Zooin’

Filed Under Friends, One Month- Taylor, Outings, St. Louis, Two and a half years old, Zoo | Leave a Comment

When we go to the zoo, Bailey likes to say that we’re going “Zooin’!” I love her little phrases. (And I love that she calls going up and down hills in the car “rollercoastering” and that she calls the backyard the “vackyard” but she calls vegetables “betchtables”). Anyway. We have gone to the zoo twice in the last two weeks. One day we were supposed to meet up with a bunch of people but never connected with about half of them. We spent that day with Emily and her two girls, and Casey and her daughter Addison. It was Taylor’s first visit to the zoo so I actually remembered to bring the camera!

And both of my cuties in front of the elephant fountain… this is like a landmark for Bailey now. She loves seeing it as we walk into the zoo.

We love the Zoomagination Station. It’s an indoor free exploration/classroom/play area. You can pick up free tickets to visit for an hour during the day. They don’t let more than like 20 people in at one time, so it’s never crowded. I’ve also discovered it is the perfect break in the day to feed the baby and cool off a bit. Bailey was having fun with the sea creatures at the water table.

We rode the train all the way around the zoo, and I think Ella is now obsessed with the train like Bailey is. We really can’t visit without going on the train. And I have to admit, I like it too!

And this last picture- Bailey’s new “thing” is getting a map at the zoo and consulting it after each exhibit that we visit. Only she looks at it for a LONG time, turns it different directions, etc. It’s really cute and kind of funny!

From the mouths of babes…

Filed Under Clothes, Singing, Talking, Three Years Old | 1 Comment

A few things my darling three year old has said lately-

Mommy, when we grow up, you can be a doctor. Daddy will be an ambulance, and I will be the ouchie girl.

To my friend Sarah who was over the other day: Miss Sarah, you want to see Taylor’s wee wee?

I am a Twisted Sister. This is my song. “Twisted Sister, let me show you how. Everybody haive, everybody haive!”

I am keeping my Ario (Ariel) underwear dry. Because I have my diaper on under them.

And along those same lines-
I don’t like to wear underwear. It’s for other girls, but it’s not for me.

I have lots of friends. Everybody loves me. You love me, and Daddy loves me, and Grammy loves me, and Grampa loves me, and Ella loves me, and Piper loves me…

I may never march in the imputry, ride in the cavarry, shoot the artillery… but I’m in the Lord’s army. Yes sir! (over and over again as she marches around- it’s so cute!)

Mom can we look at bows again on your computer?

I’m not going to take a nap. I’m not tired. I’m just going to lay in my bed so I can let my eyes rest a little bit.

To a woman wearing a shirt with a bright butterfly spanning across one breast: I like your b00bie.

As I was laying out Taylor’s outfit on Saturday: Oh, he’s going to be so cute in that!

I don’t like that shirt. It’s too yucky for me. It’s just for other girls.

On the way home from Target: Mommmmm, all that shoppin’ made me so tired!

When I was getting ready to get in the shower the other day-
Bailey: If I’m a good girl while you’re in the shower, I can have two licorices?
Me: What??
Bailey: I’m just tricking you, Mom. I only need one licorice!

Taylor, you’re my best friend in the whole wide world.

Birthday Dinner at Red Robin

Filed Under Birthdays, Firsts, Milestones, One Month- Taylor, Restaurants, Three Years Old | 2 Comments

Bailey chose Red Robin for her birthday dinner. We let her choose from three different places (Mexican, Chic Fil A, or Red Robin) and I was so happy with her choice because I really wanted some campfire sauce and fries! The dinner was great and she really enjoyed them singing to her. I know I am way late with this but just wanted to document and share some pictures!

She LOVES wearing her crocs on the wrong feet. It kind of makes me crazy, but crocs in general make me crazy. And of course they are her FAVORITE shoes right now…

“Foofing” her fries to cool them off

And I haven’t forgotten about my sweet little man. He slept all the way through dinner, until we were waiting for our check. I’m pretty sure it was a miracle, because he just doesn’t do that. This picture was taken after we got home. He gave us his first beginnings of a real smile. A day I will always remember, for both of them. Her third birthday and his first smile.

Pre-birthday

Filed Under Bailey's Birthday, Clothes, Hair, One Month- Taylor, Sleep | 1 Comment

The day before Bailey’s birthday… also known as tax day… she rocked these red boots.

And this bow is from my friend Beth. Isn’t it cute? It coordinates with a shirt that Taylor is working on growing into

Her brother didn’t want to be left out. Actually, Mommy didn’t want him to be left out.

And here is my last picture of her as a two year old, taken at about 11:30 p.m. I had to kiss her one last time before she turned three! Silly, I know, but it’s crazy to see my baby growing up so fast. When I can pull my thoughts together about that, there will be a long third birthday post.

My sweet angel girl is three.

Birthday Week

Filed Under Birthdays, Clothes, Two and a half years old | 3 Comments

My little girl is turning 3 this week. And since I bought her several birthday outfits (oops) I figured we might as well wear them all week and start sharing pictures! Here is the one she wore to church on Sunday-

Wordless Wednesday- Sibling Love

Filed Under One Month- Taylor, Siblings, Two and a half years old, Wordless Wednesday | 2 Comments

(Notice most of these pictures involve Bailey looking really excited, and Taylor looking a little… skeptical…)

Gymnastics at The Little Gym

Filed Under Gymnastics, Two and a half years old | Leave a Comment

Just a couple pictures from two weeks ago at gymnastics. I wanted to take more but my camera battery died. She continues to LOVE her gymnastics class. In fact, that’s where we are having her birthday party this year!

First Smile

Filed Under Milestones, One Month- Taylor, This Rocks | 1 Comment

4/11/2010 Taylor smiled for the first time this morning! 7 1/2 weeks old. I have been waiting for this moment. It was not a full on cheesy grin, but definitely a happy little smirky smile. And the best part? Jonathon was holding him, and we were both talking to him, and he was looking at BOTH of us when he did it! I can’t wait for more of those little smiles. We’ll have to get a picture soon.

Easter 2010

Filed Under Church, Easter, Family, Holidays, One Month- Taylor, Sick, Two and a half years old | Leave a Comment

I will admit that going into Easter this year, it was hard for me to stay focused on the real reason we celebrate Easter. It’s so easy to get excited about the egg hunts, chocolate bunnies, kids dressing up for church, opening their baskets, etc. I didn’t have this problem before I had children. But sometimes, I get more excited about my kids than about God. I admitted it. I was hoping for a touching, joyful Easter service at church to help me keep my heart in the right place. But we arrived about ten minutes late, and then got paged to pick Bailey up from the nursery after about 20 minutes.

She felt warm and just kept asking me to hold her. She looked miserable, and fell asleep in the car on the way home. We carried her to bed and she slept for about an hour, My parents insisted that they still wanted to come over so once she woke up, the whole family came over. Which was especially awesome when she ended up puking after lunch. They made a quick exit. We got a few pictures before church though:

Here are a few after the family came over…

And here you can tell she’s really starting to not feel good-

My parents let me bring Taylor over to their house and hang out the rest of the day/evening so that hopefully he wouldn’t get sick. It worked! Plus the coolest thing- my parents have a big jacuzzi tub and my mom was like “bring your bath stuff and I’ll watch Taylor while you relax” so I got to read for an hour in the bath. I haven’t relaxed like that since before he was born. Just a few shots of my mom with him

Gabe’s birthday party

Filed Under Friends, One Month- Taylor, Parties, Two and a half years old | 1 Comment

Last weekend, we went to a birthday party for Bailey’s friend Gabe. Such a cute party idea- it was a pirates and princesses pajama party! There was a Peter Pan theme to it, and Bailey wore her new Tinkerbell jammies. We gave Gabe a cute pair of Gymboree pirate gymmies (pajamas) for his gift.

It was also Taylor’s first party. He did really well- he always seems happier when there is a lot of commotion and stuff to watch. I have lots of cute pictures, so I am just going to upload them as a gallery and you can click on individual pics if you want to see them bigger.

Breastfeeding Child #2

Filed Under Being a Mom, Breastfeeding, One Month- Taylor, Tuesday Toot | 2 Comments

Breastfeeding is so different this time around. I think I mentioned before that Taylor just took to it right away. It just seems so natural with him. Maybe because I’ve done it before, maybe because I am more relaxed, maybe because he doesn’t have sensory issues (we hope), maybe just because. Whatever it is, this child loves his mommy and he loves to nurse. It’s his comfort, his food, our bonding time. I don’t resent the time I am “stuck” in a chair feeding him. I have nothing better to do than love my children at this exact stage in our lives. When he wants to nurse, we do. (When I want to nurse him, we do). He sleeps next to me at night, but last night he went six hours between feedings.

Something about breastfeeding makes me feel capable as a mother. I am completely providing for my child. I am his sole source of nourishment and comfort at this point in his life. Maybe that’s not fair to my husband, maybe it doesn’t matter. It will be such a short time that I can do this for him, in the grand scheme of things. He is six weeks old. Several months from now, he will be eating baby food and I might not be the center of his universe anymore.

With Bailey, I always had supply issues. She was a “lazy” eater and she tired easily, and we got into a pattern of supplementing with formula. We were never able to break that pattern. With Taylor, he had a few formula bottles in the NICU overnight when I couldn’t be there with him. Since he’s been home, he has had nothing but breastmilk. He takes bottles like a champ, so I still have the flexibility to leave him. I do better with pumping this time too. I have actually found a manual pump that works better for me than my expensive double electric one! We have a freezer full of milk, and I have to say I am proud of both of us.

Big Boy Tub

Filed Under Big Sister, One Month- Taylor, Two and a half years old | Leave a Comment

Once Taylor no longer needed sponge baths, we started bathing him in his little tub over the kitchen sink, just like we did with Bailey. Only this time, she likes to help. We pull up a chair and she scrubs his legs and feet while I do everything else. She thinks it’s the greatest thing ever!

An Absence So Great

Filed Under Books, Sponsored | Leave a Comment

I am in the middle of reading this book called An Absence So Great by Jane Kirkpatrick. It’s an historical fiction novel set in the early twentieth century. It has beautiful photographs and descriptions in it. I can’t tell if the book has been slower to get started, or if I have just had a hard time since I only get to read for about five minutes at a time. I am starting to enjoy the book, it’s just taking me forever to read! I have been reading it for two or three weeks now and I am only about a third of the way through. Normally it takes me just a few days to read a book.

Here is a quick summary of the story in case you are interested:
Inspired by the engaging stories told through her grandmother’s photographs taken at the turn of the century, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick provides a portrait of the tension between darkness and light in the soul of a young woman pursuing her professional dreams.

Jessie gains footing on her dream to one day own her own studio and soon finds herself in other Midwest towns, pursuing her profession. But even a job she loves can’t keep those painful memories from seeping into her heart, and the shadows of a forbidden love threaten to darken the portrait of her life.

I am looking forward to finishing this book… someday… and seeing where she ends up!

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Happy 6 Week Birthday, Little Buddy

Filed Under Doctor Stuff, Milestones, One Month- Taylor, Weight | 1 Comment

Today Taylor is six weeks old! Time is absolutely flying by. Even faster than it did when Bailey was this age. He is doing a little better with letting me put him down (although still just for a minute or two at a time!) and he has also slept in his bed for about an hour or two the past few nights. Baby steps, right? I had my six week postpartum check today. Got the “green light” for all activities. Yikes. But that means I can get my gym membership in the next few weeks, which I am really looking forward to. Now I have to lose the weight from two babies since I never lost after Bailey! The nurses all passed Taylor around today and commented on how cute he is. My OB’s nurse also said, “Wow, he looks JUST like Bailey!” Anyone who really knows her can see the similarity between them. I love it.

This picture was taken yesterday after Taylor rolled from front to back FOUR TIMES on his own. The day before he was six weeks old. Looks like we might have another early mover…