The Duve Family

Pics of Our Boys and Tad's Blessing Day!!

2009-09-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

Bro Griffin offered to take pictures of Tad for his portfolio and it ended up being a photo session for both boys...Lucky us! The pictures turned out fabulous. A Big Thanks to Bro Griffin! The cute matching overalls are courtesty of Gma Shirley.

********************************************************************************

We blessed Tad a few weeks ago. Rob gave a beautiful blessing and we had a great time with family and friends afterward. We are lucky to have all these wonderful people in our lives and double lucky...Blessed...to have our boys!

One of my all time favorite pics of MY BOYS!

There are four generations in this picture...on both sides of the family.

With the Grandpa's...

Daddy and Tad

Mommy and Tad

Our Precious Baby Tad!

(I'm pretty sure we have the exact same pic of Rylend...

they wore the same outfit)

He's Here!

2009-07-05T07:55:00.000-07:00

Thomas Allen Duve (TAD) was born on June 25th. He was 7lb 5oz and 19in long. He and Mommy are both doing great! We think he kinda looks like Rylend as a newborn, so it will be interesting to see how much they end up looking alike as Tad gets older. We are so happy to have both our boys! We are so blessed!

Rylend is a great big brother! He loves to give baby Tad lots of kisses!

The pics below are when he first met Tad at the hospital. He was so sweet...he just kept patting and kissing his new little brother.

Here's our newest addition...all ready for the ride home from the hospital.

We wanted to show everyone the resemblance Tad has to his brother. The first pic below (arms up) is Tad and the one below that (in the blanket) is Rylend. They don't look identical, but there is a certain familiarity between the two. We love them both so much!

New Family Pics!

2009-05-11T14:04:00.000-07:00

Caitlin has been taking pictures from the day she could hold a camera and it has paid off. She recently did a family/pregnancy photo shoot for us and the pictures turned out really well. It was her first time doing something like this and I am really proud of the results. She has been taking a photography class and was able to borrow one of the really nice cameras from school. Check out her work...

Back from the dead...

2008-12-02T14:34:00.001-08:00

In the slight chance that somebody out there still checks our blog, I decided it was time for my quarterly post. (ha ha) I commend all you "real" bloggers who actually update your blogs on a regular basis. Though I had high hopes in the beginning, turns out I'm not very good at the "regular updates" thing. I would like to say: "I'm going to try a lot harder," but the truth is, I don't want to oversell myself. So in the words of one of my theatre students, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!" :) I really do appreciate those of you who update your blogs. It is so nice to see and hear what's going on with your lives. Now, on to our family's life...

Somewhere along the trail of the past few months, Rylend has sneakily slipped from any trace of a baby stage into full blown toddler. I think one of the things that did him in was getting his haircut. I didn't think it would make much of a difference, but as soon as those little whispy curls were gone, so was my little baby. Check out the pics below:

Before:
During:

After:
And yes, for those who are particularly observant, the shirt does say "Big Brother" with "Only Child" crossed out. We are expecting again!

In other news, I have a garden!!! I am so excited. You have to see the pictures.
Started Oct 21st:
Only One Month Later:

Taken today after a weekend of rain:
I have wanted a garden for a long time and look forward to eating those yummy vegetables!

Well, thanks for tuning in. Until next time, which I can only hope will be sooner than later!

Reasons Why You Haven't Heard From Us...

2008-08-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

Our last few months have been packed with (are you ready?) birthdays, rehearsals, performances, reunions, vacations, business trips, airplane rides, visits from family, packing, unpacking, moving to a new house, finding renters for our old house, yard work, a garage sale, new ward, new church callings, summer theatre workshop, Amber getting braces, starting a performing group, decorating, shopping, budgeting, Rylend walking, Rylend running, Rylend swimming (alot!), discovering Rylend's obsession with the outdoors, Rylend opening doors and letting the dog out, Rylend talking...Rylend entering the wonderful world of toddlerhood...and the list goes on! We have way too many pictures to post individually, so just refer to the slide show up on the right!

Hilarious!

2008-04-05T21:43:00.001-07:00

I have to say that meal time with Rylend is probably the most hilarious time of the day. It seems the funniest things happen when he's eating...as seen in the following pictures. The video is the best though. I crack up every time I watch it.

Random Updates...

2008-03-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

The following is my attempt to catch everyone up on the latest in our lives with one post...I'll try to make it easy to follow along...

A few weeks ago, we took a long weekend and headed to Vegas. Even though it was short, it was a fun little family vacation that was much needed. We found a place on the strip selling shirts 3 for 6.99 so we figured we couldn't beat the price for wearable Vegas souvenirs. I think Rylend is trying to do an Elvis impression to go with his shirt...who knows? He's a silly kid. You gotta love him though. :)

Rylend and Cousin Julie. They got to hang out when Julie was in town from Safford to celebrate her first birthday! She's already walking and Rylend studied her every move trying to figure out how she was doing it. You wouldn't believe how ridiculously hard it was to get a picture of them sitting still. All the other pics are blurry because the kiddos move so fast now!

Grandpa's 50th Birthday Party!
We threw a party for my dad with dinner, dessert, decorations...you know...the works to celebrate his 50th birthday!
Everyone had a great time...especially Rylend and grandpa.
(Even with the blurriness, their smiles shine through)!

P. S. I made this yummy ice cream cake for my dad and it actually turned out pretty good...yes, those are thin mints...mmm...so good!

Bittersweet Goodbye

2008-02-27T19:53:00.000-08:00

I have been blessed for the last (almost) two years to work with the wonderful Young Women here in Maricopa. I even survived a ward split and still got to work with them. Well, two weeks ago, I was released. :( Although I'm super bummed about not spending as much time with those sweet gals, I know that Heavenly Father is just giving someone else a chance to work with them. I have learned and grown so much. I even completed the leader requirements for my Personal Progress! Incidentally, I have been given a new calling: 14-15 year old Sunday School teacher...quite a humbling calling if I must say. So, I will get to see some of the young women still during class.
Last Wednesday, while I was not at mutual, I received a knock-well, many knocks-on my door. I opened it to find smiling beautiful young women with flowers and a big card! I was so touched I just had to share. They really are sweethearts!

Milestone Movies

2008-02-21T12:39:00.000-08:00

As promised, I have added some short videos of Rylend's milestones. The first shows his super-duper crawling skills as well as pulling up. The second is him clapping. He loves to clap and say YEA and YEAH! The third is him babbling with his cute little deep voice. He's such a cutie pie!

Rylend's on the move...

2008-02-13T15:40:00.000-08:00

As some of you may already know, Rylend has always been a little wiggle worm. He's a very active boy and as soon as his little muscles were able, he started scooting (like doing the worm to get to a toy or my laptop). Then right after Christmas, he started super crawling. Rob describes him as a spider. You know how you'll see a spider that's perfectly still and then if something comes near, it just darts super fast...that's Rylend. He will be sitting perfectly content...then he'll see a toy or something else he wants and he'll just dart. He cracks us up! I'll be posting a couple video clips of his moves. He also started pulling up at the same time. He pulls up on anything and everything. And now he cruises from one thing to the next. He can cruise from one end of our sectional sofa all the way to the other in a matter of seconds. Not that I'm encouraging it, but I'm sure he'll be walking very soon.

P.S. He's 8 months old now!

Yes.......I'm a slacker...

2008-02-12T16:02:00.000-08:00

I realize that it is now the middle of February and the top of my blog still says Merry Christmas. I have no fancy excuses except for the plain fact that I have been a total slacker. Soon to come will be many updates, pictures, etc. I'm just writing this so I have a reason to be accountable. :) Keep checking and soon you'll get all the updates in our lives!

Merry Christmas!!!

2007-12-24T12:37:00.001-08:00

This is one of our favorite pics...it shows what a happy boy we have!

This picture makes Rob laugh every time he sees it because he thinks the caption should say..."What you talkin' bout?"

Rylend's latest is putting everything...yes everything into his mouth...above is a prime example!

Rylend and Mommy at the Mesa Temple Lights on youth night.
(great picture taking courtesy of Miranda!)

Such a sweetheart!

I am one Cool Dude!!!

2007-12-24T12:32:00.001-08:00

Uncle Dalen took this picture on his phone. Rylend looks like a little tough guy all except for his pacifier and I "heart" mommy shirt. Oh well...we still think he's the coolest!

Rylend's Surgery

2007-12-07T11:32:00.000-08:00

Rylend had minor surgery on Wednesday morning. He did really well and mommy did too. He is recovering very nicely...such a trooper. That evening he was already giving us smiles and back to his semi-mobile state-scooting around and trying so hard to crawl. We are so impressed with his strength!

Uncle Dalen

2007-12-07T11:24:00.000-08:00

So Uncle Dalen is already teaching Rylend all about football games and video games. They like to play together and Uncle Dalen likes to make Rylend laugh.

Aunt Caitlin

2007-12-06T16:27:00.000-08:00

I realized I didn't have any pictures of Rylend with Aunt Caitlin...she is so good with him. She can make him stop crying and she can make him laugh. He just loves her! They are little buddies.

Rylend's Chuckle

2007-11-13T18:08:00.000-08:00

Rob is really good at making Rylend laugh and it gets me every time. I just love his cute little chuckle!

Weee!

2007-11-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

Rylend experienced his first carousel ride and zoo trip with Kaiya and Jamie today. We had a great time!

Yummy!

2007-11-12T19:49:00.001-08:00

I wonder if any of those carrots actually got into his mouth...

Rylend loves Bathtime!

2007-11-12T18:41:00.000-08:00

He gets sooo excited when bath time comes that he wriggles and squirms until I put him in the water. Then he just lounges back in his cool inflatable duck tub.

Tiggerific!

2007-11-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

Rylend's first Halloween! He was such a trooper...he let me dress him up, tote him around, and he didn't even get to eat any candy. He sure was tuckered out by the end of the night though!

Smilin' Rylend...

2007-10-28T08:29:00.000-07:00

Our poor little guy has been so sick the last few days with a cold, ear infections, and pink eye, so you can imagine our joy when he finally started smiling again last night. He's not all the way better, but he still managed to make us laugh last night with his silly toothless grins and raspy sore throat chuckles. Luckily we snatched up the camera so we could share our joy...We love him sooo much!

Strongbad Pumpkin!!!

2007-10-27T21:53:00.000-07:00

So Rob and I were going through all of our pictures and found this wickedly cool Strongbad carved pumpkin. Rob used his carving skills to make this when we were engaged and he was in a back brace. Fun times! We thought it was an appropriate time to post as Halloween is right around the corner.

Rylend's Trip to Chicago...

2007-10-25T19:32:00.002-07:00

Visiting Aunt Kjersti

2007-10-25T19:32:00.000-07:00

Rylend and I went to visit Aunt Kjersti in Chicago at the beginning of October. Rylend experienced his first airplane ride, train ride, and bus ride. We had so much fun with Aunt Kjersti and our cousins! We visited Wrigley Field, an apple orchard, and Culvers-yummy! Rylend is Kjersti's little buddy. They love each other very much! We can't wait until the next time we get to see her.

Finally Up and Running...

2007-10-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

I've wanted to put something like this together for a long time and with Miranda's help, we're finally up and running...how exciting!

Rob and I are having a great time being parents. We love every minute of it...yes even the sleepless minutes at 2am. Rylend is such a happy baby. We are so blessed to have our smiling boy and thank Heavenly Father for him every day.

I am still doing the nanny thing which is working out really well. Rylend and I go visit Addison (8mo old) every Monday-Thursday for a few hours. Rylend tries to do everything Addison is doing and he gets so frustrated when he can't. He will definitely need that patience Rob mentioned in his blessing. I am also still nannying for Kaiya and Jamie in Ahwatukee a couple days a week, but very sadly will be stopping after a few more weeks.

Rob is still a Double Agent with the Geek Squad and is out there saving the world one computer at a time. His computer skills come in handy all the time. We have a great set up at home because of his genius abilities. His latest feat was installing a network cable downstairs which opens up so many computing possibilities.

As time permits, I will be adding little tidbits to the site to keep it updated on the latest Duve family happenings...