Sssshhhh!! Baby Sleeping

It's 8:00pm, Tyler is asleep, Michael is at work, the tv is off and I am eating dinner and blogging in silence.  To many this may seem like an awful Saturday night, but to me, it is heaven!  Before you think that I want nothing to do with my husband or son, let me explain.  Michael and I spend lots of time together and I love every minute of it.  He'll be home around 9:30 and we will have the rest of the evening together.  A little time apart gives us time to miss each other.  As far as Tyler, it is very rare that he is asleep this early, and add that to the simple fact that he didn't fight me at all to go to sleep.  He rubbed his eyes, I rocked him for about 2 minutes, and he was out.  The best part is that he didn't wake up when I put him in the crib!  Now that we lowered the mattress, my height has really made it difficult for a smooth transition from arms to crib.  Tonight the stars aligned. 

So usually during the week, things around the Cleland household are pretty standard.  Aside from the whole crawling thing this week, everything else has been uneventful.  So, tonight I'll tell the story about how we found out that we had a little one on the way.

March 18, 2010:  I came home from my second day of starting my new job.  I didn't feel sick to my stomach, but I did feel different.  So, I tested, and it was positive.  At this point in our lives, we had been married for 2 years, together for 8, and were settling down from our "going out" phase.  We had talked on and off about babies and were almost ready but too scared to say "let's go for it!"  Well apparently Tyler was ready to be with us before Thanksgiving.

I didn't tell Michael that I was testing because I didn't want to freak him out (or maybe I didn't want to freak myself out.)  If it had been negative I don't even know if I would have told him.  But it was positive and after catching my breath, I walked into the living room with the test behind my back and said, "I think we need to go to the store."  I was trying not to look scared but I know I looked a little shocked.  (Sidenote:  We were both on a Peanut Butter M'n'M's kick at the time.) 

With a huge grin on his face, he said, "for what, Peanut Butter M'n'M's??"  Ha Ha- little did he know I was about to drop a huge bomb on him.  "Um, no." I said as I brought the test out from behind my back.  "We need to go get another one of these."  Luckily his grin became even larger after seeing the results, which really helped me keep it together.  We stared at each other for a minute and he said, " Is this real?  Is this really happening?  Oh my gosh!" 

I knew before I tested the first time that this was going to be the outcome.  It's just one of those things- gut instinct I suppose.  But, we tested 3 more times, and all were positive.  I was 5 1/2 weeks pregnant.  No getting around this one- we were going to have the first grandchild on both sides of our families!!!

It's all history from there- a wonderful pregnancy with no morning sickness- just a pure dislike for grilled chicken.  No crazy cravings, although one time I did buy Nilla Wafers, which I had not had since I was very young.  They sure were delicious and I didn't share any with Michael- lol.  Here are a few fun pics from the journey.

March 18, 2010

May 1, 2010 (7wks. pregnant)

Halloween 2010 (33 wks.)

November 18, 2010- (40 wks.) 1 day before Tyler was born

November 19, 2010- Best day of our lives :)

Wild animal on the loose!!

Big day at the Cleland home...but before we go into that, lock your doors and windows because there is a baby giraffe on the loose!!

 Grandma Cleland (Helen) gave this to Tyler when he was just born, and it fits him perfectly now.  I really wish he could wear this every day!  I was laughing so hard when I put this on him, and will continue to do so until he grows out of it.  Thank you for the hilarious costume- I am really looking forward to Halloween now :)

So, like I said before, it was a BIG day at the Cleland home.  Michael and I were both off from work (we try to schedule at least two weekdays per month for our "day dates"), so we took full advantage of our day care and dropped Tyler off just in time for his oatmeal.  We didn't want to deprive him of school today because Granny Reader was coming!  She comes every Wednesday during the summer and reads a book to each child individually while they play with toys that correlate with the story- today was The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

After we dropped off Tyler, Michael and I went to the Riverwalk for our morning run- and although we made it there by 9am- it was still very hot and humid.  Then we washed the truck and headed back to a silent home for some eggs and coffee.  We look at each other all the time and say, "I can't believe how much we have done today and it's still morning.  It's crazy how things have changed."

We had full intentions of cleaning up the house (since our imaginary maid does a horrible job) but like usual, we were out and about running errands and doing a little shopping.  Tyler desperately needed a high chair since he has mastered the art of spinning out of the Bumbo Seat (click the link for those who have no idea what this is- lol).  Success!  He is official in the feeding world and now will not be able to squirm free as he pleases.  Here are some photos of his first meal in his big boy chair.

Yummy- sweet potatoes!

Now on to the really big news.  For the past few weeks, Tyler has been very successful at the "army crawl."  Today we look over at him and he is full on crawling!!!  We were so excited and proud at the same time.  And the first thing that he goes for is our shoes, then the power cord, then Dakota's ball...pretty much anything that is not a toy.  We are in for it now.  I'm surprised that his first tooth didn't come in today.  He is growing up so fast which we love, but at the same time I really don't want him to.  Every mother's dilemma.  I guess I'll just have to have another one! Hahahahahaha-not any time soon (unless we win the lottery).

Below is a short video of his accomplishment.  Disclaimer:  I need to practice my video skills, so you will get to stretch your neck at one point.  He does the army crawl and then the regular crawl...and that is not me panting in the background, it's Dakota!!

Cheers to big boy Tyler for a huge milestone today!

Staycation

Did you know that I am married to my very own Rory McIlroy?  About a year and a half ago, Michael and some of his co-workers won a company golf tournament, and with that came a free night at the Inn at USC.  It's in downtown Columbia and we decided that since we were both off this weekend, we would go on a little "staycation" to get out of the house.  Saturday we packed up the house (since we have a baby now) and headed 10 minutes down the road.  During the day we walked around the city, stumbled across a small wine tasting at one of our favorite shops, and picked up a great bottle of wine.  After a good nights sleep, we woke up to an amazing breakfast with cooked to order omlettes and fresh fruit!  Poor Tyler only had blueberries and grits...one day he'll be able to see what he's missing.  We arrived back at the house and decided to go for a run on the riverwalk.  Note to self:  don't go running outside at 11:00am in July!  It was way too hot outside and I desperately wanted to trade with Tyler.  He was sipping on his ice cold bottle while his hair was blowing in the wind.  Needless to say, we were all pretty worn out and spent the rest of our Sunday relaxing in the ac and catching up on laundry.  Overall, a great weekend that was spent with my wonderful little family!

 I think his blue eyes are staying!

My favorite :)

Pizza and Pantasia

To start the weekend off right, we went to a local pizza place tonight to let Tyler smell (too young to eat) his first slice of NY style pizza.  He was the lucky recipient of mashed potatoes and a bottle!  The main reason we went was to hear Pantasia play.  They are a Columbia based steel drum band that I have come to know through work.  Ironically, I almost chose them for our wedding, but wanted a group with vocals too.  It was so nice to hear music that makes you feel like your in the tropics, and we had the thousand degree weather to go with!  All we needed were our toes in the water and toes in the sand (nice Zac Brown reference, huh)?

Here is a link to their music- check it out!  Pantasia Steel Band

And now for the best part- Just recently Tyler has started to express himself when you take something away from him that he can't chew on...mainly things that he has dropped on the floor.  So...here is a priceless photo of this exact situation:

And below is a picture of what seems to be the world's largest slice of pizza...and a much happier Tyler!

WAKE UP!!

So normally Tyler is a very reliable alarm clock.  Every morning at 6:30am we hear him wake up and let us know that he is ready for his morning bottle.  Occasionally it will be 5:30, but on those days he gets some practice going back to sleep on his own.  Well, this morning, he woke up at 5:30, and fell back asleep.  Next thing I know, he wakes up and it's 7:30- 1 hour after our human alarm clock is supposed to go off!  Luckily we had his bottles and food ready for school (day care) or else we would have been really behind schedule.  Somehow we left on time and no one was late- today.  Lesson learned: we will now be setting a back up alarm.

4 months- Just waking up!!! (one of my favs)

On another note, this past Sunday, The Cleland Fam went hiking at a nearby State Park.  I know most of you wouldn't think of Columbia when it comes to popular hiking spots, but the trails actually had some hills.  It was Tyler's first time hiking, so we got packed up with snacks, bottle, diaper bag essentials and the baby carrier.  We wanted to start small, since we didn't know how he would do, so we chose a 3 mile round trip path.  He did so great and we stopped half way to feed him and take a break.  This is where we snapped some photos and Michael showed me what a Crab Spider was (since it was hanging over my head).  It's actually a very neat looking spider and I had never even heard of it!  The best part of the hike was the way back.  Tyler is notorious for falling asleep instantly in the car and apparently the motion of walking puts him to sleep too!  We will definitely be doing more of these hikes and can't wait for him to be able to start learning all about nature.

All tuckered out!!!  We couldn't stop laughing :)

I Caught The Blog Fever!

So let me start out by thanking my good friends Andy & Sarah for giving me the motivation to start our first blog.  They have been posting ever since their baby Whitney was born, and it is so fun reading about their journey, that I want the same luxury of having an online journal that we can look back on years down the road.

I am intending this blog to be a way for us to keep a journal of our family and our son Tyler's milestones and growth... but since he is already 8 months (today- yay!!) I'll have to do a recap.  I'm sure that Michael will post some as well, and please don't expect this to be a daily occurrence.  There are many days where I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish the things that have to get done.  With that said, here is the short version of the past 8 months:

Tyler David Cleland was welcomed into this crazy world on November 19,2010: 7lbs. and some odd ounces (seriously can't remember right now and don't feel like digging for it.  Mark that on my "Mom of the Year" board).  He had a head full of hair and the nurses were referring to him as the baby with all of the blond hair.  It was love at first sight!  I remember Michael and I thinking that we wanted to keep him in our room the first night and not in the nursery because we could handle it- HA!  A few hours later I remember Michael laughing in the background as I am calling a nurse asking if "someone could come and get our baby."  We decided that we should take full advantage of the nursery while we had the help.  Yes, we have been graced with a child :)

He is so great, almost always happy (except when he is tired or hungry) and finally after 5 1/2 months of waking up every 1-2 hours, is now sleeping solidly through the night.  It's amazing how much happier our entire family is when we all get sleep! He does, however, have some minor baby issues:  Jaundice, 3 ingrown toenails (not all at once), 2 ear infections (all at once), staph infection under the fingernail (confirmed no MRSA), and severe eczema (so much so that he now uses $15 body wash and lotion, and Selsun Blue for his hair).  But I suppose it comes with the territory and we love him no matter what. 

Needless to say, we are learning everyday and enjoying every minute of it.  Tyler went from squirming around to smiling, to cooing, to giggling, to full on belly laughing, to rolling over, and now doing the army crawl.!  It's so neat to watch him play with toys, laugh at our dog, Dakota, and give us great big hugs.

Here are a few pics...with the last one of his most recent haircut- his bangs had grown past his eyes and we decided to trim them, and of course it turned out exactly how we DID NOT want it to.  Another lesson learned- leave it to the professionals.

One Month Old

Happy New Year!

7 Months- Chillin Poolside

 1st Haircut (trim over the ears) 6/28/11

2nd Haircut (trim the bangs...a little too much) 7/19/11 -8 Months!!