Daddy Time

Right after his 2 month birthday, Tytus went for his check up at the doctor and got all his shots. Ian came with us to show Tytus how it's done. Ian has no fear of shots.....while I, on the other hand, will do anything to avoid them. I have gotten a little better though. Ian got Tytus dressed in his superman shirt and told him what was going to happen to prepare him for the big day. Good thing Ian came because I think Ty's going to take after daddy!

This was his expression as he kicked, smiled, and "talked" right after we got home from the doctor. And two tough bandaids for a tough guy!

 

Tytus has been learning a lot from daddy. When Ian gets home from work in the evening Tytus loves to watch what he's doing. He definitely knows the difference between us and loves getting to spend some guy time together. They've watched sports together, sat and talked about "guy" things, Ty's watched daddy rollerblade on our walk around the neighborhood, and watched daddy during bathtime....Tytus loves his baths! One of the most fun things to see was how Ian took Ty around one day as he did his yard work. He got to help water the yard and watch as dad made the outside of our house beautiful!

 

I'm also thankful for Ian. It was just a few days after Tytus got his shots at the doctor that I woke up with a fever, aches, chills.....you name it, I felt it. Ian lovingly rushed home from work to go to the doctor with us because I felt so terrible. He thought he could come help me out and continue to get some things done for work that afternoon, but little did he know that the day was about to become "the worst day of my life" (Ian's words). 

We get to the doctor and my fever has risen to 102 as they take me to the room to wait. Meanwhile Tytus is starting to wake up and get hungry. So Ian soothes him by holding him, bouncing him, giving his pacifier (because the doctor wanted me to wait until after the appointment to feed him). Tytus did really well, calmed down, and then he pooped. He pooped OUT of his diaper and onto the car seat. Ian picked him up not knowing how much he'd pooped and got it smeared down the front of his shirt. 

We're still waiting on the doctor....

 So, one of the nurses offers to watch the women's bathroom door if Ian would like to go in there to change our son. What a loving dad. I finally get to see the doctor and she tells me that I'm going to need to take antibiotics, replace meat with more vegetables for two weeks, and get a shot....in my rear. I hate shots! Ian comes back in with Tytus, who is now really unhappy because he's so hungry. So, Ian is trying to console him while giving me a pep talk as they give me the most painful shot ever. (The doctor told me it's the most painful shot they give and it'd probably be sore and hard to walk at first.) After the shot we're all so ready to go. Ian has work to do, Tytus is starving, and I'm in pain and want to get home to take some advil and lay down. So I hobble out to the car s-l-o-w-l-y as Ian carries a hungry, sad, tired Tytus. Whew! We made it back home. Ian got us all settled in before going to pick up the prescriptions for me and some vegetables to add to our diet for the next few weeks. Thank goodness for great dads and loving husbands!

Projects, Projects, Projects

The first few weeks home we had family and friends bring us food and help finish some projects around the house. We've realized, looking back over the past several months, that we are the king and queen of projects. As I was writing in Ty's baby book it became very clear that we had spent a lot of time during the pregnancy doing one project after another. I think it all started with going to Haiti (which is right when we found out our family would have a new addition). Once we got back we managed to build a TV cabinet and bookshelf with the help of Grampa Dude's expertise.  

Making sure it's square to add the back piece.

The inside. Looking good!

Now we can take our movies out of the closet. Yay for storage!

The finished product! 

We also made additions to the outside of our house by changing out lights, adding flowers to our garden, paving the sides of the backyard (to help with flooding and add some extra storage). Sometimes we do projects on our own...just the two of us....but a lot of the time we have some helping hands. I think one of the best parts of working on a project is having fun with the people you're working with. When we added the paving stones to the backyard it was a whole family project. The Carrolls came to celebrate Ian's 26th birthday and their gift to him was to help out with this project that he'd been wanting to do for a long time. Now he doesn't have to drag the mower through mud and Mia won't have dirty paws as much!

Keep those weeds out!

This was the first side that was tackled. It's almost done!

Byron is guarding all the materials.

Ian and his dad measured out the next side.

Even though this was part of the birthday celebration, of course we had to celebrate with opening presents, eating some ice cream, and just hanging out and relaxing.

Some other things we've worked on the past nine months have been: adding new lights in closets, adding shelving to our garage and laundry room, installing an organizer in our closet, and fixing up Tytus's room. 

our closet before

Ian and I both almost took a few spills off these step stools.

All done! Everything has a place!

Ty's room

Many of these projects were based on the fact that we needed to get organized. If there's one thing I love it's organization. I love looking at a mess of stuff and finding a way to give it all a place. It's so rewarding in the end. Over the past three and half years of our marriage we've still managed to keep most of our college things - some still in their old boxes, drawers, and shelves from our dorm rooms or apartments. There needed to be major consolidation and a cleaning out of what wasn't necessary or useful to us any more. I find great symbolism in sorting through things. In this case I think it showed us how God orchestrated certain events for us to experience separately so that today when we look back we can see how those events shaped who we are and gave us wisdom today. One day we sifted through a box of many of my old education papers, projects, and books, and Ian's Fish Camp and RA paperwork and binders. We got to look back and remember stories and people from those groups and how they've affected who we are now. Even though a lot of those memories we actually participated in together (because we were dating) it's still fun to look back and point out just how different things are now. Praise God for how He works...and for an organized home.

And then there were three! (well, four including Mia)

Tytus Warren Carroll was added to our family on March 2, 2011 at 11:15 and weighed right at 6lbs. He was so precious, perfect and calm. After staying two days in the hospital we were ready to come home and get settled in here. A quick recap of what's gone on since we've been home. Happy 2 month birthday Tytus!

Our first week home Tytus had his first photo shoot by Neely Brook.

Here's some of our family that came to visit us with our new arrival.

Uncle David and Aunt Amy

Aunt Amanda

Uncle Byron and Aunt Michelle

Papou and Yaya

Gramma Janet

Grampa Dude

Man oh man was it tiring!

So, he had to take a nap.

Some of the Firsts

First time to meet mommy and daddy.

First car ride.

First time to see his room.

First bath

.

 

First outing with mom and dad. You can see who had all the fun!

First time meeting Mimi and Grandpa Schwarz and his cousin Oliver.

First time to hold his head up while playing.

First time to celebrate daddy's birthday.






First smiles

         

First Easter.

One thing that amazes me is how fast he's grown.

two weeks

one month

six weeks

two months