Birthday Boy

As usual, I have a few posts to catch up on (including Ryan's 3 month post), but today is a special day for our Tyler Man. Somehow he's turning 5 today! I'm certain that he was just born last month or something, and now he's FIVE! I'm really in denial about the whole thing. The fact that he's no longer a Sunbeam at church, the fact that he'll be starting Kindergarten this fall, the fact that he's SO GROWN UP! I sure miss his sweet little baby face, but I love my little man more than ever!

Everyone knows that Tyler loves turtles and T-Rex, that his most favorite color is green, and that he's a pretty witty little guy, but here are 5 things you may not know about Tyler:
1. He's not eager to grow up. He says being little is more fun (aside from getting to be a parent, I completely agree with him!). He even asked me a couple months back if 5 was still little. I assured him that it was. :)
2. He doesn't like many vegetables, but will eat spinach any day of the week. He's seen what it can do for Popeye!
3. He has known his letter sounds for quite some time, and is in the beginning stages of reading. He can spell phonetically and is putting sounds together to read 3, 4, and sometimes 5 letter words.
4. He loves riding his tricycle. This is what he spends 95% of his outdoor time doing. And even though he got a new one for his birthday last year, he's still loyal to his original (gimp tire and all!) Currently he doesn't even have to do without on a rainy day. Luckily, Allison got a tricycle from Santa and it hasn't been broken in outside yet. He doesn't even mind that it's pink and has Barbie plastered all over the sides!
5. He has an amazing memory until it comes to locating his belongings. Seriously, he can recall - with detail - something we did or somewhere we went 2 years ago, but can't find that toy he was playing with 2 minutes ago!

Aside from his charming smile and adorable personality, here are 5 things we love about Tyler:
1. His helpfulness. Especially to Mommy with a new baby in the house!
2. His desire to learn and know about things. If there's something he is unfamiliar with, he'll ask questions about it until he's knowledgeable on the subject.
3. His spunk and energy. The kid runs a close race with the Energizer Bunny! And what's even better is that he stays chipper and happy even when he's running on empty!
4. His sense of humor. He keeps us laughing on a daily basis!
5. His willingness to try new things. From craw fish and stuffed mushrooms to the huge water slide on the cruise ship (which he wasn't tall enough to go on), he 's not afraid to venture into the unknown.

And just for fun, here's 5 things Tyler wants everyone to know about him today:
1. Today is my special day because it's my birthday, and birthdays are special!
2. I'm lucky because I get a cake and presents!
3. I am 5 and I'm almost all grown up. If I want to get a pet turtle I have to be grown up. (I guess this is the one exception to not wanting to grow up.)
4. I want to be a Paleontologist someday.
5. My birthday is in winter and winter is my favorite season!

If you'd like to see how he's grown over the past 5 years, click here to see his 4 year post.

Happy Birthday Mr. Tyler Man!

We Love You!

Cupcapes with Grandma

Nope, it's not a typo. Allison calls them cupcapes. :) She had been asking to make them ever since Grandma took a tally of what dessert everyone wanted at Thanksgiving dinner. But, since Grandma was sick on Thanksgiving, she wasn't able to make them with Allison and had to give her a raincheck. I think Allison got the better end of the deal by waiting until Christmas to do them. She got to do a cupcape Christmas tree instead of just regular old cupcapes! Here are some pictures of the process.
(FYI - They made them one night and then decorated them the next.)

The design:

Time to ice the cupcakes.

Step #2 complete!

Time to decorate.

The finished product!

Cleaning...

...June Cleaver style!

The day the package from Grandma and Grandpa Tholkes arrived with Christmas outfits inside, Allison wanted to try hers on right away. After putting it on, she immediately ran upstairs to her room to accesorize! A short while later, I was doing some cleaning and Allison busted out her little vacuum to help. She was vacuuming in style! I just had to snap a couple of shots of my miniature June Cleaver. :)

Perhaps a black and white version would be more fitting....

An Early Snow

Well, early for the south anyway. Since the weathermen were calling for snow flurries the first weekend of this month, we decided to head back up to our cabin in North Carolina (we had just been there the previous weekend for Thanksgiving). We knew that if we were getting flurries in our area, then most likely there would be some accumulation up in the "mountains." Sure enough, early Saturday morning this is what we woke up to.

It wasn't even more than an inch or two, but we thought it was wonderful. Tyler was especially happy since his most favorite season is winter, and his one wish each year is that it will snow! Even though the kids had only had a few hours of sleep, they were more than willing to jump out of bed and get bundled up to head outside and play in it.

They first walked up the hill with Pawpaw. That's our cabin in the background.

Then we decided to go for a drive up into the higher mountains to see if we could find even more. It was a beautiful drive!

As the sun came out and it warmed up a bit, the snow started melting rather quickly. We decided to stop and play one last time before it was completely gone.

Tyler got to make his snow angel...

And Allison was amazed with how the snow stuck to her clothes and mittens.

They spent most of their time throwing snowballs at Daddy...

And thought it was hysterical!

It was a FUN day!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

A Ryan Update!

I guess when friends and relatives are having to make special requests to see pictures of my baby, I'm not doing a good job of bragging about and showing him off. Really it's not that I don't want to, it's just that life is rather busy for me these days. And I really wanted to get all those fall posts caught up. So, since that task is complete, I can get down to business and brag about my little man!

Last Wednesday, Ryan turned 2 months old. I inadvertently took the picture of him above in the same outfit and similar pose to the one I put on his one month post. Since it was only 2 days after he turned 2 months, I thought that was pretty ironic!

He had his 2 month check-up on Friday and these were his stats:
weight - 11 pounds, 4 ounces (over a 3 pound gain since birth)
length - 23 inches
head circumference - 15 1/2 inches
All measurements were in the 50th percentile.

At 2-months-old, Ryan...

• Is smiling up a storm! (Here's that picture I promised you back at the one month post.)

• Still loves to be swaddled, and prefers to sleep on his tummy. (Don't worry, I only put him on his tummy for naps when I can watch him.)

My little inchworm.

• Thinks ceiling fans are hilarious and loves talking to them!



• Already enjoys spending time in his Bumbo seat.

• Is such an alert little guy. If he's awake, he HAS to be sitting up or held upright to take in all his surroundings.
• Is starting to arch his back and turn to one side while lying on his back. He may be flipping over soon!
• Is showing that he has a bit of a temper. When Ryan is unhappy, there usually aren't fussy warning signs that gradually build up to cries. He goes from cool, calm, and collected to angry and screaming in a matter of seconds!
• Still hates his car seat. I have a feeling this won't be changing anytime soon. In fact, I'm not even sure that hate is a strong enough word for how much he dislikes it!

Here are some more of my favorite pictures, just because.

*Keep scrolling for another catch-up post!*

Tyler's Wish List

Tyler: I'm going to tell Santa I want a remote control rocket and remote control T-Rex for Christmas.
Me: You already have a remote control T-Rex.
Tyler: No, a medium sized one. One that doesn't have a cord.
Me: I don't know if they make them without cords.
Tyler: No, SAAAANTA. I know the guy.

*Keep scrolling for another catch-up post!*