Hunter is 18 months!

A few days ago Hunter turned 18 months. He is the sweetest little guy. Hunter has started a new activity...Tiny Tot Tumblers! (Allie did this also at his age). It's 30 min. once a week. He is so cute there. They get to play on mats, dance, play with balls and the parachute. He has so much fun, but I think he is definitely more cautious than Allie was at this age!

Hanging out with Daddy watching ESPN.

Lately he loves to stack blocks, then knock them down, sort through his stuffed animals, throw ball for Sky, and playing with Allie. He gives lots of kisses and hugs to us. Today he went for his 18 month appt. He's a healthy big boy! He's is 34 1/4 in. for height (95%) and 27.4 lbs. (70%). He still only speaks 2 words which are Dada and Mama. Since most children his age speak around 20 or more words/animals sounds etc., his Dr. said he does have some speech delay. Brian says...he will eventually talk, which I am sure of too! He knows what he wants, he just isn't communicating it in words yet.

Kisses for Dada!

Here are some recent pictures of Hunter playing with his stuffed animals. This is one of is favorite things to do!

This was another day where he moved all his animals from the basket to the dog bed, then cuddled with them.

Tis' the Season!

It's hard to believe, as I write this, Christmas is just 3 days away. This year has flown by, with so many great memories. At the beginning of December, we took the kids to the a Santa breakfast, which is organized by the volunteer Fire Dept, and at our church. We have been for several years now. This year Allie was very excited to see Santa. I guess 5 is the magic age for that! She had written him a sweet letter a few days before and took it to him at the breakfast. She waited so patiently in line to visit with Santa. Hunter was busy running around the church, keeping Brian busy while we waited. Once we got up to Santa, Allie gave Santa her letter. Such a cute moment! Santa gave Allie a whistle (thanks!), and Hunter a little duck. Allie told Santa, she wants a 2 wheel scooter. I am thinking he will be delivering that Christmas Eve. Hunter wasn't so sure about sitting up with Santa, but Allie was all smiles!

Allie giving Santa his letter.

Hunter getting his little duck from Santa

Cute picture of the expressions of a 5 and 1 year old with Santa!

Artwork by Allie

Allie loves arts and crafts. It is probably her favorite thing to do. She made this art out of model magic recently. It is a whole picture, which includes, the sky, clouds, sun, Sky (our dog), flower and grass. I was pretty impressed!

A perfect Fall day!

One of Allie's favorite fall activities is to rake the leaves and JUMP! I am sure next year this will be a favorite of Hunter's too! This year, Allie and Brian were out in the backyard one morning raking, with help from Sky of course. Once the leaves were raked, Hunter and I joined them outside for some jumping fun!

I love their little smiles in this one

A visit to Charlotte!

Allie and I headed on a girls road trip a few weeks ago to visit Uncle Joey and Kate. We stopped off in Lynchburg for the night, and then Granny, Papa, Allie and I went to Charlotte the following day. Allie has never been to Joey's house, and I have only been there once years ago. Allie had lots of fun, as she always does with Joey and Kate. Lots of running, chasing, tickling etc! We went out to dinner, to a children's museum, and shopping while in Charlotte. Only hiccup in our fun, was the fact that Allie had been diagnosed with strep throat right before we went and had to take medicine while we were there. She is NOT a fan of taking antibiotics, and everyone in the house witnessed that! All in all a great little trip to Charlotte. Next time, Brian and Hunter will have to come too!

Happy Halloween

Our Halloween weekend was packed with fun activities this year. Allie went to Spooky Bingo at school, we all went to a costumes party at a neighbors, and craved a fun Jack O' Lantern! On Halloween day, Allie had a Kindergarten costume parade, then that evening we went to another Halloween party, before going trick or treating! Here are a few pictures from our fun weekend and Halloween night!

It was hard to get a good picture of her walking the halls

Kindergarten Class.

Allie and Hunter (My Little Pony and Spider)

Daddy loved the Redskins hat keeping Hunter's head warm!

Hunter at one of his 1st houses getting candy.

This was taken right after the candy was dropped in! So cute!

October - part 2

I feel like October has come and gone in a blink. We have been staying busy with t-ball and school and gearing up for Halloween.

Brian and I went to Allie's Kindergarten conference this week. Allie is doing great in school. She did a Kindergarten assessment and scored awesome on various categories. We couldn't be happier with her progress, and the fact that she loves school. Way to Go ALLIE!! T-ball is coming to an end, with her last game tomorrow (if it doesn't get rained out). She has loved playing! Granny and Papa even came to watch her play.

Hunter is still a happy laid back baby! He still chooses not to really speak at all. He will rarely say Mama or Dada, (although he can say those 2 words). The only time he is really vocal is when he sees the cats. He has really been enjoying the park when I take him. His still #1 love (besides his monkey lovie) are books. He probably could just sit and play, read, organize them all day if I let him.

Brian hasn't been traveling lately, which has been very nice. He's doing well, watching football on the weekends, and trying to kick a cold. As for me, the last 2 Saturdays I have taken a photography class that Brian gave to me as an anniversary present this summer. I have really enjoyed the time at the class. I've learned some things about my camera, (which is a point and shot), and had practice taking pictures on the field trips we go on. It's been a nice change from my daily routine. I've got a great husband! I also am tutoring a new Elementary student. I now have 2, which is a nice way to stay in touch with teaching and I love it.

(A picture from my photography field trip)

We have lots of plans this weekend, so be sure to look for a post after Halloween!

In full swing!

The Tydlacka family seems to be in full swing this FALL! I thought I'd update a little as to what we have been up to!

At the beginning of October we traveled to Lynchburg to see Granny and Papa. Traffic was terrible getting out of town... 5 hours later (should be 3 1/2) we made it! Allie was so happy to be there. She loves her bedroom at Granny's and always sets it up with her stuff. Her and Hunter share a room and she's always so good about going to bed, so she doesn't wake him. Since we got there much later than we had thought, it was really Hunter's bedtime, but he too was happy to be there and played until almost 9:30! Allie was in for a big surprise, because Uncle Joey was also there. She kept him busy all Friday night and Saturday, until he, Brian and I headed to the Vriginia Tech game.

Brian and I tailgated for the VT v. Clemson games with friends. It was a great time, despite the VT loss.

The next weekend, Brian traveled again to Tech. This time, in an RV with 2 other friends. He had a blast, and now can't wait for the kids to get older to go camping with an RV. Allie thought his ride was WAY Cool. She even had dinner it in with Brian Sunday night after he got back from his trip.

Allie is doing great in school. She reads and works on her sight words daily and loves it. She is still doing t-ball, which she is so excited about. She tries so hard out there with her team. It's adorable. She's also taking an after school art class once a week. That too, she's enjoying. Her BIG news is that she lost her 1st tooth! She came in out room around 12:30am to show us, and immediately put the tooth in her tooth fairy pillow and under her pillow! So, the tooth fairy came that night (in the middle of the night!), and boy, was she excited the next day! She's growing up so fast.

Hunter at the end of September had his 15 month appt. He was so great for Dr. Ben. Always a happy boy...until that is he got 4 shots. But even then, just a little crying at that was it. He weighs 25 1/3 lbs (60%), and is 33 inches long (95%). He can say Mama and Dada. He waves bye bye, claps, hold the phone to his ear like he's on a call, plays fetch with Sky, loves running around the kitchen being chased by Allie, is a good eater, and notices all the airplanes that fly over our house and points his finger to them.

The rest of the month has us just as busy as the beginning of the month has. It's fun, exhausting and I wouldn't change it for anything!

More from the Dug-Out

I went to see Allie play her t-ball game last Saturday! Papa and Joey would be proud of her! I know we are. She loves t-ball and is so cute out there running the bases and fielding the balls. She is always paying attention to what is going on. She gets a chance to play around the field in different positions, stands "baseball ready" and hits good off the T-ball stand. We are SO proud of her. She's our little sports girl for sure.

Here are a couple of pictures I took from the game.

Ready to field the ball

Oh man, the ball got past her!

Throwing it back to the mound

Getting ready to bat. The red bat she's getting ready to use is actually Uncle Joey's bat from when he played t-ball. Still hits good, and Allie loves that she is using Joey's bat. Guess in some ways, is nice Mom throws nothing away.

Just hit the ball, now time to run!

Batter Up!

Allie has taken up girls t-ball this fall. Her love for t-ball all started this summer when she saw two boys down on our street playing (they are about 7 and 8). She wanted to play ball with them every chance she got. So, we got out a bat and wiffle ball and started playing in the backyard. Allie loved it. We asked she if she would like to try t-ball in the fall or stick with soccer, which she has done in the past, and she was ALL for t-ball.

Here are pictures of her at a game. I believe these were taken at what was supposed to be her 1st game, which was rained out, but our team showed up anyway. I have yet to go to a practice or game, but will be there this Saturday to watch my sweet girl play! (expect more pictures soon!) Brian says she's having a lot of fun. Her team is the Pittsburgh Panthers, (blue shirt), and she is #5 with Tydlacka written on the back of her shirt. She wears white baseball pants, cleats, and the coaches got all the girls silly socks to wear for the games too! Allie did tell me when I washed her baseball pants, to not do that because they are supposed to be dirty! She is also telling me the correct way to throw a ball, and what "baseball ready" is! Guess she's realizing I watched sports, and didn't play!

Allie goes to Kindergarten!

Really.... Can it be true? Yes, Allie is in Kindergarten!

Seems like these last 5 years have gone by so fast. She is in afternoon K, so I take her to the bus stop and she catches the bus about 11:25, and then I pick her up from school at 2:30. We are close enough to the school that she is a walker, or once the weather turns colder, I will probably drive up and pick her up. She LOVES the bus, and school. Her teacher is Mrs. Brown. Her school is Legacy Elementary and the mascot is a Labrador. Go Labs!!

waiting for the bus

She never looked back once walking to the bus. No wave good-bye, nothing! Guess she was excited!

Coming to give Brian a hug when school was over!

A special night away

Brian and I wanted to do something special with Allie the weekend before she started Kindergarten, so a few months ago I asked my mom if she would come up and keep Hunter, so the 3 of us could go somewhere. Of course, she said yes!

We decided with all the weather that hurricane Irene was going to bring us, that we would stay close. We ended up in Baltimore at the Children's museum. We surprised Allie with our adventure after she had gone to Open House at school to meet her teacher.

Allie had fun at the children's museum. It was nice having Brian watch her do activities because usually he is working when we go to a museum.

Cashier Allie ringing up all our grocery purchases

Climbing up a rope maze, up 3 stories high.

Allie and Brian doing dominoes

Next, we went to our hotel, then to the Harbor for dinner. At the harbor Allie saw boats she wanted to ride. So, we rode a speedboat that went 45 miles per hour. It was windy and lots of fun!

Allie before the ride started

Allie while we were going 45 MPH

Finally, after we were back in our hotel Allie got to stay up later than usual, playing board games with us. It was a fun one night away, and one Brian thinks we should make a family tradition right before school starts!