I HAVE TAKEN OVER!!!

So... my wife has totally fallen off the blo(wa)gon since having baby Taz and so, back by popular demand, I am back pinch hitting... I apologize in advance! :)

First of all, I would like to state for the record that do still have two other kids who we absolutely love unconditionally but sometimes like conditionally (just kidding... ok, not really)...

I would like to introduce you to Brooklyn the Emotional and Boston the Fearless (except when it comes to playing Monster & Bombs, Find the Monster and any other form of Monster)...


Brooklyn the Emotional and Boston the Fear(full)less have had their lives turned upside down by a cute, cuddly Trojan horse named Taz. He looked really cool when we brought him home...

But they soon discovered that instead of being another cute stuffed animal they could throw in the closet or drag behind their scooter, he is instead a (MATERNAL) BLACK HOLE!!!

(dangerously good looking - I wonder where he got that?)

... who literally sucks every moment of motherly light from their lives! They no longer are the only center of their mother's universe and so they've had to adjust... mostly by driving dad CRAZY! (just kidding, I really like the attention. they actually want to hang out with me now, rather than just calling me "mean")

Taz the (Nocturnal) Tiger meanwhile is LOVING LIFE! He sleeps, eats, %^&#s, sleeps, eats... you get the idea... and gets held and coddled constantly. What's there not to like about this place? He's eating great, sleeping phenomenally between the hours of 8am and 11pm (deja vu) and is amazingly healthy despite his coughing siblings trying to constantly infect him (to knock him off and recover their mother, no doubt! they ain't no dummies!).


As for me (for all of you who have really worried about my well being), you can take my name off the prayer roll because I am ecstatic to have reclaimed male dominance in the Carlson household. It's been a 4.5 year struggle, but we're finally across the finish line and Boston, Taz and I are not backing down!

(heaven!)

And last, but certainly not least (especially as it relates to monthly expenditures!)... Amber... is doing great! She looks phenomenal, has not yet had one mother-of-three breakdown and is quickly returning to her normal self. It's amazing how much progress she has already made in less than a week (she's even had time to hit the beach!)

(sexy momma!)

I hope all is well... thank you again for all of the love and support this last week!

TC

Congrats Uncle Skip

Congratulations Uncle Skip on your mission call to San Diego ASL (American Sign Language!). We are so excited for you and know you'll do awesome!

Love,

Brooklyn, Boston, Taz!

Updated Photos!

So... since Amber was not a huge fan of the previously posted picture (the barely out of the womb look wasn't flattering enough, I guess!) I have posted two updated pictures that show little Taz in a better light.

24 hours into his storied (and destined for success - according to uncle Taz) existence, he's doing really well. Eating like a champ and sleeping like a trucker!

TAZ TYLER CARLSON!!!

So... second time was the charm for baby number three and at 9:30am on St. Patrick's Day the Chinese Baby Psychic from Cherry Creek Mall (ask Amber - its a hilarious story) was vindicated and we had a BOY! No pitocin, just some magic gell (I didn't ask any questions) + a night in the hospital =a VERY smooth delivery.

So... here's the stats: 7lbs 8oz and 20 inches long (almost exactly the same size as Boston). In an effort to break the B-city naming streak (sorry for all of you lobbying for Birmingham!) and in honor of my uncle Taz Murray (and myself, I guess, although the middle name was Amber's idea!) we have Taz Tyler Carlson!

So... Boston has a brother, Brooklyn has a baby to smother, the men have officially taken over the household and we've got a very healthy and happy mom and baby. Haleleluiah!

Tyler

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

So... first of all, thank you everyone for your kind text messages, emails and phone calls. It is so great to know we have so much love and support! My all time FAVORITE response during the whole ordeal yesterday was last night at the Peterson's house, when Regan ran up to me and said, "I mean, excuse me, but WHAT THE F&*%$!" Peterson's you have no idea how much I LOVE being you guy's neighbors... I couldn't have picked anybody better than you!!! :)

So... second of all, Amber went to the doctor this morning and after talking things over and checking her status (for the umpteenth time in the last 24 hours) the doctor thinks she is more ready today than yesterday (can't imagine after all the hell she went through... LOL) and that with a different set of inducement procedures she should be ready to deliver tonight (Translation: the game plan yesterday wasn't the doctor's best! Oops! Please reference Regan's comment above!!! Love it!).

So... HERE WE GOT AGAIN! And here are my personal goals for Having Baby #3, Part Deuce:

1. Have the kid!
2. Find out the sex of the kid! And no mother, this is not some type of sick conspiracy against you... we really DON"T know the sex of the child!
3. NOT watch Jon & Kate + 8... I think cousin Tara was right and watching 6 back to back episodes probably scared Amber's body into NOT delivering!
4. Eat the pasta and not the pizza (it reportedly is not made of cardboard, according to credible sources!)
5. Bring home a happy wife!

Love you all...

More to come...

Tyler

PS. This whole blogging thing is actually kind of fun... watch out Amber... I might be taking over!

NO DICE!

So... after 6 hours of pitosin, 9 hours at the hospital, too many contractions to count, hours of fasting (Amber), 1 round of questionable hospital food (Tyler), multiple checkups, many talks with the doctor and a lot of waiting... HER DAMN CERVIX WON"T DILATE!

So... the doctor sends me home with a very tired... a very frustrated... and a very demoralized wife WITHOUT a baby. Rather than wage full scale, multi-day chemical war against Amber's body and the baby, we decide to follow the doctors recommendation and head home and wait for things to progress naturally... hopefully sometime in the next couple of days.

So... we now know a couple of things:
1) our family and friends are a huge blessing and support (even during a firedrill)
2) Amber's sister's are willing to drive 28 hours round trip to see her potentially NOT deliver a baby
3) Skyridge Medical Center's pizza is a close relative to cardboard
4) watching 4 straight hours of Jon & Kate + 8 creates a high level of anxiety and stress but DOES NOT induce labor
5) the only effect from 6 hours of pitosin was a faint chant through the baby monitor of "HELL NO, WE WON'T GO!"

So... we live to fight another day...

More to come.

Tyler

Almost there...

So we're at the hospital, the IV is dripping and we're waiting for Baby #3 to show up. In the interim, as the pinch-hitting blogger for the family, I wanted to share the photo above. Not many women, 40 weeks pregnant, will grab a shotgun and blast a clay pigeon out of the sky on her first shot! This is one of the many reasons why I married my wife.

More to come...

Tyler

Great Video - Thanks Leslie

Yup, Still Pregnant!

(Just because I hate a post without a picture..Here is a recent pic of the kids painting pictures for the new baby room)

Thought I would post a little update, I have started to get the e-mails, phones calls and "oh I thought for sure you would have had your baby by now???" every couple of hours... Nope, I officially have 9 days left and if this little babe (yes, sex still unknown) doesn't make an appearance by the 15th, I am going to be induced... thanks goodness! It definitly beats the 14 days I went over with Brooklyn in July in PHOENIX! I'll keep you posted!

As for the rest of the family, Tyler is working hard as always and traveling quite a bit which makes for a lonely and already irritable pregnant wife, (sorry honey, hang in there)... I think this warm weather we've been having has got a bee in his bonnet... Ty is so anxious to bust out all his camping gear and hit the hills... I think he was on his computer last night for a good 3 hours looking at pictures of campsites and mapping out the trails.

Brooklyn has become quite the little helper around here... I must say having a daughter first is the most amazing thing in the world... She loves taking on the roll of "big sister" and bossing around her little brother. She is quick to remind everyone that she is already a "big" sister but will be the "biggest" sister once "her" baby arrives. She has also become quite opinionated when it comes to her clothing... I will dress her up (much to her chagrin) in the cutest little outfits for school and just when I think she looks adorably perfect she comes down in neon green leprechaun socks and blue crocs! I have learned to pick my battles!

Boston is growing up so fast, I can't believe it! I have two KIDS now, they aren't babies anymore! They are so close in age I sometimes forget that he is actually a full year younger, although you would never know, he repeats and tries everything that Brooklyn says or does. It just seems like there has always been two of them... They play so well together...The poor boy has been playing with dolls, (yes he actually has a boy American Doll) kitchens, and purses... In his defense he does load up the purses with trucks, books, little guys and fake bugs, but hey, it's winter and his sandbox and mud pit are covered in snow... I'll try not to worry!

Hope all is well, we love and miss everyone! a