Family Pictures

A couple of weeks ago we had our family pictures taken and Tysons three month pictures taken. Here are a few of the best ones.

Cousins

Here is a picture of all the cousins. We are now up to seven and soon eight once Cassy has her baby in July. It is so much fun when they all get together. Pretty soon Tyson will be right there running around crazy with all of them. I guess it is still a ways off but time flies by so fast that it is going to seem too soon for me.

Some Fun Pics of Tyson

This entertainer saucer has become Tysons new favorite toy.

Here is Tyson right after taking a bath. It looks like he wants to fly with his arms out like that.

Here is Tyson sitting up with the help of the boppy pillow.

Easter Fun

We had a fun Easter weekend. Saturday we each woke up to an Easter basket.

How cute is little Ty! This was his very first Easter which made me very excited to do an Easter basket for him. As you can see he got a cute church outfit, a couple of toys, onesies, and socks-mostly needed things. It sure looked like he was happy about it though.

I got some candy in my basket and some much needed new tank tops. I had stretched all mine out while wearing them when I was pregnant so I got a few new ones. I was very happy about that.

Mike also got some candy and new running shoes and the money represent the money he is going to use to register for the half marathon he is going to do, hence the new running shoes. He is doing a really good job training for it. I am so proud of him.

I didn't take any more pictures the rest of the day (oops) but we then headed over to my sister Marci's house for an Easter egg hunt (which we ended up missing) so we just visited with each other. Then later that afternoon we went over to my sister Cassy's house for a barbeque with the McBrides, Mom and Dad, and Karli. We had a great time just being together. On Sunday we went to church and then joined the family for an Easter dinner at my parent’s house. Our whole family was there. It was nice because it had been a while since we had all been together. I am so grateful for family and to be able to reflect upon the Savior and his life, death, resurrection and atonement. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life.

Update on Tyson's Bedroom

So a couple of weeks ago I posted a picture of Tyson's wall that seemed a little bit blah. Well I made a sign for his room and here is the finished product. I am quite proud of myself for doing this project.

Before

After

Tyson is 3 months

Our baby Ty is growing so much and it seems like way too fast. He is 3 months today and I can't even describe how fast it has gone by. We weighed and measured him tonight. He weighs 13 pounds 4 ounces and is 25 inches tall. I took this picture a little bit earlier tonight. Isn't he just so cute. His smile just melts my heart.

Tyson's sleeping habits: We moved Tyson out of our room into his crib in his room a couple of weeks ago because he was sleeping quite well. He would sleep all night every so often and then just about a week ago he consistently has been sleeping all night long. We do a feeding around 10:00 pm give or take a half hour or so and he has been sleeping till about 7:00 am give or take a little bit. He is such a good little boy. I hope this sleeping pattern keeps up. It is quite nice.

Tyson's eating habits: I quit breastfeeding when Ty was about two months because I was having such a hard time with it. It was hard for me to quit but he has been doing so much better on the bottle. He drinks about 5 ounces at a feeding every 3 to 4 hours during the day. Since he has been on the formula it has made him a little bit constipated so I feel bad for the little guy but we have been given him some apple juice diluted with water which has seemed to help a little bit. That has been about the only drawback of the formula besides it being more expensive.

Tyson's Favorite things: Tyson just loves when we talk to him and play with him. He laughs and giggles. He still loves his binkie which is a plus for us. He will take the binkie out and hold it in his hand and then start crying. It is quite funny cause we think just stick it back in but obviously he can't. He has found his hands and loves to suck on them whether he is hungry or not. He loves to grab a hold of the bottle when we feed him and sometimes he will hold it himself for a couple of seconds. He loves to hold onto and feel his blankets though he does not have a favorite yet. He loves watching the TV. He loves the toy that he lays under with the toys hanging above him.

One thing that we try to do but is not his favorite is tummy time. We try and do it a little bit each day but he gets frustrated pretty quickly. Hopefully he will start to like it because I hear that tummy time is important. He is pretty good at holding up his head though.

He is our sweet little angel and we love him so much.

Two New Dinner Ideas

Every so often I get a Kraft recipe magazine in the mail and I received one the other day and this week I have tried a few of the recipes in it. I was glad because it helped give me some new dinner ideas because I seemed to be in a rut always doing the same things over and over. So if you feel like you are in a rut as well here are a couple recipes that are really pretty easy and really good.

Easy Pleasing Meatloaf

Prep Time: 10 min Total Time: 1 hr 10 min Makes: 8 servings

What You Need!
2 lb. lean ground beef
1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce, divided

Make It!
HEAT oven to 375°F.
PLACE meat, stuffing mix, water, eggs and 1/4 cup barbecue sauce in bowl.
MIX just until blended.
SHAPE into loaf in 13x9-inch baking dish.
TOP with remaining barbecue sauce. Bake 1 hour or until done (160ºF).

Weeknight Lasagna Toss

Prep Time: 5 min Total Time: 40 min Makes: 4 servings, 2 cups each

What You Need!
1 lb. lean ground beef
2 green peppers, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1-2/3 cups water
1/4 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
12 oven-ready lasagna noodles, broken into quarters
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese

Make It!
BROWN meat in large saucepan; drain.
ADD peppers, garlic, spaghetti sauce, water and dressing; bring to boil. Stir in noodles; cover.
COOK on medium-low heat 10 to 15 min. or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cheese; cover. Let stand 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

Staying Busy

Since I have had Tyson and been home a lot more and back to feeling myself and feeling up to doing a lot more I have been trying to stay busy.

I went back to work last week. I will be working two days a week. I will be working Tuesdays and Fridays. My mom will watch Ty on Tuesday and Mike gets to watch him on Fridays since he does not have work or school. I am not all that excited about being back at work and away from Ty but I am trying to be positive about it and thinking it will be good to get out and working. And it also helps to know that I won't be having to take Ty to a daycare. Having him with my mom and Mike makes me feel much more comforted when I am at work because I know he is being taken good care of. So work is keeping me busy.

Also, I am starting to decorate Ty's room a little bit more. Last week I bought these wood crafts and painted them and just hung them up today. I need some advice though. It looks kind of blah so if anyone has any suggestions of what I could do to help make it look better please leave a comment. I would appreciate any suggestions of what I could do. So please help me.

Since the weather has been better we have also been taking walks to get out of the house and keep me doing something other than watching TV all day. I have been waiting for the weather to be better so I could go on walks with Ty. I have been excited about this for a long time. Today we took a walk to the library. It was quite a walk talking me about a half an hour each way. And I will say I was quite tired after. Hopefully as we continue to walk I can get into better shape and lose those last few pounds I need to.

I have also been reading more. I really enjoy reading. I just finished reading "The Host" by Stephanie Meyer. It did take me about 3 months to finish it because I had a hard time getting into it. It took me the longest time to read the first half and I figured that if I spent my time reading half of it I might as well finish the rest. The last half of the book was better than the first so I am glad that I finished. It wasn't my favorite book of hers though which is why it took me so long to finish. But now that i have finished that book I am going to start reading "The Wednesday Letters" By Jason F. Wright. I heard this was a really good book. Reading is one of my favorite things to do. I love to escape into a good book.

So this is what I have been doing to stay busy other than the normal things like cleaning the house, doing dishes, laundrey and of course taking care of Ty which keeps me the most busy of all.

2 Months

I took Tyson in for his 2 month appointment today and he is a very healthy boy. He weighed 11 pounds 8 ounces and was 24 inches long. I can't believe how fast he is growing.

Rascal Flatts

So Wednesday night Mike called me and asked if I wanted to go on a date with him to the Rascal Flatts concert on Thursday night. Of course I wanted to but was struggling to say yes because we are trying to save our money. In the end I caved and we went to the concert. It was well worth it. It was lots of fun to get out on a date with him. We left Tyson with his sister and mom to tend and went to the concert with Colin and Melissa. It was a good concert.

Firsts

This past week Tyson had a few firsts. First night he slept in his own room in his crib rather than beside us in the cradle. We decided that since he was sleeping so good most the time 4 hour stretches between feedings, sometimes 5 that we could put him in the crib.

Last Tuesday since it was such a nice day I decided to take Tyson out in the stroller for his first walk. I needed to get out of the house as well. I can't wait for Spring so we can go out more often.

On Wednesday it was free zoo day so Tyson and I went to the zoo with Marci, Cassy, and the kids. Again another first for Ty. First trip to Hogle Zoo and of course he slept through most of it. Here Tyson is with the giraffe.

Smiles

Here are some cute snapshots that we caught of Tyson smiling.