Team Schween

Birthday Morning

2012-02-05T19:56:00.000-08:00

Our little first-born son turned 3-years-old on January 25th. I'm a little behind posting these pics because our dear friends, the King family, flew in from Seattle to stay with us for almost a week on Ty's actual birthday. On the morning of the 25th we definitely had to do something special for our little dude, so I went to the store before the kids got up and brought back birthday donuts - complete with candles. The pictures pretty much give you the play by play, and you can tell by the expressions on Ty's face that he was beyond thrilled with his donut surprise (good thing he had his Green Smoothie first to balance out his breakfast, lol!).

Okay, Robin's expression is pretty excited, too ;-)

I'm THREE!!!

Look at that face...he can hardly contain himself.

I think he likes it.

Can't stop smiling and giggling...as a birthday boy should :)

Jersey feeling a little left out.

...but it didn't last long - she still flashed me a sleepy-eyed smile.

Hard to believe three years have already gone by. I remember driving myself to the hospital to have them check and see if my water had actually broken. Being the rookie that I was, I just assumed I'd drive myself back home after they checked me out, lol. Not the case... Robin headed to the hospital on the afternoon of January 24th, and after a very long and tiring night, Tyson Lloyd Schween was born at 5:55 am the next morning. Our lives changed 100% from that day forward, and I wouldn't have missed one day with my boy for anything. He is a challenge, he's smart, he loves to learn, he makes us laugh, he loves on his little sister (most of the time), he plays it safe, he loves to sing, he never runs out of energy, he wants to do everything just like his dad, he never stops talking, and we are so blessed to watch him grow and change and lean new things every day. Happy 3rd birthday to our first-born...we love you more than words can say.

So close, so close...

2012-01-14T20:06:00.000-08:00

Jersey has been crawling since she was 6 months old. She's almost 13 months...and still crawling. I'm sure many of you reading this know that I'm SO ready for her to walk!!! She's been crawling forever. Yes, walkers are a lot of work, they get in to more things, but there are also many perks! My back is tired of carrying her everywhere. She can't really play outside at all in the winter because it's too cold/snowy to be crawling. And she can't wear any of her cute little dresses yet, because they get in the way when she's crawling! Well, she is FINALLY close to walking. Actually, she can walk just fine, she just hasn't decided to make it her primary mode of transportation yet. But we have seen major improvements in the confidence department this week, so my hopes are up that within another week she'll be a true "walker." Until then...she's still pretty darn cute ;-) And the way she says, "Hi!" in this video makes me smile ear to ear. I love her.

(For those of you who get this blog via automated email whenever I do a new post, I don't think the video comes through like pictures normally do. If you can't see the video in your email, go to the actual blog link to view if you want to: www.teamschween.blogspot.com).

My days

2012-01-13T08:19:00.000-08:00

I spend a lot of time on the floor these days. My job, 7 days a week, about 13 hours a day, is taking care of a 1-year-old and an almost-3-year-old (and a 22 week gestation little baby - which is a lot of work!). My uniform? Black yoga pants or whatever else comfortable I can find. I do not have vacation days, and I do not have sick days. I don't get lunch breaks. The coffee is made by 7:00 am at our house, but I don't often drink mine until 9 or 9:30, after it's been microwaved a couple of times, because I've been changing diapers all morning :) The perks of my job? I spend afternoons on the floor, playing with my kids and listening to my little girl learn to use her voice, and sing... Best job in the world. Hard job? Yes! But when I hear her little voice learning it's way in the world...all is made right.

I read this quote the other day in one of my new books, and it brought tears to my eyes! I posted it on my Facebook page, but I thought it was worthy of re-posting on here. Actually, I think it is worthy of being framed and put up in my house so I will see it every day!!!

"When you look at your children, pause and stand in awe that you have been entrusted with these little lives. Embrace them with your arms, your time, your attention, and relish these fleeting years. Seek God's strength to love them. Love them enough to be gentle and tender. Love them enough to diligently train them and discipline them. Give them firm boundaries and clear expectations so they will thrive. Instill in your children a firm foundation upon which they will build their entire lives. Uphold their dignity and speak kindly of them before others. Acknowledge that no one else was chosen to parent these children. God chose you."

I'm thankful that God chose me, to spend my days on the floor with my kids, listening to them sing. It's not glamorous, and it doesn't exactly pay well, but the rewards are greater than I could have imagined.

The day I've been WAITING FOR!

2012-01-11T12:37:00.000-08:00

Okay well YOU may not think this is that great, but for me, this is a very exciting a long awaited day! I'm pretty sure I've been dreaming of this day since I got married, and since we learned we were pregnant, and since we found out we were having a girl. THE FOUNTAIN PONYTAIL. I seriously think it is the cutest thing EVER on little girls. Come to find out, there is another reason besides just being cute that so many little girls wear their hair this way... They won't leave their hair clips in! Jersey's hair has been falling in her eyes for a while now, and I have a bunch of adorable hair clips I keep trying to put in her hair. They last 2 minutes - maximum. Finally today we tried the fountain ponytail. I'm in heaven :) I'll admit, I am slightly obsessed with her...

Pre-ponytail. Yes, her hair is always a mess and in her eyes. The girl will not leave hair clips in!

Ta-da! The blank stare in every picture is because I turned on Baby Einstein for her to watch so that she would sit still while I put the rubber band in ;-)

Juuuust chillaxin...

"Mom, why do you keep pointing that camera at me!? You've already taken 50 pictures in the last 5 minutes."

"Seriously - are you done yet?"

"Yaaay! Picture time is over!"

Awww isn't she so cute? I can't believe how big she is already. These pictures are pretty much as girly as it gets. We have: hearts, ruffles, pink, bling, and a fountain ponytail! Love it.

The 20 week pic

2012-01-09T16:26:00.000-08:00

I meant to post this last week since this picture was taken New Years weekend, but forgot! So for those of you who've asked (Amy!), here's a "bump" picture :) And for those of you who are wondering (Mary Frances!), pretty sure baby has had a couple of growth spurts since this picture last week, so she's bigger than this now ;-)

We're finally starting to think more about a name, and I'm realizing how quickly the next few months are going to go by! Before baby comes we have a few transitions to go through. We'll work on dropping Jersey's morning nap, AND she will be moving into Tyson's room for 6 months or so, until baby girl #2 has been sleeping through the night for a few months and has her daytime routine down solid. Eventually we'll move Jersey back in so the girls share a room. Lots to do lots to do!

Wintry trip to the zoo!

2012-01-08T08:02:00.000-08:00

The day after Christmas we had our first family-of-4-trip-to-the-zoo! I have been with both kids a couple of times when I can get in for free with our friend's guest passes (kids under 3 are free, so Ty still qualifies for another couple of weeks). But we've never gone with both kids AND daddy, since he's usually working. A few months ago there was a Groupon (gotta love it) for the zoo, so I bought 2 adult passes knowing both kids would still get in free. It was so fun to have daddy with us!!! Plus, I'd never been during the winter months, and even though some of the animals weren't out in their habitats, it was neat to see them in their "winter" habitats indoors. For some animals, like the giraffes, that meant we saw them really close up since they were inside - cool to see how tall they REALLY are instead of seeing them from a distance. Anyway, it turned out to be a gorgeous day, and pretty warm, so walking around the snowy zoo paths with barely anyone else there was so great. Oh, and another bonus was that the kids got to use their new Radio Flyer wagon that they got for Christmas! Having the little storage bin on the back worked perfectly - didn't have to carry around a diaper bag and it was just enough room for the day's essentials.

Loving our new wagon!

The animals were so pretty sitting in the snow!

The kid is a waver. He waves and says hi to all of the animals.

And Jersey pretty much just sits in there and smiles and makes little sing-song noises :)

Okay, this was actually a little bit creepy... We were inside the primates exhibit and a few seconds after Ty walked up to the glass, this little guy charged the window and was banging on the glass and screaming at Tyson with barred teeth! Ty jumped a little bit, but I think I was the one that was trying not to freak out, lol! He was totally attacking Tyson through the window and I had never seen that happen before. Of course, both parents are trying to laugh it off and making lame comments like, "Oh look buddy! He's talking to you!" Yeah, right....he's actually trying to eat you but he can't get through the window, lol!!! That was a new zoo experience...

After a while JJ REALLY wanted to get down, so inside one of the rain forest parts Robin got her out of the wagon for a while. Silly girl - I keep telling her if she'd just start walking, life would be a lot more fun when we're out and about! The walked with Robin's fingers and crawled a little bit before we put her back in her seat.

Basically pulling daddy as she tries to walk.

It was impossible to keep her still! She's a mover...now if she would just be a WALKER we'd all be happier ;-)

It was kind of cool to see the penguins swimming around with their habitat all snowy and icy - actually looked like what their natural habitat probably looked like sometimes, lol.

Doesn't Tyson look thrilled in this picture!? He wasn't too happy that mommy kept wanting to stop and take pictures...too many animals he wanted to see.

We brought lunch for the kids, but went inside the zoo cafe to take some layers off and eat inside. Sometimes I can't picture doing things like this with three kids!!! We already have our hands full when the ratio is one adult to one kid, ha ha. Even just sitting at lunch we were all having a good time. Everyone loved having daddy there with us.

First born, worker bee, always wants to help pull the wagon...

Starting to get a little sleepy... She missed her whole morning nap so we could go out, but she did great despite being so tired!

Aaaaand then she hit a wall, and fell asleep on the side of the wagon. Haaa ha ha!!! It was so cute. She actually fell asleep with her eyes closed for a while, but woke up before we could get a picture of that ;-)

After her little power nap she woke back up and got out of the wagon for a while again. She loved the fish tanks!

And she REALLY loved standing up to the tanks that went down to the floor so she could see the fish swimming around, and stand by her brother :)

Even though the giraffes didn't SMELL that great being inside, I loved seeing them up close! They are so tall and unique looking...God must have had so much fun creating such amazing creatures.

And there you have it, our wintry tour of the zoo! I knew it would be fun, but for some reason, the day was even better than I thought :) Kids did great, weather was beautiful and warm, the zoo was almost empty, and Robin was there to help me with the kids and take turns pulling our new wagon. Blessed by family days like this...and so glad we have a digital camera to capture the memories! Pretty crazy to think that by this summer we'll have 3 kids to haul around on our outings. Yikes!

Snow Day - Part 2: PLAY TIME!

2012-01-03T07:59:00.000-08:00

Took me a while, but finally got around to the second post from our snow day right before Christmas! Even though it snows fairly often throughout the winter here, it doesn't always happen that we get this much in one dumping, AND that it falls on a weekend or holiday so that Robin is home to play in it with us! That's why this was the perfect day. Over a foot of snow, sunny and warm, and daddy was home to lead the fun...

Sledding with my little man!

The snow is SO PRETTY here with the huge, cloudless, blue skies...

Cool dude.

First born, busy body, worker-bee = he could drag his sled around through the snow for HOURS...

Daddy pulling Ty around on a snowy tour of the neighborhood ;-)

Robin (still a boy at heart), decided to go down a steep little hill...basically into a ditch. Guys are weird... And of course, his son is cheering him on!

Thud at the bottom, lol!

Knee deep in snow drifts!

Best buds.

I took this picture while Robin was towing Ty in the sled again, but I also liked it because it shows you where we were in relation to our house! Ours is the one on the right that you can see. We back to open space, and have a huge open space, perfect for snow play and sledding, right on our street! That means Jersey naps and the baby monitor reaches while we all play in the snow :)

Snow bunny...he would stay outside the entire day if we let him.

Walking the little loop of our neighborhood, and this is a pathway between some of the houses. Of course, even though someone had been kind enough to plow the ACTUAL path, Robin and Ty decided to be adventurous and trek through over a foot of snow instead...

...Ty didn't stop smiling the whole time.

Walking back down our snow-packed street towards home!

Aaaaand snow tour, complete! Made it home.

I had so much fun that day!!! As I said in the first post, I didn't grow up around much snow, so this has been one of the most fun parts of moving for me :) Not to mention, having an almost-3-year-old this year has made it even more magical. The kid lights up in the snow and the looks on his face and excitement in his voice pretty much makes it the best thing ever. So thankful that Robin was home to enjoy this day with us!

Snow Day - Part 1: "Shoveling the Walks"

2011-12-30T13:38:00.000-08:00

If you grew up in Washington, like I did, you might not have much context for what it means to "shovel the walks," like I didn't. Well my husband grew up in the land of sunshine and snow (Colorado, duh), so to him this is a perfectly normal and common phrase. In Washington, you're lucky to get a "good snow" (we're talking 3 - 5, people) once or twice a year. Maybe some days with flurries here and there, and every few years there's a decent dumping of snow...once a winter. As much as I did not want to move to Colorado when the idea first presented itself, I have come to LOVE the snow here!!! (Dad, when you read this, don't freak out that I'm going to love it so much that I'll forget about my sand and salt water roots and never move back - I'm just choosing to point out the JOY in this moving situation ;-). Right before Christmas, we got over a foot of snow at our house. I was acting like a giddy child. It's so beautiful and fluffy and dry and fun to play in! Plus, as soon as it stops snowing, the clouds disappear and it's just gorgeously blinding sunshine which makes sunglasses mandatory for snow play! Because I was so overly excited, and took so many pictures, I broke our "snow day" into two parts, covering shoveling here, and then I will post all of the playing-in-the-snow-pictures in a second post.

Since the move, I have learned that "shoveling the walks" is a common occurrence, and something that has to be done in the evening as it snows so it doesn't pile up TOO high overnight, and again in the morning, while it's light and fluffy enough to shovel easily so you can get your car out of the driveway and walk to your mail box. (If my Colorado friends are reading this, you're probably laughing hysterically at the novelty in my discovery about shoveling. Well, don't laugh too hard, because I'm sure you'd learn a few new things visiting the San Juan Islands and all of it's ferries and salt water and sea creatures!). Tyson has quickly come to love his very own snow shovel, and as a first born male, he LOVES to do anything that daddy does, and works quite diligently when you let him take part in these tasks! I know I'm biased...but these guys are the cutest things in the world when they're at work together.

Daddy had his work cut out for him with the amount of snow accumulation! He started out with his boarding jacket and a scarf, and kept taking off layers because he was getting a work out.

For the most part, Ty is a great helper, although he doesn't always get the concept of where daddy needs to shovel and staying out of the way ;-)

Serious work.

He looks like a teenager to me in this picture, lol!

I love this one because you can see how much snow piled up after shoveling, AND the beautiful open space next to our house, giving us stunning views of the mountains every morning from our breakfast nook in the kitchen. Oh, and that little kid in the picture is pretty good lookin, too...

There you have it - snow day part one. I may have over-documented this day, but I don't care because I didn't grow up with this kind of snow, and I always want to have pictures of what it's like!

Christmas morning!

2011-12-28T15:04:00.000-08:00

Of course we know that presents are not the reason for the season, but I thought I'd do a little post of the family doing presents on Christmas morning. Grandmommy and Pappy came over around 7:45 am because Robin had to leave by 9:30 am to get ready to lead worship at church, and we wanted to do breakfast and presents before he left.

Before we ate we sat down and opened our "special" present: a box revealing the gender of baby #3! When we had our ultrasound last week, we had the technician box up a pink shirt, or a camo shirt (obviously representing boy or girl!) and tape it closed, and then put the other shirt in a brown paper bag so we wouldn't see which one was not being used. We wrapped the box and put it under the Christmas tree and waited a painfully slow 4 days to open it on Christmas! Ty helped us open it, and I think he was quite confused that a brother or a sister wasn't inside the box...just a shirt. He didn't quite get the symbolism, but promptly moved on to breakfast with the thought of more presents in the front of his mind :) I'm sure anyone reading this has already seen the news on Facebook or email or text message or some other medium, but just in case you haven't, we're having another GIRL in May! We are so very excited :)

Okay, moving on to the rest of the morning..........

Ty practicing with his new wooden guns...that expression cracks me up. Something happens to little boys when you put toy guns in their hands, lol!

Jersey opening her "feeding set" for her Baby Stella doll, from Nana and Papa.

Ty madly opening his package of Skybuster airplanes that daddy bought for him (I think Robin enjoys living vicariously through Tyson, and purposefully picks out stuff that HE wants to play with, too!)

Jersey would not leave Grandmommy's new books alone! She clawed and climbed to reach them every time she saw a book.

Tyson's new book from Grandmommy and Pappy.

Spontaneously clapping before her present is even opened ;-)

The little monkeys opening #1 of 2 "joint" gifts from mom and dad....

....which turned out to be a new set of healthy play kitchen food! I got a little tired of pizza and donuts being the main course while they played, from our first little set of cheap play food (not to mention the plastic smelled like chemicals), so I finally found a set with HEALTHY options (whole wheat bread, yogurt, fruit/veggies, pretzels, etc). I think I was more excited about the health factor than they were, but they were really excited about the realistic looking food and the three grocery shopping baskets that came with it!

Aaaaand here we are, the fab four. Well, I guess it's more like the fab four and a half since I'm 20 weeks along now... It's so crazy to think that next year we'll have 3 kids to celebrate Christmas with! Lot's of little people to teach about Jesus' birthday :)

BIRTHDAY GIRL!!!

2011-12-13T09:41:00.000-08:00

Well, we did it. Jersey's first birthday party :) We kept it pretty small and low-key, and missed having cousins and Nana and Papa there, but with Grandmommy and Pappy and a few friends, we celebrated our little princess in pink (VERY pink, as you'll see...). I expected her to get overwhelmed and fall apart half way through, as first birthday parties usually go, but she did just great and held it together the whole time. Here are (quite) a few pictures of the day.

My pretty, pink, princess 1-year-old! No first birthday is complete without a feather/sequin birthday crown.

Random arial shot of our living room as the first of our friends arrived...in time to watch the end of an incredible Bronco's game, I might add ;-) Tim Tebow always makes for the start of a good party!!!

Birthday girl with Grandmommy!

Aaaand then she discovered Grandmommy's Christmas tree pin and was completely distracted :)

Watching the end of the Bronco's game with Pappy.

"Hmm, what should I make for this party...?"

"I think I'll bake some cupcakes."

"Oh, hi, I'm just cooking in my kitchen..."

"...and eating cake mix boxes."

Ok, she didn't actually make the cupcakes, I did, but she can pretend...

Getting ready to sing and taste her first real sugar!

She kept the same blank stare through the whole song :)

A little help from big brother to blow out the candle.

Attempt at a family photo...but she was obviously distracted by the cupcake in front of her.

"What does this thing feel like?"

"Hmm...it gets all over your hands!"

"Ohh...and it tastes pretty good, too!"

Trying to get a second wind to open presents.

Tyson was glued to the pile of gifts...and not too happy about not being allowed to open them.

The girly gifts made me quite happy :) I mean LOOK at the ruffles on that skirt! Love it...

The wrapping paper made Jersey happy...

Loving on her little baby doll.

Cutest hand made ribbon hanging for Jersey's room!! Finally a cute and practical way to store her hair clips :) I just love this idea.

Oh, and she really liked the cards, too ;-)

Daddy love.

Pappy showing Ty his wooden, dancing puppet.

Everyone all tuckered out at the end of the night. Amelia and Ty are buddies...so much so in fact that apparently she curls up on his lap to watch Veggie Tales, lol!

Pretty little princess all tuckered out.

We had so much fun celebrating our Jersey Joy! I still can't get enough of the pink tutu...oh my. First girly birthday party at our house! We find out on December 21st if we'll be adding to team boy or team girl - we'll see if there are even more girly parties in our family future. I'm trying to get the self-control to have the ultrasound results on the 21st sealed up in a box to be wrapped, and then we'll all open it together on Christmas morning. That's the plan, if I can stick to it! Until then...signing off for now ;-)

One year ago...

2011-12-08T16:05:00.001-08:00

Well unfortunately I'm too sick today to write much of a post, but seeing as today is such an important and special day, I had to at least do a short one! One year ago today, Jersey Joy Schween was born into our family. It's amazing to me how quickly this last year has gone, and how much JOY she has brought into our lives even in just one year. The Christmas season will always remind me of having a tiny, newborn baby girl, cuddled up by the fire with our Christmas tree sparkling in the night. Happy birthday to our precious baby love.

Christmas Outings: City Building Lighting

2011-12-05T15:46:00.001-08:00

Last year during the holidays I was either on bed rest (Thanksgiving), or had a newborn baby (born Dec. 8th), so our Thanksgiving and Christmas season was very low-key, to say the least, and I felt like we didn't really do any fun Christmas outings with Tyson. This year we're making up for lost time ;-) So far we've gone to the "Star Lighting" which is where the town illuminates a big star on top of Castle Rock, near our house. We met up with friends and went to that and then did dinner afterwards. It was neat, but also short, and Ty couldn't understand why we couldn't see the "rock star," as he called it, light up again (it just stays lit through sometime after Christmas).

A couple weekends ago we packed up the kids and headed downtown Denver on an impromptu adventure. I had a Groupon for a pizza place downtown, and Robin mention going down to see the ceremonial lighting of the city building, so we combined the two for a fun family outing! We don't have a big entertainment budget these days, so it was a really fun treat to go out for dinner with our little family of four, and then spend some time downtown all bundled up together. We listened to Christmas music in the car, and Tyson made faces at Jersey so she was laughing hysterically. I dont' know why, but it was just a special night for me...with my own family that I love and adore, and a night out together at a magical time of year.

Forewarning...the picture quality from the night is NOT great! So these photos are just to document what we did...but they aren't exactly frameable material. Oh well!

Getting ready for the building (behind them) to light up, live news crews and a big stage with choirs going in the background.

I think all of the pictures are slightly creepy because it was so dark and the bright flash made all of us look bug-eyed, lol!

Right before the lighting...

And right when it was lit up! We didn't take any pictures of how it looked over the course of the next 20 minutes or so as music blasted and there was an awesome lights show of so many colors and combinations all set to the music. It was so pretty!!

All bundled up in front of the city building.

Our sad attempt at a picture of the three of us, ha ha ha. Jersey was so bundled up in the stroller we didn't want to get her out and then have her be frustrated to be buckled right back in. The girl seriously needs to learn to walk...outings would be much more fun for her!

Well there you have it. More Christmas traditions to come over the next few weeks. Kids at Christmas time make it even more special!

A glimpse into the future...

2011-11-29T16:35:00.001-08:00

I think it goes without saying that these pictures are perfection for Robin ;-) I know we're biased, but Tyson actually has amazing rhythm, and when he sings (which he loves to do), he has incredible pitch! I'm not surprised, considering his very talented father, but I was hoping to start with a more..."soothing" instrument than the drums! He's obsessed. Hopefully when the time comes we can convince him to start with guitar or piano before moving on to a drum kit.

"What are you looking at? I was in the middle of playing, thank you."

Lost in the moment.

I am afraid (and a tiny bit proud, I'll admit) that this is a glimpse into the future of the Schween household.

Halloween Birthday Party

2011-11-29T16:27:00.001-08:00

We don't "celebrate" halloween at our house, but at the same time, it's hard to resist the chance to dress your kids up in costumes (especially when they're too young to care what they're dressed as!). This year we were invited to a 1st birthday party on halloween, so we went to a friend's house to celebrate their daughter's birthday, and then walked around their neighborhood before heading home. It was fun!

The bumblebee and the monkey belong to us ;-) Next to Ty there's a cutie little ladybug - that's the birthday girl!

My baby bee :)

Monkey man.

Out walking the streets.

Taking a break...he was tired from running house to house and being SO excited!

Sleepy bee.

Aaaand we're spent for the night (hence the lack of smiling children, lol).

Movie Night!

2011-11-28T08:10:00.001-08:00

We recently had our very first family movie night. It was so much fun!! We rented the new Winnie the Pooh movie for Ty (which may have been because I wanted to see it...), made some popcorn, and snuggled up on the couch to watch our first feature film :) We realized that Ty hasn't really even had popcorn because we always make it for ourselves when we watch a movie after the kids go to bed.

Ty eating his first bowl of popcorn (out of THREE!) while JJ gets her bottle and some snuggle time with daddy.

Very serious, I'm surprised he even took his eyes off of the TV for a picture.

And there it is, the new Pooh movie! It was cute :) The whole next day after we watched it, everything Tyson played and pretended had to do with honey, lol! He made honey in the kitchen, bought honey at the store, and pretended to feed Jersey honey. It was hilarious.

The best part about movie night? How STILL both of our children were for extended periods of time! Robina and I both took full advantage of the cuddles.

Caught him sneaking some of Ty's popcorn.

This would be bowl #3, and water cup #2. We had to cut him off because I was afraid his tummy was going to hurt if he ate too much popcorn right after he'd just had a big dinner, lol! And of course all of the popcorn made him thirsty - he may have leaked through his diaper the next morning because he drank so much ;-)

First movie night was a total success! The only bummer about renting a movie for a 2-year-old is that it doesn't sink in that we don't actually own the movie, and he can't watch the "new Pooh" whenever we want to. He loves the old versions, so we'll probably have to buy this one eventually (okay, and it might be because I love it, too ;-). We are looking forward to more movie nights with more of our kids!

Bath Buddies

2011-11-27T07:57:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago the kids had their first bath together, so we had to document. I dont' know why it took us so long to put them together. Maybe because Jersey wasn't very sturdy and I didn't want Ty to knock her over, or because Jersey loves to splash and Tyson is not very fond of BEING splashed, lol. We've kind of let it be their own separate "play times" as a break from each other, but this was too funny.

Don't they just look THRILLED to be in there together?! LOL

Ty learning to share his favorite bath toy

She doesn't really care, as long as there's something to chew on...

"Here Jersey, hold still and I'll squirt this in your eye. It'll be really fun."

Bearded lady.

A great time was had by all, and we had more than a few laughs. Two kids so close in age is definitely challenging, but it's also so fun since they really interact and play together now! I can't wait until Jersey is walking and talking and they can actually "pretend" and play together :) Love my little bath buddies.

Bike Ride adventure!

2011-11-22T16:26:00.001-08:00

Okay so these pictures are at least a month old, but definitely couldn't let them go unseen :) Robin has been dying to go up to the mountains, and we've also been wanting to use our bike trailer with both kids, so we combined the two desires and went biking in the mountains! Robin did a little research online and found a great place to go, so we loaded up the car (Jeep), both kids, two bikes, and a double bike trailer, and headed to the mountains for the day. It was an adventure, to say the least!

First stop when we got to town: the first playground we could find! The kids had been sitting in the car for over 2 hours and needed to stretch their legs, and eat lunch, so this was our stop before the bikeride. I know it's not the best view of the park, but you have to appreciate the stunning views of the mountains from there!

My cutie crawler!

Tyson went straight for the sandbox - no surprise there.

First time on the swings together :)

FINALLY at the trail head, and trying to unload all of our junk...uh, I mean, gear.

And this is why we no longer own the Jeep. We sold it and bought a Yukon a few weeks ago. Even with just two kids, it was ridiculously tight just to try to drive somewhere with all of our stuff for the DAY, much less for a weekend or something. Plus, we couldn't fit a 3rd car seat in the Jeep, so we had to upsize anyway. I just had to get some pictures of how much we crammed into this little Jeep. It took Robin a while to reassemble everything for the ride.

Jersey girl playing in the back while we got everything together.

Brotherly love (aka, you're squishing me!)

Are you KIDDING ME!? Most beautiful bikeride EVER!

Great views the entire ride (especially for me, riding in the back ! Sorry Robin, I couldn't resist the comment ;-)

We rode through some really neat old mines along the way.

Aaaaand then the real adventure began... My bike got a flat tire :) And Robin had just put a brand new tube on this same tire specifically for this trip! We weren't that surprised, honestly, because my bike has been cursed since the day we got it. It's always had problems shifting and keeping the chain on, yet when we take it into a bike shop, they say it's running perfectly and theres nothing wrong. Well, this was NOT the best day to get a flat!

Luckily, my super-biker husband is always prepared and we pulled over so he could patch it with the patch kit.

Biker girls!

Juuuust chillin on the side of the path, trying to keep the kids OFF of the path in case other bikers came flying by! It felt like the longest 20 minutes of my life (Robin had a hard time finding the tiny tiny hole, and we were almost out of rubber cement for the patch, so it ended up taking a while).

"Mom, what is that big blue thing on your head!?"

After all that, we finally finished the ride! Robin's face looked like Christmas morning the whole time :) It was worth all the time and effort just to see how happy he was to be biking up there!

Thankfully, we now have a larger car which will make trips like this much less crowded and stressful. It's hard to do anything when you have to carry the diaper bag on your lap, food at your feet, and barely have room to breathe in the car! It was a lot of work, but I think that's just going to be the way it is for a while when you have little kids :) A 4-hour drive round trip, 12 mile bikeride, me being pregnant (and nauseous/exhausted in the 1st trimester!), at 10,000 ft elevation...made for one tired mama the rest of the weekend!!! But like I said...worth it to see how happy Robin was the entire day.

Garden of the gods

2011-11-15T14:46:00.001-08:00

First off, can I just say that I am not this behind in blogging on purpose!? I have literally been uploading pictures individually for at least a week and a half. Between Blogger having issues, our internet being slow, and our ancient computer being on it's last legs...it has been FRUSTRATING, to say the least, to get these pictures posted. UGH.

Secondly, I should say that there are a lot of pictures to this post! A few weeks ago we drove about 30 min south of our house to a tourist spot called "Garden of the Gods." It's a gorgeous site with beautiful red rock formations and miles of paved paths for people to enjoy the natural beauty. We packed up the car on Saturday morning, no showers, no make up (for me, obviously), and took off right after breakfast. Now if I had been thinking ahead, I would have realized that this would be an amazing photo opportunity! I would have showered, put make up on, dressed Jersey in a cute, girly outfit, and had Tyson wear something other than a skull and crossbones shirt that someone gave us (it was almost Halloween so I figured if he was ever going to wear it, this might as well be the time). Poor outfit planning on my part...mom fail. Oh well, we still got some cute pics. Enjoy!

One of the "starting" poitns for some of the paths.

Fist family photo...and I'm wearing a hat and sunglasses in every picture. Like I said, poor planning.

Boy heaven: rocks to climb, trails to explore, and dirt to play in!

Jersey had to sit in the stroller most of the time, but she was a trooper! I keep trying to tell her the sooner she starts walking, the better it'll be for everyone. Then she'll be able to get down and explore more easily!

I may have failed with outfits, but I did have the genius idea to bring Ty's scooter with us! He looked SO CUTE scooting all over the paths. Not to mention, he was exhausted by the time we left after working his little legs so hard!

In case you can't read it, we thought this plaque was pretty cool. It explains where this land came from and why it is what it is. The plaque explains that it is dedicated "by the children of Charles Elliott Perkins in fulfillment of his wish that it be kept forever free to the public." Pretty cool, eh?

It's also a hot spot for rock climbers to practice and show off their skills. Ty was quite fascinated, but couldn't quite understand why we wouldn't let him do it (over my dead body!).

Just strollin and scootin'.

Just one of many gorgeous scenery pictures along the way.

Me and my main squeeze ;-)

Me an my "secondary" squeeze ;-)

Fall colors with snow capped moutains...so pretty.

Occassionally the little legs needed some help going up hill. I can't believe how long he lasted scooting around!

Ty discovered a little "hidden" path off of the main path and loved exploring to find out where it went.

...which eventually was just a dead end. But even dead ends are an exciting adventure for a 2-year-old. (Which, P.S., side note, he's going to be 3 in January! That's so crazy so me!)

Dirt pile!!!! Bliss.

Just the girlies.

Another family attempt.

Finally we found a great little enclosed spot full of leaves where Jersey could get down and crawl around and play.

Happy camper!

After many attempts, this was the best one we could get of the two of them, lol.

Eating leaves.

Trying to figure out how all of these fingers coordinate together!

Aaaand back to simpler things...like eating leaves.

The two best buds.

Pretty girl.

So much to see and touch and eat!

Daddy time.

Well, there you have it! Sorry it took FOREVER to get this post up. I have at least 4 or 5 other posts I've been waiting to do - sheesh! Hopefully they won't take a decade to upload like this one did. Happy Thanksgiving week!!

First trip to the zoo with TWO!

2011-10-19T15:18:00.000-07:00

Last week we had the fabulous opportunity to go to the Denver Zoo with some good friends. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I'll say it again... When we first moved to Colorado we took a parenting class with a group of 5 or 6 couples about our same age, and who had kids close in age to our kids (or, "kid," at the time ;-). We've now been through two class series of Growing Families International with these same couples, and it has honestly been one of the biggest blessings of moving to Colorado. It is so encouraging to have friends (and for me, other moms) who are pursuing similar goals in raising children, and are going through similar struggles with our various aged kiddos. We can encourage and commiserate with each other through the good and the...well, the "not so good" times of parenting ;-)

Anyway, it's not very often that all of our schedules align to get all of us together with our kids on an outing, but the zoo last week was one such time! Tyson has SO much fun with his little friends from this group, and at the end of the day I always feel encouraged in my efforts, and love the comic relief from sharing stories of how we, or our children, have "failed" recently in the whole journey of parenting. This was also Jersey's first trip to the zoo, so I tried to document as best I could juggling two kids, the camera, the stroller, and all of the "stuff" that I seem to bring when packing to be out for the day!

A TUNNEL to view animals through!?! Tyson's idea of heaven. He's obsessed with tunnels...

One of many many railings to peer over during the trip.

"Mom, look! A polar bear!"

Highlight of the entire trip: CONSTRUCTION ZONE! The Denver Zoo is adding a HUUGE safari/African exhibit this winter. From the map it looks like the new exhibit will be 1/4 of the size of the whole zoo at this point. Along part of the path there's a section blocks and blocks long of chain link fence which is mostly covered with black mesh, but every so often there is a whole cut out so kids can stop and watch the construction. Do I even have to explain what a hit this is? Let's just say it's Tyson's favorite "exhibit" of the whole zoo, and I think he's going to be devastated when it's actually completed and there are animals to see instead of construction machinery working up close. Here's part of our little group watching the action (which I must admit, was pretty cool to see up close!).

Last kid standing looking at the construction. He was glued. The only reason he agreed to keep walking and move along was because we mentioned that it was time for lunch, and he'd been talking about food since we got there. I think the kid could eat every hour on the hour. Thank goodness, because otherwise he would not have left the chain link.

Watching the elephants "practicing" getting in and out of their 10,000 lb metal crates, which will be used to transport them to their new safari habitat this winter. It was pretty neat listening to the trainers talking to the crowd about the process of moving a 10,000 lb animal, in a 10,000 lb crate! Whew!

Aren't they so CUTE!? Picnic lunch time. And this picture doesn't include Jersey or the other two 2-month-old babies in our group :)

Photo opp....aaaand then the zoo train went by, and all attention was lost ;-)

My little Jersey girl, just hangin out with the big kids eating lunch.

...and chewing on the ziploc bag - her favorite "snack," lol.

"MOM, look at this awesome branch I found!"

Just standing up to everything, wishing she was walking.

Attempting a family photo on the train. Can you tell Jersey wanted to get down? I promise I didn't drop her, even though it looks like she's sliding right off of my lap.

Happy girl(s) on the train ride.

Highlight #2: his little friend, Kayla, on the right in the pink sweatshirt, brought her wagon to the zoo instead of a stroller. Ty has been obsessed with pulling and pushing things since he could crawl, and wagons are one of his favorites ;-) He had a grand old time playing with the girls.

"Mama, I'm getting sleeeepy." Baby girl was a trooper, missed her morning nap but hung in there for the whole trip!

Here's to hoping the kids will burn some energy running down the zoo paths, and then running back. Over, and over, and over... How do 2 and 3 year olds have SO MUCH ENERGY!?!

"Mom! Gorillas!"

Aren't all of the kids so cute together!? They're all about the same size and height and they had so much fun together :)

A wonderful, wonderful time was had by all. And amazingly enough, I was able to keep BOTH kids awake in the car on the 45 minute drive home so they still took their afternoon naps ;-) That is an accomplishment, because it was already passed nap time and they were so tired from the fun day! Robin has never been to the zoo with the kids, as we usually go during the week for a playdate of some sort, so our next goal is to make a family trip on a Saturday with the 4 of us. So fun to see the world of animals through the eyes of a 2-year-old. It's a lot of working hauling TWO kids around the zoo, with all of our stuff, by myself. Not quite sure how I'm doing to be able to do it with THREE next year!!! Guess we'll figure it out along the way :)

The extraordinary in my ordinary

2011-10-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

Our lives are fairly ordinary. Our day-to-day isn't anything crazy exciting. But lately, while watching my kids play together, I have been reminded how extraordinary our ordinary really is. I get to stay home with my babies, watching them grow and change every day. I hear every new word they learn. I see every bump and bruise (well, most of them ;-) and get to "kiss it better." I watch them try new foods. I hear them giggle and laugh uncontrollably at each other when the mood strikes. I see them start to unravel when they get tired right before nap time. I FEEL like I change a hundred diapers a day, lol. I see their faces light up when they discover something new. I answer about a million (sometimes annoying) questions a day from my two-year-old, and then I appreciate that he is so smart and eager to learn and understand. My ten-month-old crawls over to me every few minutes while we play, just to check in with a pat on my leg. Of course, in the midst of all this, there are tantrums, fits, unexplained crying episodes, and many opportunities for discipline throughout the day. But overall, I am so blessed to spend my days with these two, and I am so glad for the reminder that our ordinary is actually quite extraordinary.

Our "play room" (aka office/workout/guest room) is where a lot of our ordinary takes place. The three of us play in here around 8:30 every morning, and I finally took some pictures of this "ordinary" time one day, just to remind myself how extraordinary it is that I get to spend this time with my kids every day, watching them learn to enjoy each other's company more and more. Such sweet time!

Jersey hangs out in her jumper in the laundry room doorway for a while while, jumping and spinning around while watching Tyson play trains.

Caught her in mid-jump action!

Jersey LOVES pulling up to the train table and "playing" trains (aka chewing on them). Tyson is learning to share this play space which used to only be occupied by him ;-)

The train set and table was Tyson's birthday gift from Grandmommy and Pappy last year, and he has literally, no joke, played with it EVERY SINGLE DAY since he got it. Sometimes multiple times a day. I look forward to our kids playing with it together more and more.

Jersey is a crazy adventuresome crawler. Her latest activity of choice is trying to climb up the slide.

So of course, Tyson, being a boy, thinks is great fun to slide down in to her while she is on the slide. Usually she thinks it's pretty hilarious, unless she takes a good tumble.

Oh, and Ty LOVES to have her go down with him. It requires a little help from me, but they are so cute sitting together!!!

And the other main attractions in this room is "turtle." Ty got turtle as a riding toy for his first birthday and LOVES flying around on the tile floor in the play room. And stashing "treasures" in the seat, of course. And whatever Tyson likes, Jersey decides she must conquer, too. She's taken a few spills trying to play with turtle, but it doesn't stop her.

Well there you have it. A glimpse into our ordinary days, which are filled with extraordinary moments where my kids love and play with each other, and I have the blessing of watching it all unfold. I have a new favorite quote which is now framed right next to my kitchen sink. It sums up how it sometimes feels to be a stay-at-home mom, and I love reading it when I forget how extraordinary my ordinary is.

"If you seek some special life outside of daily activities, that is like brushing aside waves to look for water." - Wu-Chun

Biker Babes

2011-10-06T08:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry to keep bringing up the weather, but this is another "take advantage of the warm weather" post :) A couple of weeks ago Grandmommy (aka, Robin's mom, Kathleen ;-) bought Tyson the next size up helmet so that we could use the infant size for Jersey. Finally both kids could go in the bike trailer! It was supposed to be a family affair, but after tuning up the bikes Robin figured out that one of the tubes on my bike had to be replaced. Usually he can patch it up and we're good to go, but no such luck this time. So, unfortunately, I had to stay home, but my three favorite people went on a little adventure together.

Ready for take off!

Jersey may have fallen asleep towards the end of the ride, lol...

Back from the ride, Mr. Protective big brother.

Here Jersey, I'll help you get out!

I just love them. Aren't they so cute!? (And by them, I'm including my husband ;-) Hopefully next time I can go on the ride, too!

Picnic Perfection

2011-10-02T08:15:00.000-07:00

We have had the most amazing weather the last few weeks. Pretty sure this is not "normal" for Colorado, but hey, what do I know? It's been in the mid 80's - low 90's for all of September and we're still in the 80's now in October! If I'm being honest, I'm kind of ready for the cooler weather as it's confusing to be wearing summer clothes in the fall, but I'm not going to complain ;-) The other nice part about these temperatures is that it's much more "mild" than the middle of summer, so it's easy to play outside during lunch time without Jersey being too hot without any shade. Tyson's latest and greatest discovery is the art of the "picnic." He thinks it's the best thing EVER. So we decided to go on a crazy picnic adventure...in our front yard. He's still talking about it. Amazing how such a small thing can be such a great joy for a toddler :) It really was the perfect day...

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Ty eating his lunch on our "picnic blanket" towel in the front yard...with Jersey eyeing his food from behind!

Baby girl had a cold, so pardon the runny nose, but she LOVED being outside for lunch :)

Livin the dream...with peanut butter all over his face.

I think Ty has the cutest little feet :) Couldn't resist!

Juuust waiting for someone to let me out of this exersaucer so I can crawl all over the picnic set up...

Finally we let her loose! Jersey and Tyson are playing and interacting so much more all of a sudden. It makes me smile every single day. He makes her laugh more than anyone else! Of course he isn't that happy when she interrupts whatever toy he's playing with, but he gets over it, and she's pretty much content to just sit near him and drool on a matchbox car or something.

His favorite special treat: squeezable pureed fruit! We had some left over from our airplane travels, and since they're expiring soon I knew he would enjoy having one and it would make his lunch seem even more special (doesn't take much!).

Ty sharing his veggie straws with Jersey.

Pretty little lady...who did NOT like having her sun hat on :)

So she took it off and ate Ty's veggies straws while she was at it.

My leading lady.

Just playin on the picnic blanket.

She really will eat anything she can get her hands on. I think this was some grass...I think. Kind of funny how much the second kid gets to do that you were too paranoid to let your first kid do!

And the biggest toddler/crawler attraction in our yard: the zero scape rocks next to our front door. Jersey make a beeline for them as soon as she's on the ground. I finally gave up and let her chew on one - she's teething, she doesn't care! Besides, they are way too big to choke on ;-)

Good times and great memories made. I love being home with my babies. How else would I be able to have spontaneous picnics in the front yard!? These are the days that make not having a second paycheck totally worth it :)

Helping Hands

2011-09-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

Considering that Jersey has been crawling for a few months now, we are a little bit late installing a baby gate at the top of the stairs where the kid's rooms are. Last Saturday the kids finally helped daddy put up the new gate. And oh were they helpful ;-)

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Jersey reading the directions out loud to Robin.

Then she got a little bit hungry and tried to eat them.
Tyson hammered and drilled away with his "tool set" just like daddy.

Robin loves when I take these random, candid photos ;-) I can't help it, the kids are too cute caught up in moments like these!

Jersey "helped" the whole time. She even started handing Robin pieces of hardware, lol. As far as we know she didn't eat any of those...

White Fence Farm, 2nd annual trip!

2011-09-22T07:27:00.000-07:00

We just made our second family trip to "White Fence Farm" for Pappy's (aka, Bob, Robin's step dad) birthday. It's a restaurant where you go eat a yummy family style fried chicken dinner, and then you can head outside to explore the petting zoo, duck pond, playground, etc. Ty always has a blast, and this year it was quite hilarious to have Jersey along and see her reactions to the animals.

**********"Oh hi Mr. Goat! Come over here and I will pet you."

"Oh, you eat leaves and sticks!? Perfect, I can pick lots of those!"

This went on for a good 10 minutes...I have never seen Ty laugh so hard. He thought the goat eating things out of his hand was the best thing EVER.

I mean, seriously? Just look at that FACE! I wish I had taken video to capture the squeals of delight and the shaking and jumping up and down and laughing.

Oh, and then Jersey noticed the goat... I felt like I was holding a little wild animal just trying to contain her from leaping out of my arms!

Huge, fat, sleeping pig. He wasn't interested in getting up to hang out with us.

Of course. Tyson's favorite thing in life is construction, tractors, etc. He thought sitting and stearing the big tractor wheel was pretty big time.

We saw a clydesdale horse about 100 times the size of Jersey. Ty kept calling the driver "Cowboy" and waving and talking to him. I think the driver enjoyed being thought of as a "cowboy" instead of a carriage driver ;-)

Riding the slightly girly carrousel horse near the park.

I prayed that our second child would be a sweet, slow, cuddly, quiet little thing. Well he gave us Jersey - sweet, yes, but not slow or cuddly or quiet :) She is such a gift and a blessing and I love her little go-getter self! I can't imagine her being any other way. Here she's just trying to keep up with her brother and following him around as fast as she can!

Time to feed the ducks!

Grandmommy bought some duck food from a dispenser.

As always, a great time was had by all!

Ice Cream Truck

2011-09-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

We are enjoying the final days of summer/beginning of fall (it's hard to separate the two in Colorado since it stays so sunny all the time, despite cooler morning and evening temperatures!). A couple of Saturdays ago it was "hair cut day" (I cut Robin's and Tyson's - preferably back to back since we have to get all of the stuff out and make a hairy mess outside). Robin goes first so Tyson can watch, since he's STILL afraid of the noise the hair buzzers make and even the sound of the scissors next to his ears *sigh* After Robin I cut Ty's hair (while bribing with fruit snacks) and an hour later both boys are lookin' sharp...and are covered in hair clippings :) Since it was so nice outside we did in in the garage so we could clean up with the shopvac.

On this particular Saturday I heard the familiar sound of the "ice cream truck" coming around the corner. Tyson has NO idea what that is, especially since it often comes during nap time and we've never made an effort to point it out. Well Robin and I were feeling nostalgic, or something, and we both got all excited to buy him his first popsicle from the truck (lactose intolerance doesn't allow for ice cream sandwich type things). I ran in and grabbed my wallet and we flagged the truck down, all the while trying to explain our "hype" to Tyson. Good grief, even with inflation, no wonder my mom made me use my own money if I wanted to buy something from there! It was $3 - $4 for ONE popsicle!!!! Holy cow. Needless to say we found the cheapest item (a plain white coconut popsicle for $1 and something cents - he doesn't know the difference), and we let him go at it! Well, here is the play by play captured on film...

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"Now THIS is the life. Half naked (due to hair cut), in my police car (best $6 garage sale find of the summer!), eating my very own and very first ice cream truck purchase."

"Oh wow, this is reeeally yummy..."

"And kind of drippy. Here, want a lick?? I'll share!"

"Why is it starting to fall over off of the stick...?"

"Um...it fell off in my police car onto the ground, dad."

"I wanted to finish my popsicle! And now it's melting on the cement!"

Aaaaaand this is the point of utter heartbreak and devastation for a two year old...

It was a great idea and all, but probably not the best timing RIGHT before his nap. Or maybe we should have warned him what would happen if he didn't eat it as quickly as we were suggesting! Oh well, it was quite hilarious and we were glad that we happened to have the camera in the garage to capture the experience.

New bling for the girls in our house

2011-08-27T19:43:00.000-07:00

I know it seems like YEARS since I've blogged (at least it does to me!) so I won't even try to make excuses. Well, except for the fact that we just got back from 3.5 weeks in Seattle - that's a good excuse. More posts to come from that trip. Before I tackle the major task of sorting through all of those pictures, I thought I would blog about a couple of milestones in the Schween household this week. First, since it's not that big of a story... It was my birthday on Friday! Normally I wouldn't' blog about that (who cares how old you are once you're past 21!?), but I just had to include a picture of my birthday present from Robin:

I LOVE IT! Found it at the Anacortes Arts & Crafts Fair while we were in Washington. It's Larimar set in sterling and just what I've wanted for a sturdy, every day ring :) Thanks babe!

Secondly, the monumental milestone for the Schween family this week: Jersey got her ears pierced today!!! I think it's completely adorable and would definitely do it again. Robin captured the brief "Kodak moments" on camera.

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"Hi daddy. What are we doing sitting inside this funny booth?"

" And why is some lady wiping my ears with something cold and wet...? This does not seem like a good sign."

"Owie, owie, owie!!!"

(My sweet baby girl! Luckily the crying only lasted about 60 seconds.)

"Oh. Are we all done? Okay, I guess that wasn't so bad..."
Aaaaaand then the tears dried up instantly and we were all good.

Ta-da!

My cutie little girly girl - all grow'd up!

Okay, I wasn't going to include this in the story, but I MAY have cried a tiny bit myself. I wasn't planning on it! I just got a little bit caught up in the moment and randomly shed a few tears, but when Jersey just suddenly quit crying, I was fine ;-) She IS my baby after all! I'm glad we did it and I LOVE how it turned out. So nice that she looks so cute and girly and feminine even if she's not wearing a clip or a headband. And Robin was quite proud of himself that HE was the guy to buy Jersey her first item of jewelry! Our pretty pretty princess will NOT be needing any boyfriends to buy her bling! That's what her daddy is for :) Go Team Schween.

Downtown Bound

2011-06-28T15:01:00.000-07:00

This post is, once again, long overdue! A couple of weekends ago we were incredibly blessed with a gift of a night downtown Denver. I kept it a secret from Robin and surprised him on a Friday afternoon (he thought we were just going on a dinner date, until I told him he wouldn't see his kids until the next day ;-). Robin's parents took the kids overnight (my first night away from Jersey!) and we headed downtown on our adventure. It was the most fabulously refreshing 24 hours away!!!

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Robin standing outside The Curtis hotel where we stayed.

Dinner date and a night out on the town!

The next day we explored the city, walking around 16th Street Mall and everything in between. It was so gorgeous and sunny and we had SUCH a wonderful time wandering around and not worrying about which kid needed to nap, and who to feed next before another diaper change, lol.

Our hotel was an adventure all by itself. Every floor had a different "theme" (movies, music, TV, etc) and the details were hilarious - right down to the Disney voices talking to you in the elevators and the awesome signage in the bathrooms... I couldn't resist taking some pics with my phone camera in the bathroom!

Enjoying our time in the sunshine.

The "Horror" 13th floor :)

The awesome gym, which we took full advantage of on Saturday morning! We haven't been able to work out TOGETHER for so long - it was a blast!

Hotel lobby...where you can borrow all kinds of books and games from their "library" to take up to your room!

Denver Arts...so beautiful. Can't wait to see a show there some day!

Walking around downtown there are pianos every couple of blocks called "Keys to the City." They were donated and then painted by various local artists. So cool! Anyone from the homeless to the wealthy tourist can just sit down and play them anytime. Robin even took a stab at it ;-)

Out to lunch at an old brewery downtown (the most quiet and enjoyable lunch I've had in quite some time! I didn't have to serve anyone, and MY lunch was delivered to me ;-).

Finishing up our time downtown!

We had so much fun together, but of course missed the kids and were excited to see them the next afternoon. Speaking of kids, they did great for Grandmommy and Pappy! Jersey's first slumber party was a success, and mom and dad came back refreshed and reconnected :) So thankful for the blessing of such a fun gift!

Garage Sale

2011-06-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had our first garage sale! I felt like I had "arrived" in adulthood, as that is surely a right of passage of some sort...

When we moved from Seattle we only had about two weeks notice, so we basically packed up everything we owned without taking time to go through any of it, and moved everything to Colorado. One of the many blessings of the house we live in now is that we have an unfinished basement for storage! It is wonderful to keep camping gear, baby items, off-season clothes, etc. However, there were quite a few boxes down there which were never unpacked after the move, and we weren't REALLY sure what was in them. We decided that having a garage sale would be the perfect excuse to make us clean out the basement, get rid of some stuff, and make a little bit of money at the same time. The plan worked beautifully as we sorted through ALL of our boxes, deciding what was worth keeping, and what wasn't (if we hadn't used it in the last year, we obviously didn't need it, no matter how "nice" or "great" it is!).

Friday mornings are the best traffic for garage sales, apparently, so I decided since I was by myself with the kids I would just do it from 8 - 11 am on Friday, and then we would do all day on Saturday if we had enough stuff left. Turned out that we sold MOST of our stuff on Friday morning - we definitely experienced the 8:00-serious-garage salers-rush!" I couldn't believe how many people stopped by that morning. That worked out well so we only did the sale until nap time on Saturday...and we made $200, selling who-knows-what!!! Needless to say we were quite happy with ourselves. I was able to use some of that money to shop at a HUGE community garage sale this weekend to stock up on some clothes and things for the kids - perfect! It was actually a pretty fun family day on Saturday as well all hung out in the garage, played on the lawn, Tyson charmed all of the people who stopped by, and we moved high chairs outside to eat lunch :)

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Father and daughter...drinking Starbucks and reading the Saturday morning paper as we started day 2 of our sale.

Tyson had price stickers all over him and thought that was the best part of the whole day. Every time someone asked him how much he "cost," he said: "I'm expensive." (And I said, "He might be half price by nap time" ;-)

Robin eating his smoothie and left over pizza, Tyson having lunch in his high chair, and Jersey just playing in her exersaucer :)

Teething...and chewing on EVERYTHING! (She finally got her first tooth 2 days ago!)

The girls, getting some sun! (I love how completely mismatched Jersey's outfit is in this picture...)

Whew! The end of a long, but fun weekend. Story time with daddy in their PJ's.

I just love hanging out with my little family. Even when it's something as simple as a garage sale weekend, we enjoy being home together :)

Dedication

2011-06-13T14:33:00.000-07:00

This last Sunday at church was a special day for the Schween family. Jersey and Tyson were dedicated! As we talked about having Jersey dedicated at our church here in Castle Rock, we realized that in all of the job/moving commotion, we never dedicated Tyson...oops. That would be sad if he looked back at his baby pictures and realized we skipped that step! So we were very blessed to have them both dedicated on Sunday, and I think doing it together will always be a special memory for us.

Jersey looked like she was a flower girl, and Tyson looked pretty darn handsome in his first TIE! I was most nervous that Jersey would spit up on me, or the stage (or on our pastor, heaven forbid!), or cry if she got scared, but both kids did fabulously! Robin's parents came to our church for the occasion, and were a big help to me before we went up on stage since I would have had a hard time hanging on to both kids and keeping them quiet. And, side note, Tyson is usually in the nursery, but being out in the "big service" and watching daddy lead, he didn't take his eyes off of the drum kit during worship...he was captivated. I missed having my family there that morning, but we assigned someone to take pictures (thanks Lisa!) so they could get a glimpse of the event.

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Pastor Paul, reading scripture for us.

Blessing little Jersey girl (who didn't make a peep, even when Pastor Paul was holding her!).

Praying for our babies...

Jersey getting "Lion Kinged" ;-)

When Pastor Paul reached out towards Tyson, Ty of course thought he was trying to give him "five" and promptly "fived" him back. It was hilarious. I think Paul was a little caught off guard since he wasn't expecting that!

Photo opp after the service.

Surprisingly, the kids even sat together for a minute after the service (I figured they'd be falling apart by then!), so we got a couple of pictures. Nothing amazing, but better than I thought they would turn out after such a long morning.

Pretty girl all "dolled up" for the day. I know I'm biased, but I thought she was such a little beauty in her little outfit ;-)

It was a wonderful morning, and I felt so blessed to be at Castle Oaks Covenant for the occasion. Who knew when we moved that we would end up at such a fabulous church home. God definitely surprised me in that respect and I'm so glad that we've gotten to know and love so many people there! Tyson Lloyd and Jersey Joy...we love you so very much and thank the Lord for you every day!

Making our own water...

2011-06-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

It officially hit 90 degrees this last week - SUMMER is here!!! I haven't taken the time to haul the kiddie pool out from the basement yet. And since Colorado is not known for it's large bodies of water (or small, for that matter), we decided to have our own water fun in the back yard. Two year olds really are content with the smallest adventures :)

A dish pan full of water, a cup, a few shovels, and a dump truck...what more does a boy need? NOTHING! Tyson played on our deck with water for quite some time, until I heard: "Ohhh no! Oh no, mommy!!" (Never a good sound coming from where your toddler is playing.) Fortunately, he had only drenched his shirt, shorts, sock, and shoes in the process (totally on accident, I'm sure) of playing. I promptly told him it was okay, stripped off his shirt, and sent him back outside. He was just fine with that idea. So here's my little nakey boy, looking so grown up to me playing in the yard by himself. He's a heart breaker already, I tell ya... Look at those abs! LOL.

Weekend in the mountains!

2011-05-31T15:34:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to the mountains for the weekend and stay in a cabin...for FREE! We were so blessed by a couple in our church who let us use their cabin for our first "mini vacation" as a family of four. We were up near Grand Lake so it was only about a 2.5 hour drive, which was perfect since we had both kids! Jersey was an angel the entire car ride there and back (like she usually is!) and Tyson did pretty well as long as we rotated his toys and fed him snacks, lol. We had SUCH a wonderful time getting away without the stress of financing a weekend retreat. Here are some of the highlights!

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The main living room of the cabin. The laundry room and master bedroom and kitchen are also on the main floor. Upstairs is a loft with two twin beds, plus a bedroom with another full size bed. There is also a walkway that they added on which attaches the main house to the apartment they built above the garage. It has a whole separate kitchen, and 8 more beds and some couches!

Top Model

2011-05-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

I can't stop taking pictures of my girly girl. I think ages 3-6 months are SO fun because they are so smiley and talkative learning to use their little voices, but they can't roll over or cause any trouble yet, lol. They just sit there lookin' all cute! Not to mention...girl clothes are pretty much the most fun thing ever. I feel like I have a live doll to dress up every day ;-)

Diaper Days

2011-05-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

Well one day we were killing time inside, and Jersey looked so cute in her little cloth diaper that I just had to take some pictures. This turned into a hilarious half an hour of Jersey smiling and laughing, Tyson running around in HIS diaper, and me trying to get a picture of them TOGETHER which never really works... Here is a random glimpse of my two cute little kids and their cloth diapered little butts!

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Jersey just lovin life underneath her play mat.

Okay there were too many cute ones to choose from...

Her other "regular"hang out: the infant seat. She loves being down to her diaper! I've also decided that this photo may be a preview of what is to come...she totally looks like she should be holding a guitar! I think she's practicing so she can be just like daddy ;-)

And then, of course, Tyson wanted to be the center of the photo action. Very serious moment, stripped down to HIS diaper. Such a poser...

So Ty asks to "hold her" at least a couple of times a day. Of course I could never say "no" to that request, so I always let him try. He only wants to hold her for 5 - 8 seconds and then he tries to just get up and go, which of course sends me flying towards his arms to catch Jersey before she falls over after being suddenly ditched by her brother. This pattern makes it very difficult to take pictures of the two of them together - nearly impossible actually. This was the ONLY half way decent photo I could get before he would let her go, lol. Wish it was a better one! She looks nervous, and you can tell he's about ready to peace out.

He is such a ham. He gets quite excited when he can find his bellybutton, since he can't usually see it after he eats, lol. He likes to show everyone. Jersey basically just watches him with fascination every chance she gets :)

Well, guess that's one way to get both of them in a picture together. Just haaaangin out in their diapers.

Oh goodness, they make me laugh. This might have been a more "boring" post for readers...but it was quite a sweet and funny afternoon for me! I try not to take one day for granted with these two. I love every chance I get to spend with their tiny little bodies, and find them especially cute when they are down to their diapers :) Although, I think they eventually get tired of me kissing all over them! Can't help myself.

Family!!

2011-05-16T16:29:00.000-07:00

Easter weekend was a special time at the Schween house. Robin's dad and step mom came from Arizona to stay with us! They hadn't seen Tyson since he was about 3 months old (we took him to Tucson) and hadn't met Jersey. Tyson talked all about Grandpa Rob and Grandma Mo the few days leading up to their visit. And he fell in love with Mo pretty much as soon as she walked in the door ;-) Here are some snapshots of the weekend - a great time was had by all!

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Jersey making her debut...quite fashionably in her diaper ;-)

Grandma Mo played with Tyson every second that she could! Lego creations were one of the first things on the agenda...

Lunch time! Once again, Tyson just wanted to sit with Grandma Mo :)

And eat her food...ha ha.

Grandpa Rob and daddy played outside with Ty - football and baseball lessons were definitely in order.

One on one coaching ;-)

Group effort, without the "tee" (wasn't that successful)

Story time with Grandma Mo, and the new book she brought for Tyson (which he has looked at EVERY single morning after breakfast since they left!)

Grandmommy and Pappy came over for Easter dinner! This is a horrible picture of Jersey, but I realized it's the only one I took of her that day all dressed up like a little Easter egg, so I had to include it anyway.

Tyson thought he'd died and gone to heaven having TWO grandmas playing with him (and agreeing to sit at his little play table, lol). He is very blessed :)

In the kitchen working on my first Easter dinner.

Easter dinner!! Robin and his mom and step dad, and his dad and step mom - so awesome! Our kids had it made having both sets of grandparents on Robin's side with us for the Easter holiday.

Aaaaaand he couldn't resist bugging Grandma Mo again during dinner...oh yes, and eating her food!

Finishing off the weekend with an Easter egg hunt inside! It is literally sunny almost every single day here in Colorado, but of course, on the one day when everyone wants to hunt for eggs outside, it "rains" (which was basically a "mist" in Seattle terms, but enough to keep Coloradins inside ;-)

Such a fabulous weekend with family! We are SO excited that they will be coming back to Colorado in July for a wedding, and hopefully staying with us again for part of their trip. Ty talks about Grandpa Rob playing baseball, and Grandma Mo reading stories and playing legos ALLLL the time. I'm really glad he'll get to see them again in just a few short months since they will still be "fresh" in his little 2-year-old mind :) And Jersey will be quite the grown up little lady by then!

Slowly but surely, I'm catching up with all of these overdue blog posts... Soon to come, pictures from this past weekend we spent in the mountains!! Our first mini-vacation as a family of four.

Big Boy Bed

2011-05-09T16:36:00.001-07:00

We finally did it! Tyson got his brand new twin size big boy bed :) Instead of buying toddler sheets and a toddler bed we decided to just jump straight to a twin which would be more cost-effective in the long run. Of course I had to find some sheets with cars and trucks on them...he's obsessed. I found them on clearance at Target for $6 for TWO sets! Now that was awesome. Here are a few pictures minus any wall art, bed skirt, or bed rail. He fell out of bed 5 times the first night, I think due to a major wind storm which was scaring him during the night. The next day we bought a bed rail and he's done great in there ever since! My little boy is getting big :-/

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All of his "things" (which sounds like "fings" when he says it) include two blankets (don't ask me how that happened), a lamb, a frog, and a fuzzy pillow. He loves to be piled on his bed covered with his "fings," lol.

Awww he looks so tiny in that big bed! Good thing we got a bed rail...we all feel a little more secure now ;-)

Seattle post...from March...yes I am that behind.

2011-05-05T14:15:00.000-07:00

Wow, I have NEVER been this behind in blogging! Guess that's what I get for adding a newborn to the family... Although, I can hardly believe she's 5 months old already! Hmm it looks like I can't call her a newborn anymore. I will be doing some "rapid fire" blog posts to catch up (hopefully), even though Blogger is being ridiculously slow and not working very well for me the last few days. There aren't a whole lot of captions in this post because I'm having technical difficulties, but you'll get the picture (no pun intended).

These are a few shots from our trip to Seattle in March to introduce Miss Jersey Joy to family and friends. Lot's of play time with cousins and Nana and Papa.

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The FAB FOUR :)

A bunch of the cousins in the playroom at Nana and Papa's

My lovely little sister :)

Busy little worker bee as usual, playing outside to his heart's content!

Daddy daughter time.

All of the boy cousins!

Aaaaand the cutest pictures EVER when Jersey and the twins finally met! My sister, Erika, had twin girls (Lilly and Lacey) a couple of weeks before I had Jersey. They're already three little best friends (even if it is long distance for now ;-)

Views from my parent's house. We have to take these to remind us what "real" water looks like while we're living in Colorado!

That's all for now, hopefully more posts soon!!

Keepin up with the big boys

2011-02-25T15:49:00.000-08:00

I know I've already posted about Ty's new scooter he got for his birthday, but the snow finally melted and it was warm enough to take it outside (as opposed to practicing in the kitchen) so I just had to document :) He still needs help steering but he can scoot it right along with his little foot and it's SO CUTE! He looks like one of the boys riding around the neighborhood.

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And if scooting doesn't burn enough energy...sometimes he just runs up and down the sidewalk in between scooter rides :) I'm telling you, the kid is like the Energizer Bunny...

We enjoy our days of sunshine, that's for sure!

Preppy

2011-02-24T15:59:00.000-08:00

On Wednesdays Tyson usually goes to Grandmommy and Pappy's house to spend the day. It gives me a break from having a toddler, a chance to spend time alone with my baby girl, and be able to get caught up on things around the house. Grandmommy usually takes Ty to story time at the library by their house, to a petting zoo, grocery shopping, the children's museum, and many other fun activities. He also spends hours on end playing around in their back yard while Grandmommy does yard work or gardens. He's quite the little helper trying to rake leaves, pick up sticks, or haul a wagon around the yard with all of his treasures.

After work Robin goes over to their house and I often meet them there and we all have dinner together! Anyway, Tyson has his own little back pack (which he calls his "pack pack") that he takes over there with snow clothes or whatever else, and this week he just looked too cute not to take a picture... We decided he looked like he was going off to prep school on Wednesday :)

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Robin takes Ty on his way to work since his office is about 10 minutes from his parent's house.

My big boy is growing up way too fast! Since when is he old enough to carry a back pack?! LOL. But he's so stinkin cute that I guess it's worth it...

Man's Work

2011-02-07T12:06:00.000-08:00

Tyson learned an important life lesson this week: how to shovel snow like the men of the Schween house do! Robin is always so great about shoveling our driveway and walks at night and in the morning when it snows (foreign concept to me, growing up in Seattle). Tyson got his very own snow shovel for his birthday from Grandmommy and Pappy, so this week with the massive amounts of snow we've been getting, Robin decided to show him how to help "shovel the walks." It was pretty cute. Of course, this was early in the morning when it was still pretty cold outside, so by the time Tyson realized how cold his hands were (he can't wear his mittens and hold the shovel simultaneously) he spent a few minutes crying inside before we warmed them up. Oh well, gotta be tough, kid. Aren't we just the nicest parents making our toddler shovel snow with no gloves on? ;-) What can I say, the kid loves to help!

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This is how I found them outside.

Ty would go start at the top of the driveway and shovel all the way down. Good job dude!

Then he would go back up to do it again...down the exact same strip he just shoveled, lol. Okay so maybe doing the same spot over and over isn't the most effective method, but he sure was cute working so hard!

BIG TROUBLE.

2011-02-04T13:18:00.000-08:00

Today has not been the easiest day. Actually, this has not been the easiest week! Tyson is finally cutting all 4 of his two-year-molars. Oh joy. Poor guy is a puddle of drool and a crying mess - especially during nap time, of course. Jersey decided to have a growth spurt at the same time which means I feel like I'm ALWAYS feeding her because she's been waking up hungry so often for the last two days. Between the two kids...it's been an adventure, to say the least this week. Today was no exception...

Tyson has, what we call, "play alone time" every morning in his room for an hour. He can't quite be trusted to be alone in his room yet, so we put him in a play yard with some toys, a cheerio snack, and some music playing. He does great in there every day and usually plays quite contentedly for a good hour before I go up and get him. Well, this week I've been suspecting that he is "bored" of the toys that are in his room since he's had the same ones in there for months now and he has really outgrown most of them if we're being honest. But being busy with a newborn I just kind of ignored that "hunch" and kept up with the normal routine. That is the last time I will ignore a hunch about a toddler. He was obviously quite bored today, as you can see from the pictures below...

When I went in to get him from his play time, he had pushed his play yard up against his dresser, climbed up the yard and proceeded to take everything out of the top dresser drawer. That means he pulled out all of the baby wipes from the container, ruined all of the little plastic bags that we use for his diapers, and the grand finale of this escapade was that he got a hold of the tube of diaper rash cream - we're talking ZINC here, people. He wiped it all over his face, it was on his eye lids and in his lashes. All over his clothes. All over the carpet and his toys and stuffed animal. And in many of the holes and crevices of the play yard. He even reached some of the clothes in his hamper and got it all over them. I could not speak when I saw the mess. All I could do was grab the camera to take a couple of pictures to document the mess I had to clean up today. And now looking back, I wish I had taken more because these pictures do not do justice to the mess on the carpet and all over his toys!

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How I found him...

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get this greasy stuff out of clothes and carpet? Well, I didn't either, until today. It's hard. I can't even get it completely off of his hands and face, much less his clothes so far. Welcome to the mind of a two-year-old. Curiosity and boredom at their finest, I believe. Praise the Lord it's Friday...

The Ultimate Scooter

2011-01-27T15:44:00.000-08:00

Birthday morning!!! Robin got up early to make Ty a special french toast birthday breakfast. The other highlight of the morning was opening the most awesome scooter ever - a group present from my parents and my two sisters. I read reviews like you would not believe. Toys, gear, kitchen items, tools, books - you name it, I read all the reviews. I spent a really long time researching different scooters for toddlers and this, my friends, is IT. Daddy was pretty excited about it, too...

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Testing out our balance (aided by Elmo slippers, of course).

Robin showing him how to stand on it with one foot, and push with the other foot.

Gliding around the kitchen!! We'll take it outside once we get his helmet on and he's had some practice :)

Jersey watched her big brother :)

Aaaand then Tyson got jealous that the camera's focus had shifted to Jersey, so he came to where the action was ;-)

Happy scooting, Ty!!! Many many many hours of fun ahead (and energy released!) with this scooter. We'll have to put up a video when he gets a little bit better at it. The scooter is a little on the big side, but he's already learning to do it and I know by this spring he will have it mastered.

"Go shortie, it's your birthday, we gonna party like it's your birthday..."

2011-01-25T14:24:00.000-08:00

Today is Tyson's second birthday! Happy birthday to my baby love. I will do another post about today, but first wanted to get a blog post up about his party we had this last Saturday. He had his little friends from church and from our parenting class over (plus all of their parents, of course) for some food and cake to celebrate. Ty spent the first half an hour clinging to Robin because he wasn't sure what to do with all of the people everywhere in our house. After a little bit he joined his friends playing with toys. He definitely loved the attention everyone gave him while we sang happy birthday and he tried 15 times to blow out his one little #2 candle :) And of course as soon as he hears the word "pwesents" he's rarin and ready to go! Here are some pictures to document the party...

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Getting ready to sing to the big boy.

He obviously loved being the center of attention ;-)

He tried quite a few times to blow out that candle. He thought each little puff was pretty funny. Eventually he needed a little bit of help...

Christy and baby Abigail who is 10 days older than Jersey!

Brandon, Jenna, and Ty's friend Nicholas (or "Nichis" as Ty calls him).

Death grip on his new truck.

He loooves puzzles. If only you could see the wide-eyed look of excitement on his face in this picture...

Robin loved Ty's rock star pajamas he got.

Partial view of the party room.

Jersey and Abigail...obviously the life of the party.

After the party we figured Ty should have at least a little bit of substantial food before bed. Of course, his rock star glasses just had to be a part of his late night dinner.

And last but not least, the next morning he spent hours playing with balloons left over from the party and trying to pick them all up at once. I think he thought he could carry more than he really did because half of them were stuck to him from the static. Oh well, I don't care if he thinks he can carry about 8 balloons at once :) That smile is worth it.

Another post to follow about his actual DOB, which is today!! And another special present he got.

"Twains"

2010-12-30T19:40:00.000-08:00

This was a big Christmas. Tyson started his collection of Thomas the Train! Ty talks about trains, tunnels, whistles, and track all day long. Pappy has helped him learn his train verbiage and now Tyson thinks EVERYTHING is a tunnel. His feet going into his pant legs = a tunnel. Pushing his toy vacuum under the table = a tunnel. Driving under an overpass on the freeway = a tunnel. Like I said, everything is a tunnel... So imagine his surprise and joy when he came downstairs to the play room to find a new train table set up with trains that you can push over bridges and through tunnels!!! He thinks he's died and gone to heaven and wants to go downstairs to play trains every chance he gets. Thank you Pappy and Grandmommy! He isn't even two years old and is already fascinated and getting quite good at maneuvering the trains and fixing the track :) Enjoy our first of many Thomas the Train photos!

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He says "two twains!"

He walks all around the table to get to the trains once he can't reach them anymore on one side.

Bridges and tunnels, galore!

All this playing...little legs get tired after a while! He pulled his Elmo chair up to the table so he could take a load off...

Very focused. He doesn't smile much for the camera when trains are involved because he's too busy concentrating :)

Many many hours of fun to come from this little set up...

Totally occupied toddler = a very happy mama :)

"So fresh and so clean, clean..."

2010-12-28T08:06:00.000-08:00

Finally at two weeks old, Jersey had her first bath! Of course you never know if they'll scream through the whole thing, or just love it, but I should have guessed that she would just be relaxed and enjoy her "spa-like" experience without a peep. She is the most relaxed, calm baby! Quite different than Tyson :) Here are the pictures to prove she's all sparkly clean!

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All wrapped up in her blanket with Nana while I get her bath ready.

Juuuust chillin.

Time for my head massage....aaaaahh.

All clean and cozy!

Cuddling and warming up with Nana.

Peaceful little thing.

This girl is just a joy to be around and showed how mellow she is once again! Oh, and best new pacifier holder ever. The little puppy dog is attached to the pacifier so it stays propped in her mouth without falling out. And it's so cute!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2010-12-20T16:32:00.000-08:00

Hello again! Finally a post including our newest family member... For those of you who didn't hear the details (pretty sure everyone has!), Jersey Joy Schween was born at 4:45 pm on Wednesday, December 8th, weighing 6 lb 5 oz and measuring 19 inches long. She is doing beautifully and we are so blessed to have her here with us and healthy and thriving this Christmas season. So far she's been 100 x's easier than Tyson was as a baby, probably partly because we're not first time parents with this one and aren't so stressed out ;-)

Tyson is a great big brother so far and wants to give her "five" and "kisses" and "hugs" most times she is awake. He's even held her a couple of times, though his attention span is short so you have to pay attention because when he's done, he's done, and he'd probably just toss her on the couch so he can get down and keep playing. We're adjusting to our new family status of FOUR, and enjoying all the time we have at home together. Here are a few glimpses of pictures from this week!

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Little snow angel :)

Just thrilled to be stuffed in a Christmas stocking!

My little elf.

Brother wants a turn to hold her. He loves looking at, and pointing out, her eyes and nose and mouth.

Sweet sibling kisses.

Santa's little helper.

Still so tiny! Taking advantage of all the squishy snuggle time I can get.

Four stockings this year! We are so excited to spend Christmas at home together. Plus, my MOM is here for Christmas!!!!!!!!!! YAY! It is, indeed, a special time of year.

Stay tuned for more holiday fun photos...

Bear Hugs

2010-12-16T17:40:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't blogged in what feels like MONTHS, and I'm sorry this post isn't even about baby Jersey! I will blog about her soon :) Tyson got a Christmas package in the mail tonight, and it was just too cute to resist blogging about. Ty's great-grandparents (Grammy and Papa Daddy) sent him the coolest bear hug body pillow! It's at least twice the size of Tyson and his face absolutely lit up when I pulled it out of the box. I should have waited until Christmas, but once he saw something furry in the box there was no way he was going to let me get away with not opening it. He loves stuffed animals and this one is already proving to be quite entertaining for him to try to carry around the house and wrestle with!

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Biggest bear I've ever seen...

This bear gives GREAT big hugs.

And kisses.

And of course, being a boy, another "toy test" is can you walk on it and jump on it. The bear passed with flying colors ;-)

This bear even wrestles with me! Doesn't get much better than this!

Thank you Grammy and Papa Daddy!!! He is in love with the bear and I'm pretty sure he'd want to take him in the crib with him to sleep if I'd let him. It is already a very Merry Christmas for Ty :)

A blessed surprise

2010-11-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

Life has been VERY busy for the last week and a half - for a very very very good reason :) I was thrown a surprise baby shower, which also included the biggest shock of my life: my friend Mary Frances flew in from Seattle to surprise me at the shower! She is like my other half and finally made Colorado feel complete by being there. So many people coordinated to pull this thing off and line up schedules, I will never be able to thank everyone enough. I thought I was meeting a few girlfriends at our church to carpool to the Melting Pot for a little "girl's night out" to celebrate someone's birthday. I was definitely fooled because that was never actually the plan. Here are just a few of the key "story telling" pictures...

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Everyone waiting in the half-lit church to surprise me. Kim is very excited that she's on video camera duty...

Robin and Tyson and Robin's mom, Kathleen, hiding at the back of the church to be part of the surprise.
Lisa (most amazing shower planner EVER) telling me that she has a surprise - my first time ever even thinking that the Melting Pot might not be happening.

The party set up at the back of the room! And a very special someone waiting in the very back to hand me the biggest surprise of all.

My sneaky, sneaky friend waiting with baby Owen in the back while I went through the first surprise of being thrown a shower.

Lisa and Anna telling me they have one "timely" present to give me before the shower starts.

Aaaaand my face of pure shock as Mary Frances walked out of the back room. I have never been, and probably will never be again, that happy and surprised in my LIFE. Not the most flattering pictures of me, considering I'm crying my eyes out, but they tell the story well...

Refusing to let go of Mary Frances just in case I blink and she's not really there.

More babies and fabulous friends showering blessings on me!

Cutest handmade onesie and matching headband EVER! Abby, you're amazing.

So in love with girl clothes it's not even funny.

Anna's brilliant idea to pile all of the "loot" into the church's crib to wheel it out to the car.

Aaaaand the sneakiest liars and best surprise shower throwers ever :) Could never put into words how they blessed me that night. Thank you 1,000 times over for all of the planning and emailing and scheduling and preparation that went into pulling off this amazing surprise!!

Definitely pink!

2010-10-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

Well my oldest sister has been patiently waiting for pictures of Jersey's bedroom, so this post is dedicated to her :) We painted the walls and are doing a green and all colors of pink theme in the room. Currently it is "furniture-less" because Tyson is using the crib, changing table, glider, and lamp! So all Jersey has for now is a rug and some wall decor (poor thing).

We decided to borrow a crib for a few months to use for Ty so we can hold off on moving him into a "big boy bed" until Jersey is a few months old - one major transition at a time is enough for me to think about! We also need to buy a new lamp for Ty's room that will sit on TOP of his shelving unit where he can't reach it. Because 1), his current floor lamp matches Jersey's green themed room, and 2) because no amount of discipline can keep him from touching it (it's a touch lamp, to make matters worse) and unplugging it all the time. So...that's the plan for now! I'm going to make a mobile to match Jersey's pink and green theme and will post more room pictures when we have updates! For now, here's a sneak preview...

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Cutest tu-tu outfit EVER from Auntie TT :)

Picture-less frames, for now :)

A wardrope sneak peak...looks very different from the colors in my son's closet!

Couple of "key" girly items!

And this is her entire wardrobe for 0 - 18 months...a little sparse so far but at least we've started!

And that's all for now, folks! More to come as we get ourselves organized and finish getting ready for this baby girl.

Pumpkin Festival

2010-10-12T13:38:00.000-07:00

Well it's that time of year again, and we officially made our first pumpkin patch trip with Tyson this last weekend. Robin and I had no idea how big this "festival" was, and went completely unprepared: no stroller, no waggon, no cooler, no costumes...just a kid and a camera. Rookie parents. Next time we'll know better, but had a great time nonetheless! Ty loved seeing all of the farm equipment, vendors, food, rides, and kids dressed up in ALL kids of costumes. He was too little to care too much about a lot of the activities, but he loves walking around and people watching and it made for a great Saturday morning family outing.

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Site seeing from his favorite spot.

Catching bubbles from a really tall bubble machine. Pure joy.

We made a popcorn hand out of rubber gloves, candy corn, and popcorn. Ty just didn't understand why that wasn't considered "snack" (hard to explain to a toddler that hundreds of hands digging into barrels of these ingredients just didn't seem sanitary enough o eat...)

Time to head to the pumpkin patch!

Juuust takin it all in with daddy.

Watching some farm equipment run.

And now for the highlight of the morning...the "race track!" A bunch of toddlers scooting around a track was hilarious. And I think Robin had as much fun as Tyson did ;-)

Leaning into the turn like a pro.

Robin's face says it all in this picture.

High-fiving the biggest cow Ty had ever seen.

Family time, people-watching and having snacks on the grass.

Which of course has to include wrestling with daddy - a daily activity.

Hay ride back to the parking lot!

All tired out from a very exciting morning.

Pretty crazy to think we'll be hauling TWO kids to the pumpkin patch next year!

"Showa" cap

2010-10-11T12:37:00.000-07:00

So because of the way our new bathroom is configured with a glass-enclosed tub, I can easily lock Ty in the bathroom with me while I take a shower (at the same time closing the doors to the walk-in closet and toilet so he can't get into anything!). He plays with a couple of toys or reads and it makes our morning routine quite efficient. Recently he has started saying "Showa! Showa!" (meaning shower) every time we make our way towards the bathroom.

The second piece to this story is that Tyson LOVES hats. He has a new favorite, his Denver Broncos hat, which he wears every day and puts on and off whenever he feels like it. He also finds it hilarious to find other "hats" and try them on for size. A shower cap is his latest discovery, and he now wants to wear it every time I take a shower. Tell me that's not one of the funniest visions you've ever seen!

Happy Monday everyone!

Day with daddy

2010-09-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I have the privilege of going on my very first "women's retreat" with our church. I left on Friday afternoon and didn't get back until laaate late on Saturday night. As the weekend approached and I prepped what Ty would need for a couple of days, Robin and I realized that I've never left the two of them overnight before! Robin and I have left Tyson with friend/grandparents numerous times, but somehow Ty had never spent a day and night just with daddy. Robin is the most amazing and helpful dad I have ever met. He and Ty are buddies (okay, if we're being honest, more than buddies... Ty thinks Robin is the coolest thing in his world and would choose him over me any day) and they always have a good time by themselves. But faced with the prospect of me being gone for 24 hours, Robin furrowed his brow and with a very concerned look on his face he said, "uhh, what do I feed him!?" I had to laugh because it sounded like he was pet-sitting for the first time or something and didn't know what the thing was supposed to eat. But remember my earlier comment about him being the best dad? After the moment of mild panic passed, Robin remembered the same thing...he already knows how to (and does) take care of Tyson no problem. He just needed a little reassurance from the wifey ;-) Needless to say they had a great time playing outside, being boys, and loving having time alone together.

Another thing that happens when mom leaves is that daddy breaks out the video camera to capture some of their guy time moments. Ty loves trains so Robin drove over to the tracks close to our house in hopes of actually seeing a train go by up close. Even though a train didn't pass by, they had just as much fun playing in the dirt with sticks while they waited :) I was glad I got to see a little glimpse of their day. Just hangin out, shootin the breeze like men do...

Okay this is also pretty funny so I had to include it. Robin put "Baby Einstein" to good use so he could make dinner for the two of them. Someone gave us an entire set of the DVD's and since Ty doesn't get to watch them very often, he freaks out because it's a real treat - especially in this video where they found one that plays "The Wheels on the Bus!"

Thanks for the day and night off, babe! I love how you take care of our son and that he loves you more than life :) You're the best daddy and will be just as great with your baby girl in a few months!

White Fence Farm

2010-09-20T11:31:00.000-07:00

Another "catch up" post from a few weeks ago... For "Pappy's" birthday, Grandmommy and Pappy took us to White Fence Farm. It's a sit down restaurant (think fried chicken, mashed potatoes, you get the picture) served family style, plus a little petting zoo, duck pond, and playground. Ty had the time of his life and I thought he was going to have a heart attack seeing the animals up close...

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Petting the cow - he couldn't get enough of the cow.

Giving the goat a kiss...I'm sure that's completely sanitary.

We tried to get a little video of Tyson running around all excited about the animals. He was either "clucking" at the chickens nice and loud (that's what he's doing here), or running back to "moo" at the cow.

Cute little duck pond with fish and a footbridge. Pappy and Grandmommy are helping him feed the ducks on the far right.

He loved chasing the ducks around which was pretty funny to watch since they almost came up to his waist.

Riding the stationary (though you wouldn't know it from this picture) horse at the playground.

Not quite sure about these metal slides...we've only done plastic. Daddy got him to go down once or twice.

I showed him the balance beam, which he would not leave after he figured it out. He needed help but I was surprised how good his balance was and how he walked in a straight little line with his feet!

Aww little lamb.

Pappy and Grandmommy on the farm :)

Waving to everyone from the wagon we found on the way out.

We will definitely be going back since Ty LOVED the place. And besides, who doesn't like some good 'ol fried chicken once in a while!?

The Rock

2010-09-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

I am so behind on blog posts!! Sorry to our regular followers :) We have had a very busy last few weeks so I'll have to play catch up and knock out some late ones.

Labor Day Weekend (yes, THAT behind) we decided that it was time we hiked "The Rock" since we live in the city of Castle Rock and the actual rock is about a 30 second drive from our house. It's a short little hike but we had fun breaking out the hiking backpack for Ty and getting out to enjoy the sunshine together! Tyson had a great time playing around with daddy when we got to the top. Next summer I think Ty will be able to hike it himself since we'll be carrying his sister in a backpack...

Second pregnancy I've decided it's just not as fun to post "bump" pictures for some reason, and I have failed miserably for those of you who have asked, so here is a picture at about 25 weeks.

More "catch up" posts to follow soon!

Boating with daddy

2010-08-19T14:55:00.000-07:00

Finally Robin made it to Seattle and the weather changed so we were able to go out in the boat! Ty had been once before, but never with his daddy. We just did a short trip with Papa and played on the beach, rowed around in a cove in the dingy, and practiced throwing rocks in the water. These days are precious memories :)

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Heading out of the marina, sitting on the bow with daddy.

Hangin on when we really get going!

Finding seaweed and sticks and lots of treasures on the beach.

This is what it's all about. Salt water. Boat. Beach. My dad, husband, and son just "messing about in boats" and soaking up some sun.

Papa teaching Ty how to walk on the rocks and avoid the slippery seaweed while looking for "critters" in the shallow places.

The face of discovery, lol (only happens about 500 times a day with a toddler).

Papa taking Ty out in the dingy to paddle around.

Learning how to row!

Best weekend in a long time. Last summer of boating with just a family of 3! Next summer we'll have a baby girl in tow.

Papa teaching Ty more things about life as a boater, like how to properly walk on all the logs.

And find treasures on the shore...

Rock throwing lessons with daddy. Now let's see if we can teach the difference between throwing rocks in the water at the beach, and throwing rocks other places that are not appropriate! Good luck.

Proud dad watching his son throw both-handed ;-)

Headed back into the Marina with my little sailor.

Salt water breeze on the face of pure joy.

From plants to playtime with Papa

2010-08-18T20:14:00.001-07:00

My dad loves to teach Tyson new things. He likes to take "adult" items or activities, show Ty how to do it, and just see what happens (injury, mess, you name it and it happens eventually). Yesterday's lesson started out teaching Ty how to water Nana's potted plants on the back patio. It turned into a water adventure using different setting on the hose nozzle, which resulted in a soaking wet child and a laughing-his-head-off Papa. I love it. Enjoy the story unfolding through pictures...

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Teaching him how to water Nana's flowers so carefully.

Hmm, let's try the jet stream on the hose...

Well, might as well stick your hand in the jet stream of the hose and see what happens.

My dad is starting to chuckle, seeing where this is headed...the splatters start.

Hair getting wet, water running down the arm...

Next step is obviously to put the water right in the hair.

And egg the child on. Not sure who is having more fun here.

The face of pure soaking wet joy.

Ty loves his lessons from Papa. They are usually messy, always fun, and leave everyone laughing. We've been living here almost a month, and we will miss it.

"And so began my love affair with water..."

2010-08-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

So I'm into country music lyrics for blog titles lately if you can't tell. I swear, there is always a country song to describe any day or night, relationship, or situation. Last night's beach adventure just made me realize, once again, how in love I am with water. And that my little tiny son is developing the same love. That's a good thing :) It was a beautiful sunny day which of course means we call up the cousins after dinner and meet down the hill from my parent's house at the beach. I have a love affair with water, and now my baby boy can't get enough. All we need is daddy to come on Thursday to join us in our adventures!!! Until then, he will have to observe through pictures just like the rest of you.

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Walking the shoreline with Papa, as always.

Found a really cool log fort to play in.

Serious discoveries with cousin, Macy.

Following the "big kid" cousins around the beach. His little legs can't quite keep up, but he tries!

Exploring.

Play time with Papa throwing him in the air.

Takin a load off. All that beach play wears a man out.