"If you build it, they will come"

 So, let's see... a lot has happened since my last post in July. 

At Matagorda Beach in South Texas where Tyler and Alianna got married

Just like David Hasselhoff

Tyce
Talking a TON
Can name our dogs, all his grandparents, aunts and uncles, classmates, and teachers by name
Runs everywhere
Climbs absolutely anything including people
Sleeps on a pillow like a big boy
Destroys the house in .5 seconds
Has broken almost everything we own in only 9 months of walking. Yikes!
Repeats anything you say
Sleeping through the night more often than not
Loves to have dance parties
Sprout has bit on the face on three separate occasions for attempting to take bones out of her mouth
He is what some are calling "strong-willed"
Has all but two sets of teeth (canines and one set of molars)
Is in a bashful/clingy phase when in public
Absolutely loves to play outside. Thinks indoor play is for girls.
Apparently plays a little rough at school - they say it's very WWF-like
In all average percentiles for weight and height, but still above average head size
Overall very healthy other than the ever-present severe milk and egg allergies

Petting a goat at Frank Buck Zoo!

Family at the Zoo

His Nicknames
Tycey Spicy
Spicy
Baby Man
Baby Head
Buddy
Little Buddy
Tyce-a-Roni
Big Guy
Tornado Tyce
Dozer (because he knocks other kids with his forehead


Beau and Jill
Beau and I have some very exciting news we've been waiting a few months to share: We started our own business!!! It is our very own therapy practice. The name is Olive Branch Family Therapy. We have been praying about this as an option for quite some time, and this summer it became apparent to us that it was the time to make the leap of faith. I can see the evidence of God's hands throughout the entire process starting from the time the decision was made until even now. God has provided the right timing, location, funds, web developer, and logo creator, and clients. It is absolutely amazing. We have been transitioning out of our other practice throughout the last couple months as we got things up and running at our new place. Although making such a large commitment should be terrifying, I have had a great sense of Peace throughout the whole process. There was one big hiccup which caused some anxiety, but even through that I knew we were doing the right thing. Our first month in business has far-exceeded my expectations. I had five clients scheduled the first week, and so far next week I have eleven! God was telling us all along "If you build it, they will come." We did, and they did. I have been blessed by opportunities to pray with my clients in session, and help them see the Hope they thought they had lost. God reveals himself to me the most clearly when I take a leap of Faith and trust Him to catch/lead. He ALWAYS does, and blesses me beyond my wildest imagination. Please keep our practice in your prayers as we continue to get on our feet and get ourselves established.  Our website is now officially up! Check it out: 


www.olivebranchfamilytherapy.com


My step-sister, Elizabeth Wollmershauser, designed the beautiful logo, and Scott King, a friend from church, developed our website while I designed it.




Here are some very grainy pictures of our office taken from my phone:

Lobby (above)

Tour of office standing in doorway and looking clockwise (below)

I am always doing final touches to the decor so there there have been a lot of changes since I took these pictures (including a fish tank which everyone seems to enjoy), but you get the main idea. So far our clients have really loved the office. They talk about how comfortable it is, and how they feel so relaxed. Perfect! This is exactly what we were going for.


While I have spent a lot of time making things pretty, Beau is the brains behind the entire venture. Without him I wouldn't even consider running my own business. It's very overwhelming, and completely over my head. We make a great team and are enjoying this exciting process!

Love Love Love

Tyce was a wonderful ring-bearer in Uncle Garrett and Aunt Brittany's wedding, and Beau was the "officiant" or preacher. I was the babysitter of the ring-bearer. ;) It was a full time job plus overtime.

                                                  Yes, he is eating dog food. Don't judge.

Back yard water park invented by Dad and Uncle Alan. We now do this every single day.

Tyce will be 14 months old on the 20th of this month and I still have not done his baby book. I am so ashamed. I think it's my perfectionism which is keeping me from working on it: The fear of it not being perfect so I don't do it at all. Awesome, I know. I'll quit with the self-therapy now. I am keeping a list of most of the things I want to put into the book when I eventually get around to it. The main things I want to remember, though, are things which cannot be written or recorded in any way. They are precious moments such as...


...the way it feels to hold him, hug him, and be hugged by him
...the sound of his husky little voice
...the way it feels when he wraps his arms tight around my neck
...breathing in the smell of his sweet baby head
...hearing the sound of his breathing
...seeing the sparkle in his eyes when he belly laughs
...when he runs to me and jumps before he's arrived because he knows I'll catch him and hug him tight

These days he doesn't walk much at all. He runs. And he runs some more. And then he runs more. He provides us endless laughter and joy as he's always coming up with new, funny things to do such as re-arranging kitchen furniture, and hiding the TV remote in the trash can. This week he has really started to dance when he hears music so we spend a lot of family time turning up the music and dancing on the rug in the living room. It is so much fun. His favorite song is "If you're happy and you know it." He'll crack up laughing as soon as it starts and clap along with the entire song. 


He still isn't a big sleeper, but he's improving. We get about one solid night of sleep per month which I count as a true blessing. I think the older he gets the better he'll be. We love our sweet angel boy.

A Whole New World

Updates

7 months 3 weeks - crawling!
7 months 4 weeks - walking independently pushing walker toys
8 months- pulling self up to standing
9 months 4 weeks - walking!!
10 months - top two teeth broke through


Tyce will be 11 months in about a week, and he is everywhere! If he's not changing channels on the TV with the remote,  pouring out the dog bowls, re-arranging the kitchen chairs, or flushing the toilet he's climbing on the fireplace, chasing the dogs, or eating rocks from the backyard. He is an absolute blast, and keeping us incredibly busy! He is mischievous, laughs constantly, is very determined, and entertains all who are willing to watch.

We're Still Here

To those of you who depend on this blog to keep up with little Tyce, I offer my sincerest apologies for not updating in such a long time. I can't tell you how excited I am to be writing this right now! The fact that I'm updating means three things 1) Tyce is ASLEEP!, 2) We are HOME and not traveling, 3) I am caught up on basic housework! These are all precious things. 


I won't write an enormous post with details of all we've been up to. However, I'll try to catch the highlights:


Tyce is as rambunctious as ever. No...more rambunctious than ever. This is one energetic little guy! Beau and I are both getting an excellent upper-body workout every day just from wrestling with him. We're already discussing what sports to put him in at the earliest age possible because he's going to need productive ways to freely exert this energy. I'm thinking soccer (do teams start earlier than age 4?), and also early morning runs before school so that he can actually sit still and pay attention. He is not even walking or crawling yet, but the energy is bursting out of him at the seams! 

Updates since last post:

-He sprouted his first two bottom teeth the day before we left to go to El Campo for Christmas
-He has been rolling over in both directions for quite some time
-He sits independently
-He can independently go from sitting to laying down (back or front) to sitting again
-He pushes himself backwards all over the place as he's trying to learn to crawl forward.
-He doesn't spend much time practicing crawling because he is only interested in walking. He lets us know very clearly that he is his happiest when holding onto our fingers while he marches himself around all over the house. He could probably do this all day long and be perfectly content. 
-His first ER visit was to Pike's Peak Regional Hospital in Colorado due to an accumulation of Croup, Fifth's Disease, Altitude Sickness, and a Stomach virus all at once! It doesn't take me saying much more for your to infer how relaxing that trip was for us. :)
- He's still not too keen on this whole idea of sleeping, but things are improving. He's gradually moving towards taking two good solid naps every day, and how things goes at night just varies. 
-He's eating a lot of different kinds of baby food, and seems to be having a good time. Again, he's just chomping at the bit to be independent: I think he would eat much more if he could feed himself with the spoon. He says sleeping, bottles, and being fed are for babies and that he's not a baby. 
-There is probably more but I can't think of it at the moment. I have been recording changes and milestones in my iPhone so that I can transfer all the info to his baby book when I actually have a chance. I just opened the note page where I've been writing it, and found out everything since 6 months has not been saved :( This aches my heart, but hopefully I can scrounge and figure out what I've lost.

6 months!

I just realized it's been over a month since my last post! I have lists within lists within lists of things "to do," yet can't seem to get any more than the basic house chores taken care of. Even then I can't seem to keep up like I'd like to. What has definitely taken priority over any of my lists is spending time with our precious Tyce. He is changing so quickly. Even as I write this post he is sitting next to me trying to teach himself how to feed himself with his bottle. I have a feeling he'll accomplish this within the next few days if not by the end of today.

He is now 6 months old! Yes...half a year! That is just crazy to me! Everything checked out excellent at the doctor. (The doctor even used the word "excellent." I think he just knows how to make Mommies happy! Ha!) He weighs 20 lbs which puts him in the 84th percentile, and is 27 inches long which puts him in the 65th. His growth is definitely slowing which is expected around this age. He's becoming less interested in eating and more interested in exploring, playing, and learning. The doctor estimated he'll probably end up somewhere around the 60th-70th percentile to stay which means he won't be a giant - just big. ;) 

Tyce has been rolling over since 5 mo, 1 week; sitting up on his own since he was 5mo, 3 weeks; and getting up and rocking on his knees since yesterday (6 mo, 1 week). I can't take my eyes off him because he'll be a whole different baby by the time I look back. In fact yesterday I did look away (while pumping) and within about 45 seconds he had crawled backwards so far away I could not reach him! He was so upset he could not get to me: I imagine he was trying to get closer to me and ended up farther away instead. 

We're defintiely gearing up for Christmas which will include a lot of travel and visitors. So my "to-do" list will have to be pushed aside some more. For now it's Christmas shopping, and figuring out how I'm going to make room in our house for Tyce's new toys. :)

Pumkin Patch 2010

I'm sure most of you have already seen these pictures on Facebook, but just in case you missed out...

I just discovered Blogger has a new uploader so I posted all these pics at once! Thank you Blogger for changing with technology for once.

We had a blast taking snapshots of Tyce at the Pumpkin Patch. This new camera has really come in handy. 5 months later, and we've still yet to hire a photographer!

Also, we weighed Tyce this morning...19lbs! I can't believe how big my sweet baby is getting!

Fair and Wiener Dog Races

Texas State Fair

Tyce tried his hardest to catch some floating duckies

          
'Big Tex' says "you must be this tall." Tyce thinks he is "this tall" already!

                           Wiener Dog Races
            Grandma and Grandpa were a big help juggling the doggies and Tyce

There were over 220 dachshunds racing for the trophy! The doggies were a little overwhelmed by the chaos so we basically held them the whole time. It's a good thing we had extra arms! At one point they ended up in Tyce's stroller. They seemed to really like it there.

                                                 
                                             Stealing some kisses
                        (notice the dachshund outfit)

 Spike was too nervous to race so Sprout was our designated runner. Here's what the course looked like. One owner held their dog at the starting line, and the other cheered for them to meet them on the other end. 

Here they are snuggling and getting rested for the race. Sprout was #147 so we had to wait 1 1/2 hours until it was her turn.

I held Sprout at the start, and Beau cheered for her to come greet him. We are in the lane directly in the middle of the picture. Ready... set... GOOO!!!