Fall Festivities

It's been an eventful couple of weeks for us....and with Halloween on the way, I don't think it will slow down too much. These are some of our favorite moments recently:
Tylie loves to read books. This picture just makes me laugh so hard....she looks so grown up and independent. I'm glad we've been able to instill a love for reading in her. I know it will benefit her for the rest of her academic life.


Because of a strange and random course of events, Tylie had to come to work with me one day. The kids were ecstatic to see her, and I had to remind them all day long that school work still came first. Tylie did a really great job of keeping herself entertained and letting mommy do what she needed to. At lunch time, when she and I were just hanging out, she climbed into a box by my desk....too funny.

It took a while to convince her to fall asleep in such a new and exciting place, but she finally nodded off and took about a 45 minute nap. It wasn't nearly long enough, but it got her through the rest of the day without a complete meltdown.

On Thursday when I picked her up at the babysitter, Tylie couldn't stop asking for her dada (in sign language, SO CUTE!). He had a JV football game to cover that night, and it was only about 5-10 minutes from our house, so I took Tylie to see him. She had so much fun running around in the grass and banging on the fence to get his attention. When the game finally ended, she ran out onto the field to meet him.


One of the ladies in our ward arranged for a story time at the local pumpkin patch. We joined in the fun, and I was surprised at how well Tylie sat with her little buddies and paid attention to the story. It was very cute to watch her sitting in the hay engrossed in the book.

She even got so into it at one point that she stood up and walked right over to the guy telling the story. She was concentrating so hard, and all of her focus was on him.

Of course, that also happened to be at the climax of the story when he shouted "CRACK!" and all of the kids jumped.....especially Tylie....

He felt really bad for scaring her, but we got her calmed down quickly, and she still gave him a smile in the end. Then it was off through the patch. She immediately headed for the baby pumpkins and picked out one that we just had to take home with us.


Thanks to a dear friend (Martie, we love you!!), we got free tickets into the South Carolina State Fair! So, we took a couple hours off of homework, school applications, and the monotony of life to take Tylie to her first fair. It was a lot of fun, and we didn't even have to spend much money....just one treat....how can you resist with all the delicious aromas wafting through the air at lunch time!?!
Measuring Tylie...sorry kiddo, I don't think you qualify for any of the rides!

All of us taking in the crazy atmosphere.

The arts and crafts building. Brent was such a trooper to tag along through all the cake decorating, quilting, scrapbooking, cookie, crafty displays. Tylie wanted to ride on his shoulders all day long, and most of the time he obliged.

My favorite picture of the whole day. My two favorite people in the whole world having a great time together.

The petting zoo was a huge hit. There was a momma and baby donkey, and they were the softest, sweetest animals ever. They came right up to us and let us snuggle them a little. I think Tylie thought they were dogs...which she loves...so she enjoyed them a lot.

The Bug's very first funnel cakes. They were absolutely delicious!

What else can you do after a long day at the fair?!? She slept the whole way home, and then for another couple hours after we got to the house. She even let mom and dad get a nap in too!

We had a really good time, and feel blessed to be able to do things like that together. Now we're gearing up for one of my favorite holidays of the year...

Recent Pictures

Tylie loves to be outdoors (and who can blame her)! Every time she sees me grab my purse, or my keys, or put my shoes on, she is standing at the door knocking for it to open up. She ventures out and spends forever exploring everything in sight. I think she looks very grown up in this picture.

Wearing some adorable pajamas...too bad they don't fit anymore!

Climbing again!

And cheesing for the camera again!

It takes almost all her effort, but she keeps working until she finally makes it onto the couch.

Climbing up on the back of the couch, and then hamming it up for the camera.

Tylie is so determined! When she wants something, she does whatever she can to get it. I'm going to have my hands full when she's more independent!

She absolutely loves shoes and socks....anybody's shoes and socks. Daddy's are her favorite, but she'll politely demand that we put on anything she can find.

The age old saying....if your child is being unusually quiet, there's a reason!
Sneaky little girl!

Wearing a dress I made for her. It was an experiment without a pattern and although it's not perfect, I was pretty happy with the results.

Here We Go Again

A little sooner that we expected....but a welcome surprise nonetheless...



Arrival: late March

Tylie's Birthday Bash!

Yesterday was Tylie's first birthday...I can barely believe it's been a year already! She is such a joy right now. I love watching her learn so many new things and develop such a strong personality. Right now she loves to climb anything she can, chase the cats all over the house, and make Brent and I laugh! She has a great sense of humor, she likes to eat almost anything we put in front of her (especially if it's the same thing we're eating), she is unbelievably determined in everything she does, and she is one tough little bug! Here are some pics for you to enjoy:

Spaghetti baby

Feeding goats with daddy at the zoo

Giving kisses...or acting like a goldfish cracker

Hanging out with her buddy Benjamin

Climbing like a mountain goat


The morning of her birthday. Her hair is absolutely out of control (all the time, not just this morning). And yes, she does have a fat lip! She fell off the couch the night before...

We decorated with streamers and balloons, and she loved it when she got out of bed. She wanted to play with everything....that is, until she realized she was starving!

Playing with her favorite present of all. Not the phone....the cardboard box, imported from Idaho!

Opening presents after mom and dad got home from work.





This was my first attempt at a decorated cake for Tylie. I think it turned out pretty cute, but not as cute as I invisioned in my head. I guess I need more practice. I also made a second cake for everyone else to eat.



For her "party" we invited the Macks and the Fackrells over to the pool. We opened a few presents, ate cake, and swam. It was a lot of fun for all of us, and the weather even decided to cooperate. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of all of us hanging out...but here are a few of her opening her presents:
She, of course, loved the shiny ribbons. She kept putting them around her neck.

Ben was so sweet and helpful. When Tylie was less than interested in opening gifts, he was more than willing to help out!

The funniest part of the night, of course, was letting Tylie dig into her cake. She was very unsure at first, and didn't quite know what to do with the mess all over her hands, so we helped her get it to her mouth and she took care of the rest.


Throughout the day, whenever we tried to open presents (which we attempted about 4-5 times), Tylie never seemed really interested. We pretty much helped her open all of her gifts, and even then she had more important things to do than dote over new toys. Finally, after swimming and everyone had left, we went back to the house to open the last of her gifts. It was only at 9:00 at night that she finally decided it was cool to have new toys...she stayed up until about 10:00 playing with everything in sight and making a mess of our house.




Overall the day was definitely a success. Thanks to all the friends and family that helped make it that way....we ended up with one very spoiled child thanks to you! Happy Birthday Tylie! We love you and are so happy to have you in our lives!