16 months

Updates on Ty are long over due, I don't think I have written anything since I had Gabe! He finally started walking around 14 months, we thought the day would never come! Now he is running around everywhere. He has figured out how to crawl up on the couch, chairs, and the table. He also loves going to the park and climbing up the stairs and going down the slide by himself. He doesn't like to have help with a lot of things, seems like he will be the typical "independent firstborn"

A random, funny thing about Ty is that he loves to pull things around his neck. He usually gets into his diapers and will take every single one out until every diaper has made the trip around his neck.

He is my little Mr. Clean, well not really because he just makes messes all day; but he likes to think that he is helping me clean. Whenever I am mopping, dusting, or folding laundry, he is right by my side "helping me" It is so funny to watch him, he runs around and wipes everything and throws the clean clothes around really super fast! Makes me wonder if thats what I look like when I am doing those things.

He is still the best sleeper ever! He loves nap time. He usually comes up to me and waves bye bye which means he is tired and wants to go to bed. He still takes a long morning nap and a shorter afternoon nap. Sometimes for the afternoon he will just play in his crib, which I am fine with. He just loves having his binky and blanky and thats the only time he gets them.

He can be a terrible eater but he can also be the best eater ever. It really just depends on the mood he is in. His latest lovin is raw broccoli! He also loves hot dogs, toast with jam, mac n cheese, chimichangas, cheese sandwhich, all fruit, anything pasta, chicken, rolls, and his absolute favorite treats are lucky charms and ice cream. He is such a messy eater, I don't even know why I sweep and mop because after one meal the floor is so disgusting again!

He loves playing with his cousins. Even though he is the youngest toddler it seems like he tries to act older so that he can follow them around. Its fun to see him start to interact with other kids.

Ty is such a flirt! I can't believe how excited he gets when he sees any girl. It is hilarious! He loves doing anything that his dad does. Whenever Dan is home Ty is his little shadow, he follows him everywhere and tries to do the things he does and the noises he makes. (like farting, its getting out of control) He also has a temper. He just discovered how to throw tantrums, whether its falling drastically to the floor and kicking his legs or screaming into the couch or a blanket, it's still funny to me and I don't give him any attention when it happens so it only lasts a few seconds.

He likes to figure things out on his own. He loves putting things together and seems to feel pretty proud of himself when he accomplishes the task at hand. He literally freaks out when something doesn't fit together or it falls apart, but after his little episode he starts at it again.

Possibly a little perfectionist

I saved my absolute favorite things for the end. First off, he has been saying "mom" for awhile, but now he will yell my name and wait for me to look at him and then just start talking baby talk 100 miles an hour. It is the cutest thing! His baby talk is also starting to sound more like words, so hopefully that is a sign that he will start talking more. Another thing that I am loving right now is he takes my hand and pulls me to sit down so that he can lay on my lap, hold my hand and watch tv, its our little cuddle time. He still loves kisses, even more than before! He comes up to me atleast 20 times a day to give me a kiss. When I tell Ty that I love him, he blows me a kiss, which I think he is saying I love you back.

Gabes Blessing

Dan blessed Gabe on Sunday, it was such a special and nice day. The blessing was so beautiful, there are many wonderful things in store for our sweet little guy. It was also fast and testimony meeting, which are usually my favorite sundays... That is until my sweet, loving husband got up and at the end of his testimony said how much I wanted to bare my testimony and that I would be coming up! No Pressure!! I was a little upset, but also grateful he said that because with everything that has happened I needed to get up and share how much my testimony has grown these past few months. We had a little get together afterwards, it was really nice to spend the rest of our day with family and friends. We have both been blessed with great families and awesome friends and are thankful for the love and support that they have shown to us.

Here is a better picture of Gabe, doesn't he just look like a stud! He is such a good baby and brings so much love into our home. I remember when I was pregnant with him and feeling so overwhelmed that I wouldn't be able to love him as much as I loved Ty, but thats not the case anymore. It really is true what they say, your heart just seems to make room somehow. I can't imagine life without this little miracle. I love you forever Gabe!

The NICU

Its only taken me three months to write about the longest 37 days of my life, Gabe being in the NICU. This was a trying time for our little family. I had been debating if I really wanted to go down this road again, remember how my heart felt torn into so many tiny pieces because I couldn't be with my two boys at the same time, and every day I had to leave my little newborn in the care of some different nurse. I felt like I was dreaming. That car ride became so repetitive that I could've closed my eyes and driven there safely.

Gabe was life-flighted to Utah Valley a couple of hours after he was born. Our helpless little Gabe depending on all the machines, monitors and IV's to keep him going and become stronger. He was on the ventilator for the first day but did so good that they took him off and put him on the CPAP. He also had therapy lights on and off for the first couple of weeks.

We weren't allowed to hold Gabe in the beginning, this was really hard for me. It was hard to be with him and not able to cuddle and comfort him. After a couple of days I got permission to hold him for 15 minutes. Slowly the time went up to where I could hold him for 30 minutes each time I was able to get there.

Holding him was like medicine that took away all my stress. I couldn't get enough of it. Not just because I felt like I was never with him but also I yearned to feel like I was his mom. I mean, I knew I was his mom but it was hard to feel it, to feel that bond that a mother has with her newborn baby. I would hold him for 30 minutes and then have to leave him there and life would just go on.

Gabe is a little fighter. Within a week and a half he was off the CPAP and just on oxygen. All of us couldn't believe how fast he was progressing. He got moved over to Nursery B which is a really big deal. They mainly focus on feedings (which is a very long and stressful ordeal) and once they have that down and there are no other major problems they can go home.

Gabe did have a relapse at one point. We were getting close to going home but then his oxygen levels weren't looking too good. They did an x-ray and his lungs looked really hazy. We had to go back to Nursery A and he was put back on High Flow Oxygen. We couldn't do any oral feedings. Huge setback and really frustrating but after 5 days Gabe started breathing better and got put on normal oxygen so we were able to start the feeding process once again.

We finally had a chance to bring Ty to the NICU to meet his little brother for the first time. Ty was too young to be able to go inside so they met through a window. This picture is priceless. Even though Ty was only 13 months old it was like he knew this was his brother and he loved him.

Things started getting a lot better once I decided to pump and bottle feed instead of breast feed. Gabe caught on so quick to using the bottle. Once this happened things started to pick up and then all the sudden he was coming home in a few days! I thought I would have a hard time saying goodbye to that place. I was very thankful for the NICU that was Gabe's home for the last 5 weeks. But when the time came to take our baby home I didn't even look back.

As hard as this time was, I am truly thankful for it. I grew so much as a person, a wife, and a mother. I am so happy to have my two healthy boys at home with me. There has been a lot of craziness and adjusting but I cant complain, my heart finally feels like one whole piece again.

June 27

It was early Monday morning, I couldn't sleep all night because my stomach was hurting. I was only 32 weeks so I wasn't really thinking much about it. 5 am came and the pain was getting worse so I started timing them. 2-3 minutes apart. I still wasn't thinking too much of it because my water hadn't broke and again I was only 32 weeks. An hour went by and I was still in a lot of pain, I started to get worried. I started thinking about how I went into labor with Ty at home and how quickly he came. Dan got woken up from a deep sleep with the spirit telling him we were going to have a baby today... that was enough to rush us to the hospital! I think we ran every red light. My mom met us there at 6:30 am. She took Ty while Dan wheeled me up to the Labor/Delivery Floor. They checked me and I was dilated to an 8! An 8!! I really was going to have a baby today.

My dad came and took Ty so my mom could be with us. They started the IV, they asked a lot of questions, made me sign some papers and then finally I get the epidural. I love epidurals. Once it kicked in I started panicking about work (I was supposed to work that day) and my calling (I was supposed to teach that Sunday) and a million other things. It's so funny how worried I was about so many things that really didn't matter. I think that I was just really nervous so I was trying not to think about what was happening. But it was happening.

I remember suddenly feeling like it was time to have him. They called the doctor in and the Life Flight team and the NICU nurses, and anybody else that wanted to... just kidding but there were so many people in that room! I started pushing and felt a lot more pain than I wanted to, the epidural was wearing off but it didn't last for too long. It only took about 15 minutes and then I heard a cry, it was the best sound any of us could hear.

Gabe was born around 9 am weighing 4 lbs 6 oz and was 16 1/2 in long. Everyone in the room clapped when they weighed him because he was a lot bigger than what they were hoping for.

They rushed him downstairs, hooked him up to the ventilator and got him ready to be transfered. They waited for me to come down before they took him so that I could spend a few minutes with him. I am so thankful that they did.

Those were the best minutes I had in the whole 48 hours I was at the hospital. I will never forget holding him and feeling so overwhelmed with gratitude for everything. When the doctor delivered my placenta there was a huge tear in it. If Gabe hadn't come early he probably wouldn't have made it. I know that everything happens for a reason, Gabe is here right now for a reason. He was supposed to make it and I am so thankful that I get to spend my life figuring out why he did.

Due Date

Today is Gabe's due date. I still can't believe all that has happened in the last two months, and looking back I would have to say this has been one of the hardest things I have gone through. It has been a trying time and there were moments that I thought I couldn't do it anymore, but I have learned so much and feel that this has made me a better and stronger person. I am so thankful that our little miracle is doing so well. He has given us a few scares since he's been home, but he seriously is a little champ. I am still adjusting to this new change in my life, so when everything slows down a little I hope I can find time to sit down and reflect on all thats happened and that I have learned and be able to right this whole story. For now we are all safe and Gabe is doing better every day.

37 Weeks

It's crazy to think that today I was supposed to be 37 weeks pregnant, that I should've had three more weeks of being fat, swollen, and extremely uncomfortable. That I would slowly be getting the house cleaned, baby clothes washed, the crib set up, and everything else ready to bring a new baby home. And that I would've been enjoying having work off and taking Ty to the pool everyday and just having a fun relaxing summer... but thats not the case. Something better has been going on in our lives, and I have a picture to prove it.

Gabe is One Month Old today! I know, I already feel like an awful person that this is the first time I am writing about it. But at the same time lets be honest, it has been quite the month and I think I have had more important things to do, like being with this little angel.

Clocks a Tickin

I am feeling the need to talk more, a lot more about this handsome little man. The clock is ticking and baby number two is gonna be here SO soon and I don't want to forget all the funny things that Ty is doing right now. He is so stinkin stubborn! He will not put on a show for anyone, he likes to do things his way, on his time, and how he likes it... So no he is STILL not walking! I get more nervous after each week goes by because I don't think I can carry a baby and a toddler at the same time!... I guess I'll just figure that one out when I have to. Other things, he loves to wear hats, he gives "high fives", blows on his food, if you point at him he will point back, STILL pooping in the tub on a weekly basis, his back molar is coming in so he has been a terrible eater, Everyone compliments on how blue his eyes are, He won't drink from a sippy so we are still doing the bottle thing (any ideas on this would be awesome) he blows kisses, he knows how to point to his "eyes" and his "hair", Speaking of hair he loves to brush his own hair and he closes his eyes when he does it, and my favorite for now is he will say "tickie tickie" in a high voice and tickle your feet or neck, it's adorable!!

I am sure I am missing things that he is doing because my brain is so scattered with all the things I need to be doing! I feel like I have been working a lot lately, which makes me feel bad. I feel like this time I have with Ty is so limited because once the baby is here it's gonna be hard to give him all the attention that I can give him now. So my days off we have been playin and taking advantage of the sun at parks and pools.

I think the pool is probably his favorite place to be right now... Along with me :) This heat has been killing me, but being in the cool water has been saving me!! Anyways, Ty loves being in the water, splashing, blowing bubbles, and throwing the tennis ball back and forth. I still can't believe he is going to be a big brother so soon. I feel like I am more nervous for this one to come than I was for Ty to come. But at the same time I feel so blessed that we are able to have another baby and I know eventually it will be so fun for these little guys being so close in age to grow up together. Families are the best!