Our Baby's First Christmas!

Our Christmas celebration started on the morning of Christmas Eve with all smiles from Tyler! He couldn't wait for the busy travels and celebrations over the next 2 days!

We got all ready for Santa.

We set out our milk and cookies for Santa on the night of the 23rd since we would be at Grandma and Grandpa Breclaw's on Christmas Eve.

Santa came sometime in the middle of the night, as evidenced by the cookie crumbs and Tyler's over-flowing stocking.

On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, Mom helped Tyler open his gifts. Santa brought Tyler a toy for his car seat.

And the "Snowmen at Night" book.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth sent Tyler his first ornament for his first Christmas.


Then our travels took us to Manteno, IL to visit Grandma and Grandpa Breclaw. Santa had stopped there too!

And Tyler got another over-flowing stocking!

Mom helped Tyler open some of his gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Breclaw.

Dad helped too. Tyler decided to hold this present.

Tyler loves books...and he especially loves this "That's Not My Snowman" touch-and-feel book.

Tyler got lots of fun toys!

"Okay Dad....I'll help out too!"

Our family on Christmas morning.

Mom and Tyler

Dad and Tyler. He loves ceiling fans so he wouldn't look at the camera.

Tyler is getting ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth's next.

Mom and Tyler at Grandma and Grandpa E.'s.

Opening the ExerSaucer Tyler got from Uncle Terry and Aunt Michelle.

All Tyler's loot after we got home (minus the ExerSaucer which wouldn't fit in the car). Tyler was a very good boy!

Tyler's basketball lamp, painted by Grandma E.

Tyler obviously had a great first Christmas! Mike and I did too. It started when we dropped Spice off at Grandma and Grandpa E.'s on the way to Manteno on Christmas Eve. Grandma and Grandpa E. let us open one of our gifts a little early (totally against John's policy)! We were shocked to find that they got us a Nikon SLR digital camera and some accessories! Our other camera was taking lots of blurry pics so they got us an upgrade (big time!) so we wouldn't miss a single moment or milestone of Tyler's. Our Christmas fun continued with the celebration and good company at Grandma and Grandpa B.'s on Christmas Eve and then back at Grandma and Grandpa E.'s on Christmas Day. Christmas took on a totally new meaning this year with Tyler around and it was truly the best Christmas ever! Our family hopes your family had an awesome Christmas too!

Happy Two-Month Birthday Tyler!

Happy two-month birthday to you
Happy two-month birthday to you
Happy two-month birthday dear Tyler
Happy two-month birthday to you!

Many more birthdays to you
Many more birthdays to you
Many more birthdays dear Tyler
Many more birthdays to you!

Today is Tyler's two-month birthday! This month has been much more fun than the first, with Tyler being more awake and interested in what is going on around him. We are starting to see lots of little smiles but haven't been able to get a good picture of one yet. Below are some cute pictures we did get from his second month. Enjoy!

Spice has found her new best friend!

Big eyes

Quality time with Mommy

Sleeping like a zombie--too cute!

Tyler also went to the pediatrician yesterday for his 2-month checkup and to get his shots. He cried right away when he got the shots but it only last a minute and then he was fine. We were pleased to hear that he weighed in at 12 lbs. 1 oz. and that he jumped from the 10th percentile in weight up to the 50th!! The doctor said he has no concerns about his development but he is concerned about a small blister-like sore that Tyler has had on his lip for over a month. He is referring us to a specialist in Peoria to have it further evaluated. It sounds like it's most likely a birthmark (also called a strawberry mark) and it's more of a cosmetic concern than a medical concern so nothing to really worry about at this point. We probably won't be able to get an appointment for a couple of months though. Otherwise, he is doing great!

Concerts and Christmas Pics

On Friday, exactly eight weeks after Tyler's birth, Mike and I left Tyler with Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth and went on our first date out of town to the Oasis concert in Chicago. It was weird not having him around but we also enjoyed a chance to spend some time together as Jaime and Mike instead of as Mommy and Daddy! And according to Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth, Tyler was on his best behavior....or at least they agreed to babysit again sometime!

Before leaving town on Friday, we stopped at Portait Innovations to get Tyler's first portaits and our first family portait taken for Christmas. Tyler wasn't thrilled with all the lights but here are a couple of the better ones we had to choose from.

"It's Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas..."

It's one of our Christmas traditions to put up our Christmas tree and decorations the weekend following Thanksgiving. So Saturday afternoon, Mike pulled out all the decorations and put the tree together. Then on Sunday afternoon I turned on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and started putting up the lights. Well, I felt Clark Griswald's frustration with Christmas lights after I got half the tree done and then plugged in the third and final strand of lights only to find they were half burned out. When I tried to connect some newer lights to finish the job, I found they had a different size outlet. So we had to take down all the lights and start all over! I was so frustrated that I wasted all that time (hey I could have spent 2 hours sleeping ya know--I need it!) that Mike ended up putting the lights up himself on Sunday evening. Then on Monday, Tyler watched (and slept) while I finished putting up the ornaments and finishing touches. Granted it's never taken us 3 days from start to finish to put up the tree but we're happy that it's done! Here's a family picture in front of the tree.
Jeez it's hard to get a baby and a dog to look at the camera at the same time!


My old college roommate and good friend Ashley made a trip down to Bloomington Wednesday afternoon to meet Tyler and to visit for a while. It's always a treat to see Ashley and we had lots of fun catching up and playing with Tyler.

Ashley and Tyler

First Ashley, Tyler and I went out for lunch at Potbelly's. Then we came back and made Christmas cookies! Ashley was sweet enough to bring over all the ingredients to make (and decorate) yummy sugar cookies, peanut butter blossoms and these delicious 7-layer cookie bars. We had a blast being in the kitchen together again and the cookies all turned out pretty darn tasty! Thanks Ashley!

Yummy cookies!!

Tyler says "Gimme Gimme Gimme!"

More Thanksgiving Fun

When we were in Joliet on Thanksgiving, the three of us went over to Morgan and Jayson’s to introduce them to Tyler. He got lots more hugs and attention and it was nice for Mike and I to visit with friends a little too! Here are a few more pictures to enjoy!

Morgan and Tyler

Jayson and Tyler

One happy family!

Happy First Thanksgiving Tyler!

We celebrated Tyler’s first Thanksgiving at his Great Grandma Burnett’s house in Joliet. Tyler got lots of hugs and love from everybody there and he got to meet his Aunt Michelle and Uncle Terry! We all ate lots of yummy food and had lots of fun! Here are some pics to enjoy!

Family photo: Great Grandma Burnett with Tyler, Aunt Michelle, Uncle Terry, Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa Ellsworth, Grandma Ellsworth, and Spice

Great Uncle Terry and Great Aunt Michelle with Tyler

Great Grandma Burnett and Tyler

We received this really cute book as a gift from Mike’s Aunt Pat Burnett. In the back it has a page for Tyler to write what he is thankful for year after year.

We helped Tyler kick off the tradition this year!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Breclaw!

Grandma and Grandpa Breclaw came to visit for a couple of days to celebrate Thanksgiving and Grandpa Breclaw’s birthday a little early (his birthday actually falls on Thanksgiving this year). Here are a few pictures showcasing the fun times we had. Tyler really seems to be much more alert and attentive these days, making playtime lots more fun! Happy Birthday Grandpa Breclaw!

Grandma Breclaw loves feeding Tyler!

Tyler on his tummy time mat thinking "Forget tummy time....this works great for a head pillow!"

Tyler's neck is getting so strong sitting in the Bumbo!

I got my ring sling so I can carry Tyler around and have TWO free hands! YAY!!

Tyler is as snug as a bug in a rug in his sling!

We will all be packing up and going on our first “fun” road trip this Thursday for Thanksgiving at Great Grandma Burnett’s in Joliet. Every other one of Tyler’s road trips—or air trips in a helicopter for that matter—have involved going to a hospital or doctor’s office so we are pretty stoked!

GREAT News!

The genetic counselor called today to inform us that both of Tyler's DNA test results came back and they are NEGATIVE for all metabolic disorders! This means that Tyler now has a clean bill of health!!!! What a fabulous Thanksgiving gift!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I tried weighing our little turkey at home yesterday (I got on the scale alone and then with Tyler and took the difference). Now I'm sure this isn't totally accurate but our little Butterball weighed in at 10 lbs. 3 oz.! If he keeps up this one-pound a week trend, he'll outgrow his infant car seat by his 4-month birthday!

Good news!

We got a call from the genetic counselor today to inform us that the urine screening taken during Tyler's hospitalization revealed no abnormalities and the bloodwork that they repeated at the geneticist's office in Peoria was 100% NORMAL!!!! YES!! Although we still have to wait for up to 2 more weeks before we get the results of the DNA testing, the genetic counselor said this is "very encouraging news!"

Now for the not such encouraging news.....We had to take Tyler for an unplanned visit to the pediatrician today. He has been extra fussy the last 24 hours and he had a bit of a fever (99.7 last night) so the doc had us come in just to be safe. He couldn't find a thing wrong with him so he is suggesting at this point that maybe colic is the culprit. Or he may just be having a bad couple of days. I couldn't believe when they put him on the scale though--he weighed in at 9 lbs. 1 oz., up from 8 lbs. 0 oz. just 8 days ago!

Happy One-Month Birthday Tyler!

Happy one-month birthday to you
Happy one-month birthday to you
Happy one-month birthday dear Tyler
Happy one-month birthday to you!

Many more birthdays to you
Many more birthdays to you
Many more birthdays dear Tyler
Many more birthday to you!

YAY! Today is Tyler's one-month birthday! We had a little talk earlier and we told Tyler that his first month of life had better be the hardest month of his whole entire life!! Seriously, we are so happy to have the first month behind us and we are looking forward to all the fun and exciting milestones in the upcoming months! To celebrate, here are a few new pictures from Tyler's first month!


Watching the Bears game with Daddy--he needs to grow into the cap a little huh?!
Watching the Bears game with Mommy

He loves watching himself in the mirror--he's so vain!

Chillin in his vibrating chair

He hasn't quite figured out this mat means play-time not nap-time

Tyler's newest toy--a wooden train--thanks Great Grandpa Ellsworth!