2 Years

Today is our 2nd Anniversary. In our two years, we have established three different homes, held five jobs, finished an undergrad degree, completed half of a law degree, raised a bulldog, had a baby, sold a car, bought a moped, joined a church, and have laughed through all of it. Life is great when you're married to a godly, intelligent, funny, musical, beautiful woman. Here's to at least 60 more.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

So, we Tylers are getting very very excited about Christmas. Knowing that there are so many people excited to meet our little man, we have been exercising Brody's cheeks as he prepares to smile at everyone. So, now the challenge among the family members can be who will get him to smile at them the most.

Here is a look at Brody's progress:

Tuesday's Video Clip

See Brody bust a move:

At this rate...

Funny thought:

In 22 days, Brody gained 2.47 pounds which means his mass increased by 29%. If he continues to grow at this rate, by the time he's twelve he'll weigh approximately
141,615,288,818,914,000,000,000,000 (1.42 x 10^26) pounds. That would make him slightly heavier than the planet we call earth.

A little scary

It's good to be home. It's great to have a healthy son. It's wonderful to have a God Who cares enough to answer prayer.


Wednesday, we took Brody to the doctor for a scheduled appointment. We were amazed to see that he has gained nearly 2 lbs. already. He already weighs 10 lbs, 11 ounces at three and a half weeks. The doctor was concerned that he might have had an ear infection—a BIG deal for newborns. We were immediately sent to the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters for newborn infection procedures: blood cultures, catheter for urine sample, IV antibiotics, and spinal tap. The drive to the hospital was not fun.


We prayed on the drive over for two things. (1) “Lord, we pray that this is not an infection. But if it is,” (2) “please heal him even now so that he won’t have to go through all of this.”


With broken hearts, we checked in to the hospital for what was supposed to be a two-night stay. Then the first doctor looked in Brody’s ear. “Hmm, it seems a little inflamed.” After a while, she brought a second doctor in. “I see some inflammation, a little fluid, but not really an infection.” The very kind doctor brought in an ear nose & throat specialist to check Brody out. “It’s inflamed, but that isn’t an infection.”


We may never know if Brody was misdiagnosed or if he was healed. Regardless, we praise God for the outcome. The doctor at the hospital decided that they only needed to draw blood and have him ready for an IV just in case. (sorry, this little picture may break your heart)



So, no catheter, antibiotics, or spinal tap.


We spent Wednesday night at the hospital. I left Thursday to take a final exam and immediately returned (so much for an “A” in that class). By 6:00 p.m., the lab results came back negative and they sent us home. Here are a few more pictures:




Praise God.

Tuesday's video clips

It has become tradition to post a video of Brody every Tuesday. Today is special. Today you get two videos.
First, I asked him to do an impression of his two grandfathers:


And here's another clip you might enjoy:


We can't believe how fast these last three weeks have gone by. At the same time, it's hard to recall life without a child. God is providing me a lot of self-realization through having a child to care for.

When he smiles...

Tuesday's Clip

Brody now weighs 25 pounds and is walking, talking, and reading. Well, not really, but here's a recent video of how he is growing:

Man... It's good to be home.

I was going to take the time to write a profound post. I realize, however, that you're probably only here for the pictures. So, here you go (in reverse order taken, sorry):

He's Here!!!

Wow. He's here. Too bad youtube doesn't do well with widescreen video recordings (it's a little "stretched"). Christine is feeling well. Both grandmothers made it. Brody is happy.

Nursery Video

The nursery is anxiously awaiting its resident. Here's a video that you might like to see:

Thanks to the technologies of Sony MiniDV, firewire, Expresscard, and standard software on a PC, this will be one of many videos. The background music is "When Silence Was Golden" from Appalachian Picking Society by David Schnaufer (thanks Philip).

OK, be born already

Still waiting. I remember hearing something about a watched pot never boiling. For Christine's sake, I hope that he's born in the next couple of days. She has a great attitude in her rather miserable state. Maybe he's just waiting until Friday so he doesn't disrupt our scheduled viewing of the office. Or, perhaps he's waiting until Saturday so I don't have to watch the Gamecocks lose for the forth week in a row.

I decided to take the advice of some friends at Regent and add a child safety seat to the moped. Not really. I did install a drink holder for my coffee, though. These days I'm enjoying the Sulawesi roast from Immaculate Consumption.

Baby Showers, Birthing Classes, and Youth Ministry

As the title suggests, we've had several things going on lately.

Generosity exudes. A couple of showers have filled our hearts with encouragement and our nursery with stuff! It blows me away that people in SC and VA care so much for our son already. Rather than lifting weights, I have been utilizing our newest exercise equipment: the Fisher Price Jumperoo Deluxe. Though I haven't reached Rev. Dirks's ability to dunk on a ten foot goal, I'm getting there.

Practice. We attend our last birthing class tomorrow. We're getting really close to the scheduled arrival.

Part-time employment. I am working a few hours a week for the church as a youth leader. The hours are great and the job is a lot of fun.
I'm sure that pictures are expected, but that's going to have to wait.

Back to School

The 2L year of law school starts tomorrow. My classes this semester consist of Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Family Law, Evidence, and Sports Law. I am praying about the possibility of working part-time during the semester.

We are thinking about selling our Dodge Stratus. Anyone need a car? If so, you could purchase ours and constantly quote Will Ferrell from Saturday Night Live: "I drive a Dodge Stratus!"

The Beach!!!

On Friday night (August 2), I finished my summer internship with Blackstone Legal Fellowship. The next day, Christine and I drove down to Emerald Isle, North Carolina to spend a few days with my side of the family. Here are a few pics from the trip:

At night on the beach:

A trip to Bear Island

My crabby niece:

And her little sister:

In Beaufort, NC (pronounced "bo-fert," unlike Beaufort, SC):

Singing some Skynyrd:

Our ghetto canopy was there to stay (for a few hours):

On the way to Bear Island:

The most beautiful woman (pregnant and non) ever to live:

A Nice Break

After a great summer filled with hard work and intense training through the Blackstone Legal Fellowship, it is nice to hit the beach with family for a few days. Once we get back, I'll begin posting again.

No More Training Wheels

Tomorrow is my last day working for a public interest law firm. I have been working on an amicus curiae brief for the past few weeks. The research has been rather consuming and the writing has been painfully slow. However, it's getting done. I have been doing my best for the sake of doing a good job. As I was driving home today, I realized something: the training wheels are off. In a little more than a month, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma will be reading my thoughts and hopefully will be persuaded by my reasoning. It is possible that my fingerprints will be on Oklahoma law. Granted, this is just an amicus brief and local counsel will sign onto it and my boss will help edit it.

It's not about money, grades, prestigious firms. My drive home today was an injection of reality and jurisprudence.

A Saturday Adventure

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day. Rather than braving the beach crowd, we decided to park in Norfolk and take the ferry across the Elizabeth River to Olde Towne Portsmouth. I don't want anyone of you to sound like a tourist, so I need to help you pronounce the names of these cities. Norfolk: "Nahh-fk" (yeah, the second syllable is a very bad word). Portsmouth: "Port-smith" (the second syllable here, fortunately, is not a bad word).

In Norfolk:

From the $1 Elizabeth River Ferry:

In Portsmouth:

Though we really like the Hampton Roads area, one of our complaints has been the lack of local coffee shops. Portsmouth had just what we've been looking for: