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! 

Trick or Treating

Taylor has known for a month that she wanted to be Sleeping Beauty or ‘sopapilla’ as it sounds like when she says it.  I don’t think this is her favorite princess but her choice since it is the one dressed in pink and pink is Taylor’s favorite color.  We had several days of celebrating since they did a Fall Festival and parade at Taylor’s school, a Halloween party with church friends tonight, and then trick-or-treating around our cul-de-sac. 

In Taylor’s class alone they had most of the Disney princesses covered.

 

Taylor adores her teachers Ms. Kim and Ms. Rosemary!  God bless these women for working with toddlers in their costumes all day!

  

The obligatory pictures in front of the house.  Taylor has been telling me all week about how she is going to have a crown, a wand, a pretty dress, and slippers.  She will turn you into whatever princess you want to be with her wand, even if you are a boy(just ask Chris).  Plus she has been very sweet and wants to buy everyone else a costume or will tell me to go to the grocery store to buy them a certain costume.(I’m afraid that if I don’t write it down here that I will forget all these cute facts with a baby coming tomorrow.)

Taylor enjoyed swinging on the big girl swing at the Halloween party and was telling Daddy all about it.  Another group shot and trying to get multiple kiddos to sit still and look the same direction never works out.  Pumpkin Mommy(hours away from Elizabeth’s birth) and my sweet princess!

Last family photo before Elizabeth.  Army Man Daddy and Princess Taylor.  We have the sweetest neighbors who were all gathered outside to hand out candy to the kids and hot dogs to the parents.  Taylor was thrilled to go to one house and then get candy from all the neighbors gathered here.  She couldn’t wait to get back to our house to show KK, Ya-Ya, and Nana what treats she got.  KK did a great job of working with her on what to say but Taylor was a little confused when it came time for us to hand out candy to other kids.  She kept asking for her bag for candy. 

The candy has been handed out, the princess dress hung back up, treat from the Halloween Fairy in place to  replace all but 3 pieces(that Taylor picked out) of candy, and final preparations for our next princess’ birth are being done.  I hope everyone had a very Happy Halloween!

Wiggle Bones

I never knew that a pair of glow-in-the-dark bones pj’s would bring so much happiness to one little girl.  Plus Chris and I got quite a few giggles out of her showing off her new pj’s.  Besides needing to wash these pj’s every other night so she can wear them again, we have to plan on turning the lights off a few times before bed so that she can do her ‘dance’.  It just makes us laugh when she dances around with these on that even PawPaw and KK got to see the dance.  I wish our camera took better video in the dark but Nana will just to have to settle for some pictures until seeing it in real person in a few days.

Ta-da

These are my tickle and funny bones

Taylor Tuesday

Taylor - 'This is my tickle bone'

Picture Day

I have always wanted a little girl and was so excited when we found out Taylor was a girl.  I imagined dressing her up and putting bows in her hair.  Chris does a great job of letting me dress our daughter up how I wish and doesn’t complain when I come home with more bows.  When Taylor started preschool this fall, I was so excited to hear that they would do school pictures.  I have been playing different outfits(with bows) for weeks.  Little did I know that our little girl would have her own ideas on what to wear for picture day.  After a few tears(and watching Strawberry Shortcake as a distraction) I was able to get my way on the clothing choice, but one stubborn little girl kept informing me that she wanted ‘nothing’ in her hair.  No bows, no clips, no pony tails.  Guess you can only win a few battles.

I was able to take a few photos of our girl prior to leaving for preschool.  After seeing her faces for me, I feel for the photographer and will probably be amused by what they actually got.

Taylor… look at the camera

Finally a cute picture of our sweet girl!

Catalog Living

Do you ever browse the pages of Pottery Barn and drool over how beautiful the rooms are decorated or where all the kids toys went to?  How someone had time to think of each little detail for each holiday/season?  I love looking at these catalogs too but sometimes think some of the room setups are a bit odd.  I can’t remember how I found this blog, but if you want a little bit of humor based off these lovely catalogs then check out Catalog Living.  They post something new every couple of days and it almost always brings a smile to my face or even a giggle.  I hope you enjoy it too!

Project Life Thursday

Sunday: Nothing sweeter than watching Taylor and ‘her’ Tessa cat loving on each other.

Monday: 37 weeks along with Elizabeth

Tuesday: Taylor has taken a HUGE interest in using the camera.  This is a pretty good shot she got once she understood holding the button down long enough.

Wednesday: Sometimes getting Taylor to keep clothes is not worth the battle right now.

Thursday: Elizabeth’s E(and the final decoration for her room) came in so it was time to break the spray paint out again.

Friday: Our playdate group met at the Tarrytown Methodist Church pumpkin patch.  It was so much fun watching all the kids run around amongst the pumpkins, but trying to get a group shot was near impossible.  I can’t believe our group has grown to 8 and one on the way!  We went to dinner afterwards and needed more highchairs than adult chairs and we loved every minute of it!

Saturday: Our family managed to fit 10 adults and a toddler around three small tables at Mandola’s Saturday night.  The table was filled with wonderful food, the restaurant was busy with people, and each of us filled with the love of being able to spend time together.

Two and a half

While our house is crazy with prepping for a new baby, our baby girl is proving to not be a baby anymore and growing up more and more each day.  Taylor turned 2 1/2 last week and I loved the idea some of my friends had of interviewing our little ones.  This interview was pretty interesting since most of the questions received completely different answers than I was expecting.  Sit back and enjoy some humor from our BIG little girl.

Some of the answers I would have expected:

Names/nicknames: Taylor Girl

Favorite Food: cheesy pasta wheels or chicken and fries

Favorite Dessert: pink popsicle

In case you couldn’t understand, her baby sister’s name stated is Baby Pickle/Baby Elizabeth.  Taylor is VERY excited about becoming a big sister and shows me several times a day how she is going to hold the baby.  She also informs me all the things she is going to teach Elizabeth to do like: wash her hands, keep her panties dry, wear panties, play in her kitchen, make mashed potatoes, eat a popsicle, sleep in a big girl bed, read books, and play in the craft room.  It warms my heart to hear her want to help out so much and speaks so much about the person she is becoming.  Taylor is such a helpful member of our household and LOVES putting a napkin at everyone’s spot for dinner and has named herself the official mashed potato maker.  She even practices making the potatoes while playing in her kitchen.  Cooking has become more interesting and I look forward to her pushing a chair into the kitchen to help me assemble dinner. 

My life and daily adventures would not be the same without Taylor.  I know all our lives are about to change with the upcoming birth of Elizabeth so I am taking as many moments as possible to see her as the little girl she is before E is born.  Taylor makes my days more exciting and frustrating all at the same time.  Who would ask me to turn the music up louder, to sing with her, or if “I’m ready?” when the song starts?  Who would get so excited when we see a school bus and talk about how she will get to ride one someday?  Who would thank me each time I pick her up from school and get so excited that I came back?  Who would tell me about her day and give me a kiss on the hand as we walk to the car?  Who would tell me so excitedly that “God loves me!”?  Who would have a 30 minute drama throw down with me about what to wear or if she wants to wear shorts/pants? Who would remind me prior to nap that she is will let me know when she is done with nap by saying “Momma, I all done with my nap now”?  Sometimes you also tell me that you had ‘sweet dreams’.  Going down for nap or bedtime can be a bit of a task since you keep asking for a couple(holding up two fingers) more books and end up with enough books in your bed for a small town library.  Taylor still requires bunny with her at most times, blankie at nap/bedtime and snuggles on the couch, fishy and ocean sounds on at night/nap, and seahorse in the bed but not on.  Bunny is quite the companion but Taylor is slowly getting better at leaving him in the car or bag. 

Favorite books right now: Knuffle Bunny(she reads part of this book with me), Barbie Mermaid, Dora Mermaid, Pinkalicious, Because I’m Your Daddy

Taylorized Words/Phrase: Upavator(elevator), fA-lezz(please), bafroom(sounds like bathroom but means craftroom), uppy-side-down(upside down), nakee(naked or the wild crazy girl with just panties on), ca-ma(camera), Fancy Dancy Shoes(my red ballet flats), I do it, gobbles(safety goggles), That my Sadie dog/Tessa cat(really shown ownership of our animals in the past few months), uh-donalds(McDonalds), happy meal(any kids meal that comes with chicken nuggets and milk because it makes her happy)

<Side note: The McDonald’s thing is new because this Mommy is a million months pregnant and majorly swollen so cooking is not a priority right now.  Apples and milk balance out the chicken nuggets right???>

Quirks: loves seeing what color the soap will be and smelling her hands afterwards; often has wardrobe changes if the shirt/dress is not ‘spinny’ enough or if it does not match the color of bow she wants to wear(didn’t think I would have this problem for a few more years)

Favorite songs since music is a HUGE part of our life in this house: Stuck like Glue by Sugarland, Single Ladies(Chipmunk version) by Beyonce, ‘the na-na song’ Staying Alive(Chipmunk version), Don’t Stop Believing by Journey, and the all time recording breaking favorite…. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Taylor still loves to climb into our bed each morning and watch cartoons.  It doesn’t bother her to get me up at 6 am, but if it’s a weekend and Chris is still in bed she asks to go downstairs so she doesn’t wake him up.  It’s cute now but at 6 am I just want to climb back into bed too!  I enjoy our morning cartoon time because she becomes a snuggler and nothing is better than little girl snuggles.(unless it’s sleeping in past 6 am!)  For some reason she only really likes to snuggle with me.  Guess that will be just one of our mother-daughter things.  She has plenty of things that she only likes to do with Daddy like Lego building or playing the sleep game.  Taylor is also in love with anything pink or princess.  Disney does a great job of marketing because Taylor is drawn to anything with the princesses on it and informs me that she ‘needs’ it.  If you noticed on the video, Taylor likes to make up her own songs and often answers questions in her own language.  This had led to me often asking her to speak in English or use real words.  Another thing on the video is that she asks what I’m having.  Sometimes she also informs me that she has a baby Pickle in her tummy or a baby brother in her tummy.  More proof that she’s a goofball!

We love you crazy little girl and look forward to seeing what the next 6 months bring!(hopefully they will bring less tantrums or drama queen fits)

Taylor Tuesday

It counts as long as I actually get Taylor Tuesday out on Tuesday right???  I took Taylor to a pumpkin patch on Friday and she had so much fun running around looking at all the pumpkins and playing with her friends that sitting for a picture was not a priority.  I was able to get this one before she took off again.  Enjoy our little pumpkin cutie!