Picasso in the making!

Once a day we have ‘art time’. Tyler gets to pick what color construction paper he wants to use and what he wants to color with. We started off using crayons, markers and even chalk, which showed up the best on black paper! I thought he would have fun with water paint, so we got him some the other day. He loves it! Now it's all he wants to use. After he's done coloring I'll ask him who he wants to send his creation to, then we walk down to the mailbox and he mails the letter himself. So aunts, uncles, and grannies watch your mailboxes for your very own Tyler original!



He wears one of my old t-shirts to paint in.


First get your brush wet...

...then dip it in the paint...

...and finally onto the paper!

Admiring his work!

Then he decided to try finger painting!

Photo Tagged

For this tag you find the 5th folder in your pictures, pick the 5th picture in that folder and blog about it. This was taken last Christmas and it's my favorite one from that day! My mom got Tyler that Santa suit and he hated it when Matt first got him dressed. But after objecting for a few minutes he forgot he disliked it and wore it all morning. We had both our families in town for the holidays (which is why there are so many presents under the tree) and Tyler handed out every single present. It made present opening take twice as long, but what else do you have to do on Christmas? He thought it was the greatest game ever! I can't believe it's almost time for Christmas again! Time really does go by faster when you have kids!

I tag Lechelle, Christine, Brooke B., Diana & Brooke S.

Bath time fun!

My boys love bath time! This is the easiest place to take pictures of Tyler because he can't run away!

It's a start.

My cousin’s wife Jen takes amazing pictures of their daughter, Khylind (you can see for yourself at khylind.blogspot.com). It’s inspired me to learn how to use the different settings on my camera. I’ve started practicing with black and white, and sepia. Compared to Jen I have a long way to go, but for now here are a couple of my favorites.

Riley's belly button.

Riley has always had an outie, as you can see:

Then by mid-September it morphed into this:





It's like his outie is now filled with air. You can push it down and it looks normal again (normal meaning like it did in the first set of pictures) until he moves, then it expands again. Tyler doesn't have an outie, so this is new territory for me. Has anyone else experienced this with their kids, or even seen anything like this before? It doesn't seem to hurt him, even when you push on it. His next doctor appointment isn't until November 3, so I have to wait until then to see what the doctor thinks. I was just curious to see if any other moms knew before then! Matt's worried that it's going to look like this permanently! It would definitetly make him unique!

My boys...

...couldn't be cuter!!!


Matt and his two mini-me's!

Missing Matt's family...

I have been blessed with great in-laws. I have no mother-in-law horror stories, and I have the best sister-in-laws anyone could ask for! My only regret is that they don't live closer to us. Matt's mom, Deb, lives in St. George, Marci is doing her thing in New York, and Mel is finishing school in Ft. Lauderdale. When we do get to see them Tyler has a blast! Marci and Mel both have small dogs that Tyler can't get enough of. He thinks it's so fun to feed Mel's dog, Georgio, his food one piece at a time. Georgio is a good sport and plays along, much to Tyler's delight! They were all here for Riley's blessing which really meant a lot to us! We love you guys, and can't wait to see you again!

The Boyce girls.

The entire Boyce family and Pam.

Marci with Riley...

...and Tyler.

Tyler and Mel

Together at Christmas.


Celebrating Matt's birthday.

My little book worm!

Tyler loves books! Usually he wants to be read to, but lately he's been 'reading' to himself. When I put him down for his nap he spends anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour reading his books before he falls asleep. Good news for me because he still sleeps for 2 hours! The books he has memorized he'll read to Riley, it's too cute!








For the record, he has no pants on because we are still potty training and he only seems to remember to use the potty when he's half naked! Hopefully he'll be fully potty trained soon so he can go back to being fully clothed!

The Long's Farewell

Sadly we had to say good-bye to our friends, the Longs, who moved to Utah this week. We’ve had a lot of fun with them over the past 3 years. Jody and I were pregnant with Tyler and Campbell together, and even had the same due date! The boys ended up being 2 weeks apart when Tyler came a week early and Campbell a week late (much to Jody’s dismay!). The boys have become good friends and love playing together! Tyler is really going to miss Campbell each Sunday in nursery! You can see for yourself how much they have changed over the past 2 ½ years!

May '06 - I think this was our first get together after the boys were born.

March '07 - The boys on Tyler's first birthday.

Summer '07 - Fun at the beach!

Summer '08 - We spent most of our time at the pool!

Last weekend we had a going away party for them. Here are the pics...

Jodi and Sarah

Lyndsey and Riley

Lyndsey, Jody, Diana, Laura, Joan, Brooke, Me and Caleb

Me, Jody and Manda

Shilo & Baby Shilo, Jennifer & Emily, Me & Riley. We like to be pregnant in groups around here!

Me, Maribelle and Tyler

Me with Joel, Tyler and Maribelle.

Campbell and Tyler

He's all wet because he was playing in the water fountain with Joel!

Proud daddy's!

Yes, he get's most of the burping duties!

Susie & Ryan, Mark & Jody

Tyler saying good-bye to Maribelle...


...and Campbell!

The Shilo's and the Long children.

Mark and Matt

Tyler, Mark and Maribelle

We are really going to miss you guys! Good luck in Utah!