Saturday, November 5, 2011

Fun in the Fall

Hi, everyone!  We have been enjoying the fall weather, though it’s already starting to get pretty cold.

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Dylan is nearly ten months now, and at his last check up, he weighed 24 lb 3 oz & is nearly 30 inches in length.  He’s a big boy!  He is standing by himself for a minute or so at a time without holding onto anything, so he’s really mastering his balance.  He hasn’t tried taking steps yet, but I’m sure that will be coming soon.  He now says, “Mama,” “Dada,” and tries really hard to say “bye, bye.”  He waves, claps & laughs a lot.  And he’s got eight teeth now. 

Ariel has gotten quite tall, and she is very curious about everything.  She likes to perform too—always dancing, singing, & making people laugh.  We’ll be looking at a preschool near our house in a few weeks & will most likely enroll her for a few times a week starting in January instead of waiting until next fall.  We think she’ll enjoy being around other kids & participating in all the activities, especially during the cold winter months. 

We celebrated Angie’s 32nd birthday in October, and Ariel enjoyed singing “Happy Birthday” to her & helping her to open gifts.  And of course cake is always a bonus too!  Ariel loves birthday parties!  Angie had a lot of fun too.  She has been taking a college course in Psychology at the College of Western Idaho & is doing very well so far.  We are all very proud!

We went to Linder Farms again this year too, and Ariel really enjoyed the bouncy house, swings & petting zoo.  Dylan’s favorite part was the petting zoo—he loves animals!  The grandparents attended too, and it was great having them there to help out.

In addition, we went to see David’s Grandma Laurice at her book signing for her & her friend, Judy’s, newest children’s book at Hastings book store.  The kids had a great time playing with all the stuffed animals they have in the kids section. 

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We also got a chance to see Patrice & celebrated her 28th birthday during her visit last month.  Ariel sang to her as well & helped open gifts. 

Then, Ariel’s best friend, Livie, had her fourth birthday, so once again, Ariel was excited to help sing & open presents.  Livie was so sweet to let her help too.

And of course, Halloween was a big event last month.  We had family over for dinner to celebrate, and we all went with the kids to collect candy.  Ariel dressed up as a fire fighter this year, and Janeen made her coat for her.  Dylan was the fire dog. :)  It was a lot of fun!

We’ve also enjoyed playing in the leaves, taking nature walks, & just hanging out with family.  Here are some bonus photos:

Hope you are all doing well.  We are looking forward to Thanksgiving this month & preparing for Christmas as well. 

Lots of love,

Tammy, David, Ariel & Dylan

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Sunday, October 2, 2011

Our Trip to Iowa & Minnesota and more…

Hello, everyone! It is finally going to get cooler here this week, and we are really looking forward to the fall weather—finally! It won’t be long before all the holidays are upon us & then Dylan’s 1st birthday in January.

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Dylan is nearly 9 months now; he’s mastered crawling & is exploring all over the house. He’s constantly pulling himself up to a standing position whenever he can, so I’m sure he’ll be walking by his first birthday. He has seven teeth & more on the way, and he’s starting to babble a lot—discovering his little voice. No words yet though.

Ariel is having more fun interacting with Dylan now that he can crawl, but of course it also creates some possession issues when Dylan goes for her toys. And sometimes she thinks she can ride on his back too, so we constantly have to monitor the two of them!

Ariel’s gotten really great at climbing & throwing/catching a ball, so we will definitely be getting her into some kind of activity this winter—probably gymnastics. We plan to start her in preschool next fall.

And I forgot to post her ‘tree photos’ on the last post, so here they are—she’s getting so big!

David & I are doing well too. We celebrated our sixth year marriage anniversary on September 8. We get each other the traditional gifts every year, and this year the category was “iron,” so David got me a picture frame made out of iron from a cute little gift shop in downtown Cedar Falls, Iowa when we were there. And I got him a stepping stone for the garden with the yin & yang symbol since David always says we are like that—opposites that help to balance each other out. :)

We had a great time on our vacation & it was so nice to see everyone, but we were also very glad to get home because traveling with young children is challenging! We stayed with my Dad & stepmom while we were in Iowa, and we got to do lots of fun things. We visited my dad at his work site where he was building new homes & Ariel got to sit in a huge excavator, as well as see what Grampa Jim does everyday for work.

We went to a park, which was not a great choice since that park had been hit by a flood before (unbeknownst to us). And to make matters worse, when we sat down to have a picnic trying to make the best of the situation, we realized we were under a huge hornet nest! So we quickly exited the area & didn’t try to venture out to anymore parks while we were there! The weather was so humid, so it felt like we were wet all the time when we were outside.

We also went to a petting zoo, which was pretty crazy since they had caution tape nearly everywhere warning of animals that bite! Nevertheless, Ariel loved it & didn’t even realize the absurdity of it all. :)

We spent one afternoon shopping downtown & ate some delicious cupcakes, which of course Ariel enjoyed immensely.

We went to an awesome children’s museum (the Phelps Youth Pavilion) with my sister, Jackie, & her son, Xander.

We also visited the Imaginarium, a science museum, which we all really enjoyed.

And of course we spent time just visiting with family too. Dad made cinnamon rolls & let Ariel help, and she was so thrilled! She really loves baking. And he also made popcorn for us from his garden—Ariel thought that was neat too.

And I couldn’t leave Iowa without visiting my Grama’s grave; it was hard to go because I miss her so much & going to Iowa will never be the same without her there. Ang, I wish you could’ve been with me there. We have some of our best childhood memories with Grama, and those we will never forget.

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We rented a car to drive to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for my mom’s side of the family reunion & Granny’s birthday celebration. It was so nice to see everyone again & reconnect. The family had matching shirts made to go to Valleyfair, an amusement park we visited growing up every Labor Day weekend. Our shirts said, “Don’t Mess with Me—I’m with Granny,” as a tribute to Granny for her birthday. Going to Valleyfair as a parent was so different, but it was neat seeing Ariel get to experience the rides. David & I only rode one roller coaster. Hopefully we can go again when the kids are much older so it will be less stressful, but we still made a lot of fun memories.

We also went to the Mall of America while we were in MInnesota since our flight didn’t leave until 10 at night. Moma & Alan went with us, and even though it was a crazy with the kids, we still had fun. We went to the aquarium, which all of us enjoyed, and to the Lego Land store as well as a mirror maze.

We are looking forward to Angie’s birthday, Patrice’s visit, & Halloween this month. We’ll be sure to post more photos then. Love to you all!

Tammy, David, Ariel & Dylan

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Friday, August 19, 2011

Happy 3rd Birthday to Ariel!

Ariel turned three years old on August 3, and she couldn’t be prouder announcing to everyone that she is now ‘tee’ years old. :)  We made cupcakes on her birthday, and she got a special balloon at the store. 

We got her a new kitchen, and she was quite excited to help Daddy put it together. 

We also got Ariel’s photos taken at the mall, and they turned out great!  She wore a dress that  Nana (Janeen) made her.  She wore the same dress at her party, so you can see photos below.

We received several gifts in the mail for Ariel too, and she was thrilled to get packages & cards. 

The following Saturday, we had her birthday party at our house, and it was a lot of fun!  She told David & I we “did a good job” decorating for her party. :)  She had a Dora the Explorer theme.  Here are the photos:

David made a really cute birthday video for Ariel documenting the last year, but unfortunately the song he chose has copyright issues that can’t be posted on YouTube. 

All in all, we had a great time & can’t believe how quickly the time has gone! 

Ariel also had her first dentist appointment this month, and she was so proud to find out she has no cavities!  She was a bit nervous about the chair, so she sat on Daddy’s lap.

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Dylan is doing well too; he’s 7 months now & trying really hard to crawl but not quite there yet.  And he now has five teeth! 

Here are a few bonus photos from this month:

We are looking forward to our Iowa/Minnesota trip coming up soon & will have lots of photos to post when we return.  Hope you are all doing well! 

Lots of love,

Tammy, David, Ariel, and Dylan

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Saturday, July 30, 2011

Easter through July-How the Time Flies!

Wow!  It’s been awhile since we’ve updated our blog, so here’s our news…

Dylan has gotten so much bigger since the last post—he now weighs 21 lb 7oz & is 28.5 inches long!  He is in the 95% for both height & weight. He is six months now and just as happy as can be—he can roll over, sit up on his own, & he now has four teeth!  We started him on solid food too, and Ariel really enjoys helping to feed him & clean him up. 

Ariel is getting so big as well—she will be three in August.  She makes us laugh all the time with her inquisitiveness & sense of humor.  When I took the kids to the Nature Center, & we saw cotton falling from the sky from all the trees, Ariel pointed out that it could be from Nana’s cat, Cotton; and then after thinking for another moment, she said “Or Grandad Chris’s hair.”  Ha, ha! 

We’ve had so many celebrations since the last post.  We went to my parents’ house & to David’s grandparents’ home for two separate Easter celebrations.  Ariel enjoyed her Easter baskets & was definitely more into eating the candy rather than searching for eggs this year.  She also got a chance to meet the Easter bunny & even sat in his lap for a picture!  Here are some photos:

We celebrated our four year wedding anniversary on April 28; we enjoyed our dinner date, but we missed our regular trip to Hailey as Dylan is still nursing & too young to stay with the grandparents overnight.  We’re hoping to go next year.

We had curbing put in our yard earlier this summer, and we still have work to do, but it’s coming along.  Unfortunately, we lost one of our big trees in the front yard during a wind storm.  Ariel was quite mad at the wind or taking our tree! Here are some photos:

Nana Trish sent Dylan a sweater she knitted, and it’s so adorable.  Of course, by the time we got around to taking a photo, Dylan had gotten so big, so we had to squeeze him into it!  Now the bear Grandad Chris sent for him, which we named Harold Bear, wears it & sits atop Dylan’s dresser.                                             May 2011 036 May 2011 034

In May, we had Mother’s Day  and combination birthdays for Jordan & Grandad John at David’s Auntie Jill’s house.  Jordan got a new puppy, and Ariel really enjoyed seeing him play.  And I took my mom out to lunch & to a garden shop—we had Dylan with us, and he was good as gold! 

We also had a little birthday party for Zada, our cat, who turned 8.  It was Ariel’s idea, so we figured we’d let her do it.  She helped make cupcakes & wrapped a present & even invited her stuffed animals to join us!

In June, there was Father’s Day…  We went to Ann Morrison park & fed the geese & ducks, played near the fountain and at the park.  I ordered David a cute coffee mug with both the kids’ pictures on it.

We also celebrated Alan’s b-day in June.  We had a casual BBQ at our house, and Alan & David built Ariel a sandbox even though it was their Father’s Day celebration too.  She was so excited to get her very own sandbox!

We also celebrated David’s grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary in Mountain Home.  They have such a nice backyard, and Janeen and Jill did such a nice job decorating for the event.  

Now it’s July, and we’ve had both our moms’ b-days as well as a small 4th of July celebration with our friends Mark & Kendra & their kids.  Ariel always enjoys parties because she knows there is bound to be cake!  

We also took our annual trip to the cabin in Cascade with Janeen.  It was a lot of fun this year, and we met up with Jill, Laurice, Jordan & his little friend as well.  Ariel especially enjoyed playing at the lake, and I think Dylan enjoyed the new experience as well.

We are looking forward to Ariel’s b-day next week & our trip to Iowa/Minnesota later this summer. 

Hope you are all doing well & enjoying your summer (or winter for the New Zealanders!) 

Love to you all,

David, Tammy, Ariel & Dylan

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Saturday, April 16, 2011

Finding Our New Normal

Hi, everyone!

Wow!  Life with two children is quite the challenge, but we’re hanging in there & finding our new normal.  It’s pretty cool knowing our family is complete now.  Yes—two children are enough for us! :)

Both Ariel & Dylan are doing well.  Ariel amazes us every day with her language skills, potty training success, & little quirks that make her unique. 

Dylan is definitely a bigger baby than Ariel was.  At his two month check up, he was in the 90% for weight at 13lb 11oz, and in the 75% for length at 23.5 inches long!  He has started smiling & making “conversation” with coos & other cute little sounds.  He’s also starting to notice his hands & feet more and much more alert during waking hours.

We started his tree photos too like we did for Ariel, so here are the first few in the line up.  The next one will be at his first birthday.

 

The weather has been strange lately with nice days in the low 60’s & then snow/hail the next day.  It will be nice when we have the consistent warm weather & can get out of the house more. 

 

We had a visit from the Sands family--my Dad, stepmom, brother, sister & new nephew, Xander, for a few days in March.  It was great seeing them, and Ariel really enjoyed meeting her cousin.  Here are a few photos from their visit:

Patrice & Tom (David’s sister & her boyfriend) also visited last month.  It was nice catching up with them, and we can’t wait to be able to visit them in San Diego one day when the kids are older. ;)  Here are some photos from their visit:

We are looking forward to warmer weather, Easter & our anniversary this month.  Hope you’re all doing well!

 

Lots of love,

Tammy, David, Ariel & Dylan

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