finally did!

We decided to do this activity right after an afternoon bath, and Hannah insisted on wearing her Cinderella dress. I didn't mind. She looked precious.

And incase anyone is worried that I've turned into super mom, don't worry....

We used pre-made dough. 

Hannah loved using the cookie cutter to make very random shapes of cookies.

We had hearts, airplanes, bunny rabbits, a puppy dog and lots of flowers.  Hannah's favorite part was putting the flour on the wax paper. Of course, the messiest part, which I hadn't originally intended to let her do.  I haven't tasted our creation yet, but Hannah definitely approves.

Even though this was a little messier than I first anticipated, it was well worth it. Hannah really loved it and I loved making the memories.  Aunt Jenn has made cookies with Hannah a few times before, but this was our first time together. LOVED.EVERY.MINUTE! 

2 BIG milestones!

I can't believe Ethan has reached 2 huge milestones just since his 8 month post 3 days ago!  

Ethan has been working SO HARD at crawling, and I think he's finally conquered the concept.  I'm not sure I'm ready for him to take off quite yet, but I guess I better get ready, because he's crawling!

Another big milestone is that I can feel a sharp little tooth poking through his gums. I can't believe he finally has a tooth! I was beginning to think he was never going to get one....although, it surely hasn't slowed him down.  He's been gumming waffles for breakfast, green beans at lunch, tortillas, strawberries, bread and crackers. 

I sure am going to miss this gummy smile....

Stop growing up so fast, sweet boy!

Ethan - 8 Months!

My sweet Ethan is 8 months old today! This has been a tough month with sicknesses and fusiness, but we've also hit a couple of milestones and we've had fun watching our little guy continue to grow and thrive. 

Poor guy has basically had an ear infection since Thanksgiving.  We are working to clear it up, and this momma has committed to keep Ethan at home until winter is over. Wes and I are taking turns going to church and I've quit working at MOPS on Wednesdays so that Ethan has less of a chance picking up a cold, that will most likely settle in his ears. 

In spite of the rough times around here, Ethan has managed to become very mobile! He's still shaky on all 4's, but he's definitely getting around to anywhere he wants to go.  We are starting to see a very aggressive determined personality in our sweet guy.  If he wants something and can't quite get to it, he gets MAD.  In the bath tub he's like a ping pong ball...constantly throwing down one toy to grab another.  I think we are going to have our hands full with this one! 

At 8 months Ethan:

• Is in size 2 diapers
• Is wearing size 2 shoe
• Wears 6-9 month clothes
• Bathing in the regular tub now
• Takes 2 good naps a day, and a cat nap in the evenings for about 30 minutes
• Sleeps from 8:00 p.m. - 7:30 a.m., but wakes 3-6 times a  night (lately it's definitely been 6)
• Nursing every 3 hours during the day
• Eating solids at breakfast, lunch and dinner, some finger foods too
• Drinks water from a sippy cup, on occasion
• Eats puffs, cheerios and yogurt bites 
• Is rocking on all 4's and is SOOOO ready to take off
• Saying dada all the time
• Says momma on occasion - melts my heart
• Puts everything in site in his mouth
• Still has no teeth
• Is sitting up from a laying position 
• Is still pretty bald
• Is not a great napper when we are out and about - can't miss a thing
• Is starting to clap
• Reaches for you when you lean to pick him up
• Does not sit still often

Sweet boy, my heart hurts when you are so sick and battling ear infections.  I pray we are over all of this soon and you can rest easy again.  I love that even though you don't feel good, you manage to flash a huge grin to us all the time.  You are mommy's perfect little man and I could just eat you up!

(Thanks for the good pictures, daddy!)

Popeye the SAILOR man

My grandpa got my nephew, Carter (who is now 7), a sailor outfit when he was a baby. My sister had Carter's pictures taken in it years ago, and I knew I wanted to do the same.

(This is Carter)

 I think little sailor dresses for girls can be really cute, so I went with it...

Ethan's is shorts, so I was worried that we weren't going to get an opportunity to take pictures outside since the outfit fits him now, when it's cold.  Luckily it's been a little warmer lately.

Hannah is such a little model. She was doing whatever we asked her to do. Such a doll.

Ethan was so oblivious to what we were doing.  All he cared about what shoving as many leaves as possible in his mouth.

I loved capturing these pictures of my cute little sailors. 

I wish matching outfits for boys and girls were easier to come by.

On the mend

Things have been ROUGH at the Tyler house for quite some time.  Before Christmas Hannah had her first ever stomach bug. She handled it like a champ, but it still wasn't any fun.  We missed a fun birthday party, church and school that week.  Then we left to head to my parents house for Christmas.  On Christmas Day Hannah woke up with fever. So when we got home I kept her inside and away from other kiddos until we left for New Years to head to Houston with Wesley's family.  All was well until New Years Eve night...Hannah spiked another fever and Ethan had a croup cough.  We traveled home with 2 sick kiddos and about an hour away from our house a dog ran into my car and dented it. Whew....not a good way to start our new year.  When we finally got to the doctor's office we discovered that Hannah had an ear infection and Ethan had a double ear infection...so we were house bound again...for the 3rd week in a row! This momma was going NUTS.  Luckily, my mom stayed the night here on Friday night and woke up with Ethan and I got my first full night of sleep since Ethan has been born! I'm a new woman....at least for now!

All that to say, we are finally on the mend.  Ethan seems a ton better and Hannah perked up a few days ago.  So this afternoon, with warmer temperatures, we headed to Sonic to play.

 Ethan was not wanting to stay on the blanket we brought for him...guess I should have known that! He loved feeling the sand, and luckily he didn't put any in his mouth.

Hannah was loving the sand and was talking about the beach.  I had to go on the playground with her to get her to slide before we left. I just knew if she didn't slide she would be talking all night about how she didn't get to.

Ethan was loving the outdoors, after not being out for quite a while!

I can't wait until spring so being outside becomes the norm again.

Now, if we can just stay well.....