Tylerisms

No pictures today, just a few Tyler stories:

A few weeks ago, we picked Tyler up from Sunday School.  He was playing with a baby doll when we got there.
Jason: "What were you playing with the baby doll?"
Tyler: "Diaper change!"
Me: "Are you going to change the baby's diapers when it gets here?"
Tyler (emphatically): "YES!"
Me: "Even the stinky diapers?"
Tyler: "Eww, that's stinky!"



Jason's parents came to visit a few weeks ago.  Since then, whenever Tyler is whining or gets "hurt" (as in, falls, but could in no way possible be hurt), he'll whine and say "Uhhhh, Nana, PawPaw."  We mostly ignored this.  Now, he throws in the other grandparents for good measure: "Uhhhh, Nana, PawPaw, Grandma, Pa."

It's gone from cute to mildly amusing to annoying.  This morning (after he was throwing a fit about brushing his teeth), the words "They can't help you now" and "No one can hear you scream" may have come from my mouth.



We always used to listen to Caspar Babypants in the car.  Recently, Jason told me that he and Tyler had listened to "Daddy music" on the way home from school.  Since then, Tyler has been requesting Daddy music instead of his own.  Thank goodness, because I couldn't handle hearing those songs one. more. time.

I picked Tyler up from school the other day, so we listened to Mama music on the way home.  That music happened to be the Ting Tings.  Tyler LOVED IT.  He likes to sing the "Drum Song" (Great DJ).

The drums part is in the chorus, starting at about 1 minute.

His personal favorite (and mine, too) is "That's Not My Name."  He finds this hilarious, and at any point, we can say to him "That's not my name!" and he'll giggle and say it back to us.

My kid, Ting Tings fan.  I'm so proud!

Guys

I've talked about Tyler's guys before.  Seriously, best $5 ever.  When we're visiting family or going somewhere where I need to pack entertainment for him, the guys go with us every time.

He likes to stack the heads, switch hats/heads/bodies, and line them up in a row.  I can't really figure out why they're so fascinating to him, but I'll take it!  My favorite thing, and I have no idea how it got started, is that we "play" with them by banging them on a surface (the louder the better) and say "Numma numma numma num."  He'll even request that I play "numma num" with him.

The mind of a toddler makes me happy

Also, how grown up does he look in that first picture?  He's a full-fledged "big boy" now (and tells us that on a regular basis!).

Duke Gardens

Photography is a bit different for us these days.

Jason has really gotten into film photography, so it takes him a while to get all the settings correct for his photos (unlike digital, where you get a preview and can say "oh, the lighting isn't right" or "oh, that's not quite in focus").  I sometimes bring my camera, but spend most of my time with Tyler.  Things are a little difficult as the "two-ness" is coming out in him (thankfully his current rebellion is sitting down in protest instead of running off or throwing a tantrum *knocks on wood*).  Plus, I'm not really supposed to pick him up, so there's a lot of chasing around my independent little guy.

All that said, I did manage to take some pictures back in April (maybe?  sorry, it's been so long, I can't remember) at Duke Gardens.

Climbing on park benches = world's most awesome thing

There were lots of "Tyler running off" pictures for me to choose from!

Hey, I DID manage to photograph something other than Tyler while I was there!

... because this was happening at the same time

teaching the difference between "touch the flower" and "pick the flower"... it's a work in progress (sorry, Duke Gardens folks)

Self portrait (with goofy-faced boy)

Perspective

Brick

Last Christmas, Mom, Jill, Kara, and I bought Daddy a brick outside of DH Hill Library at State.  (Interested?  Info here)  He practically lived in the library when he was a student, and when I was a kid, that was always a location we visited when we were in Raleigh.

Well, I finally got notification that the brick had been made this spring (it takes forever!), and I convinced Mama and Daddy to come visit to see it.  There may have been some ulterior motives (telling them about Baby #2, getting free babysitters so Jason and I could use a sushi gift card from Christmas...), but it was mostly for the brick.

Our State visit got cut short (stupid rain), but I was glad we all got to see the brick together.

Otherwise, the weekend was a fun time with Grandma and Pa.

A Boy and his Dad

I can think of no better post for Father's Day.  Here are a few shots I captured at NC State on Memorial Day when they weren't really paying me any attention.

Heart... melting... can't... stop... smiling... so blessed!

Happy Father's Day, Jason.  Thank you for being such an amazing dad to Tyler and to the bump.

Family Fun Day

Each year, SAS has a Family Fun Day for all employees and their families.  Ya know, because it's not nice enough to its employees already.  We don't go every year, but we did attend this year.

Tyler had a big time in the bouncy house.  I was a Nervous Nellie because I couldn't go in there with him, but they had three different bouncy houses with various age ranges, so he was at least in there with kids close in age to him.

We ate some yummy food (I went back for seconds on the potato salad, yum yum yum!), then headed over to the kids section again.  They had all kinds of stuff too old for Tyler (face-painting, sand art, etc.), but they also had a big open area with bubbles, hula hoops, and gym mats for them to tumble around on. Tyler was a big fan!

Thank you, SAS, for being awesome and for entertaining the Selfs for a night.

14 Weeks

I'm actually 15 (and a half) weeks now, but here's the picture of me at 14 weeks.

Baby Self #2 has made his/her presence known long before Tyler did.  As a comparison, here I am 17 weeks with Tyler...

Baby bump?  What baby bump?  Oh, to have first-pregnancy belly again...

I'm not going to do the whole summary thing, but here are the answers to the "typical" questions:

Due? Technically December 5, but my doctors are encouraging me to go early (since Tyler was such a big guy), so I've been telling people it will probably be closer to Thanksgiving

Symptoms? I won the pregnancy lottery again.  No morning sickness, no food aversions this time (I remember chucking nearly a whole ham last time because I couldn't stand it being in the house), no more exhaustion than normal.  I DID have a crazy-nasty stomach bug about a month ago that was the worst I've had in over a decade.  Moms who deal with morning sickness, I bow down to you and have so much more respect for you.  A few days of horror does not equal 3 months (or more) of morning sickness.

Gender?  Should be revealed in late July at my 20-week appointment.  We will be finding out (I'm far too Type-A to wait!)

Name?  We actually haven't discussed (or thought?) about it at all yet.  We both said we'll start that once we know what we're having.  Kara asked if we're going to keep the name a secret again.  I'm not sure, but if she and I both end up having the same gender, there will definitely be some sister-sister discussions going on even if the general public is kept in the dark!  I can't have her "steal" my name by accident.  *cough cough, talking about you, Jill, and your dog "Sydney"*

Pregnant!

Kara and Kelly had been trying for baby #2 for a while.  Last fall, Jason and I decided that the timing was right for us to try for our own little baby #2.  When Kara called me a few days before the 5k and shared the good news, I was superexcited!  It was too early for her to be telling people, but she said she knew she had to give me a legitimate reason for bowing out of the race.

During that phone conversation, I shared with her that we too were planning for a new addition.  "No time soon," I remember telling her, "but maybe we'll be pregnant together for some part of the time."

Ha, God's got a funny sense of humor.  After the Jamesville visit and quietly talking baby stuff with Kara (Addison didn't know at the time), I started thinking about things... and timing... and went to my calendar.  Huh.  It's been a while.  Maybe I should get a test.

That following Monday, I bought a pregnancy test and went home and took it.  At no point did I think I was pregnant.  I had had no symptoms.  Last time, with Tyler, I "knew" for about two weeks before actually taking the test (wanted to get past Christmas visits with family).  So honestly, I had no expectation that I was pregnant.  In fact, it was past the recommended 2-3 minutes (whatever it is) before I went back and looked at the test:

PREGNANT

I just stared at it.  What?!?  When people ask me about this pregnancy, some have asked was it "a surprise."  Well no, not in the sense that they mean, but I sure as heck was surprised!

Then, I jumped in my car and drove to Carter's.  Last time, I told Jason by giving him a onesie.  This time, I decided I would tell him by buying Tyler a "Big Brother" tshirt.  Thank goodness Carter's had one!  (and I do mean "one" ... I had to search all over that store to find it!)

When Jason and Tyler walked through the door, I said, "Hey, I bought Tyler a shirt" and frantically held it up for Jason to see.  From his face, I'm guessing he was just as surprised!



I called Kara about an hour later.  4 weeks -- waaaaaay to soon for me to tell people, but she had to know!  Turns out we're due a week apart from each other.  It's quite an exciting time for the Davenports these days!

Herring Festival 5k

Two words to describe my March -- family and running.

March was an endless road trip visiting Charlotte and Nebo.  Our third stop was technically in April, visiting Jamesville.

Interspersed through March, I was trying to get back into running shape.  Last year, Jamesville's Herring Festival created a new event -- a 5k race.  Kara ran in it, and I promised her then that I would run in the 2015 one.  Kara and I even trash-talked each other some (between assuring each other just how OUT of shape we were!).  Which Davenport girl would prevail?

Well... me... by default.  Kara found out a few days before the race that she was pregnant (yay!!!!) and didn't think it was wise for her to run in the race.  I think she was just scared of her baby sister. :)  Kara, Mom, and Addison were great cheerleaders, though, driving to various spots along the route so they could cheer me on.  And Kelly (Kara's husband), and Toby (Kara's brother-in-law), and Garrett (Kara's nephew), and Macy (Kara's niece), and ... well, let's just say a lot of Kara's in-laws were running, too!

The 5K route -- they had to get creative since my town isn't 5k in size!

It was a big crowd -- 93 signed up, 81 actually ran.  There were a lot of high school track/cross country kids, so I wasn't exactly trying to win.  I was just trying to finish well in my age bracket (30-39).  Kelly's main goal was for me not to beat him!

Me and Kelly after the race.  Apparently I helped him pace out the first mile before he blew by me and never looked back.  Ok, he looked back a lot.  I really think he was worried I was going to pass him!  (I didn't)

My goal was to run it in 28 minutes.  My realistic goal (since I hadn't been able to accomplish the 28-mark in any of my practice runs) was to run in under 30 minutes.  Well, at 29:55, I just barely made it!  Not a great time, but it was a tough (aka, poorly-planned-out) course that I had never run before.  Kelly came in about 30 seconds before me. 

I knew the top-finishing woman (25:38, holy cow!) was in my age-bracket, so I was hoping for 2nd place.  When they announced the medal winners, I was shocked to hear them announce me for 1st place!  Apparently they omit the top medal winners from the age-bracket competition.

The 30-39 winners -- Emma Shipley, me, and Helen Lytle

All in all, it was a pretty great day.  I will definitely run the race again, because I know I can do better.  The fact that I was unknowingly one month pregnant at the time probably made a difference!  But that's a story for another time...

SUMMER!

I know, I know, my last post was over two months ago.  Being a teacher, a mom, a wife, and (let's be honest) extremely lazy did not do good things for this blog.  But it's summer, and I'm baaaaack!

I don't have too much planned this summer -- lots of to-do items I never had enough time, energy, motivation, or free time to do during the school year; relaxing; catching up with friends; probably a vacation to the beach and visiting family... just two months of awesomeness, basically.

Welcome back, faithful readers.  I promise not to let you down again.  Well, until August, that is!