Tyler's got rhythm

Not too much happening here. Dan and I went out on a date last night. We went out to dinner and then to see a 22 year old jazz singer, Rachel Price. She had a very rich voice and it was nice and relaxing being out! Some friends of ours watched Tyler for us, in exchange for us watching their son while they go out for their anniversary next month. Works for us! Next weekend we are heading up to Minnesota and will see the family. I'm sure I'll have some pictures from that trip. Now a couple pics, and a video!

Got together with some friends last weekend. All the husbands watched football while the wives sat around and chatted. Tyler is really into sucking his thumb now.

Tyler and his friend Kara.

A video of Tyler gettin' down

Vacation and birthday party pics!

Last week I went to create a post with pictures from our trip to Indiana. I created the whole thing and uploaded it to find out I uploaded it to our bible study blog instead of this one. It wouldn't let me copy and paste so I lost the whole thing. *sob* I boycotted Blogger for a week (even though it was my fault) and now I'm back to create a very large post with lots of pictures!

His birthday party went really well. We had absolutely beautiful weather so we put all the tables out on the deck (it holds more people than our house anyway). The kids ran around and played while Dan helped Tyler open gifts and then we dived into the cakes. If you don't know the background on the train cake, here it is: The train cake Tyler had was baked in the exact same cake pan that Dan's mom baked Dan's train cake for his first birthday! You will see a picture of Dan's birthday to see what I'm talking about. Anyway, once Tyler started eating the cake he seemed to enjoy it. He really didn't get too messy. It was a good party and Tyler is enjoying playing with all his gifts!

First, the trip to Indiana!

Uncle Brad and Tyler playing

Tyler with his friend Emma

Grandma holding Tyler

Megan's friend Kristin, with her daughter Audrey, came to visit us! We're so glad they didn't get the flu from us!

Nana and Boppa with Tyler

Birthday pics!!

Dan's first birthday with his train cake

Tyler with his train cake

A close up of the train

The RR Crossing cake I made to go with it

Tyler opening presents (notice how the kids gather round for that?)

Surrounded by gifts (also looking like he's having a serious conversation with dad)

"Hmmm...I'm not too sure about this cake stuff"

"I'll just take a little taste"

"Hey! It's not too bad!"

Practicing his walking with daddy

Happy 1st Birthday Tyler!

A year already! This morning I looked back over the year with Tyler, telling him all the things he has accomplished. Smiling, grabbing for toys, laughing, rolling over, sitting up, cutting teeth, crawling, and pulling himself up onto everything. So much in one year! We celebrated the day by recovering from the flu which means lots of sleeping and general fussiness. Dad decided to get the flu last night so he stayed home with us! Wasn't that nice of him? We didn't see too much of him though. Actually, we purposely stayed away! We're ready for this flu to leave the house! We'll be able to celebrate in a week at his party though. Hopefully we'll all be recovered. Tomorrow we go to the doctor for his one year checkup. I'm sure the flu hasn't helped with any weight gain. I know for me it's been a nice way to shed a few pounds.

And now, a year in review...

At the hospital

First month

Second Month

Third Month

Fourth Month

Fifth Month

Sixth Month

Seventh Month

Eighth Month

Ninth Month

Tenth Month

Eleventh Month

ONE YEAR!!

State Fair time!

Tyler and mommy are leaving for Indiana tomorrow so we had to update the blog because we have so many pictures and I'm sure we'll get a lot more in Indiana! Last weekend we went to the annual get together with Dan's mom's side of the family at Lake Panorama. It's always a fun time. Last year I was incredibly pregnant and very hot and swollen. Needless to say I was much more comfortable this year. Today we went to the Iowa State Fair. It is a HUGE deal in Iowa and it was our first time (even for Dan who has lived in Iowa 28 years!). The weather was great and the crowds were minimal so it was a good time. We had some yummy food and saw A LOT of animals. Tyler held up pretty well. We all crashed when we got home though.

Tyler and his friend Jude chilling (while mommy and her friend enjoyed cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory)

I got some cute baby butt pictures of Tyler but Dan wouldn't let me post them so I edited one a bit

Mommy put this silly hat on Tyler and took a lot of pictures. For some reason he didn't seem to mind the hat.

Tyler enjoying his cousin's toy room

This is how I'm going to pack Tyler for the trip. It will be so much easier for me.

State Fair pictures!

The chainsaw guy in phases...

What could it be??? Unfortunately, we had to leave before he was done so we have no idea!

Tyler relaxin' while watching the chainsaw guy

We started off our State Fair eating with a corn dog (forgot to take a picture)


Megan eating a salted nutroll (so yummy!) I was trying to smile in this picture but unfortunately some carmel stuck my lip to my teeth.

Then we moved on to a funnel cake topped with strawberries!

Then, who walks by while we're eating our funnel cake but George Stephanopoulos! In town for the Democratic debates. Sorry for the weird picture, people kept getting in my way. He's a tad overdressed for the fair. Probably wasn't heading for the swine barn.

Tyler petting a calf. The calf was so adorable!

Tyler saying, "bye bye!" to the Fair!

A video of Tyler walking behind his toy.

So many fun things going on!

Tyler has less than a month before he turns one. Incredible! It's been awhile since the last post so you will see some pictures from the 4th of July and from this past weekend. On the 4th we had a party at our house. We had a good number of people and it was fun hanging out and eating good food. Then that weekend we went to a surprise retirement party for Dan's relative. It was good to see his extended family and again there was good food! This past weekend we went to a hot air balloon show. It was fun to see all the different balloons and watch them take off. Of course Tyler had no idea what was going on. He just sat on the blanket and played with his toys.

Tyler is pulling up on everything now. He's quite a pro at it. He will also stand by himself for a few seconds. He can walk behind one of his toys too, he's just a little unsteady. I'm not ready for him to walk, I just got used to him crawling! We're still working on that darn sippy cup. He's just not interested right now.

The yummy dessert I made for the party

A family pic

Dan and our friend Nate discussing how the farm animal magnet works

Tyler up close

Tyler with Aunt Holly

Balloons getting ready for take off

Ballons in the sky

A very colorful balloon

There were some unusual balloons

Tyler hanging out (anything and everything goes in his mouth)

Tyler with mommy

Tyler with daddy