The Best Daddy

Hi, my name is Tyler and I have the BEST dad in the world. Wanna know why? I'll tell you why.

My dad is the best because he feeds me the good stuff. 

(But, he didn't really, because that would make me sick, ya know?)

My dad is the best because he gets me dressed in the morning. He has good fashion sense too.

My dad is the best because he makes sure I stay warm when we go outside.

My dad is the best because he knows how I think. He gets me.

My dad is the best because he teaches me how to putt a hole in one in glow golf!

My dad is the best because he is fun to swing with. 

(I promise, I was having fun... I just forgot to smile for mom's picture.)

My dad is the best because he takes me to parades! This was my first, by the way.

My dad is the best because he teaches me about "Stranger Danger."

My dad is the best because he takes naps with me.

Not only is my daddy the best to me, but he's the best to my mommy too. He takes good care of her and is always so nice. He makes us both laugh and smile. He is always there for us, no matter what. He works hard to provide the very best for us. He is patient, loving, and genuine. He is so caring. 

He's the best dad in the whole entire world and I love him so much.

Monkey Business

Uncle Teagen came to visit the other day and brought Tyler a present! A stuffed animal monkey! That sure was nice of him, and Tyler loves it!

I'm really sorry, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to turn the video!! On the bright side, your neck will get a good 30 second stretch...

Okay, okay, this video doesn't prove it. But these do...

Phone pictures... gotta love 'em!

Thanks Uncle Teagen!! Tyler loves his new best friend Bonzai!

A Baby Story

This is a verrryyy loooonggg post. Not for the faint of... eye? You read with your eyes, not your heart, so I couldn't use the original saying, ya know? And, for some unknown reason, I decided to write it as a story. It was fun, but very time consuming. Enjoy! :)

Chapter 1:

I waddled around the room picking up after the students, thinking to myself, "It shouldn't be that hard to put all the orange papers in the same stack and throw away paper plates and pop cans. I'm not your mother..."

Oh well. The meeting was over. Check-ins were over. A huge wave of relief swept over me. I could now focus on what I had wanted to focus on for over a month: the birth of our son. The day before, the doctor told us that it would be wise to schedule an induction as a back-up. He felt I was just too small of a woman to go much over my due date. After calling the hospital, it was set that he would come on Saturday, April 27.

That was Wednesday. The rest of the week flew by at lightning speed. I called the hospital early Saturday morning.

"Labor and Delivery."
"Hi, my name is Tasha Chambers, and I'm scheduled for an induction this morning."
"Yes, Tasha. We will be ready for you at 6:30."
"Oh, um, okay. We'll be there." And I hung up.

Time to go.

In normal fashion, we arrived late to the hospital. My fault, as always. I was a mess of emotions. Excitement, nervousness, utter fear... Labor terrified me, but mostly because I didn't really know what to expect. You can only understand so much from what the doctors and nurses tell you.

I checked in and the nurse behind the desk pointed me to my room. Bags and pillows in hand, we walked to the room where we would become parents. My nurse, Jill, arrived shortly with my gown and asked me to change. It was time to start my IV and my Pitocin. I changed quickly and laid in the hospital bed. They inserted my IV, started the drip, and I answered a myriad of health questions. Baby boy was kicking and squirming the whole time. He knew he was going to come into the world that day and he was excited.

After being on the Pitocin for a few hours, my doctor, Dr. Jones, came by to see the progress. Not a whole lot... just over a centimeter dilated from what they could tell. He decided to break my water to step things up a bit. 10:30 am and I was a wet mess.

I thought I had been having minor contractions that whole week. They felt like menstrual cramps, but didn't hurt too bad. I was hoping that meant I had a high pain tolerance and wouldn't need an epidural. After Dr. Jones broke my water, it quickly became evident that I was mistaken. Very mistaken. I was not experiencing contractions in the slightest and I do not have a very high pain tolerance. It wasn't long before I was clutching the bed railing, white-knuckled.

By this time, my mom, sister and brothers were present. This baby boy would be my mother's first grandson and my siblings first nephew. They were all very excited. My mother especially. She was a bit of a worrisome woman, and that combined with the excitement and my pain sent her reeling. Honest, she did a pretty good job of keeping cool, but I noticed she was freaked. And that didn't help my situation.

Tom didn't watch me wither in pain long before he was by my side, urging me to get an epidural. "This will be such a more enjoyable experience, Tasha."

I gave in.

In the beginning, my nurse told me that I would probably have to wait an hour before the anesthesiologist would make it to me, so I should ask for an epidural well before the pain became unbearable. I called the nurse and asked for her to request an epidural. I was mentally prepared to wait an hour. It wasn't hardly 10 minutes before my door opened and in walked an anesthesiologist, ready to administer the medication. For reasons I'll never know, he just decided to waltz up to the Labor and Delivery floor at the same time I needed the epidural. It was my lucky day.

I sat at the edge of the bed, a pillow in my lap and my husband's hand in my own.

"A quick poke..." the anesthesiologist said and he pointed the needle at my back. He had just given me the spiel on how I could very well be paralyzed after he was finished. I wasn't feeling as confident about the medication anymore. That's why Tom was there.

I felt the poke, then a very intense burning sensation as the needle entered my spine. At the same moment, my body started another contraction. I fought every urge to jump away from the pain. Instinctively, my hand tightened around Tom's. I realized he wasn't ready as he let out a little yelp with the new added pressure.

"Hold veerrry stiillll...." The anesthesiologist dragged out the words as he reminded me. I'm sure he wasn't too keen on me coming away paralyzed either.

It didn't take long before the burning faded, the needle that would administer the medication was inserted, and the tubes were taped very well to my back. With well wishes, he was gone and I was on my way to feeling much better.

Not only was the timing good, but he was good. He gave me the best epidural known to man, or woman. My feet started tingling right away, and before I knew it, I could barely move my legs. I was watching the monitor and though it measured some intense contractions, I didn't feel a thing. I was in pig heaven, eating my flavored ice chips and watching some strange cat whisperer show on Animal Planet.

Dr. Jones paid us another visit later that afternoon. Another check of my progress revealed that I was ready. Ten centimeters dilated and 100% effaced. He put on his blue robe and the nurse started taking apart my bed. It was time to birth this baby.

Chapter 2:

"Most first-time mom's take about an hour or two to push the baby out," Dr. Jones was saying. He was going over the birthing process, and though I was trying hard to pay attention, I found it difficult. I was shaking uncontrollably from the surge of adrenaline as my body prepared for the upcoming physical demands. That, and I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that it was really already time to push. It all came so quickly.

He sat at the base of my bed and called Tom over. "Hold her leg, since she can't." With Tom on my left and my darling nurse on my right, we all turned to the monitor, watching for the next contraction.

Dr. Jones had to tell me when it was time to push. I couldn't feel anything below the belt. I took a big breath, grabbed my legs, and barred down, pushing as hard as I could.

****

"...seven, eight, nine, ten." I let my breath out in a whoosh, and laid my head back for a moment. I had been pushing for just over a half hour and was tired.

"Want some ice chips??" Tom was eager to keep me comfortable and asked the same question after every round of pushes. I smiled and shook my head as he pushed the hair from my face. "You're doing great." He smiled.

I pushed a few more times and found myself looking at the clock. It was almost 4 in the afternoon. My mind wandered as I imagined what time my baby boy would be here. I secretly hoped for 4:02 or 4:12 because of my strange obsession with the numbers 2 and 12. Both those times came and went... but I wasn't disappointed. In the meantime, I had a brilliant idea. 4:27, I told myself, My baby boy will be born at 4:27 on 4/27. That will be awesome. And with that, I had renewed energy.

I concentrated on 4:27 for the next few minutes as I tried with all my might to bring my child into the world. I saw Dr. Jones keep glancing at the monitor telling my baby's heart rate. Though he didn't seem panicked, I could sense something was off. Despite my best efforts, my body was tired and I needed help. During my last push, he pulled out the vacuum and aided me in the birth of my darling son.

After that moment, it was a complete whirlwind of events. Suddenly, a beautiful boy was lying on my chest and I kept hearing myself say, "I have a baby, I HAVE A BABY!" I giggled hysterically as the nurses quickly wiped him down and Tom cut the umbilical chord. He was here. After nine long months, he was finally here. He was taken just off to the side to continue being cleaned, while the doctors and nurses took care of me. It wasn't long before my son was back in my arms, skin to skin, for our first bonding moments. My mother-in-law described it best when she said mine was a face of "pure joy." I was absolutely elated. Exhausted, but euphoric.

Photo courtesy of Grandma Chambers

Tom was soon by my side, admiring our son along with me. "We did it," I whispered up to him. He nodded and gave me a quick congratulations kiss.

Thanks again, Grandma Chambers!

We had a beautiful, 7 lb. 6 oz. baby boy, measuring 19 inches long. He was perfect. All ten fingers, all ten toes. Bright, curious eyes and a studious furrowed brow. We were immediately in love with this bundle of joy.

But now he was here... and had no name. Preston, Declan, Carter? All three kept running through my thoughts. What if he wasn't any of them? I thought for sure the moment I saw him I would know, but I should have known better than that. I don't make decisions well when deciding where to eat dinner. How on earth was I supposed to give this boy a name?

Tom came up with a strategy. "We'll spend some time calling him one name. If we don't like it, we'll change it." So, he was named Preston for an hour, Carter for three... But we still weren't satisfied.

As we sat in the silent hospital room, just us three, Tom whispered, "What about Tyler? And we can call him Ty?" He was very concerned about nicknames. Carter wasn't a good name because the shortened version would be "Cart." And Preston would be "Pres." "Presto?" But Ty, Ty was a good nickname.

I pondered on that. Tyler, I thought. Ty. My Ty. Ty guy. I liked it. I smiled at Tom, he smiled back. I could tell he was in love with that name. He kept saying it over and over again. Though I was more partial to Carter, I saw how happy the name Tyler made him. And it was decided.

Tyler Thomas Chambers. 

Chapter 3:

Tom, Tyler, and I had a lot of loving visitors over the next day and a half. It wasn't long before Tyler got to meet his Grandma and Papa Chambers, Grandma Holley, Grandpa Trevor, his aunts, uncles, and cousins. He was a very loved boy by his parents, and it quickly became evident that there was much more love to share for this precious babe.

We were overwhelmed by the love poured out to us, but especially to Tyler Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Even the nurses were so kind and loving towards him. He was a special boy. We couldn't get enough of him either. There were nearly constant whispers from Tom as he sat by my bed, "Wow. He is so awesome," over and over again.

Tom was the awesome one. He stayed in the hospital and never left my side. He slept on the very uncomfortable pull out chair in his jeans, jumped up to take Tyler when he fussed, and constantly helped me with whatever it was I needed. He was, and is, so wonderful to me. To us.

Tyler passed all of his tests with flying colors, and before we knew it, it was time to go home. After packing up, signing all the paperwork, and passing the car seat check, we headed off. A little family.

Throughout this whole experience, I was so grateful for the knowledge that I can be with my family forever. There was such a rush of emotions when Tyler was born, but the most evident of them was that of love. Unconditional and eternal. Love. "I love you," was a phrase that passed often from our lips that weekend. Tom expressed love for me, and I for him. We both whispered it into Tyler's tiny, perfect ears over and over. That, and "You are so awesome."

I had heard from many sources that the birth of a baby can be tough on the parents' relationship. Not ours. In fact, I had never been so in love with Tom in all my life. I would watch him in awe as he held, cooed, and loved his son. My eyes would fill with grateful tears over and over again. I would think to myself, he is a good man, a good husband, and a good father. I couldn't have asked for anyone better. He is perfect for me, for our family, and I can't wait for the fun opportunities Tyler would bring to us for our growth. I smiled with the beautiful thought of eternity before us.

Did You Miss Me?

**Disclaimer: No one thinks a baby is as cute as the mama thinks. So these pictures probably won't be nearly as hilarious to you, but just humor me, okay?**

Yeah, it's been a long time... too long. My sincerest apologies.

Want to see what has kept me so busy??

Yeah, you do.

Say hello to my little friend...

This little guy is just adorable and is totally worth all of my precious time. I couldn't be happier to spend all day, every day with him.

And now, he's 8 weeks old. Time flies.

In honor of these last fun filled 8 weeks, let me tell you 8 things about our little guy.

1. Tyler is a pro at relaxation. Hakuna matata, my friends.

2. Tyler likes music a lot, and is very interested in Daddy's guitar. Take note of his fist placed thoughtfully on his chin.

3. He likes to make funny faces in the bathtub - which he also likes a lot.

4. Well, let's face it. He likes to make funny faces all the time. No bathtub needed. (Did you catch my pun? Let's face it. Ha.)

5. He loves his milk.

6. Tyler doesn't want to miss out on any of the action, so he requests to sit up so he can see it all. Alas, he is still little and sitting up gets pretty tiring.

7. He's not a fan of the dark... Good thing we already have a neat night light, thanks to great-grandma Virginia.

8. I've discovered that he seems to find it amusing when his mom is "sad."

Jealous? He's pretty neat, I know. :)

And I promise, the birth story is next. It's half typed and saved as a draft, if that counts for anything?

Yeah, I know it doesn't....

Food for Thought: Zoo, Museum, or Library?

Tom and I occasionally (very, very seldom actually) work at a little ice cream shop called Scoops. We're friends with the owners/managers, so we come help out when we're needed. Tonight was one of those nights where we were needed. While waiting for hungry students to come satisfy their sweet teeth  (that doesn't sound nearly as good plural...), I came across my darling friend's blog who, in one of her posts, asked this question:

If you were forced to live at a zoo, museum, or a library for the rest of your life, where would you live and why?

As we were sitting, I leaned over and asked Tom what he thought.
"Alone or with other people?" he asked.
"Alone."
"At the zoo."
"Okay, and with your family?"
"Also the zoo."
I'm not sure the reason for his first question...

I would probably agree with my dear husband. I was trying to decide between the zoo and a library. Museum was pretty much out at the first for me.

We continued to discuss the possibilities.

"What on earth would you do with a 5 year old at a library?" Tom asked. "Read him books for 7 hours?"
"Sure. And they usually have fish tanks at libraries... we could watch the fishes."

"You could at least make friends with the animals at the zoo," Tom pointed out. "Humans need interaction."
"Well, people can still come to the zoo you know."
"Well, then those people can bring you a book when they come."

"And that's another thing... what would you do for food at the library? At least at the zoo you could raise the animals and slaughter them."
After a slightly distateful look from me, he revised his answer. "Or eat at the shops if it's a nice zoo."

Conclusion, we would live at the zoo. We would ride the camels, feed the giraffes, swim with the penguins, and pet the lions (only after we earned their trust of course). We would eat lots cotton candy and Dippin' Dots, but never get fat because we would walk around all day long. And we would live happily ever after.

But if you come to visit, please bring some good books.

What about you? Zoo, museum, or library? And why?

"But there is no good answer except the zoo..." said Tom.

Have You Ever....?

Have you ever wanted to decorate for the holidays, but just didn't do it?

I have. I don't have many decorations, but I wanted to put out something for Valentine's Day. Aaaand I didn't... Bummer. The day came and went in the blink of an eye. I'll tell you what I did do though. I made a printable. Yeah, like the cute things you see all over Pinterest. It isn't so great, but it was fun to play around with. Here, see for yourself.

Someday, I'll be able to make some just as good as the ones on Pinterest.

Tom tried his hand at a Valentine Printable too. See?

He's so romantic...

Have you ever made a baby blanket with no previous sewing experience?

I have. I have been bound and determined to make a baby blanket all through my pregnancy. But who has never sewn on a sewing machine before (without a master seamstress' supervision)? Oh, that's right. This girl.  I was stubborn enough to give it a try. The finished product is far  from perfect, but it is made with a mother's love. That's all that counts, right? I took a bunch of pictures, but here's just one for now. Maybe I'll grace you with a tutorial-type post sometime. Maybe.

Have you ever wanted to make curtains for the baby's bedroom, with still no sewing experience?

I have. I have yet to start this project though... It's a little more daunting than a baby blanket.

Have you ever had a 2nd, 2nd Anniversary?

I have. Tom and I celebrated our two year anniversary the end of February. We decided to split the celebrations up into two parts so we could each have a chance to surprise the other. It was a brilliant idea on my husband's part. Maybe next year, we can split it into 3 parts... then after that, 4.... and by the time we're 75, we will have a lot of days to celebrate!

Have you ever had your husband log into your blog and write the true feelings of his heart?

I have. That is what the previous post is all about. I hope some of you get a kick out of it. I did.

Have you ever thought that "cubed steak" was, in fact, meat cut into cubes?

I have. And it's not. Whoops. I'm not sure what I was thinking... Pregnancy brain got in the way I guess. Good news is, our smothered burritos turned out fine. Though next time I'll make sure to use stew meat. I got the recipe from Pinterest, but here's the link to the actual blog. It was a hit with the hubby!

Have you ever taken a few "baby bump" pictures on your phone and been so dissatisfied with how you looked that you didn't want to post them for anyone to see, but your mom and her friends kept bugging you about wanting to see "how cute you look" and so you gave in?

I have. This one is for your mom.

26 weeks

31 weeks

I'm at 34 weeks now and feeling great! Only 6 more to go...

And, have you ever wanted to keep writing, but didn't have anything else to say?

I have.

BIGFOOT

Bigfoot is intersting and covered in hair. I hear he has a big foot. Tom and I are leaving next week for a 3 year tracking adventure in which we hope to catch, tame, and breed bigfoots. We will be filming our journey and will make a series called "Small feet follow Big feet." We already have several sponsors from the Underground Association of Bigfoot Enthusiasts (UABE). Not to brag or anything, but there are some pretty big people pushing for us to succeed.  We already have like ten dollars saved up for our bus fare. Anyway, we carved a unique bigfoot mating call out of toilet porcelain that is pretty legit. It uses sound as well as echo location. If Bigfoot is ever within a 6-foot radius we will for sure  locate him. I predict after only a few months we will have a whole herd of them found and possibly even trained. The reason I am posting this on here is because I need some help from the surrounding local communities. With all these Bigfoots which we will have, we need somewhere to keep them. If any of you have any spare space around the house and could store one for a while please let us know (for size reference see the picture below). They should be fairly house trained upon delivery. Based on my research they do not shed and eat pine cones and various species of house flies. Our sponsors will be more than happy to re-imburse any expenses incurred. Which brings up my second request, if anyone of you can sponsor us that would be great. We think we'll only need roughly $100,000 for minor trip expenses. Thanks for your friendship. We will strive to still remember you when we are super rich and famous and stuff.

The Nursery Blues

Happy New Year! It's amazing how the end of 2012 went and the beginning 2013 came so quickly! It was all a blur to us... The students moved in starting on the 4th, so we were deep in prep for a new semester. That, and always always thinking about our little guy keeps me busy.

The biggest weight on my mind.... The Nursery.

It sure isn't easy to "design" a baby's room when one is so incredibly indecisive. Yikes. I like blues, greens, grey, tan, polka-dots, stripes, chevron, owls, planes, bikes... Do you get my drift? I feel like I'll never ever decide.

I think... we will go with this blue, or one similar. Sweet Baby Boy - fitting, no?

This room has a little too much blue... But I really love the color of the walls.

Then, when I think I have the colors/patterns/themes decided, I have to think about bedding... I can't find ANYTHING online or in stores that I like. I'm too picky I guess. So, my solution? Make it, of course. Yeah, that makes perfect sense... a 6 month pregnant woman sewing crib sheets on a machine she has yet to teach herself to use. That's what Pinterest is for, right??

Luckily, I stumbled upon this website that has a lot of different nursery designs from people all over the blogging world. Some are ridiculous, but many are do-able. So now to continue gathering inspiration!

This room I quite like. Blue walls, but lots of other colors and patterns too!

My goal this week: make some final decisions, so we can get STARTED! I'm already starting to feel uncomfortable -don't laugh, I know I'm weak... I need to get started before I can't manage the work anymore.

If you have any bright ideas or helpful suggestions, I'd love to hear them! This first-time mama isn't afraid of a little advice. :)

Oh Baby!

Yes that's right, there is a baby on the way to the Chambers house! And we couldn't be more excited! Shall I tell you about our last few months?

We found out I was expecting on Labor Day - ironic, right? Cracks me up. I had my suspicions, and so did Tom, but I didn't want to get my hopes up and then not really be pregnant. So, I kept my suspicions to myself and denied it when Tom mentioned something about the signs of pregnancy.

I didn't do anything special to tell Tom that I was pregnant. I was too excited to wait to tell him. And really, we both already knew. So why wait? Our joy was full, but very soon we had to start thinking about the grown-up thing that comes with being parents. Money. That was a little daunting. But we know the Lord has played a hand in this process as everything financially so far has worked out perfectly.

Both sets of parents were incredibly excited, especially mine since it will be their first grandbaby! Hooray! My mother can hardly carry on a conversation with me without bringing up something baby related. But I love it.

Our first doctors appointment went well and our due date was set for April 3, 2013. Over the next few appointments, the doctor decided that he wasn't 100% positive that we were that far along, so he sent us for our first ultrasound! Yay! The only purpose was to "size and date" the baby. It was such a neat experience and one I'll never forget.

The first time we saw our little "peanut." Looks just like one, eh?
 

Shortly after this ultrasound, the doctor called and told me that my Quad-screen had come back positive and asked that I go for another ultrasound to specifically look for signs of things like Down-syndrome or neural tube defects. I was slightly worried, but he assured me that just because the test comes back positive doesn't mean that the baby will have any problems, it was only precautionary. The ultrasound went beautifully and our baby showed no signs of any complications. Right after, my doctor realized that my test had come back positive because I was not as far along in the pregnancy as we originally thought. He moved my due date back to April 29, which is where it has stayed.



A week later... No profile shot. Baby refused. So we got a nice shot of the back of the head and back (laying on its side).

Look at that little foot!
 

During my first trimester I was lucky enough to not experience too much sickness, though I did have some.. I generally felt fine in the morning, but by about 4 o'clock I was down on the couch. Ginger ale and soda crackers were my best friends. I never actually threw-up though, which was wonderful.

Just like clockwork, as soon as I hit my second trimester, no more sickness! I felt tired often, but I had an appetite again. I have been so eager to eat fruit so far in this pregnancy. Tom was kind enough to treat me to Jamba Juice quite a few times. Something else wonderful, I generally crave foods that are more on the healthy side. Let's hope it stays that way! Right now, grapefruit is my main staple. It is oh so divine.

I first felt the baby move at 18 weeks. I think the little stink waited until I voiced my worries about not feeling the baby to start moving. It was the day after that I discussed my thoughts with Tom that I felt the baby. It was so precious. It often tickled! It started with a popcorn like feeling, then over the next few weeks maturing to a butterfly, flutter feeling. Now, they are pretty discernible kicks. We have an active little one!

Right at 20 weeks we had our 3rd ultrasound where we found out the gender of our precious baby.

And........ IT'S A BOY!!

His foot is getting bigger!

His arm... positioned funny. The tech kept laughing at him. And so did we.

He wasn't afraid to let us know either. We got the perfect shot right off the bat. But, getting a shot of his profile was a different story entirely. He had his face and head hidden pretty well, though we were able to get this picture - which I think is even better than a perfect profile.

Use your imagination... His head is upside down.

Here, I flipped it so you can see it better. :)

See his muscles? He is already a strong boy!

We determined that he is a show-off and a tease, just like daddy.

Names, you ask? That is going to be our greatest challenge. Tom and I have different ideas... but as of late we have been drifting towards the same page. Tom thought he wanted a name that would stand out and be daringly different. I wanted something more traditional or old fashioned, but uncommon. I don't think the hard part will be agreeing, but just choosing one. We're both pretty indecisive. We are hoping to rely on what we feel when we hold him for the first time.

Tom's favorites include:

• Sidon (like the River Sidon, or like Poseidon, you choose)
• Xachary (yes, like Zachary. I think he just likes the X)
• Jackson (Jack, for short)
• Calvin
• ...other names that you shorten. Tom loves the idea of nicknames.

My favorites:

• Declan Thomas (I came up with this name while Tom was still on his mission... whoops.)
• Liam
• ...and others that I can't really think of right now. I'll blame it on the pregnancy. 

And... that brings you up to speed! 23 weeks and feeling fine! Tom and I are so happy to have a little boy on the way. We can't wait to be parents! I, personally, am scared out of my mind. Not just about the labor and delivery -which honestly terrifies me!- but also being a good mom... I find myself talking to him often and I find him comforting me as well. In fact, the other night after I woke up with a scream from a nightmare, he started moving around as if to let me know he was there for me. What a sweetheart. I just hope my little boy will always be able to feel the love that I have for him.