Ty-Ty's Tie Party!

Since the Ty guy is only 1 and so far the only word he says for sure is "more" (as in, give me more food), he didn't really have much of a say in the theme for the celebration of his 1st birthday.  I took the liberty of going campy and filled some of my empty brain space with some "tie-riffic" ideas for his tie-themed party!  I kinda do have fun doing corny stuff like this, so watch out world for the annual cheese-filled birthday parties of the future!  Since most of my fam was going to be together the 1st week of August, we decided to celebrate with them.  Ty was lucky to have his cousins and lots of aunts, uncles, and even great-grandparents there!

(These pictures are all out of order, but I don't feel like putting them in order...sorry.)

A ball!  Ty knows just what to do with these and is always happy to have one.  The kid's got a rocket-arm already!

 This gift was definitely popular with the children...and it's still in the box!

 This is funny to me, but it's not really how I feel.  I just can't keep the boys away!

 Uncle Kai-Kai and his formal dinner with "Mr. Swift" and "Mr. Espinoza."

 Generous cousins offering to help Ty with his new books.  (Thanks, dollar store for lift-the-flap books I don't care if Ty rips!) 

 Nom-nomin' some birtday cake!

 It was always a treat to lick the candles from the cake.  (Anyone else do that?) Our genius little guy took htat one step further and ate part of the candle...like wax chunks missing.  Oops.

 "Happy Birthday, dear Ty-ty, Happy Birthday to you!"  And please don't judge me on the cake.  I did what I could with the little that we had.  It's not very easy to do full-on cake plastic surgery and design with limited vacation materials.  In case you couldn't tell, it's supposed to be a tie.

 The popular "Pin the Tie on Ty" game.  Just about everyone got in on the action!

 And the victors are: Carl and Mor-mor (my mom).  Good ol' dad didn't fare too well...his tie was practically down the hall, hence the goofy-eye glasses prize.

 Our tux-and-tie-wearing strawberries.  Again, with limited resources, it was difficult.  Julia, my mom, and I did the best we could.

 Russell hard at work placing his tie.

Uhh...Grandma?  We're over here.  As in, in this room.  To be fair to her, G-g'pa did spin her around and ended with her pointing in the wrong direction.

 

All the party guests (minus Curt taking the picture) posed under the tie banner.  Please note the lovely custom ties in lieu of party hats. I think Ty's the only one without one on: his lasted about 2 minutes before he pulled it off.  It was so drool-covered that it was falling apart (it is only paper), so Russell came to the rescue with his Wolf tie as a substitute.

 Dinner included bow TIE pasta salad, hot dogs/brats wearing mustard TIEs (if you chose to put your mustard on in the shape of a tie), salad (couldn't think of any more "tie" food, and we actually wanted a rounded meal, so that's what we got), and fruit (including blueberries, Ty's current fave).  Delish.

 Tina asked G-g'pa to smile big and boy, did he! (These are my mom's parents.)

 The spread.

We had such a fun time that we didn't even get to our special "Tie Walk" candy bar game (like a cake walk) or our "Tied-leg Race" (3-legged race)!  Thanks to all who came/helped! Ty (I) had a lovely time.

Next year Ty may actually have a say in what type of party he'd like.  Russell says that we should do a "Number 2"-themed party with a lot of...chocolate-looking stuff.  I dunno about that one.  Either way, be looking forward to some fun times next year!

Cheers to 3 Years.

Although this is a little late (I have some catching up to do--who blogs while on vacation?), the sentiment and importance is the same.

On our anniversary we went to a Reno Aces game (AAA team) without the munchkin.  We even paid the extra $2 for seats instead of sitting on the lawn!  Actually, we really liked where our seats were--nice view of the field and bullpen.  Not that we watched the whole thing...3.5 hours into the game, the score was 10-5 and we were only in the 7th inning.

 

As luck would have it, July 26th was also $.50 hot dog night!  Instead of going out to dinner, we ate at the ballpark.  In addition to hot dogs (which were less than awesome, but worth 2 quarters) we had nachos and a big drink.  Well, we had most of the nachos...some didn't quite make the walk to our seats, but the nacho cheese stain came out of Russell's shirt quite nicely--don't worry.  Here are our spoils: 6 hot dog wrappers formerly wrapping 6 hot dogs.  :)

 BIG thanks to Ty's babysitters, Travis and Melissa Neu.  Ty has a fun time playing with them...so do we!

One of my gifts to Russell (in addition to a remote-controlled helicopter) was tickets to a taping of "The Price is Right" when we were in SoCal.  Yes, this was a present for me, too, but it was SO fun!

 No, we didn't win any new cars, but we were exhausted after hours of waiting around and a seriously high-energy show.  We'll be going back for sure and we'll bring you with us.  (Thanks for watching Ty, Mom and Tina.)  Don't forget to watch the show on November 10th!!!  We look like this:

Happy 3rd Anniversary, Russell.  You are my favorite: favorite friend, favorite cuddler, favorite bug-vacuum-upper, favorite toast-maker, and favorite husband.  We have a fun time and I'm happy to have many more fun times in the future.  Thanks for having the chutzpah to find my number and ask me out.  I'm eternally glad you did.  Love you, Rufflebumpkins.  

1!!!

Today is our Ty's 1st birthday!  We didn't really do too much exciting stuff, but he didn't complain.  He did have a new lovely bib to wear to church today.  A handful of people asked if it really was his birthday (or what--we were just recycling bibs?  Yeah, sounds like something I might do...), and it was kind of fun to tell 'em it really was.  I picked up a mylar balloon on Thursday while out doing some serious Dollar Store birthday shopping, but was sad to see that this morning, it was pretty...wilty.  Ty liked looking at it, but unfortunately it decided to leave us through the open door and flew away right after we got home from church.  I tried looking for it, but alas, 'tis gone forever.  We'll get him another one tomorrow, since it kind of was my fault (for buying the balloon early and opening the door...).  We (I) did make him a cake, which was a BIG sacrifice because it's been in the 90s and we don't have air conditioning, so turning on the oven is not a good idea plus I have zero of my cake decorating supplies up here that I have recently obtained and taken a class to use.  A cake I did build, just don't judge.  That's about as birthday-y as we got!  We actually have a party for him coming up, which I'm really excited (probably too much) about, but we're happy to celebrate today, too.  

 "Wait--what's today?!?"

 "It's my birthday!!"  Yep, you're lookin' at proud 1-year-old.

 After practicing destroying a cake during his 1-year photos, Ty is a seasoned cake destroyer.  He actually liked eating it this time!

 See? 

 Since Ty had already rubbed his head a number of times, I dared Russell to give Ty a frosting mohawk.  Obviously, he did and Ty went straight to a bath. 

 And because he's one, as a special birthday treat, we decided to let him try milk...as in cow's milk...as in "does your body good" milk...as in the world of baked goods has just been completed for him.  Plus, I love the texture he created with the frosting and big ol' cake chunk on his cup.

 The whole b-day celebratory gang!  Thanks, camera timer.  (Why does Ty look almost the same size as us?  Big dude...)

Happy Birthday, our favorite little guy!  We're happy you're here and love you lots.

4th of July in the good ol' CA!

Happy Independence Day!  Every day in America is independence day, really, so this is not yet another late post. This year to celebrate the 4th (and because Russell had a 3-day weekend) we went over the mountains to Fairfield/Vacaville to visit with family and friends.  We didn't end up watching any fireworks, and only Ty and my mom wanted to come with me to the city's parade (which was the lamest parade I've seen!), but we still had a fun time being together doin' how we do and I guess that's what America's all about...right?

Leslie (my sis)and Crut just moved into their new house in Vacaville, so we went over for a delish BBQ and swim!  That was after visiting the outlets, of course, which happen to be a mere few blocks from their casa.  I scored some great deals: 50% off everything at Gap and Banana Repub PLUS I had a 15% total purchase coupon!  That's just how I do, though...  So, in a new top, here's our little fam in the Espinoza's backyard. 

Lel and Soy looking fly in the kitchen--he looks old here!

Ty likes to climb up/grab onto legs...good thing Russell was still holding him.

Ty is one pool-loving baby.  He plays and splashes 'till he's one big prune floating in the water!

Believe it or not, this cousin picture took only about a dozen (literally) tries.  This was the best we got and if we chop off Russell (sorry, dude), it's not too bad!

Sawyer was taking ice out of the cooler and Ty was putting stuff in it (like a sunblock stick, stuff from the floor, ice Sawyer took out...)

Lookit these little dudes having fun crawling around on this awesome ledge!  Guess who's "awesome" mom didn't realize that crawling around on concrete for a while would rub knees and tops of toesies raw?  Feel a little bad about that one...  At least Ty had fun.  He would crawl until he went off the ledge, so we kinda had to watch him.

Tired tots refueling.

While we were in CA with babysitters around, (thanks 'rents!) we decided to go on a date.  When we heard the circus was in town, well there really isn't any other option is there?  So instead of a "date" we joined Lel, Crut, Kai, and Carl for the $5 circus.

Uncle Kai-kai and Carl heading off to join--I mean watch the circus.

Russell and I snuck away after the circus for a bite to eat at Fenton's, a fabulous ice cream/diner place.  The prices really have gone up since I remember, but it was still good.  So good, in fact, that I may or may not have eaten that sundae for dinner...  Okay, yes I did. 

Ty-ty couldn't quite hack it with all of the fun we were having, so he passed out on his Mor-Mor.  We had to check for a pulse a couple of times...he's okay, though.

Since Russell had to be back at "work-for-free" on Tuesday and we wanted to stay and play longer, The Parents so graciously drove Ty and I back to Reno on Friday and stayed for the evening.  We went to dinner together--also great.  So, whom do I most resemble: ma or pa?

Happy (sort of) birthday, America.  Way to be free.

These are a few of my favorite things...

Yeah, raindrops on roses and kitten whiskers are all good, I guess, but I decided that I needed to record some things that I really like about Ty right now.  In no particular order:

--At night (and for naps) he goes into his crib so easily.  Sometimes he sits and plays for a while (I know because I've peeked on him and can hear him talking/singing sometimes), but he eventually goes to sleep on his own.  Sometimes at night when I sing him half a song, he's already reaching for his crib.  Some may say this is his way of saying, "Shut your pie hole, Mama" but I don't think so.

--Ty sleeps all night long: 12 hours.  This has been going on for a couple of months and it is nice.

--When giving hugs, which he does a lot (another favorite thing), he will pat me on the back.  I do this to him and I suppose he picked it up!

--He loves vegetables and will eat a high chair tray-full of peas one at a time.  This allows for me to get some dinner, too!

--Ty will pretty much go to anyone who puts their arms our for him.  He gets especially happy when he sees another baby/little kid.

--His "first phrase" that he's been repeating lately is, "Oh, no no no!"  You have to hear it to truly understand how adorable it is though.  I don't think that we tell him "no" a ton, but he seems to like to say it!

--I do "This little piggy.." (does that have a real name?) and "A family goes on a hiking trip..." little rhyme and action things to him and he cracks up.  I love hearing him laugh and besides tickling, it's fun to have some go-to actions I know he'll laugh at.

--Sometimes he'll just come up to me, pull himself next to/on me and just smile so big.  This is especially a favorite if I'm on the floor and he pulls himself up on my back and bends around to get me to look at him and smile.  I can tell he loves me, too.

--Ty LOVES playing with any ball, much to his father's delight.  He has a $1 grocery store ball (you know the plasticy-rubbery kind I'm talking about) and a little plush Seahawks football and will crawl to it fast when he sees one, pick it up, and throw it.  Dude's arm is pretty good, too!  He'll chase the ball, and repeat for a long time.  Sometimes it's fun to play "catch" with him and throw the ball back and forth.

--We are fortunate that his hair has grown in in such a manner that it looks evenly dispersed on his head.  I love to play with it and can see some little curls forming in the back.

I like this happy guy.  I can't believe he'll be 1 next week!   

Memorial Day Campout

Over the Memorial Day weekend, we went camping!  Believe it or not, this is the first time Russell and I have gone together.  We were invited by some friends to Lake Mojave (about 45 minutes away from Henderson) and together we were 7 adults and 4 kids.  Unfortunately, we left a little later than planned (because we were following someone else--it actually wasn't my fault!) and when you're camping, that means less daylight and time to set things up.  So when we got to the campsite, we hurried to get our tent set up.  This was the first time we had used the tent, but not the first time it had been used (thanks a lot for the mildew from "snow" camping, Boy Scouts...), so it wasn't exactly fluidly put up.  Also, the dirt we (Russell) was pounding into was more like sand and it was windy ta boot.  We hadn't eaten dinner yet, either, and still had to cook it over a fire and neither one of us is really our best self when we're not fed...okay, I'm probably speaking more for myself.  Let's just say our first camping trip didn't bring out the best in us.  After setting up our tent, eating some dinner, and kind of (finally) settling in, it was time for bed!  Okay, so not really, we did get some good chatting around the campfire done.  After we finally went to bed, we were awoken a few times at night by Ty and also by the ridiculously loud wind pulling our tent fly up and flapping it all over the freakin' place.  We were told in the morning that the wind was pulling up our tent (so much for those stakes, huh?) so that everything besides our bodies and Ty's pack n' play were up off the ground.  Next time, we're bringing up dinner pre-made, getting a real ice chest with ice, and sleeping in the truck bed.  Much easier.

Here you can see a little bit of our surroundings: sandy dirt, lots of sun, rocks, and a bunch of sage brush and oleander...pretty much the most un-camping like setting I've camped in.  I suppose this is desert camping at its finest.  Since we didn't really want Ty crawling around in dirt and rocks, we brought his baby cage.  He didn't mind, but wasn't in it for too long, either.

 Ty's first successful encounter with a straw, much to his mother's joy!  This really is going to open up his beverage enjoyment.

Ty woke up before 6 a.m. thanks to the super bright sun (without any big trees and/or a tent fly, it was kinda hard to ignore) and we let him crawl around the tent for about 30 minutes while we "woke up" slowly in our sleeping bags.  By 7:30 a.m. it was already what I would consider hot, and I'm not the biggest heat pansy in the world.  We decided that it was just a little too uncomfortable and we were too sleep-deprived to stick around too long, so we headed down to the lake and waded a bit.  Here's Ty's approach:

And the entry!  He didn't mind that it was freezing cold and loved the rocks all over. I was less than a fan of him putting a bunch of rocks in his mouth.  Nasty.

Ya know, just splashing around.

His brave daddy took him out a little further and flung him around a bit.

I LOVE this picture. 

 

I guess it was a successful trip since we all made it out alive (except for Russell's wallet, but that's another story) and had a mostly fun time.

Le Art

We moved to Reno for the summer because Russell is doing his first rotation in a PT clinic, the "rural" setting.  He goes to Fernley, NV daily and Ty and I hang out in the biggest little city that we used to live in. Since we moved with practically as little as possible, we have nothing to hang on our walls (besides a clock), so we decided to make our own art.  With a few clearance canvases, tempera paint (the obvious choice for the serious painter of wall art...), and foam brushes along with whatever other objects we found to paint with, we went to work  We obviously did a great job since we cranked out so many in about 90 minutes, including baby interruptions.  Enjoy perusing our gallery.

Crayons! Ty's first encounter with crayons was super serious...seriously delicious.   

"Crayons--I love crayons!"

"Mom, I'm busy being artistic here.  Do you mind?"

We had a fun challenge making Ty's fabulous hand print collage.  He giggled every time we painted his hand and wiggled every time we wanted to stamp it down.  :) I think it turned out kind of cute, though.  (Don't worry--he's wearing a diaper.)

The tools (styrofoam cups, push pins, popsicle sticks, paper plates, masking tape, plenty of wipes, etc.):

"Essplosasion" by Russell Gourlie

"The Size of a Cup"/"Lettuce CUP" by Carolyn Gourlie

"Falling Down a Waterfall...As it Should."  -a still life (or still death because it's not that good looking) by Carolyn

"Attempting Crayola" by Ty Gourlie (This was mostly created by dropping crayons while switching them from one hand to another and rolling the crayons over the canvas while crawling over it.)

"My Hands Is Big" by Ty Gourlie

"Recollection Emesis" by Russell

"Your Right-Hand Fam" by the Gourlie Family (background by CJ)

Yes, you may commission us to do a piece for you...as long as it's okay if it's kind of a piece of cr@p.  At least we had fun!