The Lyons Family

Christmas Card time

2010-12-13T23:57:00.004-05:00

I just love getting picture Christmas cards in the mail of friends and family! My kids enjoy looking at the pictures too. This year, we were very blessed to have a professional photographer, Danielle Fields of Fields photography and framing, take our pictures and we are looking forward to making our cards with Shutterfly. We have made our Christmas cards with Shutterfly in the past and have had great results! We get so many compliments about the great quality of Shutterfly's products. Their website is user-friendly as well.

We also love Shutterfly photo books. These are wonderful for documenting memories of our family! They are also great for documenting the first years of our children's lives. I still love looking through the photo books I have made of our family. It amazes me how quickly our children are growing up and with photo books I will be able to cherish the memories for years to come. Photo books also make great gifts for family members, especially grandparents. We have given Shutterfly photo books as Christmas gifts to grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles in the past.

Shutterfly offers more great gifts such as photo calendars, stationery, and a variety of other gifts. It would be a wonderful idea to visit Shutterfly for those last minute Christmas gifts this year!

New family pictures!

2010-12-13T23:11:00.001-05:00

Been a while since I have blogged...will try to do better in 2011 :). Here is a link to our new family pictures!

Fields Photography and Framing

M and K

2010-10-03T23:12:00.002-04:00

Michael and Kaitlyn are growing up too fast!

Hugs before bedtime!

They love their daddy reading the Bible to them...notice Kaitlyn's shoes :)

Michael is finally in a big boy bed. This is how we found him one night when we checked on him...I guess he fell off and did not wake up!

I tried to take a picture of our matching GA toes and Michael had to put his feet in too.

Destin Family vacation

2010-09-15T22:13:00.003-04:00

We had a great time at the beach at the end of August! Thanks Papa and MeMa Sue for treating us to a few days at the beach!

Michael loved the train at the Destin Commons. The first night the kids just played in the parked train...not realizing they could ride it. The second night Papa paid for a ride and Michael loved it!

Playground at Destin Commons

Best attempt at a family picture...sad, I know!

Sweet Kaitlyn

This is our fearless little girl who loved swimming!

Not a huge fan of the sand...she enjoyed sitting in Mema's lap while at the beach

Checking out the water

Michael had to sport Papa's shades while flying his Toy Story kite. I forgot his and he could not see the kite well due to the sun.

Papa and Kaitlyn at our favorite seafood place in Destin...Dewey's!

Michael enjoying a hotdog at Johnny Rocket's...our waitress made Michael a smiley face out of ketchup.

Summertime!

2010-08-31T21:54:00.002-04:00

It has been a busy summer in the Lyons' family! My blogging has been quite slack...sorry! Here are a few pictures from last month:

Kaitlyn washing her hands...this was her first ponytail :)

The girl LOVES to wear shoes...mainly other people's shoes! Here she is in her brother's :)

Michael pretending to nap with Samson

My little man's first day of preschool...I think he is really enjoying it!

The kids have really enjoyed going to the lake this summer. They love watching their daddy jump in the water then jump to him. Momma stands on the dock...I watch for snakes ;)

Throwing rocks in the water. Crazy what entertains toddlers!

Kaitlyn has one sassy personality...she is showing it here.

MeMa Jen is good at painting Kaitlyn's toenails...we had a matching paint job.

Michael was not feeling well one day recently and he laid on the sofa with his blanket for over an hour. He was pretending to sleep though!

Jesus Loves Me!

2010-08-04T22:37:00.002-04:00

More summer photos

2010-08-04T22:27:00.002-04:00

Backyard pool fun

Kaitlyn was sprayed in the face with the hose by her brother numerous times and took it like a champ :)

Michael loves Mac N Cheese...on this particular day Ryan and I got about 2 bites! Michael and Kaitlyn handled the box!

MeMa Jen got Kaitlyn a pink Doodle Pro so that she did not have to take her brother's Toy Story one from him...well she still takes it, but at least she has a pink one for herself now.

Daddy's Georgia girl!

More summer fun

2010-07-22T08:07:00.002-04:00

Everyday seems to be interesting at the Lyons' house with Michael and Kaitlyn running around!

Kaitlyn taking care of her baby

Kaitlyn got into the pantry one day last week and this was the result!

Michael had to have one as well...don't worry the drinks were not opened! No caffeine for the Lyons' kids :)

Backyard pool fun

Daddy's girl

Recent random pictures

2010-07-14T08:10:00.002-04:00

Here are some pictures I caught of the kids last week...

Yes, he will not like me for this one day, but I thought it was funny :)

Kaitlyn loves to come in the bathroom too. I think she will be potty-trained much earlier than her brother.

Fishing at lunch!

Where's Kaitlyn? She loves playing on our bed in the pillows!

MeMa Jen gave Michael some Diego gloves on her last visit. Michael tried to climb the wall with them.

These two keep things interesting at the Lyons' house!

Beach fun

2010-07-13T08:24:00.002-04:00

We had a great few days at the beach with our friends, the Moodys!

Kaitlyn tuckered out heading down to the beach

Daddy with his two favorite babies

Michael enjoyed playing with Michael Ted (MT)

Mikayla taking care of the boys at "Pump it up" on a rainy day

The boys loved playing in the sand...and throwing it on their mommas!

Yogurt and Lily

2010-07-05T07:37:00.002-04:00

Kaitlyn now thinks she must feed herself and does not like getting help! Needless to say, there are some major messes in the kitchen now!

Michael knows better, but wanted to do "like sissy dust (does)"

At least she enjoys it!

Michael likes to make his own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and eat them standing on the stool. Momma has to help a little bit :)

Kaitlyn loves the leap frog toys! She has a little Lily but just found her big Lily last week and was so excited! We constantly hear "hi, I'm Lily, sing a counting song with me..."

She hugs her and calls her "baby."

Lake Sinclair

2010-06-24T08:41:00.002-04:00

We now live only 20 minutes from my aunt's lake house on Lake Sinclair. We went twice this past week and the kids loved it!

Michael loves "fishing" with his Lightning McQueen fishing pole...he even had to take it to bed with him the first day we went to the lake. He called me in his room at about 9pm and told me he wanted to go to the lake house and fish :)

The boys enjoyed the paddle boat...did not last too long though because it was HOT!

Fishing with daddy

Michael made a MESS with some watermelon, but at least he enjoyed it!

Kaitlyn and Callie (her cousin who is only 6 weeks older) and Uncle Tim and Aunt Leigh. The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins (Callie has two older sisters too). Hopefully we will see them more now that we live in GA.

Michael and Kaitlyn

2010-06-23T21:48:00.003-04:00

MeMa Jen and MeMa Susan bought the kids matching brown outfits. I tried to get a cute picture one Sunday before we left KY.

All I got was silly faces.

Here is how I found Kaitlyn one day after nap. Not sure what she was doing in there!

Michael loves to get in his sissy's crib after nap...he is a sweet big brother.

Michael and Kaitlyn enjoy playing in a "tunnel". If you look closely, you can see Samson under there too :)

The Lyons are back!

2010-06-17T19:10:00.003-04:00

So sorry for the delay in posts. We moved to Warner Robins, closed on our house in KY, moved to Milledgeville and have been very busy over the last month with starting New City Church Milledgeville. I hope to start posting regularly again now.

Here is a video I got of Michael today. He LOVES the movie Cars. His papa has read him a Cars book MANY times. This week he started quoting the first page :)

Dancing babies!

2010-04-29T22:37:00.004-04:00

The kids had a good time dancing last night!

Mr. Cool

2010-04-28T15:09:00.002-04:00

This is how Michael dressed for church this past Sunday and it was how he looked when I picked him up from the nursery!

Kristy, who works in our nursery, said he kept the glasses and hat on the entire time!

Sissy wore a pretty new dress from MeMa Jen

Two silly babies

I gave Michael some cookies after nap on Monday. I left the spatula on the table near him and when I looked over at him later, this is what I saw :)

13.1 Miles!!!

2010-04-27T15:03:00.002-04:00

This past Saturday, I was able to run a half marathon (well, the first 10 miles...then a slow trot to the end :) I actually enjoyed the experience and look forward to hopefully being able to run one again. It was a great way for me to end our stay in KY. I even got to run past the school where I got my Masters degree from (well, this was during the trot part).

Ryan was so sweet to bring the kids to see me in downtown Louisville after the race. It was a crazy place! There were 15,000 runners!

The kids loved seeing the water

Michael checking out my prize (everyone got one)!

Babydoll

2010-04-27T13:59:00.003-04:00

Kaitlyn started saying "baby" last night. I think she would probably rather play with her brothers cars still, but this is a step in the right direction :)

Michael

2010-04-22T07:31:00.002-04:00

This look is priceless!

The boy put his "Go Dawgs" hat on and made this face on his own :)

Our girl!

2010-04-21T22:34:00.002-04:00

Have I ever mentioned how much I love having a little girl? I have been working on her keeping her bows in her hair lately. Some days are more successful than others :)

She can now pose for the camera!

She looks so grown up in this picture

The pigtails never last long, but it is fun to try!

Bus driver Michael

2010-04-16T09:40:00.003-04:00

The kids and I met some old friends at one of the Louisville malls one day this week. The Together for the Gospel conference brought a lot of good friends into town. Michael's favorite part of the day was driving the bus.

He is wearing his new Lightning McQueen glasses. He thinks they are really cool...obviously since he is wearing them inside!

He is already driving the ladies

Taking a break with his buddy Bryson. They really have not played together that much, but he has not quit talking about him since we left :)

Spring pictures

2010-04-16T09:29:00.003-04:00

The kids have been having a good time playing outside the past few weeks...and I have loved getting them out of the house :)

Kaitlyn can already pose for the camera

Michael loves his big tractor

I think he looks like a little man in this picture

Crazy kiddos

I love dressing up a little girl!

More fun recent pics

2010-04-07T14:00:00.000-04:00

Michael and Kaitlyn are growing up so fast! Below are some recent random pictures of our two little blessings.

Kaitlyn with her bow in her hair for all of a few seconds!

Look closely and you will see Michael in his new hiding place :)

This is a picture of something new Michael does...he lays down, closes his eyes, and makes snoring noises!

Bible story time with daddy before bed.

Kaitlyn likes to take Michael's prized possession (Lightning McQueen). She has A LOT of baby dolls, but the girl loves her brother's cars!

Louisville Zoo 2010

2010-04-06T19:00:00.000-04:00

Ryan was off last Friday, so we enjoyed the morning at the Louisville Zoo.

Kaitlyn was excited about seeing the animals

Michael was amazed at the big ball with water!

Peacock

I thought theses flamingoes under this tree would make a good picture

This gorilla had some character! He came over to us, picked up the blanket off of the ground and put it on like a cape :)

Happy Resurrection Day!

2010-04-04T21:48:00.004-04:00

We had a wonderful day celebrating Jesus' resurrection! Here are some pictures from our fun day:

It did not take Michael long to find his Basket...that explains the bed head!

After I got Kaitlyn up, she went to her seat and immediately threw her goodies on the floor, then looked at me like "where's the food?" She did sit on the floor and play with her bunnies before breakfast though.

I did not get a great picture of the two of them together this morning...but this one will do.

Kaitlyn pulling the bow out of her hair...this happens 100% of the time I put one in her hair!

Her first pigtails...they did not last long either!

We enjoyed having lunch with the Morrows today. Michael LOVES their 3 month old baby girl, Kinley. This morning I asked him "do you know who is coming over for lunch today?" and he shouted "baby Tinley!" Rachelle brought some cute homemade cookies we had after lunch today...the kids loved them!

Kaitlyn liked sitting in the grass more than hunting eggs this afternoon.

Daddy helping Michael find the eggs

We made resurrection biscuits after nap today. We got the idea from my good friend, Ashley.

We went on a family walk this evening, then Michael got to play with his sidewalk chalk eggs.

We had a great day and are so blessed!

AWANA Grand Prix

2010-04-02T22:44:00.002-04:00

Last Sunday was the AWANA grand prix at church. Michael is in Puggles this year and he made a Lightning McQueen car.

He really loved painting! He even painted my car for the leader race (a white minivan :)

McQueen came from behind in the Puggles race and pulled out a win! I know it was just for fun and the Puggles have no idea what winning is about, but Ryan and I both admitted to each other that we were really proud when he won!

This was Michael's favorite part...the Nachos!

Kaitlyn loved laying on her daddy's shoulders during the races

The Puggles and Cubbies playing with their cars.

It was a great evening!

Sweet baby girl

2010-04-02T22:31:00.003-04:00

Kaitlyn's personality is coming alive! She is going to be one sassy girl! I have a few fun pictures of her lately.

Crazy hair in the tub...Michael did not like us laughing at his sissy :)

Kaitlyn and Samson watching the boys leave for a drive. Samson honestly doesn't care for her much because she enjoys pulling his tail and she still has not learned to be gentle with him.

Her first pedicure! It was a difficult task but worth it for some cute hot pink toes!

The girl ALWAYS has something in her mouth! This is a trophy from one of Michael's race car toys.

Usually Samson's kennel is up against the wall behind Kaitlyn in this picture. While I was helping her brother go potty, she decided to take Samson on a ride :)

I just love this age!

What happens when Michael sneaks the camera...

2010-03-22T15:08:00.002-04:00

A few recent pictures

2010-03-22T15:02:00.001-04:00

Fun with their friend, Parker

Our girl is getting so big!

Always with Mcqueen :)

John Deere threads

Kaitlyn's one year pictures

2010-03-19T15:37:00.002-04:00

For those of you not on Facebook, I thought I would share the link to Kaitlyn's one year pictures. You can order directly from the photographer; her prices are on the website.

www.sweetreflectionsphotography.com/lyons

Valentine Babies

2010-02-26T13:47:00.002-05:00

Michael and Kaitlyn before church...I was unable to catch them both looking at the camera

Checking out the Valentine loot from family

The living room after going through their Valentines

I enjoyed making these cupcakes for the kids...the hearts were for Puggles and the purple polka dots were for Kaitlyn's birthday.

Kaitlyn turned one!

2010-02-26T13:34:00.002-05:00

I know this post is a little behind, but better late than never! Our sweet girl is one year old! MeMa Jen and Aunt Hannah were here to celebrate her birthday with us. Here are some pics of Kaitlyn over the past month.

Cowgirl Kaitlyn

Her hair stuck straight up after trying her first ponytail...I guess she wasn't crazy about it since she spit out her milk :)

Kaitlyn trying out Aunt Hannah's curler

So, in this picture Kaitlyn was not sure what to think about her birthday cake

Then it turned to screaming mad! Oh well, I guess she is not going to be a strawberry cake girl.

Happy Birthday Sweet Kaitlyn! You are such a blessing to us!

Snow babies!

2010-02-07T21:58:00.000-05:00

These pictures are one week late, but I did try to upload them last weekend (something was wrong with blogger). We had around 5 inches of snow last Saturday. Even though he was VERY cold, Michael loved playing in it! Kaitlyn and Momma only stayed outside for a little while.

What we woke up to on Saturday morning

Michael was asking for help to get out of the snow...there was a big drift against our garage.

Michael was a big help shoveling!

Sissy riding her brother's tractor...look closely, she has pink John Deere boots on :)

The snow was pure powder, so I decided to make snow cream for the first time. It tasted a lot like homemade vanilla ice cream.

Michael and Kaitlyn both loved it!

Michael pictures

2010-01-26T09:00:00.000-05:00

Michael is also growing up so fast! We are so proud of his recent potty training...we are still having a few nap and night time issues, but he is doing great! He likes to wear his Lightning McQueen underwear. The picture above was taken on one of his last days of wearing diapers...he got John Deere boots and a tool belt for Christmas :)

This picture is an example of the "king" treatment he received while we were in GA over the holidays. Eating crackers straight out of the box while sitting on the kitchen counter with PaPa!

January snow days...it was actually a good week to have snow because we potty-trained that week and did not need to leave the house.

Still wearing his hat inside

I tried spiking his hair one night last week. Quite often I have pictures of him pointing at the camera like this...he wants to see himself or whatever he is holding at the time on the camera after I take his picture. He is going to think his parents are so old because they did not have digital cameras at his age :)

11 month pictures

2010-01-25T09:00:00.000-05:00

This past year has flown by! Kaitlyn will only be a "baby" for a couple more weeks. She brings so much joy to our family. Here are some pictures of our little girl over the past month.

I do not know what she did in her crib during nap time one day, but this was how I found her. I had to snap a picture of her crazy hair!

Southern girls love monograms :)

I love seeing our little ones sleeping...I think it is cute when they put their little rear-ends up!

Kaitlyn chews on EVERYTHING! She loves her brother's cars, but cannot have them due to the small parts...I had to catch a picture of her playing with one in her mouth before taking it away.

I love her in Zebra!

This was last week at breakfast on her first morning without a bottle. We have made the switch to table food, whole milk and sippy cups. She is doing everything much faster than her brother!

Brother and Sister

2010-01-24T13:00:00.000-05:00

I just love how my two little ones play so well together these days (well most of the time :)

Packing for Georgia

Laundry helpers

Playing with their new house

Kaitlyn thinks Michael's "Cars" sofa bed is hers!

They love laughing at each other. These two are such a blessing...I am trying to treasure this time because it is going by so quickly!

What happens when you have a big brother?

2010-01-23T13:58:00.002-05:00

Your Cabbage Patch doll wears a tool belt!

Michael did this on his own by the way :)

I LOVE having a little girl...

2010-01-23T00:26:00.003-05:00

...because girls can wear tu-tu pajamas!!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T22:30:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas! We continued some traditions in the Lyons' house this year. Our day started out with a breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, sausage and eggs. After breakfast, we read the story of Jesus' birth. Then, we let the kids see their presents...Michael took off running once he noticed there was a tractor by the tree :)

Michael at breakfast

Kaitlyn followed her brother to his toys. We had to show her where her girlie things were.

She loves her new stroller!

Checking out his stocking

Having fun with the new house

Riding his new tractor from Nanny Moore

Michael was not feeling well today and was tired so he tried out his new chair/bed from MeMa and PaPa Slade

The Clarks came over for supper again this year and we had a great time! They even brought a honeybaked ham for us :). We decided to do a photoshoot and got a pretty good picture of our family.

This was the best picture I got of the four kids (Michael, Kaitlyn, Brady, and Bryson). I think they had a good time playing together tonight.

Me and Suz

We are such a blessed family and have so much to be thankful for this year!

Christmas Eve 2009

2009-12-25T22:08:00.004-05:00

We enjoyed spending time as a family together this Christmas! On Christmas Eve, we went to Chuck E. Cheese's. The kids loved it!

Michael loved the tractor, and wanted to "hold Sissy" while he rode it...we spent the majority of our tokens on this!

Kaitlyn drawing on the sketch game

Michael riding the racing horse

Michael and Daddy with the "toddler whack"...I'm thankful Ryan did not pull Michael's arm off while trying to win the game!

Kaitlyn having fun with the mirror

Our sweet babies before bed in their Christmas jammies

After the kids went to bed, Ryan and I put together their toys. We had so much fun and were probably more excited than the kids!

The end result :)

Christmas threads

2009-12-23T09:32:00.002-05:00

My kiddos were given lots of Christmas clothes this year, so I tried to get pictures each Sunday before or after church.

Playing tug-of-war with Samson's leash after church

I think Kaitlyn's pink dress is my favorite

All dressed up in red

I thought this was a sweet picture

My Nanny Moore bought this dress when I was pregnant with Michael before I knew whether he was a boy or girl. It was a little short, but I was glad she got to wear it :)

December silly kids pics

2009-12-23T09:23:00.005-05:00

We have been inside a lot this month due to cold weather, so our kids have been a little creative :)

Kaitlyn enjoys playing in front of the door when we have it open (we have a glass door too)

Michael giving his Sissy a kiss while riding the truck...he is a sweet big brother

Oh my, his fashion sense is crazy!!! Socks with sandals, my red hat, and his sunglasses!

Michael's new love...muffins (he calls them "fuffins")

Kaitlyn making a mess with a piece of bread :)

Michael likes to "hold Sissy." This picture was taken one night before bed

Michael likes to get "horse-back rides" from Momma and Daddy; we are still trying to teach him that he cannot ride Sissy!

Our Monkey, he climbed on the table and got in his sister's seat when we were trying to get ready to go somewhere one night

They both love to play in their toy bucket; after Michael empties it out first!

Michael went through a week of wanting to wear a hat all the time...this was how I found him after nap one day :)

I love these two kids so much!

Christmas fun

2009-12-23T09:15:00.003-05:00

I have slacked off on my blogging this month, so I decided to catch up before Christmas. This month we have done some fun Christmas things...I just LOVE this time of year! We went to the Bardstown Christmas parade, the Mega Cavern's Lights Under Louisville and Christmas in the Park in Elizabethtown.

It was a cold night for the parade, so we had to bundle the kids up!

Michael's favorite part was receiving this balloon!

My favorite part was getting all of the freebies...this beautiful head-piece, a t-shirt, 5 coupons for a free subway cookie, and 2 coupons for free loaves of Whitewheat bread

Kaitlyn bundled up

This was my favorite picture from the Mega Cavern...since we were underground the pics did not turn out so great of the lights

Sunday morning pictures

2009-12-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

I like to take pictures of the kids on Sunday mornings when they are dressed up. This past Sunday, Michael asked for his hat when I came in his room to get him out of bed. He wanted it on his head until he got into the nursery at church then took it off...so he had bed-head this week :)

Eating breakfast with his hat

This is one of my favorite outfits on Kaitlyn. I got it last year at the end of the season from Gymboree. Stephanie from Brilliant bows made the bow to match.

Michael chillin after church while watching Little Einsteins...he is turning into a little man so fast!

Kaitlyn's first sips of juice

2009-12-03T09:00:00.000-05:00

Kaitlyn can now drink juice from a sippy cup. I was giving her water and she would just play with her sippy cup, but she would keep getting her brother's which has some juice added to it :). She now likes it but I guess she thought it was sour at first.

Cutie

Taking some sips

She would make this face, but want more!!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T23:21:00.000-05:00

We had a great week last week visiting with family. Here are some pictures in no particular order.

MeMa Sue and PaPa brought Michael "Mac" from the movie Cars and he rarely put him down all week!

MeMa and Michael reading...she was impressed with his new vocabulary since our last visit

These are the Thanksgiving projects we did this month.

Settling down before nap time (aka "happy hour")

Michael LOVED riding in PaPa's truck and he hated to see it leave at the end of the week

PaPa and Michael were best buddies all week :)

We are such a blessed family with much to be thankful for!

Sweet kids

2009-11-28T21:42:00.000-05:00

Here are some various recent pictures of Michael and Kaitlyn:

Bathtime!

Kaitlyn's crazy face she makes when she makes a loud sniffing noise (I don't really know how to describe accurately what she does :)

Michael finger painting. It went much better this time...the first time around he did not like getting his hands dirty

Michael loved playing with the big leaves from our back yard this fall...we tried to do a little craft with them

Michael watching Cars with his buddy Parker. Michael asks to watch Cars numerous times everyday...he loves it!

Michael reading

2009-11-22T14:00:00.002-05:00

Michael loves to read Barnyard Dance. I was able to catch him on video one day this past week. If you watch and wonder why he keeps lifting up his arm, it is because his sleeves are too long :)

November backyard fun!

2009-11-21T21:22:00.003-05:00

We have had a warm November in Kentucky and the kids have enjoyed playing outside...I am dreading the upcoming cold winter months.

Michael practicing his tricycle skills...hopefully he will be riding by himself soon

Wagon ride

Cruising on his truck

Swinging with Daddy

Michael enjoyed putting grass on top of his sister's head :)

Sweet Kaitlyn loves to play in the grass and eat leaves

Our little ones!

2009-11-07T19:50:00.002-05:00

It amazes me how quickly these two kiddos are growing up! Here are a few recent pictures.

Michael showing Kaitlyn how to use a sippy cup (she just chewed on it)

Kaitlyn now LOVES to play with Samson :)

Two kids and a load of laundry!

Our daughter looks quite funny when she smiles these days since her two front teeth have not come in yet!

Like I said on my last post...getting a good picture of the two of them together is a hard task these days! I thought this one showed reality though :)

Trunk or Treat

2009-11-06T19:53:00.003-05:00

Last weekend we had a great time at the annual Trunk or Treat at church. Costumes were easy this year...UGA football player and cheerleader :)

Daddy helping Michael get his candy...Michael loved the mini M&Ms!

Momma and Daddy with their sweet girl

Pictures are getting harder to take of the two of them together...this was the best I could get

Michael sharing his basket with Sissy

He enjoyed playing with the cones

Riding on a St. Bernard...she is a little bigger than Samson :)

St. Simon's Island

2009-10-09T22:24:00.007-04:00

After Michael's birthday party, Ryan came back to KY and I, the kids and the MeMas went to St. Simons Island for a mini vacation. It was actually a relaxing time and a lot of fun! Here are some pictures of the trip in no particular order...

Michael using a HUGE spoon at the Gnat's Landing. He loved their cheese grits...and momma did too :)

This was the Lyons' first trip to St. Simons, so the beach was very different to us since we are used to the Gulf (Destin). Michael loved it! The tide came in at night and made little spots of water that Michael could play in each day. He loved climbing this ridge.

His shovel and bucket

Kaitlyn was not so sure about the sand

Kaitlyn and MeMa Jen

Michael enjoyed playing at this playground near the pier.

The condo had kid-sized chairs and both kids liked sitting in them

Michael's cars...he takes them everywhere!

Another picture at the park...we went every night for Michael to play

Kaitlyn had so much fun seeing herself in the mirrors on the closet doors :)

Michael getting dirty in the wet sand!

Smiling sissy

This screened in porch at the condo was a life saver! I think Michael would live outside if he could, and the porch made him feel like he was playing outside

Kaitlyn and MeMa Sue at the park.

Thanks Uncle Lance and Aunt Toni for letting us stay in the condo! We can't wait to go again next year!

Michael's birthday party

2009-10-09T22:17:00.002-04:00

I can't believe our Michael is 2 years old!!! We had a little family party for him in GA a couple of weeks ago. He had a good time...and got a lot of new toys :)

His cupcakes...his party was a truck theme since he LOVES trucks!

Eating hamburgers and doritos...he probably had more doritos than hamburger that night

Lots of presents...our family was very gracious to him!

Time for the cake; if you don't see a flame on that candle, it's because there is not one! We could not find any matches in MeMa and PaPa's house and no one had a lighter. Ryan tried to light it on the gas grill, but it did not last...oh well.

PaPa giving Kaitlyn her first taste of icecream. She loved it of course!

Making Pudding on Gameday

2009-09-18T12:00:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday was of course a Georgia gameday in the Lyons' home. Here is Miss Kaitlyn in her cute pink Georgia gear.

Michael made pudding before the game...stirring

Playing with utensils while waiting for pudding to set

Loving it...even though his face says he is not so sure about it

The past three mornings he has asked for pudding when he wakes up :). I do have to say it is pretty good (Jello brand cookies and cream)

A day at the Park

2009-09-17T20:12:00.001-04:00

We enjoyed an afternoon at the park this past week.

Michael's favorite part was the tractor :)

Here is Kaitlyn drinking her bottle by herself before we left. This new development has made my life a little easier!

She also now enjoys climbing on the sofa cushions...she is growing so fast!

Our sweet children

2009-09-12T23:13:00.001-04:00

Here are a few pictures I took of Michael and Kaitlyn one day after nap time. I was a softy that day and let Michael get in Kaitlyn's bed. I love how sweetly they play together :)

Recent pictures

2009-09-07T15:46:00.002-04:00

Here are a few pictures taken over the last couple of weeks. These two keep me on my toes!!!

The result of Michael being left alone with laundry...maybe one day he will fold it for me!

Kaitlyn dressed up for church...she is so fun to dress up!

What Kaitlyn did to the bow and headband on the way home from church :)

Michael enjoying the outdoors...I hear the word "outside" MANY times a day!

Daddy and Michael feeding the birds at the zoo this past Saturday. They had a good time!

Visit from Flurrys

2009-08-24T20:37:00.000-04:00

We had a big treat last week...the Flurrys came to visit!! The Flurrys are our good friends we met in seminary and had not seen them since they moved to Texas 2 1/2 years ago. We also got to meet Karis for the first time, who is such a SWEET little girl! She was born just 12 days before Michael. We miss them all dearly!!! The first evening they were in town, we were able to meet up at Emily's house for pizza and catching up. The Clarks and Zetterbergs were also able to come.

Karis and Bryson enjoying pizza and Cheetos
Kevin (the Zetterbergs' newest addition) and Mr. Brady (Kaitlyn's umbrella friend...see post below)
The kids seemed to really enjoy playing with Lerran's water table...thanks for sharing Lerran!
Jaimie enjoying one of my homemade cookies...actually they were from Sam's, but were still really good!
The girls and all of the little ones. When we all first met there were no babies...now there are 11!
On Monday, we went to eat breakfast at Lynn's Paradise Cafe and then headed to the zoo. This is a picture of Michael and Karis reading together before leaving that morning.
Our little fork and spoon
Karis was looking good in her sunglasses!
Karis loved the Splash park...Michael was quite timid that day (good thing the Splash park is free with our zoo membership :).

We had such a great time with the Flurrys and hope it's not 2 1/2 years before we see them again!!

Day at Suzanne's

2009-08-24T15:54:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago the Lyons family had a fun playdate at our friend, Suzanne's, house. Michael and Bryson played in the frog pool (much cooler than our plain plastic one)!

Brady held the umbrella to shade Kaitlyn from the bright sun...he's a little gentleman! Kaitlyn was not very good at sharing the pack-n-play area with him though. She is in the stage where she tries to eat everything in sight...including Brady! I guess I need to work on her not being so aggressive :)

Family photo shoot

2009-08-22T16:44:00.004-04:00

Here are some shots from our photo shoot this morning. The original plan was to just get pictures of Miss Kaitlyn for her 6 months pictures, but we figured Michael was close enough to two and we could go ahead and knock out the family shots as well. Taking pictures with two kids is a lot of work; I don't know what we will do when there are more! Just for the record, Michael is holding his Tonka Tracker...there was NO way we were going to make him try to part with it!

6 Months old!

2009-08-12T14:00:00.000-04:00

Our sweet baby girl turned 6 months old on the 11th...it is amazing how fast time flies by! She brings so much joy to our lives. She has a smile that melts our hearts, rolls and scoots to wherever she wants to, and LOVES playing with Michael. I think she is very close to crawling and has already cut two teeth.

Destin, FL 2009

2009-08-11T15:57:00.000-04:00

We had so much fun in Destin this year...it was a little more work than the old days before kids, but we know we will miss these days when our little ones are older!

Our favorite seafood restaurant this year was not fancy, but very good. It was Dewey Destin Seafood. If you are ever in the Destin area, it is a great place to eat.
Michael loved the fried pickles at Cheeseburger in Paradise!
Ryan and I had a few date nights while we were away...thanks MeMa and Papa! This is the hole in putt-putt that really did Ryan in (he scored an 8...we were not playing with a stroke limit because HE chose not to :). Just for the record, I still would have won even if we only counted 6.

The boys

Michael working very hard to help his daddy push the chairs and umbrellas down to the beach. He would work up a sweat everyday, but he loved it!

Kaitlyn enjoyed the pool more than sitting on the HOT beach! MeMa stayed inside with her for a lot of the trip

If you enlarge this picture, you will be able to see a shark in the water. We were glad we were able to view it from the balcony instead of from the water!

MeMa and Papa at dinner one evening It was tough getting a good family shot. This one was the best...oh well!

I know his trunks are big, but I got a great deal on them at the end of the season last summer and was determined for him to wear them :O)

Kaitlyn and MeMa...they were best friends on the trip because Michael pretty much just wanted to be with dada and papa. He was not interested in the girls too much!

It rained one day and Michael may have had more fun playing in the rain than on the beach! Now I'm going to have to figure out a new excuse for why we can't go outside when it is raining!
We always enjoy playing Spades on our beach trips. My dad and I came ready to play on the last night. I hate to admit it, but the Slades won the tournament.

We are looking forward to next year already!

Visit from MeMa Jen and Aunt Hannah

2009-08-11T12:00:00.003-04:00

Before heading to the beach, MeMa Jen and Aunt Hannah came for a long weekend visit. We had a great time with them and enjoyed playing Rack-O, Phase 10 and eating cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory!

We had a fun trip to the Zoo. We made Hannah see how she measured up to a gorilla

Aunt Hannah with her niece and nephew

One day during naps, the girls watched Steel Magnolias (my fav) and MeMa painted my toes for the beach...look closely for the flowers :)

After we said goodbye, Michael helped with packing...as you can tell he was a BIG help! Beach pictures will be posted soon :)

Welcome home/Happy birthday Bryson!

2009-08-10T20:23:00.004-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, we were able to go to a party for our little friend, Bryson Clark (We had family in town, then went on vacation so I'm a little late with the post). Bryson was adopted from Ethiopia this year and we are so blessed to know him!

Bryson with his momma, Suzanne (my baby food friend mentioned in my last post)
Bryson was fun to watch...he loved the water!

His first birthday cupcake...we all felt sorry for him because it didn't have any icing! Suz claims it is because he doesn't like icing.

Michael enjoyed the hotdogs, doritos and cupcakes (with icing)!

Michael liked the big slide too and did NOT want to leave the party.

Homemade baby food!

2009-07-22T16:30:00.002-04:00

So, my friend Suzanne came up with this "great" idea a couple of weeks ago...we could each make homemade baby food and trade. She has a little boy that is only a couple of weeks older than Kaitlyn. My job is green beans and carrots, and she will be making peas and sweet potatoes. It was a rainy day here in Bardstown today, so I thought I would go ahead and get my food ready and put it in the freezer. If she had not put me up to this, I would have quit earlier in the day!! I've got it figured out now, and it will be much easier next time though :)

Cooking the Beans and carrots...the easy part!
I gave Michael some crayons and a coloring book to keep him occupied...it later turned into playdoh, which he and Samson both tried to eat!

My little food chopper was not "cutting it" so I had to resort to my magic bullet, which did the trick. I later heard giggling from Mr. Michael. I turned around and saw that he took some of the packaging from the bullet and thought it would be funny to put it around his sister's head!

Poor Kaitlyn!

My kitchen was nice and tidy before the day began...this was after! Since I saved lots of money today, I think I need a shopping spree!

Our two little blessings

2009-07-16T16:42:00.003-04:00

Here are some recent big brother, little sister shots. I just love how sweet they are to each other...hopefully this won't change!

Sorry we didn't get a good picture of Kaitlyn's face at the pool

Snuggling with daddy before bathtime

Kaitlyn, aka "Sissy"

2009-07-16T16:08:00.003-04:00

Miss Kaitlyn is already 5 Months old!!! I can't believe how fast time flies. Here are some recent pictures of our little girl.

She is quite the little roller...I put out two blankets to give her some more room one day and she still ended up on the floor!
Her 5 month picture in a new dress Showing off a new bow from Stephanie at www.brilliantbows.com

Ryan is going to have a fit when he sees this, but I just had to put it on here. This is my favorite bow from my recent order and for some reason Ryan actually let me try it on him :).

She loves her first baby doll...I'm determined to make her a girlie girl

Her beautiful smile that melts our hearts!

"Momma, How many pictures do you have to take of me?"

Kaitlyn with MeMa Su-Su (as Michael calls her) on a quick 4th of July trip

Michael Man

2009-07-16T16:00:00.002-04:00

Mr. Michael has been keeping me busy lately and is growing so quickly! He's quite the talker now. It's so fun watching him figuring out the world.

These are his two new hands. He takes these two vehicles EVERYWHERE!
Michael LOVES PaPa! Michael has asked for him everyday since he was here on the 4th of July

Michael's first trip to the neighborhood pool (look at the car and truck in his hands :)

He looks like a big boy with his hat on.

He currently has hand, foot, and mouth disease (which is bad news) and has not been interested in eating due to blisters in his mouth. He got to try popsicles for the first time this week...he liked it for about one minute then played with it

Here he is one day after sweating bullets outside. His hair was wet, so I just had to mess with it!

I love that smirk

Well, with his weight being below 30 lbs, he is supposed to wear a life jacket that has something in the back around his neck...the picture shows he was not a happy camper in it so it went back to the store and we found something else!

He LOVES putting on his daddy's shoes!

The picture says it all...the boy likes pasta

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T09:48:00.004-04:00

I want to wish my wonderful husband a Happy Father's day! I appreciate all he does for me and our little ones.

Here are a couple of pictures from after church today before daddy got home.
Michael made his daddy a "#1 daddy" crown today...

It did not last too long though! There were not enough staples to withstand Michael's hands!.

Lastly, here's a recent picture of daddy with his two babies on a typical evening at our house after supper. They LOVE their daddy! The gingerbread man by Kaitlyn is Samson's. He brings it to us all the time to play fetch with him. Ryan doesn't like to admit it, but deep down, he really likes ol' Sam :)

We love you daddy!!

GA Trip

2009-06-19T21:36:00.002-04:00

We made a Georgia trip a couple of weeks ago...and I'm just now getting around to posting about it, sorry! We had a great time and Kaitlyn made her debut to much of our extended family for the first time.

Check out these cute shades! I got two pairs for $5, but her brother will keep his on for maybe 1 second!
Michael loved being outside at my parents' house and someone always seemed willing to grant his request. Now that we are home, he is often disappointed when momma can't take him everytime he says "outside" so sweetly! The above picture is of him enjoying an indoor playroom at my parents' church on a rainy day. The picture below is of Michael and his Papa enjoying the wheel barrel.

We were able to meet our cousin Callie for the first time while we were in GA, she is just 6 weeks older than Kaitlyn. They both enjoyed the activity mat.

The Mommas with the baby girls

Random pictures

2009-05-16T15:34:00.002-04:00

Here are some recent pictures from the Lyons' house. Kaitlyn turned three months old this past Monday...time flies!

The dynamic duo!
Momma with her two little ones

Story time with daddy...the boy LOVES his dada!

Michael checking on sissy. She can already roll over both ways! She can sometimes become pretty vocal when she rolls on her tummy.

Michael working on p90x abs! He likes to copy me when I do workout videos. It's pretty cute when he tries to do squats!

Trying on a blazer I got on sale for next year. He's got some growing to do if it is going to fit him well.

A silly Michael face on our zoo trip this past Sat.

Bumbo

2009-05-16T15:30:00.003-04:00

Kaitlyn is already big enough to sit in her bumbo! Her brother has enjoyed playing with it as well.

Michael likes to sit in front of her and give her toys...then take them away!
Story time in the bumbo

Michael decided to try the bumbo on the couch too

Mother's day/Baby dedication

2009-05-16T15:16:00.002-04:00

I had a great Mother's day this year! I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband who gave me a "mom's day out" last Saturday. Sunday was also baby dedication at our church. We have been participants two years in a row! Here are a few pictures from last weekend.

Kaitlyn all dressed up
Daddy giving his little girl a kiss

A family picture before the service (Michael was in the nursery)

Our sweet boy

Michael

2009-05-07T18:27:00.003-04:00

Michael keeps us on our toes lately. He also keeps us laughing! There is never a dull moment at the Lyons' household!

Here is Michael after a walk this morning. He and his buddy Parker decided to take a nap.

One night while I was cleaning the kitchen, I noticed Michael was being quiet. I went to check on him and found him in his daddy's chair reading my Bible. He had ventured into our bedroom and gotten it out of my drawer. I let this one slide since he was reading God's Word!

Here he is again after I noticed him being quiet! He climbed in the chair, grabbed the whales off the table and went to town!

Momma's little helper. He enjoys using the swiffer, so I put a cloth on it and let him go clean!

Bathing sissy.

Finger painting flop! He didn't like getting his hands dirty!!

Kaitlyn

2009-05-07T18:21:00.004-04:00

Here are a few new pictures of our sweet Kaitlyn. She is growing so fast!!

Check out my first swimsuit!

Sweet big brother

2009-04-19T18:17:00.003-04:00

These pictures were taken before church this morning. I helped Michael put his arm around Kaitlyn in the first picture, but he laid his head on her in the second picture on his own. He is a pretty sweet little guy!

Sunscreen+nap=

2009-04-19T18:13:00.003-04:00

Michael played outside before taking his nap one day last week. I have to put sunscreen on him because of his fair skin and I always run a little bit through his hair so his scalp won't burn. This was the result after he woke up!

Easter pics

2009-04-14T14:31:00.005-04:00

We had a great day this past Resurrection Sunday! Here are some pictures of our little Easter bunnies.Michael holding the nail clippers. I had a little resistance from the little man when trying to trim his nails!

I had so much fun dressing Kaitlyn up in Pink! I hope my friend Ashley is proud!

Michael was NOT interested in looking at the camera Sunday morning. He was more interested in Kaitlyn's bow. He pulled it off of her head twice!

I thought this picture was humorous.

I even found pink shoes for Kaitlyn, but she did not grow into them for Easter. She ended up wearing socks instead. I thought they were too cute so I had to at least take a picture of them.

Kaitlyn is now smiling a lot. I'm not sure why blogger turns some of my pictures vertically, so if anyone knows how to fix this, please let me know!

My parents gave the kiddos a radio flyer wagon for Easter. Michael loves it! I'm sure Kaitlyn will one day soon too.

Michael got play-doh from the Easter bunny. He was more interested in the containers! I guess he is still a little young.

Crazy Michael

2009-04-10T14:35:00.004-04:00

Michael is in such a fun stage right now! Here are some pictures of humorous things I've found him doing in the last week.

Locking himself in Samson's kennel

Helping me with laundry
Putting his stuffed animal friends in Kaitlyn's seat and rocking them

Helping me clean the kitchen (I had just wiped off the refrigerator)

Babysitting his sister

Trying to walk in his daddy's shoes

He lines up his vehicles everyday. There are usually two more in the line, but I had to take a picture of him while he was sitting on his truck that he rides through the house at blazing speeds!

Playing with the oven mitt. Sorry the picture is a little blurry, but he was enjoying moving his arm around while I was trying to take a picture.

There's no telling what I will be posting when Kaitlyn is walking around with him!

Zoo day

2009-04-10T14:19:00.002-04:00

Last week we went to the zoo again with the kiddos. We had a good time, but it was crowded due to spring break and beautiful weather.

We loaded up the kids in our mini-bus!I'm putting a picture of this ant-eater looking animal on here because when Michael saw him he whispered "Samson." He was a little confused!
Michael checking out a bird walking around the zoo

This is what Kaitlyn did the whole trip!

Michael and Kaitlyn

2009-03-30T15:25:00.005-04:00

Here are a few new pictures of the little ones in our house. We are so blessed to have two sweet kiddos!

Look closely and you will see that Kaitlyn's socks are actually UGA socks!

Sweet girl!

Michael is trying to be sweet and Kaitlyn is a little nervous!Michael, aka "Mr. Mischief." Here he is just playing with toys, but below you will see a different side.

Here he is after spilling a glass of water on himself. Granted it was our fault somewhat because the water was left on our nightstand.

Here he is after figuring out how to open his toiletry bin.

I like for him to play alone in his room, but today I found him like this! I can't take my eye off of this kid for a minute!!

Springtime

2009-03-25T13:10:00.004-04:00

We have been enjoying the beautiful spring weather up here in KY! Michael loves the outdoors. We have been going on walks in our BIG double stroller and Michael always wants to play in our backyard when we get home. Here are a couple of recent photos.

He enjoys playing with the rocks

Our daughter is not as fond of the outdoors just yet and enjoys exercising on the activity mat instead.

Michael decided he wanted to lay on the floor next to his sister during her tummy time; he's a pretty sweet little guy!

I took this picture after church on Sunday. It's a little difficult to get a good picture of the two of them together!

Happy St. Patrick's day!

2009-03-17T10:11:00.003-04:00

Here are a few pics of our kiddos this morning. I was sure to have them in green today so that they would not be pinched by their daddy like I was this morning!

Michael is sweet to his sister!
We have a hard time finding pants that fit Michael. This is the result after a few minutes of playing.The same result occured on Saturday morning!

A few new pics

2009-03-11T14:42:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately; things have been a little crazy around the Lyons' household. We recently enjoyed a visit from grandmama. She came up to take care of the kiddos while I was in the hospital with a kidney infection and kidney stone. We were able to keep her for over a week; she was such a blessing!

Grandmama and Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn enjoyed getting to meet Jaimie and Claire for the first time last Friday. They made a day trip down to Louisville to visit friends. We miss you James!

Here is Michael enjoying sitting in his sister's boppy and reading a book.

Another crazy hair picture! This is how he looked after a nap last week. He's sitting in the chair in his sister's room by the way. He doesn't have pink in his!

Sweet Ashley Flurry sent Kaitlyn her first bow headband. It's a little big right now, but we tucked it in for a quick picture.

Visit from Grandma and Aunt Hannah

2009-02-22T11:16:00.003-05:00

Last week we had a visit from Ryan's mom and sister. They were a big help with the kiddos!

Michael loved playing with his aunt Hannah. She was trying to exercise with a bender ball and Michael thought it would be helpful to sit on her belly!
He also enjoyed playing with Aunt Hannah's shoes.
Our sweet girl

She has a silly brother!! He had just given her a kiss, then started acting goofy when the cameras came out.

Grandma Jen

Best buds

2009-02-21T14:11:00.001-05:00

Here's how I found Michael and Samson this morning...

...Then it turned into this

World's largest diaper!

2009-02-18T17:19:00.002-05:00

While my parents were in town, they volunteered to keep the kids so Ryan and I could go on a date. They had a great time! It was such a great time that they forgot to change Michael's diaper. Pictured below is what Ryan found when it was time for bath. We got a big kick out of it!

Kaitlyn

2009-02-18T17:17:00.000-05:00

Check out Kaitlyn's hospital picture; here's the link:

http://www.baptisteast.com/portal/site/baptisteast/template.MAXIMIZE/babynet/?javax.portlet.tpst=29b7b2c5a702cf7146113510fa8320a0_ws_MX&javax.portlet.prp_29b7b2c5a702cf7146113510fa8320a0_viewID=proxy_view_secondary&javax.portlet.prp_29b7b2c5a702cf7146113510fa8320a0_wcproxyurl=http%253A%252F%252Fbabynet.baptisteast.com%252Fwebconnector%252Fdefault.asp%253Fgroup%253D52539&javax.portlet.begCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken&javax.portlet.endCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken

Kaitlyn is here!!

2009-02-15T11:45:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the delay in posting pictures of our baby girl. I couldn't get the pictures to upload at the hospital and things have been a little busy since we got home. We are so blessed to have two healthy children!Here's our little gal soon after delivery. She arrived 02/11/2009 at 11:51AM

Weighing in at 6 pounds 7 ounces

Michael is not too sure what to think about her!

We were thankful papa and grandmama were able to keep Michael entertained while we stayed in the hospital.

A big yawn!

I just love her bow! My friend, Stephanie Rogers, makes them and she made Kaitlyn some. Check out her website at http://www.brilliantbows.com/

She's ready to go home!

Big brother, Michael, is learning to be gentle with her. He likes to give her kisses.

Winter Storm!

2009-01-28T13:26:00.004-05:00

We have had some freezing rain, sleet, and snow over the past few days here in Kentucky. Last night we heard some strange noises outside and here is a picture of what they were (branches falling)!

Both of the trees in our front yard became causualties during the winter weather. We love being homeowners, but Ryan is not too excited about taking care of the mess! We were very blessed to keep our power though, because many people lost power in our area.
Samson is our great watchdog!

Since we have been confined to the house, I have started getting things ready for Kaitlyn's arrival. The above picture is of all the cute girlie things she got from people at our church.

Michael has been quite interested in all of the new things going on. He decided he wanted to sit in his old car seat after I got the Bundle Me washed and put back in for Kaitlyn.

He also helped with the laundry. I'm anxious to see how he handles things when Kaitlyn arrives!

Bedhead and Coloring

2009-01-22T14:37:00.004-05:00

There's not too much new going on with us right now. We've been inside the house a good bit due to the cold weather. Pretty soon we will be posting about the birth of our little GIRL though! Here are a couple of recent pictures of our little man. The first is a picture of Michael's bedhead one morning last week. He is in need of a haircut, but since I'm his barber, I want to wait until right before Kaitlyn comes to give him a trim.

Coloring is something new that Michael likes to do. He used to just try and eat the crayons, but now he will actually make some scribbles. I think he enjoys taking the crayons out of the box one by one and putting them back in more than coloring though.

Here's a picture of his first Valentine this year. He got it in the mail this week from his granny Lyons. She sent him a present along with lots of clothes she got for Kaitlyn. This picture was after a nap, so once again he had a little bedhead :).

We're ready for our little girl!

2009-01-10T18:47:00.004-05:00

We had an ultrasound this past week of Kaitlyn and she is doing great! Here are a couple of pictures. They are both of her face. She was yawning in the first one.

Her room is now ready! It was fun getting to pick out pink things this time.

December trip to GA

2009-01-08T22:52:00.005-05:00

After Christmas, we headed down to GA for a few days. We stayed busy visiting with family and had a great time. Here are a few pictures of our little man.

Hugging his new hairy dawg.

Kaitlyn will be ready to cheer on the Dawgs next football season (without Stafford and Moreno).

Michael likes his new caterpillar.

Having a little fun with daddy's Georgia visor

His favorite gift at his Grandma J's house was a plastic spiderman cup with a straw. He really loved the expensive items this year!

My boys wearing their new Georgia gear after church on Sunday.

We were very blessed in 2008!

Christmas Day 2008

2008-12-27T21:46:00.005-05:00

The Lyons family had a wonderful Christmas this year! We really enjoyed being in our home on Christmas morning.

Here are a couple of pictures of Michael right after he woke up. He didn't really know what to think of momma taking pictures of him that early in the morning.
Before presents, we enjoyed chocolate chip pancakes and then read the Christmas story from Michael's Jesus Storybook Bible.

Michael got a little messy.

His presents and stocking.

Michael hasn't been allowed to go behind the sofa where the tree is, so he was a little skittish about being back there. We took his stocking and toys over to his normal play area for him to enjoy.

His favorite toy was a $2 Nerf basketball. He played with it all day!

He kept trying to figure out how to hold everything that was in his stocking.

I had to throw a festive picture of Samson in! He's wearing my scarf.

Our friends, Rocky and Suzanne, came over for dinner and Suzanne made a yummy Derby pie. Michael started the day off with a chocolate-covered mouth and ended it the same way.

We are such a blessed family!

Merry Christmas Eve!

2008-12-24T20:18:00.005-05:00

We started some new Christmas Eve traditions today in the Lyons family. The first was a trip to Chucke Cheese's. Michael had a great time! He was much more into playing this time (he had just turned one year on his first trip). Also, daddy was with us this time and put tokens in the games.

He loves to drive!

The pizza was a pretty big hit as well.

Hanging out with Bob the Builder and daddy.

I guess he thinks momma is funny.

I love this picture. The Lyons boys are very intense about this game.

The second tradition we started was a trip to Elizabethtown, KY. They have a light display called "Christmas in the Park." It is really nice; we are going to try to go again next year. My pictures aren't so great because my camera battery was dying.

We let Samson come along since we didn't have to get out of the car.

Here are a couple of pictures I was able to get before the battery died. I'm charging it now so it will be ready for tomorrow!

Our First Snow in KY

2008-12-16T12:07:00.006-05:00

We woke up this morning to a snow-covered lawn. This is the first time it has snowed since we moved back to KY. I sent Ryan out to get some pictures of our house, then we bundled Michael up for a couple of pictures. He was not too thrilled. I think he felt like the kid on A Christmas Story.

Our front yard

Down our street

The pond in our backyard

Samson had to sport his sweater.
A couple of pictures with dad in the backyard before he had to go to work

Our garage is not organized just yet, so we are still parking outside. Poor Ryan had to clean off the car before leaving for work. Michael and Samson watched him from the window. I'm glad I am now a stay-at-home mommy and we can stay inside all day!

I'm back!

2008-12-05T10:47:00.005-05:00

Sorry for the delay in posts. We've been busy painting and moving into our new house! Here are some pictures of recent days.

Our little baby is a little man now!
Michael was a big help while momma was packing!

My parents came up for Thanksgiving week. They were put to work hanging pictures and new light fixtures. We gave them a couple of breaks though.

Michael had fun getting some extra attention from his grandparents. (He also had a visit from his Grandma Jen and aunt Hannah the weekend before. He had fun with them while we painted the house. We were so busy that I didn't get any pictures. I'll have to borrow some from grandma J later).Here's grandma Sue checking out the sale papers for Black Friday.

Michael really enjoyed going through the sale papers as well!

He now loves pooh bear. Here's his Christmas pooh. He would not put it down during his afternoon snack (grandma was feeding him and grandmas don't like it when their grandkids cry)!

More snuggling with pooh bear.

It has become very chilly recently so we had to get out Ryan's hat for him to wear when he runs outside. I thought it would be funny to try it on Samson...

... and Michael

Samson's late costume and our crazy little boy

2008-11-05T16:33:00.004-05:00

Michael and I went to Walmart this morning for groceries, and I could not resist the half-off sale on dog costumes. Here's Samson sporting the "hot-dog." Maybe he can make a "Trunk and Treat" appearance next year!
Here's a picture of our crazy little man. We aren't really sure what he is doing, but we found him this way one afternoon this week. I think he might be trying to climb the chair side ways.

"Michael Monkey"

2008-10-31T21:19:00.004-04:00

We had a "Trunk and Treat" at our church tonight and Michael dressed up like a monkey. We had a great time and there was a big turn out from the community!

A couple of pictures with mom and dad before heading out.

Ryan was greeting everyone as they came in and registered, so Monkey and I strolled around and got a little bit of candy. A couple of the cars had Goldfish, which he loved. One of our church members brought their Bulldog. Eventhough his name was Bruiser and not Uga, I still had to snap a picture.

The Coulters dressed up as Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber. Hopefully Mrs. Palin will be smiling on Tuesday!

Michael chatting with his ladybug friend, Alexis.
There was a tractor at one of the cars. We tried to get a picture, but Michael was not very interested.His favorite part of the night: playing with the "see n say" in the nursery while we waited on daddy to finish up.
We had a great time at our first "trunk and treat." Next year will be much more interesting because Kaitlyn will be out of the womb; we will definitely need a double stroller!

Various pics

2008-10-29T15:46:00.004-04:00

Michael started sitting in his big boy carseat last week. Here is a picture of him on his first ride forward-facing.

This picture is of Michael in his PJ's. I tried out the seat in the house before installing it in the car. He even watched TV that morning strapped in his seat!

More UGA threads!

Here's a picture of the twins. Maybe Kaitlyn will look something like her Momma!

Michael still loves playing in pillows when I make up the bed.

He has started to love holding his books. This table was mine when I was a little girl. Michael seems to like it too. He won't be having any tea parties though!

This is his new goofy wave. He also does this when he is trying to say something. I guess he talks with his hands like his daddy!