martinscove

Tylers surgery

2008-10-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

I've always let kevin do the blogging but I thought I'd add a little update. Tyler is having surgery on Monday to remove his dermoid cyst on his eyebrow. Hopefully everything will turn out fine but of course being a new mom I worry. Tyler is such a good baby and so very happy all of the time. He is also a dady's boy to which kevin would say what do you expect. It has really been a whorlwind of a ride becomming a parent and I love being a mom with all of its ups and downs. Like I was telling someone the other day you know you're having a good day when you get a shower and have done your makeup and a really good day if you're no longer in pajamas. Anyhow life is good with the Martin family and Kevin is still putting up with me so I must be doing a few things right somehow. Talk to ya later. Amanda

Long time no blog

2008-10-03T18:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, so maybe it has been a little while since we have blogged. Ok, maybe it has been a long while. It is funny how time flies and we don't even realize that it is going on. Or maybe our lives are just so boring it is depressing to blog about. Actually, life is anything but boring when it comes to being a parent. Tyler is 4 months old and is as active as ever. He is going through the stimulation stage, where no matter what we do he wants more of it. He is grabbing and putting things into his mouth and playing with toys. He is a growing little boy and we love watching every moment of it. His big smile brightens our day. He is too cute.
Recently I discovered that I am already wrapped around his little finger. We went toy shopping recently and it was a lot of fun. The only problem is at this shopping place they had demo toys. I guess they call them exersaucers, anyway, we decided to put Tyler in one to see what he would do and he went absolutly crazy in one. He was so excited and so loud about it. I decided right then and there that we had to have it because of how happy it made him. I had to convince Amanda but that was easy. So we spent a good amount of money on this exersaucer. Now it wasn't just the basic one. It was the BMW of exersaucers. Nothing but the best for my Tyler. He loves it. He spends tons of time in it and just laughs and screams and loves it. It makes us happy that he is happy.
That got me thinking...how much do we do to make others happy? Do we go out of our way to make those we love happy? Do we try to make those we don't know happy? Our Heavenly Father wants us to be happy in our lives. "Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25) What gives us joy in life? Do we search for joy in our lives and do we live to bring joy to others? These are somethings we all should think about. I have decided to try to make someone, other then my immediate family, smile each and everyday. How amazing it would be if we could bring joy to this unhappy world!?! Let us all strive to bring "joy to the world."

Peer Pressure

2008-06-13T19:26:00.001-07:00

After many requests for update pictures of Tyler, we caved in. Enjoy the new pics of our growing boy.

Big Boy

2008-06-10T08:29:00.000-07:00

Big Boy is our dog. A lot of people laugh when they hear his name and poke fun at him. His name means a lot to me. You see, when I was younger our dog had puppies and I was able to choose one puppy to keep for myself. I picked the fatest one we had and as a 9 year old picked the name big boy. Two months later I had to give Big Boy away because we were moving. It sucked to give him away and even worse we didn't end up moving. I've always remembered that experience. When we saw our "new" Big Boy I knew what his name should be right away. Amanda didn't mind and I now had a second chance with Big Boy.
I was quite worried that Big Boy would not like Tyler and I would have to give away another dog. At first I thought my fear would come to pass. For the first couple of days the Tyler was home anytime that he would cry Big Boy would bark. He wouldn't do anything else just bark. But as he has gotten used to having Tyler in the house the barking has stopped and he has become qutie the concerned protector. Anytime Tyler moves or makes a sound Big Boy goes and checks on him. He loves to sleep under the crib and when Tyler sleeps in his swing Big Boy usually takes a nap right next to the swing. They are going to be great friends. In fact, I think we saw the ultimate sign of acceptance two days ago. We were watching t.v. and Tyler was in his little vibrating seat sleeping. Big Boy was being playful so we were playing fetch. I threw the toy and he went and got it and then took it to Tyler and put in on his lap, as if to say throw it. I went and got the toy and threw it again and he did the same thing. I don't think he knows that Tyler can't play yet but he was going to give him the chance. It was a reassuring comfort that this Big Boy is around to stay. Thankfully he is and always will be part of...Martins Cove.

An accomplished pooper...

2008-06-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

Three days!!! That's how old little Tyler is now. I guess he will be four days at 11:44 pm. What an exhausting, joyful couple of days. As Tyler adjusts to just being on earth, we adjust to having an addition to our family. Sleep is a joy from the past that we don't experience much anymore. I've been told that babies are more awake at night because that is the schedule they are used to in the womb. All I know is he gets really hungry at night and Amanda seems to feed him constantly. Not only that he has now become an accomplished POOPER. We had our first overflowing diaper o' poo this morning. There was poop everywhere and all I could do was chuckle and thing, that's my boy. He still doesn't like to get changed but that's what happens when you poop.
He is starting to get facial expressions. Little half smiles creep up every now and then. This morning he ripped a huge fart and it seemed as though a smile was on his face. Amanda started laughing and said he is definitely your son. I just laughed and thought...that's my boy.
Our dog, Big Boy, is still trying to adjust to life with a newborn. He isn't sure what to think. Sometimes he wants to protect him and sometimes he wants more attention. Last night it was really cute. Tyler started to cry and Big Boy went over to him and started licking his head as if to calm him down. He is very alert of where the baby is and the sounds he makes. I think he sleeps worse then we do because if the baby stirs Big Boy hears it. He is actually adjusting a lot better then we expected. We find ourselves focusing on the negative things that he does instead of the positive and even though the positive are more then the negative it is the negative that we respond to. I guess that will be one of my first lessons on parenting. If we always focus on the negative then we will never praise the positive and that can be very destructive. I think that dog just taught me a valuable lesson.
Well our accomplished pooper just pooped again and I think it is my turn to change him. Please pray for me:) We are grateful for all the love and prayers in our behalf as we begin this next journey in our life and as we continue to add to our family and what is now known as...martins cove.

Home at last...

2008-06-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

You know it doesn't seem like 2 days at the hospital would be so bad but for the new dad, it isn't the funniest thing in the world. We were able to come home this morning and are slowly adjusting to life with a newborn. Our dog Big Boy is having a hard time with the noises that come from little Tyler but we expected that. We hope that after a week he will be used to not being an "only child".
Amanda and Tyler are both doing well. Yesterday Amanda felt like she had been hit by a truck but today is doing much better and is glad to be home. Tyler doesn't really care where he is as long as we are around. He is such a great baby so far. I know it hasn't even been 48 hours but we love him. He only cries when we change him and when he got his shots. Other then that he is very mellow and very alert. All the nurses kept commenting on how alert he is. I just chuckled because that's how us Martin's roll:) Both mother and child are healthy and well and dad isn't doing too bad either.
Most people like to hear labor stories so let me roll out the events of the last couple days. Labor started Saturday night. Amanda had lots of contractions but nothing to send us to the hospital. They died down a little on Sunday but picked up again Sunday night. Amanda went to the bathroom Sunday night and noticed some blood so she wanted to go get checked. We were at the hospital for an hour and they said to go home because she wasn't dialating. We went home and went to sleep. Amanda has hard contraction for 3 hours so we went back to the hospital but she still wasn't dialating so we went home. Monday morning was our normal doctors visit and she had begun to dialate. He told us to go for a 2 hour walk and then come back to see if we were in what they call "active" labor. We did and she was so he broke her water. Once they water broke Tyler came in 8 hours. Amanda was amazing and all the nurses told her so. She only pushed for 50 minutes and Tyler came right before midnight.
At first he was breathing fast and they wanted to monitor it. They told us it was normal but I think they say that about everything so that we don't worry. After an hour he was breathing normal and the rest of the night is pretty much a blur. All I really know is I am at home and have a baby boy who looks like me. Everyone keeps saying he is a beautiful new born and I reply, "what did you expect? After all he is MY son." Actually, I have seen ugly new borns and I agree that he is pretty good looking. All of the pictures that I posted yesterday were taken within 30 minutes of him being born. I will post some more today. Check back often for updated pictures.
Thank you for all your well wishes and prayers. We are grateful for all of you who make our lives a joy. We can't wait for you all to meet Tyler and fall in love with him. He is awesome and full of personality. But I guess you wouldn't expect anything less from a Martin. We hope you check back often for updates and too look closer into...Martins Cove.

He's Here!!!!!

2008-06-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

Good Morning World,
Tyler Daniel was born Monday June 2nd at 11:44 pm. He is 7lbs 5 ounces and 20 inches. Updates will be coming...enjoy the pictures.

Welcome to Martins Cove

2008-05-30T21:28:00.001-07:00

Hello World,
Welcome to Martins Cove. Let me first explain our blog title. Many people mistakenly assume that our title comes from the LDS pioneer handcart company who have been come to known as the martin handcart company. During their trek accross the plains they met unbelievable circumstances and many of them suffered a horrible fate in Wyoming. The place where the stopped and waited for help is now known as Martins Cove. Now our blog title and e-mail address do bring this event to memory but we chose this when we first were married as an e-mail address that we could always use throughout our lives. Martins Cove to us means the place where we reside. It is our own personal cove and those who visit us will always enter into Martins Cove whether they like it or not.
My name is Kevin Martin and my wifes name is Amanda. We decided to set up this blog to keep our loved ones up to date with what is is going on with our busy, often hectic, wonderful life. Tonight I write while hoping and praying that Tyler Daniel Martin will be born soon. We are due in 5 days and are anxiously waiting. We are hoping that he will come and bless our lives soon. According to the Doctor he will be a big boy. Heaven help my tiny wife. As we near the time with anticipation, I quietly thank God that I got in the man line in Heaven and don't have to give birth. How blessed women are and will be through the eternities. Us men might act tough but there is nothing that we go through that will compare to 9 (actually 10) months of pregnancy and how ever many hours of labor they may go through.
I certainly am grateful for my beautiful wife who puts up with me while carrying our child. I don't say it enough but I love her and she is the greatest thing that has happened to me in my life. We will be married 3 years on June 4th of this year. Amazingly, she still looks at me the same she did 3 years ago. Hopefully she knows how much I love and aprreciate her.
I suppose that this is a good start. I have no idea how often I will write or Amanda will write. We will try to keep this updated. Hopefully it will become a weekly entry that we will cherish our whole lives and generations of our family can look back on with fond memories. Although, I am sure that something bigger and better then the internet and blogging will come soon. Who know's? To all those who read and decide to become part of our lives, we hope you enjoy this peek at who we are and enjoy the visit into...martins cove!!!
-Kevin