Potty Trained!

Tyler is almost all the way potty trained! He has really done so great the past few weeks. We have been working with him for quite awhile but it's just lately it seems that he has really taken to it himself. He hasn't had any accidents for almost 2 weeks. So I think he's got it!! YAY Tyler!!! He just turned 2 in August so we are very happy and grateful it worked so early for him! He still wears a diaper during naps and night but he usually isn't wet after nap. I guess nighttime takes awhile.

Tom is still in Japan. He comes home on Saturday morning. We just can't wait for him to come home. Tyler misses him so much (so do I). When Tyler gets tired he wants daddy! He always asks me to call him on the phone but this trip we can't just call him whenever we want. Tom has been able to call us everyday but with the time difference it's harder to work it out.

Tyler and I didn't do much this weekend. Just hung out together. We cleaned up in the backyard and Tyler played with bubbles!

Well, hope everyone is staying warm back in the states!! I miss it so much!!

Love, The Brouses

Happy Halloween! ARG!

We hope you all had a nice Halloween. Tyler had tons of fun and was a cute little pirate! He walked around our neighborhood and got candy for about an hour and a half. His little friends, Isaiah and Gwen, went with and they were also pirates! They all were too cute together! After taking Tyler around, we went home and handed out candy for a little bit.

Saturday we went to the Hickam Carnival in the afternoon. Tyler got to ride on all kinds of rides and played a few games. We went with our friends and neighbors (Brian and Christie) and their son Isaiah. Isaiah and Tyler are such good friends! We then went out for supper together and the boys got to play flashlights outside when we got home. They like to look for bugs together in the yard at night.

Today, Tom went to the club on base to watch the Vikings while Tyler and I slept in a hung out at home. Then we went to the beach with our friends Brian and Christie. It was a nice day!

Tom leaves for Japan on Tuesday so I took off work tomorrow to have an extra day at home with him before he leaves. He just got home from Georgia after being there for 2 weeks so it will be nice to have one more day together. We have Election Day off from school so it will be a 4 day weekend for me! YEAH!!

So...we wish you all a great week!
The Brouses

We're back!

We're back! So, I have a few weeks of things to update. Earlier this month we had some friends from visiting from Minnesota. The Lofbergs from Thief River Falls came over here with their two kids. They both graduated with Tom from high school. We had a great time together for about 10 days. It was a little rainy a few days for them but overall it was good I think.

While they were here we decided to visit a beach we've never gone to before. It's on the Waianae side of the island. That side of the island is more the poor side with lots of homeless people living on or near the beach. The beach we went to was military so you could only get access if you were military. It was nice. We rented a kayak for the day. I had never done that before so it was really fun. Tom thinks we should buy one now! I don't know about that! We drove back home and had supper at Ruby Tuesday.

Tom left for Georgia on the 19th. He had to go to a conference but while down there he was able to spend this weekend with Caleb. They had an awesome time. Tom will fly back here on Halloween day (I'm so glad he doesn't have to miss this year). Tyler is going to be a pirate. We had a hard time finding a costume that wasn't going to sweat him to death. After being home about 4 days, Tom then has to fly out to Japan for 2 more weeks. It's not fun being home alone but there are so many people who are missing their loved ones for being gone much longer! So we just have to make due! :)

Tyler and I have just been hanging out all weekend together. It's been fun. It's rained all weekend here which is very unusual. So, it's kind of like a fall day for us! I miss fall a lot!!

Well, hope all is well with everyone! We love and miss you!
The Brouses

This is a video of Tyler singing his ABC's! He's almost got it!

Fall in Hawaii!

So it's fall in Hawaii! :) Yeah, I know that sounds weird and it is truly weird to say when you live here! Actually after living her for almost 4 years, a person can tell there is a definite change in the weather but not so much to make many clothing changes (not like back home)!

So for the past couple of weeks we really haven't done too much new stuff. I am posting some pictures of Tyler with his stuffed animals. He's so funny with those guys! He just loves them. He tucks them into his bed and loves to be with them. He has been waking up in the night wanting Tom or I (mostly daddy) and we'll go to his room and find him standing there in the middle of his room with armfuls of stuffed animals! It's really cute but very creepy the first few times I would walk down the hall and find him standing there!

We watched football today and I did some cleaning. I am off of work this week for our fall break so I'm so excited to do nothing...or whatever I want for a week! We have friends coming from Thief River Falls this Saturday and they are staying for about 10 days. That should be fun! Tom leaves Oct. 18th for a short TDY to Georgia. He will be gone for 2 weeks and arrive back home on Halloween afternoon just in time for trick or treating! We have been searching for a costume for Tyler but just don't see anything that we want yet. He says a fireman but I'm just not sure he'll keep the costume on. Also, it's hard to find costumes that aren't made for cold weather. It'll be like 80 here when he's out trick or treating so it has to be something that's not too hot!

I added a couple pictures to the left of Caleb and Tyler. The one of Caleb was taken when he was little. Tom had put shaving cream on him in the bath and he thought is was so cool! We were looking at some old pictures and decided to do the same with Tyler. Isn't it so crazy how much alike they look. Man, some of the pictures of them at the same ages are so alike it scary. I just thought is would be fun to show you all!

Well, not much else! Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!!

Love, The Brouses

Gecko!!

This is Tyler holding another gecko we found in the house. We have them in the house quite a bit! Tyler loves to chase them and have daddy pick them up so he can hold them. We found this one early one morning when we were leaving for work/daycare. This is one of the smallest we've had in the house. Tyler doesn't mind holding them. We took it outside after and let it go. He's so proud when we do that. He remembers where we put them and goes back later to see if they are still there.

We didn't do much new this week. We took a family trip to Toys R Us yesterday to use a gift card and money Tyler got for his birthday last month. We got him a bag of Mega Blocks and a huge tub of play dough stuff. He just loves his new things.

We also took Tyler and his friend Isaiah to the park on Saturday. They just love it there. We had lots of fun sliding, swinging and playing. The park is just down the road from here so we walk there. Tyler and Isaiah are such good friends! How cool to have a best friend at such a young age!!!

Today Tyler has been in his underwear practicing using the potty. He goes so well when we're at home. He does have little accidents but is able to hold the rest until we can rush him to the potty chair. He gets m&m's when he goes. He's only supposed to get 1 each time he goes potty but he always looks really nice at us after he's done and says "Two!" So of course he gets 2!!

Well, we hope you had a good weekend! We love and miss you!

The Brouses