Thanksgiving Week!

Noah has surprised us this week with the ability to draw!! He has LOVED coloring but on Sunday he was doodling on his magna-doodle and said, "Look Mom, I draw Tyler!" And he did!! Complete with eyes, nose and a smile! Dave and I are so proud of him!

The next picture he did was of Tyler too, but I asked him to put legs on Ty and he did! Then on his own, he drew Tyler a hat. He was so happy, now he is drawing Sheba (our cat), Mommy and Daddy!

Tyler has FINALLY shown interest in crawling!! He has been pushing himself up on all fours and rocking back and forth. He has not yet made any forward progress, but is able to push himself backward! He can also turn in circles while on his belly.

Tyler had his 9 month well baby check up on Tuesday and is growing perfectly! He is 2 feet 5.5 inches which puts him in the 86% for height and 21 pounds which puts him at 58%. Thank goodness he did not have to get any shots this visit.

Noah came with us to the doctor and he is always so protective of Ty. He kept telling the doctor, "No, that is my Baby Tyler Finn". I had to keep reassuring Noah that everything was okay and that the doctor was just making sure Tyler was growing just the way he was suppose to.

We typically fly back to Georgia and spend Thanksgiving with Dave's parents but this year we could not make it. We hope to see them very soon though. Instead, we spent Thanksgiving at my mom and Gary's house (Grammie and Grampie). It was very special as everyone could be there, including my my Grandparents, Grandma and Pappy. Tyler and Noah are their only great-grandchildren (hint, hint Carrie and Nick!) and so it is always a special time when they get to spend time together.

Here Noah and Pappy are sharing a squeeze.

Grandma and Tyler are looking through a picture album.

Ty loving being able to walk, even if a bit guided!

Grandma is caught!! There were only 6 desserts compared to the 33 deserts last year in Georgia! (Dave's mom, Momma Rose, just cannot help herself!)

The family picture (will be describe in sections): Pappy and Grandma front and center. From left: Dave holding Noah, myself, Nick (Carrie's husband), Carrie (my cousin) holding Tyler, Gary (Grampie and Rhonda's husband), Rhonda (my mom and Pappy and Grandma's daughter), Larry (Mitzi's sig. other), Aunt Mitzi (Pappy and Grandma's daughter and mother of Carrie and Sadie), Larron (Larry's son), Tanya (Larron's wife), Gavin (my brother) and Sadie (my cousin).

No one was standing on anything to make themselves taller. We just have tall men in our family (except Grampie-He is the 'normal heighted' one)!!

Enjoying the Days of Fall

Okay, so it has been over a week since the last posting, but there has been a lot going on! The fall here is so beautiful and in between the rainy weather, we have been blessed with a few days of blue skies. We have taken advantage of this and spent an afternoon at Mt. Tabor here in Portland. There are many trails to hike and run; as well as, a neat little park and beautiful views of the city and mountain. Here is a view to the east of Mt. Hood.

Noah LOVED running around! It was hard for him to stop for any pictures to be taken, but we managed to get a few (mostly when he wasn't paying attention). I love this action shot of Noah!

I loved watching Noah run around discovering the outdoors. There were a few steep areas and Noah, being the calculated risk taker, would slide down the little hills on his bottom. Oh what a fun time he had! I figure you can measure the amount of fun he had by how dirty he is!

This photo of Noah is so precious. I still cannot believe that 2 1/2 years have already flown by!

We managed to get a family shot. This tree was so big and had the perfect spot for our family pic.

Ty LOVES being outside. He is such a happy boy and all the fresh air was so crisp and fresh.

This picture does not do justice to the breath-taking and beautiful sunset over the city.
Bath time is one of my favorite times of the day--partly because it means bedtime is soon to follow, but mostly I can watch the boys interact. They are so sweet and kind to one another. We talk about what we have done during the day, what the plan is for the following day and talk about anything that is on our minds. We sing lots of songs and tell stories.

Ty is getting more animated as each day passes and he is SO interested in what Noah is doing. Noah is the BEST big brother to Ty. (Yes, this is where Mama is bragging and glowing about her boys)

Tyler has turned 9 months this weekend! Oh how the time flies! He has really taken a liking to his walker and has pretty much mastered cruising about the house! Noah, of course, thinks this is the best thing ever, as he wants to push Ty all over the house and have Ty chase him.

Tyler is also my sneaky little man, as he has learned how to open drawers and take out everything he can get his little hands on! I will soon be replacing my magazines with Tyler appropriate toys!! But boy did he have fun!

One of Noah's most favorite things to do is to "talk". He is referring to talking on the phone. His number one person to talk to is Momma Rose! As he is talking on the phone, he usually is walking about the house telling the other person what he is doing or seeing (and expects them to be able to see what he is doing). It is so cute and funny to watch this. I can only imagine how hard the other person trying to understand what Noah is saying as his language skills are still developing!

November Rain

I thought right now would be a perfect time to start blogging. I have been putting it off for way too long, so now I will start and try to keep up with weekly postings!

Noah loves playing outside. We recently got him a Radio Flyer Scooter. He LOVES his scooter! The first time he rode it (in which he learned very quickly how to make it go), we ended up at the park! Now whenever we go outside, he HAS to ride his scooter!

Today is an extremely rainy and windy day. We have been inside all day as the boys are getting over mild colds. Noah has been very interested in coloring and can sit still for an hour or so just coloring in his color books. He doesn't just pick a page and color the whole thing, rather he starts at the very first page of the book, chooses one color to work with and 'colors' a little section on the page then turns to the next page and does the same thing. He won't be done with the book or color until he has managed to mark on each individual page. Oh, there is no skipping ahead or tearing out any pages, as this will disrupt his order!! He is quite particular on some things.....his coloring books being one of them.

Here, Noah was being so creative and placed all his color pencils into my Crocs, when he was done with one color he would swich them out! What else is there to do while it is pouring rain!!

Noah also LOVES his trains. We bought a wooden train set off of craigslist a few months ago, and it has been such a prized possession in this house. As mentioned above, Noah has his particular order of things and his trains happen to be another. All the trains must be lined up touching eachother in a row. So there is only one long train, not many smaller trains. Once he has lined them all up, he is done. He isn't interested in making the train travel along the track.

Tyler is now 8 1/2 mos and such a treasure to have! He is so loving and happy (exept when he sees me in a room and wants me to hold him....then he isn't so happy). Ty's favorite thing to do is to jump in his jumpy seat! He can stay in that thing for close to an hour. As our morning routine goes, after breakfast, Ty goes in his jumpy seat, Noah turns on his CD player (either Jack Johnson or Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Ty jumps his little heart out while watching Noah dance/run/jump and sing all through the kitchen! This is such a fun interaction to watch! They both are the happiest in the mornings.

Jumping is the only motor activity Tyler shows interest in. He will only roll over from his belly to his back (we put him to sleep on his belly and find him when he wakes on his back). He would win the gold medal for the baby who can sit the longest! Tyler grows roots of planted on his bottom. He will play with any of the toys around him, but he isn't interested in trying to crawl or move around to get to them. Which is quite all right with us....the longer we wait to chase two boys around (vs. chasing just Noah) is perfectly fine with us!!

Ty loves to eat! I make him his own food and I love experimenting with new recipes! His favorite is sweet potato with mixed veggies. I just introduced chicken into his diet and the verdict is still out. He will eat it if he is hungry so I usually try this one first. Another favorite is butternut squash with apples. Organic O's (like cherrios) have been Ty's independent food....he loves that he can feed himself. Ty has 2 teeth and likes to crunch his O's!

As for Dave and I, we are doing well. Adjusting to having 2 boys and our new schedule. I have recently accepted and started a new job on a maternity unit at a different hospital. I am on-call for the day shift working with post-partum moms and babies. I LOVE IT! This job is such a great change from what I was doing working with chronically ill people. Also, I am able to make my own schedule and stay home with the boys a lot more.