Baby Steps

New Pics

I've added a new album on the left, 2011 Summer.  So far I just have pictures from our trip to San Diego.  The ones below are from that trip, too.

Matthew, 2 yrs 8 mo

Tyler, 9 mos

 

Six Months

Well, Tyler is actually six months and one week, but who's counting?  Everything is going great here.  Both boys are growing like weeks and keeping me busy.  For now, I'm just going to share some pictures.  I promise I'll get everyone caught up with our family by the end of the week.

Watching a movie with Daddy.

Cuties!

Tyler's favorite position.

Rollin' machine!

I see you!

Made it all the way over.

Matthew loved playing in Daddy's tent.  Can't wait to camp this summer!

Lazy Man's Post

 
Matthew had his first professional haircut yesterday.  He did great!  The only thing he objected to was the cape. 

After the haircut.  Much better!

 

This one's for the ladies!  *wink wink* 

 
Matthew likes to fix bikes with his Daddy.

 
Happy boy

 
Sitting outside looking at the big, blue sky.

 
 Best buds!

On the March

It's March already.  This year is seriously flying by.  Tyler will be four months in two days.  He is continuing to chunk up.  His leg rolls are no joke.  I'm thinking about signing him up for Sumo wrestling.  Over the past couple of weeks he has really perfected his smile.  He is one happy baby, that's for sure.  This past week we've begun to hear the giggles starting up.  We are looking forward to them fully emerging.  I'm not sure I'll be able to stand it.

Matthew is doing great, too.  We now have a speech therapist who comes to our house every week to help with his vocabulary.  He is a bit delayed with his verbal communication, which we have been told is due to his prematurity.  On the other hand, his comprehension is at and almost exceeding where it should be.  In about a year or so he should be able to catch up.  At this point, though, he only uses about 10 words regularly and mostly only when he's prompted.  The speech therapist has now come over two times and I already notice a difference.  When I mention his speech delay to other parents I keep hearing that we should enjoy it while we can since their children talk nonstop.  Truth is, though, I can not wait for Matthew to be able to talk.  I want to hear his voice telling me what he likes and doesn't like.  I want to have conversations with him about his trains and the animals.  I want him to tell me good night.  I want him to say, "I love you, Mommy."  Some day soon, I hope!

Here are some pics from over the past two weeks. 

 
Cute, he is.

 
Denver Museum of Nature and Science

 
Matthew decided he needed to climb into the dino exhibit.

 
Bros

 
Someone needs a haircut

 
Tyler loves his baths

 
Silly boy

 
All smiles

New Toys

For Christmas I got a cool iPod Touch from my wonderful husband.  I'm learning about all of the cool stuff I can do with it.  Here's a new video from this weekend that I created with the iPod.

 

Slidin'

We headed to the park yesterday.  We definitely enjoyed our 60 degree weather.

 

Three Months... Seriously?

Can you believe that Tyler is three months old today?  He is growing like a weed, too!  The smiles are frequent and the giggles are around the corner.  I am happy to report that he sleeps through the night more often than not, which is soooo amazing.  Matthew is doing great and is getting more talkative every day.  We have all been stuck inside for the past two weeks due to the extreme cold (-11, what?).   Brrrr!  Where is Spring?  We're ready for you!!!

Here are a few pics of the boys.  Enjoy!

 
 

 

 

Busy Busy

Wow... Apparently having a newborn and a two year old takes a lot of my time.  It has been two months since my last update.  So sorry!  We have been very busy over the past months with family, friends, holidays and Matthew's 2nd birthday.  Oh, and I started back to work at the beginning of the year (boooo!).

Matthew had a fabulous birthday that just seemed to carry on throughout the month of November.  He had a great party with his Grammie, Grampa, Aunt Shell and a few close friends.  He tore threw the presents and enjoyed every last one of them.  Aunt Shell made some amazing chili with quesadillas, which Matthew loved.  Being the center of attention was definitely something he had obviously missed since Tyler's arrival.  He milked every second of it, as he should have!

Stuart's brother and nephew were in town to visit a college in Golden, CO in mid-November.  Stuart and Matthew spent a day with them in Denver, checking out Red Rocks.  They came up to meet Tyler for one afternoon, which was great!

My parents and sister were here for about a week at the end of November.  They were so helpful and great company too!  Although spending time with them just makes me miss them that much more when they're gone.  Too bad California, Colorado and South Carolina aren't closer to each other!  We had Thanksgiving together, which was perfect!

Stuart's mom came out for a visit at the beginning of December.  Matthew had a blast showing off his cool tricks and awesome new toys to Grandma Q.  While she was here we went on a few adventures.  We travelled down to Denver to check out the Butterfly Pavilion, which we had never been to before.  I didn't realize they also had spiders, specifically a large collection of tarantulas (ugh!).  Stuart held one in his hand, while Matthew and I petted it.  I couldn't get myself to hold it.  The butterflies were amazing, though!  I couldn't believe how many there were and the colors were just phenomenal.  Matthew just stared in awe.   There are some pics included.  We also spent some time up in Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was pretty chilly, but we definitely enjoyed the beautiful scenery.  We were lucky to see a huge herd of elk (at least 100) and a herd of big horned sheep.  Glad the animals received the memo that company was in town and their attendance was required.

We had a wonderful Christmas with just the four of us.  Matthew was spoiled rotten!  Santa was very good to him.  When he came downstairs he found a big train set and a cool balance bike not to mention the mound of presents.  He ran to the bike but was torn.  Should he stay with the bike or check out the train???  Decisions decisions!  He received so many gifts and he played with them all day long.  We had a warm, gorgeous day here in Colorado.  While a white Christmas would have been great, it was also nice to be able to go outside and play.

While being on Leave I loved being able to spend time with both of the boys.  We went to the library twice a week for their Sing Along program.  Matthew's nanny usually takes him, so it was nice to be able to experience it too.  Returning to work was a little tough for me and the lack of sleep didn't help either.  Luckily over the past two weeks Tyler has started to sleep a little longer at night, allowing me to be a little more rested for work.

Our little baby, Tyler, is definitely growing.  When he was two weeks old his weight was in the 5th percentile.  Last week he went in for his two month check up.  The little chunker is now in the 75th percentile at 13 lbs!  He has rolls upon rolls and is doing great!  We saw his first smiles a couple of weeks ago and are looking forward to the giggles, which should be coming soon. Over the last week he has become a lot more aware of his surroundings.  I can't believe how fast he's growing!

Matthew is doing great health wise too!  He is now seeing a new ENT doctor, who we love.  He actually has previous experience with hemangiomas in the trachea, unlike all of the other ENTs we've seen.  The other docs kept telling us that the hemangioma wouldn't be a problem after he turned 1 or 2.  Our new doc said that it needs to be monitored until 5-7 years, having a bronchoscopy every year in order to measure the airway and the growth of the hemangioma.  Matthew actually went in for surgery yesterday for a bronchoscopy.  It was so quick!  He was only asleep for about 30 minutes and we were home by 10am.  Good news, though, the hemangioma hasn't grown, although it is definitely still there.  The doc said that more than likely it will only cause problems when he has an uppder respiratory illness, but that can be treated with steroids.  No probleomo!  Much better than having to use the laser on it.

I think that is about everything that's going on with us.  I will try to update this more often, if not with writing I can at least upload some pictures.  Speaking of pictures, here are a few for your viewing pleasure and I added even more to the new album in the upper left side of the page (Family of Four).
 
 
Birthday boy!

 Christmas picture at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park
 
 
Georgia Bulldog fans

 
Moo!

Tyler Aidan

Last Sunday I wasn't feeling so hot and made a doctor's appointment for Monday morning.  The nurse took my blood pressure. 174/104 my worst.  Next there was some protein in my urine...  I hadn't even met with the doctor yet, but I knew it wasn't good.  He finally came in and said I needed to go to the hospital for observation, with the possibility of having the baby that day.  Ok...

I called Stuart and we met at home so I could pack a bag, just in case.  The nanny was over, watching Matthew, so he was good.  We packed up and headed off.  It was nice to be able to go to our local hospital in Loveland rather than up to Ft. Collins.  The nurses led us to an observation room and hooked me up to all of the machines.  My blood pressure was still high, but everything else was looking good.  After a couple of hours the nurse mentioned we would be going home shortly.  Apparently my body didn't like the sound of that and I started having contractions every 4 minutes.  Then every 3 minutes.  Plans changed and we were scheduled for a c-section.  Stuart got dressed up in some snazzy surgical scrubs and I was hooked up to an IV.  In less than 30 minutes I was wheeled back to the OR. 

What a different experiene we had this time around.  Stuart was able to be in the OR with me and I was awake.  I can't even tell you how it felt to hear that first cry.  I don't think Stuart or I will ever forget it.  Tyler was born at 5:43p weighing 6 lbs 10 oz and was 19 inches long.  He is perfect!  We spent four days at the hospital before coming home. 

Matthew is still adjusting to the change.  For the first two days he just seemed to stay away from Tyler.  Each day he progresses, though.   With the c-section I am not supposed to pick anything up heavier than the baby for 8 weeks.   Luckily Matthew can still climb into my lap and cuddle with me.  Yesterday Tyler was sleeping on my chest and Matthew climbed up and snuggled with us.  It was so sweet!  Today he was sharing his Legos with his baby brother.

I have a ton of pictures...  Enjoy!

 
 
 
 
Just had his footprint taken

 
 
 

 

 
Matthew helping Daddy change a diaper

 

 
Heading home.  Wow, someone is looking a little tired...

 
Two car seats!!!

 
My boys!

Pumpkins!

Fall is finally here.  The weather has cooled down and the leaves are shades of yellow.  We have yet to see our first snowfall, but can see the mountain peaks covered in white.  It will come soon enough!  Getting into the fall spirit, we headed to a local farm for their pumpkin patch.  Apparently everyone else had the same idea.  There were hay rides, farm animals, a corn maze, a huge field of pumpkins and a hay playground for the kids.  Matthew is always so hesitant when we first go someplace.  He wasn't too sure about the animals, didn't want his picture taken next to the pumpkins and certainly did NOT want to climb on any hay.  Stuart jumped into the hay stacks will him, leading Matthew around.  Slowly Matthew found that he could climb over the big bales and that, holy smokes, it was fun!  Pretty soon he was cruising around with the other kids.  We headed back to the perfect photo op spot and he didn't run away.  Score!

As of this past Friday I am 35 weeks pregnant.  I just assumed I wouldn't make it this far, yet here we are.  Looks like we may actually make it to our scheduled c-section day, too.  It is so nice to have the time to prepare ourselves and our home for our new bambino.  I am feeling okay... not too comfortable, which I'm guessing is normal.  I just can't believe how HUGE my belly is getting.  We went out to lunch today and I couldn't fit in the booth.  Not cool!  My blood pressure is still high, but I'm being monitored by my amazing doctor every week. 

A couple of weeks ago we had a 3D/4D ultrasound, which was amazing.  Baby was a little camera shy, wanting to eat his hands and feet rather than pose for the camera.  We did get some good shots, though.  It is just unbelievable how clear you can see his eyes blinking and watch him yawn.  I've included a couple of the better pics below.

My good friends threw me a baby shower last weekend.  We had a great time eating fabulous food and catching up.  My mom was able to come out, which made it even better! 

Yawn!

Shy boy