JUST A SWIMMIN:)

Sorry, Just a few pics for now.....in the middle of posting them my camera battery died:(

More to come.

These few were taken at a public pool in O'Fallon, MO called Alligator Creek. Tyler absolutely LOVES it! It has a zero entry in the kiddie area and is just the right depth for him all over! The deepest is about 2 1/2 feet:)

We were just hangin' out this day.....It was a Sunday and DAD got to come with us!!!

Oh, By the way.......Tyler learned how to swim all by himself in his life jacket!!!! He has the balancing thing down! He LOVES being independent in the POOL and playing with his cousin Jay and all of the other kiddo's:) He grew up way TOO BIG when he didn't need mommy in the pool anymore! Allthough, it's kinda nice, the weather is cooling off and so is the pool water:)

DAD AND KENNY'S FISH FRY

On Saturday, my dad and Kenny had their "Annual Fish Fry". It was soooo HOT outside, but that didn't slow Tyler down. We had lots of GOOD FOOD and FUN with FAMILY and FRIENDS!!!

OH, AND HIS SHIRT IS SO FUNNY.......IT SAYS,

DON'T

LOOK AT ME,

THAT SMELL

IS COMING FROM

GRANDPA!!!

HAHAHA!!!!!!!!

These few pics are of Tyler and one of his first juice boxes ever!!! He loved it, his mouth never came off the straw!
What a cool, BIG kid with a juice box:)
Do we have a sports player???? Tyler had so much fun playing with all of the different kinds of balls, the wiffle bat and the Frisbee.

Grandpa (my dad ) playing alittle frisbee with Tyler......Think he knows how to do it now??? It look like there's so serious thinking going on:)

Ang more pics posing with the juice box in hand!
With the tongue out???

WHAT A FUN FRIDAY!

THE RITTER TRIPLETS!!!!

On Friday, we had some first time visitors to the house! Tyler's friends Evaline, Kate and Nicholas came over to play for a couple hours. The kids had so much fun and Kelly( their mom ) and I had some much needed catch up time.

Kate and Nicolas playing with one of Tyler's Birthday balloons, those two absolutely LOVED shaking that balloon around......as you can see, Evaline wasn't so sure of it:)

Look at Evaline go!!!! Evaline and Kate are getting so good a taking several steps in a row! They love to "practice":) The babies turned 1 in May and Evaline and Kate are almost walking and Nicholas is such a good crawler, he is so good at walking...when he's holding fingers:) He's not far behind those girls!

Here's all 4 of the stinkers........winding down. They were all getting tired and HUNGRY! Aren't they soooo CUTE though???

The kiddos thought Tyler's bug house was pretty cool! This is Evaline having so much fun going in and out!
Nicholas is sooo Cute, look at the way he crosses his legs. Kelly says he does this all of the time!!! I LOVE HIM:) He sat back and played with the ball popper for awhile and then decided to join all of the crazy kids in the Bug House:)

Here's Kate with that balloon! She was having so much fun shaking it, giggling and screaming.....way too funny! You can kinda see Nicholas behind her with the biggest smile ever:)

I love the pics of all 4 of them, the had so much fun together! Tyler learned to share his toys so good:) This one balloon wasn't enough, I had to goo grab another out of his room. 2 balloons = way fun kiddos!

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!

TYLER HAS BEEN HOME 6 MONTHS TODAY!!!!

WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE???

I FEEL LIKE I AM LIVING AN AWESOME DREAM.......I LOVE BEING A MOM!!!!!!!!!

18 MONTH PICS

HERE ARE A FEW OF OUR FAV. PICS THAT WE GOT TAKEN OF TYLER ON SUNDAY.

JULY 6, 2008

WE REALLY THOUGHT THIS BEACH SCENE TURNED OUT REALLY CUTE!

HE LOOK'S LIKE HE'S STRUTIN' HIS STUFF ON THE BEACH:)
YUM! THIS SAND IS GOOD:)

ONE OF OUR FAV SHOTS!
TROUBLE:)

TYLER EDWARD CARLOS HASEKAMP

I COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT BETTER

I GOT THIS AMAZING POEM FROM ANOTHER BLOG AND HAD TO SHARE IT! ENJOY!!

LEGACY OF ADOPTION

Once there were two women, neither knew the other

One you do not remember, the other you call mother.

One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name

One gave you the seed of talent, the other gave you an aim.

Two very different lives shaped yours into one

One became your guiding star, the other was your sun.

One gave you emotions, and one calmed your fears

One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried your tears.

The first gave you life, the second taught you to live it.

The first gave you a need for love, the second was there to give it.

One gave you up—it was all that she could do,The other prayed for a child—God led her straight to you.

And now you ask me through your tears,The age-old question of all the years,

Heredity or Environment, which are you a product of?

Neither darling, neither ... just two different kinds of Love.

-Author Unknown

MORE FIRST VIST PICS

THESE ARE MORE PICTURES TAKEN ON OUR FIRST VISIT TRIP

TYLER WAS 6 MONTHS OLD

JUNE 30TH - JULY 4TH 2007

ENJOY!

TEN LITTLE PIGS:)
HE HAD 4 TEETH WITH SEVERAL MORE WANTING TO COME THROUGH SOON
GETTING SOME DADDY LOVIN'
GIVIN' SOME TOO!
SOAKING UP THE SUN!
I LOVE THOSE BIG BROWN EYES!
SO SWEET
AMAZING!
GO CARDS!

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY............

WE MET TYLER FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!!!

JUNE 30TH, 2007

OUR VERY FIRST FAMILY PIC! TAKEN IN THE LOBBY OF THE MARRIOTT ABOUT FIVE MINUTES AFTER MEETING HIM:)

AND

MARK AND TYLER POSING FOR A PIC ABOUT A HALF HOUR AFTER GETTING HIM IN OUR ARMS......NOTICE, IT DIDN'T TAKE US LONG TO GET HIM CHANGED:) I DIDN'T DO ALL THAT SHOPPING FOR NOTHIN':)

POSING WITH MOM!
THIS IS EVERY ONE'S FAVORITE.....WE ALWAYS TOOK PICS OF OURSELVES HOLDING THE CAMERA UP ABOVE US AND HE SMILED EVERY TIME:) IT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING! AS YOU CAN TELL BY OUR EYES, THIS ONE WAS TAKEN ON ONE OF OUR MORNINGS JUST HANGING OUT IN BED:)
THIS ELEPHANT WAS HIS FAV! AND IF YOU CAN BELIEVE IT....HE STILL FITS INTO THIS OUTFIT TOO! (WITH A ONESIE EXTENDER:))

One of the most amazing days of our lives! The day we had anticipated for since we saw Tyler's picture for the 1st time on March 21st.

Mark and I flew out of St. Louis on a 6am flight and arrived in Guatemala at around 12:30, after getting our luggage and finding the Marriott driver to get us to the hotel, we probably didn't get there until around 2:30 or so. We got to our room and started to get the gifts ready that we had brought for everyone.....mostly to take up time, you can only imagine how our stomach felt. Tyler wasn't expected to arrive until 4:00. It got closer and closer and we got more and more anxious. FINALLY........the phone rang! It was our fallicitor and our attorneys wife and what ended up in the end to be Tyler's foster dad:) They were downstairs in the lobby! We couldn't get down there fast enough. I had no idea what these people looked like and who to look for but I sure knew exactly who they were when I recognized Tyler:) That was an awesome feeling to know him already.

OLD PICS!!! MEMORIAL DAY WEEDEND AT GRANDMAS FOR FRIED CHICKEN DINNER:)

AUTHENTIC GUATEMALAN SHIRT FROM FOSTER PARENTS!!!!!

THIS SHIRT WAS GIVEN TO TYLER BY HUGO AND MONICA, AKA MIMI, FOR HIS 1ST BIRTHDAY GIFT.....WE WILL TREASURE THIS FOREVER!

I WILL BE POSTING MORE PICS SOON.....AS SOON AS I GET SOME TIME:) RIGHT, HUH??? WHAT TIME??? I HAVE LOTS TO POST! CAN'T WAIT TO GET THEM UP!

TYLER'S 1ST STL ZOO TRIP!!! 6/2/2008