Fun In The Sun

Summer's here and it's time to go swimming! Tyler got to hit the pool today for the first time. He donned some shades and skivvies and impressed the ladies with his super cool look. Check him out! Overall, I'd say that he enjoyed the day. It was 93 and sunny, so we weren't out for too long. Gotta keep his skin baby smooth and burn free! Big brother Jack spent some time in the pool with his good friend, Owen, and little sis' Olivia. Thanks, guys, for the invite! We had a great time!

Coolest dude in town!! (Too bad he hated those glasses!)

Chillin' out.

Post swim. Relaxin'.

A couple pics of Jack and Owen, swimming all around the pool together and having a blast!

4 Month Old Tyler

Like all new parents, we are mesmerized by our little one. We marvel at every accomplishment, and drool over benign things like his adorable-ness as he sleeps. So it goes. And, as new parents, we feel compelled to share these things with our family and friends. So, consider this a look at our extensive wallet photos, if you will. Here's a few moments with our newest pride and joy. And, note, he really is a happy baby and smiles ALL the time, but stops immediately in the face of a camera. Not sure why, but digital images of smiles are quite impossible to get, so far.

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy.

Jack and Tyler have a great Daddy who loves them very much. Jack loves Daddy's games of tickles, his big hugs, riding in Daddy's "fast" car, and he loves going to Daddy's softball games. (his list). Tyler, I suspect, loves to have Daddy hold him and give him big smiles and kisses.

We decided to celebrate Father's Day "weekend", so the family went bowling on Saturday...Jack's current favorite pasttime. We chose the Route 66 (mini) bowling, as the big lanes were full and on a wait. Anything goes in Route 66...as you'll see by Jack's form. It's functional but it sure ain't pretty! We then hit the arcade, where father and son tried to outplay, outwit and outlast! They even got in a game of air hockey, which Jack played pretty well! Jack claimed his prizes and we headed home via a family shopping trip to Target...our favorite Saturday stomping ground! Both boys were great for our excursion.

Here's Daddy's favorite arcade game, Pot O' Silver. You know, the one with the quarters/tokens and when one drops down you hope it pushes a bunch off the ledge into your waiting hands? Well, he's really good at it too and always gets Jack lots of tickets. He's going to have to practice before Tyler gets older. He'll need to win twice as many!

Father's Day found Mommy a little under the weather, so Daddy and Jack headed out to church in Daddy's fast car. I heard them discussing seating as they left, both agreeing on the balcony (their favorite spot!). Tyler and I hung out at home and awaited their return. We had lunch together and then I prodded all 3 boys out to the deck for some pictures. Here's a few of the great ones! What handsome men I have in my life!!!





As his gift, Daddy got his very own home version of his favorite arcade game, called Push-A-Coin. Now he can "practice" whenever he wants!


Then we headed over to celebrate Father's Day with my dad. We had a great afternoon, and Jack stayed for a sleepover. Happy Father's Day, Dad! Enjoy shopping on Ebay to stock up on supplies for your new/old hobby, stamp collecting!

Poked, Prodded and Scoped

Seems our little pumpkin is struggling at night to breathe. I am taking him to the doctor almost weekly, and we are trying to figure out why he is so congested. He's happy as can be, but sounds like an old smoker, hacking up this big wet cough. So we try breathing treatments, and no improvement. We take him for an xray and set up an appointment with Pediatric Pulmonology at Vanderbilt for fluid on the lungs and wheezing. We increase the breathing treatments while waiting for our appointment and that leads to a horrible night where Tyler really struggled and had us worried at 1:00 a.m. So the next day, Saturday, we head to the ER. A quick visit yields no immediate concern from the physician, so we wait for our Pulmonology appt.

Pulmonology confirms what our pediatrician suspected: malacia and reflux. They schedule a bronchoscopy (looking at the throat/lungs via a fiber optic camera strategically placed in the nose) for the following Monday and prescribe zantac. We go home to wait for the procedure.

The day of the procedure has me, the Mommy, pretty uptight. I've been told that I must withhold food from my sweet little baby for 6 hours. Dear me! I anticipated crying towards the last 2 hours, but our angel baby boy fell asleep in my arms at the hospital, dressed in the cutest little hospital issued infant pajamas. He remained asleep until the anesthesiologist gently plucked him from my mommy-clutches. I was doing fine until he said, with that "look", "I'll take good care of your baby, Mom." Gulp (big lump in throat, followed by tears). Fortunately, the procedure lasted less than 15 minutes and we were soon called to the recovery room. As Scott and I walked in together, we saw a man and woman hovered over a crying baby. The man was sitting with the baby in his lap, who appeared to be close to Tyler's age. I thought, "aww, they have a baby like ours." We walk up and it IS our baby! The man was a nurse. Silly me! And boy was our baby wailing. Poor thing. He was upset. It took quitet some time to calm him down, and each time he stopped crying and sighed a big sigh, he'd look up at us, breathing deeply for a moment and then he'd start crying again. After 30 minutes or so, we gave him some Tylenol and he continued to have bursts of crying for another 15 minutes. And then....he looked up at me and smiled a great big smile. Our baby was going to be ok!

The diagnosis: nasalpharangealmalacia. For the common folk: soft cartilage in the throat that causes the airway to be floppy. Tyler's is effected below the nose and above the larynx. It causes the airway to collapse a little when lying down. No treatment; prognosis is great. He should grow out of it by age 2 or so. They also found evidence of reflux damage in the trachea. All in all, great news! To address the reflux, we now use zantac daily, are investigating further food sensitivities, elevate one end of his crib and try to sit him up for 20-30 minutes after each feed. There is nothing to do for the malacia, except to keep him healthy as best we can until he's at least 6 months old. At that point he should be able to breathe through his mouth...which will help in the event of a cold. Did you know that babies don't breathe out of their mouths before they are 6 months old? Neither did I! Overall, Tyler is doing great and doesn't seem to have any lasting issues from the bronchoscopy. We are so thrilled that he is doing better!

Mother's Day...Twice the Fun!

Mother's Day in 2002 was amazing. I had a brand new little baby and boy, was I proud to finally be a Mommy! 2008 ranked just as high, as I am now the even prouder Mommy to 2 boys!!!

We spent the afternoon with my parents in Nolensville, celebrating my wonderful Mom as well. We fooled around a lot with my new camera because a Mother's Day picture means a lot to me. Jack took a fantastic picture of me with my new little man, Tyler:


And Dad took an especially awesome one of me and the boys. After a little photoshop magic, we were able to remove the plaid couch (sorry Mom!). This is one of my favorite pictures since Tyler has been born. I take most of the pictures around here, so its nice to be in one!!!



Here are a few more of the day. It was the first time that the boys dressed alike, and I thought it was adorable!! Happy Mother's Day, Moms! And boys, thanks for allowing me to be your Mom. I strive every day to be the best Mom I can be to you both.

Our kissing totem pole:
Proud Grandma (Mimi) with her two grandsons:

Three Months Old!

Time flies by so quickly. This month we had our first church picture taken. It turned out really well, especially considering Tyler was looking and smiling-ish for the camera at less than 3 months old!

Jack had his 6th birthday this month, so there were lots of festivities, including Tyler's first trip to Chuck E. Cheese's. He seemed to enjoy the party with Jack and all of his school friends.


He's growing and sleeping better and we all just adore him. Jack and Tyler are becoming the biggest buds! Jack talks to Tyler and gets his pacie for him and this month even wrote his name!

Here's some of our favorite pictures of Tyler right now. I've got my new mac-daddy camera, but still a bit low on the learning curve! Bear with me, they are sure to get better! The smiles are starting to come a little more readily now...and we are lovin' them! Mommy and Daddy get the biggest ones, but Jack is getting his fair share too!




Jack went to Disney with Mimi and Grandpa this month for 6 days, and Mommy and Daddy got some real one-on-one time with their sweet baby! It was awesome for everyone!

The trip gave me lots of time to take pictures! Here are a few more:



Oooh! I'm lovin' those fat cheeks! What a cutie!

Two Months Old!

Happy Two Month Birthday, Tyler!! We love you and can hardly remember life without you! Your personality is emerging...and you are just as sweet as can be, easygoing, and adorable. We love your big open mouth smiles and how your face lights up when you see your family! Love, Mommy, Daddy & Big Bro' Jack