Christmas Review

Celebrating Christmas this year was very special with Tyler.
He was such a happy boy and he met a couple of milestones along the way. We spent Christmas at Eric's parent's house. It was very relaxing. Tyler sat in a high chair for the first time and totally enjoyed it. He made lots of raspberries and spastic grunts. We just sat there laughing at him all through our breakfast.
On Christmas, Ty was great at opening presents because he loves to eat wrapping paper. I made a big mistake at wrapping his gift in red tissue paper because I thought it would be easier for him to grab. Well, after he stuck the paper in his mouth, he had a red mouth and fingers, but he was happy and that is all that matter. Ty also sat up unsupported for the first time, got on his hands and knees, and go on his hands and toes for the first time all on Christmas Day. He wanted to make sure to give mommy and daddy gifts too and make sure that mom did not forget this special day.
We were very blessed this year with gifts, especially Tyler. He probably has enough toys and clothes to last him until he is at least a year old We thank everyone for their wonderful gifts.

One of the most appreciated milestones that Tyler accomplished was that on his 5Th month birthday, he slept through the night and the night after that. Unfortunately, I was working that night so Daddy was able to experience it, but Ty made sure to give me that gift the next night.
It has been a very eventful holiday season and I feel very blessed for the family and friends that I was able to spend it with.

Tyler and his grandmother.

He is a strong boy.

Sitting up all by himself.

A valid excuse for not eating healthy.

We should all make sure to eat our veggies and fruit. Not me! I now have a doctors order to not eat healthy. I have been having some kidney issues for the last 3 weeks. I just passed my 13th kidney stone in one year and it was a nice size one. It almost did not want to come out and my kidney was not liking the effects of that, but it did pass and it was about 5mm. The funny thing is that it was in the shape of a kidney. I had to go to the emergency room after 9 days of not passing it because I had bloody urine, headaches, pain going from my ureter up to my kidney, and swelling. They did a CT scan and saw that it was stuck in my ureter, but still small enough that I could pass it. I had only slight hydronephrosis. I also had another large kidney stone in my left kidney. Well, the stone in my ureter slowly moved down and I eventually passed it with lots of pain. I had kept a little collection of some of my kidney stones that I passed during my pregnancy so my doctor sent them off to the lab. Then today I went and saw a urologist. I found out that the I had a couple of kidney stones in both kidneys; all small enough to pass, but the one in my left kidney was bigger than the one I just passed. So, I am going to undergo lithotripsy to break it up. It is a short procedure where they will lay me on a bed of water with a machine over me that pinpoints where the kidney stone is then ultrasound waves will shoot through the bed of water under me, through my skin, and break up the kidney stone. I will then proceed to urinate gravel for the next couple of days. Sounds fun, huh.

The best part is that I am now on a low oxalate acid diet because it looks as though the kidney stone I just passed is a calcium type. This diet is horrible because high oxalate foods are green leafy vegetables, nuts, berries, wheat, and chocolate. Ahhh! I love nuts, chocolate and berries. I also put spinach in a lot of my food. I also need to avoid ground pepper and parsley. I have to limit, beans, carrots, green peppers, sweet p0tatoes, sodium, and vitamin C. Vitamin C converts into oxalate. I am in a crisis. I love food. I guess carbs and some veggies and fruits are not out of the question, but really what other healthy foods can I have? I just got the new cookbook from Jessika Seinfield, "Deceptively Delicious," because I wanted to try adding more healthy stuff to my food and everything in that book she uses is high in oxalates. If anyone has any suggestions of good reciepes or foods that I could eat, let me know. This is going to have to be a life changing thing because my kidneys have been going into overdrive producing these stones and being pregnant has not helped the situation, but I now realize that the foods that I craved and ate the most during my pregnancy were only contributing to the increase in my production of kidney stones. Hopefully this diet works. Having an obstructed ureter was not fun and I would rather help the situation with diet than have to take medications for it for the rest of my life.

A mother's love.

Today I am so thankful for my life. Even though I feel sad at times because Eric and I don't get to spend a lot of time together and with Tyler together, I am thankful that we have a home, I have a good job, and Eric has this wonderful opportunity to go to Vet school. Eric is often stressed with his school work, but he makes sure to take care of Tyler first then study because he understands the importance of this time in Tyler's life and how fast children grow. Eric is afraid of missing him grow up as am I. He is a wonderful father and Tyler's eyes just light up when he sees him. Tyler does his little spaz dance and smiles. We absolutely cherish Tyler and every little noise, smile, and expression that he does. His little spirit is so sweet and precious. I almost feel a little guilty because he really is an easy baby to take care of. He is now starting to move a lot more. Today he was having tummy time and scooted in a complete circle and off of his play mat. He also did it in under 20 minutes. He is great at doing push ups. He has learned to take his pacifier out of his mouth, but can't quite get it back in. He loves his toes to be played with and he likes his diaper to be changed because that is when mommy makes funny faces and dances and sings to him. He also likes his picture to be taken and then I put the pictures on the computer and he sits still to watch them. He is also still when a book is being read to him and tries to turn the pages. He is infatuated with trying to suck on mommy and daddy's fingers and sometimes I think that he is trying to see how hard he can chomp down. The best of all is that I think he really knows that he is loved. Eric made that comment today then wandered if he really knows what love is. I said I don't think he knows what the word love really means, but that he knows the concept of love. I think everything Tyler knows is related to love, because that is all that we have shown him. He has not experienced anything else. I can see that Tyler knows this by looking in his eyes and seeing how he looks at me. It is a very special moment that I share with him and when he is being loving, he puts his hands on my face then puts his head to mine and my heart melt. A mother's love is so great.

Here are some pictures of Tyler lately with his new outfits.

Tyler loves his baths and looks so cute later in his lion towel.

Here are Tyler's Christmas shots.

Tyler has started making noises that sounds like he is saying "Ho, Ho, Ho!"

This is his new face that he makes a lot. It makes his cheeks pop out more and we just love to kiss them even more.

1st time Tyler put his foot in his mouth . He thought his toes tasted yummy.

This is Tyler in his Sunday best. His expression is just price less.

Christmas spirit.

I love the holiday season. There just seems to be a totally different spirit in the air. Some of that is happiness, music, warmth, but also stress and more fast pace with people trying to get there Christmas shopping done. This time of the year is even more special with Tyler in our lives and I seem to be enjoying it even more. As I contemplate on the birth of Jesus Christ this year, I become emotional when I think of this beautiful baby being born whose life was destined to be hard and was going to bear the sins of everyone so that we could return to our Heavenly Father. I think of Tyler and how innocent he is and what a happy boy he is, then I become saddened because I know that he will also face hard times and live in a world with so much evil that seems to be getting worse. I can't help but want to just hold him and protect him from all of that. I know he will be a great person, but I don't want him to see that evil. I can just imagine that Mary must have felt that even more knowing that her child was the chosen one. My hope this year is that I contemplate more on the true meaning of Christmas and not on the material or commercial meaning.

I've decided that I was not going to go overboard with getting gifts for Tyler because he doesn't care and he is not in the stage where he needs a lot to make him happy or occupy him. I do want for him to experience the traditions we hold during this year or the traditions that we will start this year with him. We went to get our tree this week and it was so much fun because we had Tyler. It was cold and windy,but Ty was such a good sport and still happy. We went to this small family owned lot and picked a beautiful tree. With a larger house I wanted a slightly larger tree, but the space that you imagine the tree to be in always seems larger in your mind. Our tree was definitely bigger than last year. I almost thought it was not going to fit through the door, but in the end it looked nice in our living room. The difference this year is how long it is taking to decorate it. With a baby everything takes 10 times longer and even after 5 days I am still trying to finish decorating it. I love the scent of a fresh tree even though we would get our money's worth out of a fake one. Eric and I decided that as long as our children were young, we would get a real tree because of the tradition of going and picking it out. That is one thing that I cherished when I was a child and Eric also has many great memories of it as well. I hope that our children have wonderful memories of this holiday and not just memories of the gifts that they received.

Here is a sneak peak of pictuers to come. I can't reveal too much because not all of my Chritmas cards have been sent.

Thanksgiving Recap.

I know that Thanksgiving was almost a week ago, but I have been working like crazy and have not had the time to post. I really enjoyed spending time with my side of the family and just had to share the cute pictures. My brother and his family and my family went to my parents house for the holiday. Then we proceeded to Fresno to spend Thanksgiving at my Grandmothers house. I love being there. My grandmother makes an awesome meal. The night before, the women usually get together and make a huge vat of stuffing (or dressing as it is called in my family)that could feed twenty people. The table cloths and napkins are ironed. I used to polish the silver serving set when I was a child, but that tradition was stopped when I went to college. On Thanksgiving, the men sit and watch football, while the women set the table. We have our meal at around noon.We sit at a very formal table with china and crystal and just talk. A lot of times, politics comes up. I personally hate talking politics so I just listen to everyone else. This tradition has been going on since before I was born and I am proud to take part of it. . I don't know what we are going to do when my grandmother is no longer with us. It won't be the same. After being at Grandmother's house we usually make the 10 min trip to my other grandparents house for more food. This year my family had to visit my other grandparents the day before because I was blessed to work Thanksgiving night and had to drive back home after lunch. The holidays in my family and in Eric's family have always been about family spending time together and I cherish that tradition.

My parents and my bro with his wife and daughter.

Tyler's great grandmother holding him.

Ty's other great grandmother.

Ty and Stella with great grandpa.

I love this picture of cousin Caden holding Ty.

Daisy loves to sit on our laps, but she has not figured out how she could do that with Ty.

Happy 4 Months Tyler!

I can't believe we have had Tyler in our lives for four months and it has been the best four months of my life. To recap the day, Tyler was born the day after his due date. I was four centimeters on my due date so I asked my OB, Dr. Ketchum, if she could induce me. I was feeling a lot of pressure and back aches, but no contractions. Being a labor nurse, I had a feeling that Tyler was in the wrong position because of the back pains. I also wanted to be induced because it was the only time that mother could take a week off of work and Dr. Ketchum was on call. The induction started at 8:15 am when I started to receive Pitocin. I was feeling good contractions, but I thought that I could handle it. ( I did pass 8 kidney stones during my pregnancy.) I wanted to have a non-medicated birth, but I did not totally dismiss the thought of an epidural. Dr. Ketchum then broke my bag of water at 12pm and then the party began. I felt pain like I had never thought I would. I had horrible back labor. I was up moving on the birthing ball, and rocking, and practicing my breathing. I was doing everything I was supposed to and I had to keep telling myself that I could do it, but my mind kept saying get an epidural. Eric was also the best coach and companion. Well, all the hard work pain off. With in 30 minutes I felt a lot of pressure and like I had to push. I had my nurse come back in and I was 7 cm. With in a half an hour I was 9.5 cm. I could not help the urge to push, but we had to wait for Dr. Ketchum to arrive. Once she did I pushed for 20 minutes, then Tyler was born at 1:45 pm. There were some minor complications. ( ha, ha). Tyler came out facing up, he had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and it was a short cord at that, and his shoulders were a little stuck so my nurse had to apply suprapubic pressure to get his shoulders to come out. He was a little pale, but healthy. And, I did it without pain meds. It was the best day of my life.

Today, Tyler is a healthy, sweet boy. At four months, he does not cry unless he needs something. He smiles at everyone and lets everyone hold him. He sleeps, 5-6 hour stretches and only wakes up to eat, then goes right back to sleep. He does not want to sit unless he is tired. He only wants to stand. He loves to talk and spit and drool. He would rather hold mommy's fingers then hold his toys. His favorite toy is a small stuffed zebra. He loves to be held and kissed. He loves to lay next to mommy and daddy in their nice bed and stare at them. He does not like to sleep on his back which is hard when they tell you to only place them on their back. He is a champ at peeing on his clothes every morning. He hardly spits up. He hates his swing. He is a big wiggle worm. He has been trying to crawl since he was born. He loves to grab your nose, mouth, and hair. He loves to look at himself in the mirror. He is the best baby a mother could ask for.

Back to work.

I went back to work on Thursday night after being on maternity leave for four months. It was really hard and I cried on the way there. I was also very emotional after my patients gave birth or if I saw a baby that was not doing well. Before having a baby, seeing a delivery was a special experience, but once having a child, the feelings are a lot more intense and very emotional. I think I work even harder and worry even more about my patients now. In some ways I feel like there mother and am watching out to make sure that they are taken care of and that everything goes well. I am also teaching them and reassuring them that they are doing a great job. It took a while to get back into the hang of things, but I did not get the chance to gradually get reacquainted with my job. I worked three nights in a row and all three nights I had high risk maternity patients with complicated births which meant that I pretty much did not sit down for twelve hours or thirteen when the time changed. On Saturday night I wore a pedometer and from 5:30 pm to 2am, I had walked 9,952 steps which was around three miles. My feet were killing me and still are really sore now. The cute thing that happened was on Friday morning Eric had to hand off Tyler to me at work so that he could get to his class. He dressed Tyler up in his Pirate outfit and surprised me. Tyler was a hit. All of my coworkers thought he was so cute and he just smiled at them. I do not usually like to be in the spotlight, but I do like to show my baby off. He is just too cute and sweet not to. I love my job, but I like being a mother even more. I miss Tyler so much when I am at work and my heart aches to see him. I just love coming home to a smiling baby and he lets me snuggle up and kiss him. I know that I have to work and I just need to keep the future in mind that I am doing this so that Eric can finish school and so we can live decently. I know it will get a little easier to leave him as time goes by, but I am afraid that I will miss part of his growing up.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween day was full of laughs. I was glad that I was able to babysit Stella because it gave me the chance to take some cute cousin pictures. I dressed Stella in her cute dragon outfit and Ty in his manly pirate outfit that grandparents gave him. Stella was really into it. She kept trying to touch Tyler and pull at his costume. Ty just sat there and looked like nothing was really happening even when Stella was trying to poke at his eyes. I wish I would have taken some pictures of Caden with the babies. He was really cute in his Darth Vader outfit and his cool mask that made talking noises. He was also very proud of the three light savers that he had. I will have to take some pictures of him next week so I can show them off. Later on that night Tyler and I gave out candy and everyone thought he was really cute, but commented on that it must be his first Halloween. I can't help it. Anytime I get a chance to dress this kid up, I do it! Besides, he has to show off his 3 Halloween costumes. I hope Ty appreciates the effort I put into this later. My cute Pumpkin Baby!

Miss Stella as a Dragon.

Stella is so excited about Halloween. It looks like she is trying to push Tyler out of the picture.

Cute Cousins!

It was Ty's bedtime and he did not want to be in a costume anymore, but I had to get a picture of him with Daddy. Daddy must be thinking, "Not more pictures."

A costume weekend.

It has been a good weekend. On Friday we went to a Vet school BBQ. They were having a dress your dog in costume day. We brought Daisy and dressed her in a cute bumblebee costume. Poor Zoe had to stay at home because she is not a social dog, but she enjoyed a big bone later for not being able to go. There were around 20 dogs running around as elvis, lobster, skunks, supermans, and cows. There was also a Harry Potter dog. Daisy loved being around all dogs except when they were near food then she became territorial. They also had a costume contest for the dogs. Daisy did not win, but everyone thought she was so cute and well behaved for a Beagle. We also took Tyler and dressed him up as a dog. He was a hit and he kept trying to eat his bone.

On Saturday we had a Trunk or Treat at church. Eric dressed up as a Vet Student. I dressed up as a nurse. Very original. We were really tired and Eric was in the middle of studying for his midterm so we were not really into it, but we have a child now and we must be social and participate in activities. Tyler was so good and was smiling at everyone that looked at him.

The best part of the weekend was on Saturday night when Tyler slept straight from 10 pm to 5:30 am. It was great! I hope he does it again tonight.

Daisy was not the only bumblebee.

Zoe was not at the party, but she was still cute with her blanky.

Ty's first virus.

Yesterday I woke up with a sore throat and a sinus headache. I was late getting to Nate's house( my brother) to babysit Stella. On the way there, I realized that Tyler was sick too. He had a runny nose, cough, and was sneezing a lot. Later on that day he had a fever. OH, NO! Poor Bubba! He was still in a pretty good mood and it seemed that he was not phased by it. He took a longer nap, but he was not unusually fussy. Even though he was sick, he still managed to be a superboy and he rolled from his tummy to his back for the first time. TWICE! Then around 7pm he started to tell me that he was not feeling well. He was fussy all through the night. It seemed like the night went on forever and then the sun came up. Now I realize that last night was nothing compared to this morning. Poor Tyler did not know what to do with himself. He was crying and cooing at the same time. It was funny, but sad. He would smile one second and then the smile turned into a puckered bottom lip. After about 5 hours he finally went down for a nap, but not without a fight.
Our pediatrician wants us to take rectal temps on Ty and it has been my fear that if I stick something in his bottom, he will return the favor and give me something back. I did pretty good the first couple of times, but I knew my luck would not hold on. To my horror it happened. I will spare the details, but I am glad there was a bathroom nearby. Ty just smiled and cooed afterwards. He loves to give me presents!
So, Ty has his first virus and it's not being very nice to him.

Parents.

Tyler turned 12 weeks on Saturday. I can't believe how big he has grown. He is now over 13 pounds, in 3-6 month clothing and his feet are the size of a 6 month old. I am 6 feet tall and I really hope that this means that he will be a tall also. He is growing like a weed.

Being a parent, I feel like I have entered into this new club. I associate more with other parents and talk about setting up play dates in the future. I am the one who is walking my child in the back of the room at church to try to get him to fall asleep. I am doing things that other parents do. CRAZY! It sometimes feels like an out of body experience. I am so amazed that I have entered into this phase of my life. I love it! We talked about being a mother and a parent in Relief Society today and I trully feel that it is the most important thing that we are to do in this life. Some who are not able to have children can still be parents or play a parental role in children's lives. It is really a wonderful experience and makes my life feel more fulfilled. I am thankful for adoption so that those who can not bear children physically can still experience being a parent. Okay, thats enought of my preaching.

Here are some pictures of Tyler's room that I have been meaning to post. I love going into his room and playing with him. His closet is filled with clothes and it is so much fun to dress him in all the cute outfits. I try to let him lay in his crib a little everyday so that he will get use to it and hopefully sleep in his crib at night. He seems to love his new mobile.

A woof weekend.

This weekend was fun and rough at the same time. On Saturday morning Tyler was a little fussy so he ended up sleeping with us in bed the entire night. I have been trying to put him back into his bed after feeding him, but I get so tired that I give up. He has been spoiled in our bed with the pillowtop mattress. Who would want to go back to a hard bed after sleeping on a cloud! When I woke up in the morning, it was so cute to see Eric and Tyler sleeping so sound and in the same position.

Eric's parents were coming for a visit so I decided to go to the store for food. When I came back to my surprise Eric had put Tyler down for a nap. He was so excited that he was actually able to put him down and on his back. He had to take a picture of it. Eric is working really hard at learning to take care of Tyler and he is doing an awesome job. Tyler just adores him.

We had a really fun time with the grandparents and Tyler put on his cute face for them, but he had not taken any long naps so he was fussy at times and sleeping on and off. They seemed to still enjoy him. I also bought Tyler another Halloween outfit. It can be really addicting to buy things for your child. I just love all the cute baby outfits and toys that are out there, but it sure is expensive. I love this puppy outfit because he can play dress up with it when he gets a little bigger and he looks so cute in it.

Tyler kept trying to gnaw on his paws and the bone.

It was a really great weekend and I wish that Tyler could see his grandparents on both sides more often because he is growing so fast.

A day at home.

The last couple of nights have been hard for Tyler and me. He has been waking up every hour and being gassy while nursing so it can be a very painful experience. This morning I was so exhausted that we slept in until 11:00am. I couldn't believe it! It was raining so I knew that I was not going anywhere today. Tyler stayed awake for the rest of the day until he went down for the night. Some of the little things that happened was that Tyler laughed like a real giggle. He usually sounds like a sqeaker toy when he laughs. It's cute, but it was so sweet to hear him giggle. He also fell asleep in his swing for the first time. A BIG Accomplishment. He likes to be held and I have been trying to put him in the swing a little more everyday. He does not like it to swing, but will stay in it and look at his toys. Today he did not mind that it was swinging and with a pacifier in him mouth ( He has not been very fond of the pacifier either.) he closed his eyes and was off to lala land. My arms were a little more free and not so sore. Not a lot happening, but the little things count.

Photography practice.

Here are some of the pictures I have been taking.

My precious Bubba asleep.

Miss Daisy.

This one is a little blurry, but Bubba is so cute.

This one is my favorite. He looks so innocent and perfect.

Learning new hobbies.

So lately I have been really wanting to learn more about photography. It probably has something to do with having a baby. Eric is a really a good photographer and we have all these cameras and lenses. I want to be able to take beautiful and artistic pictures, but I am finding out that there is a lot more to it then just turning the camera on and pushing the button. There is ampeture (Don't know if the spelling is right) and shutter speed and flashes. I am finding it a little more frustrating. Sometimes I wish that I could gain the knowledge through osmosis, but I am practing and trying to ask Eric questions. Tyler is a good model for me most of the time. I am finding that I really like black and white photos the best.

Daisy having to get in the spotlight with Tyler. She is my other photogenic model.

Unfortunately while playing with the settings on the camera, I did some of my best shots in a setting that is not easy to download, but I will be working on them and hopefully post them soon.

Oh, what a wonderful day!

Yesterday, we went to the Impossible Acres Pumpkin patch with other Vet students and their families. It was a nice sunny day with a petting zoo, hay rides, haybail maze and lots of pumpkins. We decided that this would be a good place to take some pictures of Tyler. We wanted to put him next to a really big pumpkin, but they did not have any. We had a lot of fun and we were able to talk to other students about how they handle family and school. It was also a great time for me to talk to spouses about dealing with our spouses who are so involved in school. Can't wait for the next activity we plan.
Tyler and Mommy surrounded by pumpkins.

Tyler and Daddy playing with the pumpkins.

Trying to get Tyler to pose was not very easy, especially when he cannot sit up by himself yet. He's so cute!

Vet Students with their kids.

So this is what Tyler is going to be for Halloween..A Lion...Raaaaah!

...If I can get the costume to fit better.

Well, later on that night we left Tyler for the first time with Nate and Aja and went on a date to BJ's resturant to celebrate our anniversary. I cried while leaving their house. It's not that I don't trust them to take care of him; I do. It's just hard to leave your little baby for the first time. I am going to be a mess when I go back to work. We had a good time and Tyler was a great baby for Nate and Aja. This was a really great day, especially spending it with Eric and Tyler.