Day 1

Ryan and I have decided to create a family blog.  One of my resolutions this year is to document Tyler's monumental moments better.  I know what his first word was (Mama) but I don't remember when it happened.  I know he began taking steps around 10 months but I can't remember exactly which day.  In the grand scheme of things, I know it doesn't matter.  He is well loved and taken care of and that's most important.  But I still can't help getting a little bit of that mom-guilt.

Ryan, on the other hand, found a really cute YouTube video of a couple who took pictures of themselves everyday for an entire year.  He thought that would be really fun to do with Tyler.  He's changed so much these last 12 months, it's crazy looking back at all of our pictures.  It's going to be so exciting being able to compile all 365 pictures and seeing how much he changes in 2014.

So this blog is going to be a joint effort, a way to write down fun tidbits with our baby and a fun photo experiment for Ryan to do.

And seeing that it is January 1, we might as well write down some resolutions.

Ryan
1.  Start working out again.
2.  Do something new everyday.
3.  Less phone time, more family time.

Tammy
1.  Read at least one book a month.
2.  Document Tyler's monumental moments.
3.  Work towards advancing my career.

Tyler
1.  Cut back on "My-My" (his word for pacifier).
2.  Learn to share.
3.  Travel more.

Here is our first picture for our family project!

We realized that we chose kind of an ambitious project.  What made the YouTube video that Ryan found so fun was that they had (for the most part) the same backdrop and pose.  That's just not going to happen with an 18 month old.  We had a difficult time wrangling Tyler and getting him to sit still long enough for a family portrait.  We finally bribed him with bubbles, got him to sit in his nursery (there goes the white wall backdrop Daddy was hoping for), and resorted to our cell phones to use the front facing camera because Baby likes to see himself pose for pictures.

Even though it's not setting us up for the perfect picture project that Ryan wanted, I think this picture is perfect.  It's a little blurry, the stuffed cow is photo-bombing us, and no one's making eye-contact but the story behind it cracks me up and Daddy and Baby are making similar facial expressions.  I love it.

In conclusion, I think 2014 is going to be a great year.  Already we've had family friends come over for delicious food (Ryan made some pasties that were incredible, I'll have him write up a recipe sometime) and games (we lost both games but it was still fun!), the Crawfords came over for an impromptu visit, and Ryan and I had a date night and saw "Frozen" (super cute, definitely gonna buy it on Blu-ray, Tyler's going to love the music!).  If this is any indication of what 2014 is going to be like we're in for a good year, filled with friends and family and love.

And now for your enjoyment, some outtakes.  Happy New Year, everybody.  I hope you'll enjoy 2014 as much as we will.