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!

Allie's Baby Boy is Here!

My dearest friend Allie had her third baby Friday, June 20th, he was 4 weeks early. Andrew MIchael weighed in at 7 pounds 8 ounces and was 19 inches long. It has thrown off my pshyche since we were supposed to be due 2 weeks apart. Drew has been in the NICU since the day after he was born, but seems to be making progress each day. We are hoping he can come home really soon!

Our Last Trip to Disneyland

We made our last trip to Disneyland before this little baby comes and our passes expire on Sunday. It was such a fun family day. It was blistering hot, we weren't even sure if we were going to go, but we figured with it being 91 degrees in our house upstairs, being at Disneyland couldn't be much worse! We got there at 8:30 and wow, the park was almost empty! We went on 8 rides, did the princess coronation and saw 6 characters all in 4 hours, not bad! After the kids took short naps in the air conditioned car we went back for round 2. We went to California Adventure for a few rides and a show and then went to Disneyland for Emily to go on her favorite ride two last times.... the Toon Town roller coaster. Jacob and I sat and waited for the parade on a bench in the shade while Rex took Emily on the roller coaster. Both the kids LOVE the parade. Jacob is always mesmerized and we have found the perfect place to watch it, they stop right in front of us on 2 occasions! It was such a great day even though it was so hot, and being 35 weeks pregnant. I love family days like that where I get to have such a fun time with my kids!

Jacob is a walker!

Well, it has finally happened...Jacob has decided to join the upright world and chase his sister around on his feet. In one day he took 2 steps in the morning, and by the end of the day was walking across the room. He has already mastered chasing the cat, and holding his milk while he walks. He even tries to walk in the blow up pool in the front yard. Big sister is very proud, always telling us "Look mommy, Jacob is walking all by himself". The first day it happened she mulled him over with hugs of excitement. Wow, my life is a lot easier now that he isn't getting as dirty crawling around the ground! Another one of Jacob's favorite things... his shoes. He LOVES having his shoes on, he tries to put them on himself, but gets quite frustrated. Doesn't he look like such a big boy??

Our Trip the Strawberry Fields

We tried to enjoy a local tradition of going to the Carlsbad Strawberry Fields to pick our own strawberries. I went during the week with my Women of Faith group from church. Without Rex there to help it was quite a challenge. It was literally in the fields, so bringing a stroller would have been silly, however it was quite dirty and muddy being that it was just fields and so if I put Jacob down, he would have gotten extremely dirty. I am too pregnant to carry him around in the baby bjorn, so that left the only option of carrying Jacob, holding the bucket to collect the strawberries, trying to take pictures (you all know how much I love taking pictures) and of course meticulously examining the strawberries Emily was picking to make sure they were actually red and of decent size rather than the green pea size ones that she was drawn to. Jacob loves all fruit and so he kept signing "more" over and over again wanting to eat everything in the bucket. Due to the nature of the fields we had to wash all strawberries before eating so this was just torture for Jacob! All that hard work... and it pays off. Those strawberries were the sweetest ones I have ever tasted!! We have all been enjoying the fruits of our labor... literally!