New York II

We went to the Brooklyn Bridge. Waited in line for 45 minutes for the famous New York pizza (almost as good as pizza in Italy). We saw Jersey Boys which was FABULOUS! We ate at The Tavern on the Green in Central park. After took a carriage ride. And of course we shopped a lot. This was just a few of the things we did this time.

New York!

Setting up Christmas

Stockton helped Tyler put the star on the tree. He had fun watching us decorate and loved all the lights on the tree.

Stockton's First CAT Scan

Well, Stockton had his first CAT Scan yesterday (and probably not his last with my family's history of trips to the emergency room). We had his four month checkup on Monday and while measuring his head the doctor became nervous that it was a little too large (typical of Howland boys). At his two month checkup he was only in the 97th percentile for head size and this time he was off the charts (way to beat the curve Stockton). So, the doctor ordered a CAT scan to make sure that everything was okay. The doc was almost certain that nothing was wrong, but he wanted to be sure that no fluid was building up inside that large noggin of his. It turns out everything was okay. From the pics below it may look like Stockton was a little scared (he hates being swaddled), but he actually was smiling and giggling the whole time. I guess the camera just shuttered at the wrong moment. Anyway, all is well. Sarah and I really are trying to blog more. We promise not to go two months before the next blog. Besides, I have other posts that I need to do so you can see the last two months of his life.

Finally, another post!!

Yes, he's a thumbsucker
Some of his smiles

We went to visit cousin Aunt Hilly, Uncle Picky & Cousin Izzy last week. It was a blast. Stockton is half asleep in this photo.

Stockton's first hike. We went up to Donut Falls and he loved it. He stayed awake the whole time.

Okay, so we are slackers when it comes to this blogging thing. I thought I would post some more pics of Stockton. Not much exciting going on. Stockton is a champ. He sleeps 8-10 hours at night and smiles lots so we are going to keep him (Yes, we know his sleep pattern is abnormal). Anyway, we'll try to keep you updated again.

Blessing (and Golf)

Well, Stockton's blessing was yesterday.  Mom did such a wonderful job getting him ready and planning the wonderful breakfast afterwards.  Stockton did a great job at falling asleep right before the blessing so dad didn't have to worry about him crying.  It was actually a interesting sacrament meeting.  We had FOUR baby blessings.  I knew there were going to be one or two others but I had no idea that there were going to be four.  All in all, everything went great.  

These images above have had us laughing with tears all day long.  Stockton is finally starting to get big enough to wear some of the clothes he has and we decided to put him in the Payne Stewart (Payne Stewart was a golfer for those of you out there scratching your heads) outfit today.  He looked hilariously (is that a word?) cute.  We had a blast showing him off today.  Every time the hat went on we started to laugh because he looked so freakin cute!  We love him and enjoy every day (and every night now) with him.  

Independent

So Stockton decided yesterday that he was going to hold the bottle himself as you can see from the picture above. I know, it was probably just a fluke but I am proud nonetheless. He actually grabs the bottle all the time with both hands. He just isn't quite strong enough to hold it up. He keeps getting stronger all the time. He isn't allowed to sleep with mom and dad as he snores like his mother (Love you Sar).

Update

Heidi took more incredible pictures of our baby.  I would post more but it's taking forever!

Its only been three weeks and we are finally blogging again.  We feel pretty good about ourselves.  Stockton is doing great.  He wakes up every 3-4 hours during the night to be fed (dad wakes up at midnight and six) and eats like a champ (except for the boob, we'll get to that later).  We have been blessed with a couple nights where he has gone 5-6 hours straight without waking up.  Those are the blissful nights where Stockton starts to cry, Sarah turns to me and says it's time to feed him, I look at the clock, it reads 4:00 am, and I tell Sarah that my turn to feed has joyfully passed.  For all those soon to be fathers out there, take the midnight feeding, so far it's been the first one going away.  For all those fathers lucky enough to have a kid that latches to the boob, enjoy your sleep.  Actually, getting up with Stockton is a treat and I do enjoy it.  He's wide awake after every feeding and I love nothing more than staring at him after he's been fed.  He's like any other man after being fed and with a full diaper, content without a trouble in the world.  As for the boob, Stockton has decided that he doesn't necessarily enjoy the work that goes into eating that way so he his being fed via the bottle.  We hope this is the update that everyone was looking for.  We hope to have an announcement out soon (we sort of like to procrastinate).  Let us know what we can do to blog better.

Blogging

In the words of Uncle Jared this is, "Stockton to Malone"

Sarah rocked on the day of delivery. 

I am starting to get the hang of this whole picture adding thing.

So Sarah and I are horrible bloggers.  We really are trying to become better.  Jeff told us the other day that he didn't like our polka dots.  Apparently we need to figure out how to format these things.  I just write in this little box and attach pictures. Isn't that enough?  Anyway, I can't begin to tell you how much we love this kid.  Every time I look at him (except for between the hours of 1:00 AM and 5:00 AM) I can't help but smile.  Sarah and I are amazed everyday that he is ours and that we are finally parents.  Thank you all for your kind comments (especially about the hair).  Speaking of the hair, I do have a funny story to tell.  Before we had Stockton, Sarah looked at a baby picture of mine and told me that I looked like a "troll baby."  Apparently she thought I had too much hair.  Well, when the ultrasound tech told us at 20 weeks that she could see the baby's hairline, I think mom started to prepare herself.  Now that Stockton is here with a full head of hair, she thinks he is the most beautiful baby ever (every mom does) and has stopped using the phrase "troll baby."  Anyway, I love the hair and Sarah does too.  We hope you like the pics.  Heidi just took more that we are going to post as soon as we get them.  If you'd like to look at one of my favorites, you can go to her website at http://heidilynnphotography.blogspot.com  It's a picture of Stockton hanging from a tree branch and he just happened to pull a face right when she took it.   

Introducing: STOCKTON TYLER HOWLAND

These are the pictures that Heidi was kind enough to take for us.  They look absolutely incredible.  We are way excited to take more this week.  Based on the heading you may know that the official name has been picked, "Stockton Tyler Howland." He continues to amaze us and we are so grateful that he is a part of our lives.  We look forward to the upcoming days and weeks.  We will keep you all updated.  Thank you for your comments and support.

Second Update

Everyone is requesting more pics so here they are.  Mom and baby are doing great.  We can't get enough of him.  We are leaning towards Stockton Tyler Howland as the name.  I have some naysayers who want us to call him Ty, but we'll see.

Well, the big day finally arrived.  After all of the false hopes and mistaken labor pains, the baby has finally arrived!  Sarah and I went home last night assuming that we would be going all the way to the induction date.  Well, not we, but her.  She, after all, was the one going through all the pains of her 39th week of pregnancy.  Right after we got in bed and in the middle of watching the Tour de France, Sarah turned to me and said that she thought her water was breaking.  I assumed that it was just more leaking, but sure enough, even after I got a towel, the leaking kept coming.  Of course, before we left for the hospital, she insisted on taking a shower, doing her hair, putting on some light make-up, etc., etc., etc.  I was panicking as most first time fathers probably do and telling Sarah that we needed to get to the hospital stat!  We finally arrived and my poor wife was still draining her system as we checked in at the nurses station.  They got us situated around 11:00 PM, her contractions started an hour or two later, epidural by 4:00 AM, fully dilated by 10:00 and here came the baby at 11:07 AM.  All I can say is that I am so amazed at what Sarah (and all other women for that matter) just did today.  It was absolutely incredible and I am so proud of her.  The birthing process truly is an amazing miracle.  Attached are some pics of the baby.  If you want the full details of the night at the hospital, give us a call (yes I left some out.  Sarah was a trooper through a whole night of fun!).  I love you Sar! 

So I thought I would throw up an ultrasound of the baby.  This is the only one we have but hopefully it keeps people "updated" on the pregnancy.  

Boston Marathon

It's always been Tyler's dream to run in the Boston Marathon so we figured he should do it before the baby came.  He trained all winter long and was running 60-70 miles per week to get prepared (I never saw him very much, especially on Saturdays when he would go out for 20 miles).  After all his hard work, he finished the marathon in 2 hours and 53 minutes.  His goal was to finish in under 3 hours so he reached his goal!!!  He took 687th place out of 25,000 at the marathon and took 7th out of everyone from Utah.  He even got his name in the Salt Lake Tribune.  Congratulations Tyler and I am so proud of you!

Our First Post

After all the nagging Sarah and I have finally decided to step into the blogging world.  We hope we will be accepted with open arms since we were anti-bloggers prior to Sarah becoming pregnant.  Let's be honest, without kids, life is pretty dull and we haven't had much to say about the past three years anyway.  

Our first blog is a wonderful picture of Sarah's amazing belly.  She looks incredible and I would dare say is one of the sexiest pregnant women I know. She is 30 weeks along and she is feeling better compared to the first 20 weeks of her pregnancy, but is still excited for the baby to come out ("as soon as possible" in her words).  The past few weeks have been great because I can finally feel the baby kicking and moving around in Sarah's belly.  We'll keep you updated as she progresses (The next post could possibly be the actual delivery until we get the hang of this).