BBQ Fun!

We have had a fun weekend of visitors, family, and yummy food. Friday night we had dinner with some friends from the ward. They have three kids, the youngest being 5 weeks old. Tyler and I go walking with them at the rec center. Jessica and I had fun getting our husbands together. Guys need some testosterone every now and then! We had yummy crock pot "Dr. Pepper Chicken" and a delicious fruit salad. Thank goodness for summertime coming!

Friday night my cousin Brittny and her husband stayed with us. They are in the process of making the move out to this beautiful desert oasis ;) They are both working hard to make it happen. It was fun to get to talk to them for a bit and share breakfast and some extra attention for Tyler too! Hope that things work out well for them. We should know what the future holds in a few more weeks.

Saturday Tyler and I hung out and caught up on some sleep...kinda. Tyler went from sleeping through the night, for about a week now, to staying up all night- CRYING!! Arg. I hope that he gets back to being a big boy soon because I'm pooped. After daddy got home we had a spontaneous BBQ and invited our cousins Michael and Jenna for some delicious hand-made hamburgers, fruit salad, bbq beans, chips, drinks, and malts to top off the night.

This may not sound too special, but it meant that we got to buy a BBQ to cook our burgers. Ryan ran out and got the Wal-Mart special ;) and it performed great! Tyler was watching his daddy put together the BBQ, then when we let him out of his high chair Ty crawled right over, picked up the screw driver, and looked like he was trying to tighten the screws that Ryan was just working on. It was so funny!

Our little guy is still growing, we love having so many great family members close by, and we've had fun being a little more spontaneous and social.

Cute Mohawk- loving his bubble bath!

Tyler's cute little outfit- baby cargo shorts and a little graphic tee. Thank goodness for people crazy enough to buy cute clothes at baby gap.

Tyler likes to get ready for work with daddy- he even wanted to put on dress socks and shoes!

Tyler learned how to open cupboards, and get stuck under the sink!

Helping daddy tighten up the last couple screws.

Sacramento Part II

So here's the final hoorah for our Sacramento trip and our sweet homecoming.I realized that we had missed out on some play pictures with Granny. Tyler spent most of his waking hours in the arms of his Granny. He loves being loved! Granny was so good at getting smiles out of him :)The Easter Bunny left Tyler a little something in Sacramento. I'm glad he got the memo to visit us in the great Sunshine State. Tyler, of course, loved the basket and grass just as much as the great treats in it.Here's a better picture of what Ty really loved with Grandpa. Grandpa Fred is 6'3" so I'm sure the world is a whole different place from up there.It was hard to leave after having such a happy baby boy for so long. He was thriving on the extra attention. He didn't even get off of his sleeping schedule or anything! Here we are one last picture in California at the Sacramento Airport before we returned to boring landscape, high temperatures, and DADDY!

Mr. Easter Bunny was busy and left some fun eggs and a little basket for Tyler at home too! (Ryan was so cute- he even thought to "hide" the eggs in places Tyler loves, like the piano bench, by the door stop, and by the window)

In other fun news, Tyler had a little weight check today. My not so little boy is

20lb 13oz. and 29in.

I wonder if he's going to be a big boy?!

Photos of our visit to Granny & Grandpa's

Fun at Granny & Grandpa Crooks

Here are a few fun photos from our visit to Sacramento. A big thanks to Granny and Grandpa Crooks who made it so wonderful to visit. Hope to see you again soon!!

Playing on the beautiful grass in the backyard. Tyler really enjoyed rock climbing more than he liked the spikey grass. He must be from Las Vegas huh?!

Swinging at the neighborhood park. Tyler loves to swing.

Walking with Granny. Ty is getting more and more daring.

Lunch date with Grandpa- we snatched him away from doing Taxes for some delicious Subway.

Our trip to the Folsom Zoo. Tyler got to see Deer, Roosters, Foxes, Tigers, Monkeys, Peacocks, Parrots, Bears, Goats, Pigs, Horses...and many other fun exciting animals.

Playing with Grandpa. One of Tyler's favorite things was to get on his shoulders andbe chased around the house. Ty would laugh so hard!!

Easter Breakfast- Waffles and a little yummy whipped cream on the side ;)

Look forward to some airport photos in a little while!

Hoppy Easter!

Still no pictures yet but...

We started off Easter morning with a yummy waffle breakfast. The adults had chocolate chip waffles with strawberries and whipped cream...Tyler even got to try some whipped cream, thanks to Grandpa, and enjoyed smushing it around and tasting a little every now and then.

Another special treat was a quick visit from the Easter Bunny! Tyler loved getting his first Easter Basket. Tyler was surprised to see two fun bunny toys and some yummy treats to take home to his mom and dad ;)

Backing up a bit- Saturday we got to visit the Folsom Zoo and do a little shopping. Tyler's favorite animal was the monkey. How did I know this was his favorite? It is the only one that he laughed at. Probably because they were playing with toys that looked like Tyler would enjoy too!

The trip has been a blast. We are off to the airport to try our hand at "World's best in-flight napper" take 2! Oh- and just so you moms out there know, they even make you take off your baby's shoes to go through the metal detectors, hence Tyler being sans shoes this time around. Talk about ridiculous! We are going to miss Granny and Grandpa Crooks, but we can't wait to see daddy and show him how much we've grown!!

Straight from Sacramento

I don't know how to upload pictures here at granny's yet, but I'd better update while I still remember some of our fun.

So far...we made it here safe, but our luggage was left in Las Vegas...oh the joys of traveling. This turned out to be okay though because Vegas is just a short flight away and our luggage made it here on the next flight. We even got "compensated" because we were willing to come back and pick it up ourselves. Granny, Tyler and I went out to lunch to pass some time and then we picked up the luggage and our travel voucher. Just a bit of a rocky start, not too bad.

We have been lucky to have Grandpa home from work for dinner each night. He's a CPA so tax season is pretty hairy, but Tyler is worth a little break! Grandpa has been tiring him out for me after dinner so well that Tyler just passes out! He has even been sleeping through the night!!!

Granny, Tyler, and I have gone out for little adventures. So far we went to the outlets in Folsom, went to the mall, got some pictures taken of Tyler, played outside in the backyard on GRASS!!, and went to the park.

The weather and the scenery is beautiful and green here. We are having a blast and we hope to post pictures soon. I say hope because my new (pink) camera that we just got at Christmas is freaking out. Dang it! Hopefully Kodak will be good to us and fix/replace it.

Hope everyone is doing well. I'll be sure to tell better stories later! Back to Vegas in only 2 days

Miss you Ryan

California or Bust!

We're off to Granny's!

Tomorrow Tyler and I are going to Sacramento to visit Granny and Grandpa Crooks. We get to try the airport scene again. This time we are going to try to do it with Tyler in our little front carrier and see if it makes security and lines any easier than carrying the little chunk in his car seat.

I'm sure we'll have some fun somewhere along the way. Wish us luck as we take to the friendly skies. Pictures will follow shortly :)

Our little boy is 9 months

That's right, Tyler has been out of the womb as long as he was in the womb. Crazy huh? He is such a big boy now! Here are a few fun things that Tyler is doing now that he is 9 months old.

- playing the piano

- "cruising" along

- masterfully crawling

- eating table foods like a champ

- wore out his first pair of shoes

- laughing a lot more

- starting to speak his language

- still not quite sleeping through the night ;) we'll keep our fingers crossed for 10 months on that one!

dada

Tyler has been so close to saying "dada" for a few days now, but this morning was one of the most distinct, so I figure it counts as more than babble and I can officially post about it!

Sure, I could be hurt that he didn't say mama first, but the pediatrician told us the first word is usually dada because it's easier to say...oh well. Tyler and I go in and wake up Ryan just about every day. We do it even more lately because Tyler has been so close to saying "dada". This morning we went in to see how Ry was doing after our walk and Tyler blurted out "da da" followed by a couple lone "da" then a cute little "da-de". So cute!

Now...if only he'd get my name down :)

Another weekend in Paradise

We got lucky to have daddy home for another full weekend. We also got lucky that Ryan won some competition at work and got a small bonus. We also got lucky that Toys R Us was having a buy one, get one free special so...we went and spent part of Ryan's winnings getting Tyler some new toys.
Anyone who knows Ryan, knows that Saturday starts out with car washing and house cleaning. Tyler is getting used to the routine, but he is also getting very brave and strong in his walker. He broke through our make-shift barrier and got up-close and personal while dad was cleaning the tires. So cute to see Tyler want to be like his daddy already.
New toys!!Tyler got a basketball hoop/football/baseball thing that lights up and makes noises. He also got a mini piano with some beads to play with on top. He (and the cousins) are enjoying all the noise and excitement.
Tyler loves his daddy- especially in the morning right after they both wake up. Here they are getting some quality cuddle time. Both men have the necessities, blankie and remote...happy boys!Sunday Tyler and mommy were sporting some green...and we need proof every now again that there is a mom in the picture (no pun intended)

Our cute little boy is cruising along the couch, table, crib, etc. much more now. Thankfully he is also getting more brave going from standing back to sitting. He used to get "stuck" standing up and just fuss!

Here's to another week of adventure, growing, learning, and loving!!

Quiet Moments

There have been a bunch of "moments" to write about lately. I figured I'd better take a quick minute while Tyler is asleep and try to get everything into one blog. If it is terribly scatter-brained, forgive me in advance!
The other morning started off great. Ty woke up (early) ate, went back down for a nap. Great kid! I got to work out for a whole hour. As I was turning everything off to run back and shower I saw a story on the news that caught me off guard. It was a little piece about photographers that volunteer to take family pictures/maternity/baby pictures for families that know there are problems with their unborn children. They followed this one family from belly shots to hospital shots. They were some of the most poignant moments all captured beautifully. The news went on to talk about how it was easier to grieve if there was proof that this little person existed, because they did, no matter how short their time on earth may have been.
By this point, I am sweaty, stretching, and sobbing- no joke. I felt like such a dork- but there have been so many reminders to me lately about just how lucky I am to have my little guy. Tyler hasn't been the best at sleeping, so we've had many long, late nights together. This, combined with the fact that Ryan has been putting in tons of overtime left me feeling so overwhelmed. Those feelings passed eventually, due in part to reminders like this news story. It just hit me (again) that I am so blessed to have this little boy in my life. Not only do I have him, he is healthy, growing, laughing, and learning right on track. My pregnancy with him was a cake walk, labor and c-section really weren't anything to complain about, and he is here. I used to get so frustrated and loose my patience after the fifth straight hour of crying, but I just realized, how many people wouldn't give anything to hear their baby cry. The simple fact that he was crying and I could hold him and love him, isn't that enough?
Well, I know it is idealistic, but this little moment has stuck with me at least for three days so far. It's funny that I really didn't even cry when Tyler was born. Only now, have I even begun to realize how blessed we are as a family. We have had many fun baby moments in the family lately as you can see from some posts; baby blessings, adoptions, etc. There is another side that is bolstering my faith as a near stranger is waiting patiently as her little 1 week old is undergoing heart surgery right now. I really cannot believe the strength of this woman. How amazing.
Long story short, blessings truly are pouring out right now. As it goes with life, this doesn't mean the challenges stop altogether, but the Lord is definitely smiling on us right now. I am so grateful for my husband, my son, and a family that I know I can rely on in any situation. I also hope that I will remember how good it feels to "count my blessings", especially the next time I am up with a sick baby all night.

9 Months Stats

There has been a lot to blog about lately, but we'll keep this one simple with

Tyler's (almost) 9 month stats from the Dr. visit this morning

29 in. 20lbs.

That puts him at the 75-90% for height and 50% for weight. As the Dr. so eloquently put it, "He is long and lean". Maybe he will get some height from his Crooks genes after all!! The only unfortunate part is that the little guy just developed a cough and runny nose...AGAIN. The Doc said everything looks good still- no recurrence of the bronchitis or ear infection. Yeah!!

This morning we had a little help from Daddy getting dressed.

We were going for the preppy/biker look!

I just couldn't get these pictures rotated...or delete them so here are the ones to turn your head for ;) Enjoy

Baby Scott's Blessing

Today was a fun day! It started at 5a.m. unfortunately but it only got better from there. Tyler and I hung out for a bit, ate some breakfast, and took a bath around 6am...odd, but necessary. Tyler fell asleep last night at 5:30pm so he skipped out on his bath last night and definitely needed one for Sunday! Tyler was even a good boy and took a short nap from 7-8am before we left for church in Centennial Hills for the blessing. Cousin Jenna met at our house to go together and we were off!

There was a bunch of fun girl talk on the way. Jenna is expecting in August so we got to chat about baby stuff. Tyler was intrigued with Jenna's fingernails...just something simple, but interesting. Walking into church we got to see a bunch of Ryan's family and some people I knew as family friends on my side. All of Aunt Anita's kids were there to support Matt and Jill with their new baby boy, Scott.

Cool story behind this baby blessing is that he was a long time coming. Matt and Jill have been very patient for this little spirit. It was special to be present for his blessing- and definitely a sweet moment. Scott is so tiny and precious!! We look forward to seeing more of him.

After the blessing there was some amazing food, great family, and cute kids everywhere. The wind was off the charts crazy, but that was about the only downside for the whole day. Ryan got to hold Scott and of course he's baby hungry again (or maybe it's me...) but he does such a great job with the tiny ones. Ryan calmed Scott right down. He's got that touch.

We made a quick stop by Aunt Sarah and Uncle Ryan's new place. It was beautiful! Big, open, on a golf course, amazing. So happy they could get a good deal on a place where they feel safe and hope to be able to stay until Ryan is done with dental school.

Aunt Anita is one of Tyler's many fans. He wasn't cooperating very well for this picture because he was so tired by the end of this adventure- but he sure does love the attention. Hope to be in Cali soon to see our family again!