20 Months Old

Kyler turned 20 months old on Sunday.  The last month seemed to just fly by!  We love spending time with our little man and are trying to enjoy the time left with just one child.

Here are some things Kyler has been doing this past month:

-Eating more with a fork and spoon.  He can't eat a meal now with out at least one utensil. :)

-Saying more words.  Kyler has been working on saying a lot more words and is more willing to try and say something that you say.

-Being more daring.  He is mastering the art of climbing up on more and more things and then standing up on them once he gets up there.  He is also trying to go down the stairs forward like we do instead of turning around and scooting down on his belly, this about gives mom and dad a heart attack! :)

-Having his toothbrush at all times.  Kyler carries his toothbrush around with him all day and looks for it when he gets up in the morning if it's not in plain sight from where he left it the night before. :)  Good thing I bought a couple extra for $1.50 at Walmart. :)

Here are some things we did last month!  Enjoy the snow!!

Kyler with Geneva and Henry in his Halloween costume!  Geneva babysat Ashley after she was born!  I couldn't get a picture with Kyler's eyes open because he knew the flash was coming :)

Kyler with T.C.!  He really liked going to the UNI volleyball game.

All bundled up to watch Daddy at the Turkey Bowl!  We left at half-time though because it was misting out. :)

In front of the Christmas tree!

After a good dinner with cottage cheese. :)

"Giving the tree a drink" with dad. :)

Driving his car

Standing on the ottoman, one of his new favorite places. :)

32 Weeks!

We're at 32 weeks already!  Only 8 more to go!  We had our appointment last Tuesday and everything still looked good, her heart rate was 148 bpm.  Nothing really exciting to report, which is good, that means things are going just fine! :)  We are working on getting things organized and moved around though at home so that is great and makes me feel a little less stressed out. :)  Hope you area enjoying the snow!

32 weeks!

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend filled with good food, family, and fun!  The weekend started off on Thanksgiving Day as we headed to Ashley's aunt's house up in Denver, IA for our first Thanksgiving meal.  We enjoyed a lunch of turkey, potatoes, fruit, veggies, salad, and pie.  After lunch we hung out for a while, read the Black Friday ads, had some snacks for dinner and then headed home in the evening.  On our way back in to town, we stopped at Erik's parent's house and said hi to Erik's grandpa, sister, mom and dad.  On Friday Kyler, Ashley, and Ashley's mom went shopping for a little while in the morning and then came home to enjoy the rest of the day.  Below are some pictures from Thursday's Thanksgiving.

Enjoying Thanksgiving Dinner

 Kyler enjoying his 2nd meal with Uncle Ben and Grandma :)

Kyler and Uncle Ben

On Saturday afternoon we headed up to the Volga Valley Conservation Club in Fayette to cut down our Christmas tree with Ashley's parents and brother.  Ashley has been going up to this place to cut down a Christmas tree ever since she was little, so we have just kept the tradition going!  It's nothing fancy, there's no Santa's lap to sit on or hot chocolate to buy, but you get to go out and cut down your own tree and support a good group of people.  Here are some pictures from the tree hunt! :)

 Kyler off and running looking for a tree

 Hi Mom!!

I like this little one right here...

There she is!!

Our family with our tree!

Our tree all up and decorated!  (notice there are no ornaments on the bottom half...) :)

Our Thanksgiving weekend wrapped up on Sunday as we headed to Dows to Erik's grandparent's house after church.  In Dows we enjoyed another fabulous meal and hung out with Erik's mom's side of the family for the afternoon.  We then headed home early evening so we could get ready for the week!  It's hard to believe Thanksgiving has already come and gone, but it has!  Now on to the next holiday-Christmas!!  Have a great week!

28 Weeks

We are at 28 weeks already!  Actually, I'm 29 weeks pregnant now, but this picture was taken last weekend at 28 weeks. :)  At our 28 week appointment her heartbeat was 148 bpm (I think) :) and  I have gained a total of 21 pounds so far this pregnancy.  I had my glucose sugar test too, and they didn't call me, so I passed that as well!  We now go every two weeks, it's hard to believe that we are already to this point in the pregnancy.  That means I better get going and get some stuff done around the house!! :)  Have a good weekend!

28 weeks!

19 Months Old

Kyler turned 19 months old last Friday.  It's hard to believe another month has gone by already!  Our little man is busy as ever, he hardly stops to take a break.  We have been trying to enjoy the nice weather we have been having by going on walks and spending time playing outside in the afternoons.  We had a fun Halloween (see previous post) and are now getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving! (Which is also hard to believe!).  

Here are some things Kyler has been doing the past month:

-Words, he's working a lot more on saying different words, one of his favorites is "off" he likes to say off and turn the lights on and off.  He also says hat, bop (for bat), ball, duck, clock, and snack.

-Moving things, he really likes to pick up things, like his farm, and move them around the house.

-He's up to 16 teeth now, his four eye teeth are all cut through, just not sticking up very far though.

-Kyler also attended his first UNI volleyball game this past month with Ashley's parents.  He really liked watching the ball and cheering on the Panthers!

Here are some pictures from last month:

 Picking out his pumpkin!  Hmmm, which one do I choose...

 I like this little one right here...

Big boy in the bath!

 Squeezing into the tower that holds DVDs...

Playing the piano with his feet :)

Talking on his phone

Trying on his new coat and snow pants! :)

I thought it would be fun if we went out and took a few pictures of Kyler at 18 months in the leaves and a few family photos as well.  Nothing really professional, but it was a nice day and the leaves were pretty, so we went out to Hartman Reserve and took some photos, here are a few of my favorites. :)

Halloween!

We started our Halloween celebration a week early this year.  On Friday night, the weekend before Halloween, we went over to the Nelson's house and had our second annual "Kids in Costumes Get Together" :).  See here for pictures from last year!  We got together with the Nelsons, Hofferts, and Williams' and ate dinner, played, and dressed up our kids in their costumes to take some pictures.  Let me just say, this year was a bit more challenging trying to get all the kids to sit still in one spot and take a group picture!  Kyler didn't want to be put in one spot and once we got him to stay there, someone else decided to run away.  Oh well, I guess that's what you get with three 1 year olds and a 2 year old. :)  We all joked about the fact that it won't get any easier for next year because the number of kids will have doubled!  Here are some pictures from our gathering!

I'm not sure if I like this thing on my head...

Kyler the dragon eating a cracker :)

Our best group photo :)

All four of our cute kids! :)

The above pictures were taken by Emily Hoffert!  She did such a great job getting some picts of everyone!

 Our family!

Then on Halloween day, we went to church in the morning, came home and ate lunch and then got Kyler dressed in his costume.  This is the best picture I got of him on the steps with the pumpkins, again, he didn't want to be told where to sit... :)

Kyler and the pumpkins

We then took Kyler a few places before Trick-or-Treating started.  We drove over to visit Erik's parent's at their house and saw them as well as Aunt Leah.  Then we came home and took an afternoon nap.  After Kyler's nap, we took him out again to go and see Erik's Grandpa at his house and my Grandma at the Lutheran home.

Erik, Kyler, and Great-Grandpa Blanchard

Ashley, Kyler, and Great-Grandma Arthur

By this time, Trick-or-Treating had started, so we came home to eat dinner and hand out candy.  After dinner, we went down to our neighbor's house to trick-or-treat, then came home and went a couple more places.  We stopped at Cindy and Lauren's house, David's apartment, and lastly my parent's house.  My parent's weren't home, but Uncle Ben was!  

Kyler and Uncle Ben!

We had a fun night, Kyler got a few pieces of candy, and got to see some important people all dressed up.  I'm sure next year he will be ready to do more of the "door-to-door" trick-or-treating and will actually understand that he gets candy when he goes to everyone's house. :)

24 Week Belly :)

I've had a couple requests for a belly picture so here it is! :)  I've taken a couple others, but just have never gotten them posted on the blog.  We're at 24 weeks right now, will be 25 this weekend.  It's had to believe that we're over half way there!  That means we need to get moving with the list of things I want to get accomplished around the house before the baby gets here! :)  Hope everyone has a great weekend!   

24 Weeks

18 Months Old!

Kyler was 18 months old on Tuesday!  Someone else said this, and I agree, it's hard to believe that Kyler is now closer to being 2 than 1.  It seems like we just celebrated his 1st birthday and I can't believe that half a year has passed since then!  We have been outside this past month enjoying the beautiful weather we have been having.  Kyler still loves to be outside and could spend all afternoon out there, which is what we have been doing (if we don't get carried away by those little black bugs!).  Here are some things Kyler has been doing this past month:
*Eating with a spoon!  We have been working on this a lot and he has really taken an interest in eating with a spoon.  He does a pretty good job for the little practice he has had and actually gets food from his plate to his mouth with it!  If you recall the famous "blue spoon" from Culver's, that has also been used to eat with now.... :)

*Talking more!  Kyler has really been working on trying to say words that we say a lot more.  He kind of has to be in the right mood to do it, but he's working on it.  He also continues to babble a lot, which we still laugh at because it's like he's speaking in his own language but we are supposed to understand. :)  He also knows what a cow, dog, and sheep say.

*Kyler is also really starting to know what's right and wrong...and knows when he's doing something he's not supposed to be doing...I don't think I'm ready to discipline a toddler yet :)

Here are some pictures from the last month:

 Hanging out with dad watching football!  Both in white t-shirts... :)

Looking at a magazine :)  Kyler squats down like this all the time, I think it's so funny, I have tried to do it and it is impossible to keep my lower leg so upright and not fall over

Pounding with his bat on his diaper box :)

Reading with Dad

Starting a new fashion trend? :)

18 month old boy! :)

Building a tower with his blocks

Playing with his friend Jillian!

Playing the piano!  He has really taken interest in the piano and we now have to leave it open :)

Doesn't everyone eat breakfast with two extra-long plastic spoons?? :)