After Garden of the Gods we took the boys to Manitou Springs..this cute little town I used to go to all the time. We walked around looking at the shops and then took the boys to the "Penny Arcades" which is this big arcade with a bunch of new and old..some very old games..there are some that take pennies, nickles, and dimes! We all had fun playing games and Ty seemed to be entertained with all the lights and noise! After that we ate at a little pub! Gosh I love it there!!!
After camping we drove up to my parents house to stay with them for a few days. It was a little different because both my parents had to work, so we were left on our own..so we went to one of my favorite (and beautiful) places in the springs...Garden the Gods. The boys enjoyed walking around and climbing on the rocks. Tucker had no hesitation and was climbing on everything, but Trey was a bit scared..if you look close at some of the pictures..his face is priceless! Ty was working on sitting up on his own..and we got some good shots of him sitting up like a big boy!! It was a great way to spend the morning!
While camping we went to the alligator farm. It was crazy how many alligators they had there and it was a pleasant suprize how friendly and informative the staff was.
We joined my family for their annual Memorial Day camping trip at the Sand Dunes! It was absolutely beautiful there...I LOVE it there. It was a pretty crazy trip..9 adults and 9 kids...8 of those kids 5 and under!!! (my parents, my brother, Jake, his wife, Jenn, his son Devin, and their kids, Kaedance and Braeden, Devin's Mom, Kim and her husband Eric, and their kids, Bella and Quinten, Kim's sister Jennifer and her daughter Reina (her husband had to work), and finally me and Vinny and the boys). It was a little nuts at time, but all the kids played together so well and all the adults had a good time! It was fun, but it's definitely different camping with so many little kids! Vinny and I decided now more camping for us until we get a camper! It's A LOT of work! But I loved it and I'm glad we went!!!
My little baby Ty is 7 months old already!! Well, he's not really such a little baby anymore, he is growing up SO fast! Before vacation I posted that he had to go to the doctor for that allergic reaction and they weighed him and he was 19lbs 3ozs. (Which if you remember if you he had is 6 month check up 10 days prior and he was 18lbs 6ozs...ya he's definitely growing good!!)So I am willing to bet he is 20+ pounds now.
While on vacation, he also decided he would rather sit up all by himself than be on his belly to play. This resulted in one black eye and numerous tumbles over, but by the time we got home, he mastered it! So now he only wants to be sitting up while on the floor. Another thing he learned while on vacation is scooting backwards (on those rare occasions when he actually let us put him on his belly). My mom and I had him in the kitchen on his belly while we were finishing up something in there and he scooted himself in a circle and then backwards to get one of my mom's rugs. We kept moving it and he kept moving to get it!! It was pretty awesome for my mom to witness him scooting for the first time!
In recent days he has become really good at feeding himself little finger foods, like Gerber Puffs and Yogurt Melts and also Cheerios! He would be content for hours just sitting in his high chair feeding himself something! This guy LOVES to eat...give him food and he is happy!! He has also gotten pretty good at the sippy cup thing. He only gets water, but he likes it after those dry Cheerios and puffs. He does a pretty good job of holding the cup himself, but he would prefer if we do the holding! Ty is still loving his solids..he is getting two #2 jars of food a day, usually 1 veggie and 1 fruit. He has tried Turkey mixed with sweet potatoes a couple of times and ate it without a fuss...but he really eats everything without a fuss :D
Sippy cup in one hand, Cheerio in the other!
Since we got back from vacation, he has been taking 2 solid naps a day, a morning and afternoon, for a couple of hours each time! So that has been amazing!! At night he is sleeping from about 8pm to 7:30ish. He is really chatty lately...and has been saying the mama and baba sounds...it's so cute...and he still like to shreek and scream!
Our vacation was so much fun...a lot of work, but fun. I still have a million pictures to go through..so first I'll just start off with a slide show of the AMAZING Colorado scenery...I love it and could watch the slide show all day long. The first half is from camping at the Sand Dunes and the second half is from Garden of the Gods!
So one morning...(The Sunday before we left for vacation..we were leaving on Thursday) Ty woke up in his normal happy mood..ate as usual...and then I took him out to the living room and noticed his little eye lids were swollen, so I took off his pj's and noticed he was a little spotty...OH NO!!! The night before he ate peaches for the first time, but we were also outside most of the previous morning with sun screen on. I called my mom and dad (he is a nurse and my mom is a secretary at a elementary school..and deals with all sorts of childhood "things") and they said just to watch him closely and if anything changes to call the doctor. He had no other symptoms besides the spots, which were getting worse...the "day 1" picture was taken about 4 hours after he woke up in the morning. Sunday goes by with no changes except for the rash getting worse then better than worse again.
Monday I call the doctor right away and they get us in around noon. The doctor checks him out and says it just looks like an allergic reaction to something..and since he is not having any more symptoms besides the rash there isn't much to do, just watch him and if things change bring him back.
Tuesday, day 3, same thing again...at times it seems like it is fading, but then shows up in a different spot about the same or worse.
Wednesday was the last day of it being really bad...
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3--please excuse the cute baby butt
Day 4
We still weren't exactly sure what caused the reaction...but since it was nothing more serious than a rash, we left for vacation as planned and while camping put sun screen on him again and within hours his face broke out in hives again....CRAP!! A baby who is allergic to sun screen...we live in Texas and are always out in the sun...My sister in law has a family friend who is a dermatologist told us to try a hypoallergenic sun screen...which thankfully we used and Ty has not broken out from it!
I felt so bad for Ty, but it didn't seem to bug him at all. The only funny thing is my dad has suffered from hives for YEARS now...so Ty looked like a mini version of Grampa!
We are now the proud parents of a graduate...a preschool graduate!!! Tucker was so proud and so were we! He actually got up in front of the church and sang with the rest of his class..well minus Trey (who wouldn't get up there and sing). It was such a nice ceremony and he got the cutest diploma! He looked so handsome in his cap and gown. Now Tucker is officially ready for kindergarten!
I am sucking at this blogging thing right now...well actually I am a bit behind on almost everything right now....having three kids ages 5 and under is TOUGH..to say the least...now don't get me wrong..I love it and definitely wouldn't change it..but it is a LOT of work.
But I am apologizing for being a bad blogger and I have a feeling it might just get worse. I just have so much to get done, blogging is somewhat low on the list...Right now I am trying to get things organized for our VACATION!!!!! We are going to Colorado for a little over a week and are going camping for part of that time! I am so thrilled and I can't wait...but it is a ton of work to get a family of 5 ready for a vacation that includes a 15+ hour road trip (one way) and a 4 day camping trip! But it will be worth it!
Oh and Tucker will be graduating from preschool here in a few weeks too!!!
So, please forgive me and I will try and post when I get the time!
Last weekend we decided to head over to Vinny's parents house to spend a little time with them. They have a nice big open yard and Vinny's dad bought the boys kites! Tucker really loved it and Trey did at first, but then accidentally let go of the string and had to chase after it before it flew away..after that he was done...
Vinny's mom, all 3 of the boys, and I went on a walk down their street. The wildflowers were blooming and it was so pretty..I used my mother's day present (more about that later) to snap a few pictures of the boys.
