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!

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

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.

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!

Sometimes, we see a lot of animals there. Mostly elk (duh), deer, bison, and ducks/geese. Today we only saw a few geese and then a herd of buffalo that were really close to the road. One was about five feet from our car. Bailey thought it was pretty cool and wanted me to open her window so she could wave. Taylor slept through the whole thing.

At one point we stopped at a “viewing area” (there are certain places where you are allowed to get out of the car- NOT in the bison area though). There was a wooden feed bin type thing so I decided to make it a learning opportunity. I talked to Bailey about how it was a manger like what Jesus slept in as a baby. I showed her how the animals food was in there, but Mary put her baby in one just like that because he didn’t have his own crib. I love trying to help things “click” for her.

After we were done at Lone Elk, we decided to stop by the Wild Bird Sanctuary. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was right next door and it was free! It was actually kind of cool. Local moms- we will have to do a playdate there one day. I wouldn’t say it’s exciting for adults unless you are really into birds. But cool for kids to see, lots of room to run around, an “animal hospital” you can go inside, and another building with a gift shop and other animals that we didn’t get a chance to check out. And it’s something different. Bailey enjoyed seeing all the owls, hawks, eagles, and other large birds. They are in outdoor cages just a few feet past a fence.

Once again, Taylor was really impressed…

The whole thing is a big long path that you walk down and there are cages and perches on each side. I would say it’s a half mile walk maybe. There are spots where you could bring a picnic or snack and sit to eat as well. The path was gravel, which was annoying for me because Bailey LOVES to play with rocks and throw them. It took us about twenty minutes to walk ten feet because she kept sitting down to play in the rocks.

I’m so glad my dad was able to come with us and make it easier for me to get out of the house with the kids!

This morning she kept bugging me for candy. At one point we had the following conversation:

Bailey: Mom, can I have a lollipop?
Me: No, not now.
B: How bout now?
Me: No.
B: How bout NOW?
Me: NO!
B: What about a candy can? (candy cane)
Me: No.
B: Well can I have a T-R-E-T?
Me: (In shock) What does that mean?
B: Moooommmmmm, it means CANDY!

She also uses a lot of “time” phrases… such as:

I do it every day.
I saw that movie last week.
I will go there on Sunday.
My favorite? “I will wear underwear next year.”

She talks about her baby brother a lot. The most common things to hear:

I love you Taylor Owen!
It’s okay baby Taylor.
That’s my little brudder.
Let’s call him Potato. (Yes, she has decided that his new nickname is Potato.)

The other day she was watching this movie my mom got her. My mom told her it was just for little girls. Bailey turned it off and said, “I don’t like that movie. It’s for little girls, but it’s too scary for me. It’s for other girls.” (FYI the movie was NOT scary at all, that is her standard excuse when she doesn’t want to do something)

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

A few nights ago she woke up crying during the night. I thought she had a bad dream or something so I went running into her room. I was trying to be a good mom and console her. I was giving her kisses and telling her I loved her. She looks me straight in the eye and says in a stern voice, “Go BACK to bed, Mom!”

She has also been known to say, “That’s too many kisses, Mom!” (Now you see why I was praying for a child who liked to be held, right?)

The other day she came in my office and saw an empty candy jar. (Yes Emily, I already ate ALL the chocolates you gave me the other day!) She looks at all the wrappers and says, “Wow, Daddy was a piggy. He ate all those candies!” Sooo I just let her think it was Daddy.

Yesterday I went in Taylor’s room and she had her shirt pulled up, and she was holding one of the breast pump pieces up to her chest. Awesome.

A while back, she kicked me in the leg when she was mad. Then she looked up with big innocent eyes and said, “I’m sorry Mommy, I didn’t see you there!”

Oh, life with an almost-three-year-old. It’s never dull

Taylor is such a good baby. He just likes to be held ALL THE TIME. Some people say to quit “spoiling” him, but honestly he has no idea what spoiled means. He is not “manipulating” me. He wants to be loved and to feel secure. I am not going to deny my child of that. He has been through a lot. Maybe I appreciate him more because of what we went through. Maybe I am making up for all the snuggles we couldn’t have during the first week. Yes, I do get tired of holding him. But I will not just let him scream as he sits by himself in a bouncy seat. His little chin quivers and he wails and then when he finds me back with his eyes, and he hears my voice, he calms down. It’s nice to be able to make someone so happy with just my presence.

We are having a rough time with sleeping. He does not like to lay flat in his own bed, alone, to sleep. He sleeps in three places: His swing (thanks again Kelli!), his bouncy seat, or in bed next to me. I am not a huge fan of cosleeping, honestly. I would rather not have someone nipping at me and rooting around all night. But if it means that I can actually be somewhat relaxing and somewhat resting, it’s worth it. Unfortunately, Jonathon is sleeping in the living room in the meantime because he is afraid of smushing the baby.

Bailey is still doing MOSTLY very well with him. She does have her jealous/mean moments though. For example, she figured out that she can push his bouncy seat down, and it will pop back up and make his head flop around. Lovely. I have been trying to give her extra grace and extra love, but she has also been having a lot of time outs because there are certain lines that we won’t let her cross. Overall, though, she really loves him and wants to constantly hug and kiss on him. The biggest problem is usually that she won’t leave him alone!

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.

My parents brought Bailey up to visit soon after we moved to our room. My mom said she was SO excited to meet Baby Taylor. I had been looking forward to this moment for a long time and also stressing out about it. I was afraid it would set them up for sibling love, or hate, or something. It seemed like such a BIG moment. But it was just normal. It was my two kids, just checking each other out. Bailey was excited and wanted to touch his eyes, nose, ears etc. She said, “Hi Baby Taylor Owe-lin, I’m your big sister!” It was so sweet.

She also thought my hospital bed was pretty great and wanted to climb around on it. After crashing against my stomach several times she was removed from the bed.

So last week while I was getting ready- one day she colored on the couch with markers. Thank God they were washable. Daddy left them where she could reach them. She has NEVER colored on anything other than her own skin before so I was really shocked. She also got into some of my greeting cards that I made and messed those up. Then another day, she got down the Sweet Pea soap from the guest bathroom and “washed” the couch. And another day, she washed the tv stand! I was thankful that we have black faux wood tv stands and glass coffee tables and stuff like that instead of super expensive heavy wooden furniture. At least it wipes down easily. Then another day last week she tore apart a book and shoved little spit wads of paper up her nose. I got to pick all of them out later for her.

This is why I worry about having two children.

Definitely a cute spot I would go back to again to meet up with a friend for coffee and snacks. Although not too often- their cupcakes were SO good but I felt like I needed fat burner pills after stuffing myself that day!

And a few from class-