Happy Halloween!!!

This Halloween was so much fun!  Of course we took a trip to the pumpkin patch and Nathan loved all the bumpy pumpkins.   He had to test his strength and try to pick up every pumpkin… testosterone at its finest.  :)

The next day, we carved the pumpkins and Nathan drew on his.  He and Chad carved a happy pumpkin which I hate I didn’t get a picture of, and Nathan and I carved a pumpkin for Taylor.  Nathan loved scooping out the yuckies inside!  Bailey kept trying to eat them!

 

Well, in 2008 we started a tradition… on our kiddo’s first Halloween, we carve a pumpkin for them.  Not just in their honor, but to actually place them in! :)  Hee Hee!  Nathan was not a big fan of this at all, but gradually warmed up to the idea… at least for the sake of a photo. 

      

This year, it was Taylor’s turn.  Much smaller, younger, and less opinionated, her photo shoot in the pumpkin went much more smoothly.

Precious… simply precious!  Thank you BumGenius for making an orange diaper too! 

We asked Nathan if he wanted to get in the pumpkin and he quickly told us he was too big.  Just for fun, I urged him to give it a try.  He was right, and indeed was toooooo big.   :)

  Halloween night we got the kiddos dressed and ready for a cul-de-sac potluck/trick or treating/hanging out with the cul-de-sac family.  Nathan was spiderman… and a cute one at that.  The funny thing is that he hasn’t ever seen the cartoon spiderman.  We call my dad “spiderman” because he always knocks down the spider webs on the dock in the mornings at their lake house.  Nathan wanted to be like PaPa and be spiderman.

Taylor was happy to be snuggled into a fleece ladybug costume, which was way way way too big, but super cute nonetheless!  Plus it kept her warm all night long!

We had a blast hanging with our neighborhood family and those who came to the potluck.  The kids had a blast trick or treating together too… The fun ended for Nathan, who got really scared of some of the decorations, about 3/4 of the way through the neighborhood, but he enjoyed being a snuggly spiderman the rest of the night.  I wish I’d gotten more pictures of the 7 families celebrating life together in the center of our culdesac.  More food than you can imagine, a fire pit, everyone sitting around in beach chairs, the table of 7 candy bowls – the candy buffet, everyone’s pumpkins, the fun, the fellowship, the friendships… such a blessing!  This is a tradition for us now, it’s how we spend Halloween… long into the night… enjoying our neighbors and the fun that getting together brings.

   Izzy, Taylor, Alaina, Piper, Nathan… 5 of the 19 kids in the culdesac.  Next year, I’ll definitely get a group shot of everyone!

Happy fall!!!

Daddy’s teeny tiny girl

We still find that Taylor Grace’s clothes swallow her!  She’s long for a preemie, but so thin as can be!  Don’t get me wrong, she’s healthy, gaining weight well, and getting bigger, she’s just really lean.  This is one of her new outfits (that I tried and tried to shrink) and even though it’s huge on her, the length in sleeves and pants is right.  She’s so sweet!  Nathan really liked this outfit because it is purple and that’s his favorite color!

  

Her carseat is another thing that swallows her up!  It’s hard to tell from this picture, but she looks so tiny in it!  The chest clip is wider than her head, not to mention her chest.  The bottom buckle is so wide between her tiny legs.  Thankfully it has great built in support (plus a little pink extra cushion), that keeps her snuggly and safe. :)

Taylor Grace’s first tub bath!!!

 

Her umbilical stump fell off after 8 days and we were soooooo excited!  It took Nathan’s 4 weeks to fall off and so he missed out on the joys of tub baths for a while.  Taylor LOVED the bath and never so much as grimaced.  She fell asleep and slept (while I sat next to her closely… very closely) for 20 minutes.  Apparently, it was quite relaxing because she took a big ‘ole poo in the tub next! :)  She’s had many baths since and has loved every one of them!  Perhaps we’ll have another water lovin’ kiddo on our hands!

Taylor - 2 weeks old

Taylor is 2 weeks old!  She’s gained some weight and is now 6 pounds 3 ounces!  She’s really alert when she’s awake and she makes the sweetest faces.  She’s a snuggler and loves to be held… loves to be held… especially during our dinner time.  :)  She’s nursing like a champ and also takes a bottle well.  She eats every 3 hours during the day and every 4 at night.  She’s a great sleeper and does well going right back to sleep at night.  She’s still a little peanut – so tiny!  She’s wearing preemie diapers and we’ve finally (thank you Bethany) found a brand of cloth diaper that fits her well and that comes in preemie sizes so she’s in cloth diapers most of the time (which helps to hold her pants up).  She’s beginning to grow out of some of her preemie clothes (carter’s brand is so much smaller than the other brands) but the newborn sizes are soooo huge on her.  She loves to be talked to and is especially fond of her daddy’s voice.  It instantly calms her and she just looks at him and stares so intently.  She knows her daddy’s voice for sure!

Nathan continues to be smitten with his baby sister.  He asks to hold her and pet her fuzzy head all the time and he’s so sweet and compassionate when she cries.  He knows it too.  He’ll tell you he’s the bestest big brother.

A little update on Nathan, during the last 2 weeks, Nathan decided to potty train himself through the night.  Come on kiddo, really, right when your sister is born?  We were prepared for regression in this area (he’s been potty trained during waking hours for a long time, and at nap time for about 3 months) but not advancement! :)  Especially considering he wakes us up at least once if not twice to go potty in the middle of the night. :)  At least he wakes up dry, every morning, and is so proud to do so.  One of these days, I’ll get brave and let him sleep in underwear at night!  So, a few weeks shy of 3 years old, Nathan is fully potty trained, daytime and nighttime.  Way to go kiddo!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Awake or Asleep… October 27th

Awake and asleep… precious no matter how you look at her!

Taylor - October 26th

We’re starting to get the hang of two kiddos… normalcy is starting to return… see?

Meeting Karmyn

Cousin Karmyn came over to meet little Taylor today!  It was so fun to see her so excited!  Yay for family!  Of course Aunt Emily and Uncle Matt had to share a little of the cuteness too!

   

Getting Decorated

Nathan loves stickers and always has. The other day, he wanted to “decorate” me. Didn’t I turn out pretty? :)

I wasn’t the only decor-ee… even little Taylor managed a few decorations.

Thank you Nathan for the decorations!

First Sponge Bath 10.23.10

so tiny!!!!!

Taylor and her basket

1 week old 10.21.10

We got a Moses basket for Taylor but I didn’t like the bedding, so… tada! I made new bedding. Pink and Brown fuzziness! She hangs out in it all the time and we love the portability of it! She’s a week old in these pics – and so teeny tiny! Look how big the legs of the preemie onesie are! Comparison pic to our remote. :) She’s doesn’t have any body fat yet and you can see her wrinkly skin on her knees. Such little chicken legs! :) That’ll change in due time I’m sure!

Nothing like some puppy love too! Bailey loves to give her kisses and was protective of her from day 1. She was the same way with Nathan. Such a good girl!

Taylor Grace – 1 week old

At one week old, Taylor is already developing a little personality! She is very calm and easy going and incredibly alert. She has long periods of wakefulness and makes all kinds of precious faces as she takes in the world around her. She DOES NOT like to be hungry or gassy (I know, what baby does?) but if she's either of those, her lung power fills the house! She eats every 3 hours during the day and every 4-5 at night. She loves to hear us talk to her! What a sweet girl! At 4 days old, when we went to the doctor, she'd gained enough weight that she was 5 pounds 10 ounces, almost back to birth weight! She's nursing like a champ too! Taylor Grace loves to lay on her belly and even seems to enjoy tummy time. She can pick her head up and turn it when on her belly... amazing. Such a cutie too! She's still wearing preemie clothes and preemie diapers. We've finally gotten some preemie sized cloth diapers and are cloth diapering almost exclusively! Thank you Bethany for finding those itty bitty diapers! They fit in the palm of my hand and are way too cute!

Pumpkin Patch

Nathan’s class at school got to go on a hayride and visit the pumpkin patch. Not wanting to miss this, Chad and I headed up to school with 5 day old Taylor in tow and enjoyed the morning through the eyes of our little man.