OCD

Our little 2 year old has OCD (my personal diagnosis).  I thought I was bad but I realized this fact when I was having Tyler help with his birthday thank you notes.  We tried finger painting and that didn't work so well - he didn't want his hands to be that dirty...so we reverted to coloring.  We got out the crayons and he lined them up, natural right?  He would pick up several crayons at a time and color a line or two with each crayon, put it down in a new line and pick up the next one. Very orderly.  When he got finished with the 24 crayons, we would color a new thank you note.  OCD at its finest!  He has always lined up his cars, trucks and trains when playing, but the coloring really made me laugh.   

This is how he felt about finger painting.  I even tried with a brush but he was not interested.

Crayons lined up.  I love this photo with his crayons and chubby little fingers. :)

Diligently coloring.

He was happy to be coloring...not finger painting.

By the way...thank you notes are coming! :)



Let's Go Cards!

Come on Cardinals!  We would really love a win tonight! 

(The Braves could lose too to help us out!)

We have been singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" all night! 



Let's try this again...

"For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again." [Proverbs 24:16] Bible

While it has not been seven tries (nor do we claim to be righteous)...this is our 5th pregnancy.  Yep, I said it...we are pregnant again! 

So far, so good.  We are 16 weeks into it and I thought I had better share as I am getting a little bit of a baby bump...so exciting! 

Since our last miscarriage, we have been tested and tested some more.  I had 16 tubes of blood taken for various tests in ONE day!  After all the testing, the results came back totally normal.  There was nothing abnormal about us (in terms of being able to carry a healthy child to term...I know the jokes were going to start rolling.)  We got the green light to try again and getting pregnant was not an issue. 

I have had ultrasounds at 5 weeks, 7 weeks and 10 weeks so far to make sure everything looks great. I was also placed on hormones twice a day simply as a precaution for the first 14 weeks.  Those were not fun as morning sickness has already been a symptom of mine with past pregnancies, and the extra hormones didn't help the morning...afternoon...evening sickness.  It has gotten better the last few weeks and will hopefully all be worth it.  Thank goodness I work from home...in my sweats most mornings. :)

We wanted to wait to share the news until we felt we were over the 13 week hump and visited the doctor one more time.

Tyler doesn't quite understand the concept and when we asked him if he wants a brother or sister he simply says "no."  He loves babies, it is just a matter if he will love mommy and daddy having a baby and the baby getting some of the attention. 

Our due date is March 10th so say a little prayer (or a big one!) that this child stays healthy and blesses our lives as much as Tyler has in the last 2 years.

Tyler Jeffrey turns 2!

We were excited to celebrate Tyler's upcoming birthday on Sunday, September 11 with a party with family and friends.  I will let the photos tell the story. 

We didn't really have a "theme" but Tyler loves tractors so I had the Fudge Shoppe make him a tractor cake.  He loved it and asked for cake on Sunday morning for breakfast.  I was not near as much of a go-getter as I was for his 1st birthday party when I sent out fun photo invites, made the cake and cupcakes, etc.  This year it was evites and ordering a cake.  The cake was probably better this year anyway! :)

Tyler finally took a break from running around outside to eat some food.  See how he is sweating?

I made Tyler a little food bar of some of his own favorite foods: goldfish, M &Ms, pickles (yes, this kid LOVES pickles), fruit snacks, grapes and applesauce. 

Uncle Kyle and Tyler took a break from the chaos of the party to enjoy a little Toy Story 3.  Tyler has figured out not only how to turn on the TV but also how to start the Blue-Ray player, which usually has a Toy Story movie in it.  I have trouble figuring this stuff out at times so it amazes me that a 2 year old can do it.

Aunt Sandy helped him blow out his candle on his cake.  He was not really that excited about it.

Krista enjoys cake and ice cream. 

Grandma works hard to get Tyler to open presents. 

He didn't care either way for the presents and was happy mowing the sidewalk in the back yard.  Note: this is a toy he has had for over a year. 

With some help he does open some new books and loves them!

Uncle Kyle was getting impatient so he took it upon himself to open some presents. 

Aunt Sandy got Tyler to sit down and open a present she knew he would love.  She was correct as Tyler did love the new talking Buzz from GG. 

"See Buzz, Kyle?"

One of his favorite items of the day was the card that sang "You Gotta Friend in Me" from Toy Story.   Good idea Grandma!

The tiger stocking cap for those cool football games was a clapper at the party.  Good job Harms Family!

After opening presents, Tyler walked to his table for a pickle and some applesauce.  Gross combo if you ask me, but he enjoyed it. 

On his actual birthday, September 14, we went to the doctor for his 2 year check-up.  He is still in the 98th percentile for height, weight and head circumference.  Also, Dr. Rudloff was very impressed with not only the fact that he knows his ABCs but also the ability to recognize all his letters and know what sound they make.  I hope his love for learning continues for a very long time!

His birthday resulted in more presents! 

We have one lucky and loved little...okay, big boy!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Tyler Jeffrey! 

Bandana Bash

Last night we enjoyed a beautiful fall evening at Zick's Great Outdoors, my uncle's nursery.  The nursery had been transformed for the 3rd year into Bandana Bash, a Leukemia fundraising event with proceeds going to benefit Friends of Kids with Cancer and Leukemia 24-7, a non-profit organization that my cousin, Todd, founded before he lost his battle in February 2010.   http://www.bandana-bash.com/

It was a great evening/weekend to remember Todd with family and friends and raise money for those who are still battling the disease and for those who will in the future. 

Uncle Stu (who flew in from Utah for the weekend), Uncle Doug (Todd's dad), Grandma Zick, Grandpa Zick, Dad and Tyler (who didn't want to be left out of the picture).

My dad could not be more proud of his grandson.

Tyler was in heaven at the nursery running around, climbing and getting dirty.

Scoop up the rocks...

....and throw them on your lap.  Over and over and over again. 

We had a great meal, including chocolate cake.  Tyler left behind some evidence. :)

Onto one of Tyler's favorite activities, climbing.

He thought it was hilarious to grab my nose and say "honk"

Daddy took his shot with the new camera.  (Up until this point, he had been a bit intimidated by all the functions.)

I forgot to mention their were bands during the festivities and Tyler loves to break it down. 

This kid is so happy.  I am not sure how long his white man dance moves will continue to impress but it if fun to watch.   

Mizzou Football

We left Washington bright and early (7am) to head to Columbia for the first Mizzou football game of the season.  It was a HOT one!  We still enjoyed a fun tailgate.

Tyler chowing down. 

I am not sure if this one was of the cookies he helped himself to or grapes, goldfish, chips, ...We always have soooo much food. 

Tyler had another little Tiger fan at the tailgate this year.  Sam Freese was a happy tailgater.

Daddy and Tyler at a HOT game.  Grandma and Grandpa were constantly worrying about Tyler (hence Grandma's hand wiping away sweat).   

He was pretty content to play cars in the little shade we provided behind our seats. 

The ledge was perfect for cars.

We went back out to the tailgate at halftime and Tyler needed a nap.  An 11 o'clock kick off may not be the best time for Tyler to make it through the whole game.  I was actually pleased to stay out at the tailgate with him during the second half as there was a breeze outside the stadium. 



A trip to the John Deere store

Last week I headed over to the John Deere store to pick up some birthday gifts.  Shhhhh!  Tyler loves tractors!

As you can see, Tyler was on the trip with me however he could have cared less what I was doing.  Grandma was with us and she was supervising a different kind of shopping. 

No, he is not getting this for his birthday, although he and daddy would be in LOVE. 

"Vrrroooommmm!"

"I think Dad would like this one..."

He was so occupied with the big boy toys that he could have cared less what I was purchasing. 

One of many sure to come...

My Aunt Sandy dropped Tyler off at our house on Tuesday afternoon last week and before Tyler was even out of the car she said "I didn't do it.  It was your mom."  I wasn't sure what that meant until I saw Tyler's poor little nose.  It seems he tripped on the step going to the garage at my parent's house earlier that morning scraping his nose on the rug in the garage.  It really didn't seem to bother him much at all and my mom says his only real concern was wanting to push the [garage door] "button."  Pushing the "button" is his job when we are getting ready to leave the house.  It has been a great motivator to get him moving.  He will be sitting on the floor reading books or playing with his trains and I am trying to get out the door.   All I have to do is say "Tyler, I need you to push the button." and he come running.  Anyway, it seems this job got the best of him at Grandma's.  It isn't the first boo boo nor, I am sure, the last!

Jeff and I called him Rudolph for the rest of the night.  He didn't get it but we thought it was funny.  We are such mean parents. 

Like I said earlier he was not bothered by the boo boo at all and really wasn't aware it even existed.  He is sporting his Carhartt overalls Grandma got him.  Very little boyish, don't you think?  

Field Trip Friday with Uncle Kyle!

If you haven't heard, Kyle and Maggie are both back in Missouri!  Kyle and Maggie are living in St. Louis and Uncle Kyle works in the Washington area so we get to see them so much more!  We love it!  Maggie was in New Jersey for work for two weeks and I am pretty sure we saw Kyle every day.  The day we didn't see him, Tyler was asking for Uncle Kyle.   We were pretty excited to have Kyle home (and not yet working at his new job) on a Friday so he could join us for Field Trip Friday!  We did have to medicate Tyler before leaving for the day as his 2 year molars were coming in and without Advil, he was one crabby kid!  Kyle can attest you could tell when the Advil wore off...yikes!

We decided to head to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to see Todd's Tree and play in the Children's Garden.  When my cousin, Todd Zick, passed away in February of 2010, a tree was adopted in his honor.  We were on a mission to find out where it was.  I am glad Kyle and I did it together.  It was a nice Missouri summer day to spend together. 

Tyler enjoyed wandering around and the freedom to run.

Perfectly said.

Todd's Tree

Kyle and Todd's Tree.

Then it was on to the Children's Garden.

At this point Kyle took over the photo responsibilities.

Our walk to the Children's Garden had put this little man to sleep. 

I broke Parenting Rule 101 and woke him up to play!

We warmed up with the slide...

Then had a slight meltdown.  If this photo doesn't make you laugh (or at least smile) something is wrong with you.  Come on....it is funny!  I did regret for just a second waking him up.

Then he hit his stride and we had a blast. 

I think he looks so big right here!

This was supposed to be a drum stick but Tyler decided to use it as a microphone!

Belt it out, buddy!

We tried to swing on the tree vines like the big kids but didn't quite have the hang of it.

Tyler enjoyed a puppet show put on by a group of girls. 

When the girls were finished he followed them to the drinking fountain not having a care in the world for where Kyle and I were.  Chasing the girls...already!

After the gardens, we had lunch, or attempted to...at Ragazzi's on the Hill.  Needless to say this is right when Tyler's medicine wore off and eating was not his favorite activity with two 2-year molars coming in.  I am thankful to report 2 of the 4 are in and now, at least I know what to expect!

It was a blast to have Uncle Kyle join us for a Field Trip Friday.

We are delighted to have Kyle and Maggie much closer to home!