five question friday

1. Do you prefer to drive to your vacation spot or fly?  It depends how far away the vacation spot is!  If the drive is within 6 hours or so, I'd prefer to drive so we'd have our own car.  Much longer than that, I'd prefer to fly.  Although flying with a young child is a challenge in and of itself!
2. If you could live any where in the world, where would you go and why?  I really like where we live now.  We have four beautiful seasons, and my life is here.  I wouldn't want to be far from family.
3. Should grown women wear leggings? It depends on your body type.  You need to be quite thin to make leggings look halfway decent.
4. If you could change your name to any other name, would you? And what would it be?  I don't think I'd change my name.  I like it just the way it is!
5. What magazines to you have subscriptions to?  I currently subscribe to Parents, Martha Steward Living, Taste of Home, and Better Homes & Garden.

Tylerisms

Now that Tyler is almost three, he is just talking up a storm.  He says so many hilarious things!  I have to write some of them down so I'll remember them later.

"Thank you for fixing our dishwater, man!"  Our new dishwasher was not working right, so we had a repairman come out.  For some reason, Ty thinks our dishwasher is called the dishWATER :)  and I do not have the heart to correct him!  Also, if he doesn't know what someone's name is, he refers to them as "man" or "lady".
"Yes you don't!"  I must say "Oh no you don't" to Tyler fairly often... when I do, he always replies to me, "Yes you don't!"
"I've got to be three"  Whenever anyone asks Tyler how old he is going to be, instead of saying "I'm going to be three", he says "I've got to be three".

What surprises me, though, is that Tyler really speaks well.  Most of the time is grammar is correct (or very close to it!).  Can I just say that I absolutely love this age?  It is so much fun.  Tyler really is a good little boy.  I think we came through the "terrible twos" fairly unscathed!  I have been warned, though, that sometimes three can be more difficult than two... so we shall see!

it's been awhile!

I've decided to try my hardest to keep a blog detailing our family life.  I've always loved to write.  I think that as time goes on, I will enjoy looking back and being able to recall memories that might otherwise fade into the background!  Here's a general update on our family.

Tyler, our almost three-year-old, is a fun and busy boy.  He loves Thomas the Train, tractors, anything farm-related, and candy!  This past summer, we have had the wonderful opportunity to spend time camping!  Tyler has become quite the little camper!  He likes to dig in the dirt, go swimming in the lake and pool, go on boat rides, and sleep in his cubby bed in the trailer.  He also enjoys Saturday mornings at the lake when we go into town for breakfast and shopping.  One of the jewelry stores has a Gold Mine "tunnel" that Tyler begs to play in!  And we always have to go to the kids' consignment shop.  But most of all, he loves all the extra time he gets with his Grandma and Grandpa!  When we are working, Tyler goes to a nearby preschool/childcare center.  He just LOVES school!  He's learning so much.  He can sing his ABCs, count to twenty, he knows all of his colors, and is learning to pick out letters that are written.  We are very thankful for the care Tyler receives while we are away at work!  We are working on potty training, and so far so good!  We are very excited about Tyler's 3rd birthday party next month.  We decided to do a farm/tractor theme!

Chris is doing well.  He has gotten back into guitar playing this past year.  He bought two new guitars!  He is still an avid hunter, mainly hunting deer and geese right now.  He had a very fun goose season and has been enjoying grilling goose breast for dinner.  He's been keeping very busy this year keeping up the grass and yardwork at our house and over at his Mom and Dad's property.  He was able to fix up his Dad's lawn tractor this summer, and it is now running beautifully!  It's very special to Chris because it was used in the 1992 Indy 500 and was a treasure of his Dad's.

Megan (that's me!) - I'm still working at the hospital, odd hours still!  It really works well for our family.  I'm a bit sleep deprived, but sometimes I'll sneak a nap in with Tyler on my days off!  I've recently learned how to bake bread from scratch, that has been a very fun new hobby.  This summer I've taken up knitting again.  One of the skills I'm working on is knitting in the round.  I also enjoy keeping the house, and am always striving to be just a little bit more organized!  My new motto is "a place for everything, and everything in it's place".  It's a work in progress.  I absolutely love being a Mom.  Our son is my prize and joy!

Apple Orchard

Today, I went with Tyler's preschool class to a local apple orchard! We had a great time. We went on a tractor ride, got to see how apple cider is made, and enjoyed fresh donuts and apple cider.  Sadly, in our area there are no local apples this year!  We had a very warm, early Spring and the apple trees blossomed too soon, and they froze.  This particular apple orchard has shipped in apples from a nearby town.  We had a wonderful field trip, it was great to spend time with my little man!

Click here to see some pictures from our field trip!  The link will bring you to a private photo blog.  Let me know if you'd like to be added to the list of invited readers!

lovely.

Today was an exciting day for Tyler, he had his first haircut! His baby hair was getting a bit long in the back, so he went in for a little trim. He looks like such a big boy now! He had such little hair for so long, this was a big event for our family. He did very well, hardly any crying. He fussed a bit with the clippers, but all in all was a good boy. I'm a proud mama!
I am really looking forward to Saturday. It's my Spa Day, one of my Christmas presents from Chris. I'm going to have a pedicure, a facial, and a massage. It's going to be wonderful!!! Can't wait. Then in the evening, we're going out with Chris' family for his Dad's bday.
Tomorrow is back to work. I am really loving my new job/schedule.
Did I mention that Tyler only cried for about a minute tonight when I put him in his crib? This new routine is WORKING!!! And he's sleeping better, too... we're going on 5 nights of sleeping from 9:30pm-8:30am with very minimal waking during the night. We are happy with this.

Weekend recap

Well, our new sleep routine seems to be working!!! Each time we lay him down, Tyler cries for a shorter period of time. He also seems to be sleeping better at night, with less waking. We are very hopeful that he is learning. He is such a little cutie when he wakes up, so happy. I love waking up to his little oohs and aahs!
We had a great long weekend. Chris and I both had the day off on Friday, and we lounged around the house. For New Year's Eve, we went to a party at Chris' sister and her hubby's house. It was 80's themed which was very funny! I haven't seen that much blue eye shadow and spandex in quite a while. I had to wash my hair several times to get all the Aquanet out!
We also had our new couch delivered! It looks so nice. Thanks to Chris and my brother Travis for all their hard work moving things around. Unfortunately, our old couch would not fit downstairs (or upstairs for that matter), so to the donation place it went.
Today was lunch at Mom and Dad's. I picked up a 4 hour block of call for work, and didn't get called in at all! Pretty sweet. Tyler took a 3.5 hour nap... he must have been tired!

Well, the holidays are officially over. It's been a wonderful Christmas season. We have been blessed with lots of time with family and friends. I am very excited about the year to come ... the birth of my first nephew, a vacation to Arizona, plenty of time at the lake, my little brother's wedding next fall, Tyler's 2nd birthday, and so much more. Life is good!

Best Baby Items (in my humble opinion)... Part 1

I am going to list my very favorite baby items. Hopefully other new Moms might be interested in this info, but I'm also writing this for my own benefit for when we decide to have baby number 2 :)

For the newborn...

1) The Swaddleme blanket by Kiddopotamus. Love this. It helped my little boy sleep so well until he was about 3ish months old. They have several different varieties and sizes. We had both the cotton (for summer/warmer months) and the fleece (very cozy) in small and large. They work very well until your baby is starting to roll over.


2) Pack N Play ... If you click on the link, you'll see the type of Pack N Play that we had/have. Ours is by Graco, and we have one of the more basic models. It has the "newborn" insert, which fits over the top and raises the baby up. This is wonderful for newborns and young babies that are not able to move around much. It keeps them up a bit higher, which is much easier. I kept our Pack N Play on our main floor. I used it all the time, especially the first few weeks we were home from the hospital. Tyler would nap in it, I also would put a pad down and use it for a changing table! It worked great. I really liked this model and would highly recommend it. There are much fancier (and pricier) types available, but save your money. This one is super! We still use it for our fourteen month old. He will nap in it if we are away from home. My Mom and Dad even bought one just like it for their house!


3) Burp cloths. Need I say more? Before I had Tyler, I was given lots of burp cloths. I washed them and put them away in his dresser, not really thinking much about them. Then we had the baby. I really underestimated how much babies spitup! And how stinky a burp cloth becomes if you use it over and over again! It is a good idea to have lots of burp cloths. As in... upwards of ten/fifteen or so. Really. Maybe I am overestimating a tad, but it sure is nice to not have to do the laundry daily. My favorite ones were hand made. My Mom bought some of the quilted cloth diapers (like the Gerber prefolds here) and sewed cute printed fabric along the top. I had some other ladies make me nice ones out of flannel, too, which I liked a lot.


4) Pampers Swaddlers. Hands down, best diaper for newborns (I love Pampers diapers for Ty in general, really..). I just loved the "wetness indicator" stripe down the middle, but I do think it makes you change their diaper a little too soon :) Keeps baby's skin healthy, though. And they actually smell good, too. You can also save up the Gifts to Grow points, enter them on the Pampers website, and cash them in for free stuff! I saved up enough points for a free 8x8 Shutterfly book.



5) Aveeno Baby Wash & Shampoo Tyler had very sensitive skin as a newborn. Johnson & Johnson's would make him break out into a rash. Once I changed soaps over to Aveeno Baby, his rash cleared right up! It is very gentle, and it also contains a nice light scent.


6) Boppy pillow - My Mom and Dad came over the night we came home from the hospital. Since Tyler was born early, we didn't have quite everything we needed. So, before coming over, they stopped at Babies R Us and picked up some essentials... and one of the items was a Boppy pillow. I used this a lot, especially those first few weeks of nursing. It helps to lift the baby up to the right level and saves your neck from getting stiff. You can also use this to help support baby before he can sit on his own. They have really cute covers for the pillow, too.


7) Medela Harmony Manual BreastPump - this was another item my Mom picked up for me. Moms just know what their daughters are going to need! Definitely a necessity, even if you are going to stay home with your baby! It also comes with a few Medela bottles and nipples, which are perfect for a newborn. I was so happy that I had this... I had to take a class for work when Tyler was about 9 weeks old. It was an eight-hour class, with no "nursing room" with an outlet for my electric pump. I was very happy to have this!


8) Ipod Touch ... this might seem a bit silly, but it was very helpful when Ty was little! He was jaundiced when he was born, so it was very important to nurse him every 1.5 to 2 hours. Around the clock. My Ipod touch helped keep me awake during those nighttime feedings. It also has apps you can download to help keep track of feedings, diaper changes, etc.


9) Pacifiers. Tyler liked the Nuk pacifiers when he was really small (his mouth was so tiny!), and once he was a little bigger, Mam pacifiers. They helped to keep him happy and content :)


10) Bouncy seat. We had a nice bouncy seat that would vibrate, and it also had a toy attachment across the top. Tyler really liked this, in fact, he will still sit in it occasionally to drink his milk! This is very helpful when you need to set baby down, but he's not sleeping. It helps him to sit up a bit and see what you are doing!

Stay tuned for Part 2!