The hospital

We have been talking to Eli a lot about being a big brother. We had many special little things in store for him throughout the day so that he would not feel left out.
It started out with his Big Brother t-shirt that had a football on it. I never buy sports things for him so who knew that he would fall in LOVE with this t-shirt and especially the football. He met us up at the hospital that morning and I got to see him before going in to the OR. I thought he would be scared but he hopped right up in bed with me and we got some special snuggling time while talking about the baby. I told him the baby had gotten him a little something because it wanted him to remember this day. I gave him a little digital camera for him to snap pictures with the whole day. He had a blast with it and took some very cute shots from his point of view.
He then got to go hang out with his DG, Papa Bob and Aunt Megan for the next couple of hours until little Teagen made her arrival into the world and I had recovered enough for them to come in to the room. Adam went out and got him with a very special train backpack that Teagen had got for him. He brought it into the room and got to look at everything she got her big brother. He loved it and Teagen!


It makes me happy just thinking back to that day. He did so well as I knew he would all along. But, more importantly, he felt love and joy just like everybody else did.

7 weeks of fun...week 7

Before the babies arrival, we decided to take Eli out to one very special place. We took him to Zilker Park to enjoy one of the coolest playscapes ever. But, the highlight of his trip was getting to ride the miniature train around Zilker Park. He is obsessed with trains and Adam and I have been meaning to take him for a while but the weather just never seemed to work in our favor. The weather Wednesday was beautiful and it made for the perfect day! He got to pick out his very own Zilker Park train shirt and he is still talking about the train today! What a fun way to spend our last day together as a family of three!

Going through the dark tunnel on the train

Hands down, the highlight of the day!

When can I ride?????

Swinging with my dad!Again the hands!

He really wanted to climb to the top of the poll

Driving the old fire truck!

Wiping the rocks off his hands. He doesn't like anything on his hands...

Me and my dad

A cute cheesy picture before we left!

It was a great day!

And we welcome...

The arrival of...

www.teagenclaire.blogspot.com

A few thoughts...

Like always, so much to blog...so little time. I did however want to write a couple of things down before I forget!!!
So, tomorrow is the day! Our little family of three will turn into a little family of four. Our lives will be forever changed.
With the birth of Eli, I had a lot of apprehension and fear. What I can only imagine is typical of first time parents. Yes, I was excited but the foremost was probably anxiety. What if? How do you? Am I capable?
Today, I have felt a rush of calmness. Something I have never experienced before. A feeling like no other. Excitement, yes. Apprehension, yes. Anxiety, yes. All the things that I had when Eli was born but in a different state. It's like I am able to channel all the energy and just focus on what lies ahead. Like meditation in it's greatest form. I am confident. Not on the egotistical front but rather in our ability to raise wonderful children. This is a feeling that you just can't experience the first time around. You take everything you have learned in the past and you grow from it. You learn and you don't necessarily strive to do better, you strive to do your best.
With all this said, I am ready. I am excited for our new arrival!

For my little man,
Tomorrow is a life changing moment for you. You will soon develop a relationship with another individual like you have with no other. You might not understand this for years, or decades for that matter. But one day, you will see, know and understand the bond that I am talking about. Through this bond, I hope you develop many lasting memories that will take you through the good times and the bad.
There are many things that I want you to know as we step into this new chapter of our lives. I want you to know that we love you very much. This love will not change. It will always be here. It withstands the test of time. I want you to know that we are so proud of you. This past month you have really started to let your little personality shine and what a blessing it is! Amongst many things you are humorous, mischievous, loving and caring. These are traits that I cherish and I look forward to watching them evolve around your 'big brotherhood'! I want you to know that although your life will change, theses changes will only strengthen who you are! We learn the most from changes and I am looking forward to watching all that you learn.
I love you so very much and I am so excited for you. I know that being a big brother will come in strides but I could not think of a better brother than you! I can't wait until tomorrow and the years that lie ahead!
Love you!!!
Mom

Randomness!!!

Some cute recent things about the little man. He has recently developed a liking for this little 'bunny' puppet that his DG bought him a long time ago. All of a sudden he wants it to do everything with him; eat, sleep and get dressed. It actually has come in quite handy because he is much more willing to do 'big boy things' such as brush his teeth or put his pants on/off when bunny asks him to! I think it's adorable because I too had a bunny that was with me from birth on...still have it today sitting in the babies room. Pictures on this to come later...
Other random factoids happening lately...

The man loves his bubbles...especially these Gymboree ones, they are the best!

Notice the paper with pen on table...we can double mealtime if we write letters for him!
(he knows all uppercase and has begun to show interest in the 'little' letters)

We let him pick out his spoons that he wants to eat his yogurt with...
otherwise yogurt is just not that entertaining these days!
Lately he has picked out the little tiny baby spoons to eat with!

Still wearing our boots everyday!

Eli has had an obsession with candy canes since Christmas...although he never ate one. We were at Lammes Candy buying a gift the other day so we got him a candy cane. I was really surprised that he showed interest in eating it so I opened it up...

Is that contentment or what???His latest is 'mommy sit' or 'daddy sit' and he either points or taps the ground where he wants you to sit!

The VanGogh of vertical lines and circles

Do you see that look?
I am sure my parents are laughing right now because I'm almost positive that I had that same look and they probably cursed it for many years!

It's official...

end of 37/start of 38

I am now officially miserable but also officially on maternity leave until May 19 which makes the officially miserable part a little easier to handle!
So, here are the current preggo happenings...
1. Everybody thinks it's a girl...Adam and I have no clue
2. The baby was measuring 8.5LBS at my 38 week ultrasound
3. Nobody thinks that I will make it until my scheduled c-section on Thursday
4. Every random person feels the need to tell me this
5. Everybody is wrong and obviously doesn't understand that Byrns babies like to cook for as long as possible and I would probably make it another month if they let me!!! :)
6. I am so relaxed and so excited about this birth...definitely more fun the second time around!
7. Other than some cleaning issues, everything is ready to go!
And just a mental note...whoever said the second baby is cheaper is wrong. So many new things and exciting gadgets that I have to buy!!

38 weeks and the face is starting to get chubby!

Me and my little man!

A 'lovely' portrait taken by Eli...

Different things about this pregnancy
1. This baby has not had the hiccups like Eli did
2. I am carrying MUCH MUCH lower
3. I have not had any heartburn!
4. My hips hurt just as bad the second time around!!
5. I feel like the baby is doing push-ups on my bladder!
****REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THURSDAY!!!****

7 weeks of fun...week 6

For our 6th week of fun things, we planned a special trip to the Georgetown Park. It has a HUGE wooden playscape that is one of the coolest around! He had a good time exploring but really enjoyed himself when some other kids showed up to play(we wake up so early that we always are places before normal people show up!)

backblogging

I have lost track of time...along with many other things lately.
I do want to recap Eli's contribution to the Baby's nursery. We decided it would be so sweet to have Eli paint pictures to be hung in the babies nursery. He had such a blast with it and painted some pieces that I will cherish forever. More to come of the complete picture later as I have yet to take pictures of the completed nursery.

My super cheesy-o-so-cute smile!

Hard at work!

A little here...a little there...

Making dots

Hey Baby, I have a surprise for you!

And another one...
Hey Daddy, don't you think this will be a good addition to the picture??

Just so I remember...

Adam is gonna kill me for this one...but I am 38 weeks pregnant and I think I can get away with it. My students at school have this 'poor pitiful me' helplessness that they portray if you don't know them. It is astonishing what they get away with. They are very skillful in using it and, for the most part, when I'm not around, it works. You would truly think they couldn't do anything when in reality there is very little that they can't do. Never take something at face value.
Let me explain what happened tonight with our little man. Adam, bless his heart, has been taking over everything and doing a great job at it. I can hardly move my stomach is so big so anything more than standing, sitting or laying requires a GREAT deal of effort. So, Adam is done bathing Eli and is putting his jammies on. I am sitting in the rocker waiting to read him a story. Adam puts Eli's feet in his pants and his shirt over his head. Adam then stands Eli up to pull his shirt down and pull up his pants. Adam goes to do it for him.
I say, "Eli, can you pull up your pants and fix your shirt."
"No mommy" he replies.
Then, Eli turns to Adam and says, "Daddy pull pants up" at the same time imitating how to correctly pull up his pants without actually doing it.
Smart little man.
After some coercing and applauding about being a big boy he very enthusiastically did it himself. But really...how smart can you be??? He had his Daddy wrapped around his finger and was loving every minute of it. Another reason why I love my husband so much! I think one of us has to spoil the kid sometime! Adam didn't find this amusing but I do it all day everyday so it was entertaining for me!

DG and Papa Bob

Eli loves his DG and Papa Bob. He talks about them frequently and just the other day requested to call them. However, when they got on the phone all he wanted to do was put his feet up to the phone so they could comment on how stinky they were! He also had to call his Uncle Andy(you will be proud to know we have been reviewing your top cop article for days now) and Auntie Megan so they could also smell his feet...that's my little boy!
Anyways...back on track. Last year, Eli's DG and Papa Bob bought him boots for his one year birthday. Knowing me, I had to get him a cowboy hat and have his one year pictures taken with his boots and hat. They are still my favorite pictures EVER! Thus has started my obsession with having his yearly picture taken with boots and a cowboy hat. His DG and Papa Bob so generously offered to buy him his boots and hat this year! My mom came in town last weekend for a wedding with my sister and we happened to make a pitstop by the store and low and behold there they were...the perfect boots and hat!
Eli has loved his previous hat since he got it but the boots he only wanted to wear a couple of times before he outgrew them. So, I had doubts if he would really want to wear them or not. I was wrong...very wrong. Those boots have not come off his feet since they were purchased. He wore them to the museum and the rest of the day until I made him take them off to give his feet a rest. He wore them to his sitters, to the doctor and anywhere else you can think of. Adam and I had to hide them for a couple of days because the things can't be 'that' comfortable so we wanted to give his feet a break. Well, he has not forgotten, he goes searching around the house for them. They will reappear tomorrow.
And, forget the old hat, it is now retired. He only wants his new hat. It really is sweet and melts my heart. I can't wait to take his 2 year pictures in his boots and hat!
Thanks DG and PapaBob!
(Just a sneak peak of the boots because I want to save the whole thing for his birthday shoot!)

7 weeks of fun...week 5!

Last week was a whirlwind of a week. I was excited all week about the upcoming weekend. A time to relax and enjoy my little family. Adam was out of town the past week so it was good to have him back, Eli and I miss him a lot when he is gone.
It's hard to believe that we only have two weekends left and then we will be a family of four. I am really enjoying this special time with Eli. He is so interactive and engaging.
This weekend Adam and I decided to take Eli to the Children's Museum followed by dinner at one of our favorite little restaurants called Mandolas.
Eli had a blast at the museum! He has been having a rough go at sharing lately since he is now the big man of the house at his babysitters(only one other baby who is 6 months old.) So, at first, he proclaimed everything "mine". But after a few discussions on sharing, he got the hang of it real quick. It really didn't help the situation that all the little girls kept coming over to him and offering up there toys at the drop of a hat. I mean, I know he is a little stud muffin and all but they really should make him work a little harder! :)
His favorite things were all the trains. He is REALLY in to trains these days...and tractors and planes. He also liked looking at all the fish and pointing out what color and size every one was. He was also fascinated at the cows. But, hands down, the train took up the majority of his attention.
It was a great weekend and I am sure we will be returning sometime in the near future!