"Watch, Mommy!"

Everyday when Andrew gets home from school we go outside to check the mail together. He loves to carry the key and open the box. Now, I love to get mail as well so it is with great restraint that I wait to check the mail until Andrew gets home!

Today, we got a package and Andrew was excited to help us open it. He gets to open all of Tyler's presents right now :) Anyhow, it had Andrew's new favorite thing inside -- bubble wrap! Since discovering the bubble wrap, he has been saying "watch, Mommy" as he pops the bubbles. I think he has said "watch, Mommy" a hundred times!

That reminds me of when I was little and made up dance routines and would make my mom watch me over and over and over again. Phew!

Tyler's 2 Week Check Up

Yesterday was doctor appointment day. I went to see Dr. Mac to make sure that my c-section scar is healing appropriately. He was happy with my progress and said that I should avoid abdominal exercises ... I assured him that would not be a problem! :) Other than that he said that everything looked great and cleared me to start walking for exercise. He even mentioned that I had lost "a lot of weight" ... yeah! He clearly knows how to make his patients feel good about themselves when they still have that post-baby belly pooch.

After leaving Dr. Mac's office we went up to the next floor to see Tyler's pediatrician. Andrew's pediatrician is actually a family practitioner (i.e. he sees patients of all ages, not just children) ... in fact, Andrew, Douglas and I all go to the same doctor. I love our doctor, but Doug and I agreed that we wanted to see if the care would be different at a pediatrician's office.

Doug and I really liked the doctor that cared for Tyler during our hospital stay so we decided to give him a try for the next 6 months or so. Walking into his office was a sort of rude awakening ... it was packed and the waiting area was not very big. Nothing like the roomy waiting area at VFP. The good news was that we didn't have to wait very long to be seen ... the bad news was that when we were taken back to our room it was tiny. Doug's reaction was that they were "packing us in like sardines." I guess children get children sized rooms.

The doctor was great though and he said that Tyler looks perfect. He was very happy with his weight gain - he is up to 9 pounds, 1 ounce, which is great! Most babies lose weight right after birth and are up to their birth weight at 2 weeks, so the doctor was extremely pleased that Tyler is nursing well and gaining weight. Tyler measured 21 3/4 inches which we thought was odd since he was only 20 1/2 inches at birth. Apparently, the length at birth is not an exact science since babies tend to keep their feet scrunched up like they were inside the womb, which makes it hard to get an exact measurement. In other exciting news, Tyler's umbilical cord stump fell off Sunday night so now we can see what his belly button looks like - and the verdict is cute, of course! Tyler goes back to the doctor at 2 months for his first round of vaccinations. We are actually going to take him in a week early since we will be traveling to California to see my friend Allie get married when he turns 2 months old.

After leaving Tyler's doctor we had to take him back to the hospital for the second mandatory PKU screening. This test screens for potential genetic disorders. Tyler was getting pretty hungry at this point (read: fussy) but he quickly forgot about his hunger when they pricked his heel and then proceeded to squeeze blood out of his heel to fill the 5 dime sized circles on the paper. Needless to say, we were happy when that was over (although I knew what to expect because I took Andrew for the same test 2.5 years ago). The poor couple that was after us seemed pretty anxious after seeing Tyler's reaction!

I can't believe that Tyler is already 2 weeks old. As I expected when I was counting down to his birth (which seemed like it would never get here), the weeks after his birth have literally flown by. I am trying to appreciate every moment of this infant stage because it passes all too quickly. We spend a lot of time letting Tyler sleep on our chests and enjoying playing with his tiny hands and feet. Andrew likes to compare his "big" hands and feet to his baby brother's, which is really cute.

Andrew is really enjoying being a big brother too and he has shown that he is both proud and possessive of his little brother. This weekend I was walking with my mom with Tyler in the stroller and Andrew was walking next to us on the street. A neighbor said hi to Andrew and he was being shy so he didn't want to say hello back, but he did say, "This is baby Tyler" without being prompted. He wanted to show off his baby brother! Then, yesterday we were at Doug's parents house after the doctor appointments and Doug's mom asked Andrew whether Tyler could stay with her instead of coming back home with us ... Andrew was adamant that Tyler had to come home with us! It was very sweet.

I love being a mommy to two amazing little boys!

Sleeping like a baby ...

I have used this expression a lot in the past to describe a wonderful night's rest or a great nap ... but having a newborn at home reminds me that while babies look so peaceful sleeping they hardly get what we adults would consider a full night's rest. Maybe the expression comes from the fact that babies sleep so many hours a day? I tried doing a Yahoo search and looking at Wikipedia to see if I could uncover the origin of this expression, but I didn't have any luck ... so if you are reading this and you know the origin of the expression, please leave a comment sharing your wisdom with the rest of us.

We have been lucky with Andrew so far - he is a great sleeper just like his mommy, so I am hopeful that Tyler will follow suit. If he takes after daddy we will be in real trouble since Douglas is such a night owl! So far, Tyler is happy to fall right back to sleep at night after he has been fed ... now if I can just get him to sleep in his bassinet!

Anyhow, all of the above was really just an excuse to post some sweet photos of Tyler sleeping :)

Link to Picaboo book with Italy photos

With the CPA exam behind me (yeah!!!) I was finally able to create a book with the pictures from our trip to Italy last May. In case you are interested ... here is the link to the book:

http://preview.picaboo.com/Webview/CoverPage.aspx?album=000000000000892AC9&user=000000000000235085

The Pups

So, I realized that I was remiss in not posting more about our 4-legged children ... so I will take this opportunity to post an update on the furry ones. Major and Zeke are doing quite well and don't seem to mind having a baby at home again. They haven't noticed much of a change except the occasional crying in the middle of the night ... and that really only caused alarm Tyler's first night home. Now, they sleep right through it!

In fact, having a baby around is not so bad for them as compared to their older "pet boy", Andrew, who likes to pull tails and attempt to ride whichever dog will let him. He also loves to pet the dogs, but he is as gentle as a 2.5 year old boy can be, which means his pets can be pretty rough. Yesterday, Andrew was giving Zeke what I like to call an "aggressive" hug ... which means he was hugging her while pulling the fat on her back. That was all before he attempted to ride her like a horse. :) Now, as most of you know - Zeke is quite a stocky dog, but even she cannot handle the weight of a 2.5 year old!

Before anyone call CAPS or CPS ... we stop this behavior as soon as we see it and we remind Andrew every day that he has to be nice to the dogs (no pulling tails, hitting, etc.). In fact, being mean to a dog = immediate time out!

I can only imagine what the boys will do to Zeke and Major when they are old enough to scheme together!

Here are a couple of not-so-recent photos of the pups, including one of the last photos of Shelby (just because).

Major (will be 5 years old on August 8):

Zeke (Just turned 10 years old last Christmas):

Shelby (February 4, 1999 - August 31, 2006):

All About Andrew

As I mentioned in previous posts, Andrew is adjusting well to being a big brother. He is actually very patient with Tyler and he is always curious as to where he is (when he is sleeping, for example). He loves to give him kisses and wants to help in any way that he can. He makes sure to kiss Tyler goodnight every night.

A couple of really cute stories that I have to share about Tyler's first days at home ...

One evening Tyler was happily sleeping in his swing when he woke up and started crying. I was doing something in the kitchen and Andrew was sitting in his high chair. Doug went over to attend to Tyler. Andrew must have thought that Doug was making things worse because he said "stop it, Daddy - that's Mommy's baby Tyler!" We thought it was the cutest thing. We of course explained to him later that I am Tyler's mommy just like I am Andrew's mommy and daddy is Tyler's daddy just like he is Andrew's daddy :)

Later that day I was changing Tyler in the bedroom and he was fussing since he is not a fan of the whole diaper change concept. Out of nowhere Andrew rushes into the bedroom holding Tyler's pacifier. Andrew saw me use it earlier in the day to calm Tyler and he wanted to do the same thing!

I have to say that I am extremely proud of Andrew and of how he is handling the transition from being an only child into big brotherhood. As I knew he would be, Andrew has really shown us that he is a wonderful big brother. While we have to remind him to be gentle with Tyler, he is as gentle as a 2.5 year old knows how to be! We are so proud of him.

Aside from becoming a big brother, Andrew has also grown into quite the big boy. He is talking up a storm now and at this point we can hold a conversation with him which is so much fun. It is wonderful that he can communicate his needs and wants. Doug and I are in awe of how much he can say and sometimes he surprises us by saying something profound (well, relatively speaking for a 2 year old!) that makes us look at each other as if to say, what happened to our baby boy?

He is a very active and smart little boy. He loves learning new words and is quite the parrot these days, so be careful of what you say in front of him because he will repeat it later! It reminds me of the commercials where the mom gives the child a snack (the snack was what the commercial was about) to stop the child from saying inappropriate things in line at the grocery store. Not that we would ever say anything that Andrew could not repeat :)

Some of my favorite things that he says include: I love you (awww - it just makes my heart melt every single time); Look at that! (when he opens presents, sees something new / exciting / different); See you later; Daddy did it ... these are just a handful of the cute things that he says. You just have to imagine his sweet voice saying these things. He is actually putting 5 -6 words together to form sentences now. It seems like yesterday that he was saying his first words. Tyler reminds me a lot of Andrew when he was a baby so it really makes me step back and think about how much Andrew has grown -- and how quickly the time has passed.

Andrew also loves to sing songs, including Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, ABCs, Old McDonald, Jingle Bells, and B-I-N-G-O to name a few.

Here are a couple recent photos of Andrew. I love his big brown eyes in the second photo ... this small photo doesn't do them (and his long eye lashes) justice.



Here are a couple of photos of Andrew playing outside. Since he has been growing like a weed (1 inch in the last month alone) he can finally reach the pedals to the point where he can put enough force on them to actually pedal. He rode his tricycle all the way down our street and back today. He likes to ride on the sidewalk to each driveway so that he can ride down the slope of the driveway.

We have been playing outside everyday for an hour or so when Andrew and Doug come home from school and work now that it is staying light outside longer. He loves to ride his tricycle, play catch, and play on his swing set and with the dogs in the back yard. I carry Tyler in my Ergo carrier (in the front carry position) so the whole family gets to play outside together - it is a wonderful way to finish the day before getting started with the night time routine of dinner, bath, bedtime stories, etc.


Needless to say, Andrew is our pride and joy and his little brother Tyler has a great example and a wonderful big brother to look up to and to learn from. I can only hope that they will grow up to be best friends.

Hospital Stay

The remainder of the hospital stay flew by. We were required to spend 3 nights at the hospital since I had a c-section, with an option for a fourth night if I felt that I needed it. We were ready to get home though to start establishing a new routine (well, at least a new routine for the next 3 months while I am off from work) for Andrew and Tyler.

The hospital stay was pleasant and Douglas and I enjoyed the food (surprisingly good for hospital food), so it was not too bad. Plus, my bed was comfy, although I cannot say the same for Doug's couch. It also seemed as though the nurses (both my nurse and Tyler's nurses) were a bit more laid back this time and less intrusive. I am guessing that is in part due to the fact the Tyler is our second child and they figured that we should know what we are doing (whether that is a good assumption is an entirely different story) ...

Tyler has a great temperament so far and he reminds me a lot of Andrew when he was an infant. The whole family agrees that he is a keeper!

We had a couple of visitors while we were in the hospital too, which was a nice way to pass the time. We had a wonderful visit with Diana Foster and the Nelsons came by for a visit too (even though Brandon would prefer to stay away from hospitals when at all possible - thankfully, there were no clowns visiting because that might have put him over the edge!)

I love this picture of Tyler studying my face. This was taken on Ash Wednesday so he is probably wondering what Mommy has on her face. And no, we didn't leave the hospital to receive our ashes - a priest came by to see patients who wanted to receive the ashes.



Here is one of the first photos of Andrew holding Tyler for the first time by himself. He loves to hold him, give him kisses and help with his pacifier. Andrew came to visit each night after school and the hospital even made him a cake for becoming a big brother. He liked the frosting the best, go figure!



These photos were taken while we were waiting to be discharged from the hospital ... this was probably the most frustrating part of the stay. We were released around 9:00 a.m., but didn't manage to actually leave the hospital until after Noon!


Going home outfit:


Finally - we are on our way home! The teddy bear in the wheelchair next to my was made by Andrew for Tyler at Build-a-Bear Workshop.


... and just like that we became a family of 4 (ok, 6 if you count the 4 legged children)!

Tyler's Birthday

Sunday night (February 18) we took the pups and Andrew to spend the night at Peepaw and Mom Mom's. It was really strange coming home to an empty house and knowing that I was leaving Andrew for several days made me very sad since I have only been away from him a handful of nights in 2.5 years. However, I knew that he was going to have loads of fun with Peepaw and Mom Mom and ultimately I realized that I was really bringing Andrew a big gift - a brother!

So, Monday morning the alarm went off at 3:00 a.m. and I woke up completely refreshed as if I had slept for 8 hours instead of the 3 or 4 hours that I actually got that night. After a nice shower (knowing that I wouldn't be getting a good shower for at least 3 days), I woke up Douglas and finished packing the remainder of the toiletries. We pulled out of the driveway at 4:02 a.m. For once, we were on schedule!

People who joke that there is always traffic in Houston have never driven on the Houston freeways at 4:00 a.m. It was a complete ghost town - there was no traffic to speak of, heck, there were hardly any cars on the road at all! We arrived at the hospital at just past 4:30 a.m. and we headed up to L&D. Christina, the nurse that prepped me for the c-section, was ready for us and we went straight back to a prep room. I use the word "room" very loosely here since it was really just a prep area behind a curtain. Now, this was a surprise since the last time we did this when Andrew was born we were actually in a true L&D room. The second surprise came when we found out that since we were not in an actual L&D room our families would not be able to come back to see us before the c-section as we were in the operating area. That was a bummer, but I knew that I would see everyone soon enough.

We had about 30 minutes of quiet waiting time (after the nurse asked us 100s of questions, monitored the baby, etc) until it was time to walk back to the operating room. They won't start the epidural until the doctor is in the building. So, at just after 6:00 a.m. I walked back to the operating room and Douglas went to the waiting area (since he cannot be in the room when they put in the epidural). The operating room was much brighter than I remembered and quite cold, but after a couple of minutes they confirmed Dr. Mac was in the building and they put in the epidural, which warmed me right up. Shortly thereafter I saw Dr. Mac and I knew it was just a matter of time before the surgery. I recall reminding the nurse not to forget to get Douglas from the waiting area ... and then just like that he was sitting by my side and the incision had been made.

The blue "curtain" that separates the patient from the actual surgery was apparently very low this go round, and although I (thankfully) could not see anything, Douglas had a perfect view of the entire surgery. He tells me that it was amazing to watch and it was not until much later when he was thinking about what he saw that it made him a bit queasy.

At 6:38 a.m. Tyler Matthew was born. He weighed 8 pounds 13.4 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. He was covered in vernix and his cry sounded more like a croak because of the fluid in his lungs. This made me a bit nervous (that and Dr. Mac casually asking the nurses a short time later whether neo - as in neonatal intensive care - needed to be called), but the nurses assured Dr. Mac that all was fine. Tyler's Apgar scores were 8 and 9, so clearly there was nothing to worry about.

After the nurses cleaned the vernix off Tyler, took his vitals, weighed him, took his foot prints, and attached the sensor to his umbilical cord to prevent a switcheroo or someone walking off with our sweet boy, I was finally able to hold him. I am attaching that first photo as well as the first photo of the three of us. I can't call it a family portrait because Andrew is not in it since he was not allowed in the operating room.

I was able to hold him for a couple of minutes before the nurse took Tyler (followed closely by Daddy) to the transition nursery for his first bath, eye drops, etc. On the way to the nursery, they went by the waiting room where our parents were waiting with Andrew. I am posting some wonderful pictures of Andrew meeting his baby brother for the first time before he was taken into the nursery.

While everyone was meeting Tyler, Dr. Mac was sewing me up and then it was off to recovery for an hour or so until I could feel my legs again. They put this warm sheet on me to bring up my body temperature since the operating room was so cold - it was so cozy! Before I knew it, I was wiggling my legs and I was given the ok to head up to my postpartum room. The nurses made sure we went to pay our bill first though! Right before heading upstairs to my room, the pediatrician stopped by to let us know that Tyler was perfect :) .

Once upstairs they wheeled me past the nursery to get another look at Tyler and then it was off to room 424. Andrew was very excited to see me, but he was even more excited to open his present from his mommy and daddy for becoming a big brother - a baseball and baseball glove. As you can see from the photo he loved his gift!

So after the reunion with Andrew and our parents we made phone calls to family and friends to share our good news while we waited for the nurses to bring Tyler to us from the nursery. In the mean time, Andrew went to school for the rest of the day.

When they finally brought Tyler to us (about 4 hours after his birth) ... it was such a joy to hold him and just look at him. It was so incredible to look at his tiny hands and feet and to study his features to see who he resembles. Tyler has my nose, Doug's hands and feet ... and if you ask most of our friends he looks a lot like Andrew (which means he will likely look a lot like me!). He even has a little stork bite on the lid of his left eye just like Andrew did. Plus, there is nothing sweeter than the smell of a baby or softer than a newborn baby's skin.

The rest of the day was spent cuddling with Tyler and spending time with family. Andrew came back to the hospital in the evening to visit with mommy, daddy and "baby Tyler" (as Andrew calls him). Tyler gave his big brother a Buzz Lightning action figure ... that was a big hit as well.

As you can see, Andrew loves his little brother!

What a day! I cannot remember another day where I got so little sleep yet I was so alert and happy (for the record - Andrew was born at 9:14 a.m. and I slept in the recovery room, so I was not as sleep deprived when he was born). Clearly, the adrenaline was working hard!

Happy Birthday, Tyler Matthew!

The days leading up to Tyler's birth

The countdown to Tyler's birth seemed endless, but now, looking back I can honestly say that the last 9 months passed by in the blink of an eye. In fact, I am almost sad in a way not to be pregnant anymore. I loved being pregnant and in the anticipation and excitement leading up to Tyler's birth I did not take a step back to just enjoy the last days of pregnancy and feeling little Tyler move in my tummy. Now, don't get me wrong - I am happy, elated, and overjoyed that Tyler is finally here!

My last week at work was rather busy so that made the week pass very quickly. In fact, when Doug showed up at my office to pick me up for our Friday doctor's appointment at 2:45 I was still working. I literally worked up to the very last minute!

The doctor's appointment was pretty uneventful, other than having to wait for an hour to see the doctor since he had been running back and forth to Labor and Delivery. After doing a quick check to make sure that the amniotic fluid level was ok, Dr. Mac said he would see us on Monday.

So, the weekend before Tyler's birth was another special occasion, Doug's 36th birthday. Friday night we had a couple of friends over to celebrate with pizza and birthday cake. It was such a nice way to catch up with friends without the hoopla of a big party. I love throwing parties but I always end up feeling like I didn't get to spend time with someone. With 4 couples total (including us) and a handful of children, it was a nice balance and it didn't feel overwhelming for me being 9 months pregnant! Saturday we celebrated with my parents by going out for calzone and Sunday we celebrated with Doug's parents at their house with steak and lobster - yum!

So, Sunday night after dinner with Doug's parents we left Andrew with his Peepaw and Mom Mom and headed home to finish packing for the hospital and tidying up the house. Thankfully, there wasn't too much left to do since we had taken care of most of this during the afternoon, which meant we got to relax on the couch and clear out our Tivo. Doug's top priority was finishing the Daytona 500 which he had been watching all afternoon but was not able to finish before dinner (note: to avoid commercials Douglas always watches the races about an hour behind schedule so that he can fast forward through them. This means if you ever call Douglas on race day, never reveal any race facts because he may not have seen it yet - even if the race is over!). He was particularly pleased with the outcome of the race because his favorite driver, the #29 Pennzoil Chevrolet driven by Kevin Harvick pulled a huge upset and beat Mark Martin by less than a bumper. Needless to say, Doug had a great weekend between his birthday and the Daytona 500 win.

So, after staying up far too late, it was off to bed with the alarm set for 3:00 a.m. I fell straight to sleep (big surprise, right?) and the next thing I knew the alarm was going off and it was time to go have a baby!

New Beginnings

I love the idea of blogs ... what a fantastic way to document life's changes. I have never been good at journaling or keeping a diary, but I love email and technology so I am hopeful that I can use this blog to document the exciting and not so exciting things that happen to the Moore family. I love reading other people's blogs and I think it is a great way to keep lots of people up to date on things when writing multiple emails is just not practical. I hope that this blog can serve this purpose as well. Just call me a blog-bandwagoner!

I titled this entry "New Beginnings" because in addition to making the decision to better document the happenings of the Moore family ... that decision was in part driven by our own new beginning. Our family expanded 6 days ago with the birth of Tyler Matthew on Monday, February 19, 2007. He was born at 6:38 a.m. and he weighed 8 pounds, 13.4 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.

I have so much that I want to write about Tyler's first week, including his birth, coming home from the hospital, and how Andrew is adjusting, but I will save that for my next entry. This entry's purpose was the "get the skunk off the porch" as my Dad would say. You have to have the first of something in order to have a second, third, etc. So, to new beginnings ...