Tyler Turns 5

I like to have the kids' pictures taken on their birthday as a tradition. This year it was Tyler's actual birthday...so he's really just 5 in these pictures. :)

This is the montage for his birthday scrapbook

I couldn't resist this picture. Isn't he so handsome here?!
This one is for the wallKiddie Kandids now takes these facial shots. I liked how she put this montage together, so I bought it! We never really see Tyler looking so serious.
Last but not least...Lucy just didn't want to miss out on sitting on a block. I just think these two kids are so precious and I'm so proud of them. I love you Tyler & Lucy!

Tyler's Birthday Party

We celebrated Tyler's 5th birthday on August 15th (he called party day his real birthday). We invited EVERYONE and had a big water bash in the backyard. Tyler wanted a pinata (check), a slip 'n slide (check), and Ice Age 3 as a theme (check). I hope that he had a great day!

Lucy, Noah, Kyah, Quillan and Tyler Here comes trouble! Aden, Tyler, Lucas, and Noah

Ms. Goosey was enjoying the slip 'n slide

Tyler just HAD to have a pinata at his party. He gave it a good whack!

The whole gang (minus Quillan, Sammy, Hailey, Enrique, and Gabi): (top row) Sawyer, Sophia, Zaccary, Haley, Aria, Tyler, Lucas, and Aden (second row) Bailey, Greyson, Lucy, Kyah, Elena, Noah, and Dylan

Tyler's cake was AWESOME! Happy 5th Birthday Tyler!

Huggin' Cousins

My friend Bethany (Auntie Bea's Bakery) made Tyler's adorable cake and these cookie party favors. Love 'em!

Zach and I found this T-Rex skeleton at Toys 'R Us and, randomly enough, they had one set up at the T-Rex exhibit in Redding...but none for sale. Tyler was VERY disappointed that he couldn't buy one...so wasn't he surprised on his birthday when he got one.

Tyler got a Bumblebee costume from Sophia, Greyson, and Stella. I'm not sure that it was meant to go with a Snow White dress, though.

Happy 5th Birthday Tyler!

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Zach and I took Tyler's birthday off from work to spend the day with him and make him feel special. He woke up early (just like it was Christmas) and could hardly wait for Daddy and Lucy to wake up. I think he eventually woke them up so he could open his presents. After tearing through those we got dressed and went to get his 5 year old pictures taken. That was an experience...but the pictures turned out cute. Tyler then wanted to have lunch with the grandparents and he picked Chili's because he wanted their mac 'n cheese. It's Kraft...but so be it...he wanted that for lunch. Then he went to Grandpa Gary's house while Mommy & Daddy played softball. He got some special attention and got to watch Hotel for Dogs. I think all in all he had quite a special day.

Happy Birthday Bobo!

She sure does adore her brother

A T-Rex Named Sue

For Tyler's special birthday treat we took him to Redding, California to check out the special T-Rex exhibit. The "T-Rex Named Sue" exhibit was on loan to the Turtle Bay Exploratorium for a few months and we thought Tyler would REALLY enjoy seeing the most complete skeleton of a T-Rex. After seeing the exhibit I can't say if it was Tyler who was more excited or Zach.

There is sort of a six degrees of separation thing going on with this dinosaur. Zach's grandfather taught the paleontologists who found Sue. When we visited South Dakota for his funeral we met one of the men who found Sue and he gave Zach a behind-the-scenes tour of his museum and gave him the full story of finding this dinosaur. So, Zach was VERY fascinated and felt somehow connected to the story.

I must say that it was quite amazing to be in the presence of a T-Rex...even it was just bones. You can imagine that if that were alive and chasing you...you'd have no chance. It was just unreal to be in the presence of something so large and magnificent.

We weren't allowed to use the flash in the museum, so a lot of the pictures turned out blurry. Zach and Tyler were really stoked to see Sue.Lucy and I found a cool place to hide... We also saw an animal show at the museum. It was really neat. The birds were trained to fly to the trainers. This porcupine backed himself down the log. Tyler said it was his favorite part of the show.
At the end of the day we walked across the Sacramento River on the Sundial Bridge. It was beautiful and the bridge is really neat.

I just love these guys

We went through the museum one last time before we left for the day. We checked out the LEGO exhibit. It was amazing what some people had built out of LEGOs. The most amazing was a skeleton of a T-Rex. I was so nervous that the kids would touch it!

We really enjoyed our trip to Redding! Surprisingly enough. :)

The Princess and the Pee

Please don't call her Baby Goose anymore. She is now Big Girl Goose...according to Lucy.

Once upon a time there was a princess named Lucy. There was also a wicked mother that wanted her out of diapers NOW. So, while the mother was on a vacation she decided that she wanted the princess to wear her royal underwear with other princesses on them. The princess wanted to please her mother, so she tried and tried, but just couldn't get it right. Her mother (who wasn't really so wicked) decided that the princess could wear diapers again and that maybe she just wasn't ready for the royal underwear. But, once her mother put her back in the hideous diapers the princess decided that she wanted to sit on the royal throne all on her own. From that moment on she started telling her mother when she needed to go the bathroom and she started wearing her royal panties. It was a dream come true for the princess and her family. And that is the story of the Princess and the Pee.

Our Sleepover

We had our niece/cousin Quillan come over for a sleepover to celebrate her becoming a big sister. We thought it would be fun and make her feel special to have a night with her cousins. The evening began with Grandpa Gary and Grandma Barbara bringing Quillan over to our house and having a pizza dinner with us. The kids then put on these matching outfits from Auntie Judy and came outside for a photo shoot. Um...it is really hard to get three (hyper) kids to look at the camera. Tyler chose the wall as the backdrop, so we took a few cute photos of Tyler, Quillan, and Lucy.

Quillan was practicing her sisterly love on Lucy Jane
Tyler and Quillan really do have fun together

This was fun...they all ran down the hill together holding hands

(I won't post the picture where they all ate it!)

After the bath to wash off the grass stains, we pushed the couches together and got the kids ready for movie time. The original plan was to have the kids watch a movie, eat some popcorn, and then fall asleep on the couches so they could all sleep together. Um, even in an ideal world this might not have worked. The kids had fun watching Land Before Time, eating their popcorn, and being REALLY silly.

This was our "family" picture for the night

After the movie and the popcorn and the repeated attempts at bedtime we ended up putting Lucy to bed in her room and Tyler and Quillan to bed in Tyler's room. That worked for half the night, but then Quillan and Lucy ended up in our room. And I ended up on the floor! Then the kids woke up SUPER early...ready for another day together. Mom made breakfast while the kids played.

At some point the kids got bored with being Tyler, Lucy, and Quillan so they decided to be a T-Rex, Belle the fairy, and a Pig Who Could Fly. I haven't decided which group I like better...

I have always wanted to have three kids. This was a good test to find out what that would be like. As my stepmom used to say, "How does it feel to want?" Um...tiring.

Everleigh Renee

Everleigh Renee

July 29th, 2009

11:41 a.m.

8 pounds 5 ounces

19 1/2 inches long

Lucy thought she was "so cute"

Congratulations to Kara, Ryan, and big sister Quillan