SLO in Arkansas: August 2008

Friday, August 29, 2008

House Pictures Part 2

Here are a few more pictures of the house. The first two are of the den/living room..whichever you want to call it! It continues to be a work in progress as well, but functions well for now. The biggest thing missing is the TV. We actually have a flat screen for this room, but are still lacking the stand to put it on to keep it out of the baby's reach, so for now it is making its home in our bedroom. We have a tiny little older TV in the den for now, which Tyson likes to lick and bang all of his toys on:) Eventually we will get around to getting a stand and getting the good TV in the den.

Our den opens up right into the eating area of the kitchen, which you can see in the background. I love this openness to the house. The only thing that made it tricky was that there are really not any walls in the den, so arranging the furniture has been a challenge! It is working so far though. You can also see our foyer, entry way off of the den. I love the columns and arch there. The door you see in the foyer is actually to the stairs leading to the bonus room. I really like having a door to the stairs, especially with a little one.

Not the best shot of Tyson's room, but there were no good angles! His changing table is on the right when you walk in, and then his rocking chair is over in the left corner by the closet and window. He really likes his room, and gets some good playing time in here. I am really not doing too much to it for the moment, since I know he will be transitioning to a big boy bed in the next year, and I will have to move all of the furniture around once he gets new stuff.

I couldn't really make a post without a picture of a person, so here I am! A very rare shot of me alone and actually dressed in normal clothes:) If you haven't noticed already, we take all of our pictures in front of the lovely fireplace. Silas designed it himself and we really love the way it turned out. They used the tile from the kitchen as the surround, which ties the two rooms together well. I am really excited about the cooler weather just around the corner, and getting to sit by the fire in the evenings. And drink hot chocolate.....and wear my sweatpants:) I love the fall!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Missing pictures

Ok, these are the pictures that were supposed to go with the last post! I don't know what happened!

Mama

Every time I think my heart cannot melt one more time, Tyson goes and does something so precious I just can't stand it. This week he has decided to bless me beyond words by finally saying the one word I have been waiting to hear for so long..."mama." He has been saying daddy for a long time now, and I have tried so hard to be patient and wait for my time to come. It was worth the wait! Now he comes toddling up to me going mama, mama, mama. I am sure I will be sick of hearing this in the next little while, but for now, it is priceless:) He is really kicking things into high gear lately, so this post will be about catching everyone up on his ever changing ways.

He is now 13 months old and a full fledged toddler. I have begun to realize that life at home with a boy toddler is more like living with a seek and destroy missile, or a wrecking ball. Those are the two best descriptions I have for the utter chaos he puts the house into in a mere matter of seconds! I love just sitting back and watching him work his magic around the house:) As you can see in the picture above, he is now wearing some new shoes too. I decided that my barefoot kid may need a pair of shoes to start going to Mother's Day out, so off we headed to the shoe store. This was an adventure since he has never worn shoes before! The minute you walk in the door you instantly get sucked into the baby shoe cuteness, and it's all down hill from there! Kid shoes are stinking adorable guys! I was going to get something relatively cheap and practical, but its very hard to resist the tiny little name brands:) Anyway, Silas ended up getting some new work boots for himself, and I got to get the cute little Nike's for Tyson since it was buy one pair and get the second half off. Otherwise we would have gone with something else:) Tyson loves his new shoes and proudly wears them everywhere! He is even starting to say "shoes" when we put them on. With the new shoes has come a whole new set of problems though! Ty is a tall kid anyway, but the shoes give him just enough extra height to now reach all of those things I was hoping would be out of reach for a few more months!! My biggest problem is doors. The kid can get all the doors in my house open, including the back and garage doors. Now we have to start locking them so he can't escape the house. He can also reach more things on the counters and the kitchen table too. We are constantly having to move things that he gets into that we thought was in a safe place!

I just love this picture of him sitting in the floor. I dressed him up in his Americana outfit in honor of our watching the US women's Olympic soccer team play Brazil in the gold medal match. We won by the way, and Tyson and I did several celebratory dances around the house:) I think he may be a soccer fan!

These last two were taken this morning. He is getting so big, and sometimes I just wonder where my little baby went. He is wearing 18 month clothes, and working his way towards 24 month. His shoes gave him extra height and his pants are in danger of getting too short in the near future! We had his Open House for Mother's Day Out last night, which was fun. We got to meet his teachers and see the classroom he will be in. He was not shy at all and walked right in and made himself at home:) He loved the toys and made friends with several other boys that will be in his room. Even though all the kids in his room are around the same age, Tyson was so much bigger than the rest of them. He was one of the only walkers too, and much more active. I guess I don't realize how busy he is until I see other boys his same age sitting quietly in the floor with a toy while my child is running around and wrestling the pillows and pushing strollers around the room! My kid really knows how to play and have a good time:) I am feeling good about his big boy school, and just hope that naps work themselves out and he makes it through the day. We are still in that no mans land between one nap and two. He still needs two, but a lot of days our schedule doesn't always allow for that, and the evenings get rough sometimes. Sundays are probably the worst since we have church and then lunch before he can go down. Hopefully once things get going we will settle into some type of a schedule that works that we can stick with on the days he goes to school and days he is at home. We will see.

What else is the little guy doing? He still only has four teeth, but is teething hard core on everything in my house. Right now his favorite chew toy is my cabinets! He opens the bottom ones and goes to town gnawing on the top of the door, which is right about face level for him. It looks like a beaver lives here! He also throws all of his toys, and some of my things, into my bathtub, and then turns the water on and watches everything get soaked. That's a fun game:) He is really pushing limits now and seeing what all he can get away with. Luckily he listens pretty well and can be redirected easily. His vocabulary is really increasing and he can say lots of words. He may not always use them on a regular basis, but as of now he has said....Bible, daddy,mama, shoes, toys, juice, uh-oh, bye-bye, yes, and something that sounds like ball. There are more, but I can't think of them right now. My babysitter said she thinks he says her little boys name when he is over there...Chase. He loves dogs and cats, but I haven't heard him say either of those yet. He knows what they are when you talk about them though:)

I guess that is all of the big stuff he is up to these days. He is one active little critter, but always has a big smile and loves to laugh. His personality just keeps getting bigger every day, if that's possible! We are excited about the lake this weekend and then head straight into his new school and everything next week. I will post an update soon.

Monday, August 25, 2008

House Pictures Part One

I know it has taken me forever to get these posted, but better late than never! I hate taking pictures of rooms, since you can never really get a good angle to see the whole thing. Here are a few to get us started off, since I can't figure out how to get more than 4 pictures posted at a time on here anyway!! This first one is our master bedroom. I cringe even posting this since you can see my lovely mattress at the bottom of the bed. I have since put on the bed skirt, but was too lazy ( and the room was not clean!) to take another picture:)

Here is one view of our kitchen, taken from the eating area on the other side of the bar. It is probably my most favorite room in the house and one we spend the most time in. It is very functional and I have really enjoyed cooking now that I have tons of fabulous counter space to do it. We are still using our tiny little kitchen table from the old house, until we find one that works with our new colors, etc. It is functional for now, but not my favorite thing, since it does not match at all! We are also needing some bar stools for the great long bar, but those will also have to come later.

Here is our master bath, or part of it anyway. This was a very tricky room to get a picture of! I love the huge jacuzzi tub and am planning to spend lots of time soaking away this winter in a warm bubbly bath:) There is a separate room to the left of the tub that has the shower and toilet. I also have a great storage cabinet to the right of the right hand sink when you walk in, but couldn't get it in the picture.

This is another picture of the kitchen. We have a built in desk area, and to the right is our built in buffet/china cabinet thing. Since we chose not to go with a formal dining room in the house, these are fabulous features that really save space and are quite useful. I love having all of the office/computer stuff right where I can get to it easily and keep it all contained in one small area. The extra storage and counters are great too, especially since the kitchen is the hub of the home:)

We have found this to be a really livable and enjoyable floor plan so far, and continue to find more ways that it works for us the longer we live here. I have really enjoyed making it our home, and that will continue to be a work in progress for a long time! There are so many things on the giant list of things to buy, since we have more space, but they will come in time. I am super excited for September and the unofficial beginning of the fall season, so I can pull out my decorating stuff:) Only one more week!!! Another thing I have been so thankful for is the cost efficiency of the house. We added upgraded windows and extra insulation during the building process to help with this, and it is already paying off. Our utilities in this house are already cheaper per month than the same month last year at the old house. What's amazing is that this house is about 50% bigger, and still cheaper! I love it! We continue to work on unpacking those last straggling boxes, which are mostly in the garage. We have almost got it cleaned out though, and I am feeling good that it is almost finished. We got it cleaned out enough to get the boat in on one side, and now are working to get the rest cleaned out to get one car in for the winter. I am not discouraged though, since I have peeked at several of my neighbors garages and they look awful!!!

I will get several more pictures up here soon of more rooms of the house. Hopefully this is a good start for those of you who have not seen it yet. Tyson and I went to the first MOPS meeting of the fall here in Jonesboro this morning, and had a good time. It is not nearly as organized as the one in Searcy, but it is a good group of women and I think it will be fun. Ty did great playing with the other kids and made it home for a late nap without a major meltdown:) He is such a happy boy and I am reminded of how great he is when I get to see other toddlers his age in action with their meltdowns! That is something I am continually thankful for (his cheerful disposition).

We are heading out to the lake this weekend for Labor Day for one last big hurrah before summer comes to an end. I am so thankful that we have a place to stay up there, and can spend all weekend on the water, eating, and hanging out with friends. I think we will have about 12-14 people staying at the lake house, which is always exciting! We have been so blessed by the hospitality of new friends and are excited about the opportunity to get to share the boat with others as well. If the weather cooperates and its not too choppy, we may try to get little man out on the tube this time:)

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Nashville Trip

We spent the weekend in Nashville with my family and had a great time! We got to meet the two newest members of the family and get in all sorts of good sister time and cousin time:) We even managed to get a picture of the entire Hensley family all together:) It was such a special time to be able to have every one around and to sit back and watch the little kids play and meet each other for the first time. I can't wait to watch all these precious little ones grow up together and hang out. Things have definitely changed in our family as we have added 3 new babies to the crew in the last 13 months! Christmas this year will be exciting for sure!

This is my sister Caroline and her little boy Jude. He is a little over 2 months old. I can't believe that Tyson was that small just a few short months ago! He has grown so much. Having him around the little babies made me realize even more what a big kid he is becoming:) My sister and I have fun joking about the adventures these little boys will have when they get a few years older.

Here is our newest niece, Emily. She is only three days old here. She was so precious and laid back, just sleeping away and ignoring the chaos of her crazy family all around her! What a sweet little baby:)

Here is Tyson with all of his Hensley cousins, plus Aunt Caroline and Uncle Ted. He just loves Kia (holding him) and really enjoys getting to see her. She is so good with the little kids and takes such good care of them. Tyson liked her even more when she started handing out the snacks! Tyson and Kaylee had fun playing together too, since they are the 2 oldest of the little guys. They were so cute to watch as they played with baby dolls and train sets, and danced to music:) We had such a good time with the family and are really looking forward to getting together again soon.

Today also happens to be my 29th birthday:) Silas and I were able to celebrate early by taking advantage of grandparents and going out to eat in Nashville:) I don't think Tyson or my parents minded the extra time together! Silas took me to the mall today and got me some new running shoes, since I have continued to stick to my jogging, and my other shoes were very worn out. I am thinking these new shoes will make a big difference in how I feel, and I may end up running even more! I got some Asics, which I have never had before, but we were told they make a good running shoe, so I am giving them a try. I will most likely not try them out until tomorrow though, since my plans for tonight include sitting on the couch watching the Olympics and eating birthday cake!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

New Baby!!!!

I am proud to announce that my older sister Renee just had her 4th, yes 4th, little girl yesterday!!!! I am one excited Aunt:) Little Emily Alyssa Quant arrived around 3:20pm and weighed in at 8 lbs and 13.5 oz I believe. I am not sure how long she was though. As far as I have heard, mom and baby are doing well:)

Silas, Tyson and I are packing up and heading to Nashville tomorrow to go meet the newest little member of the family. We are really excited to see everyone. We will also be meeting Caroline's son Jude for the first time too, and we can't wait!!! Both sides of our family have been blessed with babies this past year, and we are so excited for all the new cousins for Tyson! We have not travelled in a few months, so we will see how it goes with a toddler. If you have any tips or suggestions before we leave tomorrow, I would love to hear them!!!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Life is Good

Yep, that's about all I have to say for this week. Life is Good! Nothing much going on here, for the moment. I think we are in the calm before the storm. Fall is such a busy time of year and things are about to start kicking into gear in the next few weeks. I am looking forward to the changes. Tyson starts Mother's Day Out on September 2nd, or Big Boy School as we call it. He will go on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-2. I am considering dropping him down to just one day a week, but we will see how busy things are and how he does. Please keep this transition in your prayers as it was not a good one in Searcy! I am optimistic though and think he should do fine.

Work is going well for me right now, though there will be a lot of changes once school starts back. I will not be able to work much during the day, which I didn't know until we moved here. So, I may be doing a lot in the afternoons, or looking for something else that works better with my schedule. We will see how it all pans out once things get going.

Tyson must be in a growth spurt or just a major transition phase because his sleeping is totally out of whack! He used to sleep 11 hours at night and then take 2 two hour naps in the day. Now he has started sleeping about 12 or 13 hours at night, and daytime naps are totally unpredictable at best! He still takes them, just at random times and for random lengths of time. The weird part is that he now naps through the whole middle of the day since he is waking up later in the mornings. We have been eating lunch around 2pm when he wakes up, which is a little strange! I thought he was trying to get rid of one of his naps, but maybe we are just adjusting them for now. Thank goodness he decided to do this right before he starts to school, since that will make things so much fun!! (note the sarcasm here!!!)

Here is a cute picture of Ty and my dad when he was here to visit last week. We had a good time having him here and are glad he will get to stay with us more when he comes up for work:) Aren't they cute?!?!?

We have been enjoying having family time together and just spending some lazy days around the house for the most part. The cooler weather has me sooo excited for the coming of fall. My jogging in the evenings has been so much nicer as a result too. Silas just completed his draft for fantasy football, so we are getting ready to go into football mode here in the coming weeks. I can't wait to watch me some good football! We have really been enjoying the Olympics too. We are hoping to get to take Tyson to a Harding football game this fall, as well as a Red Wolves game here in town at ASU. He is so aware of things going on around him and active, so I think he will enjoy being outside a lot this fall. Everything is good here, and we are excited for the upcoming season and all of the activities it will bring.

Oh yeah, I am finally starting to take some pictures of the inside of the house, now that things are a little more put together. I will be posting those soon hopefully!

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Big Boy

I have been looking at several pictures of my baby lately and have come to the conclusion that he is no longer a "baby." I officially have a toddler! I just cannot believe some days that I have this amazing little guy running around the house with me:) I can't even remember in all the chaos of moving and working and life if I have mentioned on the blog that he has been walking for the last few weeks too! He started off pretty wobbly, but is really cruising around at pretty fast speeds now. Then this morning he goes and opens a completely closed bedroom door all by himself. My life is really over now! I think we may have to invest in some baby gates to at least keep the stairs off limits now that he can open the door. Speaking of stairs, he is super fast at climbing those too.

The rest of these pictures are just ones I have taken around the house over the last couple of weeks. Look at my "little boy!"

This is his favorite place in the house. It is a box next to the side of the couch that he is always on! He loves climbing on and off of it all day long. He has recently gotten very creative and has started pushing it around the house to use in other rooms. He can now push it over to the kitchen table and use it to climb up onto a chair:) It also makes him taller so he can reach more things on the table that he shouldn't, like our Coke cans!! Smart little rascal!

My independent little guy in action. He has always wanted to feed himself, and has started showing quite a temper at times when not given the chance to wield the utensils himself. He knows exactly what to do, but doing it doesn't always go so well! Notice the food all around his head on the high chair:) He has fun though so I try to be compliant and let him enjoy learning this new skill.

Monday, August 04, 2008

Sister Weekend 2008

The Patterson sisters

My mother-in-law, Rita, takes a trip with her sisters every year, and this year we were lucky enough to have them come and see us for a few days! We are so far away from the Orbison family, and it was so special to have them come out for a visit. We were excited to show them the new house, but mostly just to visit and catch up. I am so glad they came, as it was nice to see Rita in a different light away from her home and hanging out with her sisters:) They are so much fun together!! It was neat to get to hear stories from their childhood and see pictures from family times when Silas was growing up. We were so blessed to get to spend time with these women who are so much fun and have so much wisdom to share. Tyson got lots of extra love and attention too, which he didn't mind one bit! We were all so sad to see them go, but look forward to getting back together at the holidays:)

Rita, Lauren and Silas

Mimi, Silas, Tyson and Lauren

We went to the park here in town and Tyson got to feed the ducks and geese for the first time. He loved watching them chase the pieces of bread. There were some pretty ferocious geese out there!!!

SLO in Arkansas