My growing boy...

Please enjoy my little journaling moment. Tyler is now about 6 1/2 months old. He is still a sweety. Everyone comments on how happy he is. Seriously, he's almost always smiling and happy. He loves to talk to girls, especially his grandmas. He has a cute little voice that alternates between high pitched squeals and a low growly roar. He is SOOOO close to pulling himself to a standing postition. I mean CLOSE. If he gets the right grip on something and has the right leverage with his feet, he gets almost upright before he starts "asking" for help. No crawling yet though. But in the last week he has started to look like he's finally getting interested in moving around on his own. He's always been kinda wiggly and active like he wanted to get around on his own but never seemed motivated when left to his own devices. He's been sitting like a champ though for over a month now. He's funny about rolling over. When he was only a few months old he started rolling over from belly to back like it was no problem. He would just roll like he had done it forever, but he started to lose interest. Now he only rolls over when he's asleep. I'm always finding him on his tummy while he naps.

He still loves to be swaddled. When he is sleepy and he sees us grab his blankie to wrap him up, he starts giggling and smiling because he knows what's coming next. His fall asleep habits are so different from Marshall's. It's like night and day. Tyler is quick to fall asleep on his own with little help. All he needs is his blankie and binkie.

Tyler loves to eat real food... baby food is alright, but whatever Mommy is eating is what he really wants. He loves bread and hates green beans. We have a hillarious series of pictures of him trying to drink Colby's Dr. Pepper.

One more funny addition. I mean funny as in "Mother of an infant funny." Not quite a month ago we went into the Dr.'s office for his 6 mo. well child visit. His weight was down a pound and a half from 2 months before. All of us were severely concerned but the doctor couldn't figure out a reason why based on Tyler's behavior. He asked me to come back in 2 or 3 weeks to check if he was still losing weight and had me start taking some supplements to help my milk. So we checked back after almost 3 weeks and no one seemed concerned about weighing Tyler. I mentioned it to the doctor and he laughed when he told me "a lot of babies were coming in underweight and so they evaluated their scale and found a sucker stuck underneath it messing up the readings." We all had a good laugh. For a good couple of weeks I was paranoid about starving my baby and would just smile and nod my head when people would call Tyler "such a big boy" or say "he was getting so big!" But he's weighing in at about 17 1/2 pounds now. What a big boy!

Love you Ty. We all love watching you grow into your personality.

SUGAR!

Marshall has been almost main-lining sugar lately. For obvious reasons he would rather eat candy than anything else. Then comes Halloween. If I hide his candy, he's sure to find some other candy somewhere. If we don't all eat it by Saturday it is going in the trash. No more. Well, today at lunch I was sneaking some carmel apple dip with my apple slices and right before Marshall declared he was done, he spotted my treat. He nicely asked for "some of that." I obliged, handed him some more apple slices, turned around for a second, and turned back around to find Marshall using his finger as a spoon in the carmel. We just go from one sugar high to the next in this house.

Do you like a good joke?

Colby has one for you. This last Sunday we thought it would be clever to dress all three "boys" in matching clothes. The 40's went away and we welcomed 70+ degree weather. It was time for the Stratton Family Favorite (camo shorts) to come out. I just bought Tyler's on clearance at Children's Place and I thought they would fit him next spring, but they fit perfectly now. Better see if they have any more... Anyway, since they all looked so cute in their matching clothes I insisted on a photo shoot. Here is where the joke comes in. Try to get three boys to hold still, look at the camera, and look happy all at one time. My poor husband tried to have a great attitude while he wrestled these two until I was satisfied. We almost left unsatisfied until I changed my outlook. These wiggly, blurry, goofy pictures capture our real life. The life we LOVE so much! Thanks for the laughter and smiles Colby, I'll try to shoot quicker next time. Because we all know there will be a lot of "next times."

...and I gotta put this out there. I love my husband. He is an incredible example and one stubborn dude :) I can say that because we both know who has the real problem with stubborness in this family. Me. Colby is an incredibly hard worker and as generous as they come. It never fails when Colby has a second to sit down and breathe he volunteers himself for a friend. Or a stranger. I love how he loves to serve. He helps me want to be better and less selfish. My favorite thing about Colby, the thing that made me sure I wanted him to be my husband, is he is a wonderful father. I knew he would be a great dad, but holy smokes! He is a better dad than I could have ever imagined. I love the way he loves our kids... both the ones we have and the ones we will have. It is sometimes intimidating to hear him talk about the dreams he has for our family. He smiles, he plays, he teaches, he leads, he loves. He takes his role as father very seriously and I love that. Something else I am thankful for is his confidence. He is such a big help when it comes to teaching our kids to be confident and self assured because of his example. Thank you for being you. Love you babe.

My one and only... Brother

This is a tribute to my brother. Don't worry fam. I know I haven't tributed anyone but my kids, but it will come, I promise. I love all of you.

Jon is awesome! Him and I have always been a lot alike. Except I don't harass people like he does. He can be such a tease, but I love it.

I love the way he knows how to chill. He has such a laid back attitude that helps me relax whenever he's around.

Probably my favorite thing about him is his laugh. It is so contagious... and the smile that goes along with it just kills me. That's what everyone loves about Jonathan I think.

It blows my mind that he is growing up so fast. He is almost a man now... and he will be such a great man. He might not know this, but I always admired his scripture reading habit. Countless times while we were kids, I would walk by his bedroom and see him in bed reading his scriptures. It was such a good reminder that if my little brother could do it, I should do it too. It was always at a time you would expect him to be playing and messing around but he was learning instead.

These pictures were from a couple of months ago. He took this cutie to Homecoming (his first big dance date). I gave him a really hard time... he wasn't going to go and I did everything but put a gun to his head. He was so patient with me and finally consented. I'm glad he's sensitive to the sensitve feelings all of us girls have. I think that's where I convinced him. I hope he always remembers what he learned growing up with three sisters. Girls can be crazy and irrational, but your life would be dull and empty without them... wouldn't they Jon? Please, always be sweet to the girls in your life. It will make you 1,000 times happier.

I love you Jon.