JUNE 9, 2007

Well, here we are entering the latter end of the year already. Seems like January was just last month. Where has the time gone? We are dealing with the summer heat... some of us better than others. Won't be long before our baby girl is here and Joshua will be starting kindergarten. Are we getting old?

A few nights ago, Joshua and Lowell enjoyed a cool down. Now that most of the pollen count has died down (thanks to the heat) we decided to spray down the front area of our house to get the build up of pollen and dirt and dust off. Helps alleviate some of Joshua's asthma issues. Guess I should have had Joshua put on some swim trunks instead of leaving him in his regular clothes...





JUNE 14, 2007

The temperature continues to rise. We have already experienced some record highs this summer so we are trying hard to keep cool. Joshua loves to play in the water and go swimming, but near the end of my pregnancy I was not able to go swimming so we had to find other ways to keep cool and have fun. We bought his little sprinkler last year and Joshua still loves it. He likes to grab one of the sprayers and try to spray Daddy.






JUNE 20, 2007

Our baby girl has arrived!!!! On June 20th at about 3:00am I awakened with contractions. They grew increasingly worse throughout the day and after an afternoon appointment with my OB they turned into hard labor. We grabbed our bags and headed for the hospital, calling my parents on our way out. Joshua ended up staying with a friend because the labor progressed so quickly. At 7:41pm our beautiful little miracle entered the world. She is absolutely amazing! She weighed in at 7 lbs., 10 oz. and we named her Tylee Mabel. She has a full head of dark hair and has all her fingers and toes! I couldn't have asked for a better birthing experience than I had with this baby.


Here's Tylee only seconds after birth. I didn't get to have the experience of holding the baby right after birth when Joshua was born. I thought I hadn't missed anything, but this was a truly touching experience.




Tylee wasn't too fond of having her body washed, but she seemed to enjoy having her hair washed. I think she just like being all snuggled in the fluffy towel!





After Tylee was most of the way cleaned up, she had her footprints done. I think her bath must have worn her out pretty good because she slept through this part!


Next, Lowell got a chance to hold his baby girl for a little bit.


Here we are... done with labor and waiting for the epidural to wear off. Lowell was an amazing support through the entire thing. Notice I am not wearing a hospital gown in any of these pictures??? By the time we got to the hospital I was in hard labor (something I didn't go through with Joshua). I had progressed so far that they had to wheel me right into the delivery room. Like the GoDaddy t-shirt!? Ha Ha Ha! It is what I actually delivered in!




In her first few weeks of life, Tylee has done a LOT of sleeping! She loves to have her hands near her face and is always trying to get her fingers into her mouth. Notice the little scratches on her cheeks in the picture to the left... she did this while she was still in utero. When it was time to have her heartbeat taken she wasn't too fond of the cold stethoscope touching her skin.

This hospital had what they call Baby Lojack. It's a little ankle band that the baby has put on not long after birth and keeps on until both Mom and Baby are released from the hospital. If the band is cut or if the baby is taken past certain points within the maternity ward, all the doors lock and alarms go off. It was a neat feature. I thought we had a picture of it, but it looks like Tylee is all bundled up in all the pictures.


Peaceful at last. With all the excitement of being born there obviously wasn't much time to relax. Once we made it to our private room everyone had a chance to settle down a little. This included Tylee who, once swaddled tightly in a clean blanket, dozed off peacefully.


When Joshua arrived at the hospital to meet his sister she was still being cleaned up and needed to spend a little time in the warmer. He got to have a peek at her.


He commented that she was so tiny. While he was waiting, we gave him a little gift from Tylee. He had a blast taking pictures of everything... especially his new sister!


My parents arrived about 20 minutes after Tylee's arrival. Other than Lowell and I, Joshua was the first one to hold Tylee. Even Grandma and Grandpa had to wait until Joshua came to be able to hold her. He was so gentle with her. He has been a great big brother. He is very protective of her and keeps a close eye on everything that goes on with her.

Here's Grandma and Grandpa holding Tylee for the first time...

Out of delivery and into recovery. Our nurse loved the name we chose and got a pink paper and wrote her name on it and put it in the bassinet. Other than waking to nurse and have her diaper changed from time to time, Tylee did a lot of sleeping.



During the day Joshua and Grandma and Grandpa came to visit us while we were still in the hospital. Joshua brought his new camera and had a good time taking pictures.


About 24 hours after her birth, we were released from the hospital to go home. Before we left we snapped our first family picture with Tylee.


Here are home and enjoying our time together. Lowell was able to take a couple weeks off of work and I have been ever so grateful for his presence. We are all taking the needed time to adjust to having a new baby in the house. Tylee is a wonderful baby and Joshua has been a great big brother. We are so grateful to our Father in Heaven for this beautiful little miracle He has sent to us. I know that prayers are truly answered and the Lord is mindful of our needs and desires.

The night we arrived home Joshua asked if we could read a book to Tylee for our bedtime story. He picked it out and asked to hold her while we read.



Since our arrival home we have all spent lots of time holding Tylee. She is a welcome addition to our little family.

Did I mention that Tylee LOVES to have her hands by her face!?
   

JUNE 30, 2007

Today Tylee met her other grandparents. Lowell's Mom and Dad came for a visit. It was great to be able to see them and spend some time with them.




Joshua had a blast being the center of attention. He loves his grandparents!! All eyes were on him while he "read" Green Eggs and Ham to Grandma, Grandpa, and Sister.


JUNE 24, 2007

About a month ago we noticed Joshua had a bruised front tooth. We asked him what he had hit it on and he couldn't remember. This prompted Joshua's first trip to the Dentist. He got some x-rays done and got his teeth cleaned. The dentist said he hadn't done any permanent damage, but to keep an eye on the tooth. About 2 weeks later, an abscess developed behind the tooth. The dentist said this was his body's way of getting rid of the tooth. So, he started a round of antibiotics and went back in a few days later to have it removed. He was such a trooper!! Not a single tear. He was so excited to leave it under his pillow for the tooth fairy.



JULY 4, 2007

Tylee is 2 weeks old today. We spent the day together and tried hard to avoid the heat. We reached 113 degrees today. Our ninth day of 110+ degree temperatures. Where are those summer monsoon storms!?



This year was obviously Tylee's first 4th of July Celebration. I thought the fireworks might be too loud for her, but she slept through them. I spent some of the time sitting in our van with the a/c on so she wouldn't get too hot. She is very fair skinned like Joshua.



Here's our family before we left for our Fourth of July Celebrations. You can't see Tylee's onesie very well, but it matches the rest of our shirts. We are red, white, and blue! 



We brought lots of water with us to the fireworks. Lowell used a bit of it to cool off Joshua. Joshua seemed to really enjoy it! Despite the heat, we enjoyed our Fourth of July and hope you all enjoyed yours as well.


July 6 & 7, 2007

Tylee has had visitors!

On Friday, Aunt Corri came and visited for a few hours.


It was great to see Corri and Tylee was actually awake for about half of the visit. (When Grandma and Grandpa Gardner came the week before, she slept through their entire visit!)

Then on Saturday, Aunt Amanda, Uncle Rusty and cousins Haley and Carter came for a few hours.




Somehow we missed getting a picture when Amanda was holding Tylee, but it was great to have everyone there for a visit.

Tylee continues to grow and change and she still likes to sleep a lot.



She has also learned the art of thumb sucking. She will take a pacifier, but seems to find her thumb quite often! Silly little girl!


JULY 15, 2007

Tylee is such a good baby. Quite often, we find her smiling and chuckling in her sleep. We caught this one on camera...



JULY 17, 2007

My best friend and room-mate from college came to see Tylee. It was great to see her. She has made amazing quilts for all the special occasions in my life. This time was no different. She hand-sewed a beautiful little quilt for Tylee! Thanks Cynthia!!



JULY 22, 2007

Today we all went to church together for the first time since Tylee was born. She did great and slept through most of it. We quickly learned that Tylee doesn't enjoy wearing headbands and she quickly learned how to wiggle and pull her way out of it. We did snap a picture before too much grumpiness started.
 


JULY 29, 2007

Today was blessing day for our beautifull little girl. WOW! Lots of emotion. She looked so cute in her blessing dress. I couldn't help but shed a few tears as I thought of the life she has ahead of her. I am so grateful for Lowell who was able to bless her. This was a very special day and we are so grateful to all the family who came to support us!!

Here's Tylee fast asleep in her blessing dress.


Here are a few more pics of Tylee...
 

We snapped a few pictures of those who were able to attend. Thanks to everyone for making the effort to be there.





JULY 25, 2007

We were beginning to think it might never get here, but the Monsoon Season has FINALLY arrived!! As soon as the rain started Joshua asked to go play in it. When I didn't come out into the rain with Tylee, Joshua asked why we didn't come out and play in the rain. I told him that Tylee doesn't like the rain as much as him. He said, "But Mama, EVERYBODY likes the rain." So, Joshua was a little bummed about it, but Tylee and I took cover under the porch while he enjoyed the downpour in his raincoat.





JULY 27, 2007

An especially smiley day for our little girl...



AUGUST 5, 2007

Joshua is always wanting to play with his new little sister. He is impatient for her to grow up and start running around with him. He always makes her smile and loves to have her close by to talk to and take care of.


Tonight while I was making dinner, Joshua and Lowell were playing trucks in the other room. Pretty soon I heard Joshua's Tonka truck roll into the kitchen. Then, Joshua, Tylee and Daddy were playing trucks...





AUGUST 6, 2007

Today was Joshua's fifth birthday. Aren't we WAY too young to have a five year old!?!? Joshua decided on a Spiderman Birthday this year. Lowell made this cool web on the wall in the kitchen for a game of pin the spider on the web. Below is a picture of Joshua waiting (as patiently as he could) for the party to start.


Lowell also had fun creating a cool web on the ceiling fan in the living room. Check it out!


Once all the kids arrived they played a game of Pass the Spider... kind of a less crazy version of musical chairs. Less running around and out-of-control fun, but the kids still had a good time! Ha Ha! Next, they had their picture taken. We couldn't quite fit all their little tushes on the couch so we had to find a spot to stick the birthday boy...


Then they all played Pin the Spider on the web. Here's Joshua pinning his spider on.


Joshua won this game and all the kids gathered around to see what he got for a prize.


Next, all the kids made spider cupcakes. We used pull-and-peel licorice for the legs and whoppers for the body. They had lots of fun both making and eating these treats.




After all the kids left, we went to the store to buy Joshua the rest of his birthday present. He opened everything he needed to have a fish (compliments of Mama and Daddy) and was ready to go pick out his very own Beta. He picked a dark red one and named him Fin.


In the evening we had a little family party. Joshua decided on Chocolate Chip pancakes with strawberries, whip cream, and my yummy old fashioned syrup.


After dinner, as you can well imagine, Joshua was quite a mess. As he went in to wash his hands, Lowell asked him if he wanted a snitch of cool whip. Here's how he ended up looking when the two of them were done...


We had a Spiderman cake for dessert. After Joshua blew out the candles, he decided to have a big bite of his cake.
    


AUGUST 7, 2007

Today we went to the Dinosaur Museum in East Mesa. This is an activity that Joshua really enjoys. It's probably been about a year since our last visit to the Museum, but Joshua seemed to remember most of it in great detail. When I asked Joshua to pose for a picture, here's what I got...


There are 3 levels to the museum and a "flash flood" every 25-30 minutes that goes through the area where there are life-size dinosaurs. It quite loud with the water rushing and the dinosaurs making noise, but Joshua loved it everytime!

Along the way there were lots of murals on the walls.






After we watched the flash flood, we toured the rest of the museum. There were lots of different activities. Joshua got to compare his foot to a dinosaur foot print.


Put together a huge floor puzzle of a Woolly Mammoth.


And pose for a few pictures in front of the HUGE dinosaur bones.
 








Tylee enjoyed most of the museum. She loves to be in her stroller and be walked around. After a while though she passed out and stayed that way for the rest of the time.


There were also several areas with artifacts dating back hundreds of years. Most of them were from different areas in Arizona. While Joshua didn't find it as interesting as the dinosaurs, he did enjoy it. In the Mayan room we took a picture in front of this statue. Joshua thought it looked like the head from "Night At The Musuem" that says "gum, gum, dumb,dumb". It made us laugh. Here's the whole family...


Across the room was a tall doorway decorated in the same murals and style.


After the indoor portion of the museum, we went to the outdoor area. There's an old jail outside the museum. It's actually two stories, but they only allow you to tour the bottom area. There are huge steel doors that creak really loud when opened and closed. Joshua thought it was pretty entertaining to be in jail!




Outside the back area of the museum was a small pool of water with a sandy bottom. The sand was flecked with "Fool's Gold" where Lowell and Joshua panned for "gold".




After that, we stopped for ice cream cones and then headed home.

AUGUST 13, 2007

JOSHUA'S FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

Today Joshua started school!!!! I cried... he smiled and completly enjoyed the whole day. We are very lucky that the school is so close to our home. We were able to walk to school on the first day.


We arrived in time for Joshua to have some playground time before school began.


When it was time to go in all the kids stood on the fence and waited for their teacher to come and get them. Joshua was not happy with me taking every photo opportunity.


Finally as we were outside his classroom I got a smile...


Inside the classroom it was swarming with parents trying to take pictures. Here's Joshua sitting at his table coloring a picture.


After a few minutes of snapping pictures, we left (boo-hoo) and Joshua began his first day. I don't think a minute went by that I wasn't thinking about him and wondering how he was doing and if he was okay. Finally, it was time to go get him.




It's been a week now and I am more used to the idea of having him gone all day. I really miss him a lot when he is gone, but I know that school has been a great step for him. He talks non-stop about the days activities when he gets home. I listen intently, knowing this phase will not last forever. He's growing up so fast. We are so proud of the bright little boy he is. I am grateful for our freedoms that allow Joshua the opportunity of attending school each day.


AUGUST 21, 2007

Tylee is getting bigger and bigger everyday. I just thought I would post some recent pics of her having tummy-time. I enjoy my time at home with her. It won't be long before she is rolling over...

She's such a happy baby!




SEPTEMBER 2007


Joshua got some hand-me-downs from a friend of ours and this came in the bag. He thought it was so fun and insisted on a picture!


Joshua sure loves his little sister! They had fun playing on the playground.


Joshua and Tylee love playing together. Everytime Joshua walks in the room, Tylee lights up and starts smiling!! She was content to sit in Joshua's lego container and watch him play for a while.


In September we got to visit lots of Grandmas and Grandpas. Above is Joshua with his Great-Grandma G.! Below is Tylee with Grandma G.and Grandpa G.. (Joshua ran off to play with cousins!)




Near the end of September, Grandma P. came for a visit. Tylee snuggled up and passed out with her finger in her mouth! Funny little girl!



OCTOBER 2007


In October we made a trip to see Great Grandma P. who sadly, passed away in January 2008 after battling cancer for more than a year. She will always be in our hearts. I miss her dearly.


Tylee turned 4 months old.


Then Halloween came. Tylee (who has learned to growl) was a tiger and Joshua was a vampire this year.

A race car driver came to a nearby area for a visit. We took Joshua to see him.


Joshua got to sit in the race car...


on top of the race car...


and he even got to write his name on the race car!


NOVEMBER 2007

In November we attended the JDRF (Junior Diabetes Research Foundation) Walk-a-thon. This year it was sponsored by GoDaddy! There were all sorts of fun things for everyone (especially the kids) to do.


First we parked in a parking lot that was a little ways away from the event and rode a public bus in. Joshua thinks riding the bus is such fun!!

 


This kidzulance is an ambulance that is dedicated to helping kids. They let Joshua go inside it and look around at all the medical supplies and things. The artwork on the outside was done by a local elementary school and covers the entire ambulance.


Scooby-doo and Shaggy were even there and Lowell and Joshua had their picture taken with them!


There were LOTS of HUGE blow-up things. I think Joshua probably had the most fun on this slide. He also got in a jumpy one and there were many more that he never even got a chance to play in.





A few weeks after that we made a trip back down to Grandma and Grandpa G.'s for Thanksgiving. Joshua had fun swinging with Grandpa in the back yard. Tylee was all smiles for Grandma!


Before bed Tylee and Joshua were snuggling during their bedtime story.


Okay, not sure how to explain this picture of Joshua. What can I say? He's our comic relief! We told him if he got ready for bed quickly he could have cookies and milk before he brushed teeth and went to sleep. He came out looking like this!


When we got home from Thanksgiving, Joshua was quite excited to begin decorating the house for Christmas.

So... we started with the Christmas tree.



Lowell finished the tree by putting the star on top.





The next evening we put up the Christmas lights on the outside of the house. Tylee was pooped out and passed out in her stroller while we finished up the lights. She was so cute I just had to take a picture.


Tylee turned 5 months old! She's been sitting up for about a week and is loving her ability to grab for nearby toys (and brother's hair when he gets to close!!!)

She also had her first taste of baby oatmeal...


On her first bite she seemed more interested in having the spoon than the actual oatmeal.




After a few bites (and a toy to keep her hands busy) she started to get the hang of it and she was all smiles.






With her new found ability to sit upright, Tylee and Joshua are having loads of fun playing together. Joshua gathered up all sorts of things and made a tent for him and Tylee to play in. As you can see, they are both having a fun time.


Tylee also enjoys sitting at the computer (while it is off of course) and pretending to be a big girl. Are both of our kids gonna be computer geeks?






With Christmas fast approaching we made our way to the temple to see the lights. I'm not a big fan of the cold, but the rest of the family is pretty hot blooded. We all enjoyed our time together though.




We opened a few presents before we left. Tylee loved this glow worm she got from a friend of ours and Joshua was excited for some new books. This was also Tylee's sixth month birthday! Check out those dimples.


I think Lowell and Joshua had to most fun with their Remote Control Trucks though!! Lovingly named "Big Red" and "Black Widow" they played until their fingers were frozen and the batteries were dead.






We also visited with Santa during an outdoor Christmas Party we attended. Tylee had just woken up and was quite surprised to find jolly old Santa holding her! Joshua happened to be the last little boy to sit on Santa's lap. He was lucky enough to get to sit on Santa's "sleigh" for a short while. (He was the only one!!)


Finally we made it down to Grandma and Grandpa's for Christmas. Joshua and Tylee looked so cute in their Christmas outfits!


At one point during our visit I left Tylee in the care of Grandma P., but upon my return I found all the Grandma's and Grandpa's sharing Tylee! (I don't think she minded.)


Joshua got to ride on a mini-bike of his Uncle's while we were at Grandma and Grandpa P.'s. It took him a bit to get the hang of it, but once he did, he really seemed to enjoy it!

 
There were lots of baths along the way. First stop... Grandma and Grandpa P.'s house...    I mean sink!


Next stop... a hotel near Grandma and Grandpa G.'s house.


Last stop... (I think this one was her favorite... I know it was mine!) HOME!!!


Well, 2007 was a great year!! We were so happy to have Tylee join our family this year. As you can see from my lack of updates, she keeps us extra busy!! Joshua is enjoying school. I can't believe the school year is already winding down. The kids are growing SOOOOO fast. I am working on editing pictures for January-March. Sorry about the delay... for now, enjoy these semi-recent pics!