Easter Saturday

Ryan and Allen decorated Easter Eggs on Saturday. They first colored on them with a crayon then dyed them.

In the morning, we went to the El Segundo Easter Egg Hunt. Ryan participated in the two year old contest. Allen took him down to the playground and they had all the parents outside the fence. The workers scattered eggs everywhere and the parents lifted their kids over the fence when it was time for the hunt. I loved that it was kids and workers only. Ryan gathered about a dozen eggs then got distracted by the plastic drum on the playground. He started hitting it with his hand, then an egg, then his whole basket causing all the eggs he gathered to fall out. He didn't care and was happy that he had one egg!

parents gathered outside the fence cheering on their two year olds

Bath Time

Visitors

Nothing beats giving birth to a healthy baby boy 6 days before you turn 38!! My sisters visited on my birthday to meet Tyler. Allen and Ryan went to Kings Hawaiian Restaurant/Bakery in Torrance to pick up my favorite cake.

Aunt Cathy dreaming about holding her 3rd child in 6 more months.

 Proud cousins holding the youngest and second to last cousin.

Uncle Brian sharing a piece with Ryan!!

adjusting to a family of four

My parents came the Tuesday and Wednesday after we got home from the hospital. It was nice putting Ryan down for a nap, handing them Tyler to hold while Allen and I napped. They were nice about providing take out meals for us and watching Ryan while we went to Tyler's two day home appointment.

 Ryan request to get his picture taken with Tyler but is done with it after 30 seconds, sometimes before you even get a good picture/

Tyler's Birth

Tyler's birth was drastically different and easier than Ryan's. At the end of February, I was having lots of braxton hicks and I was worried I wouldn't make it until March but I made to double digits, March 10th!! I started labor on Sunday morning around 6 am. Allen went to his morning church meetings until I texted him asking him to come home. Allen took care of Ryan until my sister, Lisa, came to pick him up at 3:30 pm. We left for the hospital at 4 pm, I wanted an epidural and couldn't take much more.

I was dilated to 3 cm at my doctors appointment the Friday prior. When I was checked in I was at 4 cm and assigned a mid wife along with a nurse. I got my epidural by 6 pm and I was at 5 cm by 7 pm, when my first nurse went home. I was checked again at 8 pm and I was already at 10 cm!! At 8:45 I did a "practice" push then an hour later started pushing! After less than an hour of pushing, Tyler was born at 10:28 pm. It was so much nicer having my water break during labor at the hospital instead of while I'm at work.

I was so shocked and surprised that everything went to smoothly with no tearing. While I was pushing I kept wondering when they were going to tell me to I needed a cesarean. I was so relieved that my body worked and that everything went so smoothly. My first nurse predicted that I would be done by 2 am, when she visited me the next day she was shocked that it went so fast. My epidural was a lot smoother this time too, I had no pain but I could move my legs. The anesthesiologist got the epidural right the first time and didn't have to do it twice like with Ryan. The epidural still made me sick , throwing up after delivery and the next day.

I was home from the hospital less than 24 hours after delivery. I had no complications and neither did Tyler, so we asked to go home the next day instead of waiting until Tuesday.

We love our little boy!!

My mid wife and nurse.....yep no MD in the room. 

38 Weeks

We went to the park and took family pregnancy pictures using the timer. The next day my friend, Eva, took some more pictures. We think they turned out great!!

The Strand - Manhattan Beach

We went to the strand for a family walk. Ryan enjoyed riding, walking and pushing his bike. He insisted on swinging before we left. One week later, Tyler joined our family.