Potty Training

I recently took an extra day off of work and with that I decided that this was a good time to hit the potty training.  For two weeks, we all focused on getting tyler to go "pee pee" and "poo poo" on the toilet.  He was already going poo on the seat so the challenge was to get him to learn when he needed to go pee pee and let us know when that was happening.  As you can see, I made him a sticker chart and after two weeks he is doing AMAZING!  He gets to put up a sticker after every sucessful trip.  He tells us almost all the time and is in his underwear all day with the exception of nap time and overnight!  I couldn't be more excited and have not purchased pull ups in 3 weeks!  We wanted to reward him after his 2 big weeks of using the potty like a big boy and we got him a toy from his new favorite movie, CARS.  It is Mack the truck and he absolutely loves "her".  Thats right, he calls Mack "her"... whatever works :) We are so proud of our little man!

Model Shoot

We got Tyler some real "big boy" underwear, Thomas The Train, and it prompted a photo shoot.... what a looker!

 THE "ASSET"



Christmas

Jason and I were SO excited for this Christmas! Tyler is old enough to "get it" and we wanted to make it really special.  We got him a Thomas The Train set and couldn't wait to set it up on Christmas Eve and have it out for him to find in the morning from Santa.  We went to open it up and set up the train and we found that half of our pieces were missing!  Christmas Eve Catastrophe!!!! We had to settle for the fire truck toy we had bought for him, which he loved!  Luckily, my parents had extra pieces to the train set and they came over and we snuck the set together later that morning and he went crazy over Thomas the rest of the day!  Tyler really enjoyed Christmas this year and talked a lot about Santa, hopefully we instilled some of the magic of the season in him!

I know this is a crazy outfit but I wanted to try and wear as many of my gifts as possible!  I got some running pants, slipplers, a soccer ball and a new running top.

Zoo Lights 2011

We went to the Zoo lights again this year, except this year we were smarter :) We took the day off, took max over and got in line early.  We were on one of the first train rides and had enough time left over that we went and saw Santa at Pioneer Courthouse Square on our way home. 

Tyler Turns 2!

Tyler turned 2 this year and what an amazing year it has been.  We are so lucky to have such a great kid!  We had family and friends over to celebrate as well as having a family birthday on his real birthday and Jacque joined us.  This year I made him a soccer ball cake and was so happy when I realized that they make sugar free cake AND frosting now!  

Tyler is trying to make a "2" with his fingers

Jacque and Tyler the morning of his birthday

Santa Parade

One of our local fire districts has Santa parades throughout the month of December.  They drive all thoroughout different neighborhoods in Clackamas county and when they were going through Happy Valley we went out to see Santa.  They had amazing old antique fire trucks all decorated with lights and Santa's sleigh too.

Thanksgiving 2011

We had Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year.  Doug, Kelly, Will, Jack and Annemarie made the trip from Montana, Steve, Jen, Matt and Caleb and my parents all came.  We had a great day, always nice to have our whole family together and see how much the kids have grown! 

 Will, Jack, Matt and Caleb

 Upside down Tyler

Cheers!

Rudolph?

Someone has the Christmas spirit :)

Driving Range

Jason and Tyler went to the driving range one cold Saturday morning.  They spent 2 hours there!  He loved it!

Brian Wilson Beard Contest

Somehow a bet began at the Kaiser Westside Hospital job site.  The goal was to grow the best Brian Wilson beard.  The bet began in September with the initial deadline being October 31st.  You can imagine my joy when Jason informed me that his bosses had suggested they delay the final voting until a regional meeting that was being held at their jobsite, in November!  Jason ended up getting 2nd, out of 2, and came home with a lovely consolation prize.  His competitor acutally dyed his beard for the contest!

Bandon Dunes 2011

Jason made his annual trip to Bandon Dunes this year with the biggest group yet.  He had to bring our trailer in order to get all of the clubs and gear to the course.  They had amazing weather and had an amazing time!

        

Happy Halloween

Tyler loves Elmo so, it seemed right this year.  We had the Elmo costume for about a month before he was ready to put it on - he was scared of it :)  Trick or Treating was an absolute BLAST!  We all went out together to about 4 or 5 houses, did the trick or treat thing and figured that would be it.  When we got back home Tyler said "more trick or treats please?"  So I stayed home to get rid of our candy and Jason and Tyler headed back out for more goodies.  They came back, heavy on the candy and again Tyler asked to go back out.  It is so fun to have him really starting to understand and see him enjoy the things we remember enjoying when we were kids!  Can't wait for Christmas!

This is not our house... but our favorite of the night :)

Carving Pumpkins

This year Dad was home to carve pumpkins with Tyler and I.  Tyler seemed very interested in the carving but left the work to Jason and I.  He still didn't really care for the "guts" of the pumpkin again this year.  I asked him what he wanted me to carve on his pumpkin and his answer was a tow-truck.  I did my best.