Kyler -- February 2017

This kid just keeps us on our toes and boy is he full of curiosity and heart. I love to see how he thinks and cars for others. He is such a sweet friend and thinks about others in a way that I could not imagine a 5 year old boy would! What a great time seeing how this love bug shares love during Valentine's day. Here are a few of the high-lights we have had this month!

• When we went to drop off Devin at school, he noticed that there were not as many kids in his class and thought we should pray for all the kids that were sick and missing school in Dev's class
• Had a great time visiting my friend Lisa and helped her with Candy Crush!
• We had lunch at Calvin in Johnny's Cafe! How fun to share this experience with him!
• A very sweet girl in his class gave Kyler a toy because of the loss of Zane the Guinea Pig
• So fun to see that he is learning and singing most of the songs at church
• At conferences, his teacher Mrs Cole said just how much she loves him and how she has never met a smarter and yet kind kiddo in her teaching! Wow!
• Kyler has been having fun doing word games like Alphabetty with Ryan at night on his phone
• We have been trying to play more games together like Ticket to Ride Jr and Star Wars Yatzee
• "I'm so handsome mom!" when he wore a Seriously Handsome shirt
• Kyler and parents became a bit obsessed with a game called Nemo's Reef
• "Sam is my bestest friend"
• Has been taking Spanish classes and learned what "bano" ment
• We had our friend the Leerar's over for games and he loved getting to play with them
• He had a special guy time going out with Daddy to see Lego Batman and had a whole Freeze!
• When I took Kyler grocery shopping, he reads me what I need off my list 
• With some warmer weather, Kyler designed a chalk obstacle course on the driveway
• For Valentine's Day, Kyler invited Great Grandma Van Dyke to go to school with him and wanted to wear a tie so it would be special
• Likes to be "stealthy" when coming up the stairs
• Having fun figuring out the Big Wheel outside
• Discovered the phrase from Uncle Matt, "When you mess with the bull, you get the horns"
• Loves to give hugs to friends at BSF and then go and feed ducks afterward
• Made a Solar System at school
• Gave Kyler his own huge box of crayons so that his brother would not break them
• Ryan and I went to Ann Arbor for a basketball game, but Kyler was upset when he could not see us on television
• He loved getting his first game from the Vault of Midnight! 
• So helpful learning to match socks and making his own sandwhiches
• Had a fun play date at his friend Sam's house!

Lunch at Calvin 

Hanging up his picture at Tom + Chee

Lego Batman with Daddy

Making V-Day cookies with cousins

Big boy on his big wheel

Cleaning up in February!

Look at him Climb!

Showing off his Yoga Skills

Fun time outside exploring

Mommy and Kyler time

Feeding the ducks!

Sharing tablet time

Having fun with Dominos

Kyler -- June 2013

Kyler had some fun events this month, including his baptism, 18-month checkup, first time watching Daddy play softball, and finding out that he is going to have a little brother. We decided to wait to have Kyler baptized until we felt that we had found a church home. In Bourbonnais, we were still settling in when Kyler was born and hadn't yet decided on a church. Then, once we started to settle down, we were not sure we would be staying in Illinois due to the job opening at Calvin. We moved back to west Michigan last July, where the prospect of "shopping" for a church is daunting due to the number of churches in the area. It took a while for us to find our new church home (Fairway CRC), and then it took even longer for our membership to officially transfer (from Ann Arbor CRC). So this June, we finally baptized a fairly squirmy 18-month-old in front of our friends, family, and new church family. Kyler did very well, and we are truly blessed to have him in our lives. After the baptism, we had a nice family cookout to celebrate, and Kyler and KayLynn had fun playing with all the outdoor toys.

Kyler's 18-month appointment went really well. He is going to be a very tall boy, already measuring almost 3 feet tall (35.25 inches)--the height of some 3-year-olds, according to the pediatrician. He was pretty upset being cooped up in the examination room though and continued to cry the entire appointment until we left the building. I guess he does not like to be confined... Kyler also got his second haircut, and this time we just held him still through all the crying and flailing limbs so that it would just finish quicker. We headed out to watch Daddy's softball game one night, but spent most of it playing on the playground. At a local strawberry farm, Kyler had a great time meeting a little bunny; he squealed with delight anytime it touched him!

During our first month of summer, Kyler already accumulated more time in the water than some people do in their lifetimes! Kyler loves his kiddie pool, but does not think about the shoes he is wearing. So we bought a pair of water shoes and some sandals that he can wear outside and in the pool since they dry so quickly. Part of the fun of the kiddie pool involves throwing rocks (from the landscaping) into the water and making large splashes. I am never surprised to see him reaching into the water to take out rocks from a previous play time, but one morning I was surprised--more like stunned--to see him lift up a dead chipmunk by its tail! That was quickly removed, and the pool was promptly emptied! Kyler also had a lot of fun playing by and in Grandpa and Grandma's pool. He loves to throw things into the pool, and before long, he became brave enough to jump into our arms off the side--typically with his trademark lifted leg. Later in the month, Kyler even started to jump off the diving board into our arms. We have a brave little boy on our hands when it comes to water!

Family photo after his baptism

Grammy and Papa came up for the baptism

Kyler pushing KayLynn on his cart--the poor little kid gets so red when it is warm out!

Action shot in the kiddie pool

Everyone loves to play in the cupboards, right?

"Super" cute shades

Laughing on the bench at Grandpa and Grandma's

Superboy! Had a great time at the Summer Stroll for Epilepsy

The blue balloon dog!

He loved it so much, but it did not last very long

Helping Mommy water the lettuce

Sitting with Daddy on the hammock

A daily task for this little boy: lining up his cars

Whatever it was...he sure liked it!

Jumping into the pool... "Catch me, Grandma!"

One stylish dude!

Just looking cute...but never underestimate him!

Eating at the table like a big boy!

Family picture at the pool

We might have a sugar problem...

Kyler -- Week 35 (7/14/12-7/20/12)

So it has been a long time since we have worked on this blog, and as tempted as I am to just give you an overview of what has happened the past couple of months, I see this blog as a bit of a "baby book" for Kyler and do not want to shorten what is a big part of his exploring days. A lot has happened to us recently--and, really, since before Kyler has been born--and I have been writing a journal about what Kyler has done or experienced every single day of his life. So I am always able to go back and see what has happened during a given time frame, even when I get behind on my blog.

For Kyler's 35th week of life, we were busy with travels yet again. We returned from Ann Arbor on Saturday and discovered that while in the car, if you turn on classical music, it calms Kyler and will eventually put him to sleep. When we returned to west Michigan, he again loved being in the pool just as much as ever, even seeming to have a renewed interest in splashing and kicking the water coming out of the jets. Sunday we went to a new church, but had to take the "old" car seat along to give him a place to sleep during church. He was pretty fussy, but fell asleep right at the beginning of the sermon. I don't think it said anything about the pastor.

Monday brought Ryan's and my 7th anniversary, which we spent going to Costco and hanging around with repairmen fixing my parents' hot water heater. While at Costco, Kyler got a new friend: Cade A. Bear (a.k.a. Bear A. Cade), which has helped to block him from trying to get to stairs. Kyler had fun hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma while we went out for our anniversary to San Chez Tapas Bistro, but he did not want to go to sleep for them. He got to hang out late into the night and laugh as Grandpa and Grandma played "volleyball" in the living room. Guess he thought that was pretty funny.

The rest of the week brought new foods (asparagus and egg yolk), and we found a new friend in his window well that set the monitor off all night long--a trapped little bunny (see the video below). We also started to dislike the jumperoo because of it meant confinement. With the water heater broken for much of the week, we spent a lot of time giving Kyler baths in the kiddie pool outside. On Friday morning, we headed out to Lori's family's cottage and played by the beach. KayLynn and Kyler had so much fun playing together. It will be fun to see what they are like in a couple of years. 

Cousins playing in the kiddie pool with adorable hats

KayLynn is such a loving little lady!

In the pool with Grandpa--happy as a clam

Just looking cute in the pool--a place he has spent a lot of time this summer

"I love my fish toy, but I see you taking my picture, Mommy!"

A thoughtful picture...I think there were butterflies he was watching

Just another happy boy picture :)

Playing in the water, looking for toys

Rolling with his "homey" Cade A. Bear

Kyler -- Week 34 (7/7/12-7/13/12)

We had a lot of fun catching up with so many friends this week! We started out on Saturday visiting Ryan's college friends and former Be Nicholas Bé bandmates. Kyler also thought that this would be the time to start a new milestone--CRAWLING! He had been rocking back and forth on all fours for quite a while, but when Mommy put down her cell phone, it was just too much of a temptation, and he had to go forward! Of course, nothing on the ground is safe any longer. Along with crawling, church is becoming something that may be changing very soon. We never really found a home church in Bourbonnais, and now that we are looking in west Michigan, Kyler is getting to the point where we might have to try putting him in nursery soon. Church on Sunday at Mars Hill with the family was busy, with Kyler going from person to person and then getting really loud hiccups during the message. This caused me to take Kyler to what I deemed, "Baby Road" on the far side of church, where a lot of people were walking with their kids. Kyler also got to show off his splashing and love of water to his Daddy; he will even voluntarily put his face in the water without crying. We saw the return of our wonderful little sleeper this week, and Kyler started to copy his Dad's fake laugh, which sounds a little bit like a funny cough. One morning after Kyler woke up early, he snuggled in bed with Daddy and took a nice nap curled up in Ryan's arms. Ryan decided this was the perfect morning to head in to Calvin a little late. I don't blame him a bit.

On Wednesday, we headed out to the east side of Michigan to visit our old stomping grounds, where Kyler could meet so many of our dear friends. We stayed at our friend Melissa's house on Wednesday night, enjoying a dinner out to Red Robin together. On Thursday, Ryan began two days of work at the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, while I took Kyler to the University of Michigan Department of Anesthesiology to see many of my wonderful former coworkers. I really miss my old job and the wonderful people I got to know there, but being a mom is a better job than almost anything I can think of. I truly feel very blessed to be able to stay home with Kyler and spend my days teaching and loving him. After a wonderful visit with great  friends, I had to bring Kyler to one of the Ann Arbor places we miss the most--the Cupcake Station. Oh, so many cupcakes, so little time...

We spent Thrusday and Friday night at Paul and Kellie's house. Kyler was able to hang out with his superfriend Ben, who was really great at having a little boy invade his space. Friday brought more friends (Laura, Simon, and Amos) to meet and play with Kyler. We went out to Chili's for lunch to celebrate Kellie's birthday. Kyler was clearly starving before his lunch, so he chomped on the menu for a while. The highlight of Kyler's week (at least according to Ryan) would be visiting our old softball team and watching them in action. We miss so many people from Ann Arbor, but we are thankful that Kyler got to finally meet them.

"This is the biggest tubby ever, Mommy!"

"Watch, Daddy, I can kick and splash!"

"I get so excited that I get water in my eyes..."

"...a lot! I love to splash!"

"I am so hungry, Mommy--where is my lunch?"

Superfriends!

"Okay, I know that Batman doesn't fly, but I'm cute enough to pull it off, right?"

It's Been Too Long!

So it has been a long time since I have updated our blog, and a lot of things have happened in those short weeks. So I thought that I would update just a few things, but in this post--THE MOVE!

We had a lot of great help getting our truck packed up on Friday July 29. Thank you Matt, Phil, and Jesse for coming to help! My mom and dad, Lynsey, and her new fiancé Darrel also came to do the heavy lifting while I watched Duncan, directed traffic, and picked up lunch. Things got packed really quickly, and we had the afternoon to explore Ann Arbor one last time and allow Ryan to play his last softball game. That evening there was even time to play some Dominion Prosperity!

Dominion being played on the only surface we could find: the Dyson box.

After a night of sleep on air mattresses, we packed up the last of our things and headed out to Bourbonnais. Here are a few pictures before we took off.

The Bebej family with our very loaded truck

Our huge truck with the morning commuters (and my mother taking the picture)