Ty's First Year...

A little montage of pictures from Ty's first year...What a cute baby!

Ty is 1!!!!!

Ty turned 1! Everyone was happy to celebrate this sweet little guy...which started off with pancakes of course...

Then we took it easy the rest of the day and had cake that evening.

A little bit about Ty...

He is SUCH a momma's boy. All our kids have been quite attached to me but this boy takes the cake- he only has eyes for me and doesn't want anyone else near me.

His first word was also hot- just like Jase.

He is starting to grow into his cheeks and they are thinning out but he has the chubbiest cheeks and we love them! He also has super white hair...a tiny bit of it.

He enjoys being outside and seeing animals and he likes to get a laugh from his siblings.

But mostly...he just loves me. In fact- a friend of mine has a baby that is just a couple days older than Ty and was telling me how they were going to have a Trolls birthday party for her because she loved that movie- well I almost got a complex and was worried about Ty- he didn't really have a lot that he was interested in except his mom! I decided (kind of jokingly and too late to really put anything together) that we should have had a "mom" party with pictures of me everywhere...because really, I'm his only love. I'm flattered.

Ty's Head...

Our cute little Ty-Guy has to be pretty tough. He hits his head...a lot. He always has some sort of bruise. He loves to hang out by the stairs but then falls onto the hard wood floor. Well he recently had quite the fall. He was sitting in his little portable high chair on the bench and Ellie scooted over and accidently slid him off. He smacked the floor. I immediately went and comforted him and he calmed down. Everything was good.

Flash forward a day or two and I started to notice how lumpy his bald head was. His little mullet didn't help so I decided that it was time for a haircut. That was when I started to realize that his head wasn't normally this lumpy- it was bruised and swollen from falling! It started to get worse (it seemed) and eventually (after almost a week and a half) I took him to the doctor. The Doc checked it out and said he was fine...he answered my three questions. Does he have brain damage...Nope. Will it stay this way...Nope. And then my last one- Does it hurt him...oh not at all see...(then he pushed on the bruise for a couple seconds). Not a minute later Ty threw up EVERYWHERE in the office. It made me a little more concerned and even had the doctor slightly baffled. So we went and did an ultrasound. I knew more likely than not that he was fine and had probably just caught the bug that Jase had a couple weeks earlier (Jase does get quite close to Ty and is VERY affectionate with him...aka...they share a lot of germs!)  The ultrasound was clear and he was just fine- except for the fact that he did throw up one more time that evening and then I threw up too- which was great news because it confirmed that it was only a bug.

One little funny tidbit- I had a couple people tell me how Ty looked like Mega-mind. His bruises made his bald head even more pronounced. We still think he is adorable though!

One last picture of his cute face on the front of his head...

Ty's Blessing Day...

Ty's blessing kind of snuck up on us. About Monday we realized that the following Sunday was fast Sunday...and that both of our sisters who live out of town were home. It was naturally the best time to do it. It also happened to be Easter Sunday- so it made it extra special.

It is always a neat experience to hear Cory bless our babies. I am so grateful for the priesthood in our family.

Ty was blessed with a heathy body and mental and spiritual strength. He was blessed to be found where service is needed, to be accompanied by the Spirit and recognize promptings. He was blessed to get along with his siblings and to bring peace into his home and be a peacemaker. He was encouraged to seek to be kind and soft-hearted. He was blessed to be able to serve a mission, get married in the temple and raise a family of his own.

Cory said that he felt very specifically prompted to bless him with the ability to recognize promptings and be accompanied by the Spirit. That was neat and something that I hope Ty will always strive to be worthy to realize that blessing.

We are so grateful for the addition of Ty to our family and are eternally grateful for the Savior and that because He lives and was resurrected- our family is able to be together forever.

Ty's Newborn Pictures...

Here are a few pictures that I took of Ty. He was 8 days old.

Ty has the nicest chubby cheeks. He gets comments on them all the time.  He also has quite the double chin and sometimes his chin disappears almost completely except for a little crease down the middle.

He is ultra blonde, has thick (blonde) eyebrows and long lashes.

He has all of our hearts.

We love him so.

Welcome to the Family Ty...

We are so excited to welcome Ty Cory Walker to our family.

March 9th, 2016

A whopping 8lb 8oz and 20 in long.

My actual due date was March 7th and the Friday before (March 4th) when I had a doctor's appointment and had my membranes stripped, the doctor was pretty sure that I would be having a baby that weekend...if not that very night. In fact, he called the hospital to warn them that I would most likely be coming in and that I would go fast since I was already dilated to 6-7.

And then we waited. And waited. And I had a few contractions but nothing very serious. Every time I stood up in the middle of the night (which between 3 kids and a constantly full bladder was quite often) I expected my water to break. Nothing. So we set an appointment for Wednesday morning at the hospital.

We checked in and the doctor came and broke my water. They told me to walk around to help things move along even more. Around 9:45 the contractions were really coming on strong. The anesthesiologist was scheduled to be in surgery until 10:30...and then I could have an epidural. But then we found out that the surgery was taking longer...he would be 30 minutes later. I was really hurting at this point and would just clutch the bed handles, close my eyes and count silently until the contraction passed. At one point Cory came over to me and rubbed my back and I had to tell him to stop. We laugh about it now:) The epidural seemed to be further and further out of reach and yet I wanted it more and more each moment. Then the baby's heart rate started to drop- one time it was below 50 for over two minutes. They put me on oxygen and had me keep switching sides to get a better reading. It wasn't helping though and so they had to put an internal heart rate monitor on his head. I remember when they were inserting the monitor I was so stiff from tensing up because of the pain that I could barely spread my legs to help the process along. I kind of lost track of the time at this point but at one moment I remember thinking that I should pray for strength but then decided that my prayer in the morning would have to suffice because I couldn't focus enough to think of what to say. At another point I actually had the thought that maybe they would have to do a C-section and then they would have to put me under and the pain would stop instantly. I can't believe I even thought that!!! I just really wanted the pain to stop. I had so much pain in my lower back and especially on my hips. It felt like someone was inside trying to dislocate them! Everything the nurses and Cory were saying and doing was pretty much a blur as I retreated inside my head to try and cope with the pain- but I distinctly remember the moment they said they were calling the doctor and that I wasn't going to get an epidural.

The doctor came in and asked how I was...which I didn't answer. He asked if I wanted something for the pain...which I did answer with a prompt yes! And he gave me a little bit of nubane (I think that's what it was called) in my IV. Then it was time to push. I am still not sure if it was the pain killer or the fact that it was time to actually get the baby out that changed things for me- but this part of my labor was much less excruciating. It still hurt. A lot. A ton. But I could handle it. In fact, about halfway through pushing the anesthesiologist came in and said he could give me a spinal right away to help. And I said no because I was already this far and I didn't want to lose any progress.

Progress. It was precious! I have had three babies before this and felt like I was not making any progress! I kept telling them that this wasn't working...which they assured me it was and that I was making progress but I was pretty convinced they were just lying to me. Every time I would push and then he would ask me to try one more time before the contraction ended and I would tell him I couldn't. He told me to push through the pain- but at that point it wasn't the pain I had to push through- I was so tired! I would almost fall asleep inbetween the contractions. Again, I don't know if it was from the medicine or just being so tired from labor but I was exhausted! In fact, several times it was almost an out of body experience. I remember one time almost being "brought back" when it was time to push again and it seemed like I was miles away from the people that surrounded me and yet I was right there in front of them. It was so surreal!

At another point someone behind the curtain leading to the hallway told us that my mom was there and did I want her to come in? I said I didn't care and they told me I had to make up my mind so I said sure and she came in. She made someone get a cool washcloth and wiped my face because she noticed I was so hot. That was helpful. Then she started to try and coach me. That was not. So I told her she just couldn't talk. Afterwards Cory told me I should probably apologize because I had been a little rude to her at that moment. :)

As badly as I thought I wanted the epidural, I think Cory may have surpassed me in that desire.

Finally, I could tell we were going to get somewhere and this baby would indeed come out! Hallelujah!

He was born at 12:41. Face up- which is the reason that my labor was so much more difficult than with my other children. He was 8 lbs 8 oz which was another reason it was more difficult! He was one pound bigger than (less for Jase) my other kids. 20 inches long. I had so many endorphins pulsing through me after I delivered him- it was definitely the hardest thing I had ever done. And I was proud too! I gave a little victory fist pump and cheer after I was done.

He had the chubbiest little cheeks, super blonde hair and it was love at first sight!  He cried and cried after he was born. As in, I couldn't console him very much at all for about 3 hours. He did latch right on and nursed like a champ though.

His brothers and sister came that afternoon to visit him along with the rest of his grandparents. Brig and Ellie were excited to see him and adored him right away. Jase, however, was heartbroken. He would stare at me but only when I wasn't looking at him- if I did look at him he hurried and looked away. He snuggled and clung to grandma and grandpa- especially Grandpa Walker. I knew he would warm up to the idea but it was pretty sad to watch! Later that evening Cory brought them back- it was just the six of us- and it was a perfect 20 minutes. They all were so enamored by him- even Jase this time. We knew this baby would be so loved!

On the way home from the hospital the three older kids were chanting TY! TY! TY! We pretty much felt compelled to name him Ty. It fits him so well. We (mostly me) agonized over his middle name and who to name him after. And finally after much deliberation we decided on Cory.

We are so happy that little Ty Cory Walker joined our family on that Spring day.