Biker Babe.

This little lady is OBSESSED with Bransyn's Mater Bike. Like, she wants to be playing with it at ALL times. It's crazy. Well, earlier today she was playing on it, and all of a sudden I see her trying to climb onto it! So I get down by her (I was on the chair) just in case, and I waited to see if she could actually get on all by herself. Well, sure enough.... she DID! And she was so proud of herself, too! :)  Such a big girl!

Taislee's 6 month appointment

Taislee had her 6 month appointment today with Dr. Hubbard.

Her stats are:

Weight: 15lbs 5.5oz - 34th percentile

Length: 26 3/4 inches - 82nd percentile

Head Circumference: 16 3/4 inches - 66th percentile

She has gone up in percentile in all of them! (:

She got her vaccines, and she did GREAT with them! She took the oral one right away, and didn't spit any of it out this time. She did really well with the shots, too! After the first one was done, she started to cry, and continued to until the nurse was done with the other two. Once I was able to pick her up & give her some cuddles, she was fine. She was still whimpering a bit, but within a minute I had her laughing at my fake sneezes ;)

Dr. Hubbard says she looks like an absolutely perfect & healthy little girl! He was AMAZED at the fact she is sitting up like a champ, and already crawling! He also kept telling her what a pretty baby she is... yeah, yeah... we know ;)

I'm so glad she is healthy, and growing just like she should.

Escape Artist.

 Tais has learned a new trick: climbing out of her bouncer. 

Looks like I have another little escape artist on my hands. And I officially have to make sure she is ALWAYS buckled in that thing! haha

Tummy Sleeper

I went in to check on Taislee during her nap, and found her like this:

She is officially a tummy sleeper! This FREAKS me out! I get scared she's going to lay face down & not be able to breathe. I usually roll her back onto her back when she is in a deep sleep, but she just rolls back to her tummy! haha, guess it's comfy :)

This is what happens almost every time we leave the house...

She likes to keep things entertaining ;)

4 month well check!

Tais had her 4 month appointment today, and she did great!

Her stats are:

Weight: 13lbs -26th percentile

Length: 24in - 51st percentile

Head Circumference: 15 3/4in - 32nd percentile

Dr. Hubbard said she has gone down a bit in percentile, but it could just be due to genetics, and not because she's not growing right. Which I'm pretty positive it IS because of genetics, because Bransyn was the SAME way, and I was also a small baby/kid. And, because she is very healthy other wise, and she always gets plenty to eat. (:

He said that we can start her on rice cereal any time now, but we have decided to hold off on that for just a little bit longer. She is doing great with breastfeeding, and always acts full after she eats. Also, we started Bransyn on rice cereal as soon as he turned 4 months, and he was just NOT ready for it, at all. I felt like he was a bit too young for it still, although I felt like I was *supposed* to feed it to him right at the 4 month park. I feel as if Tais is just not ready for it quite yet, either. We will maybe try in a few weeks, or wait until 5 months or so. It all just depends on when she's ready! (:

She got her vaccinations today as well. She got the oral one first, and she kind of spit a little bit of that out, she wasn't a huge fan of it, but she did swallow enough. She did awesome with the shots, only cried for a few seconds, which I am VERY happy about! It just kills me when my babies cry over shots. I love that they both seem to do very well with them (:

Everything is going great with our sweet little baby, she is just healthy as can be!

One year ago today...

We found out that the most precious little baby girl was growing in my tummy, and about to make our family a little bit bigger.

I remember waking up that morning, not really thinking that I was going to see those two amazing lines. But to my surprise, I did. And I instantly had an overwhelming feeling of excitement. But it also didn't seem like it could be real. But oh, it was very very real! I can still remember how the butterflies in my stomach felt, and the smile I wore permanently across my face for the rest of that day. I was so excited, and just wanted to tell the whole world that our second blessing was on it's way. Ryan wasn't home, and didn't know that I was going to be testing that morning. I could not wait to tell him! I was trying to decide if this was something I should tell him over the phone, and then I realized that I wanted to see his face when he found out, so I ruled that out. I contemplated driving to his work to tell him, but decided against that, as well, because I wanted us to be able to spend time as a family after, not have him go right back to work, and have Brans & I leave. So, I decided to just wait until he got home. EIGHT hours. I didn't know how I was going to do it, but somehow I did. I kept myself as busy as I possibly could! I went to my OB's office to pay a bill, and let them know that I needed to reschedule an appointment that I had that month, because I had just found out I was pregnant. When we were done there, we went over to Target to get some prenatal vitamins. I was SURE I would run into someone I knew while I was there, and they would see the only thing in my basket was vitamins for a pregnant woman, and put two and two together. But luckily, I did not. Brans and I spent the rest of the day at home, constantly watching the time, waiting not so patiently for 6:30 to come, so Ryan would walk through the door and we could tell him. It was a pretty torturous day, but FINALLY, we heard Ryan pull into the garage, and got ready. I handed Bransyn the pregnancy test {after I had sanitized it, of course! haha}, turned my camera onto video mode so that I could record his reaction, and as soon as Ryan walked through the garage door, I told Bransyn to go give the test to daddy. When Ry looked at it, he got excited and he too, had a huge smile across his face! We talked about it for a bit, and how excited we both were, and then we decided to go celebrate. We went to Olive Garden that night, as a family of three, that could not wait to make our family a party of four!

I love remembering the days that I found out I was pregnant with my babies. Those were two of the most exciting moments of my life. There really is nothing better than finding out you have created a little person. Well, other than actually MEETING that little person. ;)

I feel completely blessed that these little ones have chosen me to be their mama, and I get spend my life with them! ♥

A certain little lady has found her hands. . .

And they might as well be permanently attached to her mouth! She officially loves sucking on her hands, it is SO cute! (:

T's 2 month well-check!

Today was Taislee's 2 month doctor appointment! (: My baby girl is now 11lbs 12oz - just one ounce bigger than Brans was at 2 months! BUT, he had actually gained more by this point, since he was 7lbs 5oz at birth & 11lbs 11oz at 2 months - she was 7lbs 8oz at birth & now 11lbs 12oz! (: She is in the 64th percentile for weight. She is also 23 inches long, which is the 91st percentile. She is definitely a tall girl! Annnd, her head circumference is 15.35", which is the 76th percentile! Dr. Hubbard says she looks great & is growing perfectly! She also had to get her 2 month shots :( I was so not looking forward to it, especially since the 2 & 4 month shots were the hardest on me with Bransyn. But she did AMAZING! Pretty sure the worst part for her, was the oral one. After the first little sip, she didn't want anymore! {funny, since those were always B's favorite! haha} I finally got her to take it all, after quite a few breaks! haha. Then it came time for the first 2 in her left leg. I was seriously prepared to ball my eyes out & just swoop my sweet baby up & cuddle her forever. The first one went in, she kind of tensed up, but she didn't cry. Then the second one went in & she had her little pouty face going pretty quick, then she cried. Luckily, it wasn't a scream, it was just a cry. The nurse hurry & put the last one in her right leg, & I picked her up to calm her down. Within seconds, she was fine. I just cuddled & talked to her! She even smiled at me literally less than a minute after they were done! I was so relieved, I thought she was gonna hate me, haha. I feel SO lucky that both of my kids have done so well with shots {so far} I seriously feel sick every time they have to get shots, I always feel so horrible when they are in pain :( But they definitely make it easy on their mama! (: So anyways, little miss Tais is doing amazing & is just perfect! (: She goes in for her 4 month appt in Sept!

baldy.

I was dreading it, but it finally happened. . .

My baby officially has a bald spot :(

T's birth announcements

I finally got all of Taislee's birth announcements out {I *think*... let me know if you haven't received one & I will get one to you!} almost 2 months late! haha. I had them printed when she was about 3 weeks old, but I kept forgetting to get envelopes for them.

They're nothing too extravagant, because I made them myself & I don't have any fancy editing programs to use, so they are pretty simple. But I still think they turned out nice. And I actually like them more than the ones I had made for Bransyn at Costco!

Taislee's Birth Photo's

My photographer posted a slide show with Taislee's birth photo's on her website! Go check it out {and also the rest of her amazing work while you're there! :) }

CLICK HERE! to watch it...
but make sure you have a tissue handy - it seems to make everyone cry! ;)


Not all of the pictures are in here, as there are over 400! But I will be making a slide show with all of them as soon as I get some free time {which is rare because... well, I have a toddler & a newborn!} and I will post that as soon as it's done.

Taislee's Newborn Photo's

Here are a few of Taislee's newborn photo's, done by Amber Wallace of CarlyGracePhotography.
She's also the one that did my maternity photo's! (:

She was extremely cranky for 90% of the session, so we didn't get to do as many poses as we wanted to, but the ones we did get turned out pretty dang cute! (:
I can't wait to get her announcements made & some prints for my house!

2 week appointment {a few days late}

Being a good girl waiting for the Dr (:

Miss Tais had her 2 week appointment today! She actually turned 2 weeks on Friday, but her pediatrician was out of the office the end of last week, so we had to wait a few days for her appointment.
She is now 8lbs 8oz... she has gained exactly a pound since birth! (: Apparently mama juice is doin' it's job well! She is now 21 inches long - 1/2 an inch up from birth. They got her head measurements, too... but I forgot to ask what it was :( They also didn't give me the papers to see what percentile she is in like Bransyn's old office did. Hopefully they just forgot, cause I like knowing what percentile they're in! Dr. Hubbard checked her out & told me that she is just perfect! (: She had to do the PKU test at this appointment... which I was dreading. I hate seeing my babies cry in pain. She actually did really well, though! She kind of fussed when the nurse first sliced her heal, but I was able to sooth her pretty quickly & she actually stayed very calm while the nurse squeezed the blood out of her heal. That always makes it so much easier for mama! (:


She's doing very well so far & she will go back when she is 2 months, which is when she'll get her first shots since birth :( I asked Dr. Hubbard if the calcium spot they found on her heart through the ultra sound was still a concern, since my Dr never confirmed that it went away completely, but he couldn't find anything on it in my file. So he said he would get a hold of my Dr's office & check on it, then let me know at her 2 month what the deal with that is. It was getting smaller every time they checked on it when I was pregnant, so hopefully it is either completely gone by now, or close to it!

While we were there, I also had Dr. Hubbard check Bransyn's 'bumpies' {the skin virus that he has under his left arm} to see if we should freeze the bumps off, or not. He said that they CAN freeze or pop them, but it would leave a scar where each one was. So they usually just like to let them go away on their own, unless they are on the face. The virus usually takes 6-9 months to run it's course, then the bumps will pop on their own & not scar, so we decided to wait it out a little bit longer. He's already had them for almost 6 months, so hopefully not too much longer! If they do start irritating him or he starts picking at them more, we can take him back in to get them removed, but if they're not bugging him I'd rather just let them be & not put him through the whole removing process, since I'm sure it won't feel too great. He also HATES for anyone to touch them & throws a fit if they do, so this will be easier on everyone! haha.

Tubby Time!

Tais got her first 'sponge' bath on 5/10 when she was 4 days old!

As you can see, she was not a huge fan of it.

But brother stayed by her side the entire time.

She did, however love getting her hair washed by daddy.

She was still just a tad bit upset about the whole bath experience after she was dressed.


She got her first REAL bath on 5/16, when she was 10 days old... it was the day after her umbilical stump fell off! (:

{the stump was gone, but she still had a scab from the blood blister}

She fussed for about 1.5 seconds when I first put her in. . .

but then she realized how amazing the warm water felt & she was calm the rest of the time! (:

She didn't like when I took her out to wrap her up in the towel, but then I started washing her hair & all was good again!

Until I had to unwrap her to put lotion, diaper & jammies on. But it only took a few snuggles & kisses to make her happy again, after she was all ready for bed! (:

Week 1.

Little Miss Taislee is one week old today! So crazy it's already been a week, but at the same time it seems like she has been here forever! Weird how that works, haha! Anyways. This past week has been pretty interesting! Our first night home, we had a bit of trouble getting her to sleep during the night. She pretty much refused to sleep in her own bed. I would get her to sleep, lay her down in her bed & about 5 minutes later, she would be squeakin' & fussing wanting to be either held or fed. It got to the point that if I even sat down with her, she was NOT happy. So needless to say, this mama did not get much sleep! So Sunday, me & her slept quite a bit. She's been doing better at night, still not a fan of her own bed, she would much rather sleep next to her mama - she is JUST like Brans was! ha. There was one night that she didn't want to sleep again, so I ended up sleeping in the rocking chair in the living room with her. We're working on the whole bed thing & hopefully she will start to do better (:
It's been a bit of a challenge adjusting to taking care of 2 little kids by myself during the day. Mainly because I am sooo tired still. Also, Tais has been wanting to be held at ALL times, even if she is asleep. And until my milk came in, she was literally wanting to eat every half an hour. So it was pretty hard to give Brans the attention he needed & it made me feel horrible :( But I'm still trying to get used to it & I know it won't always be like that!
Tonight we had a bit of an issue with her belly button/umbilical cord stump. As I was changing her diaper, I noticed there was a big 'bubble' of blood right above the cord. I googled to see if it was normal, but couldn't find anything. So we decided to take her in, after making a call to her pediatrician. Turns out it was a blood blister on her skin, they think that whoever put the clamp on her cord must of caught some of her skin in it, making a blister & it finally just filled with blood. I'm really not sure if that is what happened, I didn't notice her skin pinched in the clamp, but maybe I just missed it? Who knows! But while they were looking at that, they noticed that her skin was also sticking to the cord & it wasn't drying up properly. So they had to push the skin down, and they also put some stuff on there to help it dry up quicker. So glad it wasn't anything serious, but it still sucks that there was a problem. It looks so yucky now & I can not wait for it to just fall off! haha, poor girl.
Brans is doing really well adjusting to having a new baby sister. We haven't had any jealousy issues yet & he loves her so far! He always likes to give her kisses & is so soft when he does it. He also likes to 'bounce' her in her bouncer & is so gentle. He'll rub her face & talk to her, & it is soo cute. Sometimes he'll sit by me when I'm burping her & tell me that he wants to be burped, too. So I'll pat his back & he'll fake burp (: haha. One thing that we HAVE had an issue with, is him thinking all of the babies things are his. We just have to remind him that he's too big for them (the bouncer, swing, ect.) or that it's Taislee's & she needs it. But other than that, he's been doing really well & I am so relieved! (:
Overall, Tais is such a good baby. It kind of seemed like she was fussy a lot when we first brought her home, (she hardly made a peep in the hospital!) but I think she was just getting used to her surroundings, or something, cause she is such a happy girl now & really doesn't cry or fuss that much! Well, unless she's hungry, getting her diaper changed or getting dressed. Which she IS getting better with getting changed & dressed. The first few days she HATED it, but now she's doing much better (: She smiles SO much, mostly in her sleep... but also just at random times! & they are definitely the cutest little smiles ever (: She reminds me so much of Bransyn when he was a baby, it's crazy! Just with the little faces she makes, the sounds she makes, and just the way she looks! I honestly love it. She definitely sleeps a lot, but it seems like she is awake a lot more & more alert than the 'average' newborn! She is already doing really well with holding her head! She lifts it all the time & loves to look around. If someone is talking to her, she will focus in on them & just stare. Soo cute! Oh, and when she was FOUR days old, she rolled over... from her back, to her tummy, back onto her back - while she was SWADDLED! I was amazed! She hasn't done it again, which doesn't surprise me... she IS only a week old, haha. But I just thought it was so funny that she had done that already! She loves to sleep on her side. I'm not sure if that is necessarily a bad thing... I know TUMMY sleeping is a no-no, but not sure about side sleeping? I always put her to sleep for the night in her sleep positioner, so she doesn't ever roll to her tummy.
It's been quite the week getting used to this new life of mine, but I wouldn't change it for anything! I just love my cute kiddo's & it makes me SO happy that I am able to stay home with them ♥

Going home & Taislee meeting Bransyn! (:

We got to bring Miss Taislee home today! AND, she finally got to meet her big brother!!! (:

Her coming home outfit, it says 'little sister' on it. Brans was supposed to wear his 'Taislee's Big Brother' shirt, but my mom forgot to give it to Ryan's parents & they were the one that brought him back to the hospital to go home with us :(

All snug in her seat & ready to go home! She didn't cry at all when she went in there.

FINALLY! He got to see his baby sister for longer than 1 minute! (: He was SOO excited! And we were all so excited to see him, too! It was a long 2 days without him!

Our sweet babies in their seats.

He was so excited to sit next to her. He watched her the whole way home & kept asking to take her out (:

When we got home, he wanted her out RIGHT away. But we had to park around the corner since the Ironman Triathlon was going on right on our street, & Ryan had to run back to the car to get all of our stuff. So we had to wait to take Tais out until he got back, so that daddy could see B hold her for the first time. (& help him, so that I could take pictures :)

He just kept talking to her, looking at her face, touching her ears, putting her blanket on her (: it was so cute.

Taislee got him a 'Mater's Tall Tales' book as a present for being her big brother (:

He was so careful holding her.

So sweet ♥

Me & my babies! I am the luckiest mama in the world!

These boys are crazy about their girl ♥

It's so nice finally being home with Brans & also having Taislee here. I absolutely love being home with my 2 babies! Brans is doing really well with her so far, he wants to be by her all the time & is showing no signs of jealousy so far, so I hope that lasts! (: