Andrew's Graduation

Andrew graduated from Northern Arizona University on December 16, 2011 with a BAS in Justice Studies. We drove up to Flagstaff with Kylen and his parents to watch him walk. The drive wasn't bad and Kylen did pretty well. He had his moments, mostly when he was getting tired, but other than that he was good and happy. Flagstaff had just gotten a ton of snow but the roads were clear and the view was great.

After the ceremony we took the scenic route down through Sedona where we stopped and had lunch. But first we stopped to take pictures and let Kylen touch the snow.

It was a very nice day trip. I am so proud of Andrew and all he has accomplished. He worked very hard for this day. I love you babe!

Kylen's First Santa Visit

We had an interesting visit to Santa. I thought Kylen would be so excited and do fine since he loved our 8 foot Santa in the front yard but that was not the case.

We had a doctor's appointment for my pregnancy that day and after we were going to go to the mall to visit Santa for the first time. But this was all delayed since Kylen and I got a flat tire on the way to the doctor's office. Of course this had to be the week that Arizona was freezing with nonstop rain. Poor Andrew had to meet us in the neighborhood we pulled into and change the flat tire. Poor guy was soaking wet and frozen by the time he was done. Here is a picture of Kylen waiting in the car.

After getting new tires and dealing with that mess, we all headed to the mall to meet Santa! 

Kylen fell asleep on the way so I knew we would have to give him a little time to wake up before putting him on a stranger's lap but that did not work. As soon as Andrew set him on Santa's lap he began screaming! We tried doing a family shot with Santa but that didn't work either. So we gave up and I decided I would try again another day.

Michelle and I took Kylen and Tristyn to see Santa the Friday before Christmas. I was hoping that having Tristyn there would help since Kylen absolutely loves Tristyn, but it didn't. Kylen did not want anything to do with him. We took a picture and ordered it anyways since I had to have a First Christmas with Santa picture. Here it is..

Dear Kylen,

I am sorry for doing this but Momma just HAD to have a picture! I love you very much!

Love,
Mom

11 months!

Kylen has already hit the 11 month mark! I can't believe how fast time has flown by. He is learning more and more every month and getting more mischievous. Andrew and I are having a blast playing with him. He is learning to walk and doing really well. He walked across the family room and Andrew's parents living room the other day. He knows that crawling gets him to where he wants to go a lot faster so he still crawls most of the time. He knows how to wave now but he usually waits to do it once we have already left the person we were saying goodbye to.

He has been really independent lately.He has learned to play by himself for a while which is great for me. All the toys that we have bought him are starting to be played with. Before he would look at them and play with them for a minute but now he enjoys playing with them. Although he likes his toys, he loves everything that he is not a toy, but what kid doesn't?!

We are still sleeping through the night.. whoo hoo! He is also still taking one nap a day for about three hours. I gave up trying to give him an afternoon nap. Most of the time he refused to go down and if he did then bedtime would have to be pushed back. This schedule seems to work out perfect for us. 

Kylen loves to eat. Meal time is rarely ever a challenge.. he just loves food (like his mom)! He eats almost anything that is given to him. He has his moments when he doesn't eat as much or would rather play but other than that he is a good little eater. I give him 3-4 bottles a day but he rarely finishes all 8 ounces. I started making smaller ones for the morning and afternoon but he has nights when he drinks all 8 ounces so I make a full bottle then and before nap time. I am excited to switch to milk instead of formula. Drinking out of a sippy cup started off as a challenge but he has gotten pretty good at it now. He has also learned to drink out of a straw thanks to daddy. 

He is still in 12 month clothing and size 4 diapers. I think he is ready for size 5 diapers and I know it won't be long until he fits into his 18 month clothing. I think this is the longest that he has stayed in a size which I am extremely happy about. Except for the fact that I bought some 18 month winter clothing that he may not get much use out of. Oh well!

Lately Kylen has been a daddy's boy. He gets really excited when Andrew gets home from work or on Andrew's days off when he gets Kylen up from his nap instead of me. He has also become more sensitive to who is holding him. He used to go to anybody but lately he has his favorites. It is usually me, Andrew,the grandmas or grandpa.  

One more month until he is a year! I cannot believe it!

Kylen's First Thanksgiving

We had a very nice first Thanksgiving as a family. Andrew had to work so I spent the morning decorating the house for Christmas with Kylen. Andrew was able to flex his schedule so he got home around noon. Our families' Thanksgiving schedules work out perfectly for us. Andrew's parents eat early around 1 o'clock and my family has dinner around 5:30. So once he got home we headed over to his parents for some football and food. After a few hours at the McClamrocks, we stopped by the house for Andrew to iron and gather a few things and then we headed to my mom's. It was very nice. Dinner was a combined effort between Michelle and my mom. It turned out delicious as always! Kylen enjoyed every minute. He loves new foods so this was like Heaven to him. Not to mention all the desserts and sweets that his aunt and grandma fed him.. he has a sweet tooth like his mom :o)

Eating breakfast. Momma made pancakes!

Dinner at Grandma's- loving the sweet potatoes!

Taking all the rags out of grandmas baskets :o)

Kylen is so lucky to have so much of his family around to celebrate the holidays with. Andrew and I have so much to be thankful for, but we are especially thankful for such a wonderful, happy, healthy little boy and another little boy on the way.

10 MONTHS!

Kylen is 10 whole months and growing like a weed! He is officially out of 9 month clothing and into the 12 month. The other night he even wore an 18 month shirt. We went to his 9 month appointment on Monday, yes I know a little late, but it went very well. He is now 19 pounds 2.5 ounces and 28.25 inches long. He has finally caught up on his weight (no surprise there), he is still a little below average on his height but nothing to be worried about the doctor said. 

We have been trying to teach him all kinds of new things. He has started giving kisses but he will only give them when he feels like it.  To give kisses he opens his mouth and just leans into your face and then gives a big smile. He still loves to clap and he is good about giving high fives. He started doing a tilted head nod with a big smile. It is too funny and adorable! He can stand by himself without holding on to anything and he tries to take steps, sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't but I know he will get it soon.  

Notice the leg..  Not sure how he manages to do things like this!

 He LOVES to be outside. It is his favorite! When Andrew gets home from work, we usually walk down to the park with the dogs and Kylen will just play and crawl around on the grass. He likes to walk around the backyard in his walker too. The other day Andrew was redoing our porch overhang and since there were tools and nails all over the ground Kylen wasn't allowed out. But we put the gate up so we could still see and talk to Andrew. Below are pictures of how unhappy that made him. It may be mean, but I love his sad faces.. they are just too cute and melt my heart.

Trapped in the house while dad fixes the porch

Not happy! 

Eating is no longer an issue. He loves most food and eats very well. We try new things all the time and he usually likes it. Especially if it is off someone else's plate. I have started to give him a sippy cup with juice and water but he hasn't quite figured it out so it makes a mess..everywhere! 

He has been a real daddy's boy lately.He loves Andrew and always wants him. If dad is home, he could care less about mom. His face lights up when Andrew gets home from work. It is really sweet. 

We have changed his nap schedule a bit. He is now waking up pretty early, around 5:30am, so he takes an earlier nap which lasts about 3 hours and then a short afternoon nap. I think that the second nap has helped his night sleep. He sleeps through the night most of the time (knock on wood) and I think that has helped my sanity :o). 

I love and cherish every minute with this little boy :o) I wish time would slow a bit cause it is just flying by.

Kylen's First Halloween

We began Halloween with a very exciting and important doctor's appointment. Andrew and I are expecting again! We found out the day that Kylen turned 7 months but we wanted to wait to announce it until we found out the sex. Halloween morning we had our 19 week ultra sound and we found out that we are expecting another boy! We are so excited to welcome our second little man :o)

We decided to have everyone over at our house to celebrate Halloween and find out the sex of our baby. Jamie and I baked a blue cake and covered it with orange frosting. It was supposed to look like a pumpkin but since I am new to this cooking/baking thing, it didn't quite turn out that way. Maybe next time! The grandma's cut it open to announce the gender. Boy oh boy I am going to be singled out! We barbaqued  and passed out candy. Michelle, my mom, Tristyn, Andrew's parents and brother Seth, Jamie, Amber and Kevs  all came over to help us celebrate.

Kylen never actually got into his costume because he was being fussy but I took pictures of him in it later :o)

Tristyn looked great! He dressed up as Jailhouse Rock Elvis.

It was a fun and mellow Halloween. I am really looking forward to Kylen's first holiday season :o)

Shnepf Farms

Last weekend we made our first trip as a family to Schnepf Farms. It was a lot of fun. When we first got there we stopped to take pictures at the hay pyramid. Kylen LOVED it! The hay was so exciting to him. He could have stayed there all day but we dragged him away to the petting zoo.

Kylen didn't seem as excited about the animals as I thought he would be. He wanted to be put down to see the animals but once Andrew knelt to get him closer he seemed a little nervous and turned his head away from the goats. He wasn't scared, he was just a little unsure about them.

We headed to the corn maze after the petting zoo. We were wondering why Kylen was being so quiet in his stroller and we looked down to find him asleep with a piece of hay in his mouth. He was a tired little farm boy.

Andrew and I decided to let him sleep so we headed over to the Frisbee Dog Show. Andrew was convinced that Sammie (our dog) was just like one of the dogs we saw so he has decided to teach Sammie to play frisbee. We will see how that goes! Kylen woke up shortly after the show so we walked over to get Shnepf Farms famous chili lunch. Yum!

Still sleepy and oh so comfy!

It was a very nice and relaxing day with the family :)