4 Months

This post is 2 weeks late... but we left for vacation on Tyler's "birthday" so I have a good excuse!  This month Tyler is even more alert and vocal then he has been.  He occasionally rolls from his back to his side, and he is doing really well with lifting his head during tummy time.  Also, while laying on his back he will sometimes plant his heels and arch his back and end up scooting around in a circle doing that.

He is spending a little time in the bumpo seat and has checked out the excersaucer, with a blanket wrapped around him to help keep his balance.

Tyler doesn't really trust the camera yet, so it's hard to get a great picture.  I usually turn the flash off because otherwise he gets a deer-in-the-headlights expression!  He has the flirtiest smile though!  He pulls his hands up towards his face, tucks his chin to his shoulder, and beams!  It's the cutest thing!

He is the sweetest little thing and adores his big brother.  Tyler definitely recognizes what his bottle is now too.  He sucks his thumb when he's hungry and fusses a little.  When he sees the bottle approaching he gets animated, wiggling and moving his arms and legs around excitedly.  He is starting to put his hands on the bottle in an attempt to hold it. Tim can't wait for this; I hate this first sign of independence though!  While Tim was feeding him last week Tyler managed to palm the bottle and support it on his own briefly, his hands are huge!  At his 4 month appointment we found out that he is 27" long (90 something %) and 17 pounds (79th percentile, down from being in the 90 something % at his 2 month, so that's good!)

Bobby and Valeria's Visit

My Uncle Bobby stayed with my parents for most of August while going through some training in DC and his wife, Valeria, came the last week he was here.  It was really nice to have some extra family around, and Valeria especially enjoyed playing with Timmy and Tyler.  She is so energetic and spent lots of time with Timmy outside, and she would let him play catch and wrestle and eat ears and play with the whoopee cushion too, so he pretty much thinks she's perfect!  She had plenty of time for Tyler too, cuddling with him and singing to him.

So much to catch up on!

We have had a busy week and I have so much blogging to do, including Tyler's 4 month post, OBX 2011, Sami's Wedding, and Timmy's 1st Day of Preschool this year.  Yes, besides Tyler's 4 month post, that's all from the last week!  But, these little videos of my cuties this past Monday will speak for themselves, so please enjoy them for now, until I can get caught up!

38 Months - Q, U, X, and Y

More catching up to do on my blog, Timmy turned 38 months the day after I turned 30.  I just tackled a sweet little photo project, an "All about Me, ABC Book" for Timmy and got some great new pictures of him out of it.  I had photos, spanning his long 3 years, that covered all the letters except for Q, U, X, and Y.  Mom helped out on my project by having him play with a bunch of Quarters, make a Yellow finger painting, and buying him a Xylophone and Umbrella, and we had a mini photo shoot with each new item.

Q is for Quarters

U is for Umbrella

These are my favorite of the bunch, and the last one makes me think of Christoper Robin for some reason.

X is for Xylophone

And Y is for Yellow

As far as recent accomplishments go, he just continues to amaze me with how sweet he is and what a great big brother he is.  His story telling capabilities have been making big strides, both in recounting what he's done during the day and in making up stories.  He is also starting to read his name everywhere, and to notice letters from his name and from Tyler's name on street signs, etc.  Last week we discovered, after asking him to draw his Aunt Becky a picture the night she was leaving for college, that he can write his name!  Mom had been working on it with him, but she was surprised that he wrote it all on his own as well.  Since then, we have had him write it for us lots of times on his chalk board, and I've also noticed that he's done it with both his right and left hands!

Oh, he's also learned how to do somersaults finally!  I will try to get a video of that soon!

30

This post is now several weeks late, but turning 30 was kind of a big deal to me, so I thought I should still write about it!  The best part of this birthday was definitely the presents... Tim got me a dual shower head for our bathroom, which I have been asking for for about a year now, and it was such a nice surprise to wake up and find it already installed on my birthday morning!  My parents and Joe spoiled me with a new point-and-shoot camera and gigantic memory stick.  I have been mostly using my SLR these days, especially around the house and for big family events, but back on Timmy's birthday, I pulled my point-and-shoot out of my purse at the aquarium, only to discover that it would not turn on.  (Hence the grainy cell phone pictures in that post!) I thought I could live without one, until all the weddings we attended this summer.  I kept borrowing my mom's camera, but then I would forget to give it back to her and she missed out on pictures of a couple things she took the boys to, so I finally realized I needed a new one.  Tim bought himself a new toy, that I will be posting about soon, and when he ordered it I asked him to start researching a camera so I could have a new toy too.  I then spent that day, which happened to be my birthday, researching them myself and was then shocked to open one from my parents that evening, it was such a great surprise!  I ended up getting this one and have only just started learning how to use it, but the best two features are that it is waterproof and it takes panoramic pictures!  I am sure that I will have LOTS of examples of both next week when we get back from the beach!

After opening presents on my birthday, my parents, Joe, Uncle Bobby, Tim, the boys and I went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory for a yummy dinner.  That weekend Tim and I met up with our friends at Clyde's at Reston Town Center for a rare night out at a bar!  It was really nice to see everyone, and I especially enjoyed spending some time with my birthday twin, Sami, who is about to get married and has been busier then usual lately!

That evening someone asked me how I felt about turning thirty, I really was fine with it, but I did have to admit to having a little panic attack in the morning when I first signed into facebook and saw my brand new profile picture:

The rushed thoughts, "Ohmigosh, I'm 30, I'm a family of 4, my life is 1/3 over!" briefly ran through my mind, but then I was okay with it, because I am very happy with where I am in my life!  Joe very nicely responded, "Panicked? You're winning at being 30, you are married with great kids and a job you love!"  Which made me feel very good, and I know to be very true!  I am so blessed!

Photo Shoot

Last weekend we went to a birthday party for Tim's Step-Grandmother.  It was really nice to visit with everyone, and we had the opportunity to get some great pictures, as one of the guests brought a backdrop and his fancy photo set up with him!  I was SO glad that I had brought my DSLR to the party as well, I poached on all of his shots and set up some of my own while he was busy.

Anne Marie's Wedding

I had a WONDERFUL weekend!  Tim and I traveled to Williamsburg for my friend Anne Marie's Wedding.  This was a fantastic event for several reasons.  Firstly, I am SOOO happy for Anne Marie!  She came into our lives as a random roommate for my friends Brittany and Natalie, but became a true friend so quickly, and eventually I got to live with her for a year also.  She is so fun and silly and wonderful to talk to.

AM always had boys interested in her and would frequently go on dates, but there was never really anyone that she was interested in, so I never knew her with a boyfriend.  Last summer, her best friend was getting a pedicure and started chatting to the complete stranger sitting next to her.  By the end of the pedicure, she had given the stranger Anne Marie's phone number to give to her brother-in-law!  AM begrudgingly agreed to go on the blind date, AND NOW THEY ARE MARRIED!!!  I'll be honest, I felt a little weird about AM getting married... it seemed fast, and I had not gotten to meet this guy and make sure he was good enough for her.  ;)  But as AM came through the church doors, looking STUNNING, the prettiest part about her was her gigantic smile!  Speaking with her friends who have gotten to know Jeff and see them together, it sounds like he is the absolute perfect match for her and I cannot wait to get to know Jeff better, starting at the next wedding we are both attending in September!

The other reason the weekend was so wonderful, is that I got to see all of my girls from college, all at once, for the first time in 22 months! I hadn't seen Brittany at all in 9 months so it was especially great to see her.  It was also fun because we are all (practically) married now, with Sami and Miller being that September wedding I just mentioned!  It just really did my heart good to get to spend time with everyone, I feel recharged.  There is talk of us planning fake weddings in the future, because they are the perfect excuse that actually gets us all together!

Feeling sentimental this morning, so I've gone back to pull some other group pictures of us girls, college was amazing!  :)  I am so happy for all of us and where we are in our individual lives now, and so thankful that we are still in each others lives!

Two weekends ago we went to Sami and Miller's Engagement party.  Natalie, Sarah and I had the chance to pose with our kids, ages 3.2, 2.2, 1.25, .25 and -.2!  Natalie is due with a daughter in early October!  Can't wait to see who is next and where we all go from here!