SOLD

I am selling my Canon 50mm 1.8 lens, the "nifty fifty"! It is a really awesome lens that is in great condition, perfect if you are upgrading from a kit lens or if you need a super fast, sharp prime lens. Check out the specs here. I took the pictures in the previous post with it. :)

I'm selling it for $50 plus shipping. If you are interested email me at tyan@tinybirdphotography.com.

I love this face....

Bath time

We love bath time! He has loved his bath from day one, it is so cute. Putting lotion on afterwards - not so much. He fights me every time! Like a true boy I guess. I think he gets it from his daddy, putting sunscreen on Jared is like wrangling a four year old. :) Love you babe!

As far as his health goes he is doing AMAZING! The ENT said that we are in the clear as far as surgeries go so no more for Mr. Brody! He's eating well and gaining weight like a champ so he finally has baby rolls....I love baby rolls! They are the cutest thing ever, ever. Which is another reason I am glad he likes his bath - we have to thoroughly clean those cracks!

Lately he's discovered his little voice and makes the funniest squeals and giggles. He has the "Mariah Carey" and the "Squeaky Door", although the "Mariah Carey" is his favorite I would say. He even closes his eyes when he really gets up there, now we just need to work on his non-sensical hand waving and he'll have the impression down PAT!

He absolutely loves Jared, he always has a huge grin when he sees him walk through the door from work. And if he hears his voice in the other room he gets so excited. I think I need one of those mission impossible voice changer things so when he gets sick of me in the middle of the day I can just slap it on and voila, happy Brody is back! But really I wouldn't need it that often, he is usually either so happy he can barely stand it or he's asleep.

He's actually been sleeping through the night for almost two weeks now, it has totally changed my life! A little after 8 weeks I started doing a modified version of the Babywise plan (whole other post on this coming) and he slept through the night for the first time a week into it. Then at 10 weeks he slept through the night again and didn't look back! He goes to sleep around 8:30 or so and sleeps until 7:00 then during the day he takes at least two hour and a half naps - on most days three naps. So I'm glad we've found something that works for us. He's happy, I'm happy!

I love my job

Who knew you were allowed to have this much fun as a mom!? I love it.

9 weeks old

How it all went down...

Now that I'm beginning to think in complete sentences I figure the next step is to write in complete sentences! These last two months have been a roller coaster and I'm finally feeling like I'm getting the hang of things, or at least getting a little more sleep. Life is good! And thankfully Brody is doing great! He is smiling up a storm and has just discovered his voice, which I LOVE! I never knew how fun it would be to just sit and make funny faces and noises at each other. It is so much fun!!

I just realized that I never wrote about the delivery! So here goes - The day after I posted the last picture of my hugeness Jared and I were running all over the place doing errands. We were at Garden Ridge and a lady asked me when I thought the baby would be here and I said "Hopefully TODAY!" Little did I know that later that night we would be on our way to the hospital to meet our little Brody.

It was about 9:30 that night and we were watching football on the couch and I felt a cramp that kept coming back.

Me - "I think I might be having contractions."
Jared - "Oh my gosh, did you see that play!?"
Me - "Love! I think I am having contractions!!"
Jared - "Is that what you just said? I didn't hear you."
Me - "Yea, I'm pretty sure these are contractions. We'd better start timing them."
Jared - "WHAT!? Like you think you're having CONTRACTIONS!?"

It took a minute for it to sink in, it was so funny! Both of us had been talking about how it would happen, where we would be, if my water would break or if it would just be contractions, that it didn't even seem real that it could actually be happening. The even funnier thing is that we both immediately started cleaning the house, I mean spotless! I think I was trying to take my mind off of the contractions, which were coming every 5-7 minutes, and I think Jared was excited and trying not to freak out!

So after about an hour of cleaning, stopping for contractions, and cleaning some more I started to pack my toiletries in the bathroom. Jared passed by the door and asked what I was doing.

Jared - "What are you doing?"
Me - "Packing! Getting my toiletries together to put in my bag."
Jared - "Really!? It's really happening!???"

Love him. So we packed our stuff and headed to the hospital! When we got there my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart but I was only dilated a little past one. So the nurse told us that we needed to walk around the hospital for the next 3 hours and she would check every 30 minutes to see if I was progressing. Lovely. So we walked, and walked and walked, and jumped up and down, and walked some more. I was not leaving!! At 2:30 or so walking got a little boring so we just cranked the iPod in our room and had a dance party, no lie! Jay Z and songs from Glee did the trick! I was dilated to a three and they officially admitted me.

I had the best nurse in the world (what up Sara!) who gave me Demerol and Phenegren as soon as we knew I was staying. God bless her. Demerol is just the best. It kicked in pretty much immediately and I was out like a light, and then my water broke.

Me - (on the verge of drooling, eyes closed, slurring quite badly) "Jared, my water just broke."
Jared - "What??"
Me - (more slurring, uncontrollable arm waiving, eyes still closed) "My wattterrrr broke. Call Sarrrraaaa."

So when I woke up three hours later the contractions were MUCH stronger. I was only dilated to a three but the nurse asked if I wanted to go ahead and get the epidural or wait and just get have more Demerol. I do love Demerol. I was thinking about just going that route but thank goodness my mom all but answered for me "GET THE EPIDURAL. Are you crazy?". Yes, I'll have the epidural please.

Did you know that they don't let you have anyone in the room with you when you get the epidural? No one! Just the nurse! By then Sara had left and I'm pretty sure I was much older than my new nurse, and owned far less eye makeup. That didn't stop me from balling like a baby on her shoulder when it took THREE TRIES to get the dang thing in! What the!? I was not prepared. Everything I've read and everyone I've talked to says that the IV hurts worse than the epidural. The IV hurt pretty freakin' bad so I thought the worst was over. THE WORST WAS NOT OVER. But boy was it worth it. SO WORTH IT! It was amazing! Thank goodness for good drugs!

The rest of the day was pretty mellow. Then at 4:00pm I was dilated to 9 and they wanted me to start pushing. I was expecting about three pushes and then TADA, like you see on TV. Hahah, I wish. It took about an hour and then there he was. I really can't describe the emotion, relief, and exhaustion I felt in that moment. But when I saw Jared holding him after they finished cleaning and weighing him there was nothing more beautiful in the whole world. My two boys. I was in love.

Most of these are taken with our iPhones, sorry!

Ready for Brody to get here!





My mom and sisters.





Our first family picture.





First kiss.





Our little boy!





My two boys.






My dad holding him for the first time.





My mom and Brody.





Home from the hospital, my mom was such a huge help!





Sophie's not quite sure what to think just yet.






A much needed nap for both of us!

Our Happy Boy!

8 weeks old today!

Coming to a mailbox near you....

On a side note: I seriously underestimated the power of sleep deprivation, hence the lack of posts. Hopefully this will change soon. :)

The best gift

I got an email tonight from my friend Cheryl Muhr with a link to our pictures she took when Brody was five days old. What an amazing Christmas Eve surprise - I am in love with every. single. one.

Click here to view the slideshow.


I have so much to be grateful for.

I am so grateful.

There are no words...

I don't have the words to describe how much I love my strong little boy, or the words to express how grateful I am for Jared and the husband and father that he is. This has been the longest week, and there are no words that say how thankful I am that it is over and we are all here together.

A week ago today was the single most terrifying event of my life, a living nightmare. I was asleep and Jared was putting Brody in the crib. He woke me up to tell me that Brody had gotten choked and how he pulled him out of the crib to make sure he was alright. Just as we were talking about taking him to the pediatrician the next day Brody started flailing in his crib, he wasn't breathing and his little body struggled to grasp for air. Jared grabbed him and did everything he could to get him to take a breath. He was turning blue and I was frantic as Jared tried and tried again to get him to breathe. We called 911 and finally he gasped for air.

As I waited downstairs for the ambulance to show them where to go I had no words as I prayed the same prayer I prayed for the next four days straight. Please Heavenly Father, please, please, please.

Monday morning he underwent surgery at the best children's hospital in the country. Our parents all got there right after he went back, I have never been more grateful to run into my mom's arms than when I saw her down the hallway. The surgery went great and we got to hold our little boy as he came out of anesthesia in the recovery room. He looked great, he was in great hands and we knew we were in the best place we could be to help him.

About two hours later in our recovery room it happened again. The nightmare replayed when I laid him down to change his diaper. His body went rigid as he flailed to take a breath. Luckily the nurse walked in right as it was happening and called for the rapid response team. We spent the next three days in the ICU, our parents by our side helping us take shifts and keeping us sane. I really can't describe the terror and fear I felt just watching him and holding him and pleading please, Heavenly Father, please, please.

After countless tests and workups the doctors can't find exactly what caused the episodes, they say that his airways my have been swollen and weakened by the reflux he was having from the pyloric stenosis which the surgery fixed. I was comforted when Dr. Stein, the attending physician, said that this is his past, not his future. We continue to meet with his pediatrician, ENT doctors, and the surgery team in the next couple of weeks so we can keep a close eye on him. But when we were being released to go home I was overcome with panic, how can I ever sleep again. How did I sleep through the first one, how could I ever live with myself if something happened and I wasn't there.

When my mom told me at the hospital that my aunts had gone in together and gotten a monitor for his crib that signals if they stop moving or breathing I sobbed. I am so, so grateful to both of them for an answer to my prayer. I had no idea how I would ever sleep again, or if I could even function without constantly watching him to make sure he was breathing. After being home for a couple of days now I can honestly say that it has saved my life and sanity to have that monitor. We could not be more grateful.

I also want to say thank you for everyones thoughts, prayers, notes, and messages. We have felt your love and continue to feel it as Brody gets better and grows stronger. We are so glad he is home and count our blessings.

I never anticipated how much I could possibly love him. Or how much more I love Jared, when I thought there was no possible way to love him anymore than I already did. They are my whole world and my whole heart. I look back on the week and it makes me grateful that we live close to family, for their love and support, thankful to the doctors and nurses at Texas Children's, and most of all relief that it is all over and we're all here together.

The day after he got home he found his thumb!!