Washington D.C.

Here are some pictures from our time in Washington D.C. Our favorite parts of D.C. were probably the Whitehouse tour through the West Wing, The Holocaust Museum and hanging out with Karyn, Steve, and Kelsey. Our least favorite part was the freezing cold weather that greeted us!!! The last couple of days were pretty nice though. While we were in D.C. we also went to several museums (Air & Space, Natural History, Holocaust, Marine Corp, and International Spy), drove through Georgetown and Old Town Alexandria and walked a ton! We actually ran into someone that Travis knows in the Air & Space Museum. Kind of crazy, huh?

The tulips were beautiful.

Sarah, Karyn, and Kelsey enjoying the tulips.

In front of the Jefferson Memorial.

Getting ready to enter the West Wing.

Taking care of some important business.

Travis giving the speech of his life.

Travis in front of the capitol.

We went to the War World II Memorial since neither one of us had seen it before. Both of Sarah's grandfathers fought in the war.

We're Back!

We are back from our vacation and trying to recover. Travis is busy at work and I'm busy trying to get unpacked and get laundry started. I'm also about to make a run to the grocery store so we don't starve to death. Although, Travis and I both probably have some extra weight we didn't have before that our bodies could feed off of for awhile! We had a great time and I'll post some pictures later of our trip. I thought this picture was a fun picture of Tyler that someone got at Easter. It made us laugh!

Tyler is officially walking now! He is really cruising and loves it! He is cracking us up and we missed him so much on our trip. He is learning new tricks everyday and while we were gone he learned to sign, "hat" and is now shaking his head yes! He is also snapping which is the weirdest thing ever. What kid knows how to snap? It's really funny and we have absolutely know idea why or where he picked this up. We also made a trip to the doctor today to get his eye examined again and we are canceling the procedure we had scheduled for Friday! It appears that his tear duct has cleared on its own! Praise the Lord! We are so excited we don't have to make him go through that. Well, I'm off to the grocery store!

12 Month Checkup

Yesterday Tyler and I went to the pediatrician for his 12 month checkup. He weighed in at 23 pounds and is 30.5 inches long. She said he looked great except he had an ear infection! UGH!!! Ear infections are so tricky. He didn't even have a cold before the ear infection, so I don't know when it developed. Anyway, he is on antibiotics and it should clear up soon. He did have to get two shots and he was so mad at the nurse afterward. He was seriously giving her dirty looks afterward. It was really funny. We won't be blogging for awhile so don't get mad that the blog is not updated (Uncle Wayne!). Travis and I are leaving for Washington DC and New York City tomorrow. First we are driving to Harlingen to drop Tyler off with Grandma and Papa Johnson. We are looking forward to a nice little vacation!

Happy Birthday Tyler!!!

Tyler turned one today and this weekend we celebrated his birthday as well as Easter! The weekend started out on Thursday when The Hoovers and Gram and Papa came to our house. On Friday we had an Easter Egg Hunt, opened gifts, and had lunch. It was a lot of fun, but we wished we could have played with them longer.

On Friday afternoon we drove with Gram and Papa to Broken Bone Ranch to meet up with the entire Johnson clan. The past couple of years The Johnsons have all gotten together at Broken Bone to celebrate Easter. It is a great place and we always have a great time. This year they invited my parents to come along since it was Tyler's first birthday. We had a party for Tyler on Saturday afternoon and Tyler was spoiled rotten from the gifts to the undivided attention that was given to him all weekend. We had a blast even though the weather didn't cooperate. It was FREEZING cold and I didn't pack accordingly. Oh well!

Tyler is really starting to try and walk everywhere. He practiced a lot this weekend and when we got home tonight he was walking across entire rooms. He is getting very good and I expect him to be walking as his main mode of transportation very soon. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Tyler is ready to hunt some eggs.

I found one!!!

Opening presents from The Hoovers

Unwrapping more gifts.

The cake and cupcakes!

Tyler getting ready for the paw-ty!

Grandma and Papa with the Birthday Boy!

What am I supposed to do with this?

Mama and Daddy trying to help him eat his cake.

Yea for icing!

Opening gifts.

Practicing his walking skills.

Cooper Lynn Johnson

Well, it's official! We have finally decided on a name for Baby #2! His name will be Cooper Lynn Johnson. Lynn is Sarah's middle name and is also the name of one of Travis' uncles who he adored growing up and is still close to. So Lynn actually represents and honors both sides of our family.

I had another ultrasound today to get some pictures of his spine and head that they were unable to get during my first ultrasound. Cooper cooperated today and we were able to get what the doctor needed. Everything looks good as far as I know and we also made sure that he was still a boy! Here are some pictures of Cooper from today:

His leg and foot.

Still a boy!

Hi Mom!

Blocked Tear Duct

Tyler was born with two blocked tear ducts, which basically means his eyes would get really gooey especially after sleeping. Anyway, most blocked tear ducts will clear up on their own by the time the baby is a year old. One of Tyler's eyes cleared up a while back, but his left eye has remained blocked. Today we went to a Pediatric Ophthalmologist to get his eye evaluated and we were there for 2 hours!!! Tyler did so well but towards the end he was getting really restless. They dilated his eyes to make sure there wasn't something else causing the blockage. He said everything looked normal, but Tyler is going to have to have a procedure on April 27th to clear the blockage. Because he is over 10 months old he is going to have to be under anesthesia. The anesthesia part is the only thing that makes me a little nervous, just because he is so young. The actual procedure is very routine. So you can all be praying for Tyler that everything would go smoothly.

Back to Life, Back to Reality

After a nice, relaxing weekend Tyler brought me back to reality way to quickly! He went to bed without a fight, but woke up around 1 am and would not go back to sleep. I went upstairs to check on him and I gave him some Tylenol and rocked him. He would go to sleep on my shoulder in the rocking chair and I would lay him down in the crib. About 15 minutes later he would wake up crying. We did this several times and about 2:45 I got desperate and made him a warm bottle. He drank the whole thing and went back down, but 15 minutes later was crying. I came back upstairs and rocked him some more but he did not want to get in the crib. I tried laying with him in the guest room bed, but he did not like that either. So by now he was hysterical and since nothing else was working I put him in his crib crying and he calmed down in less than 5 minutes. He finally went to sleep around 3:30. This morning he woke up around 7:45 and I went upstairs and he was really hot. He woke up with a mild fever. I think it is all from teething because I can see several teeth on the top that are trying to pop through. I gave him some Tylenol and by naptime his fever was down. He is napping now and will hopefully sleep well today. I think I might need to catch a nap this afternoon after getting very little sleep last night!

Guys Weekend

This past weekend Travis, Ross, and Tyler went to Harlingen for a guys weekend and to get in some last minute hunting. I was excited because this meant I had a free weekend to myself. They left on Friday at noon so I got my haircut and used a spa gift certificate I have had for almost a year. It was great and nice to get pampered. On Saturday I slept in and did some shopping. I also fit in a trip to the grocery store and a baby shower. It was nice to have a weekend to myself but by Sunday I was definitely ready to see my boys!

I don't think any of the boys were excited about a 6 hour car ride to Harlingen, but in preparation for the weekend Travis and I bought Tyler a portable DVD player for the car for his 1st birthday. I think they watched several videos several times and Travis said by the end of the weekend he should be able to sign in complete sentences from watching his signing video so many times. When they got to Harlingen Friday night, everyone was excited to see Tyler and Tyler was excited to be out of the car. They let him stay up an hour after his bedtime because he was having a blast playing outside with everyone. Great Grandma and Grandpa Johnson had come over to see Tyler as well. Saturday Tyler even attended a wedding shower for Kyle and Rachel with Grandma. After the shower they headed to the King Ranch to join the boys who had been hunting all morning. I think everyone had fun this weekend and here are the pictures to prove it. Thanks Uncle Lynn for allowing the boys to go hunting on the King Ranch.

Riding Daddy's old John Deere tractor with Papa.

I don't think Tyler got any attention this weekend!

The Johnson Boys and Travis' Nilgai (an Indian antelope)

Tyler and Grandma playing on the porch.

Tyler and Daddy ready for the big hunt.

Tyler with Grandma and Papa sitting on the Jeep.

Tyler is ready to learn how to hunt.

The Johnson boys with Ross' Nilgai

On the trip home. Ross and Tyler fell asleep in the exact same position.

The Kotex Kid

One of Tyler's favorite things to do is play in my bottom bathroom drawer. It just so happens to be the drawer stashing away all of my feminine products. The other day he decided to pull every single pad out of the box and was playing with them. I also realized the other day that he had thrown a tampon in the whirlpool tub. I didn't realize this until after they had shown our house that day. I'm sure the people looking at our house were a little perplexed by the tampon in the tub!

Firsts!

Well, I have been waiting for this day for oh, say 11 1/2 months! Tyler finally decided to say "Mama" this morning! Travis even verified that this is what he was saying. It was music to my ears! Yesterday I was saying "Mama" practically all day long trying to get him to say "Mama", but to no avail. He would just reply, "Da-Da"! But today is the day.

Today, Tyler also attended his first birthday party. He had a blast. They had a clown and a monkey! We even got a picture with the monkey sitting on my shoulder and Tyler in my lap. It was a lot of fun and Tyler had fun playing with the other kids. Now Tyler is refusing to take his nap because he slept on the way home from the party. Oh well. Refusing to take a nap is definitely not a first for Tyler!!! :)

Houston Livestock Show

Gram and Papa were in town watching the Hoover Boys so I thought it would be fun to take the boys to the Houston Livestock show. Papa didn't think this was such a great idea, especially once we got there, but I think everyone ended up having a great time. Here are some pictures from Saturday.

Here are the boys at the beginning of our day, ready for some action!

Will anxiously awaiting his turn to ride the pony.

Will loved riding his pony. He got put on the biggest pony and eventually got up the courage to wave to Gram and me. (Notice Papa- he seems to be enjoying himself)

Gram and Reese watch Will ride the pony.

While Will rode the pony, Travis took Tyler to play in the hay. What a boy!!! He loves being in the dirt!

Waiting for the pig races.

Tyler as a rodeo clown. He got a lot of laughs from the people around us.

Reese was so pooped out by lunch, he fell asleep while drinking his milk.

The little boys on the way home.

Will on the way home.

11 months!

Tyler is 11 months today! I can't believe next month we will be celebrating his first birthday. But I'll have to say I'm ready for him to enter this next phase of his life- walking! He watches the bigger kids around him and wants to do what they are doing so badly, but he needs to be able to walk first. I bought him his first pair of shoes yesterday! He doesn't seem to mind them. He really is starting to develop more of a personality too. He has started to tease Travis and me. When we go get him up from naps he dives into the corner and pretends he is going to sleep. It's really funny to watch. Here are some pictures I've taken in the last week.

Practicing his sign for Milk.

Tyler's first experience with sand.

Rocks!

Feeding a leaf to Crockett!

Playing after his bath. Censored to protect the innocent!!!

Crockett

Have we ever mentioned that Tyler LOVES Crockett? So much that we decided to have dogs as the theme of Tyler's first birthday party! As much as I don't really care for the dog anymore, I love seeing Tyler interact with him. Tyler loves being outside, especially when we let Crockett out of the backyard to play with us. Tyler even learned to sign, "Dog" today. We have been watching our Baby Signing Time videos this week and he picked up on dog today. Travis was outside with Tyler and Crockett and noticed that he was patting his leg, which is the sign for dog. He kept patting his leg when we would ask him where Crockett was. I love that Tyler is picking up on sign language because he will be able to communicate with us at least somewhat by the time baby #2 comes. It is so amazing that such a young baby can pick up on these signs and communicate with us.

By the way I went to the OB today and she showed me the results of my ultrasound. Everything looked great, but I have to go back in a month for a second ultrasound because Baby #2 moved around so much they couldn't get all the measurements they needed. I'm afraid I'm going to have my hands full. This baby seems VERY active in the womb already. He is always moving! We are getting close to finalizing a name, so hopefully we can announce it soon.

It won't be long!

Yesterday Tyler took his first steps!!! I stood him up and he took a couple of baby steps toward me before diving in my lap. Then when Travis came home we had him taking some steps between us. He took up to 4 steps. Of course he was very unstable, but I was excited to see him trying to move.

Tyler is also learning more signs. Last week he finally signed "milk" after trying to teach him forever. He is constantly doing this sign now even when he doesn't want his milk. When I get him up from his nap I ask him if he wants some milk and he does the sign. It's really cute. As you can tell we are really proud of him!