One more

I figured since I was posting anyways, I thought I would share this picture. I have been amazed at how many uses Tyler has found for the drawers under his train table. Besides actually holding the train tracks, etc., they have been used as a stepping stool to get into things, a fairly clever hide-and-seek spot (I couldn't find him forever - he had actually climbed in and pulled himself back under the table!), and finally a chair to watch TV in. It's amazing what a 2-year-old can come up with!

A brighter note

I came downstairs a little while ago (after all the fire museum saga) to find Ryan fast asleep in his bed with Tyler's new fireman's hat (a new treasure from the tour) on his head and Buzz and Woody next to him. When I asked Tyler what Buzz and Woody were doing in Ryan's bed, he told me that "Baby Bry (Tyler can't quite pronounce Ryan correctly) was sad." I have to admit I was pretty proud of Tyler for voluntarily sharing his both his old favorites (Buzz and Woody) and his new acquired fireman's hat with his baby brother in order to help him feel better. What a sweet boy!

Was it really worth all the effort?

Between having a new baby (Ryan is 3 weeks old today!) and the fact that Tyler has been sick all week, I have been feeling just a little house-bound and was very ready to get out today. Luckily, my great activity-planning friend, Nollie, had organized a group tour of the Ohio Fire Museum. So I got up extra early in order to get both boys and myself ready and fed - believe me, that was no small task. Tyler was in a great mood this morning ... until the fireman rang the firehouse bell. I think he was still feeling a little sensitive because he turned around and ran to the door of the museum sobbing, "I go to Tyler's house now." It took quite a bit of bribery (a happy meal if you are a happy boy!) to get him to even turn around to go back to get Ryan. Luckily, the tour wasn't too long and then the kids got to play on the fire trucks and go down the fire pole in the play area. I convinced Tyler that it would be fun the drive the fire truck, but when I went to take his picture, he was still a bit grumpy. Eventually, Tyler perked up and had a fun time. On the way home, however, I learned that my bribes are no longer forgotten and we had to stop at McDonald's for a happy meal.

Ryan David Jacobs Has Arrived!

Our sweet baby boy, Ryan David Jacobs, finally arrived this last Thursday at 10:30 pm. He weighed 7 lbs 10 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. He is really long and lean - you should see how big his hands and feet are! He has quite a bit of dark black hair in the back, but is kind of going for the male pattern baldness look on top.
Everything went really well with the labor and delivery. We were a little concerned that I wouldn't be able to get an epidural because I was having problems with my platelet counts. My doctor put me on a week long dose of steroids to try to get them to go up a bit. Between the steroids and the fact that James knew the right anesthesiologists to con into helping us (all those hours at OSU have finally paid off!) I was able to get one. The whole process took a bit long - I went to the hospital at 8:30 that morning, started pitocin at 10 am but didn't have him until 10:30 that night. James killed some time by doing some of the trainings that he had been putting off in the Oral Surgery on-call room and hanging out with one of his fellow residents on-call. I know you might think that would bug me, but my epidural was so great that I managed to sleep for about half of the time. In fact, my labor was so long that I sent James home about 9 pm to get a toothbrush, etc for himself thinking that we would have plenty of time. About 9:45 I got the news that I was ready to go, so I had to call James and tell him that if he wanted to see his son be born he had better hustle back to the hospital. Luckily, James knows the way to the hospital and all the good parking spaces, etc. so he beat my OB by about 30 seconds.
James' mom, Kathy, came out on Wednesday night since I was being induced on Thursday to be with Tyler and take care of all of us. She has been such a wonderful caregiver and tender of all of us. I really haven't lifted a finger around the house or with Tyler for the last week. I think that's why I'm feeling so wonderful at this point! We had a great time and were very spoiled all week long. Tyler, Ryan and I just dropped her off at the airport and we are going to miss her! Tyler kept saying the whole way home, "I want to go on a airplane with Nana too." He grew pretty attached to her this week. I guess now I have to step up to the plate and get back into his good graces after basically ignoring him for a week!
Ryan really has been a great baby so far -- he is pretty mellow. He reminds me of Tyler quite a bit - I think he's going to be a bit more feisty though. Here are some pictures of our new little guy and the rest of us.

A Little Too Much Fun

James' mom, Kathy, his little sister, Amy, and Amy's daughter, Emma, came to visit this past week. We had such a great time while they were here. Tyler played so hard this past week that when we went to lunch at Panera at the end of their trip here, he didn't even make it long enough to order lunch. We sat down and he promptly fell fast asleep. What an amazingly peaceful lunch for James and I!

I am guessing that Amy didn't have quite as much fun as the rest of us. The whole trip was planned around Amy getting her wisdom teeth extracted. James took care of her anesthesia while one of his attendings did the actual extraction. James must have done a great job, because while Amy was in the recovery room (and still a little loopy) all she could talk about was how much she loved the anesthesia.

While Amy recovered the next few days, the rest of us played and took care of a few projects around the house. I realized today that I was so terrible at taking pictures this week while they were here. I didn't even take one of Tyler with his Nana (aka Kathy). However, I did get one of Tyler, James and Emma. What a cute little girl she is! She is super social (wonder where she gets that from!) and is so sweet. Tyler grew quite fond of baby Emma. Luckily, Nana will be back in town in a few short weeks (but not soon enough!) to help out when I have this baby, so I'll make sure to take some pictures then.

Halloween - Finally

Now that it has already been two whole weeks, I am finally getting around to posting some pictures of our Halloween. We had a really fun night – once we convinced Tyler to wear his costume! He dressed up as Woody from Toy Story.

At first, he would only wear his cowboy hat.

After much pleading, wrestling and finally bribing, I got him into his costume. (Can you tell how relieved I am that he is finally in it from this picture?) He hates shirts with collars, and would really prefer to wear anything that doesn't touch his neck - maybe I should start buying him deep V-necked shirts, then he'd be happy. Each morning when I get him dressed, he holds his collar way out from his neck and tells me, “I scared that shirt.” After a while, he’ll let go of his shirt and forget about it. As you can tell from this picture, he had not yet forgotten about his collared shirt or the bandana around his neck. But he did enjoy the Laffy Taffy I gave him to distract him!

Our friends, the Elison’s, came by our house to Trick or Treat, and Tyler’s cute little friend, Nathan, was dressed up like Buzz Lightyear! This was not at all planned by Jamie and I – in fact we didn’t even discuss costumes until Halloween afternoon when we were making plans for that night. These two love each other and Tyler is still talking about how he was Woody and “Nay-Nay” was Buzz. What a fun night!

Grandma and Jill come to visit

I never thought it would happen, but my mom and my little sister, Jill, came to visit a few weeks ago. My parents live in Tokyo, Japan so it's a little difficult for them to come see us here in Ohio. When they do make it back to the States, they usually have a million meetings and things to do in Salt Lake City (where my family is from). Tyler and I had just gone to Salt Lake in July to visit with them while they were there, so we opted not to go again in October. Plus my parents are busy remodeling a house they just bought and really busy with all the projects that entails. Jill wanted to come hang out with us for a few days and managed to drag our mom away from her many projects to come visit. We were all so happy they both were able to come out. We had a very typical Evans girls trip - lots of eating out and shopping. We had so much fun and were so glad that they were able to come visit. Here a picture of my mom and Tyler watching a show together. My mom is always up for a good snuggle with her grandkids - whether it involves watching a movie, reading books or just some time together. Jill is the beloved aunt of 12 nieces and nephews. She is absolutely adored by each and every one of them. I love Tyler's "cheese" in this picture and the fact that he's hanging on tight to both Lightening McQueen and the package that it came in. He has played with the packaging almost as much as he has played with the cars!