Our Life Lately...

Time flies when you've got a little guy who gets into EVERYTHING. November was pretty dull for us. No trips or craziness. Some highlights were Thanksgiving and Ty learning how to crawl.

Thanksgiving was fun! Matt had 5 days off that week so of course we took advantage of that and had lots of family time. I actually cooked a turkey with all the fixings and it turned out AMAZING. Per Grammy's request we took a picture of Ty with a drumstick.

Though he didn't eat that part of the turkey he did eat some and he was a big fan.

This time of year made us very aware of how blessed we really are. We thought about what a miracle Ty is and how lucky we are to have him in our family. He brings so much joy into our lives and those around us. Matt and I couldn't help but reflect on how empty and self-centered our lives were before Ty came into the picture and we can honestly say that he has been the best thing that has happened to us. We love being parents and feel very honored to have been blessed with such a happy and loving little guy.

 Ty is getting bigger all the time! He learns new things constantly. It's getting so hard to keep up with him.

He loves the dials and buttons on mommy's record player.

He likes to help mommy load and empty the dishwasher.

It amazes me how quick he is. As I was writing this I look over and he was attempting to crawl onto the elliptical. He's such a munchkin, but I love him. A couple new things besides crawling are that he's learned how to wave, he has started thrashing in your arms when he wants to grab something or be down on the ground, I swear he can almost say doggie, he's officially had his first of quite a few tantrums, he loves Christmas music, he makes silly faces at mommy all the time, we're pretty sure he wants to be a dog cause he loves trying to get into Gracie's food and water, and he loves standing in his crib.

When he first started standing in his crib at nap time we would go in and lay him on his back and tell him, no no, it's naptime. This didn't seem to be working as he would laugh at us and promptly flip over to get on his knees so he could pull himself up again. So now we just put him down and let him stay in his bed until he falls asleep or it's been an hour.

We have a video baby monitor and it's been really fun to be able to see what he does. However, we didn't place it high enough on the wall so there were several times when he would be really quiet and when I looked over at the monitor I would see little hands slowly moving towards the camera trying to pull it off the wall. But because we can see what he's been doing we often times see him falling asleep. These are a few of the pics we've taken. Don't worry, we fixed him afterwards.

We love our little munch (as we call him, it's short for munchkin). We still don't have a tree and secretly I'm grateful. I keep telling Matt that we should get just a table top tree so I don't have to worry about him getting into it and pulling it down on himself or something. I'm not really winning that battle... oh well. Hope this Christmas season is treating you well. We love you all!

It's Autumn Time! It's Autumn Time!

It's fall and we have had so much fun! We went to a pumpkin patch and Daddy pushed Ty around in our wheelbarrow. Ty thought that was super cool.

Ty with our pumpkins

Daddy and Ty.

So I got a pedicure with a friend the other day...tell me what you think.

It's called a fish pedicure. The fish nibble off the dead skin. As you can see by the first picture I was pretty terrified at first. If Leila hadn't been there having one with me I probably would've chickened out. But the fishes actually worked, my feet were a lot smoother and they felt relaxed. So if you have the opportunity get a fish pedicure!

Ty's first Halloween has come and gone. We almost didn't get a costume together for Ty in time but we did last minute and we are so proud of it. Presenting...Mr. T from the A-Team! So many people wanted to get pictures of Ty while we were trick or treating, it made us feel so proud.

I can't wait to have some more firsts with Ty! We're already gearing up for Christmas, can't wait to get a tree and decorate...on second thought keeping Ty from pulling off all the ornaments is going to be challenging. Uh oh. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. :)

Ty is Big

Ty is eight months old! Our little man is finally scooting!!! He does an army crawl, lies on his stomach and pulls with his hands and pushes with one leg. It's super cute! He says "dada", sometimes waves (usually with both hands), loves when Mommy reads "Bert and Ernie's First Book of Opposites". He can even point to Ernie or Bert when I ask him where each one is in the pictures. He loves pointing at things and just looking at his pointer finger. He is sooo ticklish and his laugh is so infectious we can't help but laugh with him. Ty enjoys talking on the phone or rather listening to people talk to him on the phone and breathing heavily through his mouth. Sometimes we can get him to say hi, "haa". It's one of my favorite things.

Cords are irresistible to him. If he sees one he has to suck on it, pull it or munch on it. He is still toothless and seems to be quite content to be so for awhile. He sometimes gums on rice cakes, wheat toast, gold fish or Kix. He likes when we sing "The Wheels on the Bus", Pat a Cake, and his favorite song to listen to is "Tapioca" from "Thoroughly Modern Millie", he loves those musicals, what can I say. :) He makes faces at us to get us to laugh, he is very expressive. He may look like his Daddy but he definitely has his Mommy's personality. As far as I'm concerned I have the cutest, smileyest, smartest, most loving and bestest baby in the world. We love having him in our lives and are so excited to be a part of all of his new accomplishments.

Laughing cause he sees himself.

Cute goofy face

Loving being in the big chair.

He can hold himself up and pull himself up to standing!

I guess he's trying to do a spell or something. :)

He loves leaning back and being goofy.

Cutest monkey I ever saw.

Watching Baby Geniuses and playing along.

Yes he is watching it so intently that his mouth is open. I tried to distract him but he was focused.

He loves looking at himself.

First time holding a bowling ball.

Playing with his balloon palm tree with a monkey. He loves balloons.

Ty with Sparky or Daddy?

Doesn't he look way too old?

Loves wearing Daddy's baseball hats.

He's having a ball and Gracie is terrified. Yes we were cracking up laughing. :)

Our First Visitors!

We had our first visitors! Cassie and Kevin Wilson visited us the first week of October. They happened to come during record high temperatures and beautiful sunny weather. The average temperature was 75 degrees while they were here. It was amazing! Ty loved getting to spend quality time with his aunt and uncle. They really seemed to enjoy Ty as well. After they got acclimated to the time difference for a couple days we went on a real adventure. We decided to drive to Dover and see the white cliffs, the Dover castle and World War II bunkers, and try to see France.

It was a gorgeous day! We started the few hour drive and on our way we passed by a sign for Leeds Castle and once again we all decided to be spontaneous and go for it. Plus it was Cassie's special wish that she get to see some castles. So we drove up to the car park and we didn't see the castle. Very strange...so we bought our rather expensive tickets and started on the walk towards the alleged castle. As we were walking we couldn't stop commenting on how beautiful the grounds were. There was a forest of Weeping Willows, lots of ducks, a pond, black swans, white swans, trails and just natural beauty all around.

A black swan.

Matty and Kevin were our photographers.

Prehistoric plants. They were HUGE!!! And they had these weird roots that were above ground. I felt like I was at Jurassic Park.

Then we finally saw the castle and it was the most beautiful castle we had seen. Once we got inside there were so many rooms to tour and so many interesting facts. I am in awe that we got to go through rooms that Henry VIII and his court lived in. It's so cool to look down at the stone floor and see how worn it is and imagine who's feet have walked these very halls and what they were wearing. I love having this experience to live among building with such rich histories.

The super cool thing about this castle was that it was never ending. When we first bought our ticket I couldn't help but cringe but as the day went on it felt totally worth it. Especially since they are good for a year. So we walked through the amazing grounds then we toured the castle and by that time we were starved so we ate lunch at their restaurant that actually had decent food. Also it had outdoor seating that gave you a perfect view of the castle while you ate. Then we went to their DOG COLLAR MUSEUM!! Yes I am laughing as I am writing this. It was SOOOO bizarre. The dog collars were kinda cool (like the Carousel of Progress is at Disney World). But the funniest thing was they had all these collars in cases with little cards that told you interesting facts about them and then they had these 2 dog collars outside of a case and all they had were braille panels next to them. So yea I have no idea what their story was. Weird!!

After the museum we went through the formal garden and then their aviary. They had a really great collection of birds. We saw Macaws, parrots, cranes, lots of birds that I have do idea what their names were and TOUCANS. A man fed one a piece of an apple and it was so fun watching him try to get the fruit and then to eat it. He was so cute! Then we went on to their hedge maze. It was so fun to try to find your way through. We finally had to get a tip from the maze expert helper. Once you get through the maze you go to a tower in the center and then down through a cave called "the grotto" to get out. It was kinda creepy, if someone had popped out I probably would've passed out.

By this time we had seen everything and we were pooped so we rode their "train" (a tram that looks like a train) back to the car park. Then we headed on to Dover.

We finally saw the beautiful castle. Stunning.

The shades didn't stay on for long.

It had a moat!

Under the gate, Matty thought it was the coolest thing!

Can you believe they actually have castles like this?

Don't ask. Just being silly. :)

Suit of armor obviously Matt's pic.

The queen's bedroom, it's just for show. She would receive guests here to show off her wealth. But, she would sleep in a normal bed. Does not make sense to me.

Cool Fireplace.

In the castle's chapel. Henry VIII had it taken out but they restored it to what it would've been.

Gorgeous view from the Castle.

How adorable is that?

My boys.

Family pic in front of the castle.

Ty's first real experience getting a shoulder ride on daddy. He LOVED it!!!

The castle had a hedge maze and it was so confusing but super fun to get lost in. Luckily they have helpers that are there in case you have a meltdown.

The maze and all the pastoral views from the tower in the center of the maze.

You can't tell because of my flash but we're in a dark cave called "the grotto" that has all these creepy people carved out and lighted. This is a giant face with red eyes and mouth. You have to go through "the grotto" to exit the maze. 

On the "train" ride to the exit. We're too pooped to walk all the way back.

He likes trains.

When we finally got to Dover after a really long wrong turn loop through a random city the castle was already closed to visitors. (Everything closes by 3:30 or 4pm here) But we were still able to drive pretty close to it and get some pictures. As you can see Dover castle is totally a fortress. Not so much a pretty leisure castle like Leeds Castle. Then we drove to the white cliffs national park. We could've spent the whole day just at that park! It was huge and beautiful with great trails along the cliffs. Cassie and Kevin did their own thing while Matt and I explored. We found a cave which we were quite sure they used as a make shift bunker during WWII. After seeing the cave I got a little bunker obsessed and thought I saw one up above us and I swore there was a pathway that would lead us there. So Matt carried Ty in one arm and literally climbed the cliff face to get us there. Turns out it wasn't a bunker (sorry) but just a who knows what thing. By this time we figured Cassie and Kevin would probably be worried about us so we started trying to find our way back just going a different way. We weren't going to try to go down that cow trail we'd climbed up. So after getting a little lost we found them and we started on our journey home.

Though I don't have any pics it wasn't really the end of our adventure. We stopped by Canterbury on the way back. Yes, Canterbury from The Canterbury Tales. We even saw the Cathedral, which was so majestic and ginormous! We were just going to drive through until we saw what we thought was some type of church that had people walking in and out all the time. We parked and decided to check it out. Come to find out it was a private college and the security guards said we couldn't go in. AKWARD!! But let me tell you I wish that was my school! It was all medieval and stone and old. Then we had to walk a ways to get to the Cathedral but it was worth it. It's all walled in and has gates that you have to go through. They were doing construction and there was a part that would've been so easy to climb in and explore but there were other people around. Too bad.  I really wanted to do it but at the same time it looked pretty creepy. After that we actually called it a day and went home.

Dover castle.

Sucking on mommy's face.

On the white cliffs of Dover.

Family shot.

It was breathtaking.

A ferry leaving the harbor headed to Calais, France. Too bad we don't have passports yet.

They are so cute!!

In a random cave we found in the cliff side.

We imagine it was used as a make shift bunker for WWII soldiers protecting the coastline. Or that they used it as storage.

So cute!!

It was so gorgeous! We wished we could've spent the day there!

Perfect end to a perfect day. Though it wasn't really the end. :)