It's A...

BOY!!

We went in for our ultrasound this morning. Tyler looked more terrified the whole time that the lady with the funny looking toy kept pushing on his mommy, but every now and then he'd look up at the pictures moving on the wall too. We are excited that everything is looking good. This little guy sure is lucky to have Tyler for a big brother. We are grateful that we're getting a boy second because I think Tyler will do better with a boy. He is pretty rough and he needs a buddy to play with. It is still unreal to see a little person, even the second time around- but we're starting to believe that this is real...finally!

Update in Photos

Oh the joy! Tyler makes us laugh (and scream) every day. He has become such a ball of destruction...in a good way. This boy has more energy than most small countries. Here are just a few of his adventures lately.Playing with mommy's Halloween wings when I was trying to put Halloween away. Who could resist though...so cute!
Tyler's mandatory photo shoot. He got out the camera and kept saying "cheese"! What a goof ball.

Getting dinner ready last night. Tyler couldn't wait for me to actually put the enchiladas together so he just grabbed a tortilla to tear up and dug right into my entire bowl of enchilada filling. I just laughed, since it was probably the smallest mess of the day.After making dinner Tyler thought he should get down to work- bust out the Palm and get those appointments in order. 1am: wake up for no reason and refuse to sleep in own bed 2am: only sleep in mom and dad's bed 3am: get daddy so frustrated with all my motion so that he moves into the extra bed 4am: enjoy my half of the queen bed. He takes his work very seriously.

Trying to make up for a HORRIBLE night. Tyler insisted on swiffering the floor. He's trying, bless his heart.

What we've been up to

It's been quiet around the Crooks' home for the most part. Ryan is still working at least one hour of overtime EVERY DAY. Work is getting draining but he's hanging in there.

Tyler and I have been enjoying the cooler weather with a few play groups and lots of time spent in the back yard. Other than that it has been same ol' thing for the most part. Here are a few things we've done in the past two weeks or so...

Dinner at the Waite's one night all the kids were being silly. Instead of just one kid in the box they all wanted to hang out together. Tyler was cold and wanted to put on my jacket which looked more like a dress on him.

With the weather cooling off Tyler got to wear a handsome sweater that we got for him on sale awhile ago. Boy did he look handsome that. New sweater and new jeans (that are still too big and fall off!) Goofy look on his face- but this is the only picture that wasn't fuzzy to show off his cute outfit.

These other pictures are just some of our everyday things. Tyler loves to walk around with these silly goggles on. He also likes to play IN his toy box instead of with his toys. Not sure if Tyler is coughing or doing his "oh my goodness" face. Who knows what kids will come up with next.

Lastly, just last Saturday we went out to do some real family pictures with all 3 of us in them. It is always easy to get a good picture of Tyler but Ryan and I are a little harder to photograph ;) After our little photo session we had dinner at Cafe Rio and enjoyed our little night out on the town.

Halloween and Birthday catch-up

Our computer has been out of commission for a few days and I've been wasting my time reading the Twilight series. If you haven't read it yet and don't want to read all four books, don't start! I read all four books in about 10 days.

We are just finishing off some Halloween pictures and our little family birthday celebration. Ryan carved some great pumpkins this year and Tyler really enjoyed seeing the lights and glowing jack-o-lanterns. Tyler and I at the end of the night of Trunk-or-Treating. Visiting daddy at work on his birthday. We got to spend lunch hour with dad and enjoy some of his co-workers.

Tyler and daddy by the "big" pumpkin.

This year's pumpkins. The classic jack-o-lantern and a little something special.

I made it through one more year of Ryan's birthday cake tradition. We tried a new frosting recipe this year. We'll just say I won't be repeating the icing but everything still turned out okay.

Another year down. Hopefully many more to go. I'll get this cake perfect one year!

It was fun to have Sarah and Ryan Hecht, the Blackwells, and the Waites over for birthday dinner. We had some BBQ chicken and ribs for something fun and a little special.

Sorry we've been gone for awhile. We're getting back to reality slowly and we'll get better with the updates.

President Elect

Well, I'm sitting here watching the news and we've really done it. Obama appears to be the next president of the United States. I'm not sure how I feel about this- but, I consider myself an open minded person. It is my hope (and it was no matter who won) that these men who have made promises along the way will be men of prayer and do what is best for this country, regardless of the promises they made on the campaign trail. I wavered from hating both men to seeing that their opinions had to come from some life experience they had and feeling like they were both good men. Then I was just frustrated with the media for being an unreliable source of information.

I am excited to see what will change and when. I am also nervous to see what will change and when. Welp, here we go for a four year ride! And, grandma, if you read this...you win!

Let's get excited about some kind of change and see where it takes us. Here's to being optomistic :)

Happy Birthday!!

Just a quick shout out to my sweet husband who is turning...one year older. Tyler and I wish we could do something more special for his birthday today but he's at work, working away like usual.

We are so lucky to have Ryan. He really does put himself aside and do what is best for his family. Ryan took his current job on a whim to make sure I can stay home with Tyler and he hasn't backed down one second since. Ryan's character has really come through in the past few months as he has made our dreams of buying a home come true and keeping me at home with Tyler. Things have been a little scary at times but he remains so positive (even if a little stressed or frustrated) Ryan becomes even more wonderful and attractive as his love for Tyler becomes more and more apparent.

I love how much Ryan loves his family too. He is so good to stay in touch with his parents and his Popa. I am grateful for the support that we get from Ryan's family too. We have SO much to be grateful for as we celebrate Ryan today. He really does get better with age ;)

We love you daddy! Hope you have a wonderful day.

Trunk-or-Treat!

Tonight was our ward Halloween party. It is affectionately referred to as "trunk-or-treat" because the kids get to go car to car instead of house to house.

Earlier in the day Tyler found his costume that I had sitting out and he was so excited he put it on his shoulders and started running around the house with his Batman shirt on. He has also been extra fascinated with shoes today...

We had our friends, the Blackwells, meet us at the festivities tonight. Jessica was dressed as a big Tigger and Tyler LOVED it! He seemed to think she was a big stuffed animal. He would cuddle up on her shoulder and give her a big squeeze.

We had fun seeing some great costumes...and some not so great ones. There was one kid dressed as Darth Mal (or however it's spelled) that kept scaring Tyler on purpose....punk! Tyler would fall down and cry and insist on being held. It was so sad.

After dinner, bounce-house, and carnival games we headed outside for the trunk-or-treating. Tyler mostly enjoyed the decorations but got into receiving candy part by the end of it all. We are so glad that Ryan could come join us after work to play and celebrate.

We're looking forward to tomorrow, the real thing (and daddy's birthday!!)

{we'll add pictures later. the internet is being lame}