Our babies as babies

I didn't see the resemblance at first. I guess it's been awhile since I saw Jack as a newborn. There's no denying they're brothers!

Proud Big Brother

I have to share these pictures of Jack and Ty. Jack is an amazing big brother. I was worried about jealousy and acting out and Jack totally hating Ty. I have no need to worry. Jack's become a little more clingy to me but I think that's more from being in the hospital and not seeing him until after school for 2 days.
Jack is so sweet to Ty. He's always asking to hold him and he's soooo gentle. He's fascinated with his eyes and loves when Ty actually looks right at him. He thinks it's hilarious when Ty cries or coos. I'm sure it's helping that Ty's been giving Jack presents too. I had a few people tell me to have some new gifts on hand and when the meltdown starts, have the baby give Jack a present. I must say....good advice! :-) Today he got a little Magna Doodle. Well, we're about to watch the Belmont Stakes and then Tom's off to make a Target run for me and get Jack a much needed hair cut. He's quite fuzzy! :-) Here's a few more pictures. (Even Lola finds the Boppy comfy.)

Big news....

We'd like you all to meet....

Titus Xavier McMurtrie


Ty was born on June 2nd @ 2:27 am. He weighed 7 pounds 13 oz and measured in at 20 inches long. My delivery went SUPER fast. I still can't wrap my head around how fast he came into the world. I started having contractions Sunday night when Tom and I went to bed. I was waking up every 2-3 hours but they were mild. On Monday I had a busy day. Lola had a vet appointment and then I went into work for 3 hours. I then went and picked up Jack at daycare to only spend and hour and half there talking job opportunities with the center director (we'll save that for another blog). Then when Tom got home went to Costco and Office Depot and grabbed some dinner. Of course I was having contractions all day but I convinced myself it was false labor. When I had Jack my whole stomach felt the contraction. With Ty I was only having pain in my lower abdomen. I seriously thought it was all braxton hicks. Especially since I was at my doctor's office on Thursday and there was nothing going on. Needless to say, I was very wrong! We went to bed around 9:30pm, I couldn't sleep and ended up getting sick around midnight. With that and the contractions getting stronger we called Dr. Keith. After that phone call, my friend and co-worker Rhonda got her phone call to hang out with Jack. We got got the hospital around 1am. I was already 4cm dilated. My first question was...."when can I have the epidural???" Well, the drugs never happened. I didn't even get pain medication in my IV. My labor moved a long soooo fast they had to keep me from pushing because the doctor wasn't here yet. As soon as Dr. Keith came, 2 pushes later Ty made his grand entrance. I was here for an hour and half and had Ty. I must of begged for the epidural like I was a junkie or something. Hahaah. All I kept saying is that I remember the pain from Jack and want the drugs. Ty had a different plan. :-) So the delivery went really well, Ty is a very happy and healthy baby. He's taken to nursing right away and is very peaceful and curious. I've only heard him cry 3 times.
Another great thing about the quick delivery was that Tom was able to get home to Jack before he even woke up and knew we were gone. Rhonda saved us that night and we owe her big!!! Being in the military you have to rely on GREAT friends to fill the void of family being so far away. I'm very grateful for the friends I've made here!! So Tom left us at the hospital to venture home and run the dogs and get Jack off to daycare. We figured it was better to keep him on schedule in the mornings and just pick him up early from daycare. So Jack met Ty for the first time around 4om yesterday. Jack was amazing with him! I really couldn't be luckier! Jack must have said "Hi Titus" a million times waiting for him to say Hi back. He uses the most gentle touch with him and gives lots of kisses. He sat on my lap and we held Ty and without me saying anything, Jack leaned down and kissed him on the nose. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen! He's going to be a great big brother!
Everything's going smoothly and I get to go home tonight after dinner. I love that you can get out of the hospital so quickly, I'm ready to be at home with the whole family and sleep in my own bed. :-) Well, that's the latest and greatest with us....here's a few pictures. There will be many more to come!

The boy can hear!!!

Jack had surgery for ear tubes on Tuesday. He did so great! We had to be at the surgery center for 7am and we were home by 8:30. The staff was amazing and that really calmed my nerves. This was the first time Jack went under anesthesia. Tom and I were nervous. The cool thing is that they used the happy gas. He didn't have to have any IVs or tubes. We sat with him in the recovery room and got him ready, he had a little hospital gown and let the nurse hook him up to the monitor. He was able to take his monkey and blanket and the nurse whisked him away so quickly, just to make it easier. Tom and I waited out in the waiting room and in 10 minutes we were back in the recovery room holding Jack. He had an interesting time waking up, all groggy and clumsy but when he came around he was back to his normal self. The doctor said everything went really well. He also told us that Jack's left ear had so much fluid (which the Dr. described as thick as wallpaper paste) that he had NO hearing in that ear. I couldn't believe it. I wanted to go back to his pediatrician and give her the guilt trip for giving me such a hard time about going to an ENT. ARG!!!,, but anyway, Jack's ears are fixed and hopefully the ear infections will come to an end! I'm just glad that the boy can hear again. He's totally himself and acting as though he never even had the surgery. Although, putting in his ear drops are brutal. He's back to school tomorrow which means I'm back to work....
I'm not excited about that at all. There's been a lot of drama at my office. My supervisor, the chief of child and youth services, is being forced out of his position. Since I'm not returning after I have the baby he's taking my position and the school age director is taking his position. Things can be very interesting when you mix up the ranks in a small office. I'm glad I'm leaving!! The drama and the rumors are flying and I'm ready to get out of there. I promised to work up until I popped but I'm thinking that Friday will be my last day. This will let me have a week or so off before the baby gets here and chaos ensues. I'm really due for a good nap! :-) Since the position changes are effective tomorrow I guess I'll have to run the idea through my new boss. I think the woman taking over will do a great job, there are definitely a lot of issues there and the programs could all use the new perspective. I really wish her the best and I hope that my old boss will really take care of my FCC providers. I've taken a lot of pride in the program and making it better. The providers here are amazing and they deserve a good director.
I'll be leaving you with a few picture of Lola's favorite place to lay. (Who thought Jack would have competition from a puppy for Elmo.) And a few pics of what I got when I asked Jack to smile and say "cheese" :-) The kid's a whacko!

"Her name was.....

LOLA"

We'd like everyone to meet the newest furry addition to the McMurtrie family. No baby yet, just a puppy. That's right, you may all think we're crazy, and we may be, but this weekend we picked up a beautiful, 8 week old, golden retriever puppy. We drove about 2 hours south of us, by Ft. Hunter Leggitt to get her on Saturday. We named her Lola Belle. She's doing great so far. She's bugging the crap out of Sadie which is comical. Sadie doesn't have a mothering bone in her body. Lola tries to cuddle up to her and Sadie jumps up and runs like she's attacking. I'm hoping Sadie will love her one day. It took her 18 months to love Jack. I guess in due time. Jack however loves her sooo much. I have no doubt he's going to be a great big brother. He lays with Lola, and pets her so gently. He walks around the house saying her name and singing the song. It's hilarious. He plays with her and really does a great job of being gentle. I can't wait to see him with the baby. It warms my heart!
Anyway, here's a few pictures of Lola, she's definitely keeping us busy and getting us ready for the baby. Speaking of.....1 more week, I'm soooo ready!!!

Wild Things

First let me say....Happy belated Mother's Day to everyone out there! I haven't had enough time to think let along blog about my thoughts and adventures. I'm thinking I should have stopped working BEFORE the baby comes just to settle in to what's about to happen. Hahahah. This blog is going to be short and sweet with (hopefully) more similar blogs to follow this week.

Tom's mom was in town all of last week and one of our outings was a trip to Wild Things. It's basically a retirement village for Hollywood animals. We saw the baboon that modeled for Rafiki, the black bear that was in the movie The Bear, and a bunch of lions, tigers, alligators, lynx, all sorts of weird animals (a Ze-Donkey) and of course, elephants. The coolest part was the elephants. At the end, if you so chose to pay an extra $5.00, you got to hand feed the elephants...how could you pass that up? Jack did 1 carrot then was spooked but still curious. Hahaha. It was so much fun. Here's a few pictures. For those of you who wanted a belly picture...well here ya go. No comments are needed I know I'm HUGE! :-) 3 weeks left!....YEAH!!!

The latest...

Well, it's been a long time since I've blogged. I wish I was better, something to work on.
In the 3 weeks I haven't blogged we've had a lot keeping us busy. Mostly the usual stuff....work, kiddo, school and Sadie. One thing that I'm really excited about is the decision Tom and I made for me to NOT go back to work after I have the baby! I love having a career and feeling important and contributing to our finances. The thing of it was it really just wasn't worth all the stress and time I was missing with Jack and Tom. Not to mention I'm due with Baby Boy #2 in 4 weeks. I've been so lucky that Tom's been able to have so much flexibility with his schedule to cover my hours. He's been Super Dad these past few months with taking care of Jack. He's starting his thesis in 2 months and with that comes a newborn and the terrible 2s for Jack and I just miss my family and all my mom moments. So my resignation was turned in and it was a great feeling!! I'm just going to work up to when I have the baby then that's it. It was great to be more than the last sentence on Tom's military bio but the timing isn't right at the moment. So my new job, that I'm very happy to take on....stay at home mom! YEAH!!

Tom's doing great. Midterms are coming up this week for him. He's playing softball with a bunch of class mates from NPS. It's a sally type league, no sliding, underhand pitches, limits on home runs. But it's so much fun taking Jack to his games. Jack cheers and claps for him and it's funny how many memories came back from watching Tom play. I'm excited for when Jack plays baseball.....if he so chooses. :-)
Jack's doing pretty great too. He's growing like a weed, talking non-stop and eating us out of house and home. He gives the baby kisses goodnight and says "hi" to him in the morning. I can't wait to see him with his baby brother. He's such a sweet kid! We did finally get somewhere with his ears. After 2 weeks on allergy medicine we went back to the pediatrician and his ears were still infected. With pressure from me, the Dr. gave us a referral to an Ear, Nose and Throat Dr. We had that appointment yesterday and the outcome.....Jack needs ear tubes. The ENT Dr. was really great, explained everything and really left the decision up to us. I didn't want to put him on a 5th anti-biotic and tubes made sense. The doctor said Jack is definitely hearing things muffled with the amount of fluid behind his ear drums. So hearing loss and speech development are also a factor, not just ear infections and anti-biotics. So tubes it is. Otherwise, he's doing great and keeping us on our toes.

Tom's mom is in town visiting this week. I love having visitors. She's here to help us get everything ready for the baby. I can't believe I'm a few weeks away. At my last appointment the OB said the baby's head was down....yeah! I'm hoping that I go early and QUICK with this one! :-) Anyway....here's some pictures of Jack at the playground and painting a birdhouse. What's more fun than painting with a 20 month old??? :-)