Landry Grace's New Do!

Well, we made it through our haircut this afternoon. Matt and I decided last week that we needed to do something drastic or she would continue to pull her hair indefinitely. I wasn't high on doing it at the salon downtown due to so many people being there and I thought I would be emotional about it, but God provided a safe haven in which I didn't have to worry about anyone else watching.

A friend that I graduated from high school with, Angie Taylor, does hair at home and our children go to MDO together. We ran into each other on Tuesday and as we were talking she said she could cut her hair if I'd like....God provides. And yet I haven't been emotional at all about the whole process since we just decided to do it. That doesn't mean that I didn't cry last week, but since the decision was made I never looked back. This truly has been a learning lesson for me in that I now realize what is truly important and that is Landry Grace's well-being.

Angie did a super job and so did LGT. Poor Angie had hair all over her floor as she had to shave it while Landry stood there but the cut turned out pretty good. Landry Grace did get a little frustrated on the way home when she realized she could no longer pulled it but that is going to happen for a little while.

I must say that although this might be trivial to some, when you are going through even minor issues such as this with your children it is all consuming. Perhaps the Lord is preparing me for something much bigger later in life or just around the corner. But that being said, I truly appreciate all of the comments, calls, FB messages and such. So thank you and your prayers have been felt. I cherish the friendships that have been made and made stronger through Internet and in-person.

And thanks again to Angie. Landry Grace will have your picture along with her hair in the baby book:)!!

Ruston Buddies

Thought I would post something "uplifting" tonight to make up for my last dreary post! We have been on the go most weekends as fall is such a busy time of year. Thought I would post some pictures of our most recent happenings. These aren't the greatest but you get the idea.
On to more our happenings, we decided to put Jake at MDO since they had a spot for him. He will be going there 2 days a week just to have a change of scenery, learn some new things, and to be there the same days as his sister. Somewhere in all of this I told him he would be able to play in the gym while at MDO and he has been asking to go ever since. God love the teacher(Mrs. Melanie) that gets him tomorrow. He will ask about the gym until they get to go. And after I pick them up tomorrow we are headed to Barnes for LGT to model for a fairy shoot they have going on. I almost decided not to do it but thought "why not?". The fact that she doesn't have much hair on the left side of her head doesn't mean she isn't precious. So that will be something fun for her and I to do together. And just to brace you, we have decided to cut her hair. For a month I have firmly stated that I would never cut/shave it, but after doing research and talking to countless people, we feel that it is the only way to BREAK the habit. Everything else we're trying to do was masking hwe hair pulling for moments of time. So I have shed my tears and come to the conclusion that this is an obstacle we will get over and move on. Just had to say it.

Celebrating Landon Hall's 3rd birthday...so fun watching the boys trying to "help" him open up presents.

Kennedy was having her 1st birthday party with her brother....this wasn't the best shot but they wouldn't stay next to each other for long. Sweet Kennedy looked precious in her little monkey dress that day!

Hannah Lee, Katie Hall, and me at the birthday party.

Me, Mandy Brown, and Jennifer Sexton. We went to Genusa's in Monroe Saturday night for Jennifer's and Ryan Madden's birthday. Would have gotten a few more shots but my camera battery went dead. Bummer. Thank God for good friends.

Patrick Sexton, Nick Brown, Ryan Madden, and Matt at Tech's first home game.

And we are looking forward to Tech's Wednesday night game against Hawaii. Should be a fun one.

Landry Grace

So most of you know the issues we have been having with baby girl. And though I don't normally have pity parties, I am deciding that I have an excuse to have one. We have made some changes with the day care issue and she is no longer at Mrs. Dorothy's. Not saying it is any one's fault...but sometimes you just have to do what is best for your child. Jake is still there..he is fine. We have a sitter for Landry a couple days a week that comes to our house, so even though she did not know her, at least she is in a familiar environment. Twice a week she is going to MDO and her favorite nursery worker from our church is her teacher, so no new person to get use to there.( And Mrs. Glover said she had a wonderful day today and I was SO grateful for that plus Mrs. G came in early to stay with her during early morning drop off since it was LGT's first day. There is truly something to be said about wonderful people like her) And then mom and dad are keeping her another day. I do not think this will solve the problem but I do think we made the right move.

I took her to the pediatrician today who suggested that I put gloves on her hands at night to keep her from pulling out her hair. It seems to me that at night is when she does it the most. So tonight I did the dreadful and had to put a sock on her hand and then tape it so she couldn't get it off. I only did the hand she mainly pulled her hair out with until I went and looked on the video monitor and saw her yanking her hair with the other hand. So I had to go and fix her other hand as well. Now not only can she not pull out her hair but she cannot suck her fingers and I hate that I am taking that from her. This may be too much info for some of you and I know others aren't as open about personal things that go on behind closed doors. Yet I feel that this is something that needs prayer and therefore am telling you, not so that I can be judged. I have prayed and prayed and feel that we are taking the right steps to helping the problem, but it is so hard to watch Landry do what she is doing.

So please pray and I will let go and let God. Have a good night.

Shower for Jenny

Today we celebrated the upcoming arrival of Jared "Camen" Stowell who is due to arrive in late October. Jenny(in the polka dots) looks amazing at 33 weeks! I was never one who did pregnancy well!!! She is doing a cowboy theme, hence the cake. Has anyone else seen the explosion is cakes these days? The bigger/more expensive/elaborate the better, or so it seems. What a business the cake industry has going. I am already thinking about the kids' birthday party in December and what we will do for a cake...better to think ahead of time and be prepared. Yet I have to come to the conclusion that the more expensive does not always mean better. Creativity is the key, I think. And yes, I already have a theme: Mickey and Minnie in celebration of our summer trip to Disney World. Did not mean to veer off the subject, I just got to thinking about cakes after today. Jenny's certainly turned out very cute!


Carrie, me, Katye, Jenny, Melody, Emily(pregnant with another girl), Lacey, and Julie(pregnant with a boy)

Saturday Adventures

We have had an interesting day here in the Tyler household with no room for down time....!! Matt is in Annapolis at the LaTech game and currently headed to North Carolina for a pro football game tomorrow with the boss and co-worker. And while this trip has been planned for a while, it still is hard to go without Daddy's help for five days! My parents have been a huge help and I am thankful for that! And I certainly know it could be worse. Shouldn't complain but when you're in the midst, it is easy to have pity on yourself!
It was a pretty rough day early on as the babies were exhausted from Parent's Night Out last night and refused to take a nap this morning even though they fell asleep on the way home from the Tech cross country meet. I was at my breaking point when they finally went to sleep around 2 pm. I told Jake that I would take him to the pet store if he took a good nap. He slept for 3 hours so I had to follow-up on my promise. The pictures are out of order but there were a couple of cute shots so I thought I would share them with you.
Ready for daddy to come home. Starting to think this marathon training might turn into half-marathon training as we just have a lot going on right now. That was a random comment. Had a bad run this morning so I had to throw that out there....

Landry Grace loves the puppy dogs!

They loved looking at the gerbils.....the workers didn't think their screams were that cute...oh well!

When we got home from the CC meet...do NOT be fooled by their closed eyes...they did not stay asleep for long after this picture!

They LOVED the puppy dog at the park this morning! We were there to cheer on a former athlete of mine who was running in the race.

Before we left I thought I'd try to pose them for a picture. Jake cooperated. Landry: not so much:)!

Calling all Tech fans!

These t-shirts and onesies are too cute not to post! I just ordered Jake both of these shirts with matching plaid shorts. My friend Amie Barr in Baton Rouge does them . Her blog is Same Monogram...look on my blog list to check out her website. She is very reasonable and can also do these in LSU colors. I am getting Landry a shirt made as well!

Road Trip and Labor Day

So sad that the holiday is ending, but we had a really good time taking Jake to Auburn this weekend and spending time with Landry Grace today while Jake spent some time with his Bossier grandparents. My mom tells me often how lucky we are to have so much help, and this I know. We truly are blessed with WONDERFUL grandparents on both sides who love to keep our babies. This I know and am so thankful for!
On to the trip...we left around 4:45 on Friday after school and headed east. We stopped to eat in Jackson and arrived in Montgomery around 11:45. Jake was a trooper and of course did great during the ride, but he was UP and ready to go by 6:45 the next morning. We headed out early and stopped at a sporting goods store to get Matt some shoes. We really thought the traffic was going to be bad and therefore wanted to get an early start. So we left for Auburn around 10am. Jake slept most of the way there and yes this was his ONLY nap during the day! No traffic that early but I heard it got bad around 2 or 3!
When we got to Auburn my cousin Chris had the "hook-up" for us as he rents a little apartment/hotel room for the season right on campus. So he had a parking spot for us and everything. We visited with the family for a bit and took off to check out the campus. May or may not have mentioned it before, but I did attend Auburn for part of my freshman year. I ran cross country there and decided to transfer to LSU-BR at midterm. It was a whirlwind year but I do have some memories there...it is such a beautiful place! I do keep in touch with my Auburn roommate Brianne and teammate Lindsay. Bri is quite the accomplished triathlete!! Check out her sight if you have time.
So we saw the sights, I reminisced a little, had some lemonade at Toomer's corner(it's famous if you know anything about Auburn) and did a little tailgating with cousin Chris, who is an Auburn fanatic and graduate of the school along with my aunt and uncle. We made it to the stadium and Jake really did well for the most part. We had a few breakdowns but nothing major, and he stayed awake until the fourth quarter until he sacked out in the stroller.
We made it back to Montgomery about 10:15 and took our time leaving the next morning. Halfway home Jake starting screaming that he wanted to go to GiGi and Papaw's house, so when they brought Landry Grace over to Ruston yesterday Jake went back home with them .
This morning I did half mile repeats on the track (insane I KNOW!) with my running partners and spent the rest of the day cleaning, doing laundry, and spending time with Matt and LGT. We have teacher in service days on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I am looking forward to easy days as we head back to school tomorrow. Matt leaves Thursday headed for Annapolis to see LaTech take on Navy with some friends. Sure wish I could take a girl's trip!! Sorry for the long and detailed story...some people might like it. Sorry for any typos I didn't catch!

Jake with some of his Dyson side cousins: Jake, Will, and Luke
Jake with 2 little girls that befriended him at the tailgate. They were precious and played with him!
Me with my dad's older brother, Uncle Jerry, Aunt Liz, and cousin Chris

Had to take a picture in front of the Auburn sign and infamous bell tower at Samford Hall....without getting the bell tower in the picture:)!
Quick family picture before the game....needed to clean my lens but you can see the majority of the picture OK!

OK...I know I am partial but he is the cutest thing!

Had to include LGT in this blog! She posed and smiled for me....unbelievable! I was really starting to think I had scarred my children from the camera, but maybe they are turning over a new leaf....!!!

Landry Grace and her sweet self after eating barbecue with my parents for Labor Day.

Enjoy the rest of your week!!