Christmas 2010

We had a great Christmas! Tyler was such a joy this year, although we learned a few lessons about traveling with a toddler.

On Christmas Eve, we started celebrating a new tradition--Dixie House Cafe in Fort Worth. Chad discovered this place and wanted to take the us to a old-fashioned, mom-and-pop kinda place for lunch. Plus, we picked up our homemade pies that we ordered for Christmas lunch.

After a nap at home, we went to the Christmas Eve service at our new church, First Baptist McKinney. They didn't provide childcare for the service, as an attempt to celebrate as a family. It was our first time taking Tyler to "big church," and he didn't do too badly. We only had one freak-out moment because he wanted to go with all the kids to the children's sermon on stage. After Chad took him in the hall, he calmed down and sat through the entire service. He liked all the music.

Then we rushed home to make cookies for Santa (a family tradition) and read the Christmas stories. Daddy always reads "The Story of Christmas" and "Twas the Night before Christmas." Since Tyler LOVES books, he loved this activity.

Then it was off to bed before Santa comes ... well, not without checking to see how his cookies were doing in the oven.

Santa came, and we managed to get a few pictures of what he left for our very good boy.

On Christmas morning, we set the alarm and went in to wake Tyler at 7:30 a.m. We had to get an early start since we had busy, busy day planned. He normally eats breakfast immediately, but when he saw what awaited in the living room, he forgot about his hunger for a moment. Merry Christmas little buddy.

He loved his train table and Thomas Early Engineer train set! And in true Tyler-form, he climbed right up on it to get a closer look.

We opened a few more presents at home.

Then, we went to Grandma Marty's house for a Christmas celebration. Tyler must have been an extraordinary boy this year, because Santa left him gifts at Grandma's house too! He ran straight in and "ooohhh"ed over the table and train. (Sidenote: my mom and I never discussed what Santa was bringing Tyler, and we bought almost the same things: tables, chairs and trains. So funny!) Tyler opened a few more gifts, but his favorite was the snack tree she made. We were all super impressed with her creativity. Tyler could go up to the tree (which intentionally matched his bedroom colors) and pull off all the toddler snacks he could! An edible, toddler-sized Christmas tree ... so perfect!

We banked at my mom's house. She loaded us up with gifts! We are so spoiled! :)

Next, we all went to Grandma Judy/Great Grandma Morgan's house. Tyler was starving, so he got to eat a little early. We all sat down at the beautiful table and shared a great meal. After lunch (and an attempt at a nap), we opened presents. We drew names again this year, which proved to be a little more difficult than in years past. But we still had fun.

 
Of course, Erica and I had to take a pregnant picture (Me: 27 weeks, Erica 29 weeks). This time next year, we'll have two new babies. Baby Logan and Baby Grayson will be crawling all over the place ... crazy! 

After a long, nap-less day, we headed home. Poor Tyler was exhausted. But it was a great Christmas nonetheless. We were able to celebrate with family and make many new memories.

Merry Christmas from The McKinney Family

A Year Ago this Christmas ....

After unpacking the Christmas decorations, I found myself in a reflective mood. Tyler's ornaments from last year included a footprint and "baby's first Christmas" bootie. It's amazing to me how much a child can grow and change in one year. I can honestly say I love him more and more each day. Being a mommy is fun! Here's a look back for comparison. Same cute boy. Same adorable smile. 

4 months

16 months

4 months

16 months

4 months

16 months

4 months

16 months

 

4 months

16 months

Doctor update

The anti-contraction medicine is working, for the most part. I've only had a few bouts of severe pain, which have usually been cured with a glass of water, a warm bath or lying on my left side. At the doctor yesterday, my cervix was measuring perfectly. In fact, it has even lengthened a tiny bit more. They did another sonogram as well to check Grayson's growth. He is in the 50th percentiles and should weigh significantly less than his big brother at birth. Right now, he is 1 lb 13 oz. He is so cute, all curled up in a tight ball. He's always asleep and very cuddly ... again, very different than Tyler who performed acrobatics in the womb. Oh, and we think he has my nose. It's a lot more pointy than Chad's. :)

Our doctor is doing a couple more tests at the next visit after Christmas to make sure my body isn't showing any more signs of preterm labor. But she thinks everything will be fine. And on January 3, she is scheduling the c-section! She's going to look at the calendars, make sure that both doctors in their practice can be available, and request a specific anesthesiologist. I can't believe we'll have Grayson's birthday chosen in a couple weeks! It will most likely be March 10, since our doctor is the staff doctor at the hospital that night. But we'll definitely let you all know when the date is chosen.

Keep up the prayers; they are obviously working!

God healed us!

I believe in the power of prayer, now more than ever!

We went to the doctor this morning, fully prepared to be admitted into the hospital. We left Tyler at Adventure Kids Playcare with the carseat and meals for the rest of the day. I was planning for the worst, but very optimistic that God heard our cries and healed me.

The doctor, whom I love immensely, came in to hear all that had happened over the last week. There are numerous medical treatments she could do, and she was hopeful I would carry Grayson full term. She started with the least aggressive approach today, prescribing anti-contraction medication to take every four hours.

I saw the sonographer immediately afterward, who rechecked my cervical length. She reviewed the two tests that had been done in the hospital, which had both come out that my cervix had shortened to 2.8 centimeters (3.5-4 cm is healthy). She started the test and immediately said, "oh, your cervix is fine. It's completely normal." It measured between 3.5 and 3.7 cm.

I still have to go back to have my cervix rechecked every two weeks, since it can shorten and lengthen very quickly. And I must take it very easy, but I am off official bed rest.

Thank you to each of you who lifted our family up in your prayers. I am beyond grateful to God for protecting us. And as a friend told me, God knows the number of Grayson's days, which includes the day they will start. I have faith that his plan includes a healthy birthday for our little boy.

I know it's weird, but we were so excited today that we took pictures of the test results. Here's my healthy cervix. :)

Update on Baby Grayson

We had to go to the hospital again today--a mid-Thanksgiving trip of excitement.

Grayson is completely healthy, growing at perfect proportions with a very strong heartbeat. I'm just the issue, as always. Turns out, my body just doesn't know how to stay pregnant. It's just about as impatient as I am.

Basically, the doctors are worried that I'm showing too many signs of preterm labor, which is plausible since I went into labor with Tyler at 32 weeks. Thankfully, Tyler wasn't born until 36 weeks, which is the hope we have for Grayson.

I'm currently 22 weeks and 6 days pregnant. I started having contractions several weeks ago. The doctor attributed it to dehydration. Thus, I began measuring my daily water intake, which needs to total 100 oz. On Saturday, the contractions kicked in hard. I was in severe pain, off and on, for three days. I went to see the other doctor in our OB practice on Tuesday, since my doctor was on vacation. She immediately sent me to the Maternity Observation ward in the hospital. They monitored me for several hours and confirmed that I was not dilated or effaced.  However, they found that my cervix had begun to shorten. The normal, non-laboring range is 3.5 to 4 centimeters. Mine had shortened to 2.8 cm. At 2.5 cm, a woman must be hospitalized. They were unable to provide more information, but told me to page the on-call doctor if I had a single contraction prior to my OB visit on Monday morning.  I was sent home and ordered to stay on bed rest, most likely for the remainder of my pregnancy.

After eating Thanksgiving lunch today, I started to feel the pressure and tightening again. They were not in the form of painful contractions, more like uncomfortably tight hugs around the belly. After a couple hours, I decided to page the doctor. The on-call doctor told me to go to the hospital again for observation. Unfortunately (or fortunately), while I was there, they were unable to detect any of the contractions on the monitor. Most likely, this was because they were way too light, as I suspected. They said it could have also been growing pains, since Grayson is in the middle of his first huge growth spurt. Again, I was sent home and told to page the doctor if they got worse before Monday.

The main reason they are not being extremely proactive is a little disheartening. Most hospitals, including Baylor, have a policy not to intervene in a "non-viable" pregnancy. Grayson is currently considered non-viable. We must make it to 23 weeks in order for the hospital to make any attempts to save his life. Thankfully, I'll be 23 weeks tomorrow. If I have to go to the hospital again, it will be a completely different story. They will run more tests and be significantly more aggressive. They explained that my OB will be able to provide more details on Monday and develop an action plan, which could include injections, medications, hospitalization or continued bed rest. Our prayer is that we can keep the contractions and preterm labor at bay until 36 weeks. Here are some of the pregnancy milestones you can keep in your prayers:

24 weeks: 50% survival rate, although half of those babies will have permanent medical problems

28 weeks: 80% survival rate with minimal risk for longterm medical conditions

32 weeks: 90% survival rate

36 weeks: Safe delivery threshold, although still considered "late-preterm"

37-40 weeks: Full-term

In addition to gestational age, babies with higher birth weights have an increased chance of survival. Babies who weigh between 1.1 and 1.5 pounds have a survival rate around 40%; babies between 1.5 and 2.2 pounds have a survival rate of about 70%. According to the last sonogram I had, Grayson is measuring a little over a pound.

I'll know more on Monday morning, and I'll try to keep you updated.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Our little BOYS

Here's a very quick update on our little family.

We're having a boy! Grayson Timothy is due on March 26. He is healthy, had a 141 heart rate and is in the 50th percentile for growth. We went to the doctor today, and he slept during the entire sonogram. We'll go back in two weeks for better images. Chad wore a pink shirt, I wore a blue tunic and Tyler wore a shirt that said "rise and shine."(Apparently, Tyler's message to his little brother did not work.) We're very excited about having two boys 19 months apart. Tyler and Grayson will be best buddies.

We also took Tyler to the new pediatrician today for his 15-month well check. (It was a very busy day of doctor visits.) We all loved the new doctor and nursing staff. Tyler is very healthy and reaching all his milestones. Like most boys, he is ahead in motor skills and needs a little more practice with vocabulary. We also learned that Tyler is shrinking, ha ... not really, but he is decelerating in growth percentiles, which he said is very common. Here are his stats:
Weight: 22 lbs, 12 oz. --24%
Height: 30 3/4 --37%
Head: 18 1/2 --43%

Here's a picture from today

Tyler's party is going to be featured on The Cake Blog tomorrow!

I submitted pictures of Tyler's party to my two favorite inspiration websites/blog. I received an e-mail today, saying it's going to be featured tomorrow!!! Yay! Be sure and check it out at:

Half Baked – The Cake Blog

www.thecakeblog.com

12 months of tyler aaron

Again, a little behind with the posts! Here are a couple new stats for Tyler on this big milestone month!

Doctor appointment
Height: 29 1/2 inches, 60th percentile
Weight: 20.8 pounds, 25th percentile
Head: 18 inches, 25th percentile

He's a finicky walker, some days he'll take off and walk 12-15 steps. Then, he won't try again for a day or two. He's been crawling since he was 7 months, so I'm wondering if that's just too much of a comfort zone.

Tyler hasn't really learned any new words, other than the "mabaaml" sound he makes which I think means milk or bite. 

Speaking of milk, we are completely weaned from the bottle. It was hard at first, but after two days, he figured it out. Within a week, we were packing away the bottles and not looking back. In the beginning, we were adding a little strawberry syrup (thanks for the suggestion Leanne) to his milk, but now he can drink it plain!

There aren't really that many new developments. My little guy is just growing up, getting more of a personality and having so much fun along the way!

modern simple giraffe party for my little guy

Here's the 1st birthday post, finally! As many of you know, I spent three months making nearly 60 projects for the space. I took my PR experience and put it to good use, making timelines, "marketing" plans and photo op spaces. It was so much fun! I tried to think of every element, from the homemade 5-foot-tall stuffed giraffe to the messy arrangement of the napkins.

Here are all the pictures:

http://s848.photobucket.com/albums/ab43/HeatherAnnMcKinney/Tyler%20Simple%20Giraffe%201st%20Birthday%20Party/

The day turned out perfectly. Tyler had so much fun with all his little buddies! A special thanks goes out to everyone who came to celebrate the big day! My little boy is 1, my goodness how time flies!

We're pregnant!

We wanted the kids to be close in age, and we are definitely getting our wish! We are blessed to have gotten pregnant the first month we tried! Baby No.2 will be about 19 months younger than Tyler. My due date is March 26, but we'll probably schedule a c-section a little early. Yay!

Happy First Birthday Tyler Aaron!

We just wanted to take a second and remember our sweet boy 12 months ago! I sure do love this little guy! Happy Birthday Tyler Aaron!

11 whole months and more

First of all, I wanted to share the amazing news we received at the specialist yesterday. They ran tests on the fluid they removed from Tyler's leg. And .... THERE WAS NO INFECTION AT ALL! The test came back completely negative for staph or any other type of infection. I honestly believe it's because of prayer; God healed our little boy!

Tyler celebrated his last month-old birthday! I can't believe I'll be saying he's "1 year old" in a few weeks! Here are his recent developments:

• He's not walking independently yet. In fact, I think he's losing all interest in the new skill. A couple weeks ago, he would practice taking steps. But now, he just quickly plops down and crawls away, when we practice. I think he's learned that crawling is more efficient at this point. 
• "TV" is the only new word he's learned, thanks DaDa. :)
• He still LOVES his books. He'll read to himself and point to the book basket when he wants us to read to him. 
• Musical instruments are still his favorite toys. He loves "shaking his shaker." We're ready for another semester of music class. 
• He's still very outgoing! He loves making new friends anytime we leave the house. Every place we go, he has to be the center of attention. And of course, he has to introduce himself to everyone he sees. And for those who are too far away, he just waves!
• He loves meat. In fact, I think I could feed him chicken, turkey and steak for every meal, and he'd be happy. Such a boy!
• Last night, he officially outgrew his 12-month clothes. He woke up an hour after going to sleep crying because he couldn't stretch out in his pajamas! They fit yesterday ... but not today! It's amazing to me that he gets that much taller overnight, literally!
• I think he's continuing to drop in weight percentages. He hasn't even gained a whole pound, since his 9-month check-up. Last week, he weighed 20 lbs. 8 oz. at the doctor. We'll find out how tall he is at our 12-month check in 4 weeks! 

about the infection

We've learned that Tyler is very prone to staph infections. He got a very normal bug bite (ant, spider ... not really sure) almost two weeks ago. It developed a hard, golf-ball size knot under the skin, and the red, tender area was spreading. Upon the advice of my mother-in-law, we took him to the doctor first thing this morning. Our pediatrician sent us straight to a specialist/pediatric surgeon and explained that he would need surgery to remove the infectious lump.

On the way to the specialist, God intervened.  See unexpected blessings

The pediatric surgeon was able to drain the mass without surgery! He used localized anesthesia that slightly numbed the affected area, made an inch-long incision and squeezed to release the infection. (I'll spare the gory details). As expected, Tyler cried fervently. However, I believe the pain was eased by our prayers. Within five minutes, Tyler was smiling and laughing at the nurses, who were very impressed by his quick recovery.

We have to go back on Thursday to have the area rechecked, but it looks like our little boy is healing perfectly!

unexpected blessings

Last Wednesday, I was driving to BabyGap to buy Tyler new summer clothes. On the way, I passed a church with a humble sign advertising free lunches for kids under 18. Three miles later, I realized exactly what this meant. It was summer vacation. There are kids in my own area who go hungry, when meals are not provided by the school. That broke my heart and convicted me. Here I was ... driving to buy my son more clothes when there are children who don't even have food! I mentioned it to Chad that evening, and he said we should definitely give to the ministry.

On Sunday, we tried a new church. The message was about using spiritual gifts, including the gift of giving. Again, my heart ached for these children who wake each morning with hunger pains and no pantry to open, no refrigerator to rummage through and no lunch box to fill.

Today, I left for the specialist several hours early in an effort to distract Tyler from the meals he had to skip before surgery (which is another blog post). I was driving down Rowlett Road, when I remembered that church. I made a u-turn and pulled into the parking lot. Tyler and I walked in through the tattered door and passed the giggling children running through the halls. We peeked around the corner and met the most gracious lady. I explained the incredible randomness of our visit and handed her a check.  She looked down with astonishment. I quickly apologized because it wasn't a large gift. She looked back at me and said that today they were praying for that exact amount! There were four children who wanted to go to summer camp. Their parents couldn't afford it, but the church promised they would be able to attend. However, they are a small, underprivileged church that was already over-extended in giving. They didn't know where the money would come from, but they trusted God to provide. Hours later ... God led Tyler and me to their door with the exact donation to sponsor summer camp for four children!

While we were there, we met the pastor and several other church leaders. They asked where we were heading, and I explained that Tyler will most likely need surgery today for his leg infection. They asked if they could pray over him. We gathered around, the pastor placed a hand on his leg, and we asked God for healing. With faith, we believed that he would be okay. And this afternoon, God used the doctor to heal Tyler without surgery ... just as we asked!

I'm inspired and filled with thankfulness.

new tyler-isms

Tyler has started doing several new things lately. I feel like I get to know a different baby every three months, as he's constantly changing and developing more of his own personality! I definitely understand other parents who say they grow to love their child more and more each day. I certainly adore this little boy!

Speaking of showing his personality,  I can already tell little Tyler is going to be incredibly outgoing. He makes friends everywhere we go, just like his daddy! His new thing is waving. He thinks he needs to announce his presence every time we go into a new place. As soon as I open the door to a store, he starts waving, parade-style. He waves from the left to the right and makes sure everyone notices him. I haven't been to a single store lately where he didn't flag down the store associate and wave to tell them "hi." It's a little embarrassing, but for now, everyone still thinks it's cute!

And while I'm on the subject of Tyler introducing himself, I should also mention that he loves girls. Yes, I am definitely in for it, when he's 13! When we are out and he sees a baby girl, he gets very excited. He claps, smiles and starts jumping up and down. If I let him go, he immediately crawls over and gives her a hug and kiss. At a baseball game, he fell in love with a little girl who he hugged, kissed and then crawled away from to play hard-to-get. Just as he planned, she proceeded to chase him around for the rest of the game!

Tyler's other recent development--clapping--also embarrasses me often. When he does anything well, gets excited or hears music, he starts clapping. I believe he uses this to get attention because he loves hearing people tell him how cute he is! He doesn't have a shy bone in his body!

Although he has known how to shake his head "no" for a while, he has just now learned to use it appropriately. Yes, I ask him to do something. He looks at me ... and just shakes his head "no." When he is done eating, he shakes his head "no." And most amusing, when he is fighting going to sleep, he lays in my arms, eyes closed and frantically shakes his head "no" until he eventually gives up and falls asleep.

He's growing up so quickly! From vocabulary to mobility, I can hardly keep up with his constant developments. Last week, he took his first steps! We were at the library playing with new friends when he just let go of the chair and took three steps forward. I'm pretty sure he saw the other little boy walking and thought, "Ah, I can do that too." He hasn't mastered independent walking just yet. Since then, we've only been able to get him to take one, unassisted step at a time. I'm not rushing him though. I need a few more weeks to mentally prepare for a walking Tyler!

Our little model

We did a photoshoot with Tyler last weekend to get some good 10-month shots. It took two attempts, but the second time around, he was loving the camera. He was positioning himself in all kinds of funny poses. So great! I sure do love this little guy.