While I look after her younger brother (who all too soon will be crawling away from me, eating random fuzz from the floor, pulling up to peek in the doors to the gym like the other babies in the waiting room) she runs off to play with her friends and climb and swing and jump. She follows after her beloved Mr. Mark and Miss Izzy and does warmups all on her own, and waits in line, and cups her hands to her ears to show that she is listening. She is just beautiful to watch.

And I am so, so aware that her babyness is completely gone now and she is a preschooler now. Not even a toddler anymore. Part of me is so proud, and the other part wants to just stop time for a while and squeeze her and close my eyes and think of her as my little baby again. This parenting stuff is hard.

I did take quite a few pictures on her graduation day. Since it was my last class to actually attend with her.

My camera wasn’t fast enough for her as she ran circles on the red mat during warm-ups!

I got lots of pictures of her showing off her skills-

Getting her medal… so proud!

And not to be left out-

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.

They both cooperated with getting ready. Usually Bailey has a fit about putting on tights but she did well. The problem came when we tried to take a family picture. Got a good one of Daddy and Taylor…

But check out what happened when we asked Bailey to join them!

She managed to pull it together (but still refused to take a picture). When we got to church she was so proud to push the stroller around and show off her baby brother. She went to her class and we took Taylor to the service with us. He made it, oh, about fifteen minutes before he decided he was hungry. I went to the nursing room where they have the sermon on a speaker to listen to. Unfortunately this woman came in to nurse her child and could.not.stop.talking to me. I thought I was going to lose my mind, and I didn’t hear a word of the sermon. I think next time if that happens I will actually say something. Or else get up and turn the speaker up to a deafening volume!

Anyway, we survived. We didn’t make it today (because Taylor decided not to sleep AT ALL last night) but now we know we can do it!

He also seems to like the Baby Bjorn (I honestly don’t know why anyone would like being in that position with their arms and legs stuck out crazy). Unfortunately he is still a little too small for it and his face just smooshes against my chest and I get worried that he can’t breathe. I think he is right at 7 pounds right now so I need to look up the weight for the Bjorn. (Okay just looked it up and it says starting at 8 pounds so we will wait a little while before trying again). I didn’t have this with Bailey, but I used to use one with the baby I took care of several years ago. He was a huge baby though so it wasn’t comfortable for too long. I am looking forward to using this carrier with Taylor.

Here he is the first time in the sling.

I would be curious to hear from any mamas who have another type of sling. Ours is the Kangaroo Kids Ring Sling. I have been curious about the Moby and the Mei Tei… can’t remember which is which at the moment though. I have also heard good things about the Ergo carrier.

I will say that it is more effort to get both kids out of the house. I am kind of thankful Taylor is a boy, because at least I don’t have to worry about fixing his hair or finding accessories to match his outfit. Or putting his earrings in. So he’s pretty quick to get ready, but I have to make sure he has eaten well before leaving. I also travel a LOT lighter than I did when Bailey was this age. I just bring the small black diaper bag from the hospital, for BOTH of them. He is breastfeeding so we don’t need any food related items. Basically I bring diapers for him, an extra outfit, and a burp cloth and then for her I just bring a diaper. I usually throw a binkie in his carseat just in case, and a blanket- which can double as a nursing coverup.

It takes longer to get the kids in and out of the car now, because I use the stroller for his carseat if we are walking any distance at all. We have a rule that Bailey has a choice, she can either hold my hand or hold on to the stroller. She usually “helps” push the stroller. She has done really well with this rule. One thing I have to take note of though. Our mall is really nice. The stores are average to upscale. The area is middle class to upper middle class. But the parking garage? Is disgusting. There are huge puddles all over the floor, the ceiling leaks and water drips on your head. There are cracks everywhere. I don’t know if all metal buildings are like this but it is really gross.

So we got our shopping done yesterday at Gymboree, and then I got brave and went to Motherhood to get a new nursing br@. While we were there, I let her play with the toys in the kid area and I sat in a fitting room with the curtain open (so I could see her) and fed the baby. Then we headed home. I was pretty pleased at how it went with both of them.

Here is a sneak peek of one of her new outfits!

Here are a few pictures from those first few days.

I called Jonathon and told him I was coming home to get him. We had my dad come over and watch Bailey, and we went by Target and went to get lunch. When we got back up to the hospital, we changed him into some snuggly fleece NEWBORN size jammies. Which were clearly about eight sizes too big.

I love this picture with me holding him!

And one with Daddy-

I love the “drunk on milk” baby pictures. And this baby sure does like to eat!

We kept telling him that the carseat was a good thing- that it was time to go home. He wasn’t easily convinced.

One last family picture in the NICU. It was bittersweet leaving, honestly. It was the only home my baby had known. The place where I spent hours and held him and watched him get better. And cried thousands of tears. The nurses were so loving, the other moms were so supportive. I can’t quite explain but it was strange to leave.

We were welcome home by one very excited big sister, though!

Here she is holding Taylor for the first time. With help.

When I went in the NICU they told me that they were getting ready to move Taylor off the CPAP because he was doing better! That was great news. He had been wearing a hat to hold the tube in place, so he got the hat off. I was finally able to rub his fuzzy little head! At this point he was on high humidity oxygen instead. Oh, you don’t know how good it is to feel your baby’s head until you haven’t been able to.

I was also SO jealous of the moms who had babies in the regular nursery who weren’t even holding them. It really made me mad to see those cribs parked in the nursery. Some of them even had signs “only feed every three hours” or “no pacifier please.” I just wanted to scream at those moms and say, “You can hold your child whenever you want to! Don’t be so selfish!” but yet when Bailey was in the regular nursery I know I left her there so I could nap, etc. Funny how perspective changes.

Jonathon came up after lunch and we went back down together to see Taylor. At this point he still did not want to hold him. I think honestly he was intimidated by all the tubes and wires. He kept saying that it was more important for me to hold him but I think that was an excuse. Up until this point I had also been pumping at least every three hours all day and night. I think when you can’t be with your baby it feels like the only thing you can do to help… By that evening his nurse told me she thought he was ready to try a bottle feeding. They knew I planned to breastfeed but they said we had to start trying with the bottle first. He had been too sick to nurse after his birth (although we didn’t know then why he wouldn’t). So his first feeding was at about 34 hours old. They used a syringe to put pumped milk into just the nipple of a bottle and we got to hold it in his mouth. He drank it right away and we were so happy. They had warned us that a lot of preemies (they were calling him a “late preemie” since he was born between 34-37 weeks, although he was also technically full term but exhibited a lot of preemie characteristics…) can’t coordinate their sucking and swallowing yet so this was great news.

Saturday was the day I was supposed to go home. My day nurse was awesome, though. She told me first that I could stay through dinner and then came back later to tell me she had arranged for me to be discharged after dinner but keep my room for another day.

Sometime early afternoon on Saturday, Taylor got off his oxygen and moved to forced room air. Then later that day he got taken off that too! This was my first glimpse of him without his nasal cannula. I kept saying, “He looks like a regular baby now!”

His poor little face was so sore from all the tape, though.

Jonathon finally held him for the first time since he was admitted to the NICU!

That evening, Jonathon brought Bailey up for a visit. Our nurse Kathy did a great job hiding all his wires and everything inside the blankets. I didn’t know if she would be concerned or even notice them but we didn’t want him to look “sick.”

She also enjoyed playing “This Little Piggy” with his toes… so cute…

That evening, my parents came up to visit. I brought my mom in to see him and the nurse surprised me by asking if I wanted to try nursing! He did great. I couldn’t believe it, he latched on correctly with the first try and just ate. So unlike his sissy, who took DAYS to figure out how to eat. It was so frustrating with her… so easy with him.

Getting Ready

Reception

(Clapping as the bride and groom are introduced)

Can you tell she was getting really tired?

Here she was about two minutes into the car ride home and already falling asleep!

We enjoyed a Wendy’s stop on the way home. I miss Wendy’s since all of them around here closed

Congratulations and Best Wishes to Faith and Bryan. It was so good to see you guys. And Bailey has been playing “wedding” since we got home, with my bouquet and her flower basket. It usually starts out, “Mom, let’s play wedding! You’re Uncle Bryan and I’m Aunt Faith!”

She loved putting her snow clothes on and getting ready to go outside. She LOVES her princess boots. In fact she keeps wanting to wear them everywhere we go.

Experimenting with snowballs…

She enjoyed her first ride in her new sled. She wanted to pull Daddy in the sled too but didn’t understand why it wasn’t going to work out.

I think she really liked playing in the snow. It was just so ridiculously cold and, well, my coat does not close in front anymore!

Freezing cold and time to go inside!

We gave her washable markers and let her color all over the smaller one. She took her job very seriously. She told us the designs on the pumpkin include a pig, a cow, a face, and some letters. She colored on it for about twenty minutes which is a LONG time for a two year old to work on a project! At least for my child, anyway.

She helped me scoop out the pumpkin guts from the big pumpkin. She didn’t like it though and lost interest quickly. I don’t really like doing that either, so I can’t blame her. I carved it by myself and she watched and colored while I did it.

All lit up and ready for Halloween! She thought it was pretty cool.

Tuesday her coughing seemed to be getting worse. Then Tuesday night she fell and busted her head open… resulting in an ambulance ride and a night at the hospital. The reason we called the ambulance- other than the massive bleeding- was because she started falling asleep right away. I actually sat on my front porch to make sure the ambulance could find us. It’s funny the things you do when you panic. I had the sense to change my shirt and grab my phone and charger on the way out the door too. The police and firetruck showed up first because the ambulance came from another district. She started calming down right away because she was excited about all the sirens and lights. Silly girl. We rode with the lights on but not the siren because they didn’t want to scare her. She had to sit on my lap on the stretcher- the other option was them strapping her down alone which was just not going to happen.

They were able to use glue instead of stitches or staples on her injury. I was glad because it is supposed to scar less. The worst part was holding her down to get it washed out- it took the doctor, two nurses, and Jonathon and me to do it. Then after we were released she started throwing up so we had to spend the night at the hospital. Several drugs, an IV, and a ct-scan later, we were released. Her results were all normal and we were told to keep her head dry for a few days, limit her activity, and don’t let her bump anything. That was Wednesday morning so my mom picked her up and let Jonathon and I sleep and get stuff done around the house.

By the way if anyone knows how to get blood out of your carpet, please let me know. Of course it’s right at the top of our stairs near the entryway. I have gotten it to fade but not a whole lot. I have been looking for something also to pad our doorway with. She needs some kind of fall protection or corner guards. The spot where she hit her head was in the doorway to our kitchen. It’s one of those cut out doorways that doesn’t have a door frame in it- basically drywall with metal in the corners or something. Probably the hardest place she could possibly have hit her head of course. So we need to fix that. The things that you don’t think of babyproofing until your child gets hurt…

Wednesday she seemed to be recovering from the head injury but she started coughing until she threw up. Back to the pediatrician on Thursday morning about the coughing (again) and to get her head checked. Her ped ran a test and had us do a chest x ray. The conclusion is that she most likely has cough-variant asthma which would explain why she coughs all night long for weeks at a time. We are borrowing a nebulizer for two weeks and if that stops the coughing then we will talk about a preventative treatment plan and visit a specialist. They think it is allergy-induced because it’s much much worse in spring and fall, and seems to come along with a runny nose. Yesterday we did her breathing treatments every four hours, once during the night, and today we have spaced them back to every six hours. She has only coughed a handful of times (even in the night) since starting them. So I think this is working!

As much as I hate for my child to have asthma- it could be SO much worse. I know someone whose three year old just got diagnosed with CF, and I kept thinking of all the crazy things that could be causing the coughing. I am thankful to have an answer and that it is getting better now.

The first few treatments, she hated it. Now she will hold the mask herself if I let her sit in front of the tv while we do it. That’s a small price to pay to avoid two of us holding her down for the entire treatment!

Ready for nap the other day, she was singing a cute song and I just love her in t-shirts, she looks so cuddly and sweet!

First day of summer camp through our school district- the parents stay and play, and it was lots of fun. We made a birdfeeder, did water play, free time, play dough, and got to go outside!

Oh and a picture from Gabe’s birthday party back in February- I just found this!

Have a great weekend!

Once we got to the mall, we registered for the egg hunt. We also had a chance to join some sort of kids club but it sounded like it wasn’t even worth the $5. So we got a free stuffed bunny and got to find a few Easter eggs. But we had to wait a few minutes so we (by we I probably mean me) stood outside the Gymbore outlet and tried to decide what I was going to buy!

I was wondering if Bailey would understand the concept of hunting for eggs. Although she is pretty good if I ask her to find her shoes, or her sippy cup, or something else that she misplaced. Well, she would pick up one or two eggs but then put them down because she found different ones, or she would re-hide the ones she already had… but she definitely had fun anyway! Here she is with her friends Kaylee and Addison. Kaitlynn was there too but they got there a little later and did the egg hunt after us.

While we were at the mall, we got to do a little bit of outlet shopping. We got some seriously cute stuff at the Gymboree store. They are doing Gymbucks (earning) right now so we had to spend enough to earn Gymbucks. That is how I justify it. Then we went to Carter’s and just got a shirt, although Casey got a lot of super cute stuff for Addison. Children’s Place, we didn’t have quite as much luck but I managed to get her some jammies for $1.99 and a pair of shoes and something else but I forget what. I was bummed to find out that they closed the Nautica Kids outlet. In the past I had gotten some really good deals there for Bailey. I kind of wish we live closer. BUT I am kind of excited that Casey needs to return a few things to Carter’s because I want to go back with her. (You like how I invited myself?)

And then on the way home… Addison fell asleep and Bailey was STILL going crazy. She kept putting her foot on Addison to try to get her attention. She really gets a little over excited and over-stimulated sometimes and it is hard to get her settled down again.

So Sunday, we just had a little bit of snow. It hadn’t gotten bad out yet, and Jonathon asked Bailey if she wanted to play in the snow. Well, I caught him about to take her outside in fleece pajamas and a pair of crocs. He’s a good dad, but you know how dads just don’t think like moms? Perfect example. So I got her a little more bundled- fleece pants with Babylegs underneath because we don’t have a snow suit. Two shirts, coat, hat, mittens. Shoes that actually cover her feet. Then we went outside.

Jonathon was up on the deck trying to add water or chemicals to the hot tub.

Come on, daddy! Come play with me! (She says, “Come on, pease! Wahr you, daddy?”)

Bailey and Daddy had fun playing in the snow. Which really was just a lot of running around…

And falling down…

We had lots of fun in the snow. We only stayed outside for about ten minutes because I didn’t want her to start coughing again. She also went outside for a few minutes on Monday. Today, she has not been out. I think the snow is too deep for her to actually have fun in. She would have trouble walking, and it takes so long to get all bundled up for just two minutes outside.

January- please note her lack of hair, compared to now

February- and Bailey is walking!

March

April- happy first birthday, Bailey!

May

June

July

August

September- Jonathon and I went to Disney World

October

November

December

Happy New Year!

The place is really cute. It is super busy/overdecorated but it definitely kept Bailey’s attention during her haircut. The girl who did her hair was really fast. She created bangs for her- like actually sectioned them off so that they are defined and separate from the rest of her hair now. I had her cut them kind of short- well they ended up a little shorter than I wanted them by the time they dried- but I wanted a significant difference between where they started and stopped so I could pull her non-bang hair up easily and not have to separate it out with a comb. If that makes sense. She also trimmed about a half inch all the way around. Bailey got a toy to hold during the haircut, and then afterwards she got a ponytail and got to choose a special ribbon.

She got to put a “ticket” in a prize machine. It is a big machine that dispenses little things like rings and plastic toys. So the kids always get a reward for getting their hair cut. She also got a first haircut certificate and a little lock of her hair in a tiny ziploc attached to it. We bought some new shampoo that they said will be easier to rinse out of her hair than the Johnsons stuff. Maybe less shampoo battles now??

This was the before picture that I took, before we got out of the car. You can see how long and scraggly her bangs were.

Look at her feet. They never stop moving, ever. I’m glad I finally captured them in motion.

She was really good during her haircut. She sat still and the woman even commented on how great she did for a first haircut. I am attributing it to all the hours she has spent having her hair styled by Mommy!

Ta-da!

I forgot to mention they gave her a balloon, too. She spent the entire car ride yelling “Bad, bad, bad” at the balloon. I have no idea why.

We also celebrated with an ice cream cone afterwards.