Brothers

I don't think that the boys look too similar as babies but my Mom really thinks that they do.  Either way I think they're totally adorable!

Here are some pictures that we've taken over the past two weeks.

 Before Tyler came we all went shopping on base--Ryan wanted his picture taken and wanted Grandma to sit by him.

 I bought Ryan a Southwest plane set online a couple of months ago and was going to give it to him when he visited in the hospital--as a present for being a big brother.  Of course things didn't go as planned so he got it a couple days after we were home just in the box.  He didn't seem to mind though.

 Roo had some time off for the baby and we tried to spend as much time with Ryan as we could. Roo was such a fun Dad and sat by the train tracks waiting for a train to come.  I just sat in the truck in the A/C.  It was hot out.

 Making fun memories!

 Ryan is such a great big brother!

 He's started going to "school" two days a week.  I'm glad to get some time to sleep and I'm sure that he's glad to get some time to play with kids and see someone else besides me.

 My Aunt came in town from San Antonio to drop off some Kimchi and see the baby.  It was a short visit but I'm so glad that they stopped by!

 I LOVE when he's snugly.  If he's anything like Ryan he'll get over it real quick and then I'll only get cuddles when he's sleeping.

 I'm sure since this is a picture of him sleeping it was taken during the day--because he is up most of the night!  Thankfully Grandma will take him...even if it's 3 am.  I'm spoiled.

I'm also spoiled by the in-laws--who sent me these beautiful flowers for my birthday!  

 I can't believe that Tyler is already almost two weeks old...it's gone by so quick!  I figure I'll tell you guys his birth story--though I doubt any body is to interested.  Since I have a c-section with Ryan I was scheduled to have one with Tyler because they don't do VBAC's where we live.  My mom really wanted me to try one but to do that I would have had to go to Lubbock which is an hour and a half away.  As unpredictable as babies are that didn't sound appealing to me so we scheduled my c-section for the 4th.  We had a fun day Saturday of swimming and that night Roo and I took advantage of having my Mom be here by going to Sonic for a late night snack.  After we ate my stomach started cramping--nothing too major but enough for Roo to Google what contractions were.  Google said that "real" contractions last 60 seconds to 90 seconds--which my pains were only about 20 seconds long.  Roo figured that it was just gas (I guess we've been married to long because that would normally be a good guess).  I called the hospital to see what they suggested doing and they said that if I was concerned I could come in and get checked out.  I tried to see which doctor was on call because I really wanted to see who I had scheduled the c-section with but they said they didn't give out that information over the phone.  I told Roo that I'd try to ride it out because it wasn't that bad yet.  About an hour later they were getting a little stronger (but not longer) so I said that we should just go get checked out just in case.  Worse case they would just send me home.
    We checked into the hospital at 12:14 as they were getting stronger.  They hooked me up to monitors and said that they would leave me there for 30 minutes to see a pattern of what the contractions were doing.  By that point I knew that I wasn't going to last for 30 minutes so thankfully she checked me to see if I was dilated.  I was and to a 7.  By that point they started to move quickly to get me into the OR for my c-section.  By the time we got to the OR my water had already broken and it was just time for me to push--with no drugs!!  I have never been one to ever want to have a natural birth or would even want to attempt to try it without drugs, so this was quite a mental challenge for me.  By that point though I didn't have much of a choice and just had to push.  Thankfully it only took about 6 or 7 pushes before Tyler arrived at 1:26--I'm not sure that I could have handled much of a longer labor.  Hats off to ladies who are in labor for hours or even days!
    My Mom was really happy (and I guess that she'd been praying that I would have a natural birth--and she must be living more righteous than myself because by that point I was praying for drugs) and overall I am grateful that I didn't have to have major surgery--though next time I will definitely get drugs!

His first picture

Of course with my c-section I planned on having my hair done the night before so that I could finally get some flattering hospital pictures--maybe next time.

Happy Grandma!

So comfortable with Daddy.

Ty sleeps like a champ during the day and not so much at night--hopefully one of these days he'll get his schedule sorted out.

My Mom has done a great job at being on baby duty.  The past two mornings I've handed him off before 5 a.m--I'm going to miss her when she's gone!

So cute when he sleeps!

Albuquerque

A couple of weeks ago I took Ryan to Albuquerque while Roo was out of town to enjoy some mother/son time.  We have a lot of fun...and hopefully he'll remember it one day!

 I took him to a trampoline play place.  I felt kind-of bad because he kept asking me to jump with him...but I figured since I was 9 months pregnant that probably wasn't a good idea.

 No trip to Abq would be complete with out a bus ride.  Thankfully we can just park at Target and catch a bus from there.

 One day we went to the zoo and I even went crazy and spent money so he could feed the ducks--he definitely was spoiled!

 Waiting for the train to take us to the Aquarium.

 We were smarter this time and sat in the train that had a roof--it was way too hot to be sitting out in the sun!

 On the way out we found a squirrel which was super friendly so Ryan decided to share his crackers with it.

 That thing was pretty hungry--it ate like 5 whole Ritz crackers.

Waiting for a trolley to give us a tour of the city.  Surprisingly he didn't find it as exciting as I thought he would.  At least I was able to sit down and have someone chauffeur me around.

It's a boy!

Early Sunday morning we said hello to Tyler Daniel (though it took Roo literally up until the minute we were discharged to come up with that name).  It was quite an interesting experience as I wasn't supposed to go in for my c-section until tomorrow--but I'm starting to learn that with babies you can plan as much as you want, but in the end they're going to do things on their own terms.  Thankfully my Mom was already out here so she watched Ryan when we went in and she's been such a big help as we're trying to get settled into being parents of 2!

 In his going home outfit--a nice neutral one just in case he would've been a girl.

 His hair is quite a bit darker than Ryan's one--plus he's pretty hairy.

 Roo did such a great job at helping me through the whole process--drug free might I add! Though I will say it wasn't by choice and I was definitely wouldn't chose to do it again that way!

I can tell Ryan is going to be such a great big brother!  He gives Tyler kisses and acts interested in what he's doing--which I think is a good start for a 3 year old!