Welcome to the World Tyler Davis Sullivan!!!

Welcome to the World Tyler Davis Sullivan! Tyler was born on December 18,2009. He weighed in at 6lbs. and 13 oz and was 21.5 inches long!

Wow!!! What a wild couple of weeks it's been! I went into the doctor's office on December 16th because Tyler wasn't kicking around like he normally did in the mornings. The doctor hooked me up to a monitor and conducted a fetal stress test. Everything was pretty normal but Tyler wasn't giving "A+" results. Since I was almost at my due date, they decided to go ahead and induce.

We entered the hospital on the night of the 16th and induction began on the 17th. It was a long day on Pitocin with slight contractions, but at the end of the day I wasn't dilating and the baby wasn't coming down...it was at this point we started talking about a c-section. I decided that I wanted to try one more round of induction, in hopes of a vaginal delivery, so we started the whole process over on the 18th. After another LONG day with heavy contractions and finally an epidural, I still made no progress. At 2pm we decided to go ahead and do the c-section.

I was in the operating room with Ben at 2:45pm and Tyler was born at 3:11pm.

We were released from the hospital on Monday December 21st, and it's been and absolute crazy ride ever since!

We love Tyler! He is a fabulous baby who only cries when he needs to be fed or changed!

He's adorable and your heart literally melts when he looks at you with those enormous blue eyes!

I can tell he's going to be spoiled rotten already!

Ben and I got to spend Christmas day as a family, just the three of us, and then my parents came to spend a couple of days with us on the 26th. It was great having them here so that Ben and I could catch up on a little bit of sleep!

They also bought out half of a toy store for their grandson's first Christmas, and Tyler loved everything! (At least he told me he did though his eyes were closed for almost all of the present opening time).

Since Christmas we've had two pediatrician appts. Tyler is growing like a weed. Today he clocked in at an impressive 7lbs. 10oz. I just can't wait for those cute chubby cheeks to start filling in!

The only thing I can say is how amazing our sweet little man is and how much we love him already!

But also let me note that NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING, can prepare you for being a parent!

Ben and I are learning one step at a time and enjoying it the whole way!

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Induction!

Ben and I will be leaving for the hospital in t-minus 1.5 hours.
I'm so excited I can't believe it.

I'll make this short and sweet but basically I went to the doc's this morning and based off of Tyler's stress test results, they wanted to go ahead and induce labor.
We'll be checking in at 3pm today and hopefully in labor by tomorrow!

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers for a safe and speedy delivery and a healthy baby boy! Can't wait to meet little Tyler!

We'll post pics from the hospital as soon as he is born!

Frustration....

Delivered today....

Had a 9lb-er last week....

Was the first to deliver, although I think she only gained 15lbs during the pregnancy...don't you hate her?

So...in the past week three celebs have given birth while my Tyler is still cooking away!

If I didn't know better, I would say these women paid off the doctor's to induce them early!

Either that or my little guy is a procrastinator, waiting til the last minute to make his appearance.

Work is done, so now comes the time to sit and wait for Baby T to get here!
Waiting sucks..and for a control freak like me, it's even harder!

I'm officially due on December 17th, so Tyler still has time to arrive before he's considered "late". But today I had my last doctor's visit before my 40 weeks is up, and I wasn't encouraged by the news. Although everything is fine, the doctor said that I'm not progressing in dilation so it could be a while before things happen.

So, will Tyler be a Christmas baby??? I guess we'll have to wait and see!

On another frustrating note, Ben and I have decided to replace some of the furniture in the baby's room before he gets here. I actually had two furniture pieces that my grandparents gave me refinished for Tyler's room, and we've been airing them out for months in the hope that the paint fumes would subside....no such luck.

Neither of us feel comfortable letting Tyler sleep in a room with such a strong odor, so we are sending the furniture off to the company to be repainted (and they better not even THINK of charging me) and we will keep it in the garage until we move into another house with more bedrooms. Now, we have just a few days to replace the furniture and get it ready for Tyler...

Uggg...more frustration!

But it's always better to be safe than sorry and trust me when I tell you, the fumes are still very bad.

Good thing he'll be in the bassinet with us for the first couple of months anyway!

So frustration is growing on my part, but it's only because I'm so ready for him to get here and I want everything to be perfect for him...what's a mom to do?

We'll keep you all updated as things progress!!!

Happy Anniversary!!

Happy Two Year Anniversary to the Sullivans!!!

I can't believe it's been two years since Ben and I said "I DO"!

It was such a fun celebration with all of our family and friends, and I couldn't have asked for a better person to share the rest of my life with....I can't believe we'll be parents in just a few days!

Here's to many more wonderful years together!

Gingerbread Fun!

Now that everything is ready for Baby Tyler we've just been laying low and waiting for him to get here. It's getting harder and harder for me to move around so I'm glad to be taking things slow.

Last week we were able to meet up with Steph and Pat for dinner on Wednesday and I was able to get my nails done and dinner with Amanda and Melissa on Thursday!

Saturday, Ben and I went to a Gingerbread House decorating party that our friends Roberta and Mike were hosting. We had a great time, however I quickly realized that I had NO gingerbread skills when my roof of Red Vines collapsed into the house. The result is the above picture. But at least I was able to snag the prize for "Squatters paradise"! YAY!!

Ben won a prize for "Best Themed" house but we decided not to post a picture of his Porn Palace.

Monday was my doctor's appt where we found out that I was 1cm dilated and that my blood pressure was elevated. As of now, I've been put on a modified version of bed rest until my next doctor's appt on Monday....or Tyler decides to enter the world, whichever comes first!
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers for a safe delivery!

Hope everyone has a great week!!!!

Gobble Gobble...Happy Thanksgiving!

Our beautiful Christmas Tree!

The Sullivans...Ben, Kate, Dwight, and Jan

Dwight (with his daughter in law and grandson in the pic) carving the turkey!

Yummy turkey! There was hardly any left!

The holiday season is officially upon us!!! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope you all had a great time celebrating.

I have to admit I was a bit nervous about cooking an entire Thanksgiving meal for the Sullivan family at 9 months preggers, but everything went off without a hitch!

Wednesday night, before Ben's parents and sister arrived, Ben and I made the dressing, broccoli casserole and gooey butter cake and put them in the fridge to bake on Thursday! Smart move by us (took some of the pressure off for Thursday) and Ben was a huge help!

The Sullivan family got to our house around 10:30pm on Wednesday and we all caught up briefly over snacks and drinks.

Thanksgiving day we served lunch/early dinner around 2pm with Turkey, dressing, broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, corn, bread, and gooey butter cake with ice cream for dessert! It was all delicious (I have to toot my own horn here)!

Thursday night we stayed in and played board games and recovered from our food coma.

Friday morning we went to brunch at J. Christopher's in downtown Roswell. Afterwards the ladies had a spa day followed by some antique shopping, while Ben watched football and his dad took a trip to the art museum.

Friday night we headed down to the Fernbank Natural History Museum for Martinis and IMAX. We watched the Van Gogh IMAX which none of us were really impressed with. However, the dancing and drinks in the lobby of the museum was a lot of fun.

Saturday, we said goodbye to Ben's family and pretty much were couch potatoes for the rest of the day!

Sunday, we got Ben his early Christmas present of an Iphone and decorated the house for Christmas!

Now, we're just counting the days until Tyler's arrival...16 days and counting!

Hope everyone else had a safe and happy holiday break!

Twas the week before Thanksgiving...

And all through our pad, creatures were stirring but no baby's been had.

No, no baby yet. But that's actually a good thing.

Tyler will officially be 37 weeks on Thanksgiving day! At that point, he could come anytime and would be considered a full term healthy little boy!

So while, I'm starting to get impatient, it's really a good thing that T-man hasn't graced us with his presence yet.

The week was very chill here, however our whole family was very grateful that my mom made it through surgery with no complications on Wednesday. This has been her 4th back surgery to fix some bulging discs and I'm hoping and praying that it will be her last! This one was more invasive and was promised to fix the problem. Here's to her being able to pick up her grandson in no time!

Other highlights of the week included getting our swine flu shots (Ben didn't pass out...HOORAY) and Ben's work Happy Hour on Wednesday night. It was great catching up with Ben's coworkers who I hadn't seen in awhile! They are all very excited about Tyler's debut!

While the week was very chill our weekend was quite busy.

Friday night I went with Amanda and Melissa to see New Moon with about 500 screaming teenagers! It was a great movie...swoon worthy for sure!

I can't wait to get it when it's out on DVD. After the movie, We all went back to Amanda's for red velvet cake and girl time!

Saturday, Ben went to help our friend Mike move out of his apt while I went shopping and then to Steph O's Pampered Chef party. It was a good time but I definitely ate too much of the delicious treats that were there!

After I left the PC Party, I headed to Taco Mac to meet Ben, Mike, Roberta, Jon and Amy to watch the VT game. It was an easy victory for the Hokies! After the game, we went back to Roberta and Mike's for a bit to play Guitar Hero but called it an early night. I was exhausted from the day.

Sunday Ben watched the Redskins play the Cowboys, while I met up with Steph O and Steph S for lunch at La Madeline. After lunch, I went with Steph S to get some pampering at the nail salon.

After the nail salon, Ben and I ventured out to get all our Thanksgiving dinner supplies.

We are geared up for a short work week and having the Sullivan clan in town!

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Ready for Baby...

Tyler's Nursery:
Refinished dresser from my grandmother/now converted to a changing table

Glider with Tyler's football pillow!

Refinished toy chest from my grandfather and sports wall art!

Bookshelf full of pics, stuffed animals, and books!

As you walk into Tyler's room this is what you see!


We are in full baby prep mode as we are getting ready for Tyler's debut in 4 weeks! I love feeling Tyler move around all the time but I'm so over the swollen ankles and fingers, restless sleep, and weight gain! It seems as if now it's just a big waiting game...and I am NOT a patient person!

This week/weekend we did a lot of mandatory baby stuff. We had to go shopping and finish off our registry, we finished the nursery (see pics above), we met with a personal trainer who will be coming to our house starting in January to get me and Ben and back into shape, we went to the fire dept to have the car seats installed, I had my prenatal massage to get all relaxed and prepped for motherhood, we attended Baby Essentials class on Saturday so that Ben could learn to change a diaper and I could learn to swaddle, and I had my 35 week checkup on Friday!

Wow! When I write it all down I realize we did a lot of baby prep last week!

I hope you all like the nursery pics I posted. We are so excited to have it done and I love how everything turned out. The "Old Sports" theme is just too cute for words!

Other highlights of the week included going to the Counter (awesome burger joint) on Thursday with Steph and Pat. We also went over to Andy and Angela's on Saturday morning to hang with our friends Brad and Keely who were in town for the weekend. We all took their kids Naomi, Jeremiah, and Caleb to the park for play time and a picnic and had a great time!

Saturday night, Ben and I went to Melissa and Chris's engagement party and enjoyed Mexican food while watching everyone do keg stands...Ah, if they had only had a keg of O'Douls...

Overall, it was a very productive and fun weekend!

November is flying by fast and Thanksgiving will be here before you know it!

Shower Pics!

Johanna, Ethan and me Saturday night!

The cute little Firefighter Tshirt that my sister gave me!

Adorable Cake!

My grandmother, me and Ben

Such yummy food!!!!!

Here are some pics from the Shower this weekend in Spartanburg!

Spartanburg Shower Weekend!!!

Such a fun and exciting week/weekend for the Sullivans!!!

As you saw in our previous post, Ben and I had our 4D ultrasound on Tuesday which was a lot of fun! Other highlights of the week included my court date on Wednesday where I was able to use my pregnancy card to get out of a ticket and a VT vs. ECU game viewing at our house on Thursday with Roberta, Mike, Jon, Amy, Andy, and Angela! Lots of yummy food and drinks helped launch the Hokies into victory!!!

Saturday morning Ben and I headed to Spartanburg for my last baby shower before Tyler arrives! It was a lot of fun! My sister Kelly, aunt Flicka, and BFF Johanna did a fab job organizing everything! (I'll post pictures very soon) The theme of the shower was a "Diaper Drop" so Ben and I feel WELL stocked on diapers for the first few months after Tyler is born! We also got a ton of clothes, a portable DVD player and safety gates!

We are very fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends to want to host 3 showers for us and basically fill our entire registry. Ben and I have just a few items left to buy!

We feel very blessed!

A big thank you to everyone, and to Kelly, Johanna, Flicka and my parents for hosting such a wonderful shower this weekend!

Saturday night we ordered one of my fave dinners, chicken stew, from a restaurant in Spartanburg and everyone ate at my parent's house.

That included Ethan who came by to give Tyler a present and spend some time with Johanna and I. It had been awhile since we had all three seen each other and it was a blast catching up!

Sunday morning Ben and I headed back to Atlanta where we attended our next door neighbor's 1st bday celebration for their daughter Maddie. Then Ben and I jetted over to Twisted Taco to meet up with our friend Matt Kendrall who was in town for the Cabbagetown Chili Festival. We watched the Skins game with him, and then ventured downtown to meet up with some friends from UNC for dinner! We ate at Bricktops which has the BEST DESSERT in Atlanta! Just ask for the cookie...it's truly amazing! They bake a cookie from scratch in an iron skillet and serve it at the table with caramel topping and a huge mound of ice cream! Doesn't get much better than that!
Dinner ended late and Ben and I came home and crashed!

It was an exhausting but fun weekend!!!

PS- T Minus 5 weeks until Tyler's Due date!!!!

Baby T Update!!!

Well tomorrow I'll officially be 34 weeks along...that's 8 and a half months for anyone that's keeping track! Only a few more weeks until Tyler graces us with his presence. Things are going well, but I'm VERY VERY ready to have him here!
However, I am glad we've still got a few weeks because we still have so much to do! We have one more class to attend (Baby Essentials Nov 14th), another shower this weekend in Spartanburg (can't wait), I have to wash all of Tyler's clothes, pack my bag for the hospital, and we still have to finish the nursery! We are so close though, and I should be able to post pictures of his room in just a couple of weeks!

Last night Ben and I went to Baby's First Images to have some 4D shots taken of Tyler before he's born.
Well, needless to say Tyler stood true to his nickname of "trouble maker" during the session.
He kept his foot and hand in front of his face for most of the shots, however when it came time to expose his "manhood", he had no problem putting that up on the screen for everyone to see! Ben was especially proud!
He's going to be like his mom...a wild child!!! I just know it.
Anyways, above is the best pic we were able to get of his cute little face and the second shot is of his foot! I'll save you from the "family jewel" shots!!!

But here's to our little man Tyler "trouble maker" Sullivan! We can't wait to meet you sweetie!

Happy Halloween!!!

Kevin Rathbun at his steakhouse! (Even though we saw him there, I didn't take this pic)

Book club...Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Chris (Victoria secret angel), Ben (80s prom) and Aaron (giant turkey) at the Halloween Party

Kristen and Aaron at the Halloween party (Yes, Ben and I wore repeat costumes from last weekend's 80s prom party...I wasn't motivated enough to pull off Octomom like I originally planned)

Kristen (80's prom), Melissa (Devil), Amanda(Autograph book), and Jackie (True Blood)

Happy Halloween to everyone! Hope you had a great holiday! Ben and I had a lot of fun this week/weekend!

Not too much happened during the week for us. We laid low for the most part and caught up on "baby prep stuff". Ben had a UNC alumni event on Wednesday night that was apparently really fun! I can't wait to go with him next year.

Thursday I had book club over at Steph O's with all the girls while Ben hosted poker night at our house. We discussed "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See.

I liked the book a lot and it made for some good discussion.

After book club, I was able to make it back to our house in time to get in a few rounds of poker with the boys!

Friday, Ben and I had date night a Kevin Rathbun's steakhouse. Kevin Rathbun is a very famous chef and we had heard a lot of great things about his restaurant. Overall, the atmosphere was great but I have to say I wasn't overly impressed with my meal (I know right??...I'm actually admitting it wasn't the best meal EVER). The lobster tail was phenomenal and the mashed potatoes and ice cream sundae were very yum, but I was under impressed with the jalapeno corn dish and the onion rings we had for an appetizer. In fact, the onion rings were rather bland.

The plus side was that Kevin Rathbun was there and we got to watch him at work!!! It was way cool.

Saturday, Ben and I had the last part of Childbirth prep class with more birthing videos that made my husband uncomfortable! But Ben was still very interactive during the class and extra sweet during the breathing practices! He gets a gold star from me for hubby of the year!

After class Ben and I got ready for the trick or treaters! We had about 40-50 kids total! It was fun handing out candy to the adorable kids! ...can't wait to go trick or treating next year with Tyler!

Later that evening we got dressed up and headed to our friends Jackie and Drew's for a Halloween party. We met up with Melissa, Chris, Amanda, and Aaron while there and had a great time.

After the party, we headed over to Andy and Angela's to watch the rest of the South Carolina game. What a freaking disappointment in the Cocks loss...but Andy and Angela's new house is awesome!

Sunday, Ben and I spent a lot of time just running errands....a typical Sunday if you will.

Hope you all had a great Halloween weekend!!!

Childbirth Prep, 80's Flashback & Pumpkin Carving

Me and Roberta...Roberta was named prom queen!

Channing and Angela in matching hot pink prom attire!

Ben and I in our matching tuxedo shirts...notice my crimped hair!

My scary pumpkin

Ben's happy pumpkin

This week and weekend was really chill around the Sullivan pad, which was nice.

With our busy traveling schedule the past couple of weeks it was nice to catch up on errands and laundry throughout the week.

We did mange to squeeze in a Pho night with Steph and Pat on Wednesday though. It was great catching up over our fave food!

Friday night Ben and I went to a local restaurant Shallots for some yum sushi and thai and then headed out to Target to pick up pumpkins to carve over the weekend!

Saturday morning Ben and I were up bright and early to head to Childbirth Prep class! The class was actually very informative and I'm actually looking forward to going back this weekend.

I think the video scared me more than Ben...although I'm not sure how much he saw, considering that when I glanced over at him during the "live birth" part, he had his head down staring at the carpet.

But I think he liked the class a lot too because he asked a lot of questions. He's going to be such a good dad!

The last part of class we practiced breathing techniques while you got massaged by your partner.

So...did I enjoy the last hour of class??...um, yes!!!! Massages are a favorite of mine, and I'll take them anytime, anywhere!

After class we hit up Jason's Deli for lunch and then went home while Ben put together some baby furniture.

Saturday night, Ben and I dressed in matching tuxedo shirts and 80's attire and headed over to our friend Roberta's apt for her 80's prom night party.

We had a Blast dancing to 80's music all night long! I thought that Tyler was going to pop out at one point because I was dancing so hard! I decided to take a break after that!

Sunday morning I made waffles, we carved pumpkins, and I ran a ton of errands and met with Melissa and Amanda to get our nails done. While I was gone, Ben hit the gym.

Sunday night Ben made his "specialty" Mexican Redneck casserole for dinner!

He loves to make it, and I have to say this batch was very delicious indeed!!!!

Happy Halloween week everyone!!!

ATL Shower Weekend!

Roberta, Melanie, Christina and Erin

Me and Sylvia

Angela, Steph S, and Caroline

The sports clothes strung all over the house...so adorable!

Go Team Tyler!

My shirt at the shower!

The whole USC Crew

Me and Mom!

My wonderful hostesses!

What a crazy week and weekend for the Sullivans!

This week I FINALLY finished up my work travel with one last trip to Charleston for a divisional meeting! It was a lot of fun! We always incorporate activities after a long day of meetings so we were able to squeeze in a carriage ride, ghost tour and dinner at the Customs House!

But I'm very happy to report that I have no more work trips until my maternity leave is up! I'm pleased to be grounded for a few months!

I've had a lot of people ask me what I'm going to do when I have to start traveling again for work and have little Tyler to worry about. The answer is...I really don't know.

I guess we'll have to play it one day at a time.

I'll try to get my work done in as few days as possible when I travel and we'll most likely have a nanny to help out as well.

My intent is to have a nanny here at the house when I return to work to watch Tyler during the day. The plus side of that is that although I may be gone for traveling some...when I'm in town I'll be here in the house with Tyler, even if a nanny is sitting with him.

But back to our fun weekend! After my trip to Charleston I got home on Thursday night in time to get the house prepped for the shower weekend! We had a lot of people coming into town and I needed to be ready!

Leah and Jannell arrived first on Friday and they brought Leah's daughter Hayden.

Following that, Erin and Christina arrived from DC....then Rienna and her little Bo arrived that evening from Jacksonville.

The whole gang, including Andy, Angela, and Anastasia, went to Twisted Taco in Roswell that evening for food and catch up time! It was nice!

Saturday we were up bright and early so that the girls could prep for the shower. Jannell and I were left in charge of Bo while the rest of the girls did errand running.

It was fun to play mom for a few hours! In the meantime, my parents and my coworker Sylvia arrived! My mom and Sylvia hung with me while Ben took my dad and some of his boys to the Decatur Beer Fest! They had an absolute blast! My dad can't wait to come back next year!

At 1pm we headed over to Steph's house for the shower! It was SO adorable! The whole sports theme was too cute and there were clothes for Tyler strung on little clothes lines all over the house. The food was delicious and the games were hysterical . We even had a surprise appearance by my good friend Donna and her adorable little boy Christian!

I had a blast and I feel so honored to have friends who care about us so much!

Thanks to my hostesses Christina, Erin, Rienna, Steph, and Amanda for making my shower so special! Love you girls!

Saturday night, I hosted everyone at my house for a bbq that included a South Carolina vs. Alabama viewing. Everyone had a great time but unfortunately we were a little depressed about our loss. We put up a good fight but the Cocks did not prevail.

Sunday, we bid farewell to everyone. Christina and Erin stayed in town long enough to watch the Redskins game (again, another loss) as I played chauffeur to the airport.

It was such a wonderful weekend and it was so great to see all of my girls! I love you all and am so grateful to have such wonderful friends and family in my life! I can't wait for Tyler to feel the same love!