Kyler's Birthday Pictures

I don't have all the pictures we took, yet, but here are a few...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KYLER!!!!

I can't believe it's been a year already! The time sure does fly. It just makes me want him to stay my baby forever! I don't even want to think about him growing up because before I know it it will already be here! So here is how Kyler's first birthday went...
He woke up at 7:30am and ate. Then mommy tried to put him back to bed but he must have been to excited for his birthday because that didn't work out. Finally around 9:30 he decided it really was too early and went back to sleep. Mom slept another half hour (woohoo). Then I woke him up at 10:45 so we could meet with someone about our house in st george at 11. He got dressed and mom fed him cereal in the car on the way there. He played on the floor while mom and dad had their meeting. Then we went home and had some lunch. Mac and cheese, apple sauce and some puffs. Then it was nap time. He slept for almost 2 and a half hours! That's a good nap! When he woke up he played for a little bit and then we went and fed the ducks. It was lots of fun and they kept bitting mom's toes. We got back around 5 and we finished all the chores around the house. Dad ordered the pizza and then the guests started arriving. In attendance were: grandma and grandpa Kimball, Kayla, William, Mason, grandma and grandpa Flores, Issac and Mandy. Grandma and Papa Cohoon, Bobby, Emily, Landon, and Kathryn. First, we ate pizza and salad. Then Kyler opened his presents. He did a great job for his first time! He got lots of new toys and clothes. Then it was time for cake! We had a wheel of fortune cake and Kyler even got his own little cake. We sang Happy Birthday and then let him dig in. He was a little hesitant at first but then really enjoyed it. He seemed a little thirsty so daddy got him a drink of milk for the first time. He really liked that, too! Mom is happy about that because she wants to be done nursing. After cake we all just hung out and dad opened all his new toys. He played for a long time and then had a bath. And now that his sugarf high is wearing off it's time for bed! What a fun day! Happy Birthday, Kyler. What a blessing it is to have you in our lives!
*pictures soon to come*

Back to the Blog

It's been awhile...a little over 4 months. Which means I have yet to blog about all of the milestones Kyler has hit lately and all the events that have happened this summer. (Can you believe it is almost over?!)

In other words...this is going to be a LOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG blog! I'll try to break it up a little so as to not overwhelm anyone.

Kyler

Kyler is now 10 months old!! And this last month he has learned so much! I felt like he wasn't progressing fast enough around 6 and 7 months but from 8 months on he has just been go, go, go! I almost can't keep up!

Looks:

He now has lot's of think, blond hair. It is starting to look a little more strawberry blond, which I am a fond of. And he is just about ready for a hair cut. We gave him a trim a few months ago but now it is almost in his eyes and pretty long in the back. If you're wondering where the blond hair comes from it is Jake. Jake was a blond baby and his hair didn't get dark until he was a teenager and then didn't get curly until he was in high school. I also have some blond family members on my mom's side of the family so it could be from me too.

He now has 2 bottom teeth. They both came in within a couple weeks of each other and he hasn't got anymore since. I keep thinking he is getting a top one in every time he gets cranky but nothing yet!

As far as how big he is he has gotten bigger but actually didn't grow a lot from his 6 month appt to his 9 month.

What he has learned:

He talks a lot! Ok, maybe not real words, it's just jibber jabber but holy cow is this kid loud! Some things are starting to make sense like "mama" and "dada" but that's about it for now. He will have a conversation with you, you just can't understand what he is saying.

He learned how to clap his hands a few months ago and that was pretty cute. And he can give you "5"...if he wants to. This kid doesn't do tricks unless it's on his time.

He also can now feed himself which is a good and bad thing. Good for me so that I can just put food on his highchair tray and let him go for it, bad because he puts Everything in his mouth! I know babies usually do this but he just started this last month so I had things pretty easy as far as not worrying about him eating something he found. He did try to eat a rock at Lake Powell but luckily I caught it.

A little over 6 months ago he finally started rolling for real. And he did that until almost 8 months when he finally stopped rolling from one end of the room to the other and would scooch backwards instead. It took him until just the other day to really get the hang of crawling forward. Most babies his age have been crawling for months by now and are even starting to walk. We decided Kyler is just too relaxed about things to need to go anywhere or have any reason to be mobile. And honestly, I was totally ok with that. Putting him on the floor to play and knowing he would stay there was nice.

He just started pulling himself up to stuff this past week. Watch out Ladies and Gentlemen! He is on the move!

He really likes to go "babababa" by hitting his hand over his mouth (if that makes sense). He makes lots of silly faces and he loves to do anything else he can to make us laugh.

Speaking of laughing he has some funny laughs. Sometimes it sounds like a "ssss ssss" like Ernie on Sesame Street would do. And other times it is just a funny noise i can't describe while his whole body just shakes. He is so silly!

What Kyler Loves:

The water! He loves his baths. Loves to splash and never cries when i pour water over his head. At Lake Powell he loved being in the water and never complained, even when the waves would splash him in the face.

This kid loves to eat. He is an excellent eater and I hope it stays that way. He hasn't eaten too much real table food before recently because he had a hard time getting the chewing thing down. Baby food is pretty runny and he was used to just swallowing it. Now he will eat lots of stuff and some of his favorites are jelly sandwiches, apple sauce and cereal puffs.

He loves dogs. He has always been around them and is never afraid of them, no matter how big. He gets so excited when he see's one.

Books. I hope he is a reader. He loves to be read to and if he finds a book he will hand it to you and quietly wait while you read it to him. Then if you hand it back to him he will look at it for a second and then just hand it back so you can read it again. I've already read a few of his books too many times to count!

I wanted to post a ton of pictures on here, now that I have a computer, but for some reason it isn't working so they will have to come later. Keep checking back becuase the rest of the blogs I want to do have pictures as well.

Happy Half Birthday!

I know its been a long time since I've blogged on our family blog and I've been dying to catch up but almost every post has pictures and I don't have a computer handy, just my phone. So as soon as I can I will update with pictures. This is just a little blog to say...
HAPPY 1/2 BIRTHDAY TO KYLER!
He is already 6 months old! I can hardly believe it. I know they always say kids grow up so fast but when its your own and you see them everyday it just seems unreal.
A little bit about my boy...
Kyler has always had a strong personality. Even before he was born I just knew kind of how he would be. Happy, energetic, a flirt, a wiggle worm, etc. Its just amazing how he really has his own unique personality already.
He smiles at anyone that smiles at him. He laughs a lot. He isn't shy. He is a flirt. He only cries when he is hungry or needs something. He is very loud. He yells a lot and says dadada alllll day long. He loves his mommy and daddy very much. Nala is already his best friend. He laughs at her a lot. He loves kisses and is an excellent cuddler. I'm a little worried we have a dare devil on our hands. He loves to be scared, whether its by saying, "boo" or throwing him in the air. He thinks a binky is just a chew toy and I'm totally ok with that. He is almost able to sit by himself and roll over, I think I need to push him a little harder and practice a little more. He loves food. He has been fasinated with us eating and when I started him on rice cereal he was a natural. So far he has loved everything he's tried.
I'm pretty sure I could go on for days about all the amazing things our sweet son does. The most amazing thing to me is still the fact that Jake and I could create such a perfect little being. Being parents is the greatest thing in the whole wide world. I just hope I am able to enjoy every moment that I know will fly by.

Me As a Mommy

Life as a mom is wonderful. But as every mom knows, being a mom comes with challenges. As a new mom I'm learning a lot everyday and I don't think moms ever stop learning. Every child is different and everyday with that child is different. One day they sleep well and eat well and are perfectly happy, the next they feel sick and wont stop crying. Life as a mom is hard. And if I were to give advice to any new mom it would be: There are no right answers. Sure there are do's and dont's but no baby is the same. I guess really I'm writing this to make myself feel better. I had this image in my head of what I would be like as a mom and it didn't quite turn out the same.
Kyler isn't really on a schedule. I see lots of moms who know exactly when their child will eat, sleep, and poop. I consider it lucky if I guess the time Kyler will want to eat next. Maybe I could have done a better job when he was first born at getting him to eat and sleep when I wanted but it just didn't seem that important. I read a baby should eat for about ten min on one side, burp, and eat another ten min. Ha! Sometimes he eats 5 min, sometimes he eats 20. Just depends on his mood I guess. And sleeping..."a nap in the am, a nap in the pm and wake up every 4-7 hours at night". Well considering I didn't get up until 11 when I was home with him what's considered an am nap? And then if it takes from 4-7 to finally get him to stay asleep (he's a light sleeper, like me. And I'm out and about a lot) how do I control when his bedtime should be? I'm happy for and impressed by moms who do have their kids on a schedule but if MY life isn't on one how can I expect his to be? So am in not as good of mom because he isn't on a schedule? Sometimes I think 'yes' but I just have to remind myself I'm not.
It's hard because I'm a perfectionist. And my life is crazy. No two days are the same. I want the best for Kyler but what I guess I need to convince myself is that the best for him doesn't mean he has a perfectly scheduled life and I do everything perfect. As long as I am doing my best and he is happy and healthy and knows I love him more than anything I'm doing great. And honestly I think more moms need to remind themselves of that. To every mom out there- just remember You have the greatest job on earth and no matter what your kids say or do just remember that as long as they know you love them things will be ok.


(Thank you, Blogger, for letting me vent and remind myself everything is just fine. Also, I'm not looking for advice or sympathy, just letting out my thoughts.)

Annual Fall Walk Up the Canyon

I wish we would have taken more pictures but on the way back Kyler got hungry and we had to hurry back. Last year we got a cute family picture and I was hoping to get one again this year but it just didn't work out. It was still fun though, I just love seeing all the pretty fall colors.

Happy Halloween!!!

This year's Halloween wasn't too eventful but Kyler did get to dress up. He was a football. My mom threw together this adorable costume for him and I just loved it. I wish I would have planned better because I could have dressed up as a cheer leader and Jake could have been a football player. But of course after having a baby I wasn't too focused on Halloween and it kinda hit me by surprise this year.

He looks so scared!

Jake and his little football!

Goal!

Cute little outfit from Jennifer!

Jake decided since he was now 4 weeks old it was time he should change his own diaper.

We did manage to carve pumpkins this year...

Jake's Firey Scull!
Alyssa's Starry Night!