Carlile Family Blog

Happy 5 Months Rex!

2012-01-11T17:01:00.000-08:00

Our sweet little boy turned 5 months old today! He's had some definate firsts this past month. He rolled over for the first time and now wants to do it all the time! He's even woken up during the night a few times because he rolled over in his sleep and was mad about it.
He also had his first and second and third ear infection! We have our fingers crossed that he got it out of his system and that we aren't in line for another set of tubes! He's tried all sorts of baby food and the only one he doesn't like is green beans. He spends a lot of time in his jumper and really loves it there.

He still really wants to be a thumb sucker and tries to get his thumb or fingers inside his mouth at every possible chance. He's also gotten quite ticklish and I love to hear him giggle!
No new updates on his eye, except he's realized he really doesn't like that patch after all. He gets upset when we put it on and then again when we take it off and he'll try to pull at it quite a bit while he's wearing it. We try to patch him as early as possible to get it over with and he seems to be less resistant first thing in the morning. We head back to Duke on the 23rd to have his vision re-evaluated. I doubt we'll have to stop patching him, but I'd really love for at least a reduction in the time he wears it.

I think as he's gotten older he's starting to look a lot more like Tyler, although he definately has some of Abraham's characteristics too (those dimples!)

We love our little Rex and are so grateful every day that he was sent to be a part of our family!

Christmas with the Carlile's

2011-12-27T11:03:00.001-08:00

Our Christmas fun always begins on Christmas Eve. We had my sister and her family over for french dip sandwiches and present exchange (it randomly occurred that we had their name and they had ours). They gave us these awesome moustache mugs with hot chocolate and marshmallows! They are great. Then we had the opening of the pajamas. I gave up trying to make my own, I had to face reality that I suck at making pajamas.A little story reading before bed. After Santa had arrived...Tyler could have opened his Tidmouth Sheds and been done. He would have been happy to just have that and nothing else. We had to convince him to try and open everything else.Abraham on the other hand, was an old pro. He was so happy about everything and wanted to show each gift to everyone. It was really fun to watch him.The boys were thrilled that they got their own package of juice that they could drink whenever they wanted. Isn't it the simplest things in life? I love this picture because I think Tyler looks like a rock star.Abraham decided Tyler was moving too slow and needed some help.Then came the removal of toys from boxes and the exploration of new toys. Abraham really wanted this Imaginext space station. He lucked out that "Santa" found it on clearance 6 months ago!It was really fun this year to watch the boys give each other gifts. Abraham was so excited to give Tyler his Thomas books. Isn't it fun to see them just as excited about giving as receiving? My very talented mother made the boys these awesome hooded towels. Tyler couldn't wait to take a bath and try his out!Rex slept through most of the festivities of the morning. When he woke up the other boys were more than happy to open his presents for him. Biter biscuits, yum!This is what my mom made for Ken (she made them for all the men). He LOVED it and wore it around all morning. It's the Christmas mugger!Later in the day Abraham told me he was doing a project and not to look. He was working on it for quite awhile. When he was finally done and I could look, our tree had been redecorated. The picture really doesn't do it justice. He'd put almost any present he possibly could on the tree. The Justice League of America, Thomas Trains, play tools, and Imaginext characters...it was too funny.

We had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed the time we were able to spend as a family. We hope that our friends and family had a happy holidays as well!

Christmas Happenings

2011-12-20T05:10:00.001-08:00

Putting up the Christmas decorations! I love how excited Abraham is in this picture.

I decided to not stress out about decorating the tree this year and just let the kids have fun. Everyone had more fun that way.

We took a lot of pictures of the three of them together. Trust me that this one is the best. We also had a family from our ward over to decorate Gingerbread (okay, they are made of graham crackers) Houses. Everyone had a lot of fun decorating and eating.
The difference between Tyler and Abraham's houses makes me laugh. Tyler ate his fill of candy instead of decorating and ended up with a very empty house.
When I told Abraham it was almost time to finish he began dumping candy on his house by the handfuls. He wanted as much on there as he could possibly manage.
Merry Christmas!! (a Christmas morning post is coming....)

Happy 4 Months Rex!

2011-12-20T04:47:00.000-08:00

Our sweet, chubby boy is 4 months old! After looking at the following pictures you won't be surprised to hear that he is 96% for weight and height!

He is so happy and mellow. He is content 95% of the time.
He is still sleeping well and has taken to solids like a champion!

At his last eye appointment his right eye wasn't doing as well as they'd like so we are still patching for 4 hours a day. We had our first experience with losing his contact and miraculously finding it (go Tami!!).

Someday he will hate me for this picture, but oh how I love his cute chubbiness!
What a blessing Rex is in our home!

Christmas came early at my house!!

2011-11-30T04:21:00.000-08:00

So, I've had a basic Kitchen Aid for a long time now, but in the last few months since I've been making all our bread my little guy just wasn't hacking it (and it started smoking every time I used it to knead my dough!). So, I looked through Black Friday ads, found a smoking deal (online even!) and my new 6 qt, 600 watt RED mixer arrived last night. I'm off to bake!!!

Carlile Boys

2011-11-22T13:48:00.000-08:00

I thought it was time to compare baby pictures of these boys of mine. Here are all 3 of their 3 month pictures.
Abraham: All I have to say it look at that hair!!! Holy cow he had a lot of hair and big, huge eyes.
Tyler: Less hair and less chubb!

Rex: a pretty good combination, I think. He definitely leans towards Tyler with his hair and eyes, but there is a lot of Abraham there too.

So, what do you think? I think in the end all 3 will have a unique look different from the others.

Happy 3 Months Rex!!

2011-11-19T09:57:00.000-08:00

I know it is totally cliche, but I can't believe my baby is 3 months old! Rex is such a sweet tempered and mild mannered boy. He rarely cries and only does when something is really wrong. He's sleeping 8-10 hours at night with a 2-3 hour nap in the morning and 2 - 1 hour naps in the afternoon. He's started smiling all the time and his brothers love to make him smile. Actually his brothers love him to death, they are constantly all over him and smother him with hugs and kisses. He is a spitter and goes through numerous bibs and burp cloths everyday. He is very determined to be a thumb sucker, but we are trying our best to get him on a pacifier instead.I posted the next picture because you can get a good look at his eyes. Since his surgery his pupils are always dilated differently and it is kinda funky looking.
It wouldn't be right to not post a patch picture since he wears it for 4 hours a day. We patch his good eye so his bad eye will become strong. We've seen him start tracking and his eyes move together much more often. He's gone from 9 drops a day down to 2. The contact is a bit of a struggle. We have to remove it once a week to soak overnight. The first time I had to do it I failed and had to go back to Duke for a tutorial. Now I've done it twice at home and basically I still suck, but I'm working on it. It takes me a few tries to get out, but has taken me almost an hour each time to get it back in. Rex is such a trooper through it all. We head back to his doctor on Dec 6th to see how his eye is doing.

We love you Rexy!! Happy 3 Months!

Wilmington Day Trip

2011-11-17T04:41:00.001-08:00

When Ken's parents were here we decided to take a day trip to the coast to Wilmington, North Carolina. We told Abraham and Tyler that we had four special suprises for them. The first stop: The beach! Abraham has begged us to take him to the beach and he LOVED it! He would have happily stayed there all day playing in the sand.

Tyler wasn't as big of a fan. He didn't like the sand or the wind. He did venture out some though.
I like this picture because I think it looks like Grandma Carlile is taking a nice jog along the shore.
Suprise number 2: The aquarium!!
Abraham and Tyler were both in HEAVEN! They loved all the fish and sea creatures and were fascinated! They'll never be satisfied with the fish department at Wal-Mart again!Tyler was brave enough to touch the crab and sting ray in the petting tank. Abraham wanted nothing to do with it.I thought this crab bore a striking resemblance to Ken.

Not sure what is going through Abraham's mind when he posed here. We all loved the big shark tank though.

Rex woke up for a few minutes at the end and enjoyed the lights and movement in the tanks.

We took probably 10 pictures at this spot, trying to get a decent shot. It didn't happen. This is the best we got!

At the outdoor play area.

Our third stop was a ferry ride! It was a perfect temperature and the 35 minute ride was great. Tyler throwing a huge tantrum when it was time to get in the van and drive off the boat wasn't so great.

Our last stop was a maritime museum, which unfortunately was closed. Just down the street was this pier though, so we stopped there for a few minutes. Tyler had fallen asleep in the car and Rex needed to eat, so we stayed in the car and Ken ventured out with Abraham and his parents.

Muscles!!

Abraham loved finding sand again! He would have once again been content to stay here for hours playing in the sand. I guess we need to plan a better beach visit for him next summer.

We had such a wonderful day together as a family!

Happy Halloween, umm, Thanksgiving?

2011-11-14T16:58:00.000-08:00

We loved having Grandpa and Grandma Carlile here for Halloween. I especially loved the help with sewing costumes. Our family theme: The First Thanksgiving.

The boys and I went Trunk or Treating while Ken & Grandpa passed out candy and Grandma held the baby.Our cutest little corn on the cob, a pirate would have just been too obvious. Confessi on: Ken and I wore thesme costumes to a party when we were dating.
Abraham wanted to be a zombie. We told him he could be a Indian Warrior Zombie and then he was cool with it.
Two Awesome Pilgrims
What Thanksgiving is complete without a turkey? I don't know if anyone could eat a turkey that cute though!Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday Abraham!!

2011-11-08T18:19:00.000-08:00

We weren't sure how Abraham's birthday would play out this year, since it was the day after Rex's surgery. Since the operation went so well, we kept our plans and headed to the North Carolina Transportation museum. We went there last year for his birthday and had the best time and so we went again. Unfortunately since we'd been there last year they decided to start charging admission. Bummer! Although admission included a train ride, which was a huge hit.

Anyone who knows Tyler can hear him, "choo choo"as they look at this picture. He was thrilled. You might be thinking "Why didn't they go there for Tyler's birthday since he is SO crazy for trains?". We were thinking the same thing. Both boys were in heaven though.
Rex woke up for a few minutes on the train. He was wide eyed until it started moving, then he was sound asleep once again. Photo op!
All the boys (except Rex :-) We were lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa Carlile there with us.
This is the face we get when we ask Tyler to smile. I think it is really super cute.
Abraham really loved this construction corner at the museum and spent quite a bit of time there.
Ken and I were there too! It is easy to forget to get pictures of yourself.
Look at that smile. He's gotten so big and is such a sweet boy.
This is how Rex spent most of the day. He was still feeling the affects of the surgery anesthesia and spent pretty much the whole time sleeping.

Brother love.

They had some Halloween decorations up. The kids were okay with these skeletons.

The little wolf man we saw in another room? They weren't so okay with him.

We don't have many pictures with all five of us so we had to take advantage of the opportunity.

This was the drive home. Everybody sleeping. Ken and I thought it was pretty funny.

When we got home, we'd set up his presents in a backroom filled with balloons. He was so thrilled to go running back there. My favorite part was how much he let his brother in on the presents and how kind and sharing he was. I don't think Tyler even realized that none of the gifts were for him.

Grandma and Grandpa Red sent him this really awesome quiet book. We wish they could have been there with us too!

This was the morning after, playing with all the spoils. What a wonderful day he had.

We are so grateful to have Abraham in our family. He keeps us on our toes and keeps us laughing. Happy Birthday, we love you!

Mad Eye Rexy

2011-10-29T19:06:00.001-07:00

Rex had his eye surgery at Duke on Wednesday. We were the first surgery of the day so we had to be there at 7:00 AM. Luckily Ken's parents had arrived the night before and were able to take care of Abraham and Tyler for us. Rex did awesome before surgery. Even though he was quite hungry, he hardly cried and was such a good baby. When Tyler had tubes put in at 8 months and then his tonsils out in July coming out of anesthesia was such a nightmare. Rex was wonderful and didn't even cry at all. We'd been told that because of his age he'd have to spend the night there under observation, but he did so well that they let us come home! Hooray. He slept quite a bit the first day, but since then has been pretty normal. He gets 9 eye drops a day, but only 1 of them burns a little when it goes in, the others aren't painful at all. We go back to Duke on Wednesday to have his eye checked and be fitted for his contact lens. Once he has the lens, he won't need the patch any longer. We are so happy that things have gone so well and feel so grateful that we were able to find and correct his problem so early.

This is Rex shortly after we got home (we forgot to bring our camera in with us and so we don't have any pictures of him in his little gown, you'll have to take my word for it that he looked really cute). This is his first patch (yes it is pink, they were out of blue) and it was really bulky. They took it off the next day and put on the one he wears now, which is much easier to change and clean and much smaller.

He has to wear the arm braces so that he won't bother his eye. He is pretty good at worming his way out of them and immediately goes for his eye when he can reach it. The nurses at the hospital call the braces "no no's"

This is him 48 hours after surgery. Smiling and happy ... just how we like him!

I Love to See the Temple

2011-10-24T06:36:00.001-07:00

We had a Primary activity at the Raleigh temple about a month ago and were able to get our picture taken in front of the temple. We just got a copy of the pictures. I can't believe how little Rex looks, even just one month ago!!

Sweet Boys

2011-10-17T07:37:00.001-07:00

This is Abraham trying desperately to keep his eyes open. He has a serious problem with always having his eyes closed in pictures.

Happy 2 Months Rex!!

2011-10-11T07:44:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Rex is already 2 months old!! He's such a sweet boy and we couldn't love him more. For those who may not know, at his one month check up our pediatrician noticed he had a cloudy eye. After several specialist appointments it was confirmed that he has a cataract in his right eye. If you look closely at the pictures you can actually see the cloudiness in his right eye. He will be having a lensectomy on October 26th at Duke Eye Center. We are lucky to have such a well renowned center and surgeon available to do his surgery. Since he is so young they will have to keep him overnight in the hospital for observation. He will wear an eye patch and have a variety of eye drops for several weeks and then be fitted for a contact lens. He will wear his contact until he is about 2 and can be fitted for a permanent lens implant. It has been kind of crazy, so we are happy to finally be getting it taken care of.

Rex is a pretty decent sleeper and I have just started sleep training him using the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I've been happy with the results so far. He has also just started smiling and we love to see his sweet dimples! His brothers love him and can't keep their hands off of him, he's definitely going to be a tough little cookie!

Happy 2 Month Birthday Buddy!!

The Other Side of the Table

2011-09-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

For many years I studied special education and then served many more as an autistic support teacher. I held so many IEP meetings with parents and wrote so many goals. Today, the tables were turned and I was the parent as an evaluation and goal plan were written for my child. I must admit it was strange. Most people reading this blog know of the troubles Tyler has had. He was approved today for services because of his severe expressive speech delay. We were happy to see he scored very well in all other areas (he literally scored off the test charts for problem solving!) and are hopeful that this is going to be just what he needs for his speech to really take off. We can't wait to learn what that little guy is thinking!!

Baby Photo Shoot

2011-08-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friend Lindsey and I tried our hands as photographers and had a baby photo shoot with the boys. I was pretty happy with the results and when I went through to pick my favorites I ended up with 70 pictures. Luckily for all of you, I won't post all 70 here, I narrowed it down to 15, which is still a lot I know, but they are such sweet boys I couldn't resist!!

I love this one because you can see his double dimples. I think they are adorable and can't wait until his smile is in full bloom!

The blanket in the background is one my mother made for Rex. It is beautiful. The next picture shows the front of it, which is equally as beautiful. I have such a talented mother!

Isn't it gorgeous??

I think this picture is so sweet. I like how wide open his eyes are.

Here are the BIG BROs.

They love and adore their brother.

I initially thought Rex was the spitting image of Abraham, but the older he gets the more I think he'll be a good mix.

He holds his head up so well. This picture just makes me smile.

We are SO lucky to have Grandma Red (my mother) here. She has been a lifesaver and I'm not thinking about the fact that she is going home soon.

I really could stare at my baby all day long...

I love the wrinkled skin on his back in this picture, it is such a cute little baby thing.

The next two pictures make me laugh because they represent Rex's current life. His brothers trying to "love" him while I do my best to keep him safe.

I'm a very lucky mother to have 3 wonderful sons. I can't wait to watch Abraham, Tyler, and Rex continue to grow and learn.

Thanks Lindsey for your camera and all your help! We had fun and are so happy with how our pictures captured our little newborn.

Brothers

2011-08-23T11:08:00.001-07:00

Those brothers love their "cute little baby" as Abraham calls him. Tyler either says "Re" without the "x" sound or just roars like a dinosuar. They love to hold him and kiss him, sometimes a little too much! I'm sure the honeymoon will end, but right now I'm enoying watching my big brothers love on their little brother.

Introducing Rex Kale Carlile!

2011-08-19T18:42:00.001-07:00

On August 11, 2011 at 9:34 PM we welcomed 8 lb 11 oz, 21 inches long Rex Kale Carlile into our family. He is beautiful and I must warn you there are a lot of pictures to follow. As much as I hate the "I just delivered a child and now you want to take my picture?" shot, I think it is kind of mandatory to include it.

I went into labor at 3:30 that afternoon while driving in my car. I pretty much knew it was the real thing immediately, even though it was 15 days before my due date. This picture is with our doctor, he has delivered all 3 of my boys now!

After dropping the boys off and making it to the hospital we got checked in and immediately prepped for the epidural. Oh how I love epidurals.

My labor and delivery was definitely my fastest and easiest. At one point I had to quit pushing to ensure the doctor got there in time to deliver. My nurse was pretty stressed that she was going to have to deliver him if the doctor didn't hurry!

We had a hard time deciding on a name for this little man. He was almost 24 hours old before he was officially named. We are really happy with our choice though and it suits him well. Abraham was pretty disappointed that we didn't go with his choice: Iron Man. He got over it after Ken told him that his nick name could be T Rex.

When the boys came to visit in the hospital they were slightly more enthralled with the toys that the baby brought for them then they were with their brother.

They loved on him once the new toy magic wore off.

There is nothing sweeter than a brand new baby and we are absolutely thrilled with our little boy. The instant love and belonging that comes with a newborn always amazes me.

He's got two little dimples and looks a lot like his brothers, especially Abraham.

I think his Daddy loves him too!

I had to include this last picture because I love the look on Tyler's face...it is so amazed.

We are at home now, getting used to life with a family of 5. My mom came in on Tuesday and has been a great help. We had some initial trouble with jaundice and weight loss, but after 4 days of doctor's visits and tests we are on the upswing and doing really well. Welcome to the world little Rex! We love you!

4th of July

2011-07-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty relaxed 4th of July. We took the boys to go see Cars 2 (thanks Bryan for hooking us up with free tickets!!) and spent time together as a family. That evening we went to our friend's house for a BBQ and some fireworks.

Ken and I are explaining what a sparkler is and how to use it. (Oh and for those who have asked for a picture, that blue mini van is the one we recently purchased).

The kids weren't really into the sparklers. Abraham was very worried he was going to burn his fingers.

The kids started out interested in fireworks...

And ended up terrified. This is the adults doing our best to convince them that fireworks are fun and exciting.

We are so privileged to live in our free country. We are grateful to those who risk their lives and serve our country. Happy Independence Day!!!

Oh Where, Oh Where have my Tonsils Gone?

2011-07-10T05:19:00.000-07:00

We've always struggled with Tyler's eating, sleeping, and talking...or should I say lack thereof? Almost 2 weeks ago he was finally diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea and scheduled to have his tonsils and adenoids out and new tubes placed. Here is the poor little guy pre-surgery. He has no clue what is about to happen!Coming out of anesthesia was the worst. He was so mad and kept trying desperately to pull out his IV. After an hour and two morphenine doses in his IV he finally fell asleep. That is an hour of my life I never want to re-live!

Getting settled in our room. He was so unhappy about being hooked up to all his cords and things. Giving him his medicine isn't easy. He doesn't like it or want it, but won't eat or drink without it. So, we have to physically hold him down and force it in him...every 4 hours. I feel terrible doing it, but look at that smile when he actually feels decent and has medicine in him!Tyler loved taking wagon rides. We'd bribe him to take his medicine by offering a wagon ride. It didn't work, we still had to force it in him. Don't mind my drool covered shirt, it even hurt to swallow so the poor kid drooled all over me!

There was a huge saltwater fish tank that we'd go visit. It had several fish from one his favorite shows, Finding Nemo inside. He loved it!
This picture was just too cute not to post.
Tyler really has struggled to eat or drink anything. We were thrilled when he decided to down some vanilla ice cream! We were happy to finally be approved to go home (they were worried he wasn't hydrated enough and made us stay several extra hours in the hospital to make sure).
Since he slept in a big boy bed at the hospital, we figured we might as well go with the momentum and make the big move to bunk beds at home. He's up several times at night because of his tonsils, so we might as well let him get used to a new bed at the same time rather than be up several times a night again in a few weeks because he isn't used to his bed.

We are now on Day 4 of recovery and I think we turned a corner last night. He woke up at 10:00 last night in a lot of pain, so we forced the meds down him (yes, he is still terrible at taking them). He woke up at 2:00 and 4:00, but went right back to sleep both times. At 6:45 he was up for the day. Ken had already gone to church, so I made a deal with Tyler. If he'd eat and drink we'd skip the morning meds. It worked! He drank a whole cup of milk and then some juice and ate a big bowl of icecream, so jell-o and a popsicle. It doesn't sound like much, but it is most he's done since surgery.

He's continued to eat and drink much better today and has played and acted more like his normal self. Hooray! Hopefully this will help him with his troubles and we can get the little guy on track. Thanks to everyone who has helped us and served us these last few days. It has meant so much. Especially my sister Tami, who has kept Abraham for us. We've felt so loved.

Family Pictures

2011-07-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year for us to update our family pictures. We went out with our friends the Bullocks and were able to get some great shots. Tyler was pretty grumpy the whole time, but nothing a little photoshop couldn't fix! We had a great time and I'm happy with our pictures. I love this picture because the while Abraham's choke hold on Tyler is completely unintentional, it is a good representation of their relationship. They love each other, but they fight like brothers.
Just a fun candid shot that I liked.
I really love this picture of Abe. What a smile, that dimple always gets me!

Somehow we are never able to get a formal shot of Tyler smiling. This one is pretty sweet anyway though!!
I don't like being pregnant. I don't like pictures of myself being taken while I am pregnant. However, it is part of us right now, so I figured it wouldn't kill me to have one good full body shot. So everyone who's asked a million times and wants a good preggo picture, here you go!

I guess now it is time to redo my blog header...

Out with the Old...

2011-06-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

Due to the impending birth of Baby Boy Carlile, we reluctantly came to the realization that my little Honda Civic wasn't going to be able to tote three car seat riding babies around. We did an overnight babysitting swap with good friends to celebrate our anniversary and took the time to find a mini van. I didn't expect it, but I got kind of nostalgic as I drove my little Honda for the last time. It was my first "big girl" purchase after graduating college and for the last 9 years it has served me well. To be perfectly honest though, I will admit that I am pretty happy with the new car too! I can put my double jogger in back and not have to smash groceries in random places throughout the rest of the car because I have no room. I also really love that I don't have to share my air conditioner vents any longer!!

This is me on the day I bought the Honda.

This is me on the day we sold it. Oh how the times have changed!

Sesame Street Live

2011-06-21T05:13:00.000-07:00

I won tickets from our local newspaper to go and see Sesame Street and participate in a "Meet and Greet" beforehand. Here we are anxiously awaiting meeting all our favorite Sesame Street characters.Here we are being let down. This is it. One lousy picture with Bert and Ernie. Definately not my idea of a "Meet and Greet", but it was free, so who am I to complain.
Ken thinks grown people acting so happy and excited in such big, creepy costumes just isn't right. I guess Abraham shares his apprehension.

We had 6th row, floor seats.The "Meet and Greet" was at 6:00, but unfortunately the show started at 7:00, which also happens to be my kid's bedtime. They were starting to get tired before it even started!
You can see from this picture how close to the stage we were.
The characters would even come down off the stage and give high fives and things to us. Ken was thrilled to have such up close and personal interaction with the creepy costume people.
Abraham was most excited for Cookie Monster though and Cookie Monster did not disappoint. Check out that tie dye!!

They had an intermission half way through the show and we ended up leaving then. Our kids were tired and they started selling these Elmo helium balloons, which lots of people in front of us bought, blocking our view. Later when we got home, just for fun, we looked up online how much the tickets and "meet and greet" would have cost us and were shocked to find it would have been over $200!! Had we paid for them, we definately would not have left at intermission!! We ended up having a lot of fun and a great family night out.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day, the Primary sang at church today. It was a song I wasn't familiar with, so Abraham and I spent a lot of time this week practicing it, so that he'd be ready to sing. I would tell him each time that we were practicing because singing this song for Dad would be a very special present. When the time came this morning, Abe was the first kid on the stand. He went straight to the podium and (luckily not in the microphone, so no one heard but Ken and his counselors) said a prayer. Then he stood straight in front of Ken and his counselors, the rest of the Primary were on the other side of the microphone, turned towards Ken and away from the audience and proceeded to give a private little concert, just for his Dad. It was so funny and very cute. When he came down and sat next to me he said, "I sang it special just for my Dad, just like you said." Could there be a better Father's Day gift?
(Abraham at 4 days old, a proud Daddy on his son's first Halloween)

In Primary they filled out a little questionnaire. I found Abraham's answers to be hilarious.
1. My daddy's name is: Daddy
2. He is 7 days old, big feet tall and weighs 7,8,20 lbs.
3. His favorite food is: chicken pot pie.
4. My daddy is really good at: exercising.
5. He loves to: he loves me and we are best friends.
6. My favorite thing to do with my dad is: my dad gives me a head ride. (that his name for what is normally called a shoulder ride)
7. I'm just like my dad because I: like chicken pot pie.
8. What I love most about my daddy is: 100, 7, 8, 20 then I give him a hug and a kiss.
9. It makes my Dad happy when I: give him a hug and a kiss.(Ken with Tyler on his blessing day)Happy Father's Day to a wonderful Husband and Father!
And to two awesome Grandfathers!

Happy Anniversary!

2011-06-16T13:48:00.001-07:00

It's amazing how much five years can change your life, isn't it? Happy Anniversary Ken! I love you!

Happy 2nd Birthday Tyler!

2011-06-11T05:49:00.000-07:00

Tyler's birthday celebration started the night before his birthday with a little party. My sister and her family, his little friend Ellie and her parents, and our neighbors came to celebrate with us. I worked all day on his cake.

He was happy with it, so I was happy with it!

He tried to blow out the candles, but in the end his cousin Maddie had to help!The next day Ken was able to take off work, so we headed over to the local children's museum. I take the boys here almost weekly, but it was a special treat to have Daddy come!The legos are not an area we usually spend a lot of time in, but Dad made them much more exciting. Tyler loved knocking down everyone's towers.Ken called me over to see the big tower he had made...Little did I know, there was a surprise inside! I wish my eyes weren't closed in this picture because everyone else looks so nice! It is rare to get a picture of all of us together!

After the museum, we took the boys to CiCi's Pizza for lunch. It was a really fun day.

Happy Birthday sweet Tyler! What would we ever do without you (besides sleep a lot better)? We love you!!!!

Lunch with Friends

2011-06-06T04:47:00.000-07:00

Abraham has always slept with several stuffed animals. For a long time he was really attached to his "Dogger" and "Frogger" and wouldn't go to bed without them. He's since added "Dragger" (a dragon, and yes, self named) and "Eller" (you got it, the elephant). Since Tyler wants to do everything Abraham does, he also sleeps with a couple stuffed animals, "Duck" from Grandma Red and "Bearemy" from Grandma Carlile. One day Abe asked if we could have a picnic with their favorite animal friends. The weather didn't cooperate, so we all just ate lunch at the table together. Such a simple thing, but both boys absolutely loved it!
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First Swim of Summer

2011-06-05T11:26:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, our friend Ellie invited us over for a little water fun in her backyard. The boys were thrilled to get our their swimming suits and have some fun in the sun.
I love this picture because it is such a classic Tyler face.

It was a slightly tight squeeze to have all three kids in the pool together, they didn't seem mind though!

I can't get my pictures or words to go where I want them, so the bottom picture is Abe about to jump over the sprinkler. I wanted an action shot, but oh well. We can't wait for many more days spent in the water and in the sun!

Final Utah Post.

2011-06-04T06:51:00.001-07:00

Here are some final odds and ends from our trip. We were happy to be in Utah for Aunt Kristy's birthday and got to go out to eat with the whole family. Here is Ken facilitating arm wrestling as we patiently wait for our very large party to be seated.It was quite the experience for us to be at Olive Garden, with our kids, and our family. We are used to Cici's pizza on Saturday at 4:00 in the afternoon. We really enjoyed being there with everyone and Abe felt so big to get to actually pick whatever he wanted from the kid's menu!This picture had to be posted for it's absolute cuteness.

When Ken and I headed out to our gathering with old friends, Aunt Kristy and Grandma and Grandpa took the boys out for a fun day of adventure. They got to ride on the train at Southtown Mall and play on the indoor playground there.

Then they took the to the movies and to The Mayan for dinner. For those who don't know, the Mayan has a live diving show. The little ones were somewhat worried about all those guys that were making "really bad choices" by diving from so high into a pool so small. They were spoiled all day.

Ken and I were grateful to attend a session of the temple in Salt Lake. It is the first time we'd done a session together since Abraham was born and it was really nice.

We also hit the outlets in Park City. It started to snow pretty heavy while we were there and my boys were fascinated, since they only see snow 2x a year if they are lucky.

Finally, we were able to meet up with Jessica (my brother Gordon's wife) and meet their cute little Charlie. Abe was so sweet to his little cousin and I was so excited to finally kiss those chubby cheeks.This is Jessie's best "I don't think I want to ever have two kids" look.

We loved spending so much time with family and friends and will cherish the wonderful memories we made while on our trip.

Sleep....

2011-06-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

Tyler has never been a great sleeper. EVER. We've gone through every sleeping challenge in the book. We'll have one success only to have another disaster down the road. Lately he's been waking up 3-4 times and night and wanting a drink....and only accepting juice. He's always gone to bed with his cup, but hadn't been waking up wanting refills. Then he would wake up around 5-5:30 in the morning and be ready for the day. Now that I have officially entered my third trimester, I have problems falling asleep. So, Tyler would wake up and it would take me 30 - 45 minutes to fall back asleep. Anyway, long story short, we went through a few nightmarish nights and we took Tyler's drinks away from him at night and he had to teach himself to fall asleep without them (it was as bad as taking away Abe's pacifier for sure!). We've also gone cold turkey on eliminating juice completely, for everyone. My boys, Ken included, all love them some juice, but even though I watered it down pretty good I figured plain water is healthier and cheaper in all respects. Last night he slept for 10.5 hours straight...without waking up at all!! Hooray. Unfortunately Abe woke me up to help him go to the bathroom at 3:15 and it took me an hour to fall back asleep, of course. Maybe someday I'll get to sleep through the night again....maybe. It is lucky for them they are so darn cute!

Dinosaur Museum

2011-05-26T03:24:00.001-07:00

One day we headed to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. It was so awesome. Tyler was pretty hesitant at first and pretty clingy to me.Abe and Ken had no hesitancy at all. They had several interactive exhibits and they were definately the boy's favorites.
This is a huge water and sand table. They played here for a long time.

I was surprised by how many dinosaurs Abraham recognized and could name.
Our little dino boys!
This was an excavation exhibit. Abraham especially loved it. He didn't want to leave.

Tyler was distracted by the sand on his feet, but he did some digging too.

The shark was one of my favorite parts! Watch out Grandma Sue!
Although Tyler had been hesitant about the dinosaur bones, he was fascinated by the human bones. What is up with that?

It was such a fun museum and we had a great time!

Easter in Utah

2011-05-26T02:59:00.001-07:00

We loved being with the Carlile's on Easter. We started out with a huge Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning. Abraham won 3 different big prizes in his eggs! Tyler had no problem realizing what those plastic eggs really meant, CANDY!Later that afternoon, we dyed Easter eggs at Aunt Carie's house. I am ashamed to admit that my children had never dyed eggs before. Abe had fun dying eggs, Tyler enjoyed being able to play with the trains in the basement again.On Sunday after church Ken, Kale (his brother), and his Dad hid the 250 Easter eggs in the backyard. Each child had 25 eggs of a certain color they had to find. The little kids did great finding all their eggs.

The older kids' eggs were a little more tricky. I think Alexandra is still missing 2 eggs out there somewhere...

Cooper and Casey found the gold and silver eggs this year. They each contained a $5 bill!

I hope everyone had as happy an Easter as we did!

King Henry Friends

2011-05-26T02:44:00.000-07:00

We were fortunate to be able to get together with some of the most wonderful people in the world while we were out in Utah. Our good friend Greg was turning 40 and we couldn't resist the opportunity for a little party. He knew we were getting together, but had no clue that we'd be celebrating his big day!What better way is there to celebrate than with King Henry Moustache Jeopardy!?!?

The Porter's swept the games and took away first and second prizes! Now who doesn't want a nice, fat yam for first prize? I heard it has been under their mattress ever since...

We topped the evening off with Oreo Birthday Cheesecake, homemade by Ken! Yum! Can't wait until March 2012!

Utah Extravaganza!!

2011-05-10T03:26:00.000-07:00

We were so lucky to be able to fly out to Utah for Easter. We were worried about the plane ride (okay, rides, we had 2 layovers!) but the boy's did really well. Thank heaven for portable DVD players! Of course, the first thing Abraham did when he got to Grandma's was find the cars.

The first thing Tyler did? Find the trains!!!We loved all the time we were able to spend with cousins. We went to dinner one night at Ken's brother, Kale's home. They have a ton of pets and animals and the kids loved it. Okay, mostly Abraham loved it. We had a hard time dragging Tyler away from their collection of Thomas trains.

Of course, playing "weapons" and Superheroes with the triplets was a highlight. With a Hulk hand on one arm and Wolverine claws on the other and 3 boys catering to him, Abraham was in heaven.

Tyler finally dragged himself from the trains to play with Chip the dog. It was so funny because Chip kept licking him and Tyler licked him right back!

We also went to dinner at Ken's sister, Carie's home. I didn't have my camera, which is unfortunate because Abraham put on quite the show playing the keyboard in RockBand. Tyler (do we see any habits here?) spent the evening in the play room with....yep, trains.

We were also able to head up to Copperton to visit with Grandpa Bodily. It was great to see him and talk for awhile. Unfortunately our camera ran out of battery, so this is the only picture we got. More Utah pictures to come... stay tuned...

Dallin's Birthday

2011-05-10T03:05:00.000-07:00

Just before we left for Utah, we attended my nephew Dallin's birthday party. The kids had so much fun! I though Abraham looked so grown up eating his hot dog. To say that Tyler loved the parachute would be an understatement. He was SO happy and thrilled the entire time it was out.
Tami had done a great job with all her Thomas the Train activities and games. This picture sums it all up, we had a great time. Happy Birthday Dallin!

Singing in the Rain

2011-04-16T06:00:00.001-07:00

My sister took these great pictures when my kids were hanging out at her house! I thought they were too cute not to post. (and those of you who follow my sister's blog and couldn't see them on there can actually see them now!)

Abe and Dallin are the best of buds.

Please pardon Abe's too small orange vest. For some reason he insists upon wearing it every so often.

Love the smile on that little boy of mine!! There's some sunshine on a rainy day!!

Its A .......

2011-03-29T06:20:00.001-07:00

My Sweet Helper

2011-03-24T17:48:00.001-07:00

I was changing Tyler's diaper the other day and it was a very unpleasant smelling diaper. Abraham was in the room and heard me comment on how yucky it was. Wanting to be helpful, he offered to throw it away for me. I told him that it was really gross and since my hands were already dirty, I'd throw it away this time. He left the room and came back a minute later with blue kitchen gloves on his hands. "Mom" he said, "Now I can take care of that diaper for you and my hands won't get dirty!" What a sweetheart. He now "takes care" of all Tyler's diapers for me and loves the chore! At the end of the day I find my bathroom sink full of gloves. I wonder if he knows I just pick them up and put them back under the kitchen sink for him to find the next day? Next up? ... teaching him to actually change the diaper!

My Picky Eater

2011-03-21T05:10:00.000-07:00

Tyler has entered a new phase the last month or so (please oh please let it just be a phase) in which he doesn't eat. Anything. Ever. Okay, I take it back, he'll eat raisins and frozen go-gurts, but let's be honest that is only going to take a kid so far. He'll go days without eating more than a few bites of food. It can be quite frustrating and we are worried about the weight he is losing. I've been trying to figure out ways I can sneak healthy foods into things that otherwise seem like treats or snacks. Our first success?? "Green" Smoothies.

1 cup frozen fruit (we used half blueberries, half strawberries)

1 cup fresh spinach
1 yogurt cup, any flavor

1 1/2 cups milk

I also add a spoonful of sugar

(this is enough for the 2 boys and myself)

Abraham and Tyler have both devoured them the last few mornings! (Notice the uneaten waffle next to him)
If Ken is home (he said they taste "earthy" but are okay and still eats them), I'll double the recipe and then use the leftovers to make these handy "popsicles", which the kids also devour, for dessert... insert evil mom laugh here!

Anybody out there know of any other good ways to trick a kid into eating? Especially something that is somewhat healthy?? All suggestions are welcome!

Books and Brothers

2011-03-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

I love to read. I really love to read. It is a joy to me to see my children love to be read to. Lately Abraham has learned that he knows how to "read", meaning he's memorized several books word for word. When it comes to bedtime and books are being chosen, he often tells us that he'll "read" that one to Tyler and then they sit and read it together. How cute is that?

Especially sweet considering that the picture below is a more normal way to find these two brothers.

We've been to the Zoo!

2011-03-13T17:20:00.000-07:00

Ken was able to take a random day off last week so we packed up last minute and headed to the zoo. It was a little cold when we got there, but it turned out to be a perfect temperature and a perfect day to go! It was very empty and quiet, so we got a good look at a lot of animals.

I think Abe was trying to look happy, he just didn't quite get there. He did love looking at the bees though!In the aviary, Abraham found that if he sat still on this bench then several birds would walk right in front of him. He was fascinated with this up close look at the animals. We spent a lot of time looking at the gorillas. They were so close and were just fascinating. I think Tyler's favorite were the elephants. They walked right in front of us. Tyler just kept pointing to them and grunting at us, in case we didn't notice the massive animal standing there.Everyone has been to the zoo, so I won't bore you with a bunch of animal pictures, but I wanted to post this one. The giraffes, ostriches, and zebras were all just hanging out together. Not only were they very close to us, but they were just mingling among each other. It was really neat. The zoo here is divided into 2 parts and it is a pretty good walk to see everything. By the time we were ready to go home we were all tired. Some more than others, I guess. Although if I'm being honest, if I'd been sitting in a stroller with a water bottle and shade, I'd probably have fallen asleep pretty darn quickly myself.
This is one of the only times I've thought my kids looked alike. I see more resemblance in them in this picture than I've ever seen before. It must be their eyes and personalities that make them so different to me and this picture elimanates both of those.

We had a great day and it was so fun to take a little trip together as a family.

Just Chillin' Out

2011-02-28T18:16:00.001-08:00

We haven't gone out much the last few months, so my blog has been kind of boring. I apologize to all of you who come here and aren't grandparents and don't care about random pictures of my kids. It's all I got right now. I gave both boys haircuts the other day. Abe is an awesome kid during a haircut. Give him a peppermint to suck on and turn on the TV and he'll sit still and do exactly what you want. Tyler HATES having his haircut. Hate just might be an understatement. It always ends in Ken holding him very tightly while I use the clippers and try my hardest to get everything somewhat even. We buzz it short and then let it grow for 6 months before we torture ourselves again. Something about haircuts always makes me feel like my kids look so old. This is Abraham's first ever picture he's taken by himself. He told me to smile and this is what I gave him. I can never again complain when I ask my kids to smile and they make a funny face at me. Ken and I brought home Mexican wrestling masks for the boys from our cruise last year. They were never very interested in them until about a week ago. Suddenly they are very popular. I'm biased, but I think they are adorable!Abe flexing his muscles. He is very sure this is a Spiderman mask. This is the second picture ever that Abe has taken by himself. Not too bad. He didn't ask Ken to smile at the camera, he was probably worried about what he'd do!

Why my Self-Esteem is SO Good!

2011-02-16T17:20:00.000-08:00

I always win when I play games at my house (unless of course I intentionally let me kids win, don't want them to feel too bad about themselves). Yesterday we were playing hide and seek. I admit, it took me awhile to find Abe, I was starting to wonder if my winning streak was over, but I finally found him.

What a great hiding spot.

On another note, Abraham and I were playing Play-Doh during Tyler's nap today. He woke up before we cleaned up, so he got to play for a few minutes too. He loved it. I love this picture. He's so sweaty from his nap and still tired looking. Who in the world knows what is all over his face?When I asked him to smile, he promptly held up his elephant. Close enough, Tyler, close enough.

The "Hammer"

2011-02-09T17:29:00.000-08:00

My little 3 year old is a crack up. He's talked very early and frankly has never stopped. Sometimes I just laugh and laugh from what he says and how his little brain tries to logic things out. Lately he's been pretty hilarious, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite quotes.

*I walked into the kitchen one day to discover Abraham had dumped his bowl of cereal on the floor. Sighing, I asked him "What am I going to do with you?" He looked up hopefully and replied "Take me to the store?"

*Abe was really tired and in a pretty bad mood after church one day. One of our friends in the ward unknowingly saw him and swung him up in the air saying hello to him. Normally he'd love this welcome, but that day he immediately burst into tears. When we finally got to the car he said, "Mom, Kira's dad really made me mad." I responded, "Yes he did, but he didn't do anything wrong, you shouldn't have gotten mad." He then replied, "I wish I had a camel to spit on him."

*My parents spent Christmas with us. Before they arrived Ken was driving in the car with Abraham and Abe said, "When Grandpa comes I'm going to give him a big, juicy hug!" Ken responds, "That's nice. What are going to give Grandma?" Abe immediately responds "A Kleenex!"

*Out of the blue one day Abraham came up to me and said, "I am Beast Hammer and I'm going to rule the world!"

*We head to our local children’s museum most Wednesday mornings. Abe loves their big pirate ship. One day as he was at the wheel, I asked him if he was Captain Hook. His eyes got wide and he said “Yes mom! I’m Captain HULK!”

*Walking down the hall at church someone turned off the lights. Just as they did a man in our ward walked out a door in front of us. Abe immediately asked him if he’d turned off he lights. He said no and asked who Abe he thought had. Abe said “Maybe nobody turned them off. Maybe the batteries just died.”

*Abe had requested cinnamon rolls the other day, so I made the dough in the evening and let him help me make the rest in the morning. Once they were all in the pan and ready to be baked I said, “Lets get these bad boys in the oven”. Abe just stared at me and said, “I’m a good boy Mom! I’m a good boy!”

*Abe asked me today if his baby teeth were going to fall out and told me that he did not want them too. I told him that when he got a little older his baby teeth would fall out and big teeth would grow in, but that it didn’t hurt. He immediately responded “And then I’ll be able to speak Spanish?”

I went to tuck him in one night and found him like this. How doesn't sleep better with a dragon in converse tennies to keep you safe?

Deja vu

2011-02-03T17:14:00.000-08:00

Remember this post? "Wherein my 2 year old locks himself in his room..." ?? Well, being the awesome parents we are, we made sure that Abraham would never be able to lock himself in his room again because I never wanted to go through that again. Fast forward to this past Sunday. Ken has to leave the house by 6:00 AM for his meetings, so the boys and I go it alone Sunday mornings. We typically chill out together for awhile in my bed, eating dry cold cereal or poptarts and watching an episode or 2 of Little Einsteins. This particular morning, I had already gotten out of the bed, but the boys were still in it... until they began to fight over covers and Tyler ran into his bedroom upset and slammed the door behind him (oh the things a 20 month old learns from his big brother). He wasn't crying in there, so I didn't really bother him for a few minutes. (Can you see where this story is heading???). The clock hit 7:00 and it was time for us to start getting ready for church. I went to open Tyler's door and yep, you guessed it...he'd locked himself in!! Seriously?!?!? I immediately went to find an old credit card to pop it open, but unfortuately I was not a maintenace man in college and couldn't get the door to open. This doorknob does have a little hole and I tried everything I could fit in there to try and pop that lock and NOTHING! Starting to panic slightly, I began to try to get a hold of Ken at the church. No one answered the church phones and so I began calling the cell phones of the Bishopric members, high priest group leader, anyone who I thought might be in the meeting with Ken (no, Ken still does not have a cell phone of his own). No luck. I admit, it had been a half an hour and I was crying at this point. I finally called a good friend of mine who lives five minutes down the road, hoping she'd pick up the phone early on a Sunday morning. Luckily she did and her awesome husband came to my rescue. Fruit snacks and Oreos shoved under the door kept Tyler happy and five minutes after Andrew arrived a credit card had popped his door open (I've GOT to learn that trick!!). Needless to say, it is a story I never want to repeat. I must also add that even though we got started getting ready for church 45 minutes late, we were still in our seats 10 minutes before the meeting started. Whew!

Just a Random Update

2011-01-23T18:12:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since I posted, but I don't really have anything exciting to say. So, here's some random pictures from the last few weeks.

A guitar and a lightsaber, you really can't go wrong there.

Abraham's Rock N Roll hair-do in the bathtub. Too bad he's not looking at the camera, but he looks so happy even from the side!

Sweet little Tyler watching a show before bed. He's not so sweet at 5:30 in the morning, his new preferred awaking time.

Bedtime stories with Dad are always a favorite. Yes, Abe's got a Twinkie holder. No, he's never had a Twinkie...we use it for NutraGrain bars because those things crumble like crazy in a lunch bag.

Tyler must prefer our bed to his own. Here he is snuggling up after a bath, waiting for some nice warm pajamas!

Abe spent a good hour one morning playing with Play-Doh and molds. He decided in the end to make all of his Play-Doh into trains, only the mold was a little too small and difficult for his little hands. So, guess who spent a good portion of that hour making little trains for him? The sacrifices you make as a mother, right?

We had homemade icecream for dessert tonight. With winter weather, we haven't given the boys icecream cones in a long time. They were both thrilled with their treat! Tyler kept grunting at us (his preferred method of communication) and holding out his cone for us to see.

Abraham just kept asking me to refill his cone. I don't think he ever even took a bite of the cone, but he got every last drop of icecream out of it.

My kids apparently don't understand the "cone" part of an icecream cone.

Abraham with his icecream "manna" from heaven couldn't help but hallelujah!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-30T19:43:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful time of year Christmas is! I get so excited to re-live all our traditions and to simply be able to spend time together as a family. Abraham was old enough this year to learn the Nativity story and he and Tyler enjoyed acting it out with our awesome nativity that Aunt Carie made us all season long. We had a wonderful holiday and hope you all did too!!
One last thing before I begin with pictures ... this is the second year in a row we've had secret visitors leave us treats on our doorstep. We LOVE suprises at our house and these have been especially tasty suprises. So, if your secret elves are reading our blog, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! for our yummy treats!

Tyler woke up grumpy at 4:30 in the morning. He wasn't into presents at first, but quickly caught on. Abraham had no problem catching on to opening presents. He is at such an awesome age and every present was his best! My favorite was when he opened his bike helmet. His face immediately fell and he said, "What is this? I don't want it." We told him it was a helmet and asked him why Santa might have brought him a helmet. You could see the light go on and he said, "a bike helmet?" and then immediately ran over to his remaining gifts (none of which were bigger than a shoebox) and said, "which one of these is a bike??". The bike had been hiding in the dining room.We were so lucky to have my parents spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with us. Grandma and Grandpa made everything much more special. Tyler spent most of his morning playing with his new Thomas trains.We got some great gifts from our family members. Thanks to everyone who sent such awesome presents!Abraham spent most of his day playing with the Bat Cave.Abraham's first look at the ball pit that Uncle Gordon sent. Needless to say, the boys love it.After a wonderful day, the kids were happy and exhausted. Abraham fell asleep hugging his new Scooby Doo that Grandma Red made for him.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday Ken!

2010-12-30T06:27:00.000-08:00

Ken was able to take the day off and spend some time at home with us for his birthday. We had cake with the boys and then my good friend and babysitting partner came over after the boys went to bed so Ken and I could enjoy a nice dinner with just the two of us. Happy Birthday Ken, we love you!

Snow Days!!

2010-12-29T17:21:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we had our yearly "snow" here in North Carolina. As you can see, the snow doesn't even quite cover the yard. Abraham was thrilled because he thought snow meant Santa! We had fun going out and scavaging snowballs.

Then, on Christmas Day, for the first time since 1944 it snowed in Raleigh! It is the most snow I've seen since I've moved here. We were snowed in for a couple of days with it! The kids didn't quite know what to make of all that soft snow! Abraham was thrilled to have a real snowball fight with Ken!
Abraham had seen kids making snow angels on a cartoon and couldn't wait to try it out. I wasn't sure if he'd go through with it, but he didn't hesitate to plop right down in that snow and proceeded to make snow angels all over the yard. Tyler thought about trying one, but never followed through with it.

The next day Abraham sadly told me that the snow was probably all melted. He was happily suprised when I told him that this time it snowed enough that it didn't melt over night! He ran to the window and said "All the snow stayed this time!". We were happy to have a White Christmas!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

2010-12-16T07:00:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite traditions of the Christmas season is putting up the tree and decorations. It was especially fun this year, since both boys had a great time helping. Abraham loves to see "special lights" everywhere and whenever we are driving and it is getting dark outside we hear him in the back, "special lights alert, special lights alert!". So he was super excited to see them in his own house!

The tradition wouldn't be complete without cookies and eggnog!

I couldn't get this picture to move to the top of the post, so it is out of order, but oh well. It is still cute!

Fall, the State Fair, and Thanksgiving ... Oh my!

2010-11-28T19:03:00.000-08:00

I should have posted most of these pictures a long time ago. But, I didn't. So I'm posting them now. Better late than never, right? We've had a fabulous fall with beautiful weather. Seriously, it got into the 70's the week of Thanksgiving. You can't ask for nicer weather. I know that many of you that read this blog spent Thanksgiving amid snow and blizzards. It's okay to be jealous. We spend a lot of time outside. The boys love to go and "help" Ken with the yard work. One day, it ended with jumping in the leaves.

Tyler loves to give kiss and to blow kisses. It is very sweet and very cute. We were so happy to catch him mid - kiss.

We were excited when we found out that Ken was going to be able to take a day off and attend the State Fair with us. Tyler loves animals and gets so excited every time he sees them on TV and we couldn't wait to show him the real cows. Of course they scared the pants off him and he buried his head in my shoulder until we walked away. We still had fun though, even if we didn't take many pictures. We are too cheap for fair food, so we settled for hamburgers and shakes from Cook Out later that day. Abraham feeling right at home with the turkeys.

I can almost hear Tyler speaking to us in his special grunt language, making sure we all realize there are dinosaurs.

The prize pumpkins are always one of my favorite things to see.

Abraham was very proud of his eraser that he won by spinning a wheel at one of the booths.

For Thanksgiving my sister Charlotte and her family drove from Connecticut. We hadn't seen them since we drove to their house last year! We had a lot of fun with our full house and Abraham thoroughly enjoyed his cousins. Sadly, these 3 pictures were all we got from the whole trip. I don't know how I let that happen. And honestly, they are the most random pictures ever. We did a lot of fun things, you'll just have to trust me on that.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

When?

2010-11-12T06:23:00.000-08:00

When did my baby grow up??

Happy 3rd Birthday Abraham

2010-11-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

For Abraham's birthday we decided to go to the Department of Transportation museum. It was AWESOME! We practically had the place to ourselves and the kids were able to run and explore. They have lots of old cars and train cars. There are several you can climb on and through. We also took a ride on the turntable, right after we saw it in use for a real train engine. We will definately be making a trip back there!

Doesn't he look handsome??

All the old cars were awesome, but Abe loved the "race car slugbug"

Look at that smile!!!!!

Ken and I were there, we just weren't in many of the pictures. The man who ran the turntable thought it was great that Abraham loved cars and trains so much. He gave him a little Race Car movie for a birthday gift. The boys watched it on the way home and apparantly it was very enthralling.Abraham requested the "pizza shop" (aka CiCi's pizza) for dinner, so we met the Boyers there. Then we came back to our house for presents and cake. Abe loved all gifts and spent a half a second looking at each one before he was ready to move on to the next one. He wanted a dump truck cake. He's asked for one for months now. I'd made him a dump truck cake for his first birthday and didn't feel like repeating, so he got a very simple cake this year. Ken did draw a dump truck on it with frosting, so everyone was happy!It is obvious that even though it was simple, it tasted good and everyone loved it!Happy Birthday sweet Hammer! We love you so much and are so glad that you came to our family. You make us laugh and are such a sweet boy.

Happy Halloween

2010-11-02T18:56:00.000-07:00

Every year I say I'm going to start sewing our Halloween costumes early. One of these years I'm going to do it, unfortunately it wasn't this year. We did get them finished though and enjoyed our evening. Although our costumes didn't take a prize (as a member of the bishopric, Ken was a judge) our trunk won 3rd place. Really who can compete with the Scooby gang pulling up i a decked out Mystery Machine? Abraham was determined that he was going to be a knight for Halloween and was satisfied with an Arabian (k)Night (we had the song Arabian Nights from Aladdin blaring at our trunk). He had a sword and people were giving him candy, what more does a 3 year old want? Shout out thanks to Marjorie, Lindsey, and Tami for their help with sewing advice and watching my kids so we could pull it all off! I hope your Halloween was as wonderfully spooky as ours!!

Yes, Ken even made a sword for Tyler.

Abraham has recently been introduced to Scooby Doo and LOVES it! He was totally excited to see the "gang" there and asked me to take his picture with them. The next day "Scooby" was called to be his new nursery leader. He was THRILLED.

Muno! He's Tall and Friendly...

2010-10-22T12:28:00.001-07:00

Several months ago I found an adult sized hoodie online that was made to look like the character Muno, from Yo Gabba Gabba. It was only a mere $150. I wanted sweaters for my kids that looked like that and I happen to have a super creative and talented mother. They came in the mail today!

I couldn't be happier!! Thanks Mom!

Welcome Fall!!

2010-10-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

The weather has finally began to cool down here in North Carolina! Although we still get into upper 70's and sometimes 80's in the afternoon, we wake up to the 50's. As a result we had to break out our fall clothes. It was literally like Christmas morning. Abraham was so happy to have new clothes, especially new tennis shoes. Here are the cute boys in some of their new warmer clothing.
When did they get SO big?? Note Tyler's one shoe in the picture below. 90% of the time he only has on one shoe. We don't know how it happens and it rotates between feet. We are so lucky we haven't lost one of his shoes yet! We've also had a great reduction in the number of mosquitos hanging out in the backyard, so we've spent a lot more time playing with our outside toys. Other than a few fights over the Cozy Coupe, it has been a really fun and relaxing way to spend our afternoons. Can you guess who usually wins the Cozy Coupe Car fight?
And finally, fuzzy pajamas. There aren't many things sweeter than cute boys in footie jams!

(yes, I realize Tyler's don't actually have feet, but it is the same idea)

Now we've just got to make it to a pumpkin patch and the State Fair and Fall will be fully here!

It's hard to find good help ...

2010-10-03T06:27:00.000-07:00

Alternative Title: Why it takes FOREVER for me to get anythig done!!

Spaghetti Night

2010-09-29T17:59:00.000-07:00

At some point in a young toddler's life, I think it is mandatory to take a messy spaghetti picture. So, for your viewing pleasure, here are some of our sweet boys.

Tyler

Abraham

Cousin Dallin

Pillow Fights!!!

2010-09-14T08:53:00.000-07:00

We have a new favorite past time at our house. When I say "we", I mean Ken, Abe, and Tyler. They LOVE to pillow fight. Abraham asks me all the time throughout the day to have a pillow fight with him, but I tell him to wait for Daddy to get home, I'm happy for it to be their special thing. They all have a wonderful time playing together.

These are the Moments ...

2010-08-27T19:13:00.001-07:00

Sometimes it is easy to become frustrated as a mother. It is easy to get lost in the laundry, dishes, diapers, and whining. Today, I had a project that I really wanted to complete during nap time. I put the kids down and was 15 minutes into my cleaning when Tyler woke up. My first instinct, honestly, was irritation. Doesn't my 15 month old know how much I need his nap time? I went and got him out of bed, gave him a drink, and sat in the rocking chair with him. He immediately cuddled up to me and within minutes we were both asleep.
Ken found us this way and took our picture. When I woke up, my irritation was gone. My cleaning project sat, hardly even started, but let's face it, my little boy is growing up and it won't be long until I can't cuddle up and take a nap with him. These are the moments that make me remember why I wanted to be a mother. Why I've sacrificed to be a mother. Why there is nothing else I'd rather be doing.

Congrats Ken!

2010-08-27T19:09:00.001-07:00

Ken has achieved 10 years under his belt at IBM. We are happy with the extra vacation days that this provides for him, but IBM also gave him a 10 year award. He was able to redeem this for a variety of different gifts. He is an awesome husband though and used his reward to get me a new pot/pan set! We're lucky to have such a hardworking and dedicated husband and father!

Mowing the Lawn

2010-08-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

The other day, Abraham told me that when he got big he wanted to be a Daddy ... and a runner guy, a really fast runner guy. Anyway, he loves his Dad and loves especially to help him outside with yard work. Ken has taught him to be a great pinecone spotter and many times he'll bring cars out and just play on the sidewalk while Ken works. So, the other day when I saw this

on clearance at Target, I couldn't resist.

I'm not sure who was happier with the purchase: Dad or son.

I'd say it was worth my $6, wouldn't you? In all honesty, I wish now I'd bought 2. I have a feeling before too long they'll be another little shadow out there. We're going to have the best mowed lawn out there!

Summer Catch Up (lots of pictures ahead!)

2010-08-15T17:37:00.000-07:00

There have been several fun events this summer that I haven't blogged about. So I thought I'd post some of my favorites and re-cap some of the fun things we've been doing.

When we visited the Science museum with my in-laws, it ended up being a great deal to go ahead and purchase a membership. So one day the boys and I went with our good friends out to the museum. We took about 10 pictures and at least they are all looking at the camera in this one!Here we are on our train ride!Do you see the butterfly on my shoulder? It landed there and stayed for a little while. It was really cool.I thought this sleeping picture of Tyler was so cute. Exhausted. Ken's sister, Kristy, came with her boys and our neice to visit at the begining of July. We had a great time with them, but because I'm really lame I didn't get many pictures. Every day we took a "Picture of the Day" for Alexandra to send home to her parents. This was my favorite. Of course, we had to head back to the Science museum with them. Cousins on the train.Tyler got to ride with Dad instead.

If babies can wear trendy little head bands with huge flowers on them, I thought I might be able to get away with it too!

We loved having our family come to visit. It was a really great time and next time I'm taking more pictures for sure!

One Saturday we decided to take a walk with the boys to a bridge here in Raleigh. You can cross right over the freeway.

For some reason, we thought Abe might like looking at the cars going underneath us. *like* is probably an understatement. Tyler was equally fascinated.

And last, but most definately NOT least .... Abraham is potty trained!! Hooray!!!

It was actually pretty darn painless and took less than a week until he was completely out of diapers, even for naps and night time. I'm so happy to have one less set of diapers to buy and change and we are so proud of our big boy!!

Video Updates!

2010-07-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

We thought we'd entertain everyone with a couple videos of the boys.
The first one is of Tyler walking. He picked up this new ability really quickly and is now walking all over the place. There are a few little Tyler quirks that I want to point out in the video. First, he has very fat feet. We have yet to find a pair of tennis shoes or Sunday shoes that will actually fit him. He has 2 pairs of crocs from Grandma Carlile and he loves to wear them. He brings them to me all the time, then sits on my lap so I'll put them on him. Somehow he though, always ends up with just one on. The other is his monkey pillow. Abraham has his "awww", which is his security pillow he sleeps with and drags around. Tyler loves to tease Abe by finding "awww" and lying on it, smothering his head into. Abe has begun giving Tyler the monkey pillow to trade and get "awww" back, so Tyler has begun to carry the monkey pillow around. It is pretty cute.

The second video is also Tyler and is just sweet, so I had to post it.
The third video is Abraham. He has a sweet tooth and tries to weasel a treat whenever he can get one. For Father's Day we gave Ken a bunch of sour candy and it included a bag of Atomic Warheads. Abe has been begging for one, so Ken got out the video camera and gave him one. If anyone needs a translation, he initially says "its yummy", then it gets sour and he says, "I'm thinking its really spicy". Ken and I have laughed and laughed over this video. What a cute boy our Hammer is!

Abraham's First Date

2010-07-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, it was with me! We went to Rita's (of course!) and had the best time. Abraham told everyone he saw that we left Ty-Ty at home and it was just his turn. How cute is that?

I can Moo, can you?

2010-07-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

This year, we decided that it was about time that we participated in Chick-Fil-A's Cow Appreciation Day. If you dress up as a cow, they give you a free meal. Seriously. So, we dressed up like cows and enjoyed our free, delicious lunch from Chick-Fil-A.

Umm, is this not the cutest little cow you've ever seen? Take note of his cowbell, we weren't messing around.And, of course, his tail. How cute is the tail?Here's our whole crew. Ken's sister, Kristy, and our neice and nephews are out visiting and joined us. Alexandra is the "Strawberry Cow". Pink milk, anyone?

Welcome Baby Samuel!

2010-06-30T17:46:00.000-07:00

One of the benefits of living close to my sister is getting to meet my newest little nephew within an hour of his birth! He is such a sweet, chubby thing and I couldn't get enough of holding him. Welcome to the family Samuel! We're so happy to have you here!

Samuel Jaxson Boyer
Born June 25, 2010 at 7:54 p.m.
10 lb 3 oz

A Visit From Grandma and Granpa Carlile

2010-06-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

Since it has only been a month since their visit, I figured it was time to post some pictures of the fun we had when Grandma and Grandpa came to see us.

We fed the ducks at Shelley Lake.

Made a trip to Marbles Kids Museum. I love this picture because you can just see Abe's head peeking over the top of the ramp.

Grandpa and Abraham. Grandma with Tyler.

We also went to the Durham Science Musuem. We had such a great time there. Abraham especially loved the bugs room and butterfly house. I shouldn't look so happy next to so many coachroaches. I guess maybe I'm happy they are here and not in my house.

Myself and the kiddos enjoying the peaceful butterfly house.

One of my favorite pictures. Abraham got to choose one person to ride with him on the train and he didn't even hesitate to pick Grandma. They are both so happy.

A wonderfully nice woman offered to take a picture of all of us. I'm glad she did, it is the only one we got.

Abraham and Tyler both loved getting their daily suprises from Grandma. It was so nice to spend time with them and for our kids to get to know their Grandparents better.

Thanks for coming to visit! We love you!

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

Abraham

Tyler
My boys

Grandpa Tucker and Tyler

Grandpa Carlile and Abraham

Happy Father's Day!!!

Get Better Soon Grandpa & Grandma!

2010-06-09T19:34:00.001-07:00

I'm sure most people who read this blog have heard that my parents were in a motorcycle accident on Memorial Day. Things were pretty scary for awhile, but fortunately they are both on the road to recovery. It will be a painful road, but we are grateful that things were not worse. Inspired by a recent video we put together for our Twilight party and in honor of my Dad's release from the hospital we put together a little welcome home video for my Mom and Dad.

We love and miss you guys!!! Feel better soon.

Lost

2010-06-05T17:57:00.001-07:00

The first gift I ever bought Ken was for his birthday when we were first dating. It was Season One of Lost on DVD. We watched it together and became instant devoted fans. We were sad to see the series end, and celebrated the finale with a few friends. Of course, that means decorations, costumes, and food. The decorations and costumes are self explanatory (especially to Lost fans) and since we couldn't find any Dharma initiative food lying around, we made tropical smoothies with little umbrellas, so we could pretend we were on an island too. I also made homemade girl scout cookies (samoas), but they weren't relevant to Lost at all, just really tasty. Goodbye Lost. Your ending was terrible, but the ride was great.

Carlile Family Pictures 2010

2010-05-29T11:11:00.000-07:00

We had our family pictures taken (the day before Abe broke his arm - lucky timing!) and were so pleased with the results. Check out our awesome photographer here: http://www.laurasimsonphotography.blogspot.com/

I really tried to narrow down the results to something reasonable to put on the blog and I failed. I couldn't get below 46 pictures. So, I put together a slideshow. Those who want to see all 46 of my favorites can watch it. I'll post a few highlights here though. I'm telling you, it was next to impossible to decide which ones to post and which to only put in the slideshow. Enjoy my cute family!!

Happy Birthday Tyler!

2010-05-26T16:20:00.000-07:00

After our broken arm drama, we had a wonderful birthday for Tyler. Ken's parents were here visiting and that was such a nice treat. Ken also got to take the day off, which is always nice. My sister Tami and her family also joined us. We are so lucky to have Tyler in our family and can't believe he's a year old! Happy Birthday!!His cake. It is the tools from Handy Manny. The big boy with his new sippy cup.

Eating his pizza and loving it!Getting ready to open his presents. Look how much fun "Tyler" had opening his presents. I love this picture of everyone enjoying Tyler's presents.Eating his birthday cake (we bought him a little one he could just dig into)

Getting messier....

and messier....

and I think he's finally finished. Happy Happy Birthday Tyler!

Guess how I spent my day??

2010-05-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

Just what every mother wants to do, hold down your screaming, crying and injured 2 year old while doctors make it hurt. Then try to explain that they are making it hurt so they can figure out what is wrong and make it better. Then once again hold him down (with 2 nurses) so they can cast him. Then try to explain that no matter how many times he asks, I can't take it off and that I'm sorry. I did stop and buy him an ice cream cone. It didn't help.

Cruise: Day 6 & 7

2010-05-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

The last 2 days of the cruise were spent sailing on the boat. We had a great time earning medals, playing games, and just enjoying the company of the best of friends.

These pictures were taken just inside the onboard casino.

I thought the floor was so cool looking.

This is in the area right outside the ice skating rink, yes there was an ice skating rink, complete with a show.

We decided to give the climbing wall a shot. They had a speed climbing contest and I took silver! (Just don't tell anyone that the three of us in the picture were the only ones who signed up for the contest!) I scaled the wall in less than a minute.

Below is one of my favorite pictures of the cruise. One of the only shots with the whole crew.

We decided there weren't enough opportunities for earning medals and convinced them to give us medals for our own competitions. Sandy won the best looking ice cream cone gold medal.

Our second formal night.

And finally, on the last day of cruising, Greg decided he wanted to drive the boat. So he tracked down the Captain and tried valiantly to persuade him. It didn't work. The captain wasn't even impressed with all our medals.

We had such a great time and made memories that will last forever.

Cruise: Day 4 & 5

2010-05-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

Days 4 and 5 of the cruise were both port days. We first stopped in Mazatlan. First we went fishing. Besides half the people getting some seasickness, it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, we didn't catch anything, but we saw many schools of sting rays, flying fish, and dorado. To get to this front section of the boat, you had to cross this narrow section, with the ocean on one side and a sketchy wooden rail on the other. You felt like you were completing a task on the Amazing Race. We also got to feed some smaller fish to the birds. If you look close you can see the fish in the birds mouth. That night we learned to play Shuffleboard on the deck.

In Puerto Vallarta, we'd arranged for a zipline tour. Initially I was terrified, but I got over it quickly and had an awesome time. By the end I was riding with one of the workers: backwards, spinning, and upside down. I feel as though the pictures don't do it justice. Just imagine over 500 feet above the jungle. This is right before I got bit by a monkey. Yep, you read it right, I totally got bit by a monkey. It wasn't the one I was holding, but one that jumped on me. I'm still waiting for whatever disease I'm sure I caught to kick in.

This however, didn't discourage some from holding the other animals.

We had our driver drop us off at a local restaurant where we had some great Mexican food. Afterwards we got massages at "Healing Hands", which had been recommended to us by someone we sat by on the airplane, and was amazing!!

They have a bunch of random statues and things along the beachfront in Puerto Vallarta, so we couldn't let the photo ops pass us by!

This Last Supper sculpture was done completely out of sand. It was incredible!

Farewell Mexico!

Cruise: Day 2 & 3

2010-05-09T17:42:00.001-07:00

Day 2 of the cruise was a sailing day. We found plenty to do in our time. We started off with a Scavenger Hunt and our Girl's Team won! The gold medals they gave us started a frenzy, and we spent the rest of the cruise earning as many as we possibly could!Justin the Pirate was our "mascot" for the afternoon trivia.

We had fun taking pictures in the Dragon's Lair.

That night was our first formal night at dinner.

The next day we had port in Cabo San Lucas. Greg is the master negotiator (watch out William Shatner) and got us a great deal for a boat and snorkeling. It was my first time and I loved it. Greg caught this fish with his hands!

Here I am drying off in the boat.

I had to include this final picture of Day 3, since Sandy risked her life to take it. She was literally hanging off the end of the boat on the 5th Deck. Ken made her wait there while he got the camera ready for the picture.

Cruise with me, Baby

2010-05-03T08:30:00.000-07:00

Ken and I returned home yesterday from our amazing Mexican Riviera cruise. We've been planning this for almost a year and a half and had high expectations, and it did not disappoint. We had so much fun. I have so many pictures and stories to tell, but I'll break it into several posts. We flew my Mom out from Texas to stay with the boys and headed off to Los Angeles. We went with several of Ken's friends from college and their spouses. There was 14 of us total. We didn't have phone or Internet for an entire week and it was quite refreshing. We were gone for 7 days and had port stops in 3 places: Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. Here we are with Greg and Sandy, ready to board the boat!

This is our boat. It was huge! It had 14 decks. I felt like I was on the Titanic all week long. This is a picture of one of our staterooms. They were small, but you didn't spend much time in them, so it was okay. They did have king sized beds!Some of the rocking furniture.

We were out exploring our massive ship. This is up on the sport's deck, where you also find ping pong tables, basketball court, minature golf course, in-line skating, and climbing wall. This is the outside of the Dragon's Lair (a dance club).

(don't worry, many more pictures to follow!)

A Night of Twilight

2010-04-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

Awhile back Ken helped his sister with some games for a Twilight party. Since we were already half way there, we (I) decided to go ahead and have a Twilight party of my own. We asked everyone to bring a Twilight themed food and encouraged costumes. Unfortunately, I quit taking pictures after the first few minutes, so I only have one of the amazing treats that were brought. My book club girls totally pulled through! I also don't have any pictures of "Pin the Hair on Edward", another highlight of the evening. Ken and I secretly filmed the husbands of several of the women who were coming saying quotes from the books, in costume. Yes, we had a grown man in an Afro wig saying, "He leaned closer, his pale glorious face just inches from mine..." and another in a Jason mask with a knife saying, "Does my being half naked bother you?". We kept the wives completely clueless so it was a total shock when suddenly their husbands appeared on screen. It was the hit of the night and turned out even funnier than we'd planned. Here are a few pictures from the evening.This is what greeted them on the front door. It says, "Thanks for coming to our Twilight party! The children are in bed, please come around to the back door and let yourself in!"This is what was on the back door. It says, "You made it! Come in! Follow the wolf prints to get to the party!"As they came inside they met Edward #3. He said " Be careful. Don't trip. I have enough of my hands trying to keep Bella safe, let alone a bunch of grown women."The final quote read, "You're almost there. I hope you are ready to party! Just watch out for the wolves and please don't betray our secrets!" I must admit I chuckled to myself the whole time I was making these and putting them up. I thought I was pretty funny.We had a "Blood Bar" for our drinks. All of our red drinks were labeled with blood types.The silverware was sparkly, in honor of our sparkling vampires. I thought that was a nice little touch.Yes, that is Edward holding out a rose. Yes, that is Voldemort's body.Just another decoration shot. We had those pictures of movie characters hung all around the room.My sister, Tami, made these amazing werewolf cupcakes. They were so awesome, the picture really does it no justice. I saved one to give to Abe the next day and he thought it was so cool.

These are the only pictures I have that were taken during the actual party, and of course it was during the boring part, the quiz. Oh well. It really was fun, I promise.

Happy Easter 2010!

2010-04-11T18:23:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter weekend at our home! We loved having a combination General Conference and Easter and enjoyed the time we were able to spend together. After weeding through about 50 pictures of Abraham's backside as he picked Easter eggs up off the ground, I think I picked the best few to share. Note that there are no pictures of us dying eggs, that is because we didn't. Our kids are still pretty little and neither Ken or I enjoy eating hard boiled eggs, so we passed this year. Maybe next year ... or maybe not :-).

Abraham was more than thrilled with his Easter basket. My favorite item in his basket? A book called "I Can Share".Tyler said to forget the basket, he was happy with the Easter grass. Which is ironic because I didn't put any in his basket, only in Abraham's. A little brotherly love. Abraham's pucker kiss face was so cute.Abe was totally uninterested in the Easter egg hunt, until I opened one and showed him what was inside. He caught on very quickly after that. He'd find an egg and pick it up and shake it, just to make sure. The first time he got to an egg that had a marshmallow Peep in it, he threw it back on the ground, thinking he'd found a dud because it didn't shake. He was so happy. He didn't know that as soon as we got inside we were going to let him have a few and then take all his eggs away and only let him have one a day from here on out. Could there be any two cuter boys?Tyler takes Easter Egg hunts very seriously.Poor Abraham couldn't figure out how to get those darn eggs opened. It was hilarious to watch him try. (He has creepy eyes in this picture)

Happy Easter!!!

10 Months!! No, I can't believe it either!

2010-03-31T07:07:00.001-07:00

Tyler had his 10 month birthday last week. I cannot believe how time has flown by. He is growing leaps and bounds these days. He loves to pull himself to stand and has started cruising along everything he can get to. He loves to play cars with his brother. He's has 5 teeth now, with a 6th coming in. Baby food is definately a thing of the past and he not only wants to eat what we eat, but wants to feed it to himself. It makes for messy mealtimes, that's for sure. He is still a very much a momma's boy, but it doing better at staying with other people. He is not a very good sleeper and still usually wakes up at least once a night. We've been letting him cry it out and put himself back to sleep, so hopefully he'll be sleeping better soon. He's been babbling a lot more lately as well. It cracks me up to hear Abraham call out every time Tyler talks, "Mom, he just said __________". We love our little guy and are so happy he is part of our family.

Train Table

2010-03-26T18:42:00.000-07:00

Some friends of ours gave us this lovely train table awhile back. Abraham spends a majority of his play time here. Until recently, it was also a "safe" place for things he wanted to keep from Tyler. That is definately no longer the case. Abraham is getting a hands on lesson in sharing, and Tyler is just loving doing everything his brother does.

I couldn't resist the Cuteness!

2010-03-18T19:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some fun videos of the boys, simply because I couldn't resist their cuteness!

Tyler was very happy eating his strawberries for dinner. He's really started talking and babbling. It is so cute when he says "mama" or "dada" because Abe gets really excited and always calls out, "Mom! Tyler said mama/dada to me!".

Abraham's favorite song is the "Boo" song. For those who don't know it, here is an interpretation of what he's singing:

Halloween, Halloween. Lots of fun on Halloween.

Black cats and bats. Skeletons too.

Ghosts and Goblins all say Boo!

Pumpkins with eyes, shiny and bright,

Make me shiver with fright.

My favorite part of the video is at the end though. What a funny little boy he is!

I had to throw these pictures in too because I also can't resist that toothy grin!!

Sleepy Time Kim

2010-03-14T18:19:00.001-07:00

It has been awhile since I've had a good "talking in my sleep" moment. With Tyler's terrible sleeping habits, I was just too tired and slept too soundly. Now, thanks to tubes, Tyler is sleeping pretty regularly from 7/7:30 at night until 6/6:30 in the morning. Unfortunately for me (fortunately for all of you who like to laugh at my sleepy time shinaningans) this means I have begun to talk in my sleep again.

Kim: "Its all about Blackbeard"
Ken: "The pirate?"
Kim: "Yeah, you don't want to go and disrupt his day"

Dreaming of Spring

2010-03-08T17:48:00.001-08:00

We've had a respite from cold weather here and have absolutely loved being able to spend some time outside. On Friday and Saturday we all went to the park and had such a wonderful time. We came home for our first ice cream cones of the season, and for Tyler, his first ice cream cone ever! Hooray Spring! We welcome you with open arms!

(On a totally unrelated side note, it has been over 2 days since I last nursed Tyler! Although I'm still pumping, we are gradually moving to all formula and I must admit, I'm very happy about this change in our lives!)

9 Month Birthday!

2010-03-04T09:49:00.001-08:00

It has taken me awhile to get this posted (our computer broke!), but Tyler turned 9 months old on February 25th. I always love this milestone because it signifies when he has been out in the world longer than he was in the womb. He has grown so much this last month. He is very mobile now and even pulls himself to stand. He loves to push cars around (surprise, surprise). He loves to play with Abraham and it is so fun for me to watch them actually begin to play together. Abraham can make him laugh so hard and they are just the best brothers. Since his tubes were put in he is also sitting up really well and babbling quite a bit. He is sleeping most nights from 7 PM until 5:30 - 6:30 AM, which has been so wonderful. He had his 9 month appointment yesterday and we were surprised to learn he had gained less than a pound since his 6 month appointment, moving him from 95% to about 75% for weight. We were happy to hear that his head was actually on the charts now, at 97%! He also has now grown in his top front teeth. It is so adorable to see those little nubby teeth when he smiles!We are in the process of weaning Tyler to a bottle, and it has gone fairly well. He is only nursing once a day now and is drinking bottles that are half pumped milk and half formula. He is becoming such a big boy and we just love him to death.

Abraham wanted to show off his new haircut. I finally just took the buzzers to him and made it really short.

I love to Laugh!

2010-02-21T17:42:00.000-08:00

I thought it was a simple request ...

2010-02-21T17:26:00.001-08:00

All I wanted was a picture of my two guys together. A simple request right? You would think that I would have learned by now. So, for your viewing pleasure ... how many snapshots does it take to get the perfect picture?

Answer? : I may never know!

The Life of My 2 Year Old

2010-02-12T17:01:00.000-08:00

The other day we had a day of adventure and mischief with our little Abraham. First thing in the morning, I was feeding Tyler and he was running around. I heard something dump out in the kitchen and assumed he'd dumped out Tyler's Gerber puff snacks, again, (he can't get his hand into the container because of the way it is shaped) so I didn't do anything immediately. After I finished feeding Tyler, I went into the kitchen and found he'd dumped out all my baking chocolate pieces. His mouth was full of chocolates, as were both hands. When I came in he smiled and said, "I found all mine chocolate Mom!". He was so pleased with himself.

Abraham loves to watch TV in our bedroom and he and Tyler have their own little chairs that they sit in when they are in there. He has also learned how to use the buttons on the side of the TV and turn it on himself. So, while I was cleaning up dinner, he went into my room, undressed, and turned on TV. I walked in to find him like this.

Finally, that night, Ken went in to check on the boys. He came out of Abraham's room and immediately grabbed the camera. This is how he found Abe sleeping.

He'd had a long day. Such a cute kid!

Gotta love a good sport!

2010-02-07T17:46:00.000-08:00

Ken and I had some friends over the other evening to play some games. We love playing games with these guys because they think "punishments" are as much fun as we do. You may remember our last foray with Soy Joy bars. Anyway, Mark and Jonathan were our game losers. And they were great sports, as evidenced by the pictures below. Let's admit it, the punishments are as fun as the games themselves. There is a cartoon about a little pig named Olivia. She pronounces "Rules of Life" during her show. My favorite Rule of Life (I don't remember it exactly, but you get the idea): Whatever the problem, costumes are always a good solution.

2010-01-31T18:39:00.000-08:00

Well, we had our yearly snow here in North Carolina. Abraham was SO excited and kept telling us, "There is snow at Abraham's house".Saturday, we couldn't wait to get outside and play. Unfortunately it was still snowing, and it was almost a freezing rain/sleet type of snow. It was not fun to be out in. Since Tyler had just had his tubes surgery the day before, he got to spend all of 5 minutes outside. I was too worried that he'd get sick and it would cause some kind of complication. Luckily, the weather was much more compliant later on, so Abraham and I had a great time playing outside together. We used our pizza pan as a makeshift sled. Our front yard was a perfect hill for us to "sled" down. The freezing rain/sleet/snow the day before made a layer of ice on top of the snow. I included the above picture so you could see how our footprints hardly even made an indent in the snow. Initially this quelled Abe's lofty dreams of a snowman. Then we realized that for some reason, the snow on our cars wasn't ice coated, so we made our measly little snowman.
He may be small, but he was made with love and he was well loved!
We've been snowed in for a full two days now. Ken is going to work from home tomorrow, since the streets have not been plowed or treated at all in our neighborhood (we assume the major streets are better taken care of), but we've had our fun and we are ready for the snow to melt and the sun to come back out!

Thank You!!

2010-01-31T09:57:00.001-08:00

Thank you for the tubes in my ears! I'm so happy!

Bubbles & Cookies ... Life is Good!

2010-01-25T17:34:00.001-08:00

A biter biscuit for TylerOreos for Abraham.
Gymboree bubbles (they are seriously the best!)

And the Yo Gabba Gabba Soundtrack. A perfect way to end an evening at the Carlile home.

8 Months Old!!!

2010-01-25T12:48:00.000-08:00

Tyler turned 8 months old today and he got an exciting gift ... he was scheduled for tubes surgery for this Friday morning. We visited the ENT earlier and, big surprise, Tyler had double ear infections AGAIN! They put him at high priority for the surgery and started him immediately on a heavy duty antibiotic so that he'd be ready for surgery. We are only a little nervous, mostly excited that he will finally be healthy.

In other news, he is starting to ditch the army crawl and climb up on his hands and knees. He still can't sit up for long (darn that big head), but he is definitely getting better at it. We have learned that he loves yogurt and will eat baby foods that he previously wouldn't eat if we mix it with some vanilla yogurt. His happy personality still shines through his ear infection grumpiness and it is obvious he adores his brother (most of the time).

We love this sweet little boy!

A Truly Authentic Mom

2010-01-07T05:31:00.000-08:00

My sister Brenda had a wonderful post on her blog yesterday about being a truly authentic mom. At the end of her post she "tagged" me and she left me the following compliment:

My younger sister Kim: She has 2 super cute boys that are growing up to be true gentlemen. She can saves tons of money every year by cutting coupons and working the ads and as far as I know keeps a spotless house, not to mention she is the primary president in her ward.

As much as I wish my house were always spotless, I was flattered by her kind words. I'm not as clever as she is in writing such a fun post, but I've been meaning to post this story for a few weeks. I thought it adequately portrayed my "true authentic momness" as much as anything else.

We were eating dinner the other night (which of course consisted of Tyler making a mess out of a biter biscuit, Ken & I actually eating, & Abraham running around the front room playing with his cars) when the phone rang. We didn't get to it in time & saw on caller ID that it was our neighbor across the street. I decided I'd finish dinner & then call her back. A few minutes later, we hear Abe, "There's a firetruck outside." We didn't think twice about it, assuming he was playing with one of his dozen firetrucks he owns. Then we hear it again, "Mom, there's a firetruck outside." Ken & I continued to eat. Finally, after his third attempt, "Mom, there's a firetruck outside Abraham's house." I thought maybe I should just go & look. Sure enough, with lights blazing, 2 firetrucks were parked right outside our house. Remembering the phone call from our neighbor, I grabbed a pair of shoes & went running out the door. I found my neighbor in her driveway. She'd come home from work & found her carbon monoxide detector going off. She'd continued into the house, intending to check it, when she heard their other carbon monoxide detector going off. That was enough to rattle her & she called 911. When the firetrucks arrived, they fortunately found that it was a fluke coincidence that both of her detectors ran out of batteries on the same day. Once I found there was no real emergency, my authentic momness kicked in. I ran home, threw a coat & shoes on Abraham & grabbed the camera. I walked straight up to the firemen & with my best paparazzi voice explained that my son really loved firetrucks & I wondered if I could get some pictures with them & their brightly flashing trucks. They kindly acquiesced. Abe was happy for days that the firemen had come to visit him.

Look at admiration on his face. I love that Abe totally had his hand on the fireman's leg!

7 Month Birthday, a Reindeer, & a Chicken

2010-01-01T10:45:00.000-08:00

On Christmas day, Tyler reached his 7 month birthday. He has come so far in the last month and he is quickly becoming a little boy. He's starting to sit up, although he folds in half most of the time still. His biggest milestone is that he is starting to crawl. He's got a modified army crawl going on and he's starting to really move around. It is so cute.

He also had another accomplishment: his two bottom teeth finally came through! There is something sweet about a baby with a little toothy grin! We didn't waste any time giving him his first taste of biter biscuits and they were a HUGE hit!

For Christmas, his cousins Casey and Clayton sent him this adorable reindeer outfit. It doesn't get much cuter than this!

Abraham thought dressing up in costumes looked fun and wondered where his reindeer was. A chicken was the best we could find for him.

My cute, cute boys.

We can't imagine life without our sweet little Tyler and his sweet little smile. Happy 7 months!

Christmas with the Carlile's

2009-12-27T18:15:00.000-08:00

I learned one important lesson last Christmas, I am terrible at making Christmas pajamas. For 3 years, I tried. For 3 years, I failed. This year our pajamas were store bought and everyone was much happier with that result. You can't see, but the boys bottoms are covered in motorcycles. Abraham started rolling around on the floor making vrooming motorcycle sounds. It was hilarious.Abraham woke up at about 7:15. I was waiting with the video camera and Ken went into his room. He asked him who came to our house last night and without hesitation Abe replied, "GRANDMA!!". Sorry buddy, no Grandma, just Santa. He took awhile to realize that we were actually letting him open his gifts, but once he got into the groove there was no stopping him. I never tired of hearing, "Look Mom! Santa brought Abraham a ______" Ken and I conspired with Santa and got a king sized bed! It hasn't arrived yet, but we are so excited for it! The boys also got me a pressure cooker! I can't wait to start experiementing with cooking with it.

Tyler actually woke up at 5:30 and stayed awake for about 45 minutes, then fell back asleep. He slept through the first half of Abraham's present opening and then came out and enjoyed watching Abraham open his presents for him. He loved playing with all the bows and wrapping paper.

We are so thankful to everyone who sent us wonderful gifts. We had a relaxing day (& stayed nice and cozy in our matching Snuggies homemade by my Mom!) and enjoyed the time together as a family. We also enjoyed reflecting on the great gift that is the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the true reason for this holiday and we are grateful for Him.

For those interested, here is a slideshow with additional pictures.

Our Little Drummer Boy

2009-12-25T07:21:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone! We love you!

Happy Birthday Ken!

2009-12-24T10:13:00.000-08:00

Before all the Christmas / New Year's posts get in the way, I wanted to be sure to blog about Ken's birthday, which was December 13th. Ken is the master of guessing his presents, so this year I worked extra hard to surprise him. I got his parents and my parents to go in with me and we got him a super fancy leaf blower for the lawn. Since his birthday was on a Sunday, we gave it to him Friday night so he could use it on Saturday. Abe was so excited for Daddy's "Happy Day" cake and talked about it all day long. It was really cute.

Thanks for being the best Husband and Father! We love you, Happy Birthday!

When my Brother's Away

2009-12-15T12:27:00.001-08:00

I FINALLY get to play!!!

Tyler's been dying to get his hands on Abe's omnipresent "bucket o' cars". Since Abe is having a sleep over with cousins tonight, he finally got to play to his heart's content. (Tami, don't let Abe see this post!!!)