Nothin Much

I'm just sitting at home- fighting a dang cold that Tyler was so good about sharing. Thankfully no ear aches or fevers involved in this cold for the little man. My version is just a head cold- but annoying and draining none-the-less.

We, and by "we" I mean I, am still adjusting to our new side of town. The house is great, we have our walking route down, we know where the stores are (kinda) and the house is as organized as it gets (since Tyler rips out all his toys within minutes of being awake) BUT I'm still working on the whole finding friends thing. Tyler LOVES playing with other kids- but we don't know any yet. It's been almost a month! I feel so bad for him. Tyler is starting to get tired of just mommy (and mommy is getting tired of the fussiness that accompanies Tyler's boredom).

We have walked through all the local stores and even went down to the Bass Pro Shops and watched the Manta Rays be fed. Tyler made friends with the scuba diver...until the loud breathing noises freaked him out. We go to the pool at least once a week now. We have gone on a hike or two. Our morning walk is about two miles. The park swings are fun after 6pm, when it's only 100 (not exaggerating).

Ryan has been quite the stud working like crazy. The only down-side to that is we miss him a lot too. Ryan is so diligent and hard working. We hope he gets recognized for his efforts again sometime soon :)

This week our goal is to stay at church the entire three hours...hopefully not in the hallway either...and make a play date with one person. Wish me luck!!

more fun with grandma and grandpa

We have been lucky do spend a lot of time with family this weekend- both the grandparents and my sister's family. We loved having so many people around. I am afraid that Tyler really is going to be bored while he readjusts to our slower life again.On Saturday night I forgot that Ben got his sweet guitar for his birthday. He is already jammin away and he looks like a pro!

Sunday we make a delicious breakfast of french toast and bacon. Grandpa is quite the all around chef, but I believe breakfasts are one of his specialties. Tyler didn't fail to want to be a part of it all. Grandpa was even patient enough to let him sit up on the counter and help cook.

The rest of Sunday was filled with Church, naps (kinda), and dinner at Aunt Heather's. We even stayed up past our bedtime so we could spend a little bit longer with family.

Monday we did some more improvements/organizing in the garage and headed over to the Lied Children's Museum. Quite possibly the coolest place for little kids (and adults too).

The kids got to run around, move blocks, fill buckets, hide in small places, and open and close things...all without getting in trouble for it!

We spent plenty of time at the bubble and water tables. You can change the flow of the water by moving the different pieces and you can make huge bubbles...one place you can even make a bubble big enough to stand in!

Next, Tyler got to dress up as Spiderman and put on a little show for us. He was hilarious running around all dressed up.

After that we headed up stairs where more fun awaited. The boys got to go in a tornado simulator. You can see Tyler's hair blowing in the 80 mph wind!

One of the last things we did was play a green screen game where you are a goalie and try to block as many goals as possible. Ryan used Tyler as an assistant and it was hilarious. We also have some good pictures of grandma playing the game too but I'll have to add those later :)

We had so much fun at the museum! I hope we can all go again sometime soon.

Monday finished up with naps, pizza for dinner, and playing in the pool.

Today we woke up, had a yummy breakfast again and then we had to say goodbye to grandma and grandpa. We had so much fun getting to see you guys. Hope it isn't too long until we visit again!!

Grandma and Grandpa Denos come to visit!!

My parents came into town yesterday. Tyler could not have been more excited. He helped bring in everything from the car and all he could say was, "wow". He loves having someone other than mom around to give him love and attention.

Since Tyler learned to play the harmonica so well last week my parents thought it would be fun for him to have his own. He plays it every now and then- and loves it, but he seems to have a much deeper attachment to the box it came in. Crazy kids.

Once my parents got their stuff in the house my dad wanted to get down to business and do some handy work for us. He isn't truly happy unless he is working. So...we put in the two remaining ceiling fans and the shower doors in our master tub/shower combo. It is great!!

The boys hard at work.

Ryan even got to come home from work early because the phones were down. Yay! The boys had to make one run to Home Depot- not too bad for a project that we had no idea what to expect. Thank goodness dad was here. He seems to know how to do everything. The doors look great!

Oohh! Ahh! They really do dress the place up nicely.

Around 5 the Waites and Blackwells met at our place and we all headed over to a Luau that our ward put on. It was awesome! The line for food was way long and there weren't any tables left but the food was good, and the dancers were amazing. They even had shaved ice- yummy.

Apparently Tyler thinks he can stop the snot from running out his nose if he plugs it up with his finger...we're trying to break him of the habit already.
The grass tickles!

I guess there are a lot of Polynesian families in the ward so they put together real dances from the islands. The men did a lot of stomping, slapping, jumping and the ladies did some amazing hip action and hula. The kids seemed to enjoy all the noise and action too.

Loving the decorations!

Tyler loves having his friends around. He has even picked up on the idea of giving hugs. He gives Isabell and Max some of the cutest hugs. We kinda caught one with a picture but it really doesn't do the whole hug thing justice.

One of many hugs for his buddies Max and Isabell

The kids were beat- but we all still came home to play at our house for a little bit. And it finally happened- (Granny don't freak out) Tyler fell down the stairs. He is just fine...but it was a traumatic experience for everyone I think. Not sure how he lost his footing because he is a stud at going up and down the stairs- but after I made sure he was on his tummy going down he slipped somehow and rolled sideways down. He was sad but in one piece. We'll see how he is with the stairs today.

Going night night on daddy's head.

So far we've had a lot of fun with Grandma and Grandpa and it hasn't even been 24 hours...stay tuned!

busy day

We started our day off nice and early with a pre-8am errand run to Lowe's and Home Depot. We stopped by Lowe's to buy a glass door for the tub/shower combo in our master bath. My parents are coming out next weekend and my dad is going to help us install it. We also snagged some exterior lights for our garage that were a good deal. Next it was on to Home Depot to buy some storage racks for the garage that attach to the ceiling.

While Tyler took his first nap of the day Ryan and I put up the two storage racks. It only took us about two hours ;) When stinky woke up we went to run some more errands and enjoy a lunch out together at Panda Express. We enjoyed our afternoon running around crazy. When we came home Ryan put up the lights on the garage and they look great.

After Tyler "helped" us by carrying around the tools, electrical tape, adjusted the water heater, found some dead cockroaches, etc. he went down for his afternoon nap. While he rested Ryan took our second load to Goodwill and I started to load up our new storage solution in hopes of parking two cars in the garage. Just a little while later...we did it! We can now park both cars in the garage!

To top off our fun-filled day we headed to Henderson for Benjamin's third birthday. Heather and Taylor hosted a little (not so little) family party to celebrate. The birthday boy got a train, a bike, a backpack, some clothes, a sweet set of batman pjs, and lots of love and kisses. I can't believe he is three already! Tyler loves Ben's cousin Tay Tay. She is so good with him. She will carry him around, play with him, and tonight she taught him how to play the harmonica. No joke- it was so funny. Tyler just sat on the couch with the harmonica in his mouth and would make beautiful music.

Finishing up our night at home we had to start giving Tyler a little medicine again because he is getting his molars. We made this discovery on Sunday when he started crying in church. These two molars will make 10 teeth already! Hope he sleeps well :)

(we'll add pictures later- blogger is being lame right now)

exploration peak.

The handsome duo at the top

"the peak"

Today was a nice day...only about 105 ;) We decided that we needed to get out of the house and go for a little Sunday nature walk.

Our attempt at getting all 3 of us

We borrowed a hiking backpack from Heather and thought we would give it a whirl. Ryan sported the backpack and extra weight a.k.a Tyler. The hike was short but straight up. The higher we got, the stronger the wind. It was actually pretty cool. We could see the strip, all of Mountain's Edge, the nearby mountains, and some other good views.

A little view of half of Mountain's Edge and the shopping center going in across the street from us. Our neighborhood is in the top right corner of the bottom picture.

While we were at the peak we read a little bit about the railroad that runs fairly close to our house and "Mormon road" which is now Blue Diamond road. Interesting little tidbit at the top of our little mountain.

See that..."Mormon Road" it was a good Sunday walk after all!

It was a fun adventure and Tyler was awesome. Maybe next time I'll wear the backpack and burn some extra calories!

For Popa

Tyler is sucking on Abigail's pacifier...which he stole...stinker

This picture is just for Popa. We now have two pictures with both of his great- grandkids!

Yesterday we got to visit baby Abigail and Jenna again. This time they were home and both ladies were looking fantastic! Abigail is so precious. If all babies were like her we should have 10 kids each! I am still not sure quite what the perfect word is for her but so far I like, peaceful. She is so calm and content. I just love it!

Tyler was quite the contrast to this sweet little girl (not that I had any idea at the time) but the fact that even the nurses called him a "little tiger" probably should have given me an idea of what was in store ;) While we were visiting Tyler just ran around their house pushing his car and "vrooming". He even helped Michael put some clothes in a bag. Tyler really has become my all around helper.

We are settling in a little more everyday. I got to meet some ladies at enrichment but we don't quite have any play buddies yet. There are nice people everywhere though...soon enough! I look forward to feeling truly organized (by the time we move out probably) and making friends so that Tyler isn't stuck with just me.

Thanks again to Jenna and Abigail for taking visitors yesterday. We loved spending part of our afternoon with you two beautiful ladies!!

14 Months Old

I've missed a few months of milestones- but that's no reason to give up. Tyler is more fun everyday and we sure do love him! Some of Tyler's latest tricks include

- blowing bubbles in the pool
- going up and down the stairs
-opening every door in the house
- a continued interest in cooking
- waking up daddy every morning (and stealing his cell phone)
- reading books, on his own of course ;)
- a HUGE interest in cars...except it usually sounds like "ka"
- a few new words like; car, cracker, book, ball, basketball, mom, drink, bob (that's what he calls dad...don't know why), guh for the grandparents, nana for banana
- loving to watch the tractor dig
- going on walks and bike rides in his bike trailer
- walking like a champ
- getting on and off his rocking horse (and just about anything else) by himself
- loving his big boy booster seat now that his high chair doesn't fit too well in our new house
- oh...and Tyler's second move in his short little life happened about a week ago :)

a few pictures of the house "in the works"

So I know it is hard to not focus on all of the mess in these pictures- but look past it and you will see the meager beginnings of our home.

Our blinds were put in this past Tuesday. We like the detail on the top and we're trying to find a classy way to darken Tyler's room and our room since a lot of light still comes through...I guess they can't look good and be completely functional too ;)

We are actually using the entertainment unit from Ryan's parents. What adults huh? Who has entertainment units? We do! And the fit is practically perfect for our little niche. Pretty much a sign that this house was meant to be.

Ryan and I have put up two ceiling fans so far. The first one was perfect (after a quick electrical tip) and the second is pretty good- just a tiny bit of wobble that we'll try to fix later.

We are enjoying the home, Ryan's new work schedule, the pool, walking or riding the bike every day, going to the park, family dinners, finding more toys, and organizing. We are still missing our Henderson family and we look forward to starting up Sunday dinners again sometime soon.

She's Here!

Our cousins, Michael and Jenna, welcomed their beautiful little girl today. Abigail weighed in at 6lbs. 9oz. 18 1/2 inches. I wasn't going to post pictures until they did...and thankfully they have already ;) So here is a picture or two of our first visit with the little lady only a few hours old!

We love having these two amazing people so close. Life definitely changes with a little one but it is so precious. Newborn babies really make me feel close to my Heavenly Father- they really are a gift- especially this little angel. She really doesn't cry! Hopefully she will sleep well for her mom and dad!

Love you- all 3 of you. Welcome to the world little Abigail.

it's like thunder and lightning

I kept singing that song in my head as Tyler and I drove back from lunch with daddy-o.

Tyler and I had just finished cleaning at the old house and we happened to be around Ryan's work during his lunch break. We met up at the outlets by Ryan to just walk around. Ryan was looking at his watch and said he'd better go. As we walked out the door it was insanely windy- but still hot. Nothing out of the usual there. BUT...

Right after Ryan, in his infinite wisdom, said, "better get in the car fast before it starts coming down"...it totally started to rain. At first, just a drop here and there. Within seconds the rain was coming down so hard that it was bouncing at least a foot and a half off the street. You couldn't even see the lines! There was standing water all over the road. Everybody slowed way down (thank goodness). The rain was so loud in the car , the thunder was roaring, and the lightning was insane. I thought Tyler would freak out- but it was only me freaking out.

I must admit, I completely scoff at the "flash flood" billboards on the side of the road like "what idiot gets caught in a flash flood?!" Now I get it. I was actually pretty freaked out but tried to stay calm for Tyler's sake. The funny part is, within a half mile it was all over and dry as the desert (which it is). So crazy! There was even an interruption on the radio from the national weather service declaring a severe thunderstorm warning followed by a flash flood warning. WHAT?! Where do we live? I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

so far, so good.

We are in fact surviving here in Las Vegas. There have been quite the number of crazy events to add excitement to our life, but all in all, things are okay.

Today the blinds were installed. That's a positive. Tyler is sleeping just like normal. Another positive. Our stuff is fitting better than we thought it would. Yet again, positive. We finally found the right part for the dryer. Positive. I got to visit Henderson (and the Blackwells) and vacuum the old house. Mostly the visit was positive ;).

While I was vacuuming and grabbing little stuff I started to hear Tyler laugh and I thought he had just found the mirror and was laughing at himself. Well, when I walked back into the master to check out what was going on I found Tyler playing in a clogged toilet with what was left of the roll of toilet paper plastered all over. If only I had my camera with me! So frustrating and so funny all at once.

We got to visit with the Blackwells and enjoy some good company (on their anniversary- hope we made it a special one ;) Happy 8 years!) Tyler and I really needed some friends today so I think that was my favorite part of this week.

We are adjusting, unpacking, cleaning, organizing, and loving the new house. We are also missing our old friends and daddy since he went back to work today too. I'm sure we'll find some walking buddies on this side of town eventually!

I really need to add some more pictures of our fun. We'll get some good ones of the blinds tomorrow when it's light again.

Pictures...

These are going to be random and out of order but I'll try to give a little direction with each. We are going in reverse chronological order.

Starting with today, going to church was probably the biggest adventure we've had in awhile. Since my car is LAME and currently out of commission (due to who knows what..AND a flat tire on top of it all. dang construction people) we fit all 3 of us in Ryan's single cab, Toyota Tacoma. We were glad that it worked so that we could at least make it to church. Tyler's car seat fit, Ryan and I could kind of sit and as long as Tyler didn't kick the stick shift out of gear we were fine ;) We made it to our new ward, the Mountain's Edge Ward, and we were greeted by a couple people. Mostly those who helped us move in on Saturday and their wives. I met a few moms out running the halls with their crazy children as well.

Saturday, and all of moving for that matter, was pretty easy. Tyler has been an absolute riot. He caught on awhile ago that we were putting things in boxes and taking other things out of cupboards. Needless to say, he has been a great helper packing and unpacking boxes. Tyler has also discovered that tools really are fun. He is very adamant about helping with anything that involves tools. He loved helping to take down and put up the beds, installing the water line for the ice maker, trying to get the dryer working (still not quite) and recently he helped us change a tire on my car.

Our morning on Saturday was long and crazy. Between moving over here, returning the truck, getting food, packing more stuff in our cars, and getting back over here to the new house Tyler was WAY over due for his nap. He was a champ the whole time and quickly passed out and even took a good nap in his crib in his new room.

We are looking forward to Monday to try to get my car fixed. Unfortunately that has taken precedence over other plans like grocery shopping, getting odds and ends for the house, and any other outings. Hopefully everything is nice and calm before Ryan leaves us to go back to work with his new schedule working Tuesday - Saturday.