Way to go Dana!

Sarah's mom Dana (a.k.a. DDog) wins the award for posting the most comments on our blog. I think she is the only one who ever does it. Would it kill some of you people to type a few words now and then? Am I a bitter blogger you ask? It is highly probable I say. As a reward, Dana gets to keep our son for a week in April. She's so lucky. You too can babysit our son if you post on our blog. It's not that hard. Look at all the work I put into it. I risked life and limb taking pictures of ice daggers for you people. What else could you want from me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TJ

Favorite Things

I thought I would list a few of Tyler's favorite things at 9 months. He is really developing a little personality which is fun, but can make some days interesting. He is a ball of energy and always wants to be on the move. By the way, Tyler is finally getting a tooth!!! I can feel it coming through the gums! Yeah! Anyway, here is my list and some pictures to go along with it.

Favorite Things
1. Bathtime!!!
2. Riding in his Dump Truck. His Daddy pushes him all around the house. Tyler is a perfect fit!
3. Screaming at the top of his lungs- not to show anger or sadness, just to hear his voice!
4. Swinging in the backyard.
5. Jumping up and down in his crib after naptime.
6. Walking with his walker. His cousin Reese showed him how it's done this weekend.
7. Drinking water out of Mama or Daddy's glass. He thinks this is hilarious!
8. Opening and closing doors and cabinets.
9. Playing with his cousins and watching bigger kids.
10. Watching and playing with Crockett. He especially likes it when Crockett licks his feet!

Least Favorite Things
1. Trying new table foods. He makes the most awful faces and scrunches up his nose.
2. Getting his diaper changed. He obviously has more important things to do.
3. Putting on or taking off clothes. Again, more important things to do.
4. He hates being the last kid in the nursery. The nursery workers always tell me that he freaks out whenever church lets out and all the parents walk by the nursery. I guess he thinks we aren't coming to pick him up.

Giving us his squinty-eyed smile in the Dump Truck.

Riding in the Dump Truck!

Stealing Reese's walker!

Trying to keep up with Reese. Reese did not like Tyler trying to walk with him at all!

Icy fun!

Well its icy and cold here in frigid Spring Texas. The local weathermen are so excited because they can get everyone hyped up to get ratings. Everyone will have to go to my blog to see the excitement from last night because Sarah wouldn't let me post the pictures on here.

Dana- At least I didn't hang it in my garage this time!

Tyler is good and we think he may be getting some teeth.

Travis

Day on the Town

Christine and the boys came over yesterday and we took all of the boys to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and then to the Children's Museum in The Woodlands. All the boys had a great time. When we got home everyone crashed including Christine and I. We both fell asleep on the couch during the boys naptime!

Christine and Will rode the carousel at the mall.

Tyler climbing into the house at the Children's Museum.

Tyler and Reese cooking up something good.

Will hanging out of the window of the house.

Tagged(A little late)

Sarah tagged me a long time ago and I never wrote anything. So here it goes.

1. I had my own language when I was a kid. Da was truck and be-da was tractor.
2. I could whistle before I could talk which wasn't until age 2. I guess I didn't feel the need to talk since my older sister did all the yapping for me. Thanks Kristi!
3. I was voted most interesting in high school. I know-must have been a boring year.
4. My nickname in college was "quail guts". Those who really know me will know why.
5. I used a cheesy line on Sarah on our first date to get a kiss. Cassanova I am not!
6. When I was in college, I got to meet Rick Perry and both President Bushes.
7. I've marched in 3 Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans.
8. I would love to go to Africa hunting, Australia billfishing, and Costa Rica tarpon fishing. I hope to do at least one of them before I kick the bucket.

That's about it. Not very interesting. Peace out.

TJ

9 Months!

Tyler was 9 months old yesterday! I can hardly believe he is that old. We went to the doctor and they said he looks great! He was 21 pounds, 9 ounces and was 29 inches long (75th percentile for both). He had really grown since our last visit- almost 5 pounds and 2.5 inches! He is a very active little boy and definitely keeps me busy. Naptime is definitely an enjoyable time for me- I can finally sit down for awhile. Tyler is taking better naps lately and is sleeping great at night. The doctor said we should start giving him more and more table foods. So last night we gave him some chicken and tortilla since we were having Quesadillas. He wasn't too thrilled with the idea at first but he did eat it. We will just have to work on adding new and different foods and textures.

At 9 months, Tyler loves swinging, bathtime, taking walks, opening and closing doors and cabinets, pulling up on anything and everything, and eating Fruit Puffs. He is a very fast crawler these days and can be out of your sight in a second. He is clapping his hands now and will even do it on demand. He is also talking a lot- saying ba, ga, ra, and da. Of course Travis loves that he can say dada- at least we think we have heard it. Here are some pictures we have taken in the last week.

Travis put up Tyler's new swing in the yard. Now we don't have to drive to the park to go swing!

Tyler playing with his new Leap Frog table. He loves it because it is the perfect size to pull up on and it has tons of different things to play with.

Tyler's new best friend. He tries to take him everywhere and loves to lay his head on him.

Hmmm... What can I get into next?

Laundry Day!

Tyler loves helping me with the laundry. He loves to pull up on the laundry basket and pull items out of the basket. It is probably one of his favorite things to do. Here are some pictures of him helping me sort through the socks.

Christmas...Round Two

The Johnson clan was here this weekend and we celebrated Christmas with them Friday night. Tyler got a lot of fun new toys and books that he has been playing with ever since. Tyler lovved all the attention he got from everyone. Travis and I also took advantage of having Grandparents in town and went on a date last night. It was really nice and we appreciated the free babysitting. Here are some pictures from this weekend.

Uncle Ross and Aunt Kim gave Tyler some stuffed animals- a duck, a hog, and a deer. Uncle Ross told Tyler to pick his favorite and that would be his first hunt with him. Tyler is still undecided.

Tyler was fascinated by his animal train.

Opening more presents.

OOPS... I did it again!

If you haven't heard the news, Travis and I found out in early December that we are expecting baby #2!!! It was a total and complete surprise, but none the less we are really excited about the new baby. It has taken a while for it to sink in though! My official due date is July 23 which means the kiddos will be about 16 months apart! Some nights I just lay in bed wondering how in the world I will survive with kids so close together. But everyone keeps telling me that it will be a lot of fun and they will be great companions for each other. Who would have ever dreamed that we would have two babies in two years!!!

Anyway, we waited to post until we had let both of our families know. They were totally shocked, but very excited. We told our parents by wrapping up the picture below of Tyler as a Christmas present. You can also see their reactions below!

Tyler's the Big Brother!!!

Gram and Papa's reaction!

Grandma and Papa J's reaction was a little more animated!!!

Wasted 4 hours of my life

Wow. That was not a very impressive Holiday Bowl. Sarah can take full responsibility for that loss by not dressing Tyler in A&M gear. We are undefeated when he wears it. What was her response? "I didn't know the game was today". How pathetic is that? Anyways, sorry Ags, but there was no way we were going to win that game without Tyler's lucky shirt. Thanks Sarah. Here are some photoshops of our fearless coach to lighten the offseason mood.

In other news, Tyler is getting faster and faster crawling and is keeping us busy chasing him around. Today he climbed halfway up the stairs(with Sarah's supervision) and seems to have no fear. He has a serious obsession with any kind of doors. He will open and shut them for a long time. Hey, whatever keeps em happy right?

Christmas... Round One

We went to Tyler for Christmas this year and Tyler had a lot of fun even though he was pretty much clueless about the whole thing. He did really well with the nearly 20 people at Mom and Dad's house. He even took some good naps while we were there. Amazing! Tyler's favorite activities while we were in Tyler were opening and closing any and every door he could find, running wild in the gameroom, and having his Daddy push him around on the bean bag. Tyler has gotten very fast at crawling and many people commented on how he never sat still. He is definitely 100% boy!

Tomorrow the Johnson clan will invade Houston- minus the Hortons. We will have Christmas with them tomorrow evening and they will stay for a few days. I'll have to post more pictures after Round Two.

Opening Tyler's stocking

Surprise! I'm behind the door.

Travis pushing Tyler around on the bean bag.

Tyler got his first football, basketball, and soccer ball. He loves chasing them around the house.

Great Grandpa gave Tyler a teddy bear in honor of Gigi.

Tagged!

My sister tagged me and I'm supposed to put interesting things that you may or may not know about me. So here it goes...

1. I peed in my pants when I was 16 years old! I was in Mississippi for a National Softball Tournament. We had gone to eat dinner after a long day of playing softball. We still had our uniforms and cleats on when we decided to go to the grocery store and buy some cookies for the next day. We were goofing off in the grocery store acting like we were in mission impossible, turning corners and pointing our fake guns. Anyway, one of my friends fell and slid half way down the aisle. CJ Dewberry started laughing so hard and she has a very contagious laugh. I started laughing so hard that I peed in my pants right there in the middle of a Mississippi grocery store. So as we were leaving we here over the loud speaker, "Clean up on aisle 4, we need a mop." Obviously I have never lived that one down!!!

2. When I was little I used to pretend to take my bath at night. I would run the water and then just sit outside the tub. I would wet my washcloth and splash the water with my hand to make it sound like I was in the tub. Gross, I know. But I'm pretty sure I learned this from my older sister!

3. Breakfast is my absolutely favorite meal!!! I eat it every single day without fail. I also always have to have a big glass of milk with my breakfast. If I open the fridge to find out that we have run out of milk I get very disapppointed. That is one thing I loved about my Dad growing up- he would always run to the conveinence store if we were out of milk in the morning. So I never had to worry about not having milk in the morning when I was growing up!

4. When I was growing up I always thought it would be cool to be a checker at the grocery store or an old school librarian. My favorite part of the library was going to check out and the librarian would take out the big card in the back of the book and put it in that time stamp machine. It made the best noise and I can still here that noise in my head today!

5. I always have to have tons of covers on me at night. I think growing up I thought it would keep the boogie man away. When I was younger I would sleep with an electric blanket and turn it up to the highest level. My parents would come to check on me later and I would be sweating like crazy because it was so hot.

6. I would love, love, love to be on a gameshow, especially Wheel of Fortune or Price is Right. I would also love to be on The Amazing Race!

7. I love my Dad, but growing up he was extremely embarrassing. He would drive me to school in this big blue and white truck and yell out the window, "Sarah, You forgot to give me a kiss goodbye." I was 13 and obviously totally mortified! He also loved to embarass me before dates. He would run around the house with underwear on his head or bring the shotgun out of the closet. Or after coming home from a date he would call me "Hot Lips". He still embarrasses us by wearing those awful waffle weave shirts! Come on Papa, that's why we buy you shirts for your birthday!

8. Travis and I met in an Economics class. So he asked for my number one day in case he had questions about homework! Anyway, before calling me to ask me out on our first date he asked all of his buddies if he should call the blonde or brunette. I guess he had his eye on some other girl too. They all said brunette. So he called some other girl first. She wasn't home, so he decided to call me instead! I was just the back up plan! Don't they know blondes are more fun!!!

So now I tag Travis, Lauren, and the Eges.

New job!

Well, this is Travis and I haven't posted lately, but I just finished my first week of work at my new job with Zac Murtha Homes. Zac is a good friend of mine and his business is really growing. It also puts me a lot closer to home. It cuts my commute from an hour and a half to a minute and a half. Gotta love that!Now I can come home to a gourmet meal at lunch and dinner. Tyler likes seeing his daddy more too. Anyway, hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their holiday season.

Peace out

TJ

New Pictures

Our camera is back from the dead, so here are some new pictures of Tyler! He turned 8 months yesterday! He is getting so big and into everything.

Hi. My name is Tyler and I'm addicted to pacifiers!!!

Bath Time

Getting ready for my first A&M vs. t.u. game. It was a success due to my lucky A&M outfit.

Tyler and Papa at Oakville for Thanksgiving.

On the Move!!!

After two months of scooting, Tyler finally decided he would start crawling! He is more active than ever before. Some of his favorite activities include pulling up on anything and everything he can find, playing peekabo behind the ottoman, and ripping up magazines and paper and then throwing a fit when mama takes it away from him. He has also started waving, but it is very random and he doesn't really do it as a response yet.

He is finally feeling better after all of these stupid ear infections. I feel like keeping him in our house during flu season so he won't get sick again. Tyler is getting more fun everyday, but is also showing signs of the temper tantrums to come. :(

Tyler loves, loves, loves his Daddy! If Dad is in the room, Tyler wants to be with him. Today he bumped his head and I tried to console him, but NO, Tyler wanted his Daddy. The minute Travis took him the crying stopped. I guess he is going to totally be a Daddy's boy.

Well, I would post some pictures but our digital camera broke over the holiday. Maybe Santa will hook me up with a new camera.

On the Road Again

Charlie and Kelsey are on the road as we speak. They are headed to Virginia to start their new life there. So last night the Houston Johnson clan (Ross and Kim, Katy and Ryan, Aunt Sherry) all said goodbye to the Stockers. We had a great time and of course ate a lot! That's what we do best. Here are a couple of pictures from last night.

Bring it On!

Bring on the bidding war that is! In the past week we have had two different families come look at the house and love it. They both want to make offers on the house, but want to get some nibbles on their existing houses first. We will wait and see, but we are hoping for a bidding war! Just kidding, we are just excited that people have come through and like it so much. We will keep you posted.

Playing the Guitar

Tyler loves listening to Travis play the guitar. It always calms him down when he is fussy. He used to just listen to Travis play, but now he wants in on the action!

Cutie Patootie

Glimpse of the Future

Today while playing with Tyler, I saw a glimpse of the future. Tyler was in our bedroom playing with the two doors that lead to our bathroom. He figured out quickly that he could open one of the doors. So he continued to push on it until it was completely open. Then he decided that he would push the other one open, and he continued to push it until it was completely open. He continues to push on it but nothing was happening because the door was against the door stop. He proceeds to throw a big crying fit. I'm wondering what in the world he is crying about. So I picked him up and he continued to cry. I put him down and closed the door...the crying stopped. He reached for the door to open it up again. We did this several times and each time the door was against the door stop and wouldn't open any further the crying resumed. In conclusion, I think Tyler acquired some of his mama's personality traits...stubborn, determined, and throwing tempertantrums! I'm not so sure this is a good thing. He was not happy today when things didn't go his way. I guess I'm just getting a little taste of my own medicine. Sorry Mom and Dad!