And he's off!

Ty took his first real steps on Mother's Day, and since then, he has been practicing and getting more stable with his new skill. These videos were taken a few days ago. He was really motivated to grab the camera!

The Loot

As I've gotten older, birthdays have become less exciting.  Really, it is just another day.  It is nice to get some fun presents, though!  This is my stockpile:  a couple of shirts, a couple of fun board games, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, a $50 gift card to a spa, a new bike, and some cash!  And the presents from my side of the family haven't even shown up yet!  To top it off, Adam took me to dinner at Macaroni Grill, one of my all-time favorites.  I have to say, I am seriously spoiled, and I seriously don't deserve near what I got.  Still, I'm grateful to have it!

Happy Birthday!

This is what I woke up to this morning:

Adam apparently did this last night after I was in bed.  He is so cute to try and get the day started out right for me!

New Furniture!

I started a paper route back in March with two goals in mind:  to buy a nice new set of living room furniture and a sweet pair of running shoes.  I got my running shoes with my first paycheck, and just last weekend, we were able to get our new living room set!  I am SO happy with it.  We got a nice coffee table and two end tables, along with a sofa and loveseat.  The couches are microfiber, so everything will come out of them, which is totally the way to go when you have kids (and a husband!).  They are incredibly comfortable, and I think they look much nicer than the lovesac and vinyl couch that we had previously.  Now I am looking for a couple of cute, inexpensive table lamps to go on the end tables.  I don't want to spend too much on them, as Ty has broken two of our existing lamps in the last three days.  You just never know how long things will last around here!  Any ideas?

Bonky Boy

I know I recently posted about a head injury Ty received, but wait, there's more!  We are at a pretty tough stage right now.  Ty is trying to go everywhere, but he is still a bit unstable on his feet.  Yesterday we were at the doctor office and he was cruising around like usual.  He tripped and hit his head on the leg of the exam table, causing him to get a pretty good gash across his forehead.  Then today, we went swimming, and when we were done, we were just hanging out on a lounge chair at the poolside.  When it was time to go, I was gathering our things, and Ty fell head-first off the chair and cracked his head on the cement. Unfortunately, he hit on the same place on his forehead that he did yesterday, so the gash re-opened.  He also got a pretty good goose egg and a scrape.  I'm sure that people who have had toddlers understand this stage, but I am also fairly certain those who haven't must be thinking, "What is that mother doing to her baby?!"

Annie are you ok?

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to run in a 5K race.  I was really excited about it because the last 5K I did was a year ago--when I was 8 months pregnant with Ty.  I thought I might do a little better this time around, with him in a stroller instead of in utero!  It was a clear, warm, beautiful day.  My friend, Annie, ran the race with Ty and I.  Honestly, I thought it was lots of fun.  It reminded me that I really do enjoy running and maybe I will do it more often!

I have this thing about finishing races strong, even if the rest wasn't amazing.  So, right at the end of the race, I said something to Annie like, "Let's sprint to the end" or "Let's finish strong" or something like that.  We both picked up our pace and started making a mad dash for the finish line. That's when disaster struck.  I was only using one hand to push the stroller, as I was pumping with my left hand.  Because of this, the stroller starting dragging to the right. Unfortunately, Annie was on my right side, and we had a serious collision!  The stroller plowed her to the ground hard! She lay on the ground for a few moments, but then got up and finished the race.  Of course I felt terrible!!  She had road rash across her elbow, knee, and both hands. We joked that I just wanted to take her out at the end of the race so I could beat her!  Anyway, I am happy to report that she is doing fine, and we are still friends (I think!).

This isn't the best photo ever, but this is Annie and me 

right after the collision running to the finish line

After the Race

Annie shows off one of her many injuries!

Ty Chillin' in the Stroller

Thinking In the Box

Eleven Months Old Today

Ty is eleven months old today.  I seriously can't believe he will be one in just one month!  I thought it would be fun to post a list of things he is doing at this stage.  Some of them he has been doing for quite a while; others have been more recent developments.  Here goes:

If you say, "Give kisses" he will lean in to you with his mouth open for a big wet one!

He can say, "Mom," "Hi," and "Yay!"

He can give high fives.

He can wave hi and bye.

He will clap his hands if you say, "Everybody clap your hands" or "Yay, Ty!" While he is clapping, he will also say, "Yay!"

He loves to empty out every drawer, box, cupboard, etc. he can get his little hands on.

He will dance if you tell him to.  So funny!

He will do a "wild Indian cry."  (I know that's not politically correct at all, but I don't know how else to describe it.  You know what I mean--he will open his mouth and say "Ahhh," while hitting it with his hand.) 

His favorite places to be are his stroller and the bathtub.  He has absolutely no fear of water at all.  He will stick his face in it and come up smiling.  

He can walk all around a room as long as he has one hand on the wall or a piece of furniture.

He can walk 5 steps all on his own.  This is his most recent development.  He will walk back and forth between Adam and I.  Any day now he is just going to take off running!

It is absolutely amazing to watch the way a child develops over his first year.  He started as this tiny, helpless, 7 lb. creature that could do nothing for himself, and now he is moving, eating, talking, and playing all on his own.  It has been so awesome to watch him change and grow!

A Tribute to Two Amazing Women

Since today is Mother's Day, I have been thinking about two very special women:  my mother and my mother-in-law.  Though they are very different, I admire each of them more than any other women I know.

My mother is a rock.  She is the one who loved me, taught me, and shaped me into the woman I am today.  I don't know anyone more selfless than she is.  I admire the fact that she teaches the gospel to teenagers with special needs, a job not just anyone could do!  She is a little crazy :), and I think that might have rubbed off a bit on me!  She is the perfect combination of fun, understanding, caring, and loving.  

My mother-in-law, Rosemary, is amazing, too.  I have often thought about the fact that she has raised SIX BOYS.  The incredible thing is that all six have served missions, the ones that are married have been married in the temple, and all are righteous and active in the Church.  I think that speaks volumes about the woman she is.  I especially appreciate the fact that she raised Adam to be the man he is, so that I can have the husband I do. Rosemary is an extremely generous woman.  There is never a holiday that goes by that she does not send gifts, money, and lots of love through the mail!  Thanks for all you do for our little family!

Thanks Mom and Rosemary for the example that you are to me.  You will never know how much you are loved and appreciated!

  

OUCH!

Ty and I were practicing balancing today in his room.  He was doing really well, but then he decided he wanted to walk!  He took three steps, only to fall forward and crash into his bookshelf!  Ouch!  He got a big gash/welt across his forehead.  His eye connected with a couple of hard-bound  picture books, so he has a cut and bruise across his eye, as well (that didn't really show up well in the photos).  I'm sure this won't be his last fall, but it still made me feel terrible!

Cute Pictures

I love this messy little face!

Ty has started doing the funniest thing.  Whenever you laugh at him (or whenever he thinks you're laughing at him), he will throw back his head, wrinkle up his nose, and do this big, cheesy grin.  It cracks me up!

Feeling Domestic

I'm not sure what my deal is, but the last few days I have been in a cleaning frenzy. I remember the same thing happened about this same time last year, but I chalked that up to "nesting," because Ty was coming soon! I don't have that excuse this year; I just have some OCD tendencies. When I say that I have been in a frenzy, I really mean it. I have been cleaning vents, drawers, scrubbing inside garbage cans, you name it! This is our super-clean fridge after I removed all the food, shelves, drawers, etc. and scrubbed it all down. I had a flashback to my single days living at the Riv while I was cleaning, as my "inspection chore" each month was cleaning the fridge. None of my roommates ever wanted to do it, but even then, I got a crazy sort of satisfaction out of knowing that it was perfectly clean! Is there something wrong with me?

As always, Ty was very willing to help as I did chores!

After all my cleaning was finished yesterday, I decided to go the extra mile and make my butterscotch/chocolate chip cookies for Adam's basketball team. (Thanks for the egg, Kim!)I have had a couple of requests for the recipe, so here it is:

2/3 c. magarine, softened 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. white sugar 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. brown sugar 1/2 package chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla 1/2 package butterscotch chips
1 egg 1 1/2 c. flour

I generally just throw the ingredients in in the order listed. I usually end up adding about 1/4-1/2 cup more flour, too. This just makes them a little less flat. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. It makes about 2 doz. cookies