Some Tye fun

We have truly enjoyed watching Tye grow and become more alert and aware of his surroundings. He is learning to do things that we take for granted and things that we don't even think about doing. For instance, blowing your nose...I don't remember learning to blowing my nose but I am sure I had to learn it at some point. Also, I don't remember my first painting experience but I am sure it was fun. Below, are recordings of these experiences for Tye. We are loving him more every day and and enjoying laughing with him as he grows.

Our trip to Fredericksburg

We had a great time in Fredericksburg last weekend. The guys got some work done on the house, and us women got some shopping done. We had a chance to stop in Luling for some finger-lickin' good BBQ, and shopping in San Marcos. Tye loved riding the tractor every day and going to see the baby goats and feed the ducks. We got him a little wagon to ride around in and he loved riding over the rocks in the driveway. Our almost 104 year old grandmother is doing great and she enjoyed a good game of domino's and loved spending a little time with baby T, if you can believe that! Here are a few pictures and videos from the weekend.

Giggle and Rock...

Here is a funny video of Tye trying to pick up a rocking toy. The "giggle" is kind of creepy, but the rock is pretty fun. Tye is not quite sure about it, as you will see, but if you have the jiggly arms, this will definitely help firm them up.



We are also recovering from more sickness around here, so we have been on quarantine for about a week now. Russ has had some bad allergies and Tye came down with Hand, Foot and Mouth Syndrome. For those of you with kids, it is a hideous rash over their entire body, but prominently on their hands, feet and in or around their mouth. He had a little bit of a fever, and has obviously been very uncomfortable. He is doing better today, but still very speckled and bumpy. Doc said it lasts about 7-10 days and is a virus that just has to run its course. In adults, it just appears as a cold. So, if any of your kids happen to get a rash, it is diagnosed by bumps/spots on the palms and soles of the feet. Other rashes and allergic reactions don't show up on those parts of the body apparently, so that is the quick diagnosis. Just an fyi for the future. Here is a picture.



We are heading up to Fredericksberg this weekend to visit Aunt Linda, Uncle Larry and my 103 year old Grandma Ethel. We will put up a new post when we get back next week.

Love to you all.
Bethany

Happy Birthday Grandmother, and other random happenings!

We celebrated Grandmother's birthday on Saturday, and Natalie's boyfriend, Andrew, was in for the occasion as well. Tye is feeling better and recovering from 2 mild ear infections last week. Of course, they only start to act sick or run a fever on a Friday, when they know the doctor's office will be closed on the weekend, so I probably reacted a little too quickly in taking him in, but with a weekend approaching, you never know. So he his is on an antibiotic, and they gave him a prescription decongestant. The bottle said that it may cause drowsiness, but not in my child! He did not nap for 2 days...needless to say, we are off that one! He is doing much better, though...but now I think he may be teething. I will let you know how that goes. Never a dull moment! Hope this blog finds you well. Here are a few photos to share.

Mom and Tye blowing out her candles.



Natalie and Andrew at Mom's birthday party before she left for Atlanta for a week.



Tye has always loved pulling glasses off of other peoples heads. He has finally accomplished the task of not only pulling them off other peoples heads, but successfully putting them on his head. Case and point with my Mom's pair.





Shane and Lindsay left for Indonesia last week. We miss them already, but we know that God has a great plan for their lives. For those of you who know them, please keep them in your prayers.



Here is Tye's new "hidey hole". For those of you whe do not know what a "hidey hole" is (eg. Russ)...it is a secret hiding place. In Tye's case, it is the corner behind the glider in his room. Unfortunately, as you can see...there are many cords and cables back there, and all he really wants to do is turn the switches on and off. We are working on putting together a new spot for him. He loves it back there though.



Love to you all...

Aaahh Vacation

It seems to be a trend in our blogging, that we are not very consistent. Well, I guess consistently being inconsistent makes us consistent. Whatever....It was a enjoyable Christmas and New Year with family and some time off of work. One not so fun aspect was that Bethany and Tye both got sick. Bethany got sick on Christmas day and then Tye got sick on that Friday. So a large part of the week between Christmas and New Year's was spent at home, which is not necessarily a bad thing. We had some good family time. We also got a few things done around the house like sealing the garage floor, and cleaning out the garage. Our Christmas decorations were limited this year because we never got around to getting all of them up. We got to spend New Year's eve with our friends Shane and Lindsay. It was a calm night for us after we set off a few fireworks at Tye's grandparent's house (don't worry, it is legal in Porter). Fireworks are fun no matter what time of year it is. Bethany also got to spend some time by ourselves in Austin. We left Tye with the Shaw Grandparents this past weekend and Bethany and Russ went to Austin. There is always good people watching in Austin. We had a great time staying at a B & B in town and just being tourists. It was very relaxing for us but always good to get back and see Baby T. Tye has become quite the avid ATV rider. Grandad has taught him how to push all of the buttons and he really enjoys riding on the trails behind his Grandparent's house. All in all we have been doing well over the last few weeks and are looking forward to a good year.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to our readers (whoever you are).

Whew...it has been a while!

I can't believe my last post was Tye's birthday party. There has been much water under the bridge since then...many wonderful Christmas parties, teas, and exchanges. It has been a wonderful Christmas season, and I have hardly had time to even think about decorating for Christmas. I will say that we did get Christmas lights up and our stockings hung, but time with family and friends has taken priority over decorating this year, and I am happier for it. Here are a few photos from the past few weeks.

Here are the cookies that Heidi (our friend that lives in Guatemala, but stayed with us last week with her husband, Matt and little Isaac) and I made. We actually won the presentation award. Thanks Paula Deen for the decorating ideas.



I then helped put on a Christmas Tea at our church. It was a wonderful time to get to know some of the women better and able to celebrate the birth of our Saviour, as well. It was fun transforming a school cafeteria into a Christmas Tea, and it worked.



The extent of our Christmas decorations this year...please excuse the toys below the beautifully decorated mantle. :)



Here is a picture of Tye noticing our nativity this morning. It was so cute...he has loved all the nativities at my parents house, mostly because they contain animals, which he is quite interested in these days. So, he got up on his tippiest of toes and as soon as he eyed the nativity, he made the "baa" noise for the sheep and the "ho" noise for the donkey. We found it quite adorable.



Just for fun...he loves the fridge farm, can you tell?!



You remember making tents when you were little...so we decided to give it a try with Tye last night...he found it quite entertaining, especially having Dad inside.



Love to you all and Merry Christmas!
Bethany

I am ONE!

I can't believe my baby is one today! Reminiscing about where we all were last year and how far we have all come is a bit overwhelming, yet puts an incredibly big smile on my face. We had Tye's birthday party last Saturday and all of Tye's buddies came over to celebrate...yes, all 7 of them under the age of 1 1/2, except Caleb's big sis, Ellie...she is 2 1/2. They had a great time of eating, playing and more playing. The kids are still at that great age when someone takes their toy, no problem...they just get another one. It makes for quite cooperative play. We have been so blessed with such wonderful friends and family. We are thankful for all of you. Here are a few pics from that special day.

Trust me...all 9 of them are actually in the picture. You have to look closely, because Travis (2nd one from the left fell behind Caleb on the end, but you can see his legs, and Josiah is being held by Kathy on the far right), but they are all there. So here they are from left to right...Caleb, Travis, Asher, Walt, Tye, Luke, Charley, Ellie, Josiah.



Yummy CAKE! So I thought...he actually was not too interested in it, so much for the cool, cake all over the place photo...we had to actually do it ourselves.



Here is our group photo...