Vegetables, Playdates, and Summer Fun!

Although some people might classify corn as a grain, it is a vegetable in my book, and Ty ate it! This boy does not like eating vegetables (at least that I have seen!). We used to be able to sneak some pureed vegetables on his grilled cheese and such, now he sees right through it. He will eat them out of these pouch things that I buy, but refuses to eat soft cooked vegetables..... UNTIL NOW! For his first time, he ate a soft cook vegetable and seemed to like it. Anytime he has tried vegetables, the moment it hits his tongue, he'll gag and spit it out. Hopefully this is a new trend, and soon he'll try a green veggie :)

Giving daddy a high ten for being such a big boy!

Wednesday was a playdate day with Kelly and Taylor. It was a beautiful day, so we decided to head to the park and spend some time in the kiddie pool. Here are Ty and Taylor in the bike trailer. They were talking and laughing the whole way to the park.

Ty likes to go down the little slides all by himself! He's growing up too fast!After lunch was pool time. I love this picture with Ty's tongue hanging out haha. They had so much fun together.

Thursday was a playdate with Amy and Ryley!

We had some lunch......

looked at the lake....swam in the lake.....
and played in the water and sand.....
Yay for vegetables, playdates, and summer time!!

Indianapolis

My great aunt and uncle were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and they had decided to plan a family reunion weekend to celebrate. First of all, 50 years, what an accomplishment! We headed down to Indy on Friday, right before Ty's nap. Friday night we headed to Aunt Julie's house for dinner. Carrabbas was catered in and it was delicious! Ty's cousin, Bella, who is four, was there and they LOVED each other. Ty was saying "Bewwa" all weekend! They enjoyed running up and down the stairs, around the house, up and down the front path and driveway, and all the while I am just trying to make sure nothing gets broken!

Ty had his FIRST fast food french fry on the way!

Shortly after..... nap timeSaturday morning, Ty had some daddy and grandpa time. Of course, it was practicing baseball....
basketball......
and not pictured...... golf.
Later that morning, we headed to my cousin's house to go swimming in their neighborhood pool.
Grandma with Ty and Bella

Saturday evening was dinner at the Bridgewater Country Club. It was a beautiful setting and GREAT food. It was fun catching up with family and having a kid-free night!

After dinner, a few of my cousins, my dad, and my aunt, decided we weren't quite done for the night. We decided to head to Dave & Busters for a few hours. For those of you who don't know, Dave & Busters is basically a Chuckie Cheese for adults. SO FUN :)
Sunday morning, was brunch back at my Aunt Julie's house. Ty and Bella loved climbing up and down the stairs. I think Ty thought Bella was the coolest person ever this weekend. They were so cute together!

Second favorite thing.....running up and down the front path.
This weekend reminded me how much I love being with family. It isn't that often that we get together, but when we do, we truly enjoy being with each other. We had so much fun in Indy, but there is nothing like the feeling of being home after being gone.

Playdate Fun!

We had never been to the Aquatic Center before so I was totally pumped when my friend, Kelly, asked if Ty and I would want to do a playdate with her and her daughter Taylor there. I work with Kelly at Blue Star and her daughter, Taylor is two weeks older than Ty. Taylor and Ty also get to hang out during the school year as they go to daycare together. I was so surprised how daring Ty was! In his kiddie pool he has never liked when we fill it up over his knees but he was literally trying to run through the water when it was up to chest. So we played in lots of fountains, on the water tire swing, playing with the steering wheels, climbing up and down the stairs, and he even went down the slide once by himself (they wouldn't let me go down with him, but I was at the end to catch him!) and he smiled the whole way down.

Ty and Taylor before going into the pool
Ty and Taylor splashing away (pretty much all in my face!)Ty on the water tire swing
Thanks Kelly and Taylor for the fun morning!!

No More Bottle!

BIG milestone in the VandeGuchte Household! I have been holding onto this last bottle for the last few months. He has always had a bottle right after bathtime at night. The moment he got out of the tub he would start crying for his "bubba". A couple weeks ago we started weaning him down ounce by ounce every few days. He definitely would get upset when there was just a small ounce to drink and he was done so quickly. A few nights ago (June 17), Nate was gone, and I just decided lets just try with no bottle at all. He cried getting into his pj's, and cried a little even with his bear blanket and paci. One thing about Ty is that he LOVES his bed. He won't snuggle, read, or rock once he knows it's naptime or bedtime. We always sing Jesus Loves Me before he goes down and by the end of the song he is reaching for his crib (hopefully that's not because of our singing :) ). He had calmed down and was reaching for his crib, I laid him down, and he flipped over, put his butt in the air (he always sleeps like this!) and snuggled with bear. He went right to sleep and slept his normal night of 7:30-7! After I put him down, I called Nate, and began tearing up as I realized this was the last "baby" thing I had been holding onto with Ty. It wasn't hard for him to go down without it, so could we have done it earlier, yes. Could I have done it, no. :)
He no longer looks like a baby and is full toddler. I miss those little baby days, and it went by so quickly, but I love seeing his personality come out and watching him learn so many new things everyday. SO no more bottles in the VandeGuchte house..... well until the next one arrives (no worries, this isn't an announcement :) )

Fun-Filled Week!

All I can say is that I LOVE summer. I love being able to go and do things with Nate and Ty during the day. It is the best feeling waking up and knowing I get the whole day with them.

Tuesday wasn't the nicest weather so we decided to try Deanna's Playhouse in Holland. Ty was running everywhere! In the cars, to the basketball hoop, back to the cars, to the blocks, dancing on the stage, running into the rocket, back to the cars.... (get the picture :)) It was a great way to get out of the house! By the time we left to go back home, the rain had stopped, and the sun was just peeking out of the clouds!

We finally decided to take Ty to, what I think is the best playground around, Timbertown. He seemed to like the wooden playground, but it still seemed a little big for him. He had fun climbing around for a little bit. We walked around the lake, and of course fed the ducks! He LOVED the ducks (as long as he was being held). He kept says "gucks! gucks!" (which is funny because that's the same way he pronounces trucks...)

Saturday, we were able to spend some time pool-side! Ty loved being in the pool and loved hanging out with his Uncle Matt & Aunt Sarah!

Today was Father's Day so I had to include some pictures of Nate and Ty playing together!! Nate is such a great dad and is so involved in every aspect of taking care of Ty. Ty and I are so lucky to have him in our lives!! Happy Father's Day!

1st Summer Beach Day!

We were so excited that we were able to go to the beach today. After Ty's afternoon nap, we headed over to my parent's house for a little R&R on the beach. We had taken Ty to the beach a few weeks ago when it was a little cooler out and he HATED the sand. He refused to let us set him down on the sand so we were hoping that he'd be a little more "into" it. We had him wear shoes this time and when we got down the beach, again, he wouldn't let us set him down. SO we went on a walk carrying him the whole way (actually Nate carried him the whole way - he is getting so heavy!). We tried to make it fun by swinging him between us but he would barely walk. When we got back from our walk, we tried getting him interested in the Tonka trucks. He wasn't too into it, until I put him in the dump-truck and pushed him around... he started opening up to the idea of touching sand and this is what the rest of the afternoon looked like.......

There is a little stream and he spent forever going back and forth over the logs and checking out the little "waterfall". Here is a video of him, he falls a few times, and we originally started saying yay and clapping to keep him from crying (since at first he cried every time he had sand on his hands) and it stuck.



We were THRILLED that he finally became a beach boy. We are awaiting our parents to move back full time, which means no renters, so we can really spend the summers at the beach!

I can already tell what an awesome summer it will be. I am so excited to spend some time with my two favorite boys!

Memorial Weekend

I was so excited for Memorial Day this year. Well, I'm usually always a little bit excited for memorial weekend since it's my birthday, but this year we had lots to look forward to! Saturday, Nate had his Team State track meet, so he was gone all day. It wasn't the best weather so I was set on cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. In fact, Ty was such a good boy, I did 2 hours of errands, and then he played in the living room and in the garage (since it was raining) while I cleaned for 2 hours. At that point I put him down for a nap and cleaned an additional 2.5 hours! I was on a cleaning rampage!

Here is Ty playing in the garage, since it was raining out, and he just kept pounding and pounding on the door to go out side... He was happy with this option though!
After it stopped raining, Ty went to one of the kitchen drawers, got out the tongs that Nate always uses when he grills, and ran straight for the grill!! Nate has taught him well already! Ty just stood there hitting the grill with them, it was so cute!On Sunday, Nate and I were off to Traverse City for a friend's wedding. Both Nate and I have spent nights away from Ty separately, but we have both never been gone at the same time, so this was a first! Nate's parents watched Ty at our house and we were off! We went to the wedding, which was beautiful, and then went to one of the wineries in-between the wedding at the reception. The winery was on top of this hill overlooking the vineyards and the Lake. I hadn't been feeling the best, and we didn't stay long at the winery. I ended up getting sick multiple times throughout the rest of the day. I was pretty sure that I had gotten some type of food poisoning. We tried going to the reception, but were only able to stay for about 45 minutes. We were back to the hotel at 7:30 and I was out by 8 and slept till 8:30. We woke up the next morning and we headed back home. I was feeling better, and I was SO excited to see Ty.
Monday, was my birthday, and my cousin and her son (who is 3 days younger than Ty) came over to relax and play in the beautiful weather. The boys had lots of fun running around, playing in the water, and pushing around all the wagons and cars.

Overall, it was a fun weekend, and the beautiful weather got me anxious for summer to be here. 7 days and counting!!!!!!