Happy Birthday Ty

Here are the pictures from Ty's real birthday. We went to the North Carolina Zoo which was about an hour away from where we are staying. I thought we would outsmart Ty and go at his morning naptime so he'd sleep all the way there and then leave the zoo at his afternoon nap time and he'd sleep all the way home. Ha! Ty had other plans. He was awake the whole way there literally until we were 5 minutes away and then he dosed off. So we found a mall and I stayed in the car with him and let him sleep. Then there was the zoo. I was actually really excited because I had not been to a zoo in years, decades in fact. It was a nice zoo but not super huge and all the animals were lazy. We hardly saw anything up close enough to be able to point the animals out to Ty. However we did see the elephants, giraffes and zebras which are his 3 favorite and most recognizable animals so it was a very successful trip.  He was actually very excited and aware of what we were looking at.

While we were there an older guy came over to me and asked if Baby Gap had contacted me yet for Ty  to model. Then there was this huge group of black people who told me that he was the coolest baby they'd ever seen. Word.

Then we went home. He fell asleep on the tram ride to the car then was awake the rest of the day but surprisingly pleasant.  We let him have his own cupcake and this time he went to town. He loved it and I cringed as he squished that chocolate icing all over his face and high chair (I can't stand a dirty baby but I'm getting better).

Anyway it was an awesome day with our little family and I wouldn't have changed anything. I love this little kid so much sometimes it hurts! He never ceases to amaze me with his intelligence and all the words he can now say. He is starting to say all the body parts as he points to them which is my favorite thing because he says it with the same intonation that I say it with. He is so funny and so sweet and watching him grow up is just amazing. I am so blessed to be Ty's mom and I honestly thank God everyday that he is mine. I got so lucky to have him in my life and while I'm sad that he's not a baby anymore I'm more excited that he's growing up. Now with all that being said he still does not sleep through the night. In fact he wakes up as much now as he did as a newborn I'm just used to being tired now I guess. Happy Birthday Ty!! You are so loved by everyone

Birthday Pictures

So I decided to play photographer today and try to take one year shots of Ty myself instead of paying $1000 for someone else to do it. Going into it I thought How hard could this be? I have a super nice camera and some pretty woods right outside my door.

Patrick found this chair sitting outside of the dumpster at our apartment. I had originally asked him to build me a little wooden chair but he found this one so I said ok as long as he cleaned it and spray painted it, so he did. Suprisingly my trash chair worked out just fine. Then I bought some balloons at the grocery store and we packed everything up and went outside to start the photo shoot. Patrick was supposed to help me but he ended up having to go to work so I did all of this by myself, right before naptime to try and get good light.

As soon as I stepped out the door huge dark clouds rolled in and covered up the sun. Um ok lets keep going, I can take shots in between breaks in the clouds. Then while we're walking to the trees, one of my 4 balloons pops leaving me with 3 and looking kind of ghetto.

We finally get everything set up. I strategically place my baby on the blue chair and start snapping pictures and the camera stops and tells me my memory card is full. Of course it is. So we went inside, took a nap and tried again 2 hours later. I didn't get a whole lot of pictures but I got some that I love and that's all that really matters.

Ty's Words

So I know I haven't been super great on keepingup with this blog but I've been tired lately Ty still doesn't sleep through the night and its been worse lately since we've been in a new place and I let him sleep in our bed the first week we were here. Anyway lately Ty has been saying at least one new word a day. Its quite amazing. I thought I would use this entry to list all the words (and sounds) that he says. Oh one more note is that Ty is 1 in 2 days and I'm sad that when people ask how old he is I will have to say 1 year and then all his super advanced quaities won't be as impresive as when say I could tell people when he was walking "oh he's 9 months". Oh well at least I and about 70 facebook friends will know just how advanced he is.
What Ty Can Say
Duck
Apple
Dog
Bird
Eye
Nose
Leg
Vacuum
Fan
Light
Mom
Dad
Bye
Hey
Yum
Ball
Baby
Hat
Banana (ok he only says ban but he's close and any time I get one out to give him he starts dancing and screams if I don't start singing "I like to eat apples and bananas")
Airplane
  

That's all I can think of right now but I'm thinking there are more.
In addition to to this vast list of words ty also makes the sound of a motorcycle, patricks truck (its a diesel and it kind of whines when he accelorates), a fire truck, a new born baby ane every farm animal (duck, pig, cow, sheep, horse and fish-he does the funny thing like fish do with his mouth). He also knows all of his body parts when asked and he can also point them out on me as well which I find very impresive.

And these silly face pictures were taken while we were playing "I'm gonna get you" Ty's new favorite game. He thinks its hilarious. 

Ty Hearts Books

Ty is totally in love with books right now. I snapped this pic this morning when Patrick was in TY's room playing with his blocks and Ty climbed up on his lap and forced a book on him. He carries books around with him and would almost always read a book over play with his toys. He will even go in his room alone and sit and read. He's got one book that we read every night that goes over the parts of his body. I saw him in his room turning the pages and patting all the various parts mentioned in the book as he turned the pages. It was funny.
His favorite book for some reason is some stupid halloween book and he is really close to being able to say halloween which is another totally random first word. Oh and one time Patrick tried to sing one of Ty's books to him (Baby Beluga) and Ty lost it and was hysterically crying. I think he thought that Patrick was trying to put him to bed and only mama is allowed to sing books to put Ty to bed. I just love that kid!!

Ty Hearts Housework

So here is a picture of my child attempting to sweep the floor. Not only was his first word vacuum he also loves brooms, mops and anything that is used in cleaning. He loves helping with dishes he loves unloading groceries. I am doing an entry on this now so that one day when he is refusing to do his chores or help around the house I have written proof that at one time in his life, he was mommy’s good helper. I wish it would last forever but alas I know that it will not.

Oh one more funny story about cleaning. Tonight while I was cleaning the kitchen after dinner, Ty went into the cabinet, pulled out a new garbage bag shook it open (to the best of his ability) and dropped it in the trashcan. He actually was helping us put a new bag in. I’m sorry but I have seen few things in my life cuter then that. Seriously.

Ty's Trike

Here is Ty’s new big boy trike that he got for his birthday from Grammy and Grampy. It is such a cool trike and really the Rolls Royce as far as tricycles go. It is meant to grow with him until he can pedal and ride alone. For now though it has a big handle for me to push and steer with and a safety harness to keep in place and he absolutely loves it. I’m not sure that will be able to get him to go in his stroller ever again.

Lately he has been obsessed with bikes and the kids on the bikes in our apartment complex. He will wave or point and shout at them when we see them and I have to drag him away (usually screaming) from parked bikes that we see at the playground. When the trike originally arrived in the plain amazon box he squealed as soon as I revealed its contents.  He helped daddy put it together and immediately wanted in it. We went for a stroll around the neighborhood and he thought he was so cool. He waved at a couple of little girls we passed and they thought he was so cute and giggled. You could seriously tell he was proud to be cruising around in his new big boy bike. 

Ty's 1st Birthday Party

This past weekend I threw my son his First Birthday Party. We did an old fashioned sock monkey theme and I was just so excited how it turned out I wanted to share it with you in case you're looking for an idea for a birthday party or even baby shower.

Here is his cake or cupcake stand acting as as a cake. I'm obsessed with cupcakes I did this at my baby shower too. I made the stand. Its from a bake shop and I covered it (like wrapping a present) with brown fabric and attached  the coordinating red ribbon.

I ordered the personalized cupcake toppers from this etsy shop.

Here were the favors. I got the gift tags from the same Etsy shop as the cupcake toppers. I ordered the Whirly Pop lollipops online for relatively cheap and just used some old vases from my wedding filled with various red candy to display them.

I made this banner. I bought coordinating paper at Michael’s and cut it out in a kind-of-flower shape.  I found some funky font in Microsoft Word and just printed out the letters, traced a circle around them and cut them out. Then I hole punched them and strung them all together with some blue and brown argyle ribbon that I found at Hobby Lobby. 

I hung Chinese paper lanterns from the ceiling. I ordered them from here.  Only a $1 a piece they were $12 at Hobby Lobby! I thought they added so much to the décor and were so cheap! 

I took a picture every month on Ty’s month birthday. I put him in front of my golden retriever to see his growth in relation to something. I used each one to make this poster dedicated to Ty.  I bought these wooden letters at Hobby Lobby and spray painted them red. Then to top it all off I added some ties made out of the blue and brown ribbon and wrote my favorite quote that I like to think of any time I want to cry about my baby already being 1 year old. “Don’t cry because its over, smile because it happened.” 

-Dr. Seuss

Oh and the sign above the table that says “Tyson is One” was supposed to be a high chair banner but I decided to hang it on the wall for people to see when they first walked in. I got it from here. (I love Etsy!!)

I bought a bunch of cheap black frames at Garden Ridge and spray painted them blue and red. The giraffe print ones were on sale for super cheap so I got those too because they were perfect colors. 

And finally I set up Ty’s old fashioned sock monkey holding some red balloons. Everyone loved this table of Ty.  

And of course no party would be complete without a cute, coordinating outfit so I had this sock monkey tie made by this etsy shop. How cute is it? I just loved it! 

I served macaroni and cheese (from Luby’s) Chicken Mcnuggets (McDonalds) and fancy grilled cheeses. All the usual favorite foods of a one year old. The adults loved all this food too because you know you secretly love all this but never have it because you’re too grown up. 

Ty had his own smash cake but I think was so overwhelmed by everyone staring at him and singing. He wanted nothing to do with that cake. 

So there it is, my first 1st Birthday Party. I love how it turned out and one day when Ty looks at these pictures he too will be impressed.