The Knight Family

A fun comparison

2012-01-11T09:07:00.000-08:00

Mommy and Angela

Daddy and Tyler

Dave and I were going through old pictures the other day and found these. Do you see the similarities? Like father like son, like mother like daughter?
We were pretty close to the same ages as the kids in these photos. I believe I was almost one and Angela is about 9 months, so pretty close. We are not sure how old Dave was in his photo but has to be close to age three we are guessing.

Olson Family Christmas

2012-01-09T14:16:00.001-08:00

We decided to take a break from packing and head to Newport Beach for a few days over the holidays. Olson's have always loved the beach, so it was perfect! We stayed on Balboa Peninsula until Christmas Eve day. We ate, played at the beach, rode the fairs wheel, took walks, and relaxed.

Super Grandma...had time to Wallpaper the bathroom, paint, unpack, cook, clean, do laundry, make appetizers for Christmas eve, make a roast for Christmas dinner, shop, play with the grand-kids, and still look beautiful:)

At "The Wedge" a popular body boarding spot. It was a little to cold to get in the water, but we enjoyed watching the waves.

Christmas Day we took a little trip to Hollywood to see Spiderman...and the Hollywood sign for the tourists among us:)

Newport Beach

Ty learned to skateboard on Dave's longboard. He asked Grandpa to take him out every day.

My beach bums:)

This is us anticipating Ally's arrival (Lucus's girlfriend)

Angela 8 Months

2012-01-07T20:57:00.000-08:00

Angela is a little giggle machine. She is happy all the time. She is crawling all over the place, pulling herself up to standing, waving bye bye, clapping(as of today), and eating finger foods. She weighs 19lbs. Now that she has her own room, she is sleeping through the night:) She is taking tow-three good naps every day. She has two teeth in the front on the bottom. We love our little Angel!

Everyone comments about Angela's long eyelashes. Here they are:) She gets those from mommy and daddy!

Glowing big brother...these days Tyler just loves his baby sister. They laugh at each other and interact quite a bit!

Check out the dimples on her hands:)

Bath baby!

She just reminds me of a little doll.

Our little princess

Merry Moving

2011-12-29T18:14:00.001-08:00

This was a VERY busy holiday season, but was awesome. We survived moving over the holidays with two children and no one got sick! We had visits from Grandma's and Grandpa's, Aunts and Uncle's, and friends. I hope were were good hosts, even though we were tired. We love the new house. The kids are sleeping better, we have more space to entertain and relax. We feel soooooo blessed! I am so thankful for everyone who helped us settle in. Special thanks to our mom's who we could not of done this without! I can not even tell you how appreciative we are for you being there for us in more than one way! To our One Voice family who moved us out of the old place and into the new place within two hours! You all rock! To the friends that unpacked the kids rooms, hung photos and got them ready to be welcomed to their new home...I am forever grateful!! Tyler was elated to be in his new room and it was already when he got here! So many people to thank. I feel so spoiled to have such great family and friends!

Sneak peak at the house and some Christmas photos:

Tyler's Closet (perfect for his new drum set)

Bathroom in Tyler's room (he already broke it in by putting a toy in it) That made for a nice visit from the plumber:(

Dining Room that we just finished painting(it was a lovely dark mauve/pink)

Half of Tyler's Surfer bedroom

Angela's Bedroom

Opening his drum set

The Little Princessess' first Christmas!! smiling as always.

Ty loves is little sister! They are great little buddies.

Lucus and his girlfriend Ally came from Denver to visit.

Grandma Knight came to help with the kids while we moved. We are thankful for all her help.

Christmas Eve at PazNaz Church

Merry Christmas

2011-11-30T20:19:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas to our family and friends!!! Blessings to you as we begin this advent season! Here is our most recent family photo thanks to Aunt Christy of Christy Speck Photography.

Hunting Season

2011-11-30T19:22:00.001-08:00

The Knight tradition stands...Hunting season...a weekend of no sleep, eating a lot, getting up early (4am for the hunters, which is 2am CA time), guns, scooter adventures and Grand-kid heaven. Grandma Knight cooked up her usually array of good eats. Grandpa Knight got all the tree stands out, even for the little guppers. They were prepared for the kids and the grand-kids to come to town. We played in the fall leaves, watched Great Grandma Aten's slideshow, and spent time with the family. Dave even got a dear this year, a nine point buck actually! I say even, because he waits for just the right one and some years he doesn't get one at all. The right one crossed his path this year. Dave and Tony had to drag it up a ravine and down a creek bed to get it out of the woods.

As Christy said, "Hunters in Training)

Cousins (Tyler and Carter)

Playing in Great Grandma Knight's pile of leaves

Don't they look happy to be all bundled up:)

The girls:) My little California girl did not know what to do with the cold weather.

She didn't sleep at night, but she slept in the car and traveled well.

Carter and Tyler wrestling with Dave

The nine point buck Dave shot and field dressed himself.

Ty's 3rd Birthday: Mickey Mouse

2011-11-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

Our little boy turned 3 yesterday! This was the first year that he really understood that it was his birthday. I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said, "a jumper". Since it is November and weather is unpredictable, we decided to have his party at an indoor playground called, Magical Playground....formerly known as the Magical Kingdom. Aka: Heaven on earth for a toddler. I think Disney may have made them change their name. Anyways, Tyler wanted to spend time with his friends, so we invited 17 of his little friends from church, class and other places to come and hang out at the Magical Playground. Also, some his favorite adults were there too. I asked what kind of cake he would like and he said Mickey Mouse. There you have it...Mickey Mouse theme!
Being the party planner that I am...I really enjoyed working on various details of the party. I made Ty and Angela Mickey and Minnie Mouse shirts. I made the Mickey Mouse cupcake cake and the Mickey and Minnie party hats. I enjoyed making it a special day for Tyler. He was so excited about his birthday.
It wasn't until today when things slowed down that I thought back to that blessed day, or two days it took to bring him into the world. Our lives were changed forever. I have been brought more joy and laughter the last three years from this little guy. It has not been perfect and we have our moments of tantrums, defiance, and strong willed attitudes, but so much joy! I would not trade him for anything. He is our little boo boo, little cuddle-bug, my now our big boy!

Ty's closest friends:)

This is all he wanted to eat all night...a chocolate cupcake!

He blew out all three by himself!

The roller coaster toy was a big hit!

Ty's new favorite thing...juice boxes.

Heaven for our ball of energy...a jumper!

Super Heroes Halloween

2011-11-14T14:08:00.000-08:00

I lacked inspiration for this years Halloween costumes, until the last minute. Literally:) Tyler wanted to be Spiderman, but I already had an angel costume for Angela. The last few years our tradition has been to so a family theme costume. Ty's first year I was a sherrif and the boys were my prisoners. Last year Ty was a tiger and Dave and I were Tarzan and Jane. This year we were all super heroes. Ty was Spiderman, Dave, Batman and me, Wonder women. Angel was an Angel which I was informed is a Superhero also:) We had Ty's costume, but the day of Halloween I was running around trying to find our costumes. Thanks to the help of Elizabeth Waters, I was able to finish mine right before we left trick or treating.

We spent the evening with Elizabeth, Ethan and Alethea Waters, Mat, Jenny, Jace and Sander Frary up in Sierra Madre. First, we went trick or treating, then we picked up pizza and went to PazNaz Harvest festival.
Elizabeth, Ethan and Alethea as the cheese and two mice.

Jace, Ty, Angela, Alethea, Ethan, and Sander.

Dakota and Ty

Angel, Batman, Spiderman and Wonder woman

Dave's Real Estate

2011-10-24T13:30:00.001-07:00

Over the past several years Dave's understanding and philosophy of ministry has evolved. He felt strongly about his calling as a pastor and had a vision for marketplace ministry. With the guidance our community and family he started a real estate business. He wanted to live a life of full-time ministry in the marketplace and do it in a way that it would not be a financial burden on the church. He wanted opportunities to meet people of all different backgrounds and use his skills in business. Let's just say he is thriving:) He is in the top 2% of the agents in his office for this year and was the number one agent for September 2011 (with over 220 agents in his office). He is asked to teach classes and speak at seminars. Several people Dave has met in the real estate world are becoming connected to our church community. In fact, one lady he met at the beginning is being ordained in our church!!! I am proud of him and appreciate everything he does for our community and for our family!

We are currently looking for a home in Pasadena. We would love to own and will eventually, but will probably rent for a year until we find a good fit. We would love to have more room for family and friends when they come to stay, as well as for hosting people at our home.

(above is a recent head shot I took of Dave overlooking the Rose Bowl)

Let us know if you know anyone looking to Buy or sell:) We always appreciate your referrals!
Dave Knight Real Estate

Angela 6 Months

2011-10-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday Angela was 6 Months old. Time has flown by even faster with Angela than it did with Tyler. Pretty soon we will packing her up and moving her to college. These last few weeks have been interesting to say the least. Angela developed a rash two weeks ago and we are still not exactly sure what it is. It is almost gone, but not quite. We have seen 4 doctors formally and two friends that are doctor. Each says something different. She seems content, but there are still a few spots on her back. We have been told everything from scabbies to a virus, to chicken pox, to hives, to Rosiola, to allergy whether food or contact allergy. I am trying to limit variables by washing clothes, clean a lot, giving oatmeal baths, not giving her any solids, and keeping her home as much as possible. I have ruled out chicken pox and scabbies. So, there are a few things left:( Besides that, we had her 6 month check up and she checked out great. Below are her stats:

Weight: 17 lbs. 2 oz. 60th percentile
Height: 26in. 60th percentile
Head: 44 in. 90th percentile

Angela is: babbling, jumping in her jumperoo, showing some anxiety being away from mommy, loving the mirror, sitting by herself and leaning over to grab things, scooting backwards, pulling her knees up like she is trying to crawl, chewing on her feet.
Angela is sleeping pretty well for her naps, but still gets up two to three times a night. She is still sleeping in our room, since big brother likes to play with her and we don't want her to wake him up.
Funny story: Tyler called me the other day and I turned around...he was standing there holding Angela, saying..."look mommy I holding her!" I told him that was not safe, but it was so cute:) He loves his sister. If I lay them on the bed together Tyler will give her a big hug and just hold her and kiss her. I know they won't be like that forever, so I will enjoy it for the moment.

Tyler is almost 3 years so we also had his check up. He was a brave little guys as he got his MMR shot. He was screaming before they even injected it, which made it hard. He is a healthy guys though. His stats are below:

Height: 37in. 80th percentile
Weight: 33lbs. 75th percentile

Grandpa and Grandma Knight Visit

2011-10-13T14:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Grandma and Grandpa Knight came to Los Angeles. Before they came we made a calendar that counted down the days until they came. We also made a list of things that Tyler wanted to do with Grandma and Grandpa while they were here. I think they accomplished everything and more on their list. It was really special because Grandpa sent Tyler three letter right before he came with pictures describing some of the things they have done in the past and what they could do this time. Tyler enjoyed opening them and reading the photos.
The very first thing on the list was that he wanted to go to Hollywood. They took Tyler last time they were here and he remembered. He wanted to go see Spiderman, Shrek and Mickey Mouse, so they did...twice:) They drove there one day and then the next day they took the train there and the bus home. Tyler was in heaven!
Angela also enjoyed Grandma and Grandpa's company. Grandma had fun rocking Angela and having some girl time together. She stayed with her a few times so that mommy could have a break and run some errands:)

Who knows, maybe he will be famous someday:)

Ty and Grandpa at Ultimate frisbee at Cal Tech. Grandpa likes to go take pictures of daddy playing his favorite sport.

Ty at Mickey's restaurant in Hollywood.

Yes...his shirt says...Knight in Shining Armour:) Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for all the clothes and good times in Hollywood!

October

2011-10-12T14:59:00.001-07:00

Angela's Baptism

2011-10-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday was the day we baptized out little angel. It was a blessed event, as she was baptized with three other girls...two of which are family friends daughters, Ada and Alethea. Infant baptism stresses the position of the child within the covenant community and we hope that someday she will make her own confession of faith. Angela wore the dress and bonnet that mommy were dedicated in when she was a baby.

Grandma and Grandpa Knight, and Josh Olson were able to be here for this special occasion. We appreciate them representing our extended family. Lots of friends came to support us also...Mrs. Daniels, The Frary family, The Wilder Family, The Child's family and our One Voice Church family. We celebrate with Tacos Chihuahua after wards out on the patio of the church temporary facility.

Bio from Program:

Angela Anne Knight made a fast and furious entry into this world on April 18, 2011. She was welcomed by her parents, Dave and Shelby, as well as her big brother Tyler (almost 3). Angela means “Messenger of God.” We chose this name as a permanent reminder of our prayer that she will be a heavenly messenger, with a vision for truth. With the world as her stage, we hope that she will dance for God, not the world, and will join with all Christ's believers in the most amazing celebration and dance. She is our little angel and is already ministering to us in many ways.

Rev. Paul Kim, Lisa and Lisa, Elizabeth and Alethea, Me and Angela, Alex and Ada

The photo that was in the program:) Doesn't she look like a little pilgrim baby:)

The song that was sung as a hope for the girls at the baptism:
I Hope you Dance by Lee Ann Womack

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat
But always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taking chances
But they're worth taking
Lovin' might be a mistake
But it's worth making
Don't let some hell bent heart
Leave you bitter
When you come close to selling out
Reconsider
Give the heavens above
More than just a passing glance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
(Time is a real and constant motion always)
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who)
I hope you dance
(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)
(Where those years have gone)

I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
Dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Time is a real and constant motion always)
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who)
(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)
I hope you dance
(Where those years have gone)

(Tell me who)
I hope you dance
(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)
(Where those years have gone)

Summers End

2011-09-17T15:58:00.000-07:00

It was a busy summer in the Knight household. We ended our last summer weekend with a baby shower, a rehearsal dinner, a photo shoot, and a wedding. We are now onto our fall schedule. This week we started up Tyler's Pasadena City College Mommy and Me class, Women's Bible study, and Preschool with Tyler's buddy Jace. We are not sending Ty to school yet, but wanted to do some intentional times to get him ready for it. MOPS starts this coming week also. This fall we are looking forward to Hunting season in Greenville, a day in Yucaipa(apple country) for fall festivities, babies on the way, Halloween at Paz Naz, and visits from grandparents...just to name a few!

Ty and Jace fishing during their "under the sea" theme lesson

Dave in front of City Hall after the wedding..doesn't he look like he means business:)

Labor day weekend pics continued...Newport Beach

Eizabeth is back...this was our first time going out without the kids:) It was to a wedding.

Newport beach...her second time to the beach

Water Baby

2011-09-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

We hit record breaking temperatures this week, so we spent a lot of time in the water. Angela enjoys being the water, like her big brother. Over labor day weekend we spent some time at the beach, which was surprisingly cool. Dave met the people that we stayed with through his office at Keller Williams. They have a beach house on Balboa Island and invited the whole family down. It was brave of them. They enjoyed the kids and we enjoyed the break:) The beach was beautiful. the swell was huge. Waves were so big, Dave did not even want to take Ty in the ocean and that says a lot for him:) Ty rode his first fair's wheel and played in his first arcade. The four of us stayed in one room and everyone sleep surprisingly well! Tyler enjoyed going out on the peir for the sunset. He keeps talking about seeing the sunset. He even asks if we can go see the sunset in the morning:)

Milestones for Angela:
She found her feet. She started squealing and experimenting with her voice. She is reaching for food.

This is Angela and her friend Alethea. They are just a month apart...Alethea is older.

Bathtime

Surfer Girl...daddy set her on the boogie board to get a feel for it early:)

August

2011-08-31T20:16:00.000-07:00

Angela 4 Months
Angela is almost sitting on her own. We had her 4 month well baby visit this month with a new doctor. Dr. Ruby Battin, a pediatrician. Angela did well for her second round of Dtap and Rotavirus vaccines. She had a mild reaction a few days after with a runny nose and a low grade fever, but overall she did well. She is a tough little cookie. She is in the 75 % for height and weight (15 lbs.). Her new accomplishments include: rolling over front to back and back to side, drooling through her shirts, laughing hysterically, imitating us when we talk, holding objects and bringing them to her mouth, holding her feet, and moving in a circle in the exersaucer. She is a good napper...better than her brother. She still is getting up at night a few times, but is easy to put back down when she gets up. Tyler loves to play with her. She follows him with her eyes and head to see what he is doing. When she starts to fuss, he goes over to her and says, "It's okay baby sis, it's okay!"

Tyler 2 years 9 months
A ball of energy...that is what Ty is! We went to an indoor playground today and I think he jumped in the jumper for two hours straight. He is very athletic according to anyone that has seen him riding his two wheel bike with no training wheels. Yes, you heard that correctly...no training wheels and he pedals and turns all by himself. He started with a balance bike, but has graduated to the real deal. See video below. He also has been learning to swim and will jump in and swim to us without floaties. He can also go down under the water to get dive sticks. He is pretty proud of himself. He right were he is supposed to be developmentally and is asking the question, "Why?" all the time:) Most of his friends are starting preschool, but a friend of mine and I decided to do our own. This month we are doing an "Under the Sea" theme. Ty loves arts and crafts, so we have been painting fish and waves, fishing for numbers, sorting shells, Singing fish songs, etc. If you didn't already know, Ty is potty trained now too. Some nights he still wears a diaper, but most nights he goes without it. It is such a relief to have conquered that so quickly.
A few weeks ago, Ty's best friend, Ethan(DeeDee) moved back to town. It has been so great spending time with them(Chris, Elizabeth, Ethan and Alethea) again.

We are one big happy family in my small little kitchen:)

Tour the midwest Part 3: Friends

2011-08-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

There is nothing in the world like a good friend! We are lucky to have many near and far:) We were blessed to have Paul and Anne Kim travel with us to Greenville this time. They were a huge help with the kids, as well as an encouragement to us both. Paul and Anne are Tyler's Godparents as well as our partners in ministry in Pasadena.

We don't have a picture of everyone that we visited or saw, but here are a few.

Brook Wayman, Dave's friend Rachel's daughter from growing ups .

Becca, Sophia, and Elise Carpenter all the way from China. It was amazing catching up with them in Greenville and Spring arbor. Boy how we miss them.

Sophia and TyTy

Paul and Anne with Angela on their first visit to the midwest.

Anne of the corn:) Paul's two favorite things...Anne and Corn:)

A little buddy that Tyler met, Brock. His mom is Jamie Foster(Koonce), who has been frineds with Dave since about this age.

Tour the Midwest Part 2: Family

2011-08-10T14:29:00.000-07:00

One of the hardest things about living in California is being away from our immediate family. We are so lucky to be able to travel and see everyone a couple times a year. We really look forward to our trip in the summer though. We call it Tour of the Midwest because we enjoy touring to see everyone and it involves a lot of stops. Stops in Grenville, stops in Fort Wayne, Stops in Indy, stops in Jackson and Spring Arbor, Stops in old friends homes, stops in favorite restaurants, stops in old shops, stops in both grandpa's offices, and more. We really appreciate everyone stopping by to see us also. It means a lot to us that people go out of their way to come see us and stop by even if it is just for a short while. It fuels our hearts and our ministry knowing that people care about us and pray for us. We are just so blessed to have family drive in from Florida, New York, Missouri, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Indiana. Thanks to everyone for your love!

Thanks especially to Grandma and Grandpa Knight and Grandma and Grandpa Olson for hosting everyone. You are all so gracious! We were really able to relax, take breaks and enjoy the company of everyone because of you! Thank for everything you guys do for us!

Grandpa Olson thanks for spending so much time with the kids in the pool and taking them for long bike rides. Thanks for wearing them out for us.

Grandpa Knight thanks for taking Tyler on long morning scooter rides. They will be were very memorable.

Grandma Olson thank you for always taking care of everyone, for helping with all the kids, for driving us all over, for making gourmet meals, and making it feel like home for us all.

Grandma Knight thanks for making Tyler feel extra special. He loved his room and all the new toys. Thanks for your hospitality to us and our friends.

This is Lucus and his awesome girlfriend Ally. whom we met for the first time. She is really perfect for Lucus and not to mention adorable! Poor girl had a broken foot and was still playing with the kids.

Uncle Lucus and his four nieces and nephews.

Angela at bathtime.

Family Photo

All the cousins together. They sure had a blast, swimming, biking, swinging, having meals together, even sleeping in the same room together one night. They got up extra early that morning, but it was fun for them.

Ang has cubby little legs we had to capture:)

Our baby girl:)

Great Grandma Olson got them matching swim suits

Enjoying their all fruit Popsicle on a hot day in Michigan.

Bree and Ty cuddling watching a movie after a long day in the pool.

Beautiful sunset on Bond County Lake in Greenville.

At Durley Camp boat dock while Grandma and Grandpa Knight watch the kiddos.

Tour the Midwest Part 1: Water Play

2011-08-09T13:52:00.001-07:00

We had fun in the sun on this tour of the midwest. Tyler was a little fish. We went on all sorts of water adventures. He has no fear.

Ty jumped off the diving board for the first time

Was swimming on his own, underwater for the first time. He still can't keep his head up on his own without the lifejacket, but he is learning.

Swimming with his cousins was so much fun!

Swimming in Governor Bond Lake with Daddy and Grandpa...thumbs up!

He can still do the circus trick.

One of my favorite pictures from the trip. Jumping off the Child's dock at the lake.

Taking his first jetski ride. Thanks to the Child's for letting us borrow their jetski.

The fun sprinkler Grandma Knight got for Ty to play in and squirt everyone with.

Ty trying out the wake skate behind Matt man's boat.

Angela 3 Months 4 weeks

2011-08-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

Angela has been a such a doll. She is babbling a lot now and it seems like whenever she is awake she is smiling. She weighs 14 lbs. now and wears a size three diaper. Seems like we skipped size 2 and went straight to three. She loves tummytime and can hold her head up really well. She can also sit up with the support of her arms. She can grasp objects and bring them to her mouth. She still loves her binky(a nuk pacifier). We broke out the exersaucer this last week and she has really been enjoying playing in that. She has even learned to turn herself around in it already. Her hair is lightening up...I think it will be blonde like her brother. Her eyes are still blue like Grandpa Olson and Grandma Knight.

Greats and Grands

2011-08-08T14:03:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of our trip to the midwest was getting to visit Tyler and Angela's Grandparents and Great Grandparents. As of now, They have 4 Grandparents and 7 Great Grandparents. What a blessing to have so much wisdom in one family. It was really special to be able to spend time with each of them and keeping up with the family Jackson and Knight tradition of making ice cream.

Grandma and Grandpa Olson and Grandkids

Grandma and Grandpa Knight

Great Grandma Aten- 88 years (almost 89)

Great Grandpa Knight- 84
Great Grandma Knight- 83

Left:
great Grandpa Olson- 79
Great Grandma Olson-76
Right:
Great Grandpa Jackson- 88 years
Great Grandma Jackson- 86 years

11 Weeks

2011-07-07T16:25:00.000-07:00

Angela is 11 weeks old now and weighing 13 lbs. She started laughing this week. Her eyes are still blue.
Here are a few random pictures from the last few weeks.

Ty's friend Reece.

One day Tyler drew this picture with no prompts. He said mommy come look at my b-ball picture. I was so impressed.

Right before naptime

Tuckered out at the 4th of July fireworks

Tyler and his buddy Jace at the Sierra Madre 4th of July Parade

Mommy and the kiddos watching the parade

All smiles..she is such a happy girl!

Our favorite grocery store just re-opened and they have these awesome new carts!

One of Dave's clients (the $1,000,000 place he just closed on) gave Angela this little dress

Father's Day at the Beach

2011-06-28T19:59:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was our second Annual Father's Day at San Onofre Beach. It is our new family tradition of gathering friends and family and heading down to our favorite Orange Country Beach. The hour and half drive was worth it. It was the only place in Southern California that was sunny that day.It was perfect...between 70-80 degrees. The sun peaked out from behind the clouds as we passed San Clemente and rounded the corner to San O. We grilled out brats and made smores over a bonfire after surfing. It was picture perfect. Even Angela had a great time on her first trip to the beach.
The only downer of the day was when a guys surf board fell on our car and left a nice dent in the side followed by a nice confrontation with a 17 year old kid.

Ty's other family:) The Way's

Katylnn and her favorite snack...she even shared them with Ty.

8 weeks

2011-06-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Angela is 8 weeks old. We had her second doctors appointment this week and the doctor said she was advanced..not sure why:) Maybe because she holds her head up well and can hold on to my finger.. She weighs 12lbs. 1 oz. and is in the 75%. She is 22.5 inches long and in the 50%. She is bigger than her big brother. Girls on mommy 's side of the family seem to be chubby...she is following in her cousins Bree and Dee's footsteps:) She also got her first DTap shots due to the outbreak of Whooping cough. With Tyler we started shots at 6 Months.

*all pics taken with my point n shoot:)

This year Tyler and I took a Mommy and me class through Pasadena City College. Yesterday was the last day. Here are a few pictures from his class:

Swinging on the big boy swing

Doing the hookie pokie

Snack time

Chris and Elizabeth came in to town this weekend and brought Ethan (2 years) and Alethea (3months) with them. Chris graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary with his Ph.d in Clinical Psychology and theology. It was great seeing them and we look forward to having them back in town in August.

Mommas (Elizabeth, Alex, and me)

Ty and Dee Dee (Ethan) had fun getting reacquainted

Daddy and Baby Girl

Big Brother and Baby sister

Ty and buddy Reese riding bikes at Lacy Park

Ty and his buddy

2011-06-12T07:46:00.000-07:00

It was like old times when Chris, Elizabeth, Ethan and Alethea came this weekend. Chris graduated from Fuller, so they came for the weekend. One night we got a babysitter and went to the hooding ceremony and dinner and the babysitter, Christine, took this little video of the two boys. We are looking forward to when they move back in August.

7 Weeks: Smiling and Sleeping

2011-06-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

6 Weeks and Potty Training Ty

2011-06-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting mixture...a newborn and potty training a toddler, but we have officially survived. Tyler started potty training Monday May 24th. I am so proud of him and how well he has been doing. We have been talking about it for months and taking him with us to the bathroom and he got really interested. We decided to go for it. I took Tyler to pick out his own potty chair and "big boy" underwear at Target. They had some potties that sang sounds or made a flushing sound, but he wanted the simplest one called "my little potty" by Bright Starts. It was really funny to me, but I was all about it because also happen to be the least expensive also. I did not even sway toward that one he chose it:) It is easy to clean and is not bulky...I think he made a good choice. I also printed off a sticker chart to give him stickers each time he used it. He loves stickers, so that has been great! We have had a few accidents, but overall, he has been wearing "big boy" underwear during the day for a week and a half now(even during his naps).
Tyler spent a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa Knight this week. They took him on bus and train rides, on walks to Pasadena City College, to Starbucks and on convertible rides. He had a hard time loosing that attention when they left. Right before Grandma and Grandpa left Tyler got sick. He had a fever, threw up, and had a bad cough. They tried to make him comfortable and Grandma even spent time with Tyler in the middle of the night trying to help him get comfortable and sleep. Poor guy had a cough so bad he couldn't sleep. You know Tyler is sick when he asks to take a nap, or even two, which was the case yesterday. It is Thursday and he still feels yucky, so we are going to visit the doctor this afternoon.

Angela is 6 weeks old now. She smiles a lot right when she first wakes up. She is a really good baby. She barely ever cries, except when she is hungry or has a wet diaper. She is so easy going. She has been sleeping well the last few nights. She has had a few nights were she slept 5 hours straight and she sleeps a lot during the day. She weighs 11lbs. and is a little chunky monkey. She really enjoyed having Grandma and Grandpa around to talk to and smile at. Grandpa and fun taking lots of pictures of her. Angela has managed to stay healthy even though Ty is sick, but I was worried the other night when she had a fever of 99.5. The doctor said to make sure to call her if it went above 100.5. Fortunately it did not.

6 Weeks and smiling

This was my favorite picture of the week. He was so happy running off the Frisbee field because daddy let him play with the big guys.

This is daddy's new office at Keller Williams. He made his way into the top 10 agents out of 200 agents. If you do that you get the option of having an office verses a cubicle. He likes to stand that is why his desk is so tall. Tyler likes to go to daddy's office to get gum.

On their bus tour, Gma and Gpa took Ty to Boston Market for lunch. He lust have been hungry...look at him stuff his face with mac n cheese.

Memorial Day weekend

When Tyler goes on walks with daddy they find all sorts of fruit to eat. Here is a loquat.

Angela likes to hit the toys on her play mat and hear them jingle.

He can not walk down stairs, he has to jump.

One of may ventures to Pasadena City College

One Month Old

2011-05-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

The past five weeks have flown by. Our baby girl is actually 5 weeks old tonight! She is growing so fast, even faster than I remember Tyler growing. Today she smiled at me for the first time. It was so cute. I am not sure on her weight right now but she is starting to get some rolls. Since our last post, Grandma Knight came to visit and Aunt Lindsay came to visit.
I just love watching Tyler and Angela together. Tyler loves to sit right in front of her and say..."Hey baby sister, Hey!" He likes to hold her hand and kiss her face. If she cries he says, "Mommy she wants you...get her."
We had to say "Good Bye" to our good friends Matt, Kristy, Clay and Ally Orzewalla yesterday. It was a sad day...we have raised our kids together the last two and a half years. We spent a lot of time with them and they will be missed.

Grandma Knight

Aunt Lindsay

Kristy Orzewalla

Our MOPS table at the last meeting of the semester

Tyler loves holding baby Ally, Clay's sister. This is a few days before they moved to Tuscon, Arizona. Clay calls Tyler B-ball:)

Tyler loves playing with Angela on the play mat. He shows her how to hit the chimes and make the toys vibrate.

One Week Old

2011-04-25T13:43:00.001-07:00

Had our first doctors visit today with Dr. Mattai and all she could say was, "She's perfect!" Her color was good, her weight was good, her heart sounded good and everything was just perfect as can be:) She gained her birth weight back plus a little and is now 8 lbs. 2 oz. She grew a half an inch and is 19 1/2 inches long.

We had to say good bye to Grandma and Grandpa Olson. It was a sad day! They were both so helpful with Tyler and around the house. Grandma stayed for over a week and it was too short:) Here are a few pics from their visit.

Smiling in her sleep

Easter Sunday

Tyler's friend Katelynn at the Eggstravaganza at PAZNAZ church the day before Easter. I think it looks like a prom pose:)

Easter Egg Hunt...Tyler just couldn't wait until they said go.

Our sleeping Angel!

Grandma Olson loving on her fourth grandchild.

Grandma and Grandpa Olson

"Can I hold her?" Tyler says. He just loves holding baby sister. He is such a good big brother.

6 Days Old

2011-04-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

Next week we are going to have professional pics of Angela done, but we decided to get the camera out and give it a go this week just in case she does not cooperate next week. I have a lot of respect for newborn photographers. It is hard work! This was totally inpromtu because we were trying to keep her awake and we could not get her to wake up. I guess that is the best time to photograph them, when you can move them any which way and they do not wake up. Here are a few of the images:)

Big Brother Visits

2011-04-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

He and Grandma brought Angela her first teddy bear.

Tyler wanted to hold Baby sister.

Tyler's friend Jace came to the hospital to visit with his mommy and daddy. They watched Elmo. We thought it was sweet how Ty put his arm around Jace while watching the movie.

Our celebration Dinner:) San Gabriel Valley Medical Center has stepped things up a notch since last time we were there. They gave us all sorts of goodies. This dinner was a steak tenderloin with baked potato and fresh vegetables. It was complete with sparkling cider and a pink cake. They also gave us a water bottle, a Halo sleep sack/swaddle blanket, a pink teddy bear and great care. We have had two good experiences there. They even upgraded our postpartum room to a room with two beds, so Dave could have a bed too.

Officially Overdue

2011-04-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

Trying to make the best of my last few days alone with my boys. Dave has been so good to me. He knows I have been having a hard time with the end of this pregnancy and he is doing everything he can to make it easier on me. I appreciate him for that. I have a such an amazing husband. Not only did he do something totally unexpected and surprised me with a charm necklace from Tiffany & Co. with our Baby girl and Tyler's initials on it, but he has been helping out every morning with Ty, taking me to dinner, renting me movies, and bonding with our son. He really has been bonding with Tyler and I just love watching the two of them. Dave even took Tyler with him to work the other day, when I was having severe back problems.

Funny story...Dave was reading Tyler a "The Easter Story" a book Ty has. They got to the part after Jesus died, rose from the dead and they were looking at the empty tomb.
Tyler says to Dave, "Where Jesus go?"
Dave says, "I don't know. where do you think he went?"
Tyler says, "He's at work!"
Just love there innocence and creativity. He is becoming a very expressive little boy.

Last night we came home from a movie and the babysitter showed us a video of him singing Jingle bells. Check it out here. I haven't been able to catch it on video myself yet, so I was glad she could. He has a impressive memory. He will listen to a book 3-4 times and be able to recite it back to us page by page. He will listen to a song a few times and start singing along...the words get a little mixed, but I am just amazed at how he can do that.

View from Dave's new listing..Glendale and downtown L.A

The necklace Dave surprised me with

Me and my friend Alex who is due with her baby girl in a few weeks.

Tyler fell asleep with his baby doll on top of him.

Angela Anne Knight

2011-04-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

It's a girl!! We are happy to announce the birth of our baby girl, Angela Anne Knight!
Born: April 18, 2011 @ 12:51am
Weight: 7 lbs. 15 oz.
Height: 19 inches
Hospital: San Gabriel Valley Medical Center

We have felt for a long time that this is the name our little girl should have. It means "Messenger of God". We hope that this is what she will be. After much prayer and consideration we feel like God gave us this name for our little girl. It may not be the most popular or the creative, but we love it. When I was praying for our baby girl one day, someone said to me that she is going to be an angel. I thought that was so special.
There was an Angela in my life who really was a messenger of God to me. There are people that have been influential in my life, but if it weren't for her I do not know where I would be today. She showed how loving God really is and she help me experience Him in new ways when I really need it. Her middle name, Anne, has multiple significances. For one, my middle name is Joyce Ann and it is a family name, Ann named after Grandma Olson's middle name. Also, Anne is a Knight family name as well. It is a variation of Grandma Smith, Anna Fern. Dave's sister's middle name is Anne. Anne is Tyler's Godmothers name, who is also a very important person in our lives.
We want to thank everyone that was there for us during this birth experience and for taking good care of Tyler while we were away. We are so grateful to such a great community of people and to family!

Right before we left the hospital to go home at 9pm

Counting down the days

2011-04-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

We are counting down until "baby sister" or "Toby" arrives... 9 days till due date. I feel like I have been "nesting" for months now and I am ready for the big day, well as much as you can be. I sold our entertainment center and some other things and it felt good to make some more room in the living room. We are getting Dave set up in a new office at Keller Williams, so today we went and found some furniture at Habitat for Humanity and Ikea. He will have his own office this week, instead of a cubical. It is exciting. You have to earn it and his business is going really well right now. He works really hard!!

I definitely feel like I am going to pop. Actually though, I feel pretty good for being 39 weeks (almost 10 months). Doctor is out of town this weekend, so we hope the baby holds off at least another few day...pretty sure she will. We had a good check up last week. We are recovering from illness, but are all defintely feeling better. This week Tyler and I went to MOPS and MOPPETS. There are a few pictures below. MOPS was a Tea and Testimony time which was a good time for me. The testimonies were hard to listen too because they were stories of really difficult things people have gone through, but at the same time they were so filled with hope. I feel very lucky for the life I have lived so far. I am very blessed by two great guys in my life...my little guy and my big guy! I am blessed by many things and am thankful for all the wonderful people I have in my life.

We found out our church will be moving locations in the middle of April. The dance studio that we currently meet at will be moving and they asked us to move with them. We will temporarily to see if it is still a good fit, but may have to find somewhere else. We love our community and we have grown with each move, so we anticipate the move even though it will be a transition.

Me and my little guy after MOPS.

Me and My friend Debbie who is 10 weeks pregnant. She let me borrow this cute dress for the tea!

Ty and his girlfriends Candace and Katelyn at a fountain.

This week

2011-03-21T15:52:00.000-07:00

One of our traditions when Tyler is sick is to make super juice. He has always liked it, but this time I made it for him on Sunday and today he asked for it when he woke up instead of milk and if you know Tyler he loves his milk. It is jammed full of veggies and fruit. This mixture today was made of carrots, cucumbers, kale, lemon, orange, apple and ginger root. He even helped make it. We had a visit to the doctor this morning and she determined that he has a upper respiratory infection. He has had a fever of 101 F for a few days. She said all we could do is alternate Tylenol and Ibuprofen, give him lots of liquids and use a humidifier. We are doing all these things and hopefully he will be ready before the baby arrives.

The ladies from our church had a baby shower for me on Saturday. It was such a fun time. Here are some oft he fun girlie presents that they gave me...books, bottles, receiving blankets, plush blankets, a video monitor, clothes, croqueted hats (adorable and made by Tylers Godmother, Anne), diaper cake, and more. It was so sweet. The ladies that threw it were Anne, Ine, Christine and Ally.

Pregnancy Pics and Tyler Fun Photos

2011-03-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

Our friend Jamie Dulaney willingly agreed to take some photos of our family before the baby comes. Here are a few the shots. Unfortunately, we did not have much time because Tyler tripped and cut his lip open after the first few. It is already healed, but now he is sick, which is why this post will be short. I am on my way to take a nap!

Enjoying the moments I have with my special little boy before my attention is shared!

Family Photos before Tyler tripped and busted his lip open on the sidewalk:(

Ty watching a little video with his buddies Clay and Jace.

Riding his balance bike at Lacy Park. He is getting more confident and doing it all by himself.

Playing soccer with his little buddy Candace at a park playdate.

37 Weeks

2011-03-16T14:18:00.000-07:00

Yay...tomorrow we will be full term...37 weeks! At our doctors appointment yesterday morning the doctor said that if we went into labor he would not try to stop it, that they baby would be developed enough.

Everything checked out great. Blood pressure is good, no swelling or abnormalities. They said I did not gain anything since last time, but last time they weighed me with my 2lb. boots on and said I gained five lbs. By my calculations I gained 2-3 last time and 1-2 this time, which is 29lbs. overall. Yikes that sounds like a lot, but it is in the normal range of 25-35lbs.

We also had an ultrasound this time and confirmed that she is indeed a girl! Her heartbeat is steady between 145-150. Even though it is not completely accurate they said she is about 6. 1 lbs. Last time he said she would be about 8lbs when she was born. This time they said she would be smaller...like around 7 lbs. Basically, we will have to just wait and see when she comes out:) Tyler was 7 lbs. 13oz. and was born on his due date. We will see what this little lady decides to do! April 11th of course is guesstimate in my opinion, she could come tomorrow or five weeks from now. We are in that weird waiting period and it is a roller coaster...one day I feel good and ready and the next exhausted, like that day can not come soon enough. It is definitely harder this time around with a toddler that is a ball of energy. I try to wear him out everyday before he wears me out. He usually wins:)

He is so active! He loves riding his plasma car and balance bike, playing soccer and basketball, throwing a tennis ball, and jumping off things. His most recent accomplishment is that he went poopoo on the potty:) We are not pushing him to potty train, just letting him tell us when he is ready. He has made some progress. He will go peepee in the potty whenever we ask him too. He is very independent and does not want to be told what to do, so we are not pushing it. I am sure this attribute will be a great part of his character someday! In regard to his communication he loves to say, "Sure" in response to a question.

Snow in California

2011-03-07T19:43:00.000-08:00

We decide to take a trip to the snow this weekend. Our friends Bryan and Renae know some people with a cabin up there and we went to visit. It was an hour and 20 minute trip to Wrightwood, where they have the Mountain High Ski Resort. It was 60 degrees, but there was still lots of snow on the ground. We took Ty sledding. Dave made a snowman and lots of snow balls with him. He enjoyed it! We decided that we want to go back sometime and stay the night or do a ski weekend there someday.

Throwing snow balls at daddy.

Ty and Daddy making a snowball to roll down the hill.

Daddy pulling Ty around in the snow.

Mountain High Ski resort

Baby Shower: Welcome Sweetie!

2011-03-07T08:39:00.000-08:00

This weekend some of my good friends (Ally, Kristy and Jenny) had a baby shower for me. I really appreciated it! I haven't been feeling all that great these days and this was a good pick me up. It got me even more excited about meeting our little sweetie. The theme for the shower was sweets. They decorated with all sorts of pink candy. It was complete with a diaper cake, grapefruit candy, marshmallows, m & m's, twirly suckers, dove chocolate, mints, etc. These were the favors. People took bags of candy home...except me... I just forgot. Probably better that way though...I have been eating way more sugar than I should these days. Anyways, it was a cute and creative idea. I was blessed by some much need baby items including a double stroller from Grandma and Grandpa Olson and Grandma and Grandpa Knight. Other things you can see in the pics below.
We played some games and the girls wrote notes of encouragement on lollipops for me to pick whenever I need a sweet note. I think will be using those frequently:) That was such a neat idea.
The church is also throwing us a shower in a few weeks. I am looking forward to that one as well. I didn't expect any of this, with it being the second time around, but it is fun:)

Ally Way (meet through our church conference, she mentors me as a parent), Debbie Wilder(from our mommy and me class at PCC), Jenny Frary (from Birth class with Ty-Jace mom, one of Ty's best buddies), Kristy Orzewalla (meet through Dave playing ultimate frisbee), Me, Nancy Morris (works at Keller Williams with Dave, her and I are sewing buddies), Renae Childs (next door neighbor and friend of Dave's since High school-she married Dave's best friend and now I have a great friend)
not pictured but attended: Joanne and Jamie from my MOPS table

Ally Way did the decorating...she is really talented. She even made the pom poms hanging from the ceiling out of tissue paper.

So excited about my new....Combi Twin Sport double stroller. Features include: it fits our car seat, folds easy, has removable cup holders, it's light weight, and has a carrying strap.

This morning Tyler brought all his "friends" out to the living room and said..I am having a birthday party. I just thought it was too cute. I had to take a picture.

Babymoon #2

2011-02-28T19:32:00.001-08:00

This weekend was a nice break from our crazy week last week. Dave was overloaded with work and had a lot of other things going on. Our godsends (aka Grandparents) arrived on Thursday night to give us some relief. It was great. They took care of Tyler all day and even one night. he kept them up for three hours that night. Sorry grandma and grandpa. Hope you are catching up on your rest at home:)
Dave and I had a little babymoon before #2 arrives. We went to a hotel in Pasadena Friday night. It was pouring down rain, but we went out on the town anyways. We landed at Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Restaurant for appetizers. It was awesome. They had lobster potstickers that are to die for! After that we stopped at the movie theater next door for some movie theater popcorn (Shelby's favorite)! We were going to eat it at the hotel while we watched am movie later, but it couldn't wait. It was hot when they gave it to us and we ate it in the car in the parking lot. SOOO good! We got back tot he hotel and went to the hot tub and the spa. It was so relaxing! The next morning we took our time getting ready, went to breakfast in the hotel restaurant and went to the spa attached to the hotel again. While at breakfast we saw Nancy O'Dell and family from Entertainment tonight. Overall, it was a much needed break before the baby comes.

Grandma and Grandpa took Tyler down to Hollywood to walk the red carpet. They saw Oscar, Shrek, and Spiderman. They have some fun stories to share about that. You will have to ask them. Grandpa brought Tyler a new book called "Tyler's Big Book of Ultimate Frisbee". It is his best yet. There are pictures of Tyler and Daddy playing ultimate Frisbee in it. The expression on Tyler's face when Grandma and Grandpa arrived was priceless. He was jumping up and down laughing. He bounced off the walls for a while and then went to bed. He had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa.

Waking up after a nap

My Stick Family from WiddlyTinks.com

February

2011-02-24T16:37:00.000-08:00

Our little guys is not so little anymore. He is talking up a storm and doing new things everyday. We have had a number of people say that he says a lot for his age. He is saying sentences like "Where did he go?" "Can I play with that?" He is learning manners. He Says "scuse(excuse) me" when he wants to be get up from the table. He is learning to say "please" when asking for something. It has been fun seeing him interacting with his friends in more of a social way. They wrestle and chase each other around the house.

Our little girl is growing too. We are 34 weeks tomorrow. We had an appointment last week that went well. The heart beat was steady and doctor said everything looked good. I gained 4 lbs. in two weeks...opps:) The doctors guestimate is that she will be a little bigger than Tyler. I am not sure how in the world he can guess that, but that is what he said. I have met with our doula who showed me lots of stretches and techniques to help the baby get in the right position. We do not want a posterior birth again if we can help it.

Dave has been busy, busy, busy this week. He had a Keller Williams Conference(called Family reunion) at the beginning of the week in Anaheim, so Tyler and flew solo for the first three days of the week. We managed, but we missed daddy. He put another home on the market and wrote an offer for a nice sized house for a buyer. He has really been keeping busy. We are excited for a little break tonight when Grandma and Grandpa Knight arrive.

Our little artist. He loves to paint and draw. He has been learning his colors and can name all of the primaries.

34 Weeks tomorrow!

Ty and his friend Jace wrestling.

Tyler and Clay painting.

What is love?

2011-02-14T14:11:00.000-08:00

It is Valentine's Day and I started out the day thinking about a few of the people I love most in this world...Dave and Tyler. These two guys bring me so much joy everyday. I am so thankful for them. I actually took my little valentine to the park and to lunch today. It was fun to see him with his little girl friends. He gave them little valentine's that we made. As the day progresses I can not help but think about what it means to be called to love. I have been in an introspective mood lately. It seems like an easy answer, but after the weekend I had at the CCDA(Christian Community Development Conference) it does not seem so easy. I left with a lot of questions and a lot of things to ponder. The love preached in our churches and our society is not always a true love or even personal love. The church has become very inwardly focused and I am not sure if that is what Christ came for...actually I am pretty sure it is not. He does not have an "Us and them" mentality but a "We" mentality. We need to focus on eachother and that means everyone. Here are some of the quotes and questions from the weekend that got me thinking:

"Jesus is not the answer to my personal peace and happiness." (that is a tough one-even when times are hard He is still there. He is not just there to make your life comfortable or feel good which is why he may call some people to do things that do not make sense)

"How can I be an agent of hope?"

"What are the needs facing people the most?" (This got me thinking about the people around me and around our city...what are the needs? Although overwhelming, it is a good question.)

"We are not going to leave until God uses us to change something!" ( I have often been asked if we are going to stay in LA and my answer is "I don't know". It is hard to answer, but I feel like this answers it perfectly.)

"The answer to violence is connectivity in the community." ( Connectivity is hard when you have so much diversity of thought, diversity of socioeconomic and political status, diversity of religion, but I believe this really can help transform a city. This is one of the driving forces behind community development...looking at the systems and bringing justice to people that would not otherwise receive it. It is not just charity.)

"The key to your being an agent of transformation is allowing your heart to be broken for what breaks the heart of God."

"I am not looking for people to hate, but people to love." (It is easy to hate, but love is a higher calling.)

"Churches are getting bigger and bigger, but the problem with the poor is getting larger and larger." (This just astounds me if this is what we are called to as the church. Why is this true? How can we not be more active in bringing about justice for the poor and oppressed?)

"The poor have the power to become invisible, we have the power to make them visible." (Cities have the power to make them invisible by ignoring the fact that they are there. Many cities do this and I had no idea. Many of us have the power to help the poor, but chose not to.)

In regard to homeless..."People see me and think they know what I need. They don't ask me I need...they tell me what I need." ( This one struck me hard...I think I know what food a homeless person needs and rather than ask them I buy them something I think they need, when really they may not be able to eat it. We really have to get to know them.)

"People want to help the poor, but they don't want to know the poor. (It is easier to stand and feed someone food, but to get out from behind a counter and get to know them is much harder. It is more about realizing they are one of us.)

I went to a few round table discussions and workshops about homelessness and about advocacy. It was interesting to learn that LA is known as the capital of homelessness. If you have ever been to skid row downtown you would believe it. The CEO of the Union Rescue Mission(one of the largest shelters in the US) was at the roundtable. We talked about not just helping people, but moving them from a place of survival to a place where they can thrive. Two experts shared about there years of experience working with the homeless. I learned a lot from them. I learned that it is a very complicated issue, but that we can do a lot. Our church has recently got involved with something I am really excited about. We helping start a branch of Family Promise in the San Gabriel Valley. This organization coordinates 10-13 churches that take turns 4 times a year hosting 4-5 homeless families for one week in their church. They house, feed and build relationships with these families in the evening and during the day they go to a day center where they meet with social workers, seek job training, counseling, financial advisement, and other things to help them get on their feet. It is a transitional housing model that has proven to be very effective in other areas. Our church can not host because we don't have a building but we have been able to be involved in other ways. We have also been able to help with the homeless count in Pasadena, attend city council meetings, among other things. I am not telling these things because we want a pat on the back, but to let you know what we have been up too and what I have been challenged with recently. It is hard to write it all, but at least you get a glimpse. Please post your comments and let me know what you are up to and what you have been thinking about lately.

Hope in the midst

2011-02-09T20:20:00.000-08:00

Dave is out for the night at a board meeting and I find myself sitting here reflecting on the events of the last week and the things that I have been experiencing and I can not help but share. This may be too much information for some and may seem "preachy" to those that are not religious, but here is an honest reflection from Shelby Knight should you decide to read it. For once, no pictures included.

I have gone to the depths of my soul and back this week. Starting with a minor conversation with a doctor to a blog I read yesterday (about someone I knew from high school who's wife and unborn child were killed in a car accident- Click here to read his blog) to conversations about struggling marriages. I have felt for lack of a better word, discouraged. I have had numerous conversations some of which made me feel better, some of which made me feel worse, some of which challenged me and some of which brought me hope. Over all, nothing brought me more hope or encouragement then that of what God gave me this morning in worship and this afternoon as I spent time reflecting and praying. I can not say as if this has happened in a while, but I felt like God spoke to me and said, "TRUST ME...I am the Lord...I am the Lamb".

I started this Bible study at Christian Assembly(a local church) with a friend of mine and we are studying the story of Moses. It seems hard to find hope in the part where the plagues killed all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians and the Passover. But this story is one that shows that God brings things together for glory and ultimately it is the story of hope and a foreshadowing of the redemption that Christ would bring. Crazy! I may not understand why things happen, but He does. Jesus endured the most undeserved suffering in the world. That isn't fair, but he did it and that is what sets Him apart from the other gods. It didn't seem right that these firstborns had to die and God let them, but as I read further into the story He rescues those that want to be rescued by passing over them. They had to make a demonstration of their faith by putting the blood of a specific lamb on their door. This was a substitute for the judgement they would have faced if they decided not to do what Moses had said. They had to "trust"! It must have been scary!

I feel like right now I have to trust Him and it is scary. I don't know how things will turn out for our birth, for our baby girl, for Tyler, for friends who are ill, for people who are hurting, for marriages ending, for the father who lost his wife and newborn daughter, for the weight of the world, but I can trust God with the moments in my day. I can trust that He is the Lamb and will rescue me someday. In the mean time, I will rest in His glory and trust Him! I will not let anything pull me down or let satan beat me up anymore. Good bye fear and discouragement!

In the mean time I will sing one of my most recent favorites:

Hallelujah We Will Sing (click to listen to this song)

On that white horse he'll ride
With blazing eyes of fire
He'll judge and make things right
Turn all the dark to light
When he'll split the eastern sky
With heaven's wings I'll fly
And I will say good-bye
To these tears I've cried

Around his throne of grace
We'll see him face to face
With those who've gone before
Oh We'll be apart no more
And we will hear that sound
As all are gathered round
Like hills of thunder loud
We will shout

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Salvation and Glory and Power
Belong to our King
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, we will sing

Our King of king's we'll see
Faithful and true is He
Our faith at last insight
No more fears and doubts to fight
In heaven's choir we'll be
With robes of majesty
From sin and death now free
We will sing

What a day that will be
When all darkness final flees
When all bow and sing to the King
What a day that will be
When his glory we will see
When all bow and sing to the King

WE WILL SHOUT
WE WILL SING
WE WILL SHOUT
WE WILL SING
WE WILL SHOUT
WE WILL SING
TO THE LAMB
TO THE LORD
TO OUR GOD
TO THE KING

Our little athlete

2011-01-29T19:42:00.001-08:00

We have all heard the saying, "Like father like son". Tyler is a mix of Dave and I, but he has really been taking on some of Dave's qualities. He just adores Dave right now. His most recent fedish is going to watch Dave play frisbee. He knows when Dave's goes to play frisbee because Daddy takes his cleats. Now, Tyler wants to wear his own cleats and go to the field to watch daddy and to play frisbees. Between balls and frisbees, this kid could not be happier. We bought him an indoor frisbee, which we have now duck taped twice and it is irreparable after Ty destroyed it this afternoon. He can catch it and throw it also. Following in his fathers footsteps, he only wants to wear mesh shorts and sweatpants now. He gets really upset when you try to put jeans on him sometimes. I guess he just wants to be comfortable. It is really special to see he and Dave together wrestling, jumping, playing with blocks, reading stories, tickling, and rough housing. Dave is such a great dad. He really spends quality time with him and Tyler just soaks it up.

A while ago I told Dave that I wanted to take him ice skating. I know he loves it and we don't get to experience winter much here in So. Cal. Back in the day, Dave was a great hockey player and could skate really fast. We haven't been in years though. Pasadena has a nice ice rink that we decide to visit. We took Tyler and it just so happened they had skates his size, so we got him out on the ice also. He didn't know what to do with it in the beginning. Dave took him for lap after lap and he warmed up to it. By the end, he was walking in the skates. At first he wanted Dave to carry him. All in all we had a great family outing!

We let Tyler choose his shoes to wear and he wanted to wear his bear slippers. So random:)

Playing in the snow:)

B-ball shorts and cleats!

watching daddy play frisbee.

Big brother soon...30 weeks and counting!

2011-01-28T15:08:00.000-08:00

The clock is ticking and we are itching to meet our baby girl! We have another appointment next week. The baby weighs as much as a cabbage and is about 15 inches long. I can feel her moving a lot now. We will be meeting with our doula Catherine this month to talk about our birth plan.

Yesterday, Tyler and I went to our friends house, Kristy and Clayton's, and did a photo shoot. To see pictures of Ally Jane-5 weeks click here. Otherwise, see below pics of Clayton and Tyler.

Not a great photo, but I wanted you to see how cute Tyler was trying to pose like mommy for the picture.

30 weeks! There have been requests for belly pics and although I hate having my picture taken here you go.

Tylers belly picture!

Claytons nickname for Tyler is b-ball, so this is fitting that he is holding a b-ball! I was taking Clay's pictures and Tyler plopped down next to him for a photo op. They are just too funny together!

He is really hard to photograph at this age, but here are a few candids I got of him playing in the yard with Clay. I guess we will call them his 2 year 2 month photos and clay's 22 month photos.

Drinking buddies:) Juice of course!

28 Weeks

2011-01-19T13:12:00.000-08:00

I think it is safe to say our family has recovered from the holidays and two weeks of sickness. After family left for the holidays, Tyler got a fever and cold for about a week and a half. Then, after coughing in mommy's face for that long Mommy got it. I was sick in bed for two days and took another four days to recover. One of the perks of pregnancy is that you can not take many over the counter medications, so I had to resort to natural remedies. I am a fan of those anyways, but a decongestant would have been nice. Instead I con-cocked an array of onion, lemon and honey remedies. Thanks to Dave and some of my good friends who helped with Tyler while I was sick. One day I felt a little better and took Ty to a kids Gym called Gymnastikids. He loved it. We are looking into a little kids gym membership because he just loves the trampoline and needs to expend some energy. (see pics below) It is like a gym I used to work out called The Little Gym. We will be checking that out in the next few weeks for a trial class as well.

Tyler is a little chatterbox. He does not stop talking until he falls asleep at night. It is pretty funny to listen to him. Some of his new developments are...he loves basketball shorts, he doesn't like jeans, he says "where's daddy?" all the time, even if he knows where daddy is, He loves wearing his cleats(soccer shoes) like daddy who wears them to play frisbee in. Anytime we got to watch daddy play frisbee or go to play with Tyler he wants to wear his cleats. He says that things are spicy if he doesn't like them. He walk up to my tummy and say baby sister in mommies tummy. He loved cucumbers and green beans of all things. He drew a "T" and said "I made a 'T" for the first time this week.

This week marks pregnancy week 28. I am starting to feel tired again and I am not sure if it is due to a lingering illness or the third trimester. I am trying to take it easy to say the least. The baby is moving a lot and it keeps me wondering what position the little bundle is in. This week I have been doing some nesting. Tyler and I visited Babies'R"Us and if thinking about a newborn is not overwhelming enough they created a store to make you feel like you are totally unprepared. Needless to say, we left with a few key items and I am sure we will be back for more in the next few months. I was excited about the purchase of a Graco Travel lite Crib/Bassinet. It will hold the baby in our room until she is old enough to move into Tyler's room in the crib. It is convertible, so I can use it by the pool or the living room and it won't take up a lot of space like the regular size play-yard. I know this is exciting stuff:) Next on the list... finish Tyler and the babies room, find a combi double stroller, ask people to help out with Ty when the baby is born, schedule family to come visit to meet her, finish my birth plan/request for the hospital, chose her name, and rest:)

Left over holiday pic that I forgot to include. Here is a pic from when we went to pick out a Christmas tree. As you can see this is as fresh as they come out here in LA:)

He jumped on this tumble track for almost 45 minutes straight without breaking a sweat.

Bubbles:)

Does't this look fun?

Ending 2010 with a Bang

2011-01-06T14:16:00.000-08:00

Never can be too careful we found out this last week after our first visit to the Emergency Room with Tyler. Accidents happen and this was a big one. We woke up the day before New Year Eve at 7:00am to Grandma running around trying to find a key to the bathroom that Ty had locked himself into. When she opened it she found him standing on his stool that he uses to brush his teeth holding an open bottle of Grandpa's blood pressure medication. She yells to me and I immediately went to the refrigerator where I have all of our emergency numbers and called poison control. They said, "Where is your closest ER? I will call and let them know you are on your way!"

I threw my clothes on and Tyler's jacket and was out the door before Grandma and Dave could even say a word. When we got the ER they administered two full syringes of liquid charcoal into Ty's mouth. It looked like Black paint. They said that if he did not swallow it they would have to put a tube down his nose or throat. Thankfully he drank enough that they did not have to. It was not pleasant having to hold him while they did this. Then, we had to stay for 6 hours for them to monitor his blood sugar and blood pressure. Meanwhile, it was the day I had to fast and get my Glucose test done for the pregnancy, so I had to leave Ty, Dave and Grandma at the hospital for about an hour and get blood drawn. Fortunately, it was not effected by the stress of the events that day and results came back fine. I went back to the hospital and took Ty him Elmo and his little DVD player so he could watch movies. They released him at 2:30pm and we took Ty to Jamba Juice, one of his new favorites. There were no side effects to the meds he took. We think he only took one and if he did the charcoal absorbed it and it had no adverse effects. Only side effect was from the charcoal, he had some cramping and diarrhea(sorry to much information).

27 Weeks

Today marks 27 weeks on the pregnancy calendar and the start of the third trimester. Baby is about 2 lbs. and 14 1/2 inches. Lots to think about and prepare. We had our 26 week visit with the doctor this week. Everything measure right on schedule. Woke up to a violent leg spasm last night that felt like I had broken my leg...no joke. ..it hurt and still hurts today. It could be a number of things, but probably need to drink more water, relax and get more calcium. It has been a long few days with Tyler. He has had a fever for two days and not sleeping well. Which means we haven't slept well either.

Grandma and Pa Olson visit

Grandma and Grandpa Olson came for about a week over New Years. We had fun going to our favorite restaurants. Dave even got tickets to the Rose Parade in VIP seating from a frisbee buddy. We were right at the start of the parade about 100 yards from the NBC tower where it is televised nationally. Ty loved all the floats and special effects. We don't usually see the special effects of the floats where we watch the parade, so that was a treat. They spent quality time with Tyler as well. Mom helped me organize part of the house, shop for some much needed things around the house, rearrange Ty's pictures and some of my closets. It was such a big help and Lucus and Grandpa pitched in too.

Soot Bull Jeep, my favorite Korean BBQ restaurant

Grandpa and Tyler at the end of the Rose Parade

Our VIP seats at the Rose Parade

Castle floats with special effects

Ty the morning of the parade. He was half in the bed and half out of the bed when we went in to get him. Mr. Bear apparently was wrestling with him in the middle of the night.

Having fun New Year's Eve with Grandma and Mamma at Houston Steakhouse.

Ty really enjoyed cuddling with Uncle Lucus

Like father like son:) As I am writing this Tyler is sitting here watching and laughing hysterically at this picture.

Tubular Ty practicing his surfing with Uncle Lucus.

Ty's nurses at the ER right before we were released. They gave him all sorts of little toys to take home...an elephant, a stuffed fish and a power rangers bag.

This picture makes me want to cry everytime I see it. He was not happy after one of the nurses repeatedly came in to prick his finger and check his blood sugar.

This is after they gave him the charcoal and he had to spend 6 hours in the bed. We took turns sitting in the bed with him.

Daddy rubbing his back and head. If you notice, he is holding Elmo. Elmo had his blood pressure checked and vitals checked too.

Opening Christmas presents from Gma and Gpa Olson. This is a Thomas the train set.

Last year Mom gave me (Shelby) a couple pairs of underwear that were a few sizes too big. When I opened them I said, "Is this a joke?" They were obviously too big, but she thought they would fit:) This year the joke was on Grandma. We got her the largest pair of underwear we could find.

Christmastime

2010-12-27T15:51:00.000-08:00

Thoughts on Christmas
I often wonder what it would be like to grow up without the tradition of Christmas. It seems like such an important part of our calendar year. Christmas means different things to different people. I think of it as such a joyous time of tradition, gathering, celebration, and the most importantly the Birth of our savior, Jesus. To some, that is not the case. It can be a time of mourning, a time of the mundane everyday tasks, a stressful and depressing time, or a meaningless time. It just wonder what it is like for those people. Really...I look forward to this time every year and I wonder, what if I did not. What would it be like looking at all of the decorations, the mean shoppers, the lights, the santas at the mall, the carolers and whatever else if Christmas meant nothing to me. I look forward to the traditions, the gathering of family, church activities, decorations, food, and remembering why this is such an important time of year to celebrate. I think about the time that Tyler is old enough to understand what this holiday is and what I want him to know about it. What do we want to teach him about Christmas?
I have to admit I really struggled this year thinking about what I want to teach him about Christmas. I even felt bad when I realized it was a few days before Christmas and I had not bought him anything. I don't feel bad anymore and I did buy him a few little things (he is not lacking in anything). For our family, I do not want it to be about the gifts. I want it to be about love, the kind of love that involves everyone. The kind of love that is not exclusive or personal, but love that is eternal and is for everyone, God's love. Anyways, I hope if you are reading this you feel that love right now and if you do, share it with someone who may not! If you do not, I hope you feel unanticipated love and joy in the weeks to come. Without the risk of sounding preachy, I will move on.

Our holiday's were blessed with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Knight. They spent quality time with Tyler doing various fun things and mommy and daddy got to spend time cleaning, organizing and working. While Tyler went tot he zoo and on bus rides, mommy and daddy worked at daddy's office doing taxes and organizing and cleaning out storage and closets at home. See pictures below of some of the fun things they got to do while Grandma and Grandpa were here.

Tyler opening presents Christmas morning

Dinner of Christmas Eve (Turkey, Mashed Potatoes or as Tyler says it "Mash the tables", Green beans and rolls)

Playing frisbee with Gma and Gpa Knight at Pasadena City College at sunset

Watching daddy toss the frisbee on the football field at PCC

Learning to blow dandelions with Grandma Knight

Ty got a balance bike from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas

Evidence that it does rain in California.

Tylers favorite animals at the zoo...Flamingos.

Christmas lights in front of the Balian Mansion in Pasadena. Ty just loves finding Christmas lights and you should have seen his face when we pulled up in front of this house. It was more lights than he had ever seen before.

Tis the Season

2010-12-10T13:37:00.000-08:00

I look forward to this season every year. I know many people don't for varies reason, but I enjoy decorating the house, making things for people, holiday gatherings, hot cider, Christmas music, holiday crafts, cookie making, shopping and the time spent with friends and family. Yes, sometimes it seems a bit hectic and stressful, but those moments are far overshadowed by the joyous ones.
This morning at MOPS(Mothers of Preschoolers) a mom shared about unanticipated joy for the holiday season. She shared stories of her life and others lives that in the face of what could be seen as dark moments...joy and hope. She said that "our experiences are finite, compared to forever". That really struck me. Sometimes I feel like the moments are hard to endure and I do not welcome the challenges that I face. They are so finite though. This is spoken from someone who has experience extreme loss (two births- a single child and a set of twins at birth). She challenged us to not be surprised by God's plan and welcome new things, like Mary and Joseph welcome Jesus and then had to watch Him die for everyone including them. It was like a Christmas story that I had never heard. She told her story with such hope and joy that it makes me want to embrace that this holiday season. She also encouraged us to let people know they are not alone and that they are loved, whether it is a neighbor or a homeless person on the corner. That is what is most important isn't it? Sometimes I get lost o=in all of the other stuff!

These are a few joys of my holiday season so far...

1. Taking Tyler to a Christmas in the park where they had snow to play in. He had fun making snow balls or slush balls. He did not know the difference though.

2. Not sure if this is sak religious, but Tyler called the baby Jesus in the Nativity "Baby sister":)

3. Tyler points out all of the Christmas lights as we drive from one place to another.

4. Tyler sings Old MacDonald had a farm and Happy Birthday as he plays with his childrens nativity set. I don't think he knows how true that is:)

5. Tyler was in the cart at Target, when I hear..."Mommy...baby sister in my belly", as he is pulling his shirt up and smiles:)

Here are a few pictures of our decor:

Tour of the Midwest

2010-12-02T13:23:00.001-08:00

Every year it is a tough decision to try to figure out what to do for the holiday's. I am sure every family struggles to make plans for the holiday's. This year we decided to make one flight, one long drive and see everyone we could see over Thanksgiving. We feel good about our decision and are thankful for all of the quality time. We flew into St. Louis and drove to Grandma and Grandpa Knights where we had a nice relaxing time with grandma , grandpa, Uncle tony, Aunt Christy, Carter, Uncle Steve, and Great Grandma and Pa Knight. The guys went hunting for a majority of the time and the ladies spent time with the little guys. Tyler enjoyed playing outside on the bika bike...or scooter. He was sick for part of the visit, but that did not stop him from having a good time with his cousin Carter.
After a great visit at the Knight's we piled into a loaded conversion van, thanks to one of Grandma and Grandpa's friends and drove to pick up Grandma Aten on our way to Indianapolis. It was short, but it was great to see her. Then, we met up with Aunt Lindsay, Breana and Laney for the next leg of the trip. Lindsay took us to Fort Wayne where we stayed for the night. The next mornign we drove to Michigan to visit Grandma and Grandpa Olson, Lucus, Lindsay, Breana, Delaney and Great Grandma and Grandpa Jackson. We spent about a week there relaxing, visiting with people and eating good food. We had an awesome Thanksgiving dinner prepared by Grandma Olson. A highlight was when Wyatt, their dog ate half of the jello salad that mom spent half the day making. We couldn't help but laugh. There was no dull moment with all the kids there. We did some black Friday shopping and had a girls afternoon going to lunch and seeing a chick flick. It was a blessed time.
We were ready to get back to LA and hit the ground running though. Overall the trip was refreshing and fun! Tyler was a trooper on the way home. Our plane left an hour late (8:30pm) and he was awake 3/4 of the flight. He fell asleep right before the decent into LA and did not wake up until 2:30 LA time. We noticed he was cold. It was freezing in our apartment when we got back and I realized that we had his bed in front of the heater, so he slept with us the rest of the night. For those of you who don't think it is ever cold in LA...it was about 40 degrees. We rearranged his room in the morning. He was tired and took a 3 1/2 hour nap in the after noon and slept almost 12 hours straight that night. Thanks to everyone for hosting us! It was a special time.
Now, we are getting ready for the Christmas season and other adventures in LA... decorating, planning Dave's 30th birthday, shopping, organizing, planning for our little girl, taxes and more. The fun begins:)

Great Grandpa Knight, Uncle Steve, Great Grandma Knight, Grandpa and Ty
The Speck's (Dave's sister Christy's family)

He can still do it:)

Climbing Grandpa Knight's tree stand

We could not keep Ty away from this scooter or in his words Bika bike.

Tyler in his deer stand with Grandma and Cousin Carter. He loved climbing up and looking for deer while daddy, grandpa and uncle Tony were hunting.

Grandpa brought home a big one. I think it was an 8 point. He and Uncle Tony also got a doe.

Tyler had fun with Cousin Carter playing with all of Grandma's toys. Here they are in the field with Aunt Christy playing with bubbles and balls.

Tyler got to meet Dylan. He is Dave's cousins son. Not sure if that makes him a second cousin or not:)

One thing Tyler always looks forward to at Grandpa and Grandma Olson's is Y-Y or Wyatt the dog. This time Grandma and Grandpa taught him to ride on Wyatt's back like a horse. It was fun to watch him play with the dog. Wyatt loved it too.

All the Cousins...Delaney, Tyler and Bree with Daddy, Grandma, Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Lucus

We don't look like siblings at all do we:)

Uncle Lucus and LayLay. One of my favorite pics from the trip:)

Almost bed time and time to say good-bye to Bree and Dee.

Family photo op! Now a tradition in the Knight family.

Grandma and Grandpa Knight with the boyz.

Grandma and Grandpa Olson or Oson as Tyler says it....with the kiddos.

Ty Turns Two

2010-11-13T09:12:00.000-08:00

Tyler turns two today! We had a little birthday dinner for him last night. His friends Elizabeth and Ethan(DeeDee) flew in for the weekend. We have been having a nice time hanging out with them. The party was complete with a bus cake, by request from Ty. He got a few presents from Grandparents and Great Grandparents. One of which was a plasma car. It is kind of like a pedal less bike.

Well...more later, but here are a few pictures:)

Great Grandma and Grandpa Olson sent me this sweater...Noah's ark.

Ty the Tiger on the prowl

2010-11-01T14:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend was full of festivities. Tyler was a tiger this year, which inspired Dave and I to be part of the jungle adventure as well. We dressed up as Tarzan and Jane. I found part of our costumes at the local thrift store and then adapted them. Dave's was made from two pillow cases and mine was a formal dress that I cute apart:) It was fun. I felt like a costume designer for a short period of time. I guess I can add that of my list of credentials as a mom: costume designer, florist, Chef, taxi driver, full time shopper, executive assistant, housekeeper, organizer, baker, cake decorator, photographer and activities coordinator are just a few of the hats I get to wear:)
Our Halloween weekend Map:
Our first stop: Sierra Madre for trick or treating on Friday night. Business gave out candy and then they had a costume parade and contest. We meet up with Our friends Kristy and Clay, Debbie, Jonathan and Katelynn. We also saw Bryan Childs and his parents who are in town from Illinios...Bill and Carol.
Second stop: Saturday ultimate frisbee and then off to a party at the Way's house. It felt like fall which was nice. I cold in my costume which was designed for So Cal weather. Tyler spent most of the evening on the trampoline. He slept well after that:)

Third stop: Church and then on to Old Town Pasadena for some more trick or treating. Tyler had his first piece of candy...1/4 of a blow-pop sucker.

Fourth stop: Matt and Kristy's house for dinner. They made a fabulous italian spaghetti.
Last stop: Paz Naz Church for a Harvest festival. They had bounce houses and giant slides, along with games and food. We stayed for 45 minutes and then off to bed.

Almost 2 Years Old

2010-10-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe that Tyler will be two in about two weeks. We have explained to him that he will be two on his birthday. Now, whenever we ask him how old he is going to be he says, "two". Here are some highlights from the last two weeks.

Tyler got to dress up for class on Tuesday. We go to a parent observation class once a week that involves the kids in different exploratory activities. Here Tyler is painting.

Preview for Halloween. Ty the Tiger..grrrrrr!

Our first experience with Chucky Cheese. It was a very stimulating experience for all. Tyler was scared of the mechanical mouse. He clung to Dave for half the party. There was so much going ont he Ty would not take a nap when we got home he was so wired. It was fun playing the games. tyler drove a car with Chucky Cheese in it. He play skeet ball and some others.

This is Ty's friend Katelynn who was turning two. We met her at our class on Tuesdays through Pasadena City College. It was Tinkerbell theme...she loves Tinkerbell...something Ty and I know almost nothing about.

Here is Ty reading the book that Grandpa Knight wrote, illustrated, produced and sent to Tyler. It is all about his first trip on the bus.

Our friend Matt celebrated his 35th birthday by going to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. We went along to celebrate with him.

Here is Tyler admiring the sea lions.

He got to touch all sorts of sea animals...here he is petting sting rays. He got to touch sea anemones, fish, star fish, and sharks.

Here are the pumpkins we carved for Halloween. Ty helped draw the face and I cut them out. He was not excited about touching the inside of the pumpkin.

Pumpkin Play

2010-10-18T13:10:00.000-07:00

Tyler and I decided to bring in fall with a visit to the pumpkin patch. Ty picked out his own pumpkin after picking up multiple ones. He had to try them all out. We are now in the process of carving them out. Tyler wants nothing to do with the inside of the pumpkin. It is scary to him:) Here are a few pictures:

He is 23 months now, which means he will be two in one month. Tantrums have started, but over all he is a great kid. We are figuring out the best means of discipline for him. It is not an easy task. Everyone has an opinion and theory on the best way to do it. We are working through what we feel is best for us and for Tyler. I just got a new book that is helpful. It is called Toddler 411. It covers numerous topics, from multiple expert perspectives. The other book that I have found to have a lot of tools in it is Positive Discipline in the Christian Home. You don't have to be a Christian to see that the tools she gives you are effective and build long lasting life skills and character (limited choices, kind and firm balance, validating feelings, to name a few)

We had a doctors appointment this morning. We are in week 15 of the pregnancy. I am starting to feel a little thicker in the midsection. No one else thinks I am showing, but I feel like I am. We heard the heartbeat and it was good and steady. We are going to the same doctor that delivered Tyler and will deliver at the same hospital, if we decide not to do something else. I am feeling more energy than I was during the first trimester.

We are interviewing doula's (birth assistants) again. Our doula, Micaela, is pregnant and due not to long after I am, so we thought it would be better to have someone else do it. I hope we can pick one soon. This was such an important part of our first birth experience.

Ty gets a hair cut

2010-10-12T19:08:00.001-07:00

After much contemplation and agony we decide to cut Ty's hair. It was tough to let go of those golden locks, but I think we are happy we did it. I am probably happier than Dave is about it. It was starting to get in his face and make is head itch, so we decided to take him to the barber. We went to the same place that he got his first haircut...Little Kuts. They have little videos to watch and toys to play with to distract them. He sat in the chair all by himself for almost 20 minutes while Anna Marie cut his hair.

Here are a before picture:

The first cut...Ty is admiring the hair:

Finished with a perfect comb over, he looks like a new person doesn't he?

Midway through the cut..he was thrilled:)

Bree and Dee come to town

2010-10-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

This last week Lindsay, Brad, Breana and Delaney Noll came to visit. It was such a special visit. We had such a great time, despite the cold weather. Tyler sure misses his cousins, so it was so great that he got to spend 7 days with two of them. He took them to some of his favorite places, the park, Kidspace, travel town, and Balboa Island. It rained a few of the days they were here, so he we had to try a new places too...Amy's playground, an indoor play area.

Our friends, Kristy and Matt, were out of town and graciously let us use their home for the week. That was awesome! The Noll's could have their own space and could use this trip as a little vacation for themselves too. That is were they stayed. They have a little boy, so it came equiped with all the baby necessities for Laney (high chair, toys, changing table, baby proof locks, etc.). The kids got to play in the yard, swim in the kiddy pool, and Lindsay and Brad did not have to sleep on the futon:) We also got to use the hot tub:)

We spent most of our time out and about and had dinner at our place most nights. One night, Lindsay and Brad tried Thai food for the first time and liked it! We went to Korean BBQ of course, but other nights we stayed home and had dinner. A few nights we put the kids to bed at our house. One night Brad and Dave got Chinese foot massages and another night Lindsay and I went to the Korean spa. It was heavenly! The last night we got a babysitter and all for of us went to the Cheesecake factory for dessert. It was great. We miss spending time with the Noll's!

Below are some pictures from the visit. I used my somewhat new lense (Canon 50mm, 1.4)!

Family photo op at Travel town on the back of a train

These two loved chasing each other around everywhere.

Lindsay(my twin sister), Delaney (almost 1 year), Breana (3 years), Brad (Brother-in -law)

I just loved this picture. Man on a mission.

The kids giving their tickets to the conductor to get on the train.

Stationary trains that they can walk around and look at.

Breana posing for her photo shoot.

Laney's one year photos that we took on my bed in my bedroom.

As Ty and I were driving home from the airport today we turned onto California Blvd near Cal Tech and Ty says, "Watch Daddy Frisbee". We were only a block from where daddy plays frisbee, so we stopped to watch for a while. I could not believe he knew that is where we were or that he could communicate that. He has been talking up a storm. Aunt Lindsay said he speaks way over 50 words. She was surprise at how much he was saying.

Examples of what he says: Call phone, call grandma grandpa, counts to ten, school bus, orange bus, airplane ride, ride bus, go farmer market, pumpkin, beach with Timmy Kylie, eat grapes,

Big Boy Bed

2010-09-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

We had an adventure the other day to get Tyler a big boy bed. It started with a drive to Culver City, near Venice Beach. We found this bed on Craigslist.com, our favorite place to shop for furniture and why not it is always half the price of what you find in the store. We picked up the bed, which we dis-assembled and put in the van. It just barely fit, but we got it in there. Turns out we bought it from a mom with two kids who are actors. The are both going to be in Matilda and one was the Quiznos baby. Then, we took a drive toward the beach and ended in Venice, where Dave proceeded to take Tyler swimming in the ocean when it was 60 degrees outside. Tyler loved it though. He talks about the beach and the waves all the time now. We were there for about 15 minutes before I got cold in a sweatshirt and jeans and told them it was time to go.
On the way home we got stuck in traffic, conviently near Koreatown. We took a short detour to Soot Bull Jeep for some Korean BBQ so we could miss the traffic. It worked, rather than wait in traffic we enjoyed sitting the smoke filled room eating the best thing on earth...Galbi(marinated beef), Rice, Raddish soup and Garlic. It was awesome. It is my favorite restaurant in LA. If you have never been there, you need to try it! Then, headed home to turn in for the night at 9:30pm. Tyler was tired, but had fun. So was the adventure of getting his big boy bed.

He has now slept in it five consecutive nights and naps with no trouble (except one nap time when he would not go to sleep). I think he is proud of himself for becoming a big boy. We are proud of him too. I feel like we finally had a success. We judged that he was ready and he was...small victories in my book!

Uh OH...Keys!

2010-09-11T11:21:00.000-07:00

I was in the kitchen a few days ago when I hear...Flush Flush....uh oh! Tyler comes running into the living room saying "uh oh keys". Next thing I know he is pointing toward the bathroom saying, "mommy keys". I started looking for my keys and found them hanging on the key hook. Then, I started looking for dave's keys, which were no where to be found. I asked Dave where he had put his keys and he explained that they were on the table. Well, they were not there anymore! I had a hunch that Tyler flushed them down the toilet and I was right. We had a plumber come and they had to remove the toilet and use a special tool to fish them out.
We then soaked them in bleach and boiling water at least two times. He was lucky that they did not go all the way down the drain, because Dave has a lot of keys on his ring. It would have been hard to replace them. After this incident we put a lock on the toilet so Tyler will stay out.

Staying on theme with the toilet, we started a new adventure this week. Tyler showed some interest in potty training so we tried using the potty a few times and he likes to try. We are not trying real hard, but we are letting him get used to the idea. He has pee'd in the potty at least 10 times in the last few days.

Grandpa and Grandma Knight came to visit this Thursday. They are here for a long weekend. They have been having a good time with Tyler. He has been wanting to go on a bus for the last week, so they took him on his first bus ride. They have done it twice since then because he loved it so much. They are helping wear him out, since I am so worn out it is nice to have someone else keep up with him for a few days. They have also been helping with other things around the house too, which I appreciate. Grandpa made "Playdough" animals with Ty and Grandma spent time telling Tyler stories about the bus.

We went to a train yard at Griffith Park to ride a mini train.

Summer is just picking up and the Heat is on

2010-09-06T14:34:00.000-07:00

Summer hits hardest in August and September around here. It has been in the hundreds this week. We took a nice short trip to a new place this week, Santa Fe Dam. Who would have known this was even here. It is like a little oasis near the 605 and 210 freeways (15 minutes away). It is a lake and water area. Too bad it closes today for the season and doesn't open back up until next summer:( Oh well, we enjoyed it for a day and will go back next summer. Tyler and Clay had fun running in and out of the water. Since there were no waves they had a hayday.

One night tyler was a ham for the camera. He wanted his picture taken with mommy and daddy and by himself in his surfboard bathrobe. We had fun with it. I thought he look adorable, so I couldn't help but keep shooting.

Clays mommy and daddy had a blessing ceremony for him at their house this weekend. We got to be apart of it. It was so special. They wrote him special letters and so did his grandparents. Paul Kim (Ty's Godfather) performed the ceremony and blessed Clay also. We celebrated afterwards with food and cake...yum! Then, we swam in Clay's baby pool.

Tyler is going to be a BIG BROTHER

2010-09-01T16:49:00.000-07:00

It is confirmed...I am 8 weeks pregnant. This ultrasound doesn't show much except that there is a sac and an embryo. It is our 7 week ultrsound. We feel very blessed, since we had a scare that I may have had a miscarriage at 5 weeks. Everything is fine now, but we count our blessings every time. We have told Tyler about being a big brother and he says "brotha" but doesn't quite understand what is happening yet.
He will be celebrating his 2nd Birthday in November. I can't believe we have an almost two year old. He is talking up a storm. He is like a little parrot that repeats everything you say. He can say at least three words together sometimes, like "i love mommy" or "watch me mommy". He enjoys baseball and throwing a frisbee. He likes the movie Stuart Little. When he wants to watch it he says "Bunny Mouse" over and over again.

Here is the big boy in his car seat.

On Monday, we filled up the van with three adults (Kristy, Jenny and I) and four kids (Ty, Jace, Sander and Clayton) and went to Balboa Island(about 50 minutes away). It was awesome. We had a nice long walk ablong the boardwalk. There were lots of boats and water to look at. We also hopped on a fairy that took us across a canal to the Island. The boys loved it. On the island was a carousel. Tyler cried almost the whole time he was on the horse. After that we went down tot eh beach and let the boys play in the sand. I was a beautiful day. Below is a pic of Kristy and Clay. The water looked teal that day...not like the LA beaches which look a little brown.

Here we are on the fairy.

Kristy, Clay and Jace on the fairy.

A friend of our painted this for Tyler's room. I just love it! It is above his bed.

Some recent pictures

2010-08-18T15:43:00.001-07:00

Family Camp: Santa Cruz Mountains

2010-08-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

Messy Messy

2010-08-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

Yum...Spaghetti! All over my face, chest and hands!

We got out the finger paints and Tyler went to town. He loved the blue. We painted with our feet and our hands. Then, we got out a bucket of water and soaked in it

On one of our weekly visits to Kidspace, Timmy, Kylie and God Mother Anne came along for some fun. Tyler wanted to ride the big boy bike with Timmy, and loved it.

Ty vs. The Love Bird

2010-07-27T20:59:00.000-07:00

On Friday we took a half day trip to Seal Beach. While the beach was fun, it was really windy. Dave had a chance to surf with Bryan and Stu Strother. We had sand all over our bodies and in our ears. Needless to say, we did not stay real long on the beach, but we spent some time in the small town near by. While we were there we met a guy who told us all about his "love Bird". He said he would put it on Ty's shoulder for a picture. Tyler didn't even notice until the bird started to flaps its wings and squack. He got really scared and started to scream and cry. It did not hurt him, just scared him. We all laughed...I know, that is so mean, but you had to be there. Bryan Childs took this picture right before the incident.

Bye Bye Dee Dee (Ethan)!

2010-07-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

A walk down memory lane....

The first time Ethan and Tyler met

Ty and Ethan at the San Onofre Beach on Father's Day

Friends on Elizabeth's 30th birthday.

Tyler's best friend Ethan, who he calls "Dee Dee" moved yesterday! We had a going away party on Sunday and have been doing fun things with them all week. I don't think he knows what is happening yet, but I have a feeling he will notice soon, when we don't go over to Ethan's house anymore. He moved to Seattle, WA. I am not going to lie, it was hard for me to say goodbye to Elizabeth too. We know that they are doing what they need to do, but it will be an adjustment. Chris starts his internship to complete his Ph.D in Psychology. They have become like family to us and we already miss them.

Getting ready for the going away party

After the party the boys had tub time and hung out in Ty's crib for a while. They love jumping around in there.

One last swim in the the pool together. The three amigos.

Tyler cracks me up! Yesterday, I read him his "Jesus loves Me" book and after I was done he said..."Moo..r Jesus!(more Jesus)" It was so cute! He likes to read along with the books now. That means that when we come to a word he knows he says it. His favorite thing right now is Bee's. He talks baout them all the time. It start with the "Bee and Me" book that Grandma Knight gave him. Then, he watched the Bee movie with Breana in Michigan. He also walks around and we point out the bee's to him in the gardens by our house. He loves fresh squeezed orange juice too.

He weighs about 25 lbs. now which is starting to take a toll on Mommy's back. I am trying not to carry him any more which is trick with all the stairs we have to constantly go up and down.

Tyler on Tour Part 3

2010-07-12T12:14:00.000-07:00

Great Grandpa bought the grand kids an off-loading tricycle with wagon. Breana and Ty had a great time.

Breana really warmed up

Cousins in supporting stars and stripes

Laney wanted to be held so I put her in my homemade Mei tai.

Visit with Great Grandma and Grandpa Olson, who drove up all the way from Florida.

Sleepy heads that just got out of bed, really early in the morning. They were just too excited to see each other.

29 people + 3 days + Great food= Jackson Family Reunion

Grandma & Grandpa Jackson, Mom and Dad planned for months to make this such a special weekend for everyone. It was great to see brothers, sisters, cousins and second cousins, Uncles, Aunts and Neices and Nephews from Florida, Colorado, Kentucky, Ohio and Illinois. We had fireworks (thanks to Cousin Kevin the firefighter we were safe), lots of food and popsicles, swimming, yard games, toys to play with (including a new swingset), etc.

Knight/Aten Family reunion complete with homemade ice cream and Mario's pizza.

Knight family picture. To bad we are missing and import part of hte family...Chris, Tony and Carter.

B-ball tie picture. Thanks to Grandpa Knight for getting a custom made tie for Tyler too.

We had a nice break. Grandma and Grandpa watch Ty so we could go to the lake to Jetski and waterski. It was very relaxing.

Tyler in Grandma Knight's pool.

Swish...Grandpa Knight moved the b-ball hoop down for little T to shoot hoops. Look at his form:)

Slam dunk! He spent hours out there Playing with the b-ball.

Ready for a vacation!

2010-06-26T18:40:00.000-07:00

We are getting ready to visit family in the midwest. We leave tomorrow and can't wait to go back to he homeland:) Although we feel this is our home now, we still feel like the midwest is home too.

These past few weeks have been a roller coaster of highs and lows. Here are a few of the things that have been going on. We had an amazing Father's day with Dave. We could not beat 80 degree weather, surfing and a bonfire at the beach. It was awesome. Tyler had a great time staying up late and playing with his best bud Ethan. Daddy enjoyed a great time surfing with best bud Bryan. We were joined by other great friends Chris and Elizabeth, Tim and Jamie. We watched the sun set over the surf and grilled out brats over an open flame. Bryan brought his mini camp stove an cooked up backed beans. Everyone else pitch in and brought something and we enjoyed a nice dinner on the beach. It was picture perfect!

We've had a playdates at the Arboretum and Kidspace. Ty got to see Jace for the first time since his baby brother was born, Sander was born. Our friends Rebecca and Chase also met up with us.

Sine then we have had some sleepless nights and drives around Pasadena at 2:00am with Tyler. He got three teeth in two days. Needless to say, he was not a happy camper and we did not want to upset the neighbor again.

We were visited by our wonderful friends Adam, Becca, Sophia and Elise Carpenter. It was such a blessing to catch up with them. We miss them tremendously and won't see them for a while. They are moving to China in August. We send them off with our blessing and prayers. We did a little photo shot with Elise and ended up getting one shot of the family at the end.

Elise Noel Carpenter- 6 months

The Carpenter Family-ready for the 4th of July

A beach piggy back ride.

Jamie, Tim, Elizabeth, Ethan, Chris, Dave and Ty at San Onofre State Beach Orange County, CA.

Jace and Ty at the Arboretum

Shelby and Ty, Jenny and Jace, Rebecca and Chase at the Arboretum fountain.

Father's Day

2010-06-19T20:09:00.001-07:00

Tyler and I are so lucky to have such a great husband and father. Tomorrow, we will be celebrating by taking Daddy to his favorite place in So. Cal. San Onofre Beach. We will leave after Ty's nap and head down with the Waters, the Dulaney's and whoever else decides to go to San Dimas to pick up Bryan and about 1.25 hours to the beach. Once there we will surf till sunset, then relax while eating BBQ by a bonfire.
A tribute to our dad's who have both made us the people we are today! Dad we love you lots and wish you could be here to go with us. We look forward to celebrating with you in about a week. Here are a few special pictures for this father's day! Just know that all you dad's are special and we are so grateful for you in our lives! Happy Father's

Matching B-ball ties from Grandpa Knight

Ty and His buddy

2010-06-18T15:19:00.000-07:00

Ty and Ethan's day at Eaton Canyon and photo shoot.

Assisting in a photo shoot:)

Ethan getting ready for the world cup. He will be a great soccer player like his daddy.