Taylor's Visitors

One of my favorite things about having a new baby is getting to celebrate her arrival with lots of friends and family that get to visit. Over the past two weeks I have had the Palm family here from Colorado, the Tkach family from Pasadena, and my Point Loma girlfriends come for a lunch playdate. I feel so very blessed by the friends that God has given to me. I am who I am because of my friends (and of course my family). Each one of my friends knows me in such a special and unique way that I just love each one of them!

GO PADRES!!!

In our attempts to attend at least one baseball game a season, we decided to go to the Padres vs. Diamondbacks on their half price day. We bought the cheapest seats possible unsure of how long Jacob would be able to sit for and how Taylor as a 4.5 week old would really do. Well... they all did GREAT! Jacob was mesmorized by the jumbo tran, watching more TV than he will ever sit and watch at home. Emily was enamored by all of the music.I think it was mainly a successful day because of all of the snacks and junk the kids were able to eat over a 2.5 hour period! Even though it was pretty warm and Rex and I were ready to leave, we of course had to stay for the 7th inning stretch for Emily to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".  A video of Emily singing will be up here as soon as I get it uploaded :)

The Mount Way Olympics

For those of you who know Rex and know him well, he LOVES the Olympics. He even watches every minute of the opening ceremony, including the flag carrying from the different countries. You also probably know that Rex is a very creative thinker with some crazy ideas. For our neighborhood's last BBQ of the summer before all of the older kids started school, Rex created an Olympic event for all of the girls (Taylor makes the 10th girl on the street, poor Jacob!). The girls were paired in groups of 2, created a flag for themselves, and walked around the "track" carrying their flag. After each event (shot put with beanbags, long jump, soccer goal kick and relay race) there was a medal ceremony playing the national anthem and medals given (candy necklaces of different kinds). To say each of the kids LOVED the activity would be an understatement. As the other families were thanking Rex and I for putting it together I had to confess that the logical thinker that I am did not think the Mount Way Olympics would really be pulled off, however once again, Rex has succeeded!

Jacob gets a haircut!

Well...my baby boy is officially a big boy. At 16 months, he finally got his first haircut. I think it was more prompted by Grandma Rebecca who was starting to think his hair was getting just a little bit too long. While Emily was at VBS we took him on a special date for his big moment. He sat so still and LOVED being able to sit in a car, one of his favorite things!

Taylor Michelle has FINALLY arrived!

Taylor Michelle FINALLY arrived bringing us BIG surprises on July 28th at 7:25 pm weighing in at 8 pounds 14 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. I never would have thought that I would be able to deliver a baby that size, especially being that Emily was 6.14 and Jacob was 7.7. No wonder I was just so much more uncomfortable this time around! I felt a sense of relief when they told me her size, it made me feel like maybe I wasn't such a wimp after all. I will have to admit though that the first few thoughts that went through my mind were "Is that a result of all of the icecreams that I ate" and "I guess that not working out a single day of my pregnancy, unlike the other 2 really did make a difference" and "She isn't going to fit in her ADORABLE coming home outfit".Of course none of those things even matter, I am just grateful to have a very healthy little girl. Many of you all have been asking to hear the labor story... so here you go. My doctor was on call Saturday all day at the hospital and being that I was almost 40 weeks, dialated at 2 and was 70% effaced for almost 3 weeks she was willing to induce us if we wanted. Rex and I really didn't want to be induced, we loved how Jacob's labor was natural and everything happened on it's own and went so smoothly. However it was reassuring to think we could let Rex's family know and they could come down and my family could finally get back to their normal life back home if we did schedule the delivery. We arrived at the hospital and started pitocin around noon. Nothing happened for 3 hours until my doctor broke my water around 3. After getting the epidural (which I think is one of the greatest "medicines" that exists) things still seemed to be going slow. At 5:30 I was still only dialated at 3. My parents and sister left to get Emily and Jacob from a friends house and the plan was for them to feed them dinner and put them to bed and one of our fabulous neighbors was going to come over and be there at the house. Our hopes was by doing this early in the evening, my family could still be there later for when all of the real excitement happened. Well, at 6:30 the pressure was increasing and the doctor quickly declared that it was time for Taylor to come. I frantically called my parents had them throw the kids in the car and quickly come to the hospital... as it always happens, there was an accident on the freeway and they were stuck and I was just waiting. Literally as my mom and sister walked into the labor and delivery room, the doctor followed behind and Taylor was born just a few moments later. We should have learned our lesson from Jacob's delivery where I went from a 3 to a 10 in just a few hours, but who would have thought it would happen in just 1 hour? It was so great to have Rex by my side and to be able to share the experience with my mom, sister, mother in law and dear friend Jodi. There is no words to explain what an awesome moment in life. Since the kids were in the waiting room they got to meet their new baby sister a bit sooner than I had anticipated, but Emily couldn't have been more thrilled. I am so grateful to my family and Rex's family for helping so much with the kids, giving Rex and I two days in the hospital for a mini retreat with not only baby Taylor, but just with each other as well. Oh... it feels so good to not be pregnant anymore!

Waiting for Taylor to arrive

On Monday the 21st (9 days before my due date) my mom and sister headed down to our house to help with Emily and Jacob as things were starting to get increasingly more difficult for me. (The kids were really needing a bit more positive attention as I was REALLY getting cranky!). I think they came down with hopes that Taylor would come a bit early. Monday night I was having contractions 3-4 minutes apart for almost 4 hours when Rex and I decided to go to the hospital. Once we got there and was monitored it was determined I was just extremely dehydrated. Being only dialated at 2, I was sent home. However, in all of the excitement my mom booked my dad a plane ticket for first thing Tuesday morning. Those of you who know my dad, this was not an easy thing. Being a workaholic and a busy body, sitting and waiting for a baby to be born was not easy... so we busied ourselves on San Diego activities. We went to the zoo (walking like crazy in hopes of bringing this little girl out) and to the beach where my parents were EXHAUSTED chasing Emily and Jacob in and out of the water. Doing things like this helped take a little bit of the pressure off as we waited. It sure was nice though having the help with the kids, the house work and enjoying some unexpected time with my parents and sister. Rex and I were even able to sneak in a date!

Del Mar Fair proves to be a big moment!

Rex had free tickets to the Del Mar Fair so we decided to take his poker winnings and spend it on a family day at the fair. After delicious deep fried corn dogs and a good ol' fashion pig race, we ventured over to the kiddie ride section. Of course Emily had stars in her eyes and wanted to ride a few rides...BY HERSELF! I was very nervous (as carnival type rides don't seem that safe to me), Rex as usual thought it was no big deal. As I looked at the screen of the camera as she zoomed past us on the elephant, I had a little tear in my eye as I saw how happy she was to be doing such a big girl activity all by herself! She was so proud and I was sad that my little girl is getting to be so big. Wow, I didn't think it would come so soon! Jacob just loved all of the animals and all of the people that were around us. We didn't stay too long as warm weather, big crowds and lots of walking doesn't appeal to a 9 months pregnant lady too much!