Poll - Who does Ty look like?

2 Birds with 1 Stone - Christmas Card Birth Announcement

Here is our Christmas card slash birth announcement. I'm actually feeling a little guilty because Tyler is already having his birthday overshadowed by Christmas stuff! See what us December babies have to deal with? :)

Our Christmas Letter

2008 has been an exciting and eventful year!

Mike is still doing electrical engineering for sonar things. He had surgery this fall to repair a torn ACL in his right knee, which he injured playing church ball. He is getting around fine now, except he can't run yet. He just joined a gym to try to build up his leg muscles again. Serving as our ward's Cubmaster, he has done a great job planning the Cub Scout pack meetings and getting more comfortable with conducting them. Mike also enjoys playing board games, and World of Warcraft when he has time.

I have spent a good part of the year growing a human being, ha ha. I also spend my time caring for our kids, blogging, reading books for 2 book clubs, doing various little sewing projects, and trying to keep up with the housework. I am also serving as the Young Women 2nd Counselor, with an awesome group of leaders and girls.

In April, Mike and I went to Oahu, Hawaii, where we snorkeled, hiked Diamond Head, relaxed, and ate our fill of "shave ice". Actually I was pregnant at the time (eating shave ice for 2!), but we hadn't announced it yet. When we got home, we planned a luau for our families and announced the pregnancy by including an ultrasound picture of our fetus in the invitation.
In July, I tagged along with Mike on a short business trip to the Washington DC area.

Elise (4) seems to have grown up so much this year. She is a wonderful big sister, often inventing fun scenarios to pretend with Lydia. Elise loves princesses, especially Cinderella. She is doing well in her tap dancing class, and just performed "Jingle Bell Rock" in the Christmas recital. She enjoys her preschool in our neighborhood, and is beginning to sound out letters to make simple words.

Lydia (2) has recently begun talking a whole lot, and is becoming much more independent. She has a vivid imagination and is great at making pretend food. She loves doing anything her big sister is doing. Lydia is in a pre-ballet class, and does excellent "princess twirls."

Our new baby Tyler joined our family on December 4th. He is a pretty calm baby, and is eating and growing well. He has a little bit of light brown hair, and is very handsome, in my completely unbiased opinion :) We are all very excited to have him in our family.

At this time of year, when we remember and celebrate the birth of our Savior, we are so grateful for His gospel in our lives. We are also thankful for our friends and family. We wish all of you the best in 2009.

Love,
Mike, Shayla, Elise, Lydia and Tyler

I can do it myself!

I just had to share this funny thing Lydia did this morning.
She was insisting on dressing herself, so I watched her struggle with her pants for about 3 minutes before she got just her left leg in (and the tag was in front, but I didn't mention it).
Then she started on the right leg, which kept trying to join her left in that same pant leg. Frustrated, Lydia then says - to her right leg - "No, no! You can't go in there!"
Cutest thing ever.

More about Tyler

Since Tyler was wearing a hat in all of the pictures from the last post, I'm posting some that show his hair. He's got a little, it's just lighter than the girls' hair was at birth.

This first picture is from the day we came home from the hospital. The cute outfit was chosen by Mike. It is a tradition I adopted from my mom, to have the dad choose the baby's coming-home outfit. It gives Mike something to do, to be involved and have a reason to escape the hospital for a little while. Didn't he do a good job?

This picture is from a few days ago, "Selection Sunday", when we found out which bowl the Utes are playing in. The onesie came from Mike's mom and stepdad, who are BYU fans, so it was really a sacrifice for them! They also gave Tyler and Mike each a football signed by quarterback Brian Johnson (whose girlfriend is their friend's daughter or something).

Tyler is a really content baby. I struggled with feeding Elise and Lydia when they were newborns, but Tyler has been a good nurser from the start. It makes a world of difference to not have that stress! I feel much more like myself, instead of over-emotional and weepy like I have been in the past. I didn't feel pressured by the hospital staff to pump breastmilk or to feed formula. In fact, one of the nurses, after asking about how often he was eating and how long, called us "perfect parents" (ha ha).

The first night home was hard, but it has gotten easier. He wakes about every 3 hours to be fed, but then he pretty much goes right back to sleep.

Having a boy has given me a few new things to learn! The first diaper I changed in the hospital, he sprayed all over (mostly on himself, poor guy). It was such a surprise, Mike and I couldn't help laughing. The number of these accidents has slowly decreased since I came up with a strategy. Every time I change a diaper, I take an extra wipe and set it aside to dry so I always have a dry wipe (disposable!) to block/absorb any sprinkling.

Elise and Lydia have been nothing but sweet to him. Elise loves to sit on the couch and hold him, talking in high-pitched "motherese" and trying to get him to make eye contact. Lydia is always the first to let me know he needs a diaper change (she must have a really sensitive nose). She is so curious about the feeding and diaper changes, and also likes to hold him, but only for a few seconds.

So far it has been a fairly easy transition, becoming a mother of 3. I don't know if it will continue to be easy, but I feel very blessed thus far.

Finally some pictures of Tyler!

Introducing...

Our son, Tyler Michael, was born Thursday night (December 4th) at 10:56 pm.
He was 7lbs 1oz, and 20" long. He is so cute! He has a little bit of light brown hair.

I will post more details later. Either the hospital's internet connection or Blogger is being dumb and keeps erasing stuff I have typed (grrr).

Well, today might be the day!

I probably shouldn't say anything, because what if I'm wrong... oh well! :)

I've been having some pretty good contractions since about 2:45 am, but I'm trying to take my time and stay at home as long as possible. Poor Mike, I've made him be awake with me all morning because I couldn't sleep. Now we are just sitting around timing contractions, trying to decide when to call my parents to come get Elise and Lydia.

I'll try to have Mike add to the blog while I'm in the hospital. He will be in charge of posting pictures and stats as soon as we have something to announce (when he can get to a computer of course).

Wish us luck!

UPDATE:

So, since I posted this the contractions slowed way down, but they still hurt quite a bit. The good news is that I've been able to take a few catnaps between them. But now I have no idea what to expect! I'm going to take Elise and Lydia to dance, maybe if I pace around the parking lot during their lessons, the contractions will pick back up.