Easter 2012

Much needed update!

 It has been waaaay too long since I have given an update on here...If you are on Instagram you understand.  It's so much easier!!

But, I have been promising so many people I would update so here we go!

Tessa finally got to leave the hospital after 3 weeks in the NICU.  It was the best Christmas present we could have asked for.  She left weighing 5lbs. 6oz. She looked (and still does) so teeny tiny in her car seat!!

Our friends threw us a super fun going away party.  It was so incredibly sad to leave Virginia Beach. We made so many amazing friends who we relied on so much.  Hopefully we will get to go back and visit!

The kids and I  flew home 4 days after Tessa got home and Noah left with the moving truck the next day.

(April Rothman and Amber Saunders)

 Once we got to AZ we stayed at my parents house for 2 weeks until our renter moved out. We had a great Christmas with our family. It was so nice to just relax a little after all the craziness that had just happen. 

(Tyler cousins reenacting the Nativity..Tessa as baby Jesus..haha)

 We moved back into our house New Years day. That was more exciting for me than Christmas!! I had been waiting for this day for 2 and a half years. Our house feels HUGE after living in an apt. for so long. We had so much help unloading everything, but my Mom was the best help of all! She is queen of organizing and pretty much had my whole kitchen perfect by a couple of hours...and of course you Maddy! Later that night Noah took the older kids to a New Years party (I stayed home since I was feeling soooo sick) and my Mom and I got almost all the boxes unpacked and put away. Well, I fed Tessa and she put away...she's amazing.

 (Ronan didn't make it to midnight)

The kids all started school a couple weeks later. Brody and Sadie did great at their new school and Ronan did more than great at his first day of pre-school. I was so surprised that he didn't cry after I dropped him off! He is growing up so fast...so sad.

The kids still fight every day to hold Tessa...she is for sure the star of the family. We love her more than life!

This is her most favorite...to lay on your chest and sleep. 

Brody got baptized on January 14 with his twin cousins Emery and Matix. They are the best of friends and only 5 days apart so it was meant to be for them to be baptized together. It was such a special day. I'm so proud of Brody and the choices he makes everyday. We are so lucky to have him in our family. 

Afterward we had everyone over for lunch. It was so great to spend the day with all our family who we love so much.

Random pics of Tess. 

And other news...

Noah is studying like crazy for the Bar. He takes is Feb. 28th and 29th. 

He had a job offer..he goes in tomorrow to accept. Such a huge blessing that was. 

We are quite the scouting fam! Noah is working with the 10 yr. scouts and me with the 9 yr. old scouts. Brody is loving being a cub scout!

Noah had a Birthday and turned 32.

I started running after taking 6 months off. Holy crap am I out of shape!!

I carpool with the most amazing ladies to school. They bring my kids home every day so I don't have to wake up the baby. 

I started a dinner swap with my friend/neighbor Maddy. She makes dinner Mon. and Thurs. and me on Tues. Wed. It is soooo fun not having to think about dinner two night a week! I just hope she is liking it as much as me. 

Well, that's about it for the past 6 weeks or so! 

Life is great! 

new baby came early, almost 8 weeks early!

So we’ve been counting down the days until we move home to Arizona.  Getting our house packed up, renting moving trucks, buying flights, and notifying doctors in AZ that we’ll be having a baby soon after we get home.  Well, things have changed.

Sunday afternoon we were lounging around for “quiet time” and Jill says, “Noah, can you come here?”  So I head back into the bedroom and Jill was in the bathroom and said, “I think my water broke.”  Say what!  Pump the breaks!  How can that be, right?  I said, “Are you sure, you didn’t just pee your pants.”  I secretly wanted to laugh but this was a time to be “serious”, which is usually tough for me anyways.  “If I did then this sure is a lot of pee.”  We were pretty sure it was the real thing.

We grabbed a few things and left the kids with some friends.  I told the kids that we were headed to the hospital so the doctors could tell us if mom needed to stay and have the baby or if she could come back home.  I don’t think they quite got it, mostly because we had been saying all along that the baby would be born in Arizona.

After we checked in and a few preliminary questions from the doctor, she said, “Yep, your water broke.”  Then the ultrasound and some more questions.  She said that since Jill was close to 33 weeks, any serious efforts to prevent labor would do more harm than good to the baby.  However, she said that hopefully Jill could “hold her off” for 9 more days which would put her at 34 weeks and then induce labor.  She said all of that as if it was no big deal.  In fact, she said, “Just relax here and I’ll be back on call on Wednesday so I’ll check on you then and see how you’re progressing.”  I thought she was joking, so did Jill.  After all, it seems that once that process starts it’s pretty hard to slow down.  How was Jill going to last 9 more days?  But, then again, I’m no doctor.

So with no dilation or real contractions, I went home and Jill was admitted.  I told the kids and, again, they didn’t quite get it.  “Why can’t she come home if she didn’t have the baby?” Sadie asked.  So the next day around 11:00 I asked Jill how it was going…

Doctor’s first check, dilated 5 cm, second check, 7 cm with strong contractions.  Next, epidural (ahhh). 20 minutes later, 3 quick pushes and a new little baby.  Tessa Gwen Tyler born at 1:45 pm, 11/21/2011.  The doctor was surprised how quickly Jill progressed but that’s what we’d been saying all along, it’ll be quick.  

She’s pretty small, birth weight was 4 lbs. 10 ozs. And 17.5 inches long.  Decent amount of hair that is already getting lighter, much lighter.  Her lungs were in pretty good shape and she even cried a bit when she was getting cleaned up.  They took her to the NICU to get on oxygen and feeding tubes and a bunch other tubes and wires.

 

I’m so proud of Jill.  She has done a fantastic job during the entire pregnancy but especially over these past several days.  I know she was surprised, nervous, shocked, and, understandably not prepared to have the baby so soon.  She was planning on flying home at 36 weeks, December 10^th, so she could stay as long as possible here in Virginia and still be OK to travel.  Most, actually, all of our baby stuff is in the attic in AZ.  One of the nurses even asked if we had a car seat.  We sat and thought, “No we don’t.”  Why would we?  So we are adjusting and making some new plans.  

The prognosis is good.  We are encouraged by many mini-milestones she reaches each day.  We keep saying that it’s like a best case scenario to a bad situation.  She was “upgraded” to the incubator on Wednesday and started light therapy for jaundice.  Not sure how the boxed-in set up is an improvement as the doctors say, but then again, I’m no doctor.  

 Today, she is completely off of oxygen and her feeding tube got moved from her mouth to her nose.  She likes her pacifier even though it blocks her vision.  She is now eating .5 oz per feeding and has been opening her eyes more and more.  She doesn’t seem too small until you hold her or touch her hands and feet.  And if you can’t tell then, just put something next to her for a reference point and you’ll certainly see that she’s a preemie.  Today’s weight, 4.4 oz. 

We’re not quite sure when she’ll be able to come home, hopefully soon.  We are obviously more concerned with her progress and continue to pray she gets well enough soon.  It seems as if each day she does a bit better and is keeping us all very positive.  Not quite sure who she looks like most, maybe Sadie, but that’s probably just because she’s gorgeous.  

 We are very grateful to all who have been so helpful to our family.  Just as we weren’t expecting our baby so soon, neither was anyone else and so many have been willing to pitch in and help out.  Grandma Arnett flew out Monday night and will stay for a while.  Then Grandma Tyler comes out in December to help with the move home, whenever that is.  We truly are blessed with such awesome family and friends.  Thank you all. 

Virginia has been a blast.  We’ve have loved so much of this place.  I guess Tessa just wanted to experience a little piece of it too.  Welcome to our family!

8 years...

 Yesterday Brody turned 8...really 8??? I am so happy for him and the amazing young boy he has become but I just wish it would slow down a bit. 

I could not ask for a better first born!! Really, he is the most obedient, smart, funny, down to earth, witty, humble, best example for his younger siblings EVER! 

I love him so much and am so excited to see all the great things he will do in his life.

 He invited 6 of his best buddies to the movies and then sleepover afterwards. Sadly, the night before I was up all night throwing up and sick as can be. The next day I didn't feel any better so Noah had to take over and did pretty much the whole party. (But really I'm sure they would have preferred it that way. Noah is totally the more fun parent)

(Maddy, did this not just happen to you???)

 The party ended up being a hit and Brody said it was his best Birthday yet...score!

 Our traditional Birthday pancake..

Obviously the best thing about turning 8 is getting baptized, but he really wants to wait till we move home next month. Sooo....the next best it SCOUTS!! This kid could not stop smiling when he opened his scout uniform. He has been counting down the days to join all his friends in scouts.

Love you Brody, we are so thankful you came into our lives 8 years ago.

10 years..

Yesterday was Noah and I's 10 year anniversary. Gosh, I seriously can't believe we've been married for that long. It's crazy to think 10 years ago I was 19 years old and didn't have a clue about anything really, or what the next 10 years would entail. I am so grateful I took a chance and married that 16 year old looking return missionary. Noah has been the best thing that has ever happen to me. I can't imagine life without him.

We all had to be at soccer practice last night and didn't get home till about 7:30..when I walked in the door these flowers were waiting for me. I was shocked...and love them. Noah nailed it with these flowers. He knows I am not a roses kind of gal and knows I LOVE tulips and fall colors.

This is what 10 years looks like..

Why the scale?? I wanted to do a funny post about all the things we got as wedding presents and still use...but never got around to it. But I will say...this scale is battery operated...used everyday for 10 years (sometimes multiple times a day) and we have NEVER CHANGED THE BATTERIES!! Freaky huh? I wish I could remember who gave us this wedding present!!

Weekend recap

 It has been raining for nearly a week strait! Rain boots were the best purchase I have made in the past 2 years.

 Soccer season started for Brody and Sadie. Noah is the coach for Brody's team. Brody scored the first goal on the first game...he was so proud!

 With all the rain we are forced to stay inside a lot...which leads to outfits like this.

 Saturday night Noah and I attended a dinner with Supreme court Judge Samuel Alito as the head speaker. It was part of Regent's 25th anniversary celebration. I was a little let down with the Judge....he was not the greatest speaker but I will probably never get to be in the same room as a supreme court judge again so it was fun.

Took a sunday drive to chesapeake bay area. We found this cute little spot with this lighthouse and a fun play area for kids.

Soaking in every last beach trip before we move in a couple months...

Fall is officially here!! I'm so excited for cooler weather and less humidity. Bring on the Fall baking!!

Hope you had a great weekend.

The kids had a great first day of school yesterday! I still think it's nuts that I have two kids going all day to school. They were so excited all morning. They both got up on their own at 6:30, picked out their clothes, helped me make lunches, and could not WAIT to head to the bus stop. My favorite part was hearing all about their day after school. Sadie went on for about an hour...while Brody summed it up in about 2 sentences. 

The night before we had a special dinner and family night to get pumped up for school. They picked out the menu...orange julius for the drink?? It was Noah's idea for the table cloth and candles..haha.

It's so fun to be home with just Ronan this year. He is milking it in every way. Enjoy it while it last buddy... January will be here before you know it! (Baby girl #4 will be here in January) Yesterday we had our 3rd annual celebratory back to school lunch with friends at Nordstroms cafe..I really missed all the friends who have moved!

Here's to a great school year!!