Our New Addition...

On Friday, June 4 we welcomed Blake Andrew to the family. I was 38 weeks and 2 days pregnant, just like Tyler. He arrived at 10:16 PM after a day full of mild contractions. He weighed in at 7 pounds 1 ounce and was 20 inches long. The delivery was perfect and painless! I only had to push one time (a big change from Tyler's delivery).

Blake Andrew...

... and his proud brother, Tyler.

The first family picture!

Tyler and Blake are adjusting nicely. Tyler just loves cuddling with his brother!

Time to Garden...

Andy and Tyler had fun getting things ready for the garden this year. Tyler was determined to get dirt anywhere he possibly could. He also used his new gardening tools to "beautify" his space. The boys had so much fun together.

Tyler and his fake smile getting ready to get dirty.

Watching Daddy and following his lead while taking all the dirt out of the pot.

Dirt in the shoes is no fun...

Diggin' it...

Our beautiful backyard and Crabapple tree. Good work boys!

Bubbles...

What is better than playing with bubbles and Mema at the same time? Tyler had an enjoyable afternoon with Mema in the backyard chasing after bubbles with his puppies. The weather has been beautiful and we have been able to spend some time outside playing. Thank goodness spring is finally here.

Go Mema! Look at all those bubbles!

This is so much fun!

Ah...I thought I caught one. Where did it go?

Good times...

Chasing after bubbles uphill...

Sneaking up on them...Maybe this time I will get one!

After a hard day of chasing bubbles, Tyler takes a rest with Lily.

Happy Birthday "2" You...

My little man, Tyler, turned 2 last Tuesday! I cannot believe it! The past two years have been so wonderful and full of happiness for our family. For Tyler's birthday, we went to Mema and Bepa's house for a birthday celebration. They made a wonderful dinner and we all enjoyed cupcakes. Tyler was singing Happy Birthday to himself all day, starting in the morning when he woke up. He is such a happy boy and he is just getting so big.

We went for a visit with our doctor this week and here are his stats...

Weight: 30 pounds (75th percentile)

Height: 36 inches (90th percentile)

Interests: Playing with anything musical, being outside, reading books, coloring, trains, trucks, Bepa, singing his ABC's, counting to 10, talking, and getting dirty

The doctor said that Tyler's speech was great (stringing together 2-3 word phrases) and he is right on track with what he expects from a two year old. He is constantly in motion, in the "mine" stage (which will be interesting when we have #2 here), and very opinionated (I think this is the terrible 2's you hear about). He really is a great kid. We love you so much Mr. T!

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday to Tyler...

An accordion to add to the rest of the instruments...

His happy face when he first heard the sound of the accordion...

Happy Birthday T...We love you little birthday boy!

Little Blues Traveler...

Today, Tyler learned how to play a new instrument, the harmonica. Last week he could just play one note and today he was playing several notes. Our little music man enjoyed playing for the family and his Sesame Street characters. He is a Bob Dylan in the making!

Happy Easter...

This year we had a week long Easter celebration starting on the Sunday before Easter. Andy missed Easter with the family, so we celebrated with an egg hunt before he left for his trip the day before Easter to the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) in New York for a week. Barb and Steve had an egg hunt for Tyler so Andy could be there to enjoy his first time searching for Easter eggs. Tyler loved searching for eggs and squealed when he found "beans" inside the eggs. He is now officially obsessed with jelly beans inside the colorful plastic eggs. They are the first thing he asks for when he gets out of bed in the morning and whenever he sees his basket, he is asking for his eggs.

The day Andy left for his trip, Tyler found a basket from the Easter bunny. It was so strange because he was a day early (Daddy couldn't miss this either).

I was very thankful to spend Easter Sunday with Barb and Steve. Tyler snoozed with Steve (Bepa) while Barb and I had all the fun of coloring the eggs.

My little bunny...

Barb and I had way too much fun coloring eggs...

Where did that bunny come from?

On a mission to find the eggs...

The Egg Hunt

The day Daddy left, Tyler found his basket with lots of "beans" in it. I love this video. You have to pause the music at the bottom when you view it. We hope you had a Happy Easter!

Mr. T and the Beeps...

Tyler and Bepa (Grandpa) had a great time playing in their band (Mr. T and the Beeps) tonight. Tyler LOVES music and playing musical instruments whenever he can. He plays the drums (two at a time), strums at his guitar, and sometimes he even pretends that the guitar is a violin and uses a drumstick to play his violin. He know the names of instruments and can recognize the sound of drums and guitar while listening to music in the car. He certainly got our love of music. Maybe someday he will be able to teach his mommy and daddy how to really play the guitar instead of what we do now...play the air guitar!

Tyler taking this "guitar" stuff seriously...