Nats Game

This weekend we decided to take advantage of living in Florida and being Washington Nationals fans. The Nats do spring training about an hour away from us, near Cocoa Beach. We took the boys to their first Spring Training game Saturday afternoon. We had high expectations when we bought the seats. In reality we should have just purchased the cheaper high up bleacher seats because that is where we ended up going so they could run around!! Overall, we had a great time but Tyler is probably a but too young to actually sit and watch a game. We lasted about 4 innings, which wasn't too bad! :) On our way out, Carson even got a foul ball! He was SO excited!

It's snowing!!!

We drive up to Charlotte to visit some friends for the long weekend and we got a pleasant weather surprise!! It snowed on Saturday evening!! Tyler had never seen snow before and Carson was pretty excited!! When I asked Tyler if he wanted to play in the snow he said, "No!" I said why, he said "cold!" I guess he truly is Florida boy!

Boys will be boys!

Carson has taken an interested in "shirtless dinners." Of course that means that Tyler wants to do the same! Here are few pictures that were taken for "shirtless tv watching." It also turned into "pants-less tv watching."

What do people say... Boys will be boys?? I am pretty sure not many young girls decide to eat topless and watch tv in just their panties. I guess we are just made differently! :)

18 months

I know I'm a little behind but better late than never!

Tyler is 18 months old!! How did this happen!??

Tyler is an easy going-laid back child.  (for the most part) He definitely does not have the energy that his brother has! He enjoys playing around the house with trucks, puzzles, his barn, and of course with BALLS! The boy LOVES balls!! (it's one of his favorite words as well!) He LOVES playing with his brother too! He always makes sure to share whatever he has with Carson. If he gets a cracker, he wants another so Carson can have one too! He is so Sweet!! He loves to give kisses so watch out, if he gives one person a kiss he HAS to give every person in the room a kiss too!! Some others things that he love to are swing out back and ride his bike! He seems to really enjoy just being outside and having the freedom to explore.

His vocabulary is growing but it's not nearly as vast as his brothers at this age. :) He can say, "mama, dad, Car (carson), Tyler, ball, apple, thank you, please, uh-oh, all done, water, cracker, up, down, help, truck, duck, dog, woof, and a few more but I can't think of them right now.

Food: He loves pancakes, yogurt, grapes, granola bars, yogurt raisins, fruit snacks, and hummus. He has been good about trying most things but he is becoming more opinionated about his food lately.

Other loves: Animals!! His favorite animals are ducks and dogs, but he gets very excited anytime he sees and animal or reads about animals.

We are just getting to the point where he will sit down and listen to/read stories with us as well! His favorite book is, "Good Night Moon." He also like "Sheep in a Jeep."

Tyler is one sweet little boy! He makes us smile every day between his funny faces and loving hugs! It has been so fun to watch the boys really start to play together and have fun together! I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us!

Tyler's stats:  Still big!
weight: 31.14 pounds (99th percentile)
Height: 35 inches (99th percentile)

Big boy!

My baby boy is growing up! Lately has been showing a lot of interest in going pee on the potty. We decided to take hints from his queues and we pulled out the training potty. He has been going pee on the potty at least once a day. He doesn't tell us before he has to pee but we ask him and then he happily sits on the potty and goes. It can't believe he's already starting to use the potty! I feel like he is growing up too fast!!

Big boy

Tyler is getting to be such a big boy!! I can't believe how fast he is growing and changing!! He has been so much fun over the past month. He is becoming more interactive and his little personality is coming out. He loves playing peek-a-boo and he LOVES copying whatever you are doing! He often follows Carson around and laughs and laughs at everything!! 

The other day he climb up on his stool in the bathroom and just started brushing his teeth!

 

On Sunday we went to Monkey Joe's to burn off a little energy since it rained all weekend! He had so much fun exploring and bouncing!! 

Father's Day

Our Father's Day was pretty low key. Carson and I made the family French Toast (Daddy's favorite) for breakfast. We then did some MUCH needed organizing/cleaning in the garage. Of course the Bates boys love to clean!! What's more fun than family bonding over some cleaning?! 

 

For Father's Day Jason got a new toy car.  During Tyler's nap Carson and daddy went to hit golf balls at the driving range. Carson was SO excited!! Jason said they had a lot of fun and it was something him and Carson will have to do more often!

 

When they got back from their golf outing I had some dinner waiting for them. We made homemade personal pizzas. And for an extra special treat, we ate in the living room and watch golf (The US Open) on TV. It was a pretty great day!

It was a the perfect day for the perfect Father of my children!! The boys and I are so lucky to have Jason! He is a great father!! We love you Jason!! 

And we're done...

So today starts a new chapter... I stopped nursing Tyler today. I started the transition a couple of weeks ago. I was nursing him in the morning and then before nap. I cut out his before nap nurse and this morning I cut his morning nurse. I'm not sure who it will be harder on... Him or me. :) BUT Jason and I are going to Italy at the beginning of July and Tyler needs to be weened by then! So we will be working on him becoming more independent over the next month so when he's with the grandparents for a week, he will be a-ok! :)

Tyler's party

What a wonderful weekend!! The boys and  I flew up to DC Thursday evening, Jason was in Texas on business. I was hoping by taking a later flight one if not both of the boys would sleep on the plane. NOPE! Carson did a wonderful job but Tyler was "that baby" most of the flight. (Which was a big surprise given Tyler is such a mellow child and he has flown several times before and never had any issues.)   Jason flew in Friday night, just in time for the party on Saturday morning.

Since we didn't get in until 10ish on Thursday night I was not able to bake or start any party prep until Friday. I did do some prep work in Florida. For a craft I wanted to kids to make butterflies so I made all the butterfly bodies and glued them to the canvases and brought them with me. I also made caterpillars that said "happy birthday tyler," a caterpillar photo gallery,  caterpillar and polka dot cookies for favors, caterpillar stickers, and table tent food cards.

Food Label Cards 

 

Happy Birthday Tyler caterpillar... 

 

0-12 month pictures in the shape of a caterpillar

Butterfly art project

We invited the children to make their own butterflies using their hand prints (or footprints).

Cookie Favors. 

I made 45 cookies in Florida before leaving. I wrapped them very carefully and to my surprise they all made it! (I made extras just in case a few broke.)

We celebrated with family and some good friends in Virginia. It was a wonderful party! We even had some friend come up from Charlotte to celebrate with us! Thanks to everyone helped us celebrate!!

Nana and Tyler

 The drinks...

The cake... 

 The food...

Brothers....

Tyler and Layla 

Cousins 

 Kennedy was not a fan of the hand painting

Happy Birthday to you....

Daddy and Tyler

Mommy and Tyler 

Grandpa

 High school friends turned mommies

 Daddy and silly Sam

 Uncle Bobby and Aunt Elisha

 Presents!!

Of course Tyler was spoiled by all the friends and family who love him!! Thank you all!!

Glammy and Grandpa

 Nana and Grandpa

Sorry for all the pictures!! Hope you enjoyed them as much as we did!!