Love Train

My dear, sweet (and very young) aunt Katie has been re-daignosed with breast cancer that has spread. We'd like to let Katie, Dennis and their kids know how much they are loved during this time, and so we'd like to start a "Love Train."

I was initially introduced to the "Love Train" when my cousin Janell had a brain tumor that had to be removed. Many of her blogging friends took turns sending a gift package to her and her family to let them know that they were loved. Go here, here and here to read more.

This is how it works: participants in the "Love Train" would be assigned a date (sometime within the next several weeks) to mail (if you live far away) or drop off (if you live near) something for Katie and her family to let them "feel the love." It doesn't have to be anything big, fancy or expensive, just something from the heart.

If you are interested in being a "Love Train" participant, please leave a comment on my blog or contact me at debbieleonardson@hotmail.com. I will get back with you and let you know when your assigned date will be. Thanks so much!

No, Tyler!

When I taught school I came across this book. I've often thought about that book as I say "No, Tyler" more and more.

No, Tyler.



No, Tyler.



Tyler....no!



No, no!



NO! NO! NO! Tyler!



But I can always say "Yes!!!!" to his Woody Woodpecker laugh.
(Sorry about the poor image quality!)

Silly Sleeper

Tyler will sometimes sleep with his nose face down and his hands squished between his face and the mattress.





Yesterday he woke up from his nap with a hand print on his face.

"Grandma Update"

This post is labeled "Grandma Update" because it contains the type of things that Grandmas like to know about their growing grandchildren, but everyone else might think, "Who cares?" So, for Tyler's grandmas, here's what he's been up to:

Not one, but three, teeth have shown up, with another one pending (behind a swollen gum). I attempted to take a picture, but Tyler didn't really cooperate with my efforts.

Tyler got his first hair cut last week. You're probably saying, "It doesn't look like he got his hair cut." And you're right--it's not real noticeable. It was just the long fly-away hairs from when he was first born.



Tyler learned to pull down the bumper around his crib, so I decided to take it out of the crib and lower the crib to the "big boy" stage. The room looks so bare without the colorful bumper.



Tyler's starting to pull himself up on things (mainly on me when I'm sitting on the floor), but I was surprised to see him by this box when I turned from the computer to see what he was doing.



Last night Darrell was reading out loud from the book that he gave me after Tyler was born. It's called "What to Expect The First Year." Darrell was naming off some of the benchmarks to look for around 8 months, and I'd answer in the affirmative or negative as to whether Tyler has achieved these "pint-sized wonders." One was "get into a sitting position from stomach." I had to answer "No, Tyler hasn't done that yet."

Well, just today, Tyler did indeed accomplish that feat! I didn't get a picture of it, but here's Tyler sitting by his two "Baby Einstein" DVDs. It's funny how he really likes to watch those. He can stay entertained for a long time (relatively speaking) while listening to Mozart or Beethoven and watching baby toys, bright lights and puppets flash across the screen.

A Wonderful Holiday Season

The holidays have been wonderful and I will try to give a brief glimpse at some of the highlights.

Darrell, Tyler and I opened our gifts from Darrell's family before heading to visit my parents for Christmas.







On Christmas Eve it is traditional to read and/or act out the Christmas story. Thanks to Brooke's costumes, we had a great looking group!



This was taken Christmas morning. My sister Kimberly and her family stayed the night on Christmas Eve, and it was fun to see the kids get so excited about their gifts.





We attended my dad's family's annual Christmas party--complete with the annual "wrapping paper fight."



Here's my 90 year old Grandma holding Tyler.



He fell asleep in her arms. So precious!



We celebrated Olivia's 2nd birthday. She's my sweet, sweet niece.



Here are all of my parents' grandkids at the birthday party.



Greg and his family came over to welcome in the New Year!



Welcome 2009!



My mom's parents and her brother came up on New Year's Day. Here's Tyler with my grandma.



Darrell had to return home to work, but Tyler and I were able to stay and visit for one and a half weeks. It was great for Tyler to get to know his grandpa, grandma and aunts, uncles and cousins better. He was very entertained by all the people and the action.







My parents have had this crazy cat named Kaila for 16 years. She's an outside cat, and my parents thought she might not have made it through a recent cold spell because she's been missing for 4 weeks. Well, she showed up out of nowhere one day last week. My mom had given away all of her cat food, so we had to open a can a tuna for her when she showed up.




Tyler was quite fascinated with the hairy creature. (Don't tell Darrell that! He HATES cats!)



Alas, it was time to return home. Tyler did really well on the ride home, but just couldn't stand the last half hour or so. It's amazing what a piece of chocolate Twizzlers can do. We didn't hear a peep out of him after that.



We were able to attend the BYU/Wake Forest game at the Marriott Center in Provo. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately BYU lost in a close game and ended their 53-game winning streak at home. Everyone was supposed to wear white to make it a "white out." My mom scored these free white shirts for us at the game.



Tyler loved the action and the noise and was such a great little trooper.


This past Sunday my youngest cousin-Lydia Lucy-was blessed. She looked like a little angel in her white dress.



I'm the oldest grandchild and 36 years later...Lydia's the youngest. Here are the proud grandparents at the luncheon afterwards.

Merry Christmas...

from our house




to yours!

Splish! Splash! Tyler loves taking a bath!

Now that Tyler can sit up, he's loving taking baths and splashing.
Forget the toys, the water is where it's at!
(If you look closely, you can see beads of water on him from his splashing.)





Here is the "make-shift Speedo" version.