1 Year Later.....

This is the difference a year can make.....

MN or Bust

I have been counting down the days until we got to go back "home" to MN since we left in October. I really do LOVE Kentucky, but there is nothing like going home, especially for the holidays. I held off on telling Myles we were going to the farm until 2 days before we left.

Myles is ready to go to the farm!

I learned that even 2 days before we go is way to early to tell him. He decided he wanted to go on Thursday and couldn't figure out why we weren't leaving yet. He was in one foul mood which made packing even more difficult. Nat kept telling him that Papa and Nana live at the North Pole because it is so cold. :-). Which only seemed to confuse him more.
With our car packed to the brim and the weather calmed down, we left on Friday morning around 7am and got to the farm at about 9pm. We've found that driving straight through is easier than trying to stop and unload all the stuff needed for the night and then having to reload it all the next morning. Myles is a GREAT traveler. He just reads, talks, and watches movies to pass the time. Really there's very little complaining from Myles. He LOVES to watch movies and so rarely gets to that when we put a movie on he is in heaven. I think he could watch movies the entire trip if I let him. Ty on the other hand has NO desire to watch TV, in the car or at home. The drive definitely is more challenging for him. He just wants to get out of his seat and MOVE. The thing that is hard about making the drive in the winter is that the only exercise the kids can get is in the gas stations. In the summer we find a spot in the grass and throw a blanket down, but obviously this isn't an option in the winter. I REALLY look forward to Ty walking soon because it will make the stops SO much easier. I am hoping he will be walking by the time we go home. :-) The thing that made me laugh the most was how it slowly got colder as we got farther North and it got later in the night. By the time we made our last stop to fill up with gas, I thought Nat was going to pass out. He was NOT happy about how cold it was and was sure to tell me. Such a Southern boy. :-)
We made the trip in 14.5 hours and were greeted by Brian and Tracy. It is AMAZING how great it feels to be home. Mom has the house all decorated for Christmas and I am ready to begin our vacation. I always forget how much that drive takes out of me, from all the craziness of packing to the long day of trying to keep all three of my boys happy and entertained. Good thing I have my mom to take care of me now. :-) I will never tire of being around family. Let the fun begin!!

They look so happy during the first 5 minutes of the drive.

Myles loves to look through binoculars during our drive. How he doesn't get sick is beyond me.

Sunday Breakfast on the Farm

There are few things I enjoy more than spending time with my family. This Sunday we had some awesome fun just hanging out and eating an amazing breakfast. This is what I really miss when I am 800 miles away in Kentucky.
Ken and Jen are PROS at making good breakfasts. I pretty much just sat back, took pictures and enjoyed while they did all the work. They made Hoot Nanny Pancakes. I learned that there are many variations of the name, but it is something like that. Some call them Hooting Nanny or Hoot-n-Nanny...Either way it is an egg bake type of dish. A good day is sure to follow after eating a breakfast like this.

Myles and his buddy Kade.

Kade found the missing puzzle piece!

Jenny is the master chef.

Myles checking out the Hoot Nannies.

Myles and Tracy enjoying some bonding time.

Myles drinking is "wine".

Ken ready to eat.

This is what happens when you show a starving wrestler good food.

Working off all the good food with some wrestling.

Cookies

Here is a new cookie I make with Myles' help. I found it in Parents Magazine. I made it with peanut butter cookies, but you can do it with whatever you want. Myles had fun making them too. He would eat an M&M and put one on the cookie, eat one and put one on. I LOVE to get new cookie ideas especially ones that I can really get the kids involved in.

Elf Ty and Syrup

Some people look at their kids and say, "They are the most beautiful child ever". Nat and I DO think our kids are cute, but we are also pretty objective about our kids' looks too. Ty right now is in an awkward stage if you ask Nat and I. We call it the "Elf stage". For some reason Ty looks like a little elf to us. We don't think he is ugly by any means, he just looks goofy at times. I had to laugh out loud this week when my little elf got into the cabinet and pulled out the syrup. If you have ever seen the movie Elf with Will Ferrell, his character LOVES syrup or anything with sugar. Add Ty's jammies that morning and it just made me smile. So here is a picture of our little elf boy loving his syrup.

Comments

I had a few people tell me they were not able to post comments on the blog. With the help of Amanda I figured out what was wrong and it's now fixed. Comment away!!!!

Birthday Cake Fun

One big lesson that I learned while trying to get Ty to "enjoy" his 1st birthday party was that a 1st birthday party should be at about 10 am and not after church when it is past his bedtime. Our attempts to get Ty to eat his birthday cupcake were a complete disaster so we tried again the next night and had a little more success. Nat also reminded me that the entire 1st birthday business is for the parents and not for the kids because they remember nothing of it anyway. Lessons Learned. :-) Myles and I did have a blast making the cupcakes and birthday cake at least. I got the idea from bettycrocker.com. They even have some "how to" videos to follow. I LOVE the videos and probably watched it 15 times to make sure I was doing it all correctly. Even though Ty didn't really love his 1st birthday adventure, it was a good time for the rest of us with memories being made.He even took his first REAL steps. There were many thanks sent up to God after that happened. He has been getting a bit riskier ever since. Let's hope the real walking comes very soon.
Here are the videos of the birthday "fun". Just click the title and it will take you to the clips. Enjoy :-)

1st attempt at Birthday "fun".

2nd Attempt

Moments before his first steps.

Always my little helper.

A little quality control. Making sure the frosting is good enough to eat.

So proud of our cupcakes.

The finished product.

His face is priceless.

This is what happens when you try to make a kid enjoy a party and they are way past their bedtime. AWESOME!

Myles trying to show him how to eat it.

MMMM....Maybe it IS good.

FINALLY getting to eat a cupcake.

TASTY!!

Finally had some fun playing with the "grass".

Not so sure about it all.

Ready for a bath.

Yeah for 1st birthdays!

Happy Birthday Ty

Today is Ty's first birthday. What a year it has been for this little man. He has taken all the craziness in stride and is quite the trooper. I feel guilty for all the craziness he has been through already, but am so happy with where we are now that hopefully life will be a bit more uneventful from here on out. My good friend Adrienne's son calls Ty "Sweet Baby Ty" and I could not think of a better description of him. He IS my Sweet Baby Ty and I am SO VERY BLESSED to be his mom. 

Over the past year I have gotten to know this sweet little boy and have LOVED getting to know his personality. When he was born and the doctor told us it was a boy, I thought, "awesome I totally know how to raise a boy". In my head he was going to be just like Myles and therefore it would be a piece of cake. WRONG! Ty is about as different from his brother as possible. Ty is my little blonde boy who has been stubborn from the day he was born. I was a week late delivering him which should have been my first clue that he does things on HIS own time. He would not take a bottle until he was 6 months old and the only reason he did it then was because we forced him to by not giving him anything else. He wouldn't eat baby food of any kind. At 9 months he went straight to solids after we discovered he could liked brownies after he was reaching for one from Nat. That also was the first indication that he liked sugar. Ty can smell out sweets from a mile away. :-) Ty is such an easy little boy to put to sleep and has been a good sleeper from about 9 months on. He MUST be in bed by 7:30 or he will be a terror, but he is up by 7:30 am and is as sweet as can be. He just took his first steps on Saturday and we are hoping that the real walking comes VERY soon. Ty is not one to cuddle much because he usually wants to be moving, so when we get cuddle time, we take it!

I am hoping that the next year goes by a little bit slower, but I am guessing it won't so I will just try to savor the little moments with him and look back at my blog to remember all the fun things we experienced. Here is a look at Ty's first year of life.

Almost here!!

First family photo

Hours Old

1 Month

2 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 months

9.5 Months

10 Months

11 Months

1 Year Old!!!!!

Good Bye baby- Hello Toddler