23 weeks

We finally have a little baby bump! We are both very happy for Emily to be showing. The first 2o weeks or so, she was just sick and it never showed. Now, there is a visible reason that she throws up all the time.

Actually, pregnancy wise, she is beginning to feel much better. She battled a nasty cough for a about 2 weeks that turned into the flu, but, as always, she fought through it and is feeling much better now.

It is tough on me (granted not as tough as being pregnant: ha) seeing my wife be so sick and there is nothing that I can do to make it better. I have this instinct that when something is wrong, just fix it, but this time, I had to just let it ride.

We went to the doctor again today and everything is looking and sounding wonderful! So, we couldn't be happier. We will go back in one month for another ultra-sound, and then start going every 2 weeks.

The thought of, We are going to be parents, is becoming more and more real every day. Currently I am feeling very excited, but it is a long term excitement. Taking Jackson to Chiefs games, playing soccer with him, etc. So, I am struggling to get my mind wrapped around the first few years, and that is a little scary. Infants scare me. They are very cute, and no doubt Jackson will be the cutest, but they still scare me. So that will take time to adjust that I am not going to hurt, or kill my Son every time I pick him up.

I will have to admit that it is getting very old of having everyone tell us how different our lives are going to be, how much we have to slow down, lack of sleep, blah blah blah. In an attempt to not sound like a know-it-all, because I am not. But, we are pretty well prepared for all that. This was a planned baby, and many conversations went into this process before we decided we were ready. So, we do appreciate all the love and support, but we are full aware of how our lives are going to change. I feel so very blessed to have a Wife who knows kids, with a Masters is Early Childhood Development, it makes me sleep a lot easier that Jackson will have an amazing Mother.

We are a fast pace family with lots of things to do, and Jackson will be a fast passed kid and will be moving and shaking with us (I can almost sense the dirty looks and rolled eyes right now: ha)

The nursery is in motion. The first coat of paint is put down and our speciality painter will be coming in this week, or early next week to put the soccer finishing touches on it.

Our bedding, curtsey of Uncle Andy and Aunt Elise is an all sports theme. We looked for months and can not find a soccer themed baby bedding set. So, we will have this basic design and our artist will be painting soccer stuff on the wall. And then any baby soccer stuff that the make, we will probably own.

Aunt Meg has decided to make us a custom mobile, which is AWESOME. We have not been able to find a soccer mobile that matches the bedding. So, she will be taking a curtain and matching that. It is all the little things that excite me now. I saw a soccer pacifier and I almost cried. ha ha

Alright, that is the update for now. Thanks for all the love and support. Keep on Keeping on!!mrrrrr

IT's A BOY!

It is official. we are having a boy!

Here is the proof. The arrow is pointing to his boy parts.

And, on another note: Emily's cyst is 100% gone! Very happy about that, and Emily is happy that she will be able to run again. It has been tough on her going from training to a half marathon to walking slowly on a treadmill.

So, the nursery theme needs to be locked down, which we are pretty sure we are going with a sports theme with an emphasis on soccer, we just need to pick out the set we like. Lots to do. As always, we will keep you updated on our progress.

thanks for voting and keep on keeping on!

Find out the sex Thursday

Step right up and cast your vote for the sex of JET Jr. We go to the Dr. Thursday to find out what little JET Jr is packing: or not packing. (and yes, we will be happy with a healthy baby...just having some fun....) The poll is to your right. ----------------------->

The New Guest Bedroom/old Office is now complete and the Nursery/Old Guest Bedroom is now sitting empty waiting for the baby furniture to arrive. After Thursday we will settle in on a nursery theme and begin the painting process.

Emily is on day 3 of not puking: fingers crossed that this trend continues. It is becoming old hat for her now. It is almost like getting a drink of water, instead she pukes, and just keeps right on trucking. She is finally starting to show a little bit, we are both anxious for her to show more so we can park in the "Expecting Mothers" parking spots.

As for me, excitement just continues to mount. I getting real excited about getting the nursery ready. We just purchased a new camera (a Sony a330 DSLR, for those who care to check it out) so we can capture all of JET Jr's proudest moments! Including, but not limited to: Crawling, speaking his/her first words (Dadda) Playing his/her first game of Madden. His/her first touch down signal, kicking his/her first soccer ball, attending his/her first Chiefs game, his/her first triple back flip into the deep end: you know, the standard baby stuff.

In the mean time: Don't forget to vote and keep on keeping on!

Cyst update

We went to the doctor Nov 2 to check up on the cyst. The great news is that it has shrunk by half! We were both very relieved to see that it is has gone down naturally.

JET Jr is heathy, all 10 fingers and toes, and everything is developing right on track. Emily goes through her "sick" stages. She will have a few days of feeling normal, and then BAM, back to puking. She rotates from morning sickness to night sickness, there doesn't seem to be any reason for the timing of sickness. It comes on quick: she eats something, drinks some water and then she is back to normal.

She is still not showing much of a "baby bump." We are both ready for that. It makes it easier to explain why she is puking in the middle of the day. We went down to a wedding in Bentonville, Arkansas a few weeks back. On Friday most of us went out and stayed out late, and quite a few of us where hurting by wedding time. Poor Emily has to step out of the wedding in the middle to go throw up, and since she doesn't look pregnant, I am sure people just assumed she was hung over.

Thanks for reading the update....keep on keeping on.

update

Excitement has begun to grow in the Tyler household. JET Jr is growing finger nails and tooth buds, he/she is a little person.

The excitement is hindered by Emily's constant nausea. She throws up almost every morning, and night. We just drove down to Arkansas for a wedding, and as long as she is driving, she does okay in the car. We had to step out of the wedding for her to vomit, and then again at the reception. But, she is a hell of a trooper, she vomits and keeps on trucking. If I have a head ache, I am down for a week crying and asking for Chicken Noodle Soup. Emily just vomits and rolls on.

Wednesday marks the beginning of the 2nd trimester, and we are hoping that things will get better for her. Her Mom was sick all 9 months, for all 3 kids.

The office is 90% cleared out, just waiting for AT &T to move the phone line into the lounge, and once that is completed, we are moving one of the guest rooms into the office and the nursery will be open for business (meaning you can start sending lots and lots of gifts)

The cyst is holding on just fine, no problems with that, we will go back to the doctor in a few weeks to see if the cyst has gone down, and get to see JET Jr move around again.

For me, it is beginning to get more real every day. And I think once we get the nursery emptied out with a crib, it will sink in even more.

Keep on Keeping on.....

11 week Doctor appointment

We went back to our doctor today to check on Emily's cyst. The cyst is still there, but it did go down 1 CM, which is a good sign. Our Dr does not seem at all worried about it at this time, and seems to think that it will just go away on it's own. We learned that it is fairly common and nothing to worry about. As I mentioned last week, there is not danger to JET Jr or to Emily, if it burst or twist her ovary, she will be in a lot of pain, which is not a strong likelihood. She is still not able to exercise or lift heavy objects, just walk.

Emily was feeling better for about a week, then last Friday she struggle. Car rides are tough on her, and we were in the car for 10 hours over 2 days. We had to pull over 1/2 way to KC so she could vomit. She is back to waking up in the middle of the night to vomit. I feel so useless, so I end up just yelling at her for waking me up and make her clean her own mess up. Just kidding. Calm down everyone. She is quite the trooper though. She throws up, and just keeps on moving. Neither one of us ever seem to stop moving, puking be damned.

On a much happier note: we did get to see JET Jr move today. It was amazing to see JET Jr stretch and move around, it seems so much more real. Jet Jr has little arms and legs and eyes that are still covered with skin, but will soon open up.

Nothing around the house has changed too much, still trying to sell the desk so we can switch rooms around. A parent on my soccer team did give us a soccer ball baby toy, which is our first baby gift.

Thanks for all the cards and kind words. We will keep you updated. Until next time: Keep on Keeping on......

10 weeks

Things have been getting a little better around the household. Emily is slowly starting to feel better. She feels crampy most of the time, but the vomiting has seem to slow down. I was beginning to worry that this might be a long 9 months.

The office is packed up, just trying to sell the desk so we can move the guest bedroom into my old office.

Last week a friend, Doug, donated all his old baby toys for us, which was AMAZING!

Cyst

Our Doctor called today and informed us that Emily has a cyst full of water on her ovary that is 8 cm. There is no direct danger to her, or to JET Jr, but it will be a lot of pain if it burst and she will have to be rushed to the ER. This means she can not run, exercise or lift heavy items.

We go back to the doctor on Oct 5 for another ultrasound to make sure the cyst is going away. If it is over 10 cm, then she will have to have it surgically removed, which again, does not cause any major concern, according to the doctor.

The main worry now is that it goes away and does not burst.

That's all we have for now. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Heart Beat

Today Emily and I heard JET Jr's heart beat for the very first time! It is slowly starting to sink in that we are going to be parents. April 27th is the target due date: we are 8 weeks in now.

Emily has been feeling sick for over a week. She is constantly eating just to keep from being sick, even when she is not hungry. Her energy is very low and currently she is tired most of the time, which we have been told she will get her energy back in the 2nd trimester, which is what we are hoping for. She keeps on trucking away and fighting through the sickness. She is still not showing and I think when she starts showing it will become more real.

I have slowly started to pack up my office in lou of the baby. Since I don't work from home any more, there is no need for me to have an entire room, and it is important to us to have 2 guest bedrooms now so all of our friends can come see JET Jr! in the 20th week, we will find out the sex of the baby and the nursery will be going full steam.

That is the update as of now.

We are going to parents

Just in case you have not heard the good news, Emily and I are going to be Parents! And as you could imagine, we are very excited. We go to the Doctor on September 14th to get a better idea of a due date, but as of now, we are looking at April 27th, 2011. It has not really sank in too much for either of us yet, but it soon will.

Emily just started morning sickness, and over all queasiness Friday, no vomiting yet, so always something positive.

I will be updating this blog more often now, but mainly it will be JET Jr. (Josh & Emily Tyler) news and updates. In case you have not seen the video of us telling people...here it is.

Hello Friends

I want to start this blog by talking about Pearl Jam. I was finally able to see Pearl Jam in concert last night and it was worth every penny! They played for 2 1/2 hours, and put on one hell of a show. It ranks in the top 5 best concerts I have seen. Maybe #2, second to Carbon Leaf.

Seeing Pearl Jam has been on my list for many many years, I missed when they came to St. Louis 6 years ago, and was not going to miss them again. I have a short list of people and bands that I wanted to see.

Tom Petty, Robin Williams, Pearl Jam, Elton John (laugh if you must be I hear he puts on an amazing show) and the Eagles. I have seen them all except Elton John. Those are the shows that no matter the price, I wanted to see them. Robin Williams was awesome and worth the money.

So, moving on. Work has been going great! I feel as if I have found the job that I was meant to do. I love the DOOH (Digital Out of Home) world, it is so fascinating, and being on the cutting edge of technology excites me. For those of you who wonder what I do. My title is V.P. Of Business Development. Which means I handle the sales, and the sales people and new technology. For example: One of the things that I am working on is Sun Light readable touch screens that are weather resistant, expensive, but possible. On a smaller scale I am looking to incorporate an automatic hand sanitizer into the side of the AO for outdoor events. So, my days are crazy, which makes them fly by.

The downside is that I drive 45 minutes each way, which is tough and makes my day that much longer. And with me being so busy, Emily has really stepped up around the house, which makes me feel bad. So, I am trying to re focus my time so I can back on the helping around the house train. When I worked from home I was able to help all the time, run the errands, keep the houe picked up, etc. So, Emily has been amazing the past few months, a little upset that I have fallen off on the help, but I am getting back to it.

Emily will be moving to 1st grade next year. She will miss 4th grade, but it will be less work at night. 4th graders tend to work on their own more, so she has some down time during the day, not much, but some. But she has 1-2 hours of school work when she gets home. 1st grade is not stop all day, but no work when she gets home. She is pretty excited about it, but sad to leave 4th.

Soccer season will start up at the end of June, not sure where I am going to find the time to coach, but I enjoy being on the field wayyyy too much not to coach.

Pool should be open and ready to go with the heater rolling this weekend, so some quality lounging time is in store.

Emily and I started doing P90X, we are on week 2. It is a 90 day intense work out. We work out 6 days a week at 4:45, people are getting amazing results. Emily is looking great (not that she ever looked bad). She can fit into her jeans from freshman year of college. She ran her first 10K last week, and now is running 4 or 5 miles like it is no big thing. I am real proud of her for working so hard.

That is the main updates in our lives, all is well, we are both healthy and happy and Winston is still fat.

Keep on Keeping on! Mrrrrrr!

Cecil, Meet everyone, Everyone...meet Cecil

So, after some time spend over a few drinks riding around in the Edge, we came up with a name, but after telling Emily, we have changed it to Cecil. I actually like Cecil much better than the first name...which was Cletus.
So...world here is Cecil.

Forgive me Father for I have blogged

Life has been flying by lately. The last time we talked I was just getting ready to start my new adventure, and it has been crazy ever since, which is a good thing.

I love my job, I love the product, I love the digital signage world, I hate my drive downtown. I went from a 20 step commute to a 45 minute commute each way. The good news is I get to listen to quite a bit of Howard Stern, he keeps me sane.

There are so many great things happening with Ad Oasis, if you have not had a chance to look at the website, please do so, you will love it! www.ad-oasis.com. Alright, enough shameless promotion of my work.

Life has been wonderful for the Tyler household, Winston is still fat. He had to get over his stomach issues, and now we are weening him off that food and onto diet food. The vet has compared his journey to the Biggest Loser.

We are bearing down for the opening of the pool, which I can not wait. Emily most likely will not be teaching summer school because of budget cuts, and she is now trying to find something to do. I, would enjoy a few months of pool time, Emily was bored on her Spring Break. She is a worker, and I am proud of her for that.

We have found a church that we both really like, Windsor Crossing. I bring that up, because it has been a long process and many Sunday's sitting in churches that we didn't like. It is very tough to find a church, giving our different church backgrounds, that we: A, both like, and B. connect with the Pastor on a weekly basis.

We get the baby question almost every week, and the answer is....(drum roll), whatever the Good Lord decides for us. We have talked about a family, and when the time is right, we will have one. That is the best answer for you.

When are you dating someone, everyone asks when are you getting married. You get married and everyone asks when are you having kids. You have kids and everyone asks, when are your kids going to college, then it is when are you retiring, and finally when are you finally going to kick the bucket. So, right now, we are working towards When, we are living the now, and loving every minute of it.

Select Soccer Season is over, and I miss coaching all ready. Ready for June to get back out there.

Alright, off to bed!

Keep on Keeping on!

Crazy week

The older I get, the more that I believe that everything happens for a reason, granted, you might not know that reason right away, but I have a lot of faith that everything will always work itself out.
Monday I bid fair-well to my short lived career as a Door salesman. As many of you have told me, you didn't really see me selling doors and windows. I quickly landed back on y feet and accepted an offer from a company that I have wanted to be apart of for a few months, but the timing was off.
It is right up my alley of what I love to do, in the advertising and Digital Signage world. I am very excited about this opportunity to join an already thriving and wonderful company! My job will be a mirage of many different jobs that will I am sure will change on a regular basis based on what comes up for that day.
I encourage you to take 5 minutes and visit www.ad-oasis.com to see what all we can do. Trust me, it is very very cool! Let me know what you think.

Here is a brief description:

The AdOasis is designed to engage all the senses, putting an advertiser’s message front and center. It refreshes consumers with a cooling mist or warming heat. It has state-of-the-art, eye-catching graphics; all the while relaxing and engaging customers with pleasant fragrances and digital audio.

Keep on Keeping on....I know I have.

Noodle's Snow Day

Before I get into Noodle's snow day. I would like to wish a Happy Belated Birthday to Momma T.



A Snickers ice cream cake, with fudge and Oreos in the middle with devil's food chocolate cake on the bottom...from Baskin-Robbins; the best ice cream in the world.



Momma T and Norah blowing out the candles. Happy 25th!

Last week we got about 6 inches of snow, and Noodle was tired of being next to Chic all the time and begged me to spend the day with him. We had a great time, but as always, he drank too much.

Here is Noodle making a Noodle Angel

Noodle sledding on the sled that Santa brought us.

Another shot of Noodle sledding

Afterwards we moved inside in the warmth to play a few games of ping pong. He has a pretty good serve, but he can't handle my backhand.



After the Pong beatdown, Noodle wanted to take some shots.




After Noodle gets drunk, he always has to eat.




And then the food came right back up



All in all it was a great day. Love spending time with Noodle.

Still have not named the new car, but we are working on. We should have it narrowed down in the next few days.

Keep on Keeping on!!

Rembering Arnie

I have some sad news to report: Arnie is no longer with us….Go ahead, take a moment to digest the news, it is still hard for me to say. Arnie is gone. But we have to face the facts and realize that Arnie was awful old and he would want us to be happy.

For as much crap as we gave Arnie, he was the best road tripping vehicle that I have ever owned. He might have been ugly, but he was a lot of fun!So, through all the tears, I wanted to take some time to remember Arnie: the good times we had. Please post any Arnie stories that you have as well, it helps with the grieving process.

Noodle and Arnie on the way to Kansas City to see Uncle Bear


This is Arnie and myself in Chicago. He had a great time.


Ben Grubb, Musick, Myself and Arnie in Mexico for Musick's wedding. Man Arnie was hammered all week.



Guys Weekend at the Lake. Arnie got real drunk and went skinny dipping. Crazy bastard!



Arnie and I at the World of Coke. The kicked him out after he drank too much soda he vomited.



Emily, myself and Arnie swimming with the dolphins. He was a little freaked out first: Had a little oil spill.



Bear and Amy, Emily, Me and Arnie on the Beach in Florida. He loved the ocean.



The Gang and Arnie at Mark and Anna's wedding.



So Glad that Arnie could make it to our wedding. He was able to blow bubbles as we left.



Here is Arnie playing with Norah. He was so gentle..



Paddy and Arnie getting so quality time together.



This is Arnie as we were leaving for the dealership. He didn't know this would be his last trip. He had gotten so old he was not cleaning himself.




Arnie parked next the new ride. I think at this point he knew something was going on, because he refused to look at me.

Arnie you will be missed, you served us all very well!

The new ride is a 2009 Ford Edge from Dave Sinclair Ford.



We have not picked out a name yet, we are on 'C.' For those who don't know, we do name all of our cars and in alphabetical order. It started with my folks when they got married and we have carried it on. the Camry is Be Be. We have, for the past 6 cars, picked up some beer and would drink until a name would arise, most of the time we would have a DD and take a road trip. Many people have been apart of the naming game, so once a name is picked, I will let you all know.

Thanks for all those who contributed to Arnie's memory.

Keep on Keeping on!

Job

I wanted to be able to answer a lot of the questions I have been receiving pertaining to my job. Yes, I have in fact left Fill N Thrill. It was a very tough decisions and there are many factors that myself and Emily have thought about over the past 2 months, but ultimately felt it was time to leave.

I developed a great relationship with the CEO and my business partner, so walking away was a tough choice.

I do not wish to go into all the decisions here since I do care about the company and the CEO. I wish them all the luck.

Moving on though, I was also waiting to leave until I had another opportunity, which I do have. Until it becomes 100% official, I will have to leave the name out. But I will be the Assistant Marketing Director and a Territory Manager. I will be doing in home sales basically, along with Marketing. I am very excited about this opportunity, I am able to stay in the Marketing world, which I LOVE and be able to get out there and meet some new people. The job is a lot like I had with Culligan at the Lake with Mom.
It will be the first time in 10 years that I will be a W-2 employee, so we are pretty excited about that. The job gives me everything that I wanted: The freedom to basically set my own hours (no I will not be working evenings, Yes I know that is when both people are normally home, but that is not how this company works). The challenge of Marketing and good pay. All around it just seems like a great fit!

The word that has been floating around my head for the past few days is Grateful! Focus on the good, and what you have, not what you don't!

So, I will keep you all posted. Noodle and I had a fun day in the snow yesterday, so those pictures should be posted soon.

Keep on Keeping on!

my 3rd decade

So, 2009 is over and for a lot of people it couldn’t have ended any sooner. 2010 is going to be the year for everyone. Things are going to change, economy is going to turn around, jobs are going to come back, Tiger is going to quit cheating and global warming will fix itself! The end of every year always brings a lot of hope and promise of the good things to come. We are so quick to wipe our hands with the past year and forge ahead. But sometimes we forget the past year too quickly and what the past year brought us: Joys and Let downs.

For me 2009 was a great year, might be one of the best ones in my short 28 year life span. It did hit me that I am now in my 3^rd decade that I have lived through, so that is a major accomplishment! My liver has not yet given out. Emily and I celebrated our first year of marriage on August 29^th, which was a celebration that you all know almost never happened, so that is a lot to be thankful for.

I was able to celebrate in the marriages of many of my good friends, which is always a joyous occasion. 2009 seemed to be the year of marriages for us. I think we went to 7 or 8 weddings last year. Looking ahead we now start celebrating the birth of children now.

Justin and Meg had baby Dean. Bear and Amy found out they are expecting in May. Doug and Nikki celebrated the birth of Baby Chase.

I found a job that I love doing and got me back in the advertising world, which is a huge blessing for me. That is what I went to college for and for the past 4 years I was really doing nothing with my degree. I feel very blessed to not only have a job, but have a job that I enjoy doing, enjoy working and just enjoy waking up to work. It makes my day much better and much less stress on a new marriage. I know there a lot of people out there still getting laid off, so I count my blessings every day that I have a paycheck to cash.

And the all important New Year’s Resolution. As lame as it sounds: Dropping the holiday weight always comes to mind. But beyond that, Emily and I have drastically cut down our monthly bills, so the big Resolution is to double the amount that we save each month. We met with one of our financial planners today and started that goal into action. Just a few more things to finalize and that should be working.

And last is to be a better husband. I look at 2009 and am very happy with our marriage and I believe that Emily will say the same, but you can always get better. The minute that you think you are perfect, you will lose it all. Emily is the most important person in my life, so I strive to be the best Husband because she deserves it.

What are you resolutions?

Well, if you have a glass, I offer a toast to 2009, and wish everyone a happy 2010 and I hope that whatever you want 2010 to be, I hope it works out! Keep on Keeping on