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Josh's brother and his wife Alli went on a quick cruise and left their little one behind. Vance stayed with my in-laws for a couple days and spent his last night with us. While he was only with us for 24 hours, I did learn a valuable lesson: three kids is way harder than two! Honestly it really wasn't bad at all because Vance is such an easy 9 month old. I was very impressed. What got tricky was supervising Macie, watching Vance and feeding Ty all at the same time. But look at that face, who could resist spending time with such a cute boy?

Meow

Yes, this is way past-due, but I wanted to update my blog so we're going back to Halloween. For some reason I took on the task of making sugar cookies...not just any sugar cookies, but the best ever. Three recipies later these little guys were on a plate to be delivered. Decorating cookies was one of the few activities we did for the holiday. We also carved pumpkins and attended a few trunk-or-treats.

Macie certainly was the cutest little kitty I have ever seen. I love this picture because it showcases her cute little tail coming out from underneath the tutu.

Wow, what a scary witch and ferocious cat!

We went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood of some friends in our ward. They hosted a great party and then the kids set out for candy. I mostly stayed inside with Ty, aka Halloween Boy.

Macie had a great time. She was so excited for weeks leading up to it. I was impressed with her ability to comprehend the whole idea of Halloween. She did have a strange desire to touch people's costumes and ask them what they were supposed to be. Josh said she swatted an M&M girl while she passed her on the sidewalk. Oh, my Macie.

The end of the night ended with both kids in the stroller and a good night sleep.

Happy Birthday Josh

Josh turned 27 on Saturday. Yay! His request was to go out to dinner with just me and no kids. Usually he likes celebrating with friends, but I think life has been so busy for us both with the new baby and dental school that we don't seem to have any time to ourselves. We went out to one of his favorites, The Cheesecake Factory. I tried their crab cakes for the first time and they were fantastic; I definitely recommend them!

Here's a cute shot of Josh with Macie and Ty at our ward trunk-or-treat. He is such a great dad and wonderful husband. I am so lucky!

Happy Boy

Yes, We Are Alive!

I'm finally making some time to update my blog since it's been over a month. My baby Ty is 5 weeks old and let me tell you, it has been a long 5 weeks. Sometimes I can't believe how big he is already, and then remember how long ago it seems that I only had one child. I'll do a quick re-cap on the past few weeks.

Week 1:

My mom was here. Life was easy.

Week 2:

I realized my new baby is very different from my first baby. Ty spent a lot of time awake for a newborn if you ask me. Every day was getting a little more difficult as I couldn't catch up on my sleep and Macie kept waking up very early. Luckily she still takes a nap, but I was lucky if I got one for more than 30 minutes. Josh usually has an 11 hour day, so I was starting to go crazy. Ty also got an eye infection.

Week 3:
The days seemed so long that I couldn't separate my dreams from reality. I was blessed with a fussy baby suffering from acid reflux. This was quite the challenge at first because I had no idea what to do about the constant spit up. I am a clean freak and this was SO HARD. There were days of crying (not just Ty either) and everyday I didn't think I could handle another day with two kids. Macie all along has been as well behaved as you can expect from a 2 1/2 year old, but combined with a needy newborn and my pathetic self it wasn't going well. Wow, I'm pretty depressing. It wasn't all bad though. Ty made up for it at nighttime and started sleeping about 6 hour stretches. Wow! I started getting some help and found that when I had visitors come over I didn't feel so alone and overwhelmed; it gave me something to look forward to. I chopped off my hair for easier maintenance and I love it. I also got some new cute clothes that would fit me while I got rid of the baby weight. Helping myself look better made me feel better.

Week 4:
By the end of the week we were back on an uphill. We had some newborn portraits taken of Ty that turned out great, I'll have to post some when I get them. We went to the pediatrician for Ty's well check and he weighed 11 pounds 3 ounces. I couldn't believe it considering the reflux problem. We had a great conversation with the pediatrician and got some good ideas about dealing with the reflux. They seemed to work well and he has definitely improved. I think weeks 2-4 were the longest ever, but now life is livable again.


Week 5:

My little newborn is turning into more of a baby now. He is getting little creases and fat rolls on his thighs and arms. And get ready for this...Ty slept 9 hours straight last night. I can't believe it! I am very impressed. The fussiness has also gotten better, although we do have some good days and some bad days. For the most part we are all happy and doing well. I still don't leave the house hardly at all with Ty because I have germ anxiety issues. I'm seriously wondering if I might suffer from a few phobias, but we're not getting into that. I think I easily have about 10 bottles of hand sanitizer right now. Needless to say, we're all healthy.

I know I made things sound pretty rough, but they actually were for a couple weeks and since I'm over it I'm OK with admitting it. I thought that the 2nd time around with a newborn was going to be easy because Macie was relatively easy and I didn't even know what I was doing. Now that I knew how to handle things it would be great, right? WRONG! I failed to realize that when I had Macie I could sleep until 11 am if that's what she was doing. I could sit in my chair and rock her for a couple hours if I wanted to. All I had to worry about was one person besides myself during the daytime. Josh was home a lot more. Well having two is much harder than it seemed for me, so I have to tip my hat to all mothers of multiple children. It took me a little longer to get a handle on things and I think my personal anxieties are worsening as I get older. However, I absolutely LOVE my little Ty and feel so lucky that he's part of our family. It's already easy to get a smile out of him and a little cooing; it's the most adorable thing ever. Josh and Macie have been so great this past month as we've all adjusted and enjoyed life as a family of four. We have been up to other things besides Ty, so hopefully I'll get some more posted soon.

Introducing Baby Ty

Ty Joshua Waldron made his debut on September 18, 2008 at 9:37 am. He weighed in at 9 lbs. 5 oz. and 21 inches long. He is one big little guy!

We went into the hospital at 2 am last Wednesday, the 17th. My contractions were 4 minutes apart and I was dilated 4 cm. An hour later they broke my water and Ty was born 6 1/2 hours after that. The delivery went really well considering his size. Ty was actually easier to push out than Macie who weighed a pound less! I can't believe how fast my recovery was too, it's been great.

As a mom going from one child to two, I was nervous about the transition for me and how I would feel about having another baby. When your world revolves around one child it's hard to imagine time for another. I had a great delivery experience just like I did with Macie, and it all felt very familiar having a newborn again. Holding a precious new baby is an indescribable experience and I feel so lucky to have another child in our family.

Macie met Ty just 30 minutes after he was born and was very excited. My mom said Macie talked about him the whole morning and how he would have a little hat on his head and be wrapped in a blanket. She is always concerned about him and asks to hold him quite often. She likes to give him kisses and play with his little hands and feet. I can't blame her, they're so cute!

The proud daddy with his new son. Macie and I like to tell Josh we're doing things only for girls, but now he has his own buddy for only boy time too.

Our cute little guy is a good sleeper so far.

Our attempt at a family picture. Ty wasn't too happy about it.

He makes the cutest faces when he's alert. We have fun with this little guy and have had a great week loving a new baby in our home.

It's Time for Me

Tomorrow I will be one week away from my due date, which is how early Macie came. Naturally, I'm expecting not to go any farther than that with this baby because that would not be fun. Macie and I had a funny conversation about it today.

Me: Macie, when is baby brother going to come?
Macie: Um...should we go to church so he can be born?
Me: Babies aren't born at church. They're born at the hospital.
Macie: (Throws her head back in realization) OH, the hosti-pal. That's right.

It is a good thing Macie is funny and cute because these last few days my patience has been running a little thin. For the past 3 nights in a row I've woken up with contractions 5-10 minutes apart lasting hours until they just stop altogether. 3 nights in a row people! I have been dilated 3 cm for the past week and the baby is so low that I have so much pressure and everything hurts. So I am extremely tired, even more uncomfortable, and getting very impatient. Luckily my mom is here already which has been a huge help. My refrigerator is stocked and I got to go to my last doctor's appointment without Macie. It's nice to have help cooking dinner and keeping the house clean. My mom even helped Josh and I finish painting the baby's room. I guess I can't complain too much, right? Unfortunately Macie has enough energy to wear us both out. How is that possible?

But It Was Free!

I've enjoyed the luxury of cable television without the headache of a monthly bill. Yes, it's true, we were beneficiaries of free cable. When we moved into this house just over a year and a half ago we turned on the television and what do you know, the cable was connected. My sister, who lived with us until the end of July, really wanted DVR so she actually paid a monthly cable bill for it. When she moved out I was pleasantly surprised to see that the free cable was still connected...lucky me!

Yesterday I went to run some errands and when I came home Josh and Macie were watching a movie because just like that, the cable was gone. How could they shut off our cable?!? Don't they know we enjoyed it and don't want to pay for it? C'mon people. As a sad good-bye, I'll tell you what we will miss most. Macie is a true Playhouse Disney fan and watches it every morning while I sleep more and during her breakfast. SuperWhy, on PBS, comes in close second. I probably utilize the cable the least, but nonetheless will miss the Food Network and news channels. Josh, if you ask my brother-in-law Kip, will miss the Lifetime channel. He has several shows he likes to keep up on in evening television, so I assume he'll be bored and devote more time to studying.

Now the question is should I actually pay for cable or get used to more peace and quiet? Paying the amount they charge for something we don't use that much or have to have is not appealing. On the other hand, I totally relied on the TV during the newborn stage with Macie to keep me awake during the middle of the night feedings. Now what will I do?

Baby Update

So...no baby yet. I am 2 weeks away from my due date and am still hoping for an early arrival. I've already dilated a few centimeters and have lots of contractions every day, but nothing regular. Since Macie was a week early I'm hoping this little boy will be coming any day. Josh recently had a whole week off, which was perfect because I was entering panic mode. We really hadn't done much to prepare for the baby's arrival and were entering crunch time. We had a list a mile long of things I had to and wanted to get done before the baby came, and luckily accomplished pretty much all of it. I am officially wiped out now.

I've reached the point where I feel like a giant whale because I bump my belly on everything. Any place I go I get stares right at my belly followed by, "When is that baby coming out?", or something to that effect. Don't be deceived by the photo below from my baby shower a week and a half ago. Black is pretty slimming, and the shot was taken straight on. I'll have to post a side picture to give some depth perception.

Sisters: Trisha, Lisa, Me and Mel

A few things are left undone (does the list ever end?) including getting Macie a new dresser and picking up a few odds and ends from the baby store. I'm waiting for the crib bedding to arrive any day now so I can see the colors and match the few things I still need to get for the nursery. Oh yeah, there's also the relatively large issue that we haven't decided on a name yet. We have finally narrowed it down to 2 names that are growing on us both, but any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated at this point. Macie thinks his name will just be "broder" (brother), so she's not that helpful either.

Fun Trip to Genoa

A few weeks ago we spent some time visiting my parents. My 3 other married siblings and kids went as well. There was a lot of craziness going on, but of course everyone had a great time. Macie and I stayed the longest due to my canceled Utah trip. I was supposed to go meet up with my college roommates, but my pregnant body was not allowing it. Just going to Genoa with everyone really wiped me out. So instead, Macie and I stayed to visit longer and flew home after a week. I sorted through my photos and pulled out some of my favorites. It was so nice in Genoa, as usual, with great weather and so much to do outside.

Macie liked to help Annie pick fresh "dirty" veggies from the garden.

What a cute girl! She was waiting for lunch to be served.

Macie just returned from chasing geese across the golf course. It was a little windy!

Bella, Annie, and Macie in the garden.

Macie and Bella liked watching tv on Papi and Annie's bed. Here they were waiting for everyone else to get ready for the day. Every morning they would go in there to wake them up and I would find Macie in between my parents watching tv.

We took all the little cousins to a children's museum one afternoon. This was the best picture we could get of Sadie, Bella, Gus and Macie in the same place.

Papi and Macie racing on the golf course.

We had a baseball game in the front yard. Macie was waiting patiently for her turn up to bat.

She always hit the ball with a little help from Dad.

Macie taught Bella proper technique on how to get ready to run the bases.

Lisa and Bella at bat.

We went looking for quail and rabbits on walks around the neighborhood daily. No more pictures Mom!

This isn't the safest thing.

Nor is riding the dog.

The kids really enjoy getting pulled around in the bike trailer.

Sadie and Gus had a turn too. I think it was their first time trying it out and they were both impartial.

It was fun to have some relaxing time out of the Vegas heat before our baby boy comes. The kids always have so much fun there too. We want to go back!