I am so blessed by these two!!!

  

4 weeks old

Wordless Wednesday

You’ve got the cutest little baby face… well you and your brother.

Big Brother Love

Nathan is loving being a big brother.  He, amazingly, shows no signs of jealousy, and is tickled pink to have Taylor around.  He is soooo gentle with her and talks to her in such a sweet voice.  Just this morning, I was getting ready, he was in the playroom, Taylor on my bed.  I hear him talking to her and walk in my room to find Nathan and Taylor on my bed, surrounded by a box of dinosaurs, a monster truck and 2 motorcycles.  Nathan was driving the monster truck around Taylor very gently and up over her head (in the air) and telling her that when she got bigger he would let her drive his blue monster truck.  Then he laid down in front of her, nose to nose, and talked to her.  I cried happy tears… thankful tears.  Thankful for so much love in such a little body.  Thankful that the Lord has handcrafted Nathan with abounding energy and tenderness.  You’re such a good big brother little man!!!

The new Saturday morning routine

Nathan or Taylor?

 

Which kiddo is which?

Sleep. Priceless.

Taylor – 3 weeks old

 

Taylor is doing great!  She’s gained almost a pound since birth and is weighing in a 6 pounds 10 ounces!!!!!  She’s still nursing like a champ and eats every 3 hrs during the day, and 4-5 during the night.  Thank you Taylor!  She is still a tiny little thing with the world’s smallest butt… okay, maybe not the world’s smallest, but it’s pretty dang tiny!  Her eyes could still change but they appear to be blue!  She’s awake after most feedings and loves to watch us up close.  She’s quite social and enjoys being talked to.  This little girl LOVES to be held and just can’t get enough snuggling!  She’s still sleeping in her Moses Basket at night, but we’re hoping that soon she’ll be in her crib and we will be in our bed (instead of on the couch).

You’ve gotta love this crazy outfit.  It was laundry day, so the trim diapers were in the dryer, leaving us with the huge ones.  Her clothes were in the wash, so I broke out the baby legs (thank you Annmarie) and this cute onesie, and we called it an outfit!    She’s cute any way she’s dressed!

Look below!

I've been adding updates and posting them on the date they happened (ex. one week photos on 10/21) to help us keep track of things since this is our online memory book. Be sure to scroll down and look at older posts to see the "latest" updates. Eventually we'll get caught up, but until then, be sure to check the older posts. :)

Wordless Wednesday

 

Tummy time with the fluff.

 

Taylor LOVES to be on her belly!!!  She spends a lot of time here on her belly, snuggling with the cloth diaper fluff, basking in the sunshine from the window.  Nathan likes to pull up a chair and stand on it and talk to her.  So sweet!

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!