Eurowell's Visit!

My brother David and his family have been living at Mildenhall AFB in England for the last three years now and he has been in Altus, OK for a couple of weeks of training so he drove down to our house for a weekend visit. Andrea and the two girls flew into Kansas and drove down here as well for two days and they all just flew up to NY for Christmas yesterday. We are headed there as well on Monday. Zac had a blast playing with his cousins Isabel and Alivia and it was great to finally have there family at our house!

Zac's school put on a Christmas pageant this morning and we went to watch it. Zac had four lines that he had to memorize and say with his class and they all sang Jingle Bells. It was so cute and funny to watch a

bunch of little ones that age! Zac loved the attention of course!

Smile!

Mommy finally caught my smile on camera! My big brother is SO excited when I smile at him! Never mind all the wet spots on the front of me - I have reflux and spit up ALL the time! I just turned 6 weeks old yesterday and I've been smiling for almost 2 weeks now!

Visit with Santa

We went out last night to see a holiday lights display in Frisco. We walked through the town outside in the very festive 75 degree weather! We went into a shop that had a bunch of trains on display which Zac loved and stumbled upon Santa Claus while we were there! There was no one with him and he actually called Zac over to come and see him. Without any hesitation Zac walked over, sat on his lap and told him that he wanted the Cars mountain race track which he asks us for on a daily basis right now! He wasn't scared at all and he had a whole conversation with Santa. Needless to say, Mom and Dad were pretty proud and Santa will be good to him this year!

Getting Ready...

So it's been awhile since I posted. The boys have kept me busy as has getting ready for Christmas.

We had a Christmas party for Tom's office on Saturday. It was a casino night and Grandma was still in town to babysit so Tom and I had a rare treat and got to go out alone! It was SO nice until Tyler was up all night when we got home and we were exhausted the next day! Might have to postpone "going out" for a couple more months!

Much to be thankful for!

We had a great Thanksgiving yesterday! Both of my parents were in town and it was so nice to share that day with them! Tyler slept through the meal which almost never happens and Zac was so excited and kept wishing each of us a Happy Thanksgiving. We asked him what he was thankful for and without any prompting, he said "I'm thankful for Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa"
Today, my parents are flying back to NY and Tom's mom is on her way to the house from the airport as I'm writing this! Tom took Zac with him this morning and Tyler and I have been hanging out at the house. One kid is no problem - 2 under the age of 3 is going to be another story all together when our wonderful help finally runs out!

2 Week Check Up

Tyler had his 2 week check up yesterday and in the tradition of Younker boys, he's regained his birth weight and then some! He now weighs 8 pounds 14 1/2 ounces. Everything is good. He may have reflux or colic a little bit. He's great most of the day and then at some point in the evening or over night, he has a long bout of crying and you can tell that something is bothering him but have no idea what for sure. Hopefully this will end soon!

8 things You May Not Know...

I was tagged by my fellow blogger and neighbor, Kim Daugherty to post 8 things about myself that my readers may not know and I am supposed to tag 8 other bloggers! Unfortunately since I'm pretty new at this, I only know 2 others!
So tag you're it:
Jill Johnston (loyal friend from our crazy days at Hanscom AFB, Mass)
Melissa Najera (friend from TX who moved away to AZ :( )

So, here goes:

-I was a skydiver for about 2 years and on my 3rd solo jump in CO, I landed hard and fractured one of the vertabrae in my spine but 6 weeks later continued jumping to earn my A license!

- Tom and I grew up in the same town but didn't "meet" until I visited my brother at the Air Force Academy in CO 1998 and we started a long distance relationship at that point while I was still living in NY

- I love the family traditions associated with Christmas and I can't wait to pass them on to my two boys and see Christmas new again through their eyes.

- I have an insatiable sweet tooth!

- I used to be painfully shy as a kid and still have trouble in larger groups of people

- Someday I want to live on a lake where I can wakeboard and spend time at the water every day!

- Something unusual about me is that I love to get shots and give blood! Strange - I know!

- I secretly dream of getting plastic surgery someday!

One Week Old

Tyler is already one week old today! I can't believe it! He's doing really well so far. Saturday night was rough. He was up a lot for some reason and Tom and I got next to no sleep. Sunday night though, he went 3-4 hours between feedings again and things were much better! He's eating well and seems to enjoy the noise of his busy big brother. Zac seems to be adjusting well too. He's not crazy about Daddy holding Tyler yet because I think he's really enjoying getting to spend so much time with his Daddy! We're trying to keep him busy each day and that's tough with a baby who's not really supposed to go anywhere yet!

Winner of Online Baby Pool and Welcome Tyler!

The winner of the online baby pool is Greg Barrett! With a runner up on the same day of Kathy Jensen! Thanks everybody for your guesses!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while but things have been busy. Both Tyler and I were released from the hospital on Halloween having only stayed two nights! Yeah! So we were able to be here at home to see Zac get dressed up and go trick or treating! He had a blast! We celebrated Tom's 29th birthday on Oct. 30 with a cake at the hospital. He will forever share his birthday not only closely with Halloween but now with Tyler as well!

Tyler is doing great so far. In case you don't already know, he was born Monday, Oct. 29th at 12:28 pm. He weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. I am doing SO much better than following my C-section with Zac. It helps not laboring and then pushing for four hours! This may change but he's doing well at allowing Tom and I to get SOME sleep! He sleeps for four hours at night for the most part and only eats about every three hours during the day!

Here are some pics and I will try to be back on here soon!

Oh yeah, and I have been tagged by my fellow blogger and friend/neighbor Kim Daugherty to post 8 things about myself that other people may not know and then tag 8 other bloggers. Hopefully I will do that very soon!

Last Post as a family of 3!

So tomorrow is the big day! It's pretty nice having the luxury of knowing ahead of time and being able to plan everything out! We had a nice day with Grandma and took Zac out in a swan paddle boat to feed some geese and ducks. He loved it! We had Tom's birthday dinner a little early but figured we'd squeeze it in before the mass chaos! Now Tom, Grandma and Zac are carving some pumpkins.
I've had a few contractions the last two days and even called the Doctors office last night but they're not regular so baring anything new tonight, we should be according to plan tomorrow. Tom and I have to be at the hospital at 10am and the cutting begins at noon!
It still doesn't seem real because we've been so busy. My dad is actually in the hospital in NY with an irregular heartbeat since Thursday. Today finally they got it back into rythym and other than being really sick of being in the hospital he is doing well!
I will post some photos and details as soon as I get home and can maneuver myself up the stairs to the computer! Thanks so much for all of your thoughts and prayers!

Dr's Appointment

Had my last regular Doctors appointment this morning and as I thought all along, they must have been calculating my due date incorrectly! I am now 2 cm dialated and 50 % effaced! She told me to take it easy this weekend because they don't want me going into labor if it can be avoided due to the risk of the contractions tearing the previous c-section scar. So imagine if they had left my surgery date for Nov. 5th! I don't think we'd of made it that long which I was saying from the very begining. They told me to go home and put my feet up which I found pretty funny as Zac was "zooming" his cars all over the floor of the office! Putting your feet up doesn't really happen with a 2 1/2 year old!
So for now, Tyler will be born on Monday afternoon unless he decides to come even sooner!

C-Section

Hooray! I heard from the Doctor's office today and Tyler's planned birthdate is now Monday, October 29th at noon! We are happy with this date and hopefully things will go smoothly enough with recovery that I can come home on Halloween to see Zac get dressed up and go out trick or treating! The down side is that I'll be in the hospital for Tom's birthday on the 30th but at least I'll get him out of work and he'll be able to spend time with Zac instead!

Baby Update

So I went to the Doctor on Thursday and because of all the crazy swelling that I am prone to, my blood pressure has started to go up. Because of this my Doctor suggested moving the C-section date up a week which is just fine with me! I don't have an actual date yet because she is doing surgeries that week on October 31st and I really don't want to have Tyler on Halloween. I'd like for him to have two seperate holidays and I would really like to be home from the hospital to see Zac go trick or treating! So....I have put my plug in for doing it on the 29th to give me time to stay two nights and hopefully be home again on the 31st but I've got to wait to hear from the Doctor if she'll do the surgery on a day when I guess she's scheduled to see patients! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Pumpkin Patch

We took Zac to the Big Orange Pumpkin Patch on Saturday. He got to feed longhorns, sheep and goats. We went on a wagon ride and ate a hot dog while we were there. We were trying to get into the feel of fall and Halloween approaching but that's been tough to do here in Texas this year! It was 80 degrees the day we went and that just doesn't quite feel like fall to me! I'm glad we went when we did though because the closer we get to Tyler's arrival, the more uncomfortable I'm getting! We were at the pumpkin patch for an hour and a half and I needed to take a nap when we got home at lunch time! It's amazing how doing almost nothing can completely wipe you out at this point! I can hardly sleep though anymore. First there's the heartburn (I've eaten 3 tubs of tums in the last 6 months or so!) and my back aches and the numbness in my hands is bordering on unbearable now! I sure hope Tyler wants to make an early entrance into the world!

Tom left work early on Tuesday and came home to take Zac to the state fair. We were telling Zac about it over breakfast and we knew that he couldn't possibly know what we were talking about. Afterward he kept telling us that they were going to the "ferrett"! He had an absolute blast and couldn't stop talking to anybody and everybody about watching the "piggy races" which seems to have been the highlight for him!

Tuesday was finally a little bit cooler here so I decided to put Zac in pants. He's worn them once that I can think of since probably early February (and that was in NY). He kept pulling on the legs and saying "take these off!". The poor kid hasn't worn pants in so long that they've become foreign to him!

Funny of the Week

First I'll give you all an update from my Doctors appointment on Wednesday. I am 1 cm dialated! I know that may not mean much as you can stay that way for weeks but at least it's something to hope for! He is head down and when he moves around, sometimes he must hit certain nerves just right. There is one running down my back side that when he gets that one just right, I feel like my right leg will just give out completely and there is another one toward the front of my right leg that feels as though he's trying to dig his way out there! Very pleasant all and all!
Zac's funny statement of the week happened as we were getting ready to go to the Doctors appointment. Tom was trying to comb his hair which he's all of a sudden not a fan of and Zac got this weird look on his face and said "Don't make me handsome again!"

Pregnancy Woes

So according to my Doctor's office, I am now 35 weeks along and have my first official "check" appointment tomorrow morning. I don't expect her to find that I am dialated at all yet as I didn't really dialate early with Zac but it sure would be nice to know that all this discomfort is for a purpose! I am having terrible carpule tunnel symptoms, bad back aches, swollen feet and ankles already, daily heartburn and I have been SOOOO completely wiped out tired! All of which makes sleeping difficult from time to time which just complicates everything. I know my days of peaceful sleep are coming to an end again very soon so I would like to enjoy them without all of this discomfort! Today was just one of those days when I woke up already tired and achy and wishing I could do nothing but lay on the couch all day. I decided not to go to the gym and just ran a couple of errands instead, including grocery shopping. I was exhausted when I got finished and could hardly stand up to put the grocerys away and already it was time to make Zac some lunch. So I plugged on and started making him some lunch when he decided to join me in the kitchen and "help". He was into everything and making a mess and I just wasn't in the mood at all to deal with it. I was on the phone with Tom at work complaining about my day while all of this was going on and had to keep stopping to yell at Zac. Finally Zac looks up at me and says: "I'm driving you nuts". I had to laugh at that point and realized that he must have been feeling my stress as well!

"Secret" Santa

Tom and I knew that Christmas shopping for Zac this year would very different. Gone are the days when we could take him along with us and he was for the most part unaware of what we were placing in the cart and taking home with us. We decided to go to Toys R Us on Saturday and get some ideas since we really didn't have any! As it turned out and we should have expected, there were some good sales and some very key items that probably wouldn't be there as we got closer to the holiday. We were already there so we decided to be as tricky as you can with a 2 year old. We placed a few items beneath the cart when he wasn't looking and covered other stuff up in the basket with clothing as best we could. It was all no use though! He doesn't miss a thing and of course he saw the items again as we went through the check out even though we were still trying to be sneaky! We put the stuff in the trunk and hoped he'd forget about it! No such luck of course! He talked about two of the items in particular the whole way home and we kept telling him that he'd have to be a good boy and sit on Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas. Now he talks all the time about wanting to sit on Santa's lap and ask for this one toy that he saw us with at the store! We'll see if a 2 1/2 year old will even sit on Santa's lap this year and it wouldn't surprise me if he still remembers by then to ask for this particular gift! Tom and I learned our lesson and will leave Zac home for holiday shopping next year! We keep trying to remind him that he has few big occasions in his life before Christmas right now!

Texas Balloon Festival

On Saturday we took Zac and Grandma Gail to the Plano Balloon Festival. We lived in Albuquerque, NM for two years and they have one of the largest Balloon Festivals each year with around 7-800 balloons. This one advertised 75 so we didn't expect too much! I just find it kind of ironic though. The saying goes "Everything is bigger in Texas" but I guess not when it comes to balloons! Zac gets so excited whenever he sees balloons in the sky so we thought he'd really like seeing many of them up close. He definitely enjoyed it and it was nice to do something different but I think the anticipation was better for Zac! After being there for about 2 hours, he kept telling us "I really want to go home"!

"Baby" Swing?

If you know anything about Zac as a baby, you know that this picture is very ironic! Most babies LOVE their swings and it's one place where they are apt to be happy. Not Zac! He HATED the swing and we really hardly used it at all. Now that it is way too big for him and it's time for Tyler to use it (hopefully happily!) he wants to sit in it! I just thought this was funny!

We think Zac might be finally getting his 2 year molars. We've been thinking this many times over about the last year though because every once in a while, they really flare up and you can feel big bumps and then just all of a sudden they settle back down. This past week he has been VERY irritable! He has wanted me to do everything for him - won't let Grandma help. He's constantly telling her "No Grandma!" and he's been sassy and cries at the drop of a hat. I finally got him to let me check his teeth yesterday and sure enough the huge bumps are back! I gave him Motrin and slowly but surely our loveable Zac returned! We're all really hoping that these last four baby teeth come in now just in time to start going through it all over again with Tyler!

As for Tyler, I am almost 33 weeks now and they have my C-section scheduled for Nov. 5th although I'm hoping to go a little sooner than that! He is moving and kicking like crazy and not letting me sleep so well because I am uncomfortable. I know what a miracle pregnancy is but I am so thankful to know that I only have 7 more weeks of it in my life!

Football!

Tom has been getting Zac geared up for the start of football season. For opening night, they put their jerseys on and made popcorn and watched some football which Zac thought was a great treat. Now Zac gets really excited whenever he sees clips of football games or catches glimpses of a game as we're passing through stores. He'll yell "It's football Daddy!" Last Sunday Zac couldn't wait to wear his jersey. He brought it to me at 9:00 in the morning and wanted me to put it on. I thought it was cute so I put it on for him and he immediately looked at me and said "Should we pop some popcorn now?" Our very own little Pavlov! Daddy's been teaching him about football and on Sunday he got down on the floor and they pretended to tackle each other. Zac of course got really wound up and wouldn't stop! He went to his second day of school on Thursday and when I picked him up, his teacher told me that they had trouble because Zac was pushing other kids which is very unlike him. We think he was trying to "tackle" and play so we've now got to teach him that for the time being, that's something he can ONLY do with Daddy!
I am 32 weeks along now and very uncomfortable already. My feet swell up sometimes already and my back aches ALL the time. It's going to be a LONG few weeks ahead I'm afraid!

Cat Scratch Fever

Too bad it's not closer to Halloween! Zac can be rather aggressive with Hurricane and Sierra and they have always been VERY tolerant of him but Sierra finally had enough today. He was chasing after her and must have cornered her and learned what cats can do when you piss them off! Hopefully the scratches look worse than they actually are. I can just imagine what people think when they see him! Hopefully he heals up quickly!

Zac's First Day of School Slide Show

He did awesome today! No crying at all and he loved to talk about his day afterward! His teacher said that he was her best buddy. He wanted her attention the whole time as I thought he would! They put his art projects in a take home folder for us in his back pack and he was absolutely amazed to see that his works of art came back to his house with him when we got home! It was strange being alone today. I realize that I've forgotten how to be alone! Only a few more weeks of that though - I better enjoy it while I can!

Guess Tyler's size!

http://www.expectnet.com/game.php
The game name is TylerDavidYounker and I need to figure out how to make this easier!

Quick Test Run

Okay, I thought I'd finally give this blogging thing a try. Zac does so many funny things on a daily basis and I find that I don't always have time to make all the phone calls that I'd like to so how better to share everything!

Tomorrow is his first day of school. It's a Day School and he'll go once a week for just three hours but I think he'll really enjoy it. Hopefully it will help him out with sharing and learning to play with kids his own age. He loves older kids and even younger ones but the ones his own age have been difficult for him to play happily with.

Tom is out of town AGAIN and will miss his first day so I'll be taking lots of pictures and with any luck, figuring out how to put them on here tomorrow!