Preston Carter has arrived!

Preston Carter Snead was born on New Years' Day at 9:26 am! He was 8 lbs. 3 oz. and 20 inches long. Turns out that our little man was not going to sit and wait to be told when to be born. He was going to take control of the situation and pick his own birthday. On New Years' Eve, I was feeling pretty rotten and was sure that my ear/sinus infections were back. So I went to bed rather early, and eventually ended up sleeping on the couch because I couldn't get comfortable and didn't want to keep bothering Travis. Around 4 in the morning, I got up to go to the bathroom, laid back down on the couch, and felt a "pop". I knew right then and there that my water had broken. Ready or not, we were having a New Years baby! Long story short, we rushed to the hospital (with contractions coming about 4 minutes apart) after Gramme & Granddad got to the house (for when big brother woke up). I got all hooked up, and they prepped the operating room and Preston made his appearance AND was the first baby born at the hospital in 2011!

Preston came out showing off the set of lungs that he was given, and Travis & I enjoyed spending time with him as the operating team finished up with me. I was able to take Preston to recovery with me since he was doing so well, and we had some more quiet time. Over the next few days, we had lots of visitors: Grandpa & Gramme Cindy, Gramme & Granddad, Uncle Eddie & Aunt Emily, Aunt Jenn, Laura, Sara, Uncle Nathan, and so many others! Thanks to everyone that came to visit! Preston & I did have to stay one extra night in the hospital, compliments of my blood pressure that just did NOT want to cooperate. (After delivery at one point, it shot up to about 190/114 - scary stuff!) But my OB has been able to find a good combination of meds to help bring it down and hopefully it will regulate itself in the coming weeks and I'll be med-free again. (My BP was elevated with Tyler too, and it took several weeks after he was born for it to come down naturally, but it did.)

We're home now and trying to get used to having one more person in the house. Preston & I are working on nursing, and so far it's going pretty well. I did forget how challenging it was, and Travis gently reminds me when I get frustrated that it was like this with Tyler too. Speaking of Tyler, he is an amazing big brother and has been such a huge helper. He has handled the changes at home so well and we couldn't be more proud of him. He loves his baby brother so much and he's very excited to teach him all sorts of "big boy" things. We're so fortunate to have such a wonderful big boy. We're also fortunate to have Gramme & Granddad in

Richmond, as they have been a huge help with Tyler, and have let him have sleepovers with them so that he gets some quality one-on-one time, and Travis & I can get some rest when Preston rests.

Preston had his first pediatrician appointment on Friday and his weight was back up to 7 lbs. 13 oz. (He left the hospital at 7 lbs. 8 oz., which is a normal drop in birth weight.) He got the all clear from the doc and we don't go back for another checkup until he is one month old. And while this feels like a long time from now, I have a feeling it will all fly by. All in all, we're doing well and are excited about watching our newest addition grow. Our little family is complete now, and Travis & I couldn't be happier. We love these two little boys with all of our hearts and look forward to what's in store for them. And now some pics!

If I've gotten this bad about posting now.....

I wonder what it will be like with two little ones at home! Quick update for those that aren't on Facebook, or that we haven't been in touch with in some time:

- Snead 2.0 is......another boy! Tyler was right all along, and he is thrilled to have a baby brother! I'm about 24 weeks now, and am feeling pretty good. I'm getting bigger, and the little man is kicking up a storm!

- To end the summer, we spent lots of time at the pool, went to Busch Gardens one last time, and Travis & Tyler went to another Flying Squirrels baseball game. The guys caught a foul ball!

- The boys also made a trip to Richmond International Raceway when NASCAR was in town and watched practice. Tyler loved it!

- Tyler is starting soccer on the weekends. This Saturday will be his first game. He has lots of friends on his team, and a few weeks ago they all got their new jerseys, cleats, shin guards, the whole nine yards. We're excited to watch him "play", and hope he has as much fun as we think he will.

- The nursery is coming right along. We've painted, assembled furniture, and put up closet doors and a new ceiling fan. We have the curtains, and the decals for the wall, just have to find the time to get it all up. I have a self-imposed deadline of mid-October for this to all come together. Yes, it's early, but I want it all done before the craziness of Halloween, Thanksgiving, & Christmas arrive.

- Speaking of Halloween, in what will be a huge surprise to everyone (not), Tyler will be Spiderman this year. We have already found his costume and he is really excited. (Even Mommy has a special Halloween shirt this year that she's excited to debut.)

And now for some pictures!

Things are going to get interesting....

Well, I'll just get straight to the point here and let the picture do the talking:

Yep, we're having another baby! Tyler is going to be a big brother!!!! We're all very excited, especially Tyler. He is absolutely, 100% sure that there is a "baby brother in Mommy's tummy". We've told him that we'll have to wait for Mommy's doctor to tell us what we are having. But either way, he's excited! I'm due January 13, 2011. So Tyler will be just shy of turning 4, and therefore will be the perfect helper age.

This pregnancy has been very different from my pregnancy with Tyler. I have been much sicker this time around. I'm hoping that since I'm nearing the end of the 1st trimester, I'm also

nearing the end of the nauseousness. But we've had one ultrasound so far, and everything looks great! We will have another ultrasound next week for the 1st trimester screening, and we're looking forward to seeing our little one again. We will once again be finding out the sex of the baby, and we think that will happen in late August or early September. We'll keep you updated!

I need to catch everyone up on our weekend in the Outer Banks of NC for Dad & Cindy's

wedding too. They were married on June 26, and we were there along with many others - Eddie & Emily, the Radicks, the Leamons, Cindy's son & his family, my Uncle Nathan, Aunt Kay & Uncle Mike, among others. It was great to have everyone together for the occasion, and the ceremony on the beach was beautiful! Congrats, Dad & Cindy! We love you! Enjoy some pics from the fun weekend (which was just a warm-up for our week long trip to Emerald Isle here in a few short weeks!!!):

Summer is here!

Sorry to be away for so long, but it's been busy here! We had Uncle Eddie & Aunt Emily's wedding in May, and Tyler was a great ring bearer! He walked Maverick down the aisle like a pro, and he behaved perfectly during the ceremony. We were so proud of him. And we were so happy to be a part of Eddie & Emily's special day.

We also recently got Tyler his very first big boy bike! He proved to us that he could pedal his tricycle, and his reward for that was a bike of his choosing. You'll never guess in a million years what kind of bike he chose. Spiderman! Shocking, we know. Spiderman is definitely the superhero of choice around here. He's doing really well on his bike and it's hard to believe that we'll be taking training wheels off of that thing sometime in the future. He's getting so big, so fast!

The pool has also opened for the summer, and Tyler has been spending a lot of time there on weekends. He's loving the water just as much as he did last year. And we have plans to get him together with our friend Jennifer, who will help to teach him to swim. We figure it's time for him to learn and I think that he'll get a lot more out of his pool experience with that knowledge.

Coming up this summer we have Grandpa & Cindy's wedding in the Outer Banks and our annual Emerald Isle trip in July. Tyler also is excited for his first movie theater experience - Toy Story 3. He's a marketers dream. He wants anything and everything to do with that movie. Another busy summer ahead!

First Flying Squirrels game

Baseball is back in Richmond, folks! After running the Braves out of town and a one year hiatus, Richmond now has a new AA baseball team - the Richmond Flying Squirrels, which is an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Travis & I have been very excited to have baseball back so close to our house (the team plays near downtown, which is about 15 minutes from us) and we were so ready to take Tyler to his first game. We enrolled him in the Flying Squirrels Kids Club, which gets him a free ticket to every Sunday home game for the season. We took advantage of that this past Sunday, with a friend of his from school, Lee, and his parents.

Tyler has been outfitted in Squirrels gear since the team mascot was announced, thanks to Gramme and Granddad Snead. He has two t-shirts and a hat. (And now Mommy has a hat too.) He loves wearing his gear, so as you can imagine, he was quite excited to see everyone else in their Squirrels shirts and hats, and was excited when Lee got a shirt that matched his. The adults were all taking bets to see how long the boys would last, and believe it or not, they made it to the end of the 7th inning stretch! I think that they would have made it to the end of the game, but the adults were all ready to go, as it was a very hot and humid day. All in all, we had a great time, and can't wait for the next Sunday home game!!! Go Squirrels!

Easter sickness - and fun!

Easter has come and gone. Where is 2010 going? Anyway, we had a good Easter, for the most part. We originally had plans to go to Maymont Park’s Easter event on Saturday with some friends. We were looking forward to the nice weather, and having a picnic lunch. However, I came down with a nasty 24 hour stomach bug early Friday evening, and Travis got the beginnings of it Saturday morning, so we weren’t able to make it. Tyler was thankfully spared the sickness, and didn’t even realize that he was missing the fun at Maymont, but we felt bad about it anyway. Before the illness on Friday night, we did get in the annual dyeing of the eggs, and Tyler had a blast with that. We took advantage of the beautiful spring weather and dyed them on the deck. He had fun decorating his eggs with stickers and getting the colors to be nice and bright with the dye. We bought a Cars themed dyeing kit this year, and he enjoyed that, as he is a fan of the movie and the characters.

The Easter Bunny did indeed come visit Tyler this year. He woke up on Easter morning and asked if the Easter Bunny was at our house, and we told him that it looked like he had left some goodies in his basket. He then wanted to actually talk to the Easter Bunny. We had to break the news to him that the Bunny had so many other children to visit that he couldn’t stick around to say hi, but that he left him some goodies. That was enough for him, so we headed down to see his basket. The Bunny left him some new Legos, the Chutes and Ladders game, Alvin and the Chipmunks DVD, and lots of other things. He was very excited and pleased. It was a lot of fun to watch him go through his basket and his eggs.

We were all feeling much better on Sunday so we spent the majority of the day outside, planting new bushes and flowers. We’ve had pretty warm weather all week (believe it or not, in the 90s!!!), but haven’t been able to enjoy it as the pollen count is off the charts. We did have some rain last night, and that has helped. But it is wreaking havoc on mine and Tyler’s allergies. And Tyler is also working through his second bout with pneumonia is as many months. We go back to the pediatrician on Monday to see if he’s cleared up and to figure out what exactly is causing this stuff to keep coming back. I think that we are going to look into some prescription allergy medicines and maybe a steroid for his lungs. So keep your fingers crossed for us!

Three is worse than two...or so we've been told.

It’s hard to believe but our little boy is 3!! Tyler had his birthday party last Saturday, and he had a blast. We had it at The Little Gym, of which we are now members. He has his class every Saturday morning with Miss Olivia and Mr. Jason, and he loves it. We were lucky enough that both of them were the instructors for his party as well. Grandpa & Cindy came in from Lynchburg for the festivities, as well as Gramme & Granddad. We invited our friends the Lanes, Blakleys, and Kreckmans, along with all of Tyler’s class at school. We had about 15 kids total at the party, and I think we can easily say that they all had a great time. The kids got to play in the gym for an hour while Olivia and Jason organized different stations and activities for them. Many of the parents came in the gym to join in on the fun as well. The highlight of the gym time was definitely the inflatable air track, where the kids got to bounce their way down the track to the end where they jumped off, ran down the colored dots to the beginning and did it all over again.

After the gym time, the kids all gathered for cake in the party room. I made Tyler a Spiderman cake, at his request, and it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. I also made cupcakes which were a hit with the little ones. But I learned something that day – blue icing is VERY messy and stains little hands and faces. We got some priceless pictures of some of the kids that had been dyed blue. Thankfully, our birthday boy wanted a red cupcake. Surprisingly, it was the less messy option.

After cake, it was time to hand out the Spiderman-themed goody bags, and say goodbye to our friends. By the end of the party, we could definitely hear that some of the kids were winding down in their own ways – by whining, or fussing, or just quietly slipping away. We all had a great time, especially Tyler, which is the one that matters the most, right? He was so happy to see all of his friends, and loved having the spotlight on him (gee, I have no idea where he would have gotten that from). He had a great birthday, and now I’m already wondering how we’ll top it for next year!

One of the gifts that Tyler got this year was his enrollment in the Spring semester of Little Gym from Travis & I, Grandpa & Cindy, and Gramme & Granddad. It has been a wonderful gift for him, and he’s truly enjoying his classes. Last weekend, one of his schoolmates that came to his party enrolled. Her parents were so thrilled with what they saw at the party that they decided that this was something that Megan would benefit from as well. We plan to enroll Tyler again in the summer session since he has had so much fun already.

Tyler had a sleepover at Gramme & Granddad’s this past Saturday so that Travis & I could go out to dinner to celebrate both of our birthdays. I hit 33 in mid-February and Travis hit the big 3-0 on Saturday. We ended up having a nice dinner at a newer restaurant on the river in downtown Richmond (called The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing). Tyler had a great time with his grandparents, who took him to Friendly’s for his own special dinner. When we picked him up yesterday, he was playing with Aunt Jenn and (baby) Landon. He was showing Landon how to walk, and showing him which toys were his and which toys were for Landon. He was pretty adamant that Landon not play with his blocks. Guess he wasn’t a fan of Landon putting them all in his mouth.

We’re looking forward to warmer weather on the horizon. We saw the first glimpse of it this weekend. Yesterday the temps were in the mid-60s! Even the ice cream man hit the streets yesterday, which gave us a laugh. (Of course, Tyler ended up with a SpongeBob popsicle.) Tyler was outside riding his tricycle (which he can now definitely pedal like a big boy!) and playing with his golf set. I think we’re all ready to open the windows, let some fresh air in, and get outside and play. I’m ready for a helper in the flower beds to get new flowers in, and I think that this will be right up Tyler’s alley this year. We definitely had enough of winter for this year, and welcome spring with open arms!

Too. Much. Snow.

So I realized that I hadn't updated this in a while. And then I realized that there hasn't been much to share, as we've been trapped indoors for a few weeks, thanks to Mother Nature. As you all know (and are probably experiencing yourselves), we've had a ton of snow this winter so far. And most people have snow pictures to share with others. Not us. After December's dumping of snow, Tyler hasn't had any interest whatsoever in playing in the white stuff. So we've been hanging out inside, making cookies and playing. But there are a few things to mention.

We did head to Lynchburg a few weekends ago to visit Grandpa, Cindy, Eddie, & Emily. I had to go shopping for bridesmaid dresses with Emily for the wedding, so we did that while the boys played at Grandpa's with good old Maverick. We also met Cindy's son & his family that weekend, and it was great to meet them and to introduce Cindy's 16 month old grandson, Mason, to Tyler. We sure do know lots of Masons now! I believe that this is #3 for us! (And no, sorry, I have no pictures from the trip. Somehow, I actually forgot my camera. I believe that this is a first for me since Tyler was born.)

In other news, Tyler is potty-trained!!! In the last post, I mentioned that he had started wearing big boy underwear. Well, he's in underwear all day and at nap, and is only in a pull-up for nighttime and is dry in the mornings 80% of the time. Our last big hurdle was pooping in the potty, but all of a sudden he just got it. And he hasn't looked back since then. *knock on wood* He hasn't had an accident in weeks. We are so proud of him, and he is proud of himself. He is constantly reminding us that he is a big boy now, and that diapers are for babies. And we are excited every time we walk down the diaper aisle at Target because we don't need anything there anymore!!! WOOHOO!

Tyler was scheduled to start his Little Gym classes this past weekend, but the snow cancelled it. So he'll have his first real class this Saturday, hopefully. We're looking forward to having something fun for him to do on weekends, besides run errands with us. I'm also looking into swimming lessons for him as we get closer to summer. I've found a decent deal on classes at the American Family Fitness near our house, and can get him enrolled any time after he turns 3. We'll wait until April or May, I'm sure, but we know that he'll love that too, since he loves the water so much. So lots about to go on around here - if only it would stop snowing for us to do it all!!!!

Everything from December

Well, we have quite a few things to update everyone on, but first of all, we hope that each of you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May 2010 bring you all good health, and happiness with your friends and family. We’ll start this update by giving the biggest news of 2010 – Tyler is now wearing big kid underwear!!! (One day, he’s going to look back on this blog and want to strangle me for the things that I share.) His teachers had been telling us that he was doing very well with staying dry throughout the day, and wanted to start him in underwear at the first of the year. We were noticing that he was staying dry as well, and he was even disappearing every once in a while in order to go potty all by himself. It’s quite unnerving to have your almost-3-year-old tell you, “I’ll be right back, Mama. You stay there.” You worry about what he’s getting into, especially when you hear the toilet flush. But then you realize that he went to the potty all by himself, and your little boy is indeed growing up. We started him in underwear for the long weekend over New Years’ and he never had one pee accident. We even ran tons of errands and met up with friends – no accidents. We are so proud of Tyler, and he is VERY excited about wearing his underwear – Diego, Nemo, superheroes, you name it. He had a pretty good day at school with his underwear, and we hope that it continues. He will still wear a pull-up at night, and at nap, but we are definitely on the right track!

Going back to December now, as many of you know we had quite the snow fall about a week before Christmas. We ended up with somewhere between 10 and 12 inches! We were lucky that Tyler’s snowsuit still fit him from last year, and we were able to shove his feet in his old boots for a few minutes of play. It was definitely pretty, but also bitter cold with a steady breeze. We didn’t stay outside long, only about 30 minutes. The snow was hard for Tyler to walk in since there was so much of it, and I think that he was getting frustrated with his mittens and being limited in his movement. But we did build a small snowman, made a few snow angels, and threw a few snowballs. I think the part that Tyler liked best was when we got in the house, and we shared some hot chocolate. And I have to admit, I enjoyed that part of the day too.

We also took advantage of that snow day to make our Christmas cookies. Tyler did all of the decorating. He was really into the process in the beginning. You could tell which cookies were part of that batch, as they are all loaded down with about 3 pounds of sprinkles. Each. As the batches kept coming, the sprinkles got lighter and lighter, until the last batch when there was barely 10 sprinkles on each cookie. We had fun though, and he enjoyed giving the cookies to our neighbors, who we hope enjoyed eating them.

Christmas was a lot of fun this year as well. Tyler really understood what was going on around him and I hope that we helped him understand the importance of giving. We had lots of guests for Christmas this year. Uncle Eddie & (soon-to-be) Aunt Emily came in on the 23rd. We all went to Bass Pro Shops on Christmas Eve for playing & lunch, then we came back home to get ready for the traditional Woody Christmas Eve dinner. As I've mentioned before, this was a dinner that my mom used to make every year, and after her passing, I wanted to keep it going as best as I could. It's a big feast, but it's been scaled back over the years. But it's still wonderful, and hopefully we will be able to continue the tradition as our family becomes "blended". (This is a fun term that's thrown around the Woody family a lot lately, as we have Eddie marrying Emily in 2010, and Dad marrying Cindy this year as well! Lots of new family members and extensions of family! Exciting time for the Woodys!)

Dad & Cindy came to our house on Christmas Eve for the feast. And since Eddie & Emily were heading back to Lynchburg that night, we opened our gifts that night as well. Tyler had a great time unwrapping all of his gifts, and even paused to help hand out a few gifts here and there. We spent the rest of the evening playing Guitar Hero (thanks Eddie & Em!), watching Dad & Tyler climb through Tyler’s new tunnel system, and preparing for Santa’s visit by setting out the milk & cookies. And since you can’t forget the reindeer, Gramme Snead had sent over some magical reindeer food for Tyler to sprinkle on our lawn so that Santa knew how to find us. He had a lot of fun with that, and was very excited to see if Santa would really come to our house.

And boy did he come to our house. Santa outdid himself this year, with a new Leap Frog ClickStart computer, a new chair, lots of books and movies, and a Little People learning zoo for Tyler. He was so excited to see all of the goodies that were left for him, and it was so much fun to watch him absorb it all. We ate breakfast with Grandpa & Cindy, and unloaded our stockings and then it was time for everyone to hit the road. Grandpa & Cindy headed back to Lynchburg, and we headed to Louisa to visit with Gramme & Granddad Snead, Aunt Jenn, Uncle Brian, & baby Landon, as well as Great-Grandma Smith. We had lunch with them and Tyler got even more gifts, which he thought was the best. He did get a moment of greediness that made me a tad upset. As the presents were dwindling in number, he walked over to Gramme and said, “Gramme, where’s more with Tyler’s name on them?” I was appalled. We had to remind him that Christmas was not just about getting stuff. I hope we got through to him.

All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas. The only downfall was that I ended up with a horrific sinus infection that put me out of commission for most of Christmas Day. I spent the majorityof our time at Trav’s grandmother’s house in a recliner, just resting. And this stupid thing has taken its time leaving! Almost 2 weeks later, and I’m still dealing with some stuffiness and pressure. Ugh! We stayed in on New Years Eve this year, and we really enjoyed that as well. We didn’t even make it up to midnight this year. It’s one of the things you must sometimes give up when you have a child that will still get up at his normal time, no matter what time you went to bed.

We are looking forward to 2010 and all that it holds for us. We have a big year ahead, with weddings and beach trips and a certain little man who will be turning THREE in less than two months! It’s so hard to believe that he’s gotten so big. We’ve already started planning the birthday party, which will be here before we know it. Best wishes to you all in 2010 and here’s hoping that we see you all at some point during the year!

Oh and one last note. Tyler got to stay at his Gramme & Granddad's right after Christmas so that I could give Travis his Christmas gift from me - tickets to see his beloved Cowboys play the Redskins in Washington. Though it was a sad game for us Skins fans, Travis had a wonderful time.

Yet another visit to Santa!

We went and saw Santa at Short Pump Towne Center this morning. We have gone to see Santa at Short Pump every year since Tyler was born. He, once again, did very well and told Santa that he wanted a computer and a Backyardigans game. Santa gave him a sucker, and a big hug. So hard to believe that Christmas is almost here!

We also got

our tree this weekend and Tyler had a blast decorating it. Now it's time to wrap the presents and get them under the tree to make it complete!

We also took Tyler to another Home Depot workshop this weekend, where he made a Christmas wagon. But before we went, we made a stop at Starbucks and got Tyler his first kids' hot chocolate from the famous chain. He loved it! I think he felt like quite the big boy with his "coffee", as he called it.

Tyler & I are heading to Lynchburg next weekend, while Travis hunts with his dad. It's been a few months since we've made the trip to Grandpa's and we're excited to go. But we will miss Travis!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It's hard to believe that it has already come and gone. This year has flown by. Anyway, we spent the afternoon with Gramme & Granddad Snead, Aunt Jenn, Uncle Brian, & Cousin Landon, and Great-Grandma Smith. We had a great time visiting with everyone, and Tyler especially enjoyed playing with his little cousin. Landon is just over 5 months old now, and it so much fun. It's going to be a blast having the two boys grow up together.

Today, Tyler &I met up with some good friends of mine from Lynchburg - Larry, Davina, and their daughter Cady. They were up here to visit the Bass Pro Shops so we went to hang out with them. Tyler showed Cady the fish at the store,

and then it was time to visit Santa. Travis & I have been pretty sure that Tyler wasn't going to have much to do with Santa this year. But all of a sudden, he proved us wrong. He took off for Santa's chair, anxious to tell him that he wanted a computer and a Backyardigans game for Christmas. He sat patiently while his picture was taken, then made sure that Santa was paying attention while he detailed exactly what it was that he wanted. We'll have to make another Santa trip when Travis can be there (he was hunting today) and I don't think that Tyler will mind one bit.

We also set up our Elf on the Shelf today. I've been looking for one for months, and Trav's mom found us one at a discount. For those of you not familiar with the Elf on the Shelf, the Elf sits somewhere in your house and watches you all day to see whether you are bad or good. Every night, he leaves his perch and returns to the North Pole to report to Santa about your "goodness". He comes back before you wake up (in a new spot, so you have to find him) and starts his watching all over again. On Christmas Eve, he leaves to report to Santa, and then won't return until next holiday season. You get to name your elf, and Tyler has named his "Buck Deer". (Hey, this is an improvement from "Stinky Butt" which was the first choice.) We've decided that we'll just call the elf "Buck". So far, Buck's presence isn't doing much for us. Tyler peed on the floor for the first time tonight as a way to show that he was annoyed with us and our "rules". What is he??? A puppy????? Ugh. Oh well, he has about 28 days to redeem himself for the Jolly Guy.