we're still alive

Well, tho my blog has been neglected, we are still alive and well! Im trying out a new blog too so check for updates there too. www.wilsonramblings.com

Hope to get updated and back into the swing of things soon!!!

Family Photo Shoot

Images by Autumn

awwwwwww

Photo of the day

April 4th - almost 90 degrees!

Drive by hello!

We've been here there and everywhere lately... I hope to post lots of updates this week!!! So many fun things are going on. But just for now, this little snipit will have to do. It's Taylor, Shawn, and Mike (my cousin) on our recent Florida trip. :)

Picture from today

Toes and Bows

Thank you Lisa for the super cute bow!!

cute little puker...

First food!!!

Today, Chad fed Taylor her first bites of solid food! She had a few bites of fresh avacado and seemed to like it! We're not officially starting solids yet, we'll wait until closer to 6 months, but of course her first tastes of something other than milk had to be documented! :)

wordless Wednesday

Cousins!!!

5 months

Sweet baby girl, I can't believe you are 5 months old. (Truth be told you are 5.5 months as I write this but I'll back date it to the 14th). :) I cannot believe you have been in our arms for 5 months. You are such a gift to our family and complete us in so many ways! Taylor Grace you are a mama's girl, and especially at night and when you are tired, you want mama and that is that. While this has made date nights a challenge at times, I wouldn't trade it for the world as I know in a second I'll be missing those days. You are a snuggler and LOVE minky fabric near your face. You love to be carried, held, patted, and nuzzled. You are incredibly laid back and easily entertain yourself. You are a people watcher already. You are enamored with your big brother and love to talk to him. To sleep, you must have a soft lovey, a paci, and if in your bed, you like to be in a Woombie. Taylor Gracie, as Nathan calls you, we love you so much!
Taylor has quite a contagious smile! She has dimples in her cheeks in two different places! :)
Too bad this one is blurry. :)

This month has been a month of new things and firsts! She loves this new exersaucer (thank you consignment sales!) and her feet touch the floor much better than in our old one.
She's almost long enough for the johnny jump up. Right now she's still a bit too short through the torso and her arms go to sleep. :) She still likes it and every now and then she gets to play in it.
This day in particular she discovered her shadow on the ground and talked to/stared at/bounced with it for a long time!

We had our first family campout this month!!! Instead of testing the camping waters (with 2 children and a dog in tow) outside, we started inside. The tent is huge but it was so much fun to set it up in our bedroom and have a campout! Taylor slept all night in her moses basket! She was the only one who slept all night! :) More details to come in a future post.

Taylor also got to meet my Ginga (my dad's mom) as well as her cousins! Ginga had just had a stroke and fallen (breaking her pelvis) so she was not able to sit up, but Taylor snuggled her just the same! My cousin Tanya, and her two girls Ava Grace and Jenna, also came to visit Ginga. The girls loved on Taylor so much!

Nathan was 18 pounds 3 ounces and 25.75 inches long at 5 months. Taylor is barely 13 pounds and around 23 inches I think, but I'm not sure on her height. She's a petite little thing!

(Above pictures): Taylor and Nathan at 5 months. Just for comparison purposes, I put Taylor in a pampers diaper (she is usually in cloth diapers)... Nathan was wearing a size 3. Taylor still fits into a 1 perfectly and a NB in a pinch.

Taylor loves her toes. She plays with them all the time and sucks on them too.

She wants so badly to be able to sit up on her own. We're working on it, but for now, she still needs a soft place for her wobbly body to land. :)
Taylor (above) and Nathan (below) at 5 months.

Like her brother, Taylor has an amazing disposition. She is happy almost all the time and is really adaptable. She gets fussy when she's tired or starving but complains about little else. She's very social and LOVES children. She'll smile at any kiddo. Adults she still studies before offering any greeting. She'll go to almost anyone unless she's tired and then she wants mommy. She is happy to play by herself or with another. She's content on the floor with a few toys, as well as sitting up. She enjoys being on her tummy too.

Above: Taylor at 22 weeks Below: Taylor at 6 weeks

Also like her brother, Taylor is an amazing sleeper. She sleeps 12-13 hours at night (and needs a paci retrieval once a night on average). On a typical day she's up at 8 or 830am, naps from 10-12, is up until 2, naps from 2-430 or 5, and is up till bedtime with a fairly regular catnap in the evenings. She's usually in bed by 8pm. She's nursing exclusively still and usually has 4-5 feedings a day. Unlike Nathan, Taylor prefers to sleep in her bed. She doesn't nap well in the swing anymore and as long as the car is moving, she'll sleep in her carseat, but this girl likes her bed. She's still flexible enough that she can be put to sleep on a blanket on any floor though. :)

Five months is fun! She's gaining much more coordination with her hands and can accurately reach for and grab items as well as transfer them from one hand to the next. She can cross the midline with both arms too. She rolls well from tummy to back but hasn't quite mastered back to tummy. She can do the superman (arms and legs off the floor on belly) and can do mini push ups. She can sit up for a few seconds unsupported. She can bear all of her weight on her legs with amazing ability. This girl has some strong legs!

Some things I love about Taylor right now:

- her cackle and laugh

-the way she lights up when Nathan walks into her view or she hears his voice

-the way she scrunches up her little nose as she goes to nurse

-her squeals

-how she turns her head into her lovey as far as she can before going to sleep

-how she immediately grabs her toes when you take off her diaper

-her delightful smile

Wordless Wednesday

Taylor talking

I love to listen to this girl talk to her toys and to herself in the mirror! Super cute!

TOES!!!!

Taylor has discovered her toes!

20 weeks old

Miss Personality is 20 weeks old!!!

This baby girl has been keeping us laughing this week. She's a riot if you get her in a giggling fit. It's so fun to hear her squeal and giggle and snort and giggle more. Oh my goodness, she lights up a whole room. I love the way her shoulders and whole upper body shake when she laughs!
Although she's had pneumonia for a week, she's certainly on the mend. She's lost almost a pound down from 13.3 to 12.6, but the docs aren't worried. She's gained in length a bit and is now 24 inches long! :) She's really long in her torso and she seems to have long arms too. I love seeing the difference in size of her clothes... really shows us how much she's grown in the last 4 months.
Taylor is so sensitive! She's sooo happy but doesn't like to be startled (as in "peek a boo") or be held by people she doesn't know well. When I say well, I mean people she sees several times a week. When she's tired and wants to be snuggled, if you lay her down to change her diaper, her bottom lip comes out immediately and starts to quiver. She's easily soothed, but seeing this new sensitive and opinionated side of her is funny! She is quite content to be held all day if you would. She'll ride in the ergo or moby for hours and is happy to lay her head on your chest the whole time. Don't get me wrong, she loves to look around, but from the comfort of arms she knows well. So far, she's not a big fan of riding front facing. She threw her first "fit" this week. She was tired and wanted to be snuggled and then put in her bed. It was time to get Nathan from school so I gently placed her in the carseat... it didn't go over so well. She got so mad! Complete with tears and an arching back! I gotta admit, it was kinda cute. It lasted about 90 seconds and she was asleep. :)

She's really growing in her motor skills too! She can almost roll from her back to her belly. She has discovered her toes and that's super cute! She's great at reaching for objects (including my mail and plate and cell phone) and grasping them to pull to her mouth. She's learned to isolate her thumb and get it to her mouth, and she's quick about that too! She loves to stand and sit and really enjoys the exersaucer, johnny jump-up, being propped up by two boppies, the bumbo and even the bouncy seat for a bit. She's also very content to play under her toy gym. Several times she's gone to sleep under there! :)
Taylor's eyes seem to be changing to green or possibly hazel. While still blue on the outside, they are much more of a muddy blue and they go from blue to green to yellow as you go in toward the center. They are really cool to look at!
This little one has moved into a 3-6 month size in clothes and can no longer wear her little newborn shoes. Due in part to the cloth diapers, 3-6 month one piece outfits are getting a little snug, but still seem okay for now.