Happy 1st Birthday Tyler!

I cannot believe a year has gone by...So much has happened in one year alone. It has been amazing to see all that Tyler has accomplished so far. What a blessing! Steve and I have enjoyed every single moment. I think the most wonderful thing about having Tyler is being able to experience a love like no other. Just the thought of Tyler puts a smile on my face and when I am at work or somewhere else, I can't wait until I see him.

We celebrated Tyler's birthday with family and close friends. We decided we could do a party wth his friends once he is older and can interact a little more with them. He had a couple of friends there, but for the most part it was an adult party. We had some food, we talked, we opened presents, and we had cake and ice cream. We allowed Tyler to have his own cake which Steve made. Steve was actually very excited about making Tyler's cake and even homemade the icing. It was pretty good!

When opening the presents, Tyler was not very interested at first (I think because he had his bottle) and then as more were opened, he got into it. He also had some helpers who enjoy opening presents a little more than he does right now. It was very sweet and I am sure Tyler appreciated it.

After opening the presents, Tyler got to eat his cake. We took his outfit off so it would not get messy, put him in his high chair, gave him his cake, and let him go at it. It was pretty funny and we probably let him have too much, but at least he enjoyed it.

We are very thankful for all the friends and family we have who are so supportive, caring, and always there for us. We are so blessed to have such love in our lives and we thank God everyday for it.

It was a great birthday and a great year...

Tyler with his mouth open waiting for food - so spoiled!

Tyler playing with Reese and Brooke

Tyler in his birthday outfit

Tyler with his bottle opening his presents with Reese and cousin Sarah Kate

The bows must be tasty

Tyler's birthday cake with a picture from when he was born

Tyler's very own birthday cake

I am pretty sure he enjoyed it...he is even clapping about the cake =)

Here are some pictures from when Tyler was first born...my precious baby....

I love you...

Happy First Halloween!

We could not wait for Tyler to wear his first Halloween costume! Since we have a puppy dog theme for his room, I decided to continue to go with the theme and get him a puppy dog costume. I think Steve was a little weary of it at first, but he was suckered in later which I will explain in a bit. Getting the costume turned out to be more of a task than I was planning. I ordered his costume and was so excited about getting it in. I ordered one that was for 12 months because that fits even though sizes vary by who makes it. So when it came in, I tried it on him and it was TOO SHORT! I could not believe it and I only had like a week or two to get a new one. I made Steve go with me immediately the next day to this Halloween place that only comes during Halloween time. We needed to get out costumes anyway too!

So we went to the Halloween store and fortunately they had the puppy dog outfit. I tried it Tyler in the dressing room to make sure it fit and it did - so relieved. Tyler pulled the curtain back and took one look at daddy and daddy was sold. He said "we are taking it!"

On Halloween, we decided to go to our church for the Kids Karnival. We met up with our friends the Hortons at the church so Tyler and Grace could experience it together. We realized it was mostly for older kids (older than our kids), because there were games for kids to play and candy they gave out. Tyler and Grace could not really play most of the games and they don't really eat candy either, but I think they had fun anyway. Tyler always enjoys watching other kids. I had to chase him around a little too. After the Karnival, we went back home and made it in time for a few trick-or-treaters. We still had lots of candy left over. It was definitely a good first Halloween!

I think a litte unsure about his oufit at first

Such a cutie...

Tyler and Mommy at the church

Tyler is super smart... The goal of this game

was to find the ducks with a smile on the

bottom and he was doing just that. You can see here he

is actually picking it up and looking for the

smile. He knew when he found what he was supposed to be looking for too.

Tyler with Grace

Tyler and Daddy

Gap Casting Call

Baby Gap had a casting call recently and I decided since my kid IS the cutest kid ever that it would be perfect to try and get him in the biz. The deal was that you could submit a picture or you could show up at one of their chosen Baby Gaps where they were taking professional pictures for you to submit. It was basically a picture taken by a professional on a white background. So I bought a ton of cute clothes for Tyler and luckily one of their select locations was here in Houston at the Galleria.

I think the time was at 11 so I show up around that time. Apparently, there are even more crazy parents than me! People were at the Galleria when it opened at 9 or whatever early time is was to get a number, which I did not know you could do. It was madness! We got in the you-dont-have-a-ticket-but-you-might-get-a picture line. After about 10 minutes of the craziness I decided it was not worth it and I would just take my own picture to submit.

Instead of taking my own, JCPenney always takes good pictures so I decided to go there. We got the pictures and they were adorable. I then realized that in order to own the online picture, you have to buy the CD. Technically it is theirs until you buy it. So....I then decided to take my own and here they are with Tyler sporting his Gap clothes...

Tyler is not a big hat person right now. If you put it on his head, it is taking it off which makes it a challenge to take pictures by myself

This is one of the pictures I ended up sending in

New Shoes

Here is Tyler when he was sporting his new shoes from Baby Gap. He looked like he was not sure what to do with them on and it took a little while for him to get used to them on his feet. They are more clunky than the socks he is used to wearing. With him wanting to walk around wherever we go, I figured it was time to have him wear shoes whenever we go out. I was not really into the having my kid wear shoes just look cute and complete his outfit. He is cute with shoes or no shoes. If he did not have to wear them, I was not going to make him put them on. So now that he needs to wear them, he looks even more stylish than he did before!

A little wobbly...

Showing of his new shoes...

The Backyard

I have not had Tyler in the backyard too much just because I was so worried about allergies and bugs and whatever else is out there. I started lightening up and let him explore one day. He had so much fun and really enjoyed playing with the grass. I felt bad that I had not let him play in the backyard that much before. Now I let him go out there much more and he is always ready to go out when I open the door to let Monty out. He even gets mad if I don't let him out when he is heading for the door and I close the door because I don't want him going outside at time. He is usually fine and won't whine if he just gets to walk around a little, so I usually let him go ahead and do that. Here are pics from his first exploration of the backyard...

I wonder what he is thinking...

Pumpkin Patch

My friend Mindi had the wonderful idea of taking the kids to a pumpkin patch. She was going to take her daughter Grace so that she and Lance could get some cute pictures and invited Tyler and I to go too. Steve had to work so he missed out...It was so much fun. We were not sure if they would have a good time because we thought it might be more entertaining for the older kids, but they did enjoy it and we did too just watching them. They were so adorable! Here are some of the photos...

These are the kids when we first arrived
Tyler enjoyed getting a ride more than Grace at first
Tyler was off and ready to explore the moment he got a chance
She thinks his tractor is sexy!
Tyler actually picked this pumpkin up by himself. It is on its way down in this picture.
Tyler the farmer and Grace the maiden

Tyler loved the goats!
Grace did not so much!

Tyler also loved the pumpkins! Awww!
Mommy and Tyler in the pumpkin patch
What a long and exciting day!