Happy Thanksgiving 2009

We took our traditional trip to Great Grandma Burnett's in Joliet for Thanksgiving on Thursday. It was a little quieter this year since Uncle Terry and Aunt Michelle weren't there (they went to Las Vegas for the holiday) but we still enjoyed good company and of course good food. Tyler really enjoyed his first Thanksgiving feast--turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli rice casserole and pumpkin pie for dessert. Thanks to Great Grandma Burnett for hosting such a nice meal!

Tyler and his Great Grandma

Lounging with his Daddy

Showing off this cool Thanksgiving turkey (hand print) artwork he made

We kept the tradition going this year by writing what Tyler is thankful for in his "Thanks for Thanksgiving" book. This year, Tyler is thankful for his family and his happiness.


When the party was over, Tyler headed home with Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth for a few days. This gave us a chance to put up the Christmas tree and all the decorations (okay when I say us I mean Mike). We also wanted to do a little Black Friday shopping. The main thing we wanted to get was a hexagon play yard that Toys R Us had on sale at midnight. So around 11:15, Mike and I headed over to join the crowd and got what we needed.

Here's a picture of our tree this year. The play yard is quite cumbersome and takes up a good part of the living room but at least it will help keep curious hands away!

On Saturday, we picked Tyler up from his Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth's and then headed to his Grandma and Grandpa Breclaw's for a visit. Here are some cute pictures from my Dad's 65th birthday celebration!

Tyler with his Grandma and Grandpa (and Boyd)

Tyler and Grandpa


When we got home, we wanted to get pictures of Tyler's first reaction to the Christmas tree. He looked kind of puzzled when he first saw it but then he thought it was pretty cool. And just as we expected, he wanted to explore all the new stuff in his play area!

It didn't take long for him to get his hands on this snow globe!

Happy Halloween!

I kind of consider this to be Tyler’s first Halloween since he was just getting home from the Children’s Hospital last year at this time. So we wanted this year to be special. The fun started yesterday with a parade and party at Tyler’s day care. This was the debut for Tyler’s costume—he was a pirate! ARR!

We carved our pumpkin this afternoon. I chose a design that had very few cuts so we could try to maintain Tyler’s attention throughout the process but he was done by the time we gutted the thing. So I basically carved the pumpkin by myself. It was still very fun though! Then we put Tyler’s Pirate Pumpkin Head together.

We headed out for trick-or-treating while it was still light (and somewhat warm) out. I don’t know if it was because people were out with their own kids or they just didn’t have candy but we weren’t very lucky. We stopped at about 10 houses and only 3 answered. Tyler still had fun showing off his costume and towards the end he was babbling something like “Trick or Treat”!

And know what every one's been waiting for.....
The 2 buccaneers posing for the camera

Tyler saying "AARRR"

Tyler and Mommy getting ready to go Trick-or-Treating

Loaded up in his wagon, ready to go

Examining his "loot"

Eating one of his chocolate bars--YUM!

An Autumn Day at the Park

We headed over to Miller Park today to enjoy this beautiful fall weather. We really enjoyed the vibrant autumn colors and the crisp breeze while we walked around. It was a perfect photo opp. Check these out….
From green to yellow to orange to red all in one tree--so pretty

Enjoying the breeze in his wagon

Exploring a pile of leaves

Standing tall on a hill (what good balance!)

Happy One-Year Birthday Tyler!

Happy one-year birthday to you

Happy one-year birthday to you

Happy one-year birthday dear Tyler

Happy one-year birthday to you!

Many more birthdays to you

Many more birthdays to you

Many more birthdays dear Tyler

Many more birthdays to you!

Tyler turned ONE on October 17th! Yay! We took Tyler to the doctor today for his one-year checkup and was amazed to find out he is such a big boy!! He now weighs 24 pounds, placing him in the 70th percentile and is 31 1/2 inches long for the 90th percentile. Quite the change from the 10th percentile where he was on the day of his birth. The doctor said he is looking healthy and developmentally right on track. Updates for this month: Tyler took his first steps and is starting to walk around a little. He has taken about 10 steps at a time at the most. He has 3 (almost 4) teeth now, his two bottom middle teeth and almost both canines on top. Makes for kind of goofy pictures! He is now saying "mo mo" for more and "uu" for up. However John and Sue insist that he said "banana" while he stayed with them! He's pretty much been completely done with puree foods this whole month and now is starting to drink whole milk in place of formula. No more bottles and no more formula! There really isn't much that makes him feel like a baby anymore....he's a big boy now!

Our good friends Jason and Shannon got married on Tyler's birthday (those pictures to follow) so we celebrated on October 18th. John and Sue were nice enough to host his party since he was staying with him for the weekend. Tyler has a bit of a cold right now so he wasn't all smiles all day but he was pretty happy overall. Here is a plethora of pictures from the day.......

Tyler with his Daddy

Hearing us sing "Happy Birthday"

Digging into the Bears cake Grandma Ellsworth made

His chocolate goatee

After the damage

Ripping through wrapping paper

And bows!

His big gift from Mommy and Daddy....

....it's a wagon!!

Chillin' in his new ride!

Tired after a long day of partying (probably how he'll look after celebrating his birthday 20 years from now)!

And Tyler's favorite present--a 30 year-old tugboat that toots....it was his daddy's!

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

Here are some of the pictures from the month that I've taken but haven't posted. Usually I leave these miscellaneous pictures for his birthday post but I am certain his 12-month birthday will have tons of pictures from his first birthday party!

Tyler with his Mommy for my birthday celebration

Showing off his standing skills....

...and his Bears attire! It's like he's saying, "How you doin'?"

Tyler wearing his big boy coat for the first time. It's so puffy!

Tyler's One-Year Portraits

We took Tyler over to the portrait studio today for his one-year portraits. It's a week early because Mike and I will be out of town at a wedding next weekend. These are the scanned copies of the pictures so they turned out a little darker than the originals. We were really happy with how they turned out though. Enjoy!

First Steps!

Tyler took his first unassisted steps tonight! We bribed him into doing it by standing him behind his favorite walker and then we slowly inched it out of his reach. He took 4 or 5 steps forward before he kind of lunged for it. He did it several times too! Once I got out the camera though he was way more interested in it than walking. We will try to get his big boys moves on film soon!


On a different note, Tyler went to visit his Grandma and Grandpa Breclaw this past weekend. I didn't take a ton of pictures but this is one that I just loved!Tyler and Grandma B. sharing a moment while sharing his doggy