Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

A hot day in May

To catch you up...we have been keeping busy. A couple weekends ago we took a trip to Iowa City. Lee went on to a bachelor party in St. Charles and Tyler and I stayed at my mom's. My friend Katie graduated with her masters from U of I, so we went to go celebrate with her and some friends for a while. We took Tyler to the party, which was in a party room at a restaurant/bar. He, of course, was not about to stay in only one room while at the party, so for most of the party I was watching him run around and trying to keep him entertained. He did great until the very end when he had had enough and was ready to go back to Grandma's. We got an hour and a half out of him though, so I thought that he did really well! Lee had a great time at his party and came back to my mom's Sunday afternoon. We packed up the car, like we always do when leaving my mom's. When we get to my mom's all we have are our bags and us. When we leave, our car is crammed pack with food, clothes, toys, anything we can fit. It's like this everytime we go! It's so funny!

Feeding himself some applesauce.

Last week I felt like I lived at the clinic here in town. I visited the clinic three times last week. I go every Tuesday to get my shot. Wednesday, Tyler had his 18 mth. check-up and a shot. And then on Friday, I had my check-up. It's funny that the girls at the counter know exactly who I am and why I'm there!

Grandma and Tyler with the new work bench

This is the drill. It actually goes down and "drills" a hole out of the piece of "wood"

Playing with the tools

We had a really nice Memorial Day Weekend. We got to stay home and get things done, which was awesome! My dad was planning on coming to help Lee with some outdoor work that he could use an extra hand on, but the weekend was calling for rain every day. So, we had my dad change his plans and we will plan on him coming a different weekend sometime soon. BUT, it turns out that the weather men are terrible and it ended up not raining at all until Monday evening. So, on Saturday Lee was able to scrape and then paint our back corner fences in the backyard and also the mailbox in the front. I, of course, got the entire house cleaned and laundry finished. On Sunday, Lee got some seed spread in the yard to hopefully help our sorry grass. We definately have to worst yard in the neighborhood, so we are trying to fix it the cheapest way possible. We were invited to a grill out Sunday evening, which included alot of other kids for Tyler to play with. We all had a really great time relaxing outside and watching the kids play. It was a gorgeous night! Monday was actually spent as a day off, which it very well should be! It was a great weekend!!!

Tyler, Mom, and big, fat belly at the grill out.

Tyler and Dad at the grill out

Funny Tyler out on the back deck stairs. How the strainer got out there, I don't know!

I had my last day of school today. Now just impatiently waiting to hear about a job for next school year. It would be nice to know whether or not I have a job in the fall, so that I can figure out what I need to do for work this summer. Very frustrating!!!

Lee is still working crazy busy hours!

Tyler is learning more and saying more words everyday. It's so nice to finally hear him say actual words! My mom found him an $8 work/tool bench at a garage sale that she brought over this past weekend. Tyler absolutely loves it! We love that it takes his time and keeps him focused on something for awhile, no matter how much noise the drill and saw make!

Only twice at the clinic this week! Things are looking up!

WEDDING SEASON HAS BEGUN!

Tyler is 18 mths. old today! A year and a half! Wow--that's amazing!

Tyler has now mastered the art of throwing fits. He's great at throwing himself onto the floor, putting his face into the carpet and screaming because he may not have gotten his way. This is a great and fun new stage! Not exactly! Other than that and more molars coming in, he's doing great. These big teeth have really made him whiny and cuddly the past couple days. He's got 2 big ones in, now we are working on two more.

This is out on the back deck tonight. Wow, has he come a long way in a year and a half!

Tyler's got some new dance moves. Both arms in the air and bouncing away! It's hilarious. One of his favorite things to do is listen to music and dance. This picture is of him at Nat's wedding.

We went to my cousin Natalie's wedding last weekend, where Tyler got to show off some of his dance moves. He had a good time and enjoyed running around with some of my cousins kids while speeches were being given. He also found a broom on the floor, which he then had to walk around with and clean the place up a bit. Lee says that he watches me too much. I think that he's learning great things! He will know exactly how to clean up after himself!

Tyler and I took a trip to Pella for the Tulip Festival last week. We got there just in time for the parade, which he really enjoyed watching. We walked around, looked at all the pretty tulips, and got to eat some good food! It was a great day for it and I was glad that we took the trip!

The next favorite thing of his to do, would have to be mowing while Lee is mowing the grass. It's so cute!

I had a great Mother's Day. Besides doing breakfast for my mom, grandma, Lee, Tyler, and Josh, Lee was in charge of the kitchen the rest of the day! I got to take a couple breaks to just relax upstairs by myself, which is always needed. But it was also nice to be able to hang out with my mom and grandma when they were there. We enjoyed some time out on the deck and I know they had a great time playing with Tyler.

We are slowly making progress on narrowing down names for the baby boy. I think we're getting close, but we haven't officially set our minds to just one yet.

School is coming to an end! 2 weeks left!!! I do have to work this summer, not sure yet on what I am going to do, but I will find something.

LONG WEEK!

This past week has been extremely long and is still going for Lee. He has been working some incredibly long hours and is at work again today for a full day. We miss his company and help at home and can't wait for it to slow down a little at work!

The squinting of the eyes! Gets me every time!

Playing out on the back deck BEFORE daycare!
Tyler has to wait for Bailey to go downstairs in the morning, before he can start coming down the stairs. This process can sometimes take awhile as Bailey doesn't move so fast these days.

I've been trying to think of all the new things that Tyler is doing these days. At the beginning of April, he started the whole hand holding thing, which is really cute (at times). The reason why I say at times is because he wants to take Lee or I everywhere he goes by grabbing our finger and taking us with him. Most of the time, very cute! When you've just sat down and you want to rest for at least 5 minutes, not so cute. He is now very interested in the light switches and can reach the one on the way up the stairs. So, he climbs the first two steps and stands there and switches the light on and off, on and off, and it keeps going! He can also open some of the doors in our house now. He's got the bathroom doors and his bedroom door mastered. So...if you're at our house and using the rest room...you may want to lock it--the little guy will follow you in! Tyler's been climbing everything for awhile now, but now he loves to get up on the couch, with some item to throw, sit himself up, throw the item, go get the item, and come back to do it all over again. Sometimes he may be throwing a ball, the remote, his cell phone, anything will work and it goes on forever! He has also found a new joy in doing things while laying on his belly. He likes to draw with chalk outside when laying on his belly and likes to play with his computer keyboard inside on his belly. Tyler can now say football, golfball, basketball, and just plain ball. The cool thing about it, is that he knows exactly which each means!

Clapping for himself after putting another lego on his masterpiece.

Checking the gas in his mower.

That is all the "new" stuff I can think of for now.

I got my first shot last week. 1 down, 17 more to go!!!