April showers bring May flowers!

It is May…yay! It has been super busy for me these last few weeks! It was our anniversary April 29th and my big 3- 0 birthday on the 30th! I can’t believe we have been together for so long…8 years, but I am told that you start to count over once you get married. BUT--- 3 years just does not sound as justifiable??? I mean look at us here on our FIRST New Year's Eve together in 2001...we were babies!

Here's to us!!! Married 3 years ago and on our honeymoon in Jamaica!

We went out to dinner to Logan’s Roadhouse for our anniversary with NO kids. It was so nice. I forget what it’s like to eat out and not have to constantly entertain a child just so you can get through your own meal pleasantly. I didn’t have to pack a bag of tricks! We had such a good time! The following night we went out with some family and friends to Chicago Fire, again with no kids!!!! Two nights in a row! We were having a blast, which now we are back to reality! I went wine tasting with my sisters and girl friends on May 2nd…the girls surprised me and a limo picked us up. I had a WONDERFUL birthday week! This is a picture we took on the "Wine Tasting Day" that we are going to give my mom for Mother's Day!

I am giving Karen a baby shower this Saturday. I can’t believe she is going to have her baby girl so soon. It just means that Taylor is growing too fast. I am looking forward to another fun filled weekend! Between that party and Mother’s Day, I am keeping myself rather busy!

The kids are doing well! Nathan is at the stage where when you tell him to smile for the camera he does this cheesy smile thing that seems to look more like a pirate going rrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

He is just getting smarter and smarter everyday and some of the things he says just blows my mind. He is the epitome of a sponge soaking up everything! Mike gave him a haircut. I can’t believe how much different one child can look after something as simple as a haircut! Here it is, but he just woke up so he has a little bed head.

The picture of Nathan on the bed is so funny. He likes to lay in our bed and watch a cartoon of his choice before bedtime for 5 minutes so I am walking by the room and look in and he is still as can be, laying in our bed, watching his cartoon, and wearing his sunglasses in the dark. We were laughing so hard and were also able to take a photo before he moved! Below is a picture of Nathan and Taylor laying in Nathan's crib (he just woke up).

Taylor is doing well! Growing like a weed (as Mike likes to put it). Her belly button is almost normal. She is always smiling and cooing now. I love it when the babies get to this stage and follow you with their eyes and coo all the time, it is so precious! She'll just sit in her swing and stare at the mobile and talk up a storm!

Ohhhhhhhhhhh BIG news :-) Taylor rolled over last night…can you believe it? She isn’t even 3 months old yet and it wasn’t a fluke because she has rolled over 3 times since last night. She is advanced. Nathan didn’t roll over until he was 5 months old. I always hear how girls do things much faster than boys and I am starting to see it first hand! I will be in touch via blog soon! Happy Mother’s Day to all of you beautiful mommies out there!

Easter and Toilets!

I know I know Easter and toilets doesn’t really sound all that attractive said together, but I have never been so excited about a toilet before!

This picture Taylor was 6 weeks old and Nathan 2 ½!

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday which I am so excited for! We dyed our Easter eggs yesterday because Mike has to work late tonight. Nathan absolutely loved it. I am sort of a control Nazi and had to keep reminding myself that it’s okay if Nathan wants to put his egg in orange and then blue…who cares…color outside of the box right?! He was really into it which was fun for me because this is the first year of doing this soon – to – be annual tradition! Ohhhh and he eats hard boiled eggs too, hehehehe, who would have thought. Thats my boy, he'll eat anything!

I am excited tonight to assemble his basket from “The Easter Bunny” and see him wake up to all of those goodies! I sort of went more nuts on the toy side of Easter rather than the candy and sweets because he doesn’t know any better yet and I figure why get him all amped up and junk and sugar when he doesn’t even know what he is missing out on. There will come a time in the near future when all he wants for Easter is SUGAR and until then, at least Mike and I won’t have to deal with a sugar crazed 2 year old! (Although…I did buy myself two Cadbury eggs and already ate them *wink*wink*)

We went to the mall to visit the Easter bunny and the entire way all Nathan kept saying was, “Mommy, see bunny rabbit, see bunny now?” I think he thought we were going to see like a pet rabbit, but when we stood in line he was looking at the rabbit and smiling like everything was A-Okay. I gave the bunny a hug and handed him Taylor (whom was sleeping) and Nathan looked at me like I was crazy when I told him to hop up on his lap. He threw a fit and I said okay you don’t have to sit on his lap, just sit next to him at least. He did and I was so surprised because he was crying in terror but still hoped up next to him until I told him to get down. I couldn’t get him to not cry for the picture, but I thought I was pretty lucky to have him in the picture at all! And then when it was over they give the kids a toy and Nathan was back to normal…what an experience! Afterward my mom took him on his first carousal ride, which of course he LOVED! I used to get to see my sister Amy's kids and my mom have all of these experiences (which I loved to be a part of as well), so now it is so special to me that I get to see my kids get to do these special things with her as well!

And now to the toilet part of this story…Nathan is in the process of potty training and it couldn’t be going any better. I don’t know, but I think God might be playing a trick on me to show me how easy one child can be and then show me a more “challenging” road with Taylor. And I still say challenging lightly because even she is rather good and easy! Nathan has been potty training in full force now…meaning not wearing diapers for almost a week now. I put him in big boy underwear and Mike and I laugh because half of the time Nathan won’t even tell us he has to go to the bathroom he just takes the initiative to walk himself to the toilet and go all on his own. Mike and I will be sitting there and all of a sudden he just walks right by me and goes to the bathroom all by himself. I think the only reason why he wants to tell me is so he can get a reward --- RAISENET. If it weren’t for his sweet tooth he’d probably just go on about his business with out ever telling us. I just think this is going way too easily and smoothly…but I AM ALL FOR IT! We do however put him in pull-ups for nap and bedtime or if we are leaving the house. But this is the start!!!! So HALLELUAH to the toilet!

Taylor is growing so fast. She as an umbilical hernia which the doctor says will go away on its own in a month or so. It doesn’t cause her any pain or anything it just looks like her belly button is pushed out for now. I can’t wait until it goes back to normal! She is sleeping in her crib in her own room already. Some nights she sleeps for 4 -6 hours and occasionally she’ll have a night where she is up every 2 hours…which is exhausting. Nathan at this stage would sleep through the entire night without one feeding, but I think it is because I would give him a bottle before bed and that filled him up and held him off for longer. Our little angel Taylor is refusing the bottle right now so we are trying to train her which the doctor says will take 2 -3 weeks. I was giving her one bottle of expressed milk per week and then one day she just refused…so this is where I speak of “challenging.” I need to get her to take the bottle because I have some future obligations and plans which require me to leave her and she will HAVE to take the bottle in order for that to happen!

I hope everyone has a very Happy Easter!!! We’ll be in touch soon!!!!

The holidays just come and go~

I feel like time flies. Thanksgiving was just here and then Christmas came and went, or flew. Then there was the arrival of Taylor and bam there came Valentines Day and there went St. Patrick’s Day.

We had a nice St. Patrick’s Day that consisted of sitting in the DMV for half of the day and then spending the rest of the day at the park. The park is Nathan’s new favorite place to go. He asks to go there everyday, several times a day. Luckily we have a beautiful park about 5 blocks away that we try and walk to almost everyday! When he asks me to go there at night I say well you’ll have to wait until the sun comes up and wouldn’t you know the very next day when he wakes up he says first thing, “Mommy sun up, park now?” He is amazing…that little brain never lets anything go.

I am super excited to start our new family traditions with him now that he is getting older and understanding more. For Easter my parents…or the “Easter bunny” would always hide my Easter basket. So every Easter morning that was the biggest thrill was searching the house to find my basket. I am going to attempt this tradition with Nathan for the first time this year. He’ll probably need help in finding it, but it will be a start! I can’t wait! I am also excited to get my little angel all dressed up for Easter. A girl Easter dress HOW FUN!!! Happy Easter to all!

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die."-- John 11:25-26

On the road again---

We went on our first family outing to Grandma and Grandpa Palmer's house. Of course the one day we go out it is pouring rain, but that’s okay because we need it. The day went rather well I must say. Nathan did not get his nap and still behaved good, so that was nice! It was fun to show off the new little girl! On the drive home Mike and I just kept saying how well our first outing went. I don’t know, but I guess we expected the worst.

Taylor will be 4 weeks old this Monday; can you believe it already…one month?!?!?! She is getting stronger with her neck and head. She is sleeping longer hours too, which Mike and I are so grateful for! She is also slowing down on the mustard diapers---thank GOD!!!! My mom and dad have a neighbor who had a little girl 10 days after Taylor and she was only 7 lbs. She looked like a newborn next to Taylor. Taylor looked like she was already 3 months old. The other baby had no hair and side by side you’d think Taylor was 10 weeks older not just 10 days…that made me sad. It’s like we skipped the newborn stage or something. My girl is just healthy…she was also WAY cuter too!!

Suds and Bubbles

My mom has always been the one who gives all the babies or all of her grandbabies their baths everyday when they are new and first come home. It is such a scary thing giving those little dependant babies their baths. Taylor’s umbilical cord finally fell off so I attempted to give her very first submerged bath all by myself! And…she loved it! She just sits quietly like it is so soothing to her! I find it peaceful as well giving her the bath. My favorite part is the fresh baby smell at the end of bath time. There is no better smell on earth than a clean baby!

Taylor is getting up every three hours at night, which is only really waking up twice a night. I am still so tired because going from getting 8-11 hours of sleep at night to this is quite a change. I need to get her to sleep longer if I want her to be in her own crib and own room like I did with Nathan so quickly. But---she is only 2 weeks old---patience.

We did it all!!!

I just love the above photo because it shows how similar Taylor and I are as newborns! Now Mike has his mini-me and I may have a mini-me of my own...how spectacular!!! I am feeling sooooo much better it is amazing what a difference 2 weeks can make! Everyday I am stronger and stronger which is very important as I need FULL strength just to keep up with Nathan alone! I am feeling so accomplished...we did the move (and are still unpacking). We are incredibly more organized, it is amazing how much junk two people can acquire after living together for almost 6 years. I delivered Taylor and we are both healthy which is extremely important and also a huge relief. I love sitting here in my new house with my family I feel so proud that Mike and I were able to do all of this for our family and ourselves before turning 30!!!

I took more photos of Taylor and she was not happy about being half naked in a itchy skirt, but I think it was worth it because she looked so dang cute. Mike rolled his eyes and shook his head at me for making her endure this torture including the barrette, but I am rejoicing in the pink and ALL things girly. I swear I'd french braid her hair if there a few more inches on it hehehehe!

Nathan absolutely loves Taylor. Whenever she cries he gets all concerned and says, "Oh baby don't cry." He loves to give her kisses and he gives her better ones than he gives to mommy and daddy. She gets the kisses and his lips actually smack like a real kiss should sound. Daddy and I get shafted we just get a open or closed mouth like he is kissing the air...lucky little Taylor!

The arrival of Taylor Rose

Hey everyone!!! On February 9th Mike and I went into the hospital for our planned C-Section. everything went accordingly and at 9:59 am we delivered our little angel, Taylor Rose! She was 9.2 and 20 1/2 inches long! My surgery went well and we are both healthy! We were released to come home yesterday afternoon and since I have just been trying to recover and get into the swing of things! There is so much to be grateful for and I count my blessings each and every second! It is hard to say exactly who Taylor looks like as many of you know that newborn looks change on a daily basis. I do know one thing she has A LOT of me in her! Nathan is an awesome big brother! He is so gentle it amazes me it's like he knows how delicate she really is! I think he has finally accepted that she is not going back to the hospital...she is here to STAY! I should be in bed and am already in trouble for trying to do too much too fast. I will get some rest and update more soon!!!