What a year!

Ky boy has gone from this sweet, helpless dark-haired newborn...


To this blue-eyed, blond-haired, one-year old, spunky monkey!


It was only appropriate that our climber have a monkey cake for his first birthday (and with blue eyes).


He wasn't so sure what to think of it all, but he was also really tired since the only time our whole family could gather to celebrate was after his bedtime.


But he certainly loved his hammer toy!


And his car from Grandma T.


None of the girls were so into using utensils this early, but Grandma reminded me that it too is a tool! (;


Ellie 'gave' him a candy cane for his birthday and this might have been his favorite part of the day.


We love this smiley, happy boy!

For the baby book:
-Kyler is 19 lbs 11 ounces (10th percentile) and 28 3/4 inches tall (10-25th percentile). Both percentiles came up a little this time
-He says: more, dada, mama, banana, uh oh, and today he tried to say snow (believe me there was a lot of it)
-He loves cars: driving them and pushing them
-He is always happy and smiles at everyone anytime of the day. He is such a flirt!
-He is a total snuggler, especially to his mama. He wants to hug and snuggle throughout the day. He even pats my back sometimes when he hugs me! So sweet.
-He plays 'so big,' claps, and waves bye-bye
-He crawled and cruised really early (5 months), but is not walking yet. He seems capable, but still wants to hold on to a finger for stability.
-He climbed over the baby gate and Pack and Play by 7 months!
-He is a good eater, not too picky yet. He drinks from a bottle or cup, but not so sure about whole milk yet. He only wants to use his right hand to eat and has done this since he started eating food at 6 months.
-He has already had two surgeries (supraglottoplasty and ear tubes) and a 10-day hospital stay for RSV in January.
-He has had around 6 ear infections that we know of (2 came in the past month after his tubes).
-He had a stint of torticollis right, which was caused by the pain of his reflux. Because of this, he had some physical therapy.
-We also think the torticollis was the reason for his left hand being slow to develop (pincer grasp, etc), which caused him to have occupational therapy to catch it up to his right hand.
-He has had horrible congestion since May, which the doctors can't seem to agree what's causing it, but recently it was discovered that his adenoids are large. Perhaps the reason for the ear issues and congestion. Probably another surgery in his near future.
-He's taken a ton of medication this year, antibiotics, nebulizer medications, reflux medications, etc.
-Through all of the sicknesses, surgeries, medications, and times of not feeling well, he has been so, so happy and smiley and very determined. What an amazing little boy he is. Here's to hoping for a healthier year! (:

In the driver's seat

These pictures are old (from August when Kyler was 8 months), but we needed to post them before they are forgotten!


This boy LOVES the front seat of the car. I think it must be a boy thing. He won't even nurse while I'm sitting there because all he wants to do is climb on the steering wheel and push all the buttons.


Mmm. Tasty, too!

Halloween Highlights

The little vampire was as cute as could be!


I admit I bought this costume before Kyler was even born, but I never dreamed he would be so precious in it!


We haven't posted pics of little Ky for awhile, so here's another for your viewing pleasure.


They are all in traditional Halloween costumes, but this was just by chance, not by any sort of thought-out plan.


Which jack-o-lantern do you like better?


I choose this one!


All on her own, Teyah came up with the idea to be a ghost. She told everyone she was going to be a "scary ghost." Dave tried to talk her out of it -- worried that the whole sheet over the head thing might make us look like neglectful parents (to put it nicely). But, I talked him back into it because I thought it was darling that she came up with it all by herself. I think she got the idea from a Halloween book. She never tired or complained that the eyes moved around and she couldn't see anything or that it was uncomfortable! She is always such a trooper.


When we first put her costume on her, she kept saying, "grrrr! I'm a scary ghost!" Somehow in our reading of Halloween books, we failed to teach her that a ghost says "boo!"


Each year we hit a few events around town, and on a gorgeous October Saturday, we stopped at a park in between Halloween events.


Ellie kept switching her costume each time we dressed up. This time she was a geisha. We had some happy Halloween family memories this year!

The Halloween Rap

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Feels like summer

Hitting record highs in October means one thing -- breaking out the Slip'n Slide and kiddie pool and soaking up the sun one last time!












Goodbye summer. We will miss you. See you in six months (hopefully!).

School starts

The first day of school was cold, cold, cold. Not the typical first day weather! Aubrie was the first in the family to start. It is second grade this year; which, at her school means a new teacher and a new team.


Aubrie is so excited to be going to school with Ellie now. Elliana started her first day of kindergarten the day after Aubrie.


This is a picture with her sunflower she planted at her school at kindergarten night in the spring. It is so fun to be welcomed to school by a smiling sunflower! Ellie is loving school and jumped right in without skipping a beat (Well, except for the tears when we picked her up the first day to take her out for pizza instead of letting her ride the bus. What mean parents she has!). I think it helps that she already knew the school routine from watching Aubrie).


Teyah started her first day of Joy School! Can she really be old enough for preschool? She is so happy to finally have her own school like her big sisters.


Here's her awesome Joy School group. We are excited for a fun year!

Sheboygan 2010

Once upon a time, we traveled to dreamland.


We watched the fog roll in, hover, dissipate, and then repeat its process all morning. And we had the beach to ourselves! The stillness and the haze made it feel like we were in heaven (or else a movie about heaven!).


And then the tiny babe was sent to us from above... Seriously, doesn't this look like heaven? It feels like it to me. No stress, no worries. Just being with my family having fun in this gorgeous place with clouds all around! (; This is how I imagine heaven to be anyway.


The girls were buried... Um... Maybe I better stop with the heaven analogy before this gets creepy?!


My words will just detract from this lighthouse photo taken from our hotel room patio.


We explored the John Kohler Arts Center, and one of the exhibits allowed each of us to take home a pair of cardboard flip flops in our own size.


Just chilling.


We finally figured out how to have a family bike ride! It was so fun and were able to see more than we would have otherwise.


Can you believe they had a surfing competition? Unfortunately, the waves were pretty flat that day.


And it was cold!


It is fun to think back at the past three years of coming here and the individual milestones each kid has made each time. This year, Aubrie braved the big slide all by herself! Hooray Aubrie!





On the cold, windy day, we took a rugged stroll to the lighthouse.


Our first taste of fall weather... That wasn't in the plans.


We explored the children's art room at the John Kohler Art Center. This free museum allows kids to create their own art projects or contribute to a group project. I think we spent three hours here!








The art center is most well-known for its designer bathrooms!


Each one was unique. (The bathrooms, I mean).


Driving to Door County. Photo credit: Ellie.


Just outside of Door County, we stayed at a hotel that truly felt like the middle of nowhere. It was a blast from the past and even had a real key for the door. We borrowed the hotel owner's personal iron.


Door County was more of a tourist trap than we anticipated, but it was fun to go somewhere totally new for all of us. We ate at Sister Bay's Al Johnson's Swedish restaurant with goats on the roof.






We also made sure we experienced the 'legendary' Door County fish boil.







We hope to return to heaven rather than the fiery gates of ...

I crack myself up!