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.

Home Sweet Home

Well, we are here, we are alive, and we are tired! (and we are currently using someone's wireless Internet for free) Here's the brief story...

Friday night we had Brother Ben, Taylor and Michael come over to help Ryan load up the "big stuff" and bring over that load. It was a lot of work for those poor boys- but they are amazing and manly and got it done. I don't think we even broke anything on the move! We enjoyed a dinner of pizza and salad with the whole group somewhere in the middle of things.

The ladies got to hang out with the kids and pack up some of the odds and ends. I also got to spend some time with Jenna and chat. She is being induced this upcoming week with her first. It is so much fun to talk about the firsts with someone. It made me remember how amazing those first few days are (and every day after that really) but it was also nice to be able to remember how hard it felt at times and how easy it seems right now (knock on wood). Jenna and Michael are going to be great parents...in just a few days!

After the boys were done with the big stuff they celebrated with a 7-11 run. As if they hadn't had enough fun yet the boys even stuck around to help us load up the small stuff so that we could be over here at the new house by 8 a.m. when we had Elders Quorum help coming.

The help was here and, as they all got out of the cars one said to Ryan, "How do I know you?!" Ryan ended up knowing a guy in our ward from his days working at Land Rover in American Fork. How fun! I just kept Tyler busy putting together beds and playing with tools while the guys unloaded into the garage.

The rest of the day involved running errands, trying to find food to eat, MY CAR BREAKING DOWN, and installing our first ceiling fan all by ourselves! Tyler is waking up so I will definitely have to tell about my dang car next time.

Hope you all are doing well- we sure are. We still can't believe this beautiful (messy) house is ours!! Give us a few days and we'd love visitors any time.