I can't take it anymore.

I can't handle how cute this kid is. Someone else has to share the cuteness of this baby guy. Here--you can have some!

[WARNING: Lots of cute pictures and intentional overuse of the word "cute" ahead.]

LOVE this cute smile!

Always smiling so cutely for Daddy!

What a cute scene to walk in on: father-son bonding.
Would you not just LOVE to wake up to this? Ty has been playing in his bed for about 10 minutes after waking up until he realizes he's hungry. It's so cute to see him wiggle his arms and legs after they were wrapped up all night!
Cute straight out o' the bathtub!

I love these cute little pants on him. Plus, he likes to hold my hand.
Look at this cute outfit from Auntie Lel! I had to make sure and get a picture before we left for church just in case he didn't come home in the same clothes. I'll get a better one next time...

Reno!

Ty and I took a 1-day trip to Reno, his first stomping grounds. Why? Well, for a few reasons:
1. Close a bank account in Reno we were no longer using.
2. Meet with the new Drama/Speech and Debate teacher and give him my materials and such.
3. Visit with people and prove that I really had a baby and not just a big appetite for 9 months
4. Because Russell is nice and noticed that I was in need of some NorNev love.

We flew in at 8 a.m. and out at 8 p.m. Now that I think about it, spending more time might have been a good idea because there were people that I didn't get to see (and never get to spend enough time with anyone) and I could have gone over to Fairfield. I really didn't want to have to pack for a long trip, especially without Russell--remember my summer? Yeah, not fun--and wasn't sure how Ty would do. He got a little fussy being thrown off of his regular schedule, but slept on the airplane during both flights and didn't have any big blow-outs, so I really can't complain! I'm sure we'll visit again (with Russell and for longer). In some ways it felt like I never left. I love my people in Reno. Very much.

Ty's first airplane ride. (He passed on the peanuts.)
Stacy (Ty's future counselor) and Ty after Spanish class. We learned the alphabet and how to introduce ourselves.

Traveling with Mama Michelle back to "home base" at her house.
At Chili's with a bunch of Stead Ward ladies and kids! (We really had a big group, I just wasn't smart enough to get a picture before most people left.)
Julie got to meet her old room(womb)mate! I stayed with Julie for about 3 weeks after Russell left until the end of the school year. We would play with Ty in my belly sometimes. :)

2 Month Check up!

2 months? Isn't Ty older than that? Yes, he is, but thanks to our jacked up insurance-getting, we weren't able to see a doctor until last Thursday. I was excited, but he was already a little cranky, so he was exceptionally unhappy for his shots. It was past the coveted feeding time (and for those of you who have been around Ty when he's hungry, you know he's demanding about his food), but I didn't expect to be at the doctor for 2 hours...my fault, I guess. Anyway, at 10 weeks and 5 days Ty's stats are:

Weight: 12 lbs. 15 oz. (63%)
Height: 24.5 inches (86%)
Head: 16.25 inches (69%)

Hooray for our growing boy! It comes as no surprise that he's longer than most babies; he's wearing some 6 month sleepers because he stretches out his 3 month ones when he straightens his legs. I'm afraid that he's getting so big and isn't a baby anymore...And then I see Russell hold him and Ty looks teeny still. I'm glad that we have a healthy, hearty baby. He's a lot less fragile than he used to be, but still reminds me that he's not very strong when his neck gives out and he bonks his head against my face/shoulder/cheek about once a day. It's nice to know that he's growing into his head. At his 3-day appointment, he was in the 97th percentile! We're trying to help his little brain grow inside his head, too. I'm trying to get out more and do things so that he'll have different things and people to look at, too. Ya know, trying some of that "good mothering," whatever that is.

Who's Mama's little sleeper?!

Actually, it's both Russell and Ty, but Russell's sleeping habits aren't incredibly impressive. Right now, because of the lots and lots of studying, they're sad and minimal during the week. He put on his Facebook status that he "misses sleeping." I think many people thought he was referring to the fact that we have a little baby, but I don't think Russell has lost any sleep because of Ty. Luckily, he can sleep right through the crying. I used to be a little jealous, but I'm okay now. The one time I really wished he was awake was the morning Ty was born, but before he was born, when I was confined to the bed, all epiduraled up and bored. (Oh, yeah, and during church... This photo is from last Sunday when, halfway through changing out of his church clothes, Russell couldn't make it any further. He threw a "sleep tantrum" so didn't have to help make lunch: he just fell asleep.)


Anyway, I have been so impressed with Ty's sleeping! He's always been a fairly sleepy baby. He didn't wake up to eat for the first few days of life, which caused a bit of a problem, but has slept for about 4 hours consistently. His stretches of sleep are governed by his eating and many times he'll by crying because he's hungry before he's even awake! (By that, I mean his eyes aren't open.)

We had settled into a bit of a nighttime routine: Ty would wake up at about 3 a.m.-ish and go back to sleep around 4 after eating. He then would wake up around 8 again. Well, dude has been going off of our routine and sleeping for about 8 hours at a time. Boo-ya, grandma! He'll usually go down at about 10:30, sometimes asleep, sometimes just sleepy, and sometimes wide awake. If he's awake, he just waits until he falls asleep or wiggles a bit and talks to the toys above his head. Such a good boy.

Last night he fell asleep on his play mat around 9:30 p.m. and hadn't eaten since 7, so I was pretty sure he'd wake up in the middle of the night and want to eat. Nope! Ty-Ty, the Sleeping Guy slept until 7 a.m.! He ate, played, and is now back asleep for a morning nap. I'm so proud. I need to remember that this might just be a phase and if it is I'll be fine because I never really minded getting up with him. Either way, I'm getting enough sleep and love that Ty is, too so we both can be happy. We're working on helping Russell...

How cute is this?! He grabbed on that little bear and hugged it while he slept.

He was on my lap and sinking in the boppy pillow. Ty must have been saving his energy for the big diaper explosion that shortly followed.

See? Asleep on his play mat.


This morning when I took off the blanket that was over his legs, look what I found! He kicks pretty hard, but I didn't know he kicked hard enough while in his swaddler to un-velcro the bottom and turn himself around 90 degrees from where he started on the "pillow" last night. (We put him on the burp cloth to catch anything that may come out; it's not really a pillow.)

And he's bright-eyed and happy this morning! I'm sensing a bit of a motif here...frogs. :)

The Other Gourlie Guy

I try not to have absolutely everything be about the baby, so here's an ode to the king of our castle with a few of my favorite recent Russell incidents.

A) We were at the grocery store on Saturday and I saw some off-brand home run pies (my fam knows what I'm talking about). I was all excited and explained to Russell how my dad used to get a bunch in different flavors and we would have them for FHE/special treats and it was awesome. The most important part of the story was that I told him all about "pick-a-number" which is a little game that my dad would do so that we would get a randomly selected treat. We applied pick-a-number to all kinds of things, not just home run pies. Anyway, I was all excited about these pies because it made me think of fun family memories. Russell generically replied with, "Cool" in a very "I didn't hear a word you just said" type of way. BUT sometimes Russell will remind me of something that I said earlier. Pretty much, I think he only listens to what I don't remember saying. :)

B) Russell's a good cook. Promise. Since he always has tons of homework/studying to do, I've been manning the meal-making, but on Sunday night we were watching a movie together (Surf's Up, which is pretty funny) and Russell graciously offered to make popcorn. Let's recall back a few months when Carolyn was about 3 months pregnant and Russell offered to make popcorn. As I was getting ready for bed, instead of freshly-popped microwave kettle corn, I smelled smoke. Because he read the directions on the package, Russell put the popcorn in for 5 minutes and went back to the couch. This resulted in smoke detectors going off at 10:30 p.m., windows opened in the middle of winter, a microwave permanently burned on the inside, and a smell that lasted for days. Fast forward back to Sunday, and you can see why I was a little hesitant to say, "Yes, please pop us some corn." This time I offered to be Russell's coach. He put the bag in (unwrapped) facing the correct way, and Coach CJ encouraged him to push the "Popcorn" button this time. He did and then went back to the couch. After a couple of minutes:
C: "Do you hear that?"
R: "What?"
C: "The microwave..."
R: "No, it stopped already. So?"
C: "Did you listen for the 3-second pop stop?"
R: "Uhh...no."
So, as Russell brought the full bag of popcorn over upside-down, disregarding the 3 arrows that say "this way up," I realized we're making progress, but we've still got some learning to do. Like I said earlier, he is usually a good cook.

C) When discussing what we were going to have for dinner, I listed the things I didn't want to eat. Russell said, "You sound like that girl on 'Say Yes to the Dress' that couldn't pick a dress, but listed everything she didn't like about them." Thank you, Russell, for quoting the manliest show on Netflix.

D) It's really fun to watch Russell and Ty together. They're gonna be good buds. :) ...And here are some pictures of Ty.

(Studying together...so productive, I'm sure)


I'm lucky that Russell wants to be my husband still. We have lots of fun together and laugh and joke lots. My family has said that Russell is the only one who will laugh at my jokes...probably because I get all my good ones from him. He's the bomb. Love him.

Is this for real?

I suppose I should be napping because Ty's asleep, but I'm not really tired right now. Why? Well, last night Ty fell asleep and I put him down at 10:00 p.m. He woke up at (drum roll, please) 6:45 a.m.! I didn't go to bed until about 10:30, but that's crazy--8 hours?! He slept for 8 hours the night before, too. When he did wake up this morning he was smiling and happy through his diaper change...then he remembered he was hungry and started crying. If this is going to be consistent, that's fine with me. I'll happily take the wee morning hours back and admit that my teeny tiny baby is just a little baby now. A few other things have made me realize this kid is growing up:

-He doesn't fit the things he used to. This should be a "duh," but look at how he lost his limbs in the extra folds of fabric as a 5-day old guy and now, as a 7-week-old, he can't straighten his legs!

-Clothes in the closet that I think "oh, I'll just see how big this is on him" fit perfectly. If I'm not careful, he'll outgrow some outfits before he even wears them! Exhibit A:

-He looks at and talks to toys. Last night after I put him down and as I was getting ready for bed, Ty was talking to the little elephant toy things above his head. :)
-He also kicks excitedly when playing with toys. We have some plastic keys hanging close to him from the shelf above the changing table and he swats at them while he's getting his diaper change, which makes for a good distraction, but not for trying to clean him up/get a diaper on! He sometimes gets a little mad when I hold his legs because he can't kick them all over.

-Ty's a lot less floppy, especially in the neck region. It's been nice when he's over my shoulder or in his car seat.
-He just about fills up the boppy pillow and will push with his legs and start to go over the edge. I don't think we have a short kid here.
-He smiles lots and seems a whole lot more on purpose. Love this. His smiles are better to record on video than to photograph, because they grow and move all over. Here's the progression of a Ty smile:-He's finding his hands, and apparently, his thumb.
-He really doesn't mind a bath so long as I keep a warm washcloth on his tummy and we move quickly to the towel.

Anyway, we like this kid. Keep up the good sleeping/growing, Ty-Dye!

KA-BOOM!!!

(This entry not for the weak of stomach.)

Typical Tuesday morning: 7-week-old Ty woke up happy, ate, had a bath, and fell asleep, which gave me time to eat and shower and get dressed--hair and makeup, too--and chat with sister Leslie on the phone. Interrupting our conversation was a humongous splat the aftermath of which you will see below. Needless to say, I excused myself from the conversation and snapped a few pictures before going into bio-hazard cleanup mode.

Here are my shorts, which are not waterproof, so my unmentionables were considerably soiled, as well:

Here are the casualties minus the diaper. (The Boppy pillow is dark, so you can't really see the stuff on it, but it's there--believe me.):


Who is responsible for all of this? Raise your hand and confess.

And, sir, how do you feel about all this?


Happy? Awesome. Just keep playing with your toy. Good thing I love this kid...