Monkey Leash

Kyle is a RUNNER!
He takes after his Daddy! He is SO FAST. Honestly, I have a hard time catching him.
So....we put him on a leash.
Target sells these great "monkey leashes"
Thank goodness Kyle likes monkeys. (They also have bears and some other kind of animal)
But Kyle is a monkey kid. :)
It took a while for him to get used to wearing it but now he likes it...most of the time.
We call it "Taking the Monkey for a walk" and Kyle seems to enjoy it.
When we go to crowded places (like the Seattle Science Center) I feel much better knowing I have a hold on him by the monkey tail. I am worried he will run away from me and get lost.
So....I am proud to admit....YES, I put a leash on my child!

January '09

Happy New Year (14 days late) Sorry!
Things have been a little bit hectic around here.

We enjoyed our Christmas Break. Troy had 3 extra days off because of the snow. I must say, after 19 days of Troy being home...it was nice to be back to the "normal routine" around here.
We celebrated New Year's with friends and stayed up WAY TOO LATE for my liking. Thank goodness for Grandma Sally! She spent the night and got up at 6am with Kyle.
Speaking of that...Kyle has been getting up EARLY! I am talking 5am, 5:30am., 6am.
The kid does not understand the concept of sleeping in/weekends/Christmas Break/or 2 hour late start because of snow.
I went and bought a White Noise Machine (BEST $20.00 I ever spent)
Yesterday he woke up at 7:40. Today was 7:30.
That is much better!!!

Troy is FINISHED with his Masters Program!!!
I am SO proud of him. It has been 22 months of sacrifice but it will be well worth it now that it is done!
Kyle was an infant when Troy started the program. Crazy to think about!
One weekend per month...Troy would have class. Friday night from 5pm-10pm, Saturday from 8am-5pm, and Sunday from 8am-5pm!
Those weekends were LONG for both of us!!!!
Troy took a much needed-much deserved Personal day on Monday to celebrate.
He went to the movies. By himself. He saw a movie that I would not care to see :) He said there were 10 guys (alone) in the movie theatre. Funny.
When he came home....he handed me these.....


They are BEAUTIFUL!
I guess I deserve flowers for helping him get through this Masters Program :)
What a thoughtful thing for him to do.

We have joined the YMCA. (We joined in November...so we are not part of the New Year's Resolution Bandwagon)
It has been great for our family! We go together. Troy runs/lifts weights, Christy uses the treadmill or other machines or does a group class, and Kyle plays in the Kid Zone. He loves it.
We have also used the swimming pool quite a bit. We go to Open Swim/Family Swim. Kyle is becoming quite a little fishy! Kyle is taking swimming lessons again. He LOVES it. We go twice a week for 30 minutes. He is even holding on to a "noodle" and swimming all by himself!

We are looking forward to a fun-filled 2009!

Old McDonald

Kyle and Troy singing "Old McDonald"

Enjoy!

Snow Day # 2

We woke up today to a phone call from Troy's school district saying that school was closed! Yeah! Time to sleep in....NOT!
Kyle has no concept of sleeping in. Oh well.
We had such a fun day. Kyle finally decided to wear a winter coat (size 4T) and mittens!
We went sledding with our neighbor buddies Caleb and Ethan. We built a snowman and we went on a walk with the Radio Flyer Wagon. Kyle even decided to "mow" the snow.


Kyle mowing the snow


Our snowman



Going for a walk in the wagon.




sledding




Cute boys sledding.

What a fun day! There is nothing better than playing in the snow, drinking hot cocoa, making cookies, and watching movies!
I hope we have another snow day tomorrow!

Snow Day

Kyle LOVED playing in the snow yesterday!
He was in Digging Heaven!
Of course, he refused to wear gloves/mittens...so his hands were freezing and bright red!
Oh well....he will learn.
I put him in the back of Daddy's truck and he dug out all the snow. I could not get him out of there! He would have played outside all day if I let him.....but I made him come in for hot cocoa and lunch (I know, I am so mean)
He enjoyed playing with his diggers and loaders on the deck (even after it got dark)
We did not make a snowman.....maybe we will try that today???


Kyle digging.


Playing on the deck at night.



more digging.




clearing off Daddy's truck





He's a digging machine!

Farmer Brown's Christmas Tree Farm

Making Traditions is an important part of Christmas for us.
For the past 3 years we have headed to Farmer Brown's Christmas Tree Farm to pick out the perfect Christmas Tree.
So we load up the Dodge Dakota with our hot cocoa in hand and head to Arlington. My sister, Sarah, always comes with us.
This year, Kyle loved walking through the many rows of trees. He found big ones and small ones! His favorite part was helping Daddy carry the tree back to the truck. So cute! What a big boy! And such a good helper!
(For some reason, I am not good at placing the photos in the order that I want them to go in)
sorry for that....
so...we are some photos from this year and some from past 2 years too!
(random order)


Kyle-December 2007 (age 15 months)


Annual shot with Auntie Sarah (2007)



1st Trip to Farmer Brown's Tree Farm
(December 2006)
12 weeks old



Our cute little family (2006)





Auntie Sarah and Kyle (2006)


December 2008:


Peek-a-boo



Helping Daddy carry the tree.
It's heavy!



Cute Boy!




I want to carry it Daddy!

Hmmm....how is Daddy sawing it? I want to try!

(maybe next year, kid)

You can't find me! :)

Here's a good one, mom. It's my size.

Look, I am taller than the tree!

Daddy and Kyle smile for the camera

Auntie Sarah and Kyle (2008)

Happy Tree Hunting!

Santa Pictures

Tonight was the night. We decided to take Kyle to see Santa for his yearly photo session.
I was prepared for the worst.
Getting him dressed was not easy. He wiggled, freaked out, and said "Different shirt MaMa!"
But...I did not give in. He was going to wear the red checked shirt with the gray and red striped sweater on top, cute jeans, and red socks! That is what I bought for him to wear for the photos. If he had his way...he would be wearing sweat pants with a bright yellow elephant t-shirt or digger jammies.
I won this one.
so....we sang Christmas Songs all the way to the mall.
I told him he could tell Santa that he wanted a digger for Christmas.
I told him he could eat a candy cane when he was finished.
I told him that he did not need to cry because he was a big boy.
I still expected tears, arched back, sliding off Santa's lap and running towards mommy.
but...I was surprised.
This is what we got!
Who is this kid?????????
Not my Kyle!!!!!


It only took 6 tries before we got a good one. The first few he was being shy and had his fingers in his mouth. Then he would not smile. But...I played peek-a-boo with him from behind the counter and that did the trick! Mommy knows how to get him to smile :)
Despite the High Waters....it is a cute photo.
I was pleased and proud.
He enjoyed every last lick of the sticky pepperminty candy cane.
The photos are already loaded on Facebook and Costco is printing copies for all the relatives right this very moment.
Mission Complete.
Now....if only I can get him to eat his vegetables!!!!!