World Champions

Tucker, Kyle and I are still in some sort of disbelief that the Cardinals won it all... too good to be true. We feel so removed from the celebration being away from St.Louis where everyone is still going crazy. No one here cares about baseball. We were so in to the World Series that Halloween snuck up on us -- we are LITERALLY the biggest slacker parents that ever lived. No pumpkins. Half of two costumes - we haven't decided which way we are going yet. No decorations. No Halloween plans. Tucker, we promise we will get it together for you next year! Yesterday we were determined to head to the precious pumpkin patch one mile from our house - photo ops galore - but driving by I noticed, hmm.. no pumpkins. The fence is not up anymore. Sure enough! They had closed down the pumpkin patch before we got there!!! Poor Tucker. Maybe next year. We'll blame it on our Cardinals. We were totally distracted!

Game 4

Tucker got to stay up for the 1st inning on Tuesday night and he was ALL over the game. This kid loves sports. He stands in front of the TV and swings his imaginary bat -- then cracks up at himself. He claps and cheers when the crowd erupts (this was usually for the wrong team since the game was in Detroit). Anyway, he had to go to bed, but wore his Pujols jersey to bed for good luck. It worked! The Cards ruled!

Memphis

What a cute family pic! We're so excited for Rob & Grace -- they are expecting their first in May. Tucker wanted to be adopted, but he had to come home with us.
Rob, Grace, Kyle and Tucker at the MUS Football Game. Tucker saw lots of sporting events - the MUS game to watch Kyle's old Rhodes coach who now coaches there, the Rhodes field hockey game AND the Rhodes football game. It was, as always, phenomenal being back in Memphis. So many memories, but mostly just great time with Rob & Grace.

Independence

He got better with each bite.

Little Man

What is it about a pair of corduroy pants that makes a 15 month old look 4??
He loves his Daddy's sunglasses.

Teasing Jackson... Jackson will wait an hour just for the chance at one goldfish. Tucker's smirk shows you how fun this little game has become for him.

Helping Dad

Helping "paint"
Soaking wet from running through the sprinkler.


Not afraid to run through the sprinkler to get to Dad in the garage.

Always busy...

Tucker's "game" this morning: Pushing the table through the house with Mom's shoe on his foot.

Kyle, junior

Our friend Scotty has called Tucker K.J. since he was 20 weeks old in the womb and this is proof that we made the wrong name choice. He is K.J.


His sippy cup is often held like a football, tucked tight to avoid being stripped.

The toothbrush

Yesterday Tucker was obsessed with his toothbrush. I took these pictures over a period of 2 hours. He walked the house brushing things, back in the mouth, singing, making funny noises using the toothbrush, brushing Jackson's teeth.... yum. The toothbrush will have to be retired. I think you can see why I couldn't just pick one of these. Jackson is pretty cute, too, we think.

All the little sweet things

... we hope we NEVER forget.

He loves to tease you with something he knows you want him to hand you. My cell phone. He picks it up, starts to hand it to me and then does his "back up move" where he shuffles backwards giggling. Lunges forward like he is going to hand it to me again, No! He pulls it back.

If I ask "Where is Daddy?" he always runs toward the back door (where Kyle comes in from work). Saturday morning, Sunday afternoon, it doesn't matter.

He goes to his room and gets a book of his shelf to sit and read on his own. We'll peek in to find him slowly turning the pages, sometimes talking out loud telling his own version of the story.

He often now sleeps hugging his stuffed dog in his bed. So sweet.

This morning in the nursery after Bible Study I came in to the room after some of the other moms had already gotten there and I see Tucker spanning the room with a panicked look on his face. "Where is she?!!?" It was so sad, but he ran toward me when he saw me and that made me happy.

He walks around the house with most anything pressed up against his ear "talking on the phone." We're just waiting for the day that he breaks out in a full sentence because these conversations of his go on and on.

After a nap we open the door and Jackson squeezes his way in (of course). The second that Tucker sees Jackson he just squeels with delight as if he has never seen a dog before!

I was singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" the other day and he put his fingers together like he was making a spider climb up the water spout!

Any music from the T.V. makes him stop in his tracks and do his dance. This entails bouncing up and down with one hand up (picture a rapper in the middle of a verse). He is so hip.

Swimmin' with my pup!

Pop bought me this swimming pool when he was in town for my birthday and I LOVE to swim in it. Jackson loves it when I swim, too.

Uncle Brian was here

Although it looks like we were at Tucker's first Cardinals game, we were actually at the Jacksonville Suns game. Tucker loved it. He just sat in our laps - staring very seriously at the game and all the bizarre double A baseball activities between innings. Amazingly, there were many people sitting around us, down here in Jacksonville, FL at a Suns game, sporting all their Cardinals gear. True fans everywhere! Tucker loved every minute with Uncle Brian... he has been in withdrawl since he left on Sunday.

Olivia and Tucker meet!

A few more pics from Atlanta last weekend.

For Uncle Rob, again.

We never leave our college friends without feeling overwhelmed with gratitude. Tucker already feels the depth with which he is loved by them and the ease of being with them. We all got to meet this precious 6 week old, Olivia Jane Teague. She is perfect. We got to spend time with the Thompsons, Teagues, Jeremy, Gitukus, Beth, and even Uncle Casey (in ATL for work). We missed the opportunity to get a picture with Uncle Casey :( The men have embarked on a "Weight Loss Challenge" that is currently being fully documented on a blog of its own. It is truly vintage Fatnatics. (For those of you who did not know Kyle in his Fatnatics days: You can check out the ridiculous pictures from back in the day of the clown wigs and tight 70s Rhodes basketball uniforms that were the Fatnatics on the blog - http://fatnatics.blogspot.com ).

Uncle Rob, As you can see, my mom and dad did not get any good pictures of the weekend. Could you send them yours? Thanks. Love, Tucker

The Ryans Visit!

Patrick (left) and Sean (right) with Tucker!




The Ryan Clan was down from Chicago last week and we had a blast with them! We did a lot of swimming, eating and just hanging out. The boys LOVED meeting their nephew - they had him laughing the entire time.


Sean playing at RingPower!

For Rob.

At the beach.

Feeding the ducks.

Lovin' on Jackson-dog.

Uncle Rob- As you can see, I have been busy. Love, Tucker

Happy Birthday Bryan!

Bryan (Tucker's 2nd?? cousin - Travis and Jenni's son) just turned 4! We wish you a very Happy Birthday, Bryan and hope you had a fantastic day!

The Birthday Party

He wasn't a big fan of his cowboy hat.


















The Albert Pujols jersey that Uncle Brian gave him!















Playing with his new dump truck in the Pujols jersey! We have decided that jerseys are cute until a certain age -- we just don't want him to be wearing one when he is 30 :)!









Teddy and Tucker

Teddy turns one on Monday! (Yes, they are the same age - Tucker is in the 25th percentile and Teddy in the 100th?)
















Mary Scott (Tucker's pretend-big-sister and Teddy's real big sister)

























We forgot to take pictures of all the family and friends attending the party... oops. It was a great time - lots of people in our tiny house. The cake was very over-the-top (like all 1 year olds should have for their first birthday, right?) and Tucker had a blast playing with the other kids that were here.

How he spent his 1st Birthday!

Opening an unbelievable number of gifts like the
train set from Nan and Pop (all the train cars are carrying Caterpillar equipment), a car that he is obsessed with from MeMe that makes LOUD noises, a Pujols jersey from Uncle Brian, his chair from Aunt Betsy and Uncle Casey, a dump truck from Uncle Patrick and Uncle Sean...just to name a few. He is so loved. He was running from toy to toy not knowing what to do!



He got an early morning phone call from Grandpa Mike, Uncle Patrick and Uncle Sean - singing Happy Birthday with Patrick playing accompanying piano. (Patrick (almost 9) and Sean (almost 7) have a basement band with neighborhood concerts!)










His first chocolate! This was the actual day of his birthday -- a warm up for his big birthday cake!

Bigger, Faster, Stronger

"It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired you quit when the gorilla is tired. " - Robert Strauss


In our quest for the perfect athlete I have included a sample of what Tucker is doing to prepare for the 2024 Olympics, NCAA Wrestling Championship, College Football National Championship Tournament (hopefully the NCAA will have figured out that the BCS system is worthless), World's Strongest Man, or whatever other athletic avenue of his choosing.

We currently use an Enfamil & Creatine mix for Tuck's weight and he will soon be getting HGH (Human Growth Hormone) for muscle mass....you know, the stuff Barry Bonds "didn't use"...we have been informed that it is safe for toddlers.
His strength workout regimine is as follows: crunches, deep knee-bends, lunges, mountain-climbers, wall sits, handstand push-ups, pull-ups and fingertip push-ups. That is all he can handle at this time. He will advance to free weights next year. For now it is all isometrics and natural strength exercises.
His Cardio workouts vary but he seems to enjoy indian runs, fart-lek runs, wrestling, stadiums, any type of shuttle run, line-drills and the eliptical machine. He is a natural runner (like Dad) and seems to have the body type for it as well (also like dad).

Please feel free to post any ideas that you think may help/improve his workouts.