Taylor Tuesday

Taylor:  I used this toy when I was a baby and now I show you how to use it.
Elizabeth(thinking): Very interesting, but does it feed me?

elizabeTHursday

Elizabeth is finally staying awake long enough to do more than eat.  Chris caught this photo of her today(pre-turkey dinner coma) while playing on her jungle mat.  Today we are thankful for this little bundle of joy!

Movember

When Chris informed me that he was going to grow a mustache, and only a mustache, for the whole month of November I made the worse face possible and quickly told him ‘NO!’  I like to think that I have that much control over my other half.  Didn’t he know that Elizabeth would be born at the beginning of the month and I didn’t want him to have the creeping guy facial hair in all her newborn pictures.  Then he went on to explain why he was growing it and while I’m still not crazy about the facial hair, I completely support what he’s doing.  Here’s his letter explaining Movember and a picture of him with his brother and Dad.(who are also participating)

To All,

For the month of November I have joined up with my family and friends to participate in Movember. We all formed a team Barra Bigote (Mustache Gang), and committed ourselves to growing a mustaches in order to help raise money and awareness for prostate cancer and research (please see attached photo). Cancer has affected almost every person in America in some way, whether it is a family member or close friend. It is imperative that we help raise money and awareness about cancer so that people will have the tools to prevent and fight cancer. It is particularly important for me to raise money and awareness about prostate cancer because:

- Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men.

- Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind only lung cancer.

- 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in his lifetime.

- 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime.*

This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I'm asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to support the great work of the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG.  To help, you can either:

-  Click this link http://us.movember.com/mospace/698782/ and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account
-  Write a check payable to Movember, referencing my name or Registration Number 698782 and mailing it to: Movember, PO Box 2726, Venice, CA 90294-2726

The money raised will help make a tangible difference to the lives of others, through the world's most promising prostate cancer research and LIVESTRONG's programs that support young adults and their families battling and surviving cancer.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please visit

http://us.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs/.

Do you have important men in your life?  Are they aware of prostate cancer and how it can affect them?  If not, maybe you should think about telling them about Movember!  I now LOVE the fact that in Elizabeth’s baby book Chris(and other male family members) are sporting a mustache to raise awareness!!!

Taylor Tuesday

Since our Christmas tree takes up residence in our under the stair closet 11 months out of the year, this closet was never very exciting to Taylor… until today.  This new world has provided quite a bit of entertainment already.  Guess I will add this to my list of pros for putting the Christmas tree up prior to Thanksgiving.

ps.  This picture makes me think of Taylor going into her own Narnia world.  Just imagine all the make-believe that lies beyond our coats in a toddler world.

elizabeTHursday

Elizabeth is a snuggler and loves to snuggle with Daddy after she has been put into a ‘milk coma’.  You can often find two of my favorite people hanging out together and I love it! 

Sisterly Love

For my entire life I wanted a sister.  I love my brother and wouldn’t be the person I am without him.  But that didn’t stop me from wanting a sister.  I would have loved a little boy, but am thrilled that Taylor(and Elizabeth) is going to get to know what it’s like to have a sister.  The mother in me was worried that there would be jealously early on from Taylor having to adjust to not being the only child anymore, but she ADORES her baby sister.  She was more interested in meeting her baby sister at the hospital than giving Momma a hug and kiss.  While I really wanted that hug and kiss, my heart was warmed by how much Taylor already loved her baby Pickle(Elizabeth).  This love has continued over the past two weeks and I can’t wait to watch it grow over their years together.  I also know that with that love with come ‘loving’ disputes between two sisters.  The only thing planned about these photos is the outfits(matching) and asking Taylor to smile.  She kept kissing Elizabeth because that’s just what she wanted to do and then she finally asked to hold her.

Taylor Tuesday

While there are plenty of times that my sweet toddler tests my patience, she is also quite entertaining.  While cooking dinner, Taylor entertained me by twirling in the kitchen.  Did you know a 2 1/2 year old twirls better with a cheesy popcorned face, a sleeping beauty wand, and her little sisters headband/bow?

One Week Old

Elizabeth is now two weeks old, but I actually took pictures last week but never got around to blogging them.  Can’t figure out why I don’t have time to blog… maybe lack of consistent sleep or could it be the toddler that likes to test my patience??? 

I have to admit that it is amazing how much easier it is in the beginning your second.  Chris and I aren’t trying to figure out how to change a diaper or worry about how to hold Elizabeth.  She moves from one set of arms to another with ease and snuggles in without waking.  She LOVES to snuggle on your chest, especially once she is in her ‘milk coma’.  Every so often she graces us with open eyes just long enough to let us know what she needs.  We are enjoying her sweet sleeping faces and wonder what a newborn dreams about.  What in the world could make a newborn fret in her sleep?  No milk?  Elizabeth’s first week went by pretty fast since half of it was spent at the hospital.  Once home, we enjoyed lazy days around the house of sleeping, eating, and snuggling.  We laugh at the positions that Elizabeth ends up in since she loves to snuggle into a ball.  Chris is enjoying both of his girls!

I could kiss this sweet little face all day!

(I know there are LOTS of pictures, but there is a Nana several hours away already missing our littlest one)

I love the monthly photos of Taylor in her chair, so I started Elizabeth.  She is posing with a teddy bear that I got in college when my best friend passed away.  This bear has been a decoration item in our guest bedroom and I decided that it needed a new home and updated bow.  He will now be E’s faithful monthly picture friend and might become a soft buddy later. 

Taylor is currently in a no bow phase and I’m afraid Elizabeth wasn’t too excited about the headband/bow either.  Someone needs to tell her that this Mama LOVES bows and will keep trying. 

I included these to show off her monkey toes.  Both Taylor and Elizabeth have their PawPaw’s feet!

Just a few pictures of sleepy expressions.  I was so excited to catch these on her. 

Hope you enjoy these Nana!  Your girls miss you!

elizabeTHursday

For the past 2 1/2 years I have greatly enjoyed sending out my weekly Taylor Tuesday.  I knew that Tuesday was Taylor’s day and started to ponder about what day of the week should be Elizabeth’s.  I also knew that everyone who receives a Taylor Tuesday in their inbox would not mind another email each week with a picture of our new Elizabeth.  My sister-in-law came up with the idea to combine Elizabeth’s name with Thursday and therefore we have elizabeTHursday.  Each week you will also see a post with a picture of our sweet Elizabeth. 

Elizabeth has been looking a little jaundice since we left the hospital but the doctor wasn’t too worried and just prescribed some good ole Texas sunshine.  Here’s a picture of Elizabeth working on her tan this week.

Taylor Tuesday

I hate to say this, but I don't have many pictures of Taylor from the last week since we were focused on the birth of Elizabeth and I stepped out from behind the camera for a few days.  The photo of Taylor this week shows how excited she is to be a big sister.  She couldn't wait to hold Elizabeth(aka Pickle) and love on her.  Taylor has been amazing with Elizabeth and continues to give her kisses and hugs all the time.  It's not the greatest photo of Chris, but my focus is on our two sweet girls and the beginning of their lifelong friendship.

Elizabeth’s Day

(beware this is a LONG post)

Since Taylor was breach and born via c-section, I was given the choice on what type of birth we wanted for Elizabeth.  When the doctor said that I could be done at 39 weeks I said sign me up!  That fell on the friday of Halloween weekend so I asked for the following Monday.(Taylor finally understood Halloween this year and I didn’t want her to have to trick-or-treat in the OB recovery wing)  I was fine with another c-section since giving actual birth scared the bejezus out of me, but as November 1st grew closer(and my belly couldn’t stretch anymore) I gained a peace of mind over the whole concept of a VBAC.  I even started having a few contractions that would be close enough to time and then go away. 

Friday, October 29th – Contractions had been occurring since Thursday and that evening they progressed to 10/11 minutes apart and Elizabeth hadn’t been moving much.  Chris kept asking me if everything was okay.  I thought it might be time to head to the hospital, but didn’t want to feel like a big dork when they sent us back home for Braxton hicks.  Chris assured me that he would still love a dork and we headed to the hospital.  We are thankful Chris’ mom would come crash on the couch while Taylor slept.  They actually put me in a temporary room to monitor E and I for the next 2 hours.  E started moving like crazy(thank goodness), I got to see that my contractions were real, contractions slowed/stopped, and at 1 am we were sent home.  See photo below of my hugely pregnant self watching the contraction/baby heartbeat monitor.  Chris wanted a memento of our late night hopsital run too, and got a warning for speeding on the way home.  I think it was my HUGE pregnant belly and a cop that made a few runs like that himself that got him out of the ticket.  Thank you Mr. Officer for not adding to our baby bills!

I still can’t figure out why Elizabeth decided that I needed to continue to have contractions, but not at any regular intervals.  I was even having contractions while doing my pre-op on Monday.  I guess she just wanted me to feel like I didn’t miss out on any of the non c-section parts of childbirth. 

Monday, November 1st – My mom came in over the weekend, we took Taylor to school, and then I finished up a few last things around the house before it was time to head to the hopsital.  It’s funny how this time around I was running around like crazy rather than relaxing.  I wanted to make sure that everything was ready for Taylor while I would be in the hospital for multiple days and also keeping myself busy so I didn’t think about that 8 hour window of not being able to eat or drink anything.  Seriously 8 hours????  Who thinks it’s nice to make a pregnant woman go that long without food?  Since we had already updated all my information at the hospital Friday night, pre-op went really fast and we were able to start a few minutes early.  God bless my OB for being able to use my same c-section scar and even keep it a bit shorter!  Bets were made on what size the baby would be.  Wendy – 8 lbs 12 oz, Chris 8 lbs 7 oz(just like Tay), and Dr 7 lbs 7 oz.  At 3:03 pm Elizabeth Lauren made her debut screaming at 7 lbs 14 oz and 20.5 inches long. 

Already a Daddy’s girl, First family photo, kisses from Mom

Proud Daddy showing her off to the family, our paparazzi, sweet Elizabeth

Nana was the first to hold her(besides us), Ya-Ya and E, PawPaw and E

Jefe and Shelly with E

On Tuesday morning, Chris went home in time for Taylor to get up and after a fun donut breakfast they came to see her new baby sister.  As much as I wanted to love on our first little girl, she was more interested in loving on her sister.  Taylor has been so wonderful and excited about Elizabeth!  We gave her a camera so that she could take her own pictures of her baby sister and it didn’t take long before she was clicking away.  Chris’ grandmother came up while Taylor was there so she was able to spend time with both of her great-grandaughters.  Our girls are lucky enough to have FOUR living great-grandmothers.

And lastly I had to include some pictures of Chris/Elizabeth time.  Due to the c-section I really didn’t start changing diapers until our last day in the hospital and Chris never missed a beat in stepping up to do this.  He is also the master swaddler while I end up with a foot and hand sticking out by the time I’m done. 

By the last day we were plenty ready to head home and had everything packed up and waiting for discharge.  Life has been a wonderful adjustment to being a family of four.  Thank you for all the prayers and sweet comments as we got ready for our baby girl!  Now off to snuggle both my girls!