Future CarMax Employees in the Making

Ryan is loving his new job at CarMax. The boys and I are dealing with it and missing him a ton! He is gone from 6am until about 7pm most days. Tyler and Jake went on a bunch of shopping trips with us when Ryan got the job to get work-appropriate clothes. CarMax is pretty specific about what colors/styles you can wear. Shorts can't have cargo pockets and can't be too long. While Ryan's back-ordered shirts were coming in he had to wear solid polos without any logos.

Well, the boys obviously picked up on this because one day after swimming as we were getting them dressed, Tyler insisted on wearing his "carmax shirt". I couldn't figure it out for the life of me. After 5-10 minutes of guessing we figured out Tyler meant his solid-blue polo shirt! Not only that, but he also picked out his only pair of shorts without cargo pockets to complete the ensemble! Then Tyler insisted that Jacob wear his "carmax shirt" too.

Although they may hide it well sometimes, these boys sure do love their daddy! Of course the only pictures I snapped were after dinner so both boys are a mess! But here is Tyler- even sporting one of daddy's name tags.

Goof-ball!

Oh- and Jake even says, "cheese!" now. You can't see his blue polo-shirt, but it's under there!

Tyler had to show off his shorts too ;) Although we miss daddy a TON it sure has been sweet to hear how often Tyler says he misses his daddy and even Jacob will walk around the house asking for him. It's always an exciting time when daddy comes home!

Back to the everyday

The Greatest Show on Earth!

The whole gang before heading to the circus!
These boys were excited for the circus...and to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. I think Tyler is already at a stage where anyone is cooler than mom ;)

My little ones got pretty spoiled while I slipped away to go to the sealing of Emily and Stuart.

I thought maybe they would get to go swimming and play at the park. Little did I know my parents had acquired some killer seats for the Circus that was in town! I was worried if the boys would make it through the whole show, but my mom and dad assured me that they could handle it.

The prepared grandparents even packed a lunch and snacks. Tyler now insists on writing his name on any sandwich baggie holding something for him, since that's what my dad did for the sandwiches that day. Amazing what little things become important.

The boys (and my parents) made it through the entire show! Jake fell asleep on my dad towards the end and I will have to get some pictures that my parents took of the boys actually at the circus. That means that they were thoroughly entertained the entire time that I was at the temple. I'd like to think that the boys were being exceptionally good because I was at a great place for a great event ;)

California in July

The boys and I headed to California in late July for Emily and Stuart's wedding in the Newport Beach Temple. While we were there... of course we stayed around a little extra and enjoyed cooler temps and Grandma and Grandpa's great backyard and park!

Jake is learning to like the water a little more, but he's still most content right outside the pool barely playing in the water. In this case Jake enjoyed cleaning with grandpa's scrubber.

After a long day of swimming nobody wants to get out of the pool, even to help "Batchu" cook dinner. Tyler also just enjoys being stubborn and not smiling when I ask him to.

As much attitude as this guy has- I still can't get over his eyes.


Tyler and Jake enjoying whatever it is they do together.

Even Granny and Grandpa were in town and they stopped by with Aunt Sarah and Alexis to play for the afternoon. Grandpa couldn't believe that Tyler can swim all by himself now.

Baby Jason Waite

Tyler and Baby Jason about 2 weeks old

Baby Jason about 3 days old

Baby Jason about 3 hours old. 7/15/10

These are a long time coming, and I only have a few pictures of this adorable little guy because he is usually sleeping when we are over playing...or I am keeping Jake away because he is way too fascinated with the "baby".

Not to be outdone

Jake must have known that Tyler was getting some blog-love so he kindly reminded me how darling he is too :)

Poor little guy has been struggling with his bottom two molars for a few weeks now and that makes him a little irritable. They are finally starting to come through and yesterday he slept in until 8 a.m.! That hasn't happened in over a year!

I also forgot to mention how stinkin awesome my little 16 month old is for using the potty before, during, and after bath time...depending on his preference ;) He has been seeing Tyler go potty before the bath every day now and apparently he likes to copy absolutely everything that Tyler does. So, starting while on vacation in Utah...I think it was Friday night bath, he pointed to the potty, let me put him on it and went pee. So funny because he totally had to force it out, but he did it! He's done that about 5 times since then. Last night after bath time Jake was being stubborn and didn't want to get out of the bath but then he whined, pointed to the potty, I put him on there and he went "#2" like he was some old pro.

Jake cracks me up. I guess this is the one good thing he will copy from Tyler since he really does copy every. little. thing. that Tyler does. We'll see if Jake's potty interest sticks around or if it wanes. Ty kinda did the same thing being interested here and there very early on but then waited about another 6 months to go pro. Tyler was a champ at potty training when we didn't force the issue so maybe we'll get lucky with Jacob too!

Tyler's antics...

A few funny things Tyler has said/done lately. I'm writing these down in an effort to stay positive, because honestly, he has been trying my patience to no end!

At Uncle Kyle and Aunt Brinly's reception I made him run in to the house to go to the bathroom and wash his hands before he could say goodbye to the lovely couple.
While we were in the bathroom Tyler looks at me and says, " ugh! I've got such a headache!"
Where did that come from?! So mature for his 3 years ;) Unfortunately while I made him go get clean to say goodbye to Kyle and Brinly, they had left while we were in the bathroom. He was so distraught that he didn't get to give them a hug goodbye- but I'm sure we'll chat on Skype sometime soon!

Yesterday, after being a complete pain for the better part of the morning, Tyler realized that I was trying to tidy up around the house. He went into the laundry room to grab the broom for me but apparently he noticed there were clean clothes in the dryer. While I was finishing a phone call he quietly went upstairs, got an empty laundry basket, came back down and unloaded the clean clothes from the dryer. He can be so sweet sometimes. I hope for more of his sweetness to come out soon. Maybe if I load him full of sugar that will help? Just kidding!

One of my other favorites is how much he talks about his daddy now that he's got a new job. Ryan leaves for work right around 6am and doesn't usually get home until at least 6pm if not later. Tyler will ask throughout the day, "why is daddy at carmax all day?" "where's my daddy?" "miss my daddy" and just yesterday when we met up with Ryan for dinner Tyler actually said "I want daddy" meaning he wanted Ryan to get him out of the car and hold his hand while we walk into the restaurant. This is a much bigger deal than it seems in words- and hopefully it can make up for how infrequently Tyler is nice to his daddy.

Mr & Mrs Crooks!

Welcome the newest Crooks to the family!

Utah was wonderful, busy, and beautiful. Congrats to Kyle and Brinly on a beautiful wedding day!

More pictures to come :)

What there is to blog about...

July 15th, Jason Denos Waite joined our (extended) family...finally!

Emily and Stuart stayed with us one night while passing through from Utah to California- loved meeting Stuart.

We had Ryan's cousin Drew stay with us for a few days and the boys loved it.

Drove to California last Wednesday for a fun weekend full of swimming, visiting cousins, grandparents, great-grandparents, circus, and Emily and Stuart's wedding.

I'm sure there were other things in-between, but at least this gives me a little reminder. Pictures are just sitting on the camera and I'm being kept busy by two very energetic little boys.