Boo at the Zoo

Well, today is Halloween. I can not believe that November starts tomorrow.
I started back to work this week and recieved two flu shots. Coincidence or not, I am now stuffy and not feeling so hot. Because of this we aren't participating in any of the festivities tonight.
However, last Sunday night was the last night for Boo at the Zoo so we dressed the kids up and headed that direction. It was crazy! I think every kid in Knox County was there. Anyway, Silas got to trick or treat at the provided stations.
I had every intention of dressing Ty up as a football, but we decided that his hand-me-down lion costume would be much warmer.

Here are my little men. The Vol and the Lion.



Silas also got to wear his costume at daycare yesterday and they trick or treated at the bank. I think he had a blast just seeing what all his friends wore--especially Ellie!

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

I have been wanting to go to the pumpkin patch ever since I saw April's Blog.
B finally had an evening free so we made the drive out to Corryton. It actually wasn't that far from our old house.
We had such a good time. It didn't open until 6:00 during the week so we missed out on the pedal cars, face painting, and inflatable jump things, but we still had an awesome time.

Steven tried to teach Silas how to make a corn angel.


Sie climed the tires to the flagpole. There was also a little maze for kids and a mini corn maze for kids.




There was a sand pit that he loved.


His favorite thing by far was this slide. I think Steven enjoyed it too.


I was the hippy Mom there. I wore Ty in the Ergo. He started getting fussy so I had Steven get my cover and I nursed him in the ergo. I was getting strange looks so I took him to the tent and sat to finish his dinner. Of course I sat in the only chair with rainwater. Steven entertained Silas and brought Ty a fresh diaper from the car. By the time we finished all of this and drug Silas kicking and screaming from the slide it was dark. We still had to go to the pumpkin patch. We got in line for the hayride that took us to the patch. We managed to pick out two pretty good pumpkins in complete darkness.
Silas cracked me up picking it up and carrying it.


I had to include a pic of Ty. He just hung out in the Ergo while his brother attempted to stab all remaining pumpkins with his glow stick. Fun times, Friends, fun times!


After the tractor returned us from the hayride, Silas wanted to slide again. It really surprised me because it was pitch black dark and the slide was pretty steep. We let him have a few more gos at it and then piled into the SUV for the ride back home.

Through His Eyes the Aquarium

This is a series I've wanted to start for some time now. Silas LOVES taking snaps. I know, I know just like his daddy. It always cracks me up to see what he ends up with on the camera. It really is a different world from three feet.
We made a trip to Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. We try to go every year. It's fun to watch his interest grow.
Well, Ty had to take a lunch break so we gave Silas my camera to keep him from climbing the walls!

Fish. Lots and lots of fish.


Pretty Coral


Mr. Ray and his family


Some random lady--Sorry!


Daddy and Brother


Here are a few that B took.

This was at the entrance.







And the boy behind it all...

Our New Ride

Well. I did it. I splurged. I opened my very own ebay account. I waited patiently for the UPS man.
Now it's here. Now it's mine!
Yep, thats right. I got the stroller.
Then it rained, and rained, and rained some more.

When we finally got to use it, we took a walk to our neighborhood park.
Silas loves it. He can hover over baby brother much easier this way.
Ty thinks it's a pretty good place to nap while Silas and Daddy play.

3 Months

Today is T.O.'s 3 month birthday!
He is getting so big! He actually let out a full fledged giggle two days ago, and it was at Silas if you can believe that. We go for our checkup tomorrow so I don't know all of his stats yet. He is sleeping through the night and has been for a while. I think that's God's grace for the fussiness we endure during the waking hours. However, I do think the colic phase is almost over. Whew! **hand wiping off brow**
He is a sweet boy. I love seeing that gummy grin. I had forgotten how those warm the heart!

Fluffy Bum

I posted before Ty was born about considering to use cloth diapers. Well, since then it has become a bit of an obsession. I couldn’t wait to use them. I had decided to wait until his cord fell off before I would use them. There were some complications with the whole cord stump (it became wet and gooey), and I wasn’t able to dive head first into the cloth-diapering world, as I would’ve like to.
I must say, the fluffy booty is pretty cute! There are so many fun colors and prints.
I have learned so much. I now know which detergents are good and not so good to use with cloth. There are certain creams and ointments that can't be used because they cause the diapers to repel. Who knew?!
Want to know the most awesome secret I've stumbled across? The sun is an awesome stain fighter!

Over the past few weeks we’ve tried several different diapers and we’ve just about figured out what works for our family. We’ve settled on a washing routine which was the hardest part of the process in my opinion because we have a front load washing machine.
Yes, we have found love for CD in our home. Especially after a week away from home using disposables for convenience. I think we ended up with more laundry because the sposies couldn't contain the explosive breast fed poos like the cloth did.

Here is a picture of our stash when we began. He has outgrown some, some we just didn't like. The ones we did like we got more of. Anyway, here is the pic.

2 Months

Here he is. Two months already?! I can't believe it!



Of course, big brother wanted in on the action!
We are just glad he loves his baby brother. He actually asks to hold him pretty frequently.
I just love these two boys!

Ty’s Rockin' Room

I actually started writing this post on July 4 not knowing that I was in labor at the time. Needless to say it got put on the back burner. I’ve picked it back up, dusted it off, and showered it with love so that I could share it with you all.

For all that know me, you know I’m a bit unconventional at times. This is no different. When we were deciding on nursery themes I had made my mind up that I wanted a rock ‘n roll theme. I had thought that I was having a girl so I had visions of punk Hello Kitty. However, we all know that my girl was a boy so it was Goodbye Feline…
I had seen this cute bedding set online, but it wasn’t exactly what I wanted. I wanted red. Of course I couldn’t find it anywhere.

Then I remembered that I had an incredibly talented mother-in-law that can sew anything. I sketched out a few ideas and showed them to her and she said that we could do it. I do think I about gave her a heart attack when I showed her I had incorporated the Jolly Roger (skulls) into the design. She never faltered though and supported me and all of my ideas. She really is a gem. I gathered a few things together and gave them to her to work her magic. I can honestly say the bumper pad she made was better than I could have ever imagined. She also made the bed skirt, window curtain, and the curtain for the closet in no time at all.





I got some canvases from Joann’s and blended some clipart images for artwork for the wall. I painted a pretty awesome star above the crib and Steven hung his guitar on the wall.




We still needed something else for the other wall. I knew I wanted to use vinyl somehow and Pam said she had some I could use. She and I had so much fun going through all of her old 33s and 45s. There were some really cool tunes in that stack, and there were some pretty forgettable ones as well. Like I said, there were plenty of oohhs and ahhs and laughter while sorting through the records.
Steven and I decided to use the records themselves as an art project and this is what we ended up with.




The nursery isn’t complete just yet. There are still a few projects we are working on. I’ll have to show them to you when they are finished.
All in all, I think it is a pretty rad nursery. It was fun to do and I think will be a fun room for a little boy.

One Month

I can not believe that Ty is one month old today. I had meant to blog about the birth, but it's been done a few times. Our good friend Wes was kind enough to come to the hospital and take some pics. Our other good friend Jason took time out of his busy schedule to take some family pictures. Of course Steven made a post of his own as well.
Ty has already gotten so big so fast. He loves watching his big brother and the ceiling fan. Those are his two favorite things besides feeding time!

Enough with the words. Here are some images I’ve captured the past four weeks.

3

Well today my little man turned 3, which is a little unreal to me. We had a few friends over to celebrate. I got the idea of a kiddie pool party from my friends the Bewleys. It just seemed the way to go since I am so close to my due date and Braxton Hicks has become one of my best friends. The kids really seemed to love it. We had a pool, slip’n slide, and a bounce place. It was hot, and there was a little bit of rain, but it passed over quickly.
We had a great cake from Bruster’s. Of course I don’t have any pics of this, I’ll have to get them from Aunt Jess! Everyone was really great and patient with us. It was the first time we’ve thrown a birthday party for Silas. It’s always just been the three of us.
The kids didn’t really get the concept of the Slip ‘n Slide, so Steven had to demonstrate for us. I hate that I didn’t catch it on film! The kids used the S’nS more as a sprinkler, but did try to slide some.
Here are some of the pics that I did get. Just remember these were taken with my camera and Silas uses it frequently so the lens is a bit smeared. I didn’t notice it until it was too late! ☺





Happy Birthday Silas!
I know you’re a big boy now, but you will always be Momma’s Goose!