Busy week ahead...

We've got a busy week ahead of us.
Monday: work, preschool, daycare
Tuesday: work, daycare
Wednesday: work, preschool (Halloween costume party = fun!), daycare
Thursday: work, daycare
Friday: work, daycare, trunk-or-treat, Halloween party for Bob and me
Saturday: Blake's 1st birthday party (costume party) and of course, trick or treating for HALLOWEEN!!!
Sunday: Bob's birthday party
Monday: (ok, so this is more than a week away, but it's still on my list!) Bob's birthday! The old man is going to be turning 33. I've got a little somethin' somethin' planned. :)

Whew, that made me tired just writing it...I think this week is going to wipe me out. But, we're all excited for the fun times this week has in store. I love Halloween!

Photo Shoot

A few weeks ago we took Jake and Taylor to have some pictures taken. Kristi Bowman was the photographer we chose, and she did a great job! (Check out her website at kristibowmanphotography.com) She spent nearly three hours with us, and took around 650 pictures! It's been hard narrowing it down to what we want to order. She posted some pics on her website, and here they are:













We think she did a fabulous job, and couldn't be happier with the results!

She's here!

Taylor Grace Birrell was born May 12th at 12:07 pm. She was 7 pounds 10 ounces and 19 inches. She had a rough go at first, and wasn't "pinking up" like they wanted her to, so she had to be taken to the nursery. Then I had a few complications and finally was moved to my normal room 6 hours later. I finally got to see her (I did hold her for a little bit right after she was born). She is the cutest thing ever! Even though 7 lbs 10 oz is a rather substantial baby, I can't get over how big she is! She was having some breathing troubles, and the blood sample they took showed she had an elevated white cell count, so basically she had an infection - away she went to the NICU for the next several days. It was hard not to have her with us, but she was only down the hall and we could see her whenever we wanted. I was released on Thursday, and Taylor got to come home Friday. Even though she's not doing much yet, we sure are having a good time with her. Jake especially - any time she cries, he runs over and strokes her head and says "It's ok baby sister!" He is being a good helper too. We've only had a few incidents. He is obsessed with her eyes and has to constantly be reminded not to touch them. And once he discovered her on his pillow and basically freaked out. I guess I need to realize there are boundries - and sometimes what is his is his, no buts about it! He tells her he loves her and that she is his best friend. It doesn't get any cuter then that! Here are some pics:

Tomorrow's the big day!

Wow - I can't believe I made it. Tomorrow we'll get to meet our little baby Taylor. I'm so excited! I'm trying to make today all about Jake (since my maternity leave started today, I don't have to work - yay!) so we're heading to the zoo soon. He is so excited to go see all the animals. I hope my giant 9 month pregnant body can handle it! ;)

The countdown has begun...

Oh wow - we've hit single digits now. Just 9 more days until our little Taylor arrives (unless she comes sooner; here's to hoping). I'm so ready for the prego part to end and to have her here with us. I'm getting so excited!

Getting things ready

Only 23 days to go! Over the last few months, I've bought a few things for our little arrival - little cute girl clothes and stuff. My sis and mom decided to throw me a baby shower yesterday, and boy did I get a lot of cute girl stuff to add to the collection. She is going to be dressed to the 9's daily! She's got 11 pairs of shoes for her first 6 months of life, to go along with a ridiculous amount of clothes. Check out the loot:

11 pairs of shoes - do I even have that many? ;)

The so needed necessities - diapers, rattles, bottles, binkies, etc.

Newborn clothing: 3 pajamas, 3 dresses, 10 onesies, 2 pairs of pants and 6 outfits

0-3 months: 7 pajamas, 2 jackets, 2 sweaters, 12 dresses, 13 outfits, 2 tops, 13 onesies, 2 pairs of pants and one swimsuit

0-3 months continued...

Even more 0-3 months

3-6 months: 2 outfits, 6 onesies, 6 dresses and 1 sweater

6-9 months: 3 outfits and 3 onesies

12 months: 1 dress, 3 outfits and 1 jacket

5 big blankets and 14 receiving blankets

Misc stuff - socks, hats, hair bows/head bands, bibs, etc.

My new diaper bag!!!

Everyone was so generous and thoughtful, and picked out such cute stuff! From the looks of things, little Taylor is certainly ready to start her life off in style!

Brownies!!!

We made brownies today, and Jake got to lick the beaters...what a cute mess!

Much ado about nothing...and perhaps a name?

So...I guess I shouldn't have gotten all riled up in my last post. I went to my Dr.'s appointment today, and talked to her about being induced on May 12th. I explained again that the date had sentimental and significant meaning to our family, and I got a completely different reaction. She said not to worry, and that she'd make May 12th happen for us. Wow - what a relief! That means 6 more weeks to go. 6 weeks? Eeek! That's so soon!

It has been a struggle for us to come up with a name for "baby sister" as Jake calls her. We didn't have any issue for Jake, but finding a girl's name that we both like has been a challenge. We finally have a potential decision - Taylor. Thoughts?

Scratch that...

So much for our May 12th big idea. At my last Dr's appointment, we told her we had decided to go ahead with inducing on May 12th. My doc was like, oh that won't work...I'm not on call that day. Apparently she doesn't do inductions on days that she isn't on call - in case labor takes longer than her normal "office hours". ARRRGGH! Why offer something if you aren't willing to follow through? She even seemed sort of ticked off that we were irritated with the situation. She then said I could be induced on May 15th..."that's still a day early". I could care less about having the baby come early, more that she was supposed to be born on a specific day for a specific reason...otherwise I wouldn't have even considered being induced. So, I let her know if it can't be May 12th, then I don't want to be induced. What can I say - that made her less than thrilled. She really seems to want to have her day as scheduled as possible. Uh, hello? You are an OB/GYN - I'm not sure it's the greatest idea to try to schedule mother nature. She even said something to the affect that she doesn't even live near the hospital anymore, sort of indicating that it would be a huge hassle for her. Oh, wow...sorry to inconvenience you! Well, I sure hope it works out for us, but if not, we'll let the little one stay put as long as she likes. :)

May 12th

My doctor has given me the option of being induced up to a week prior to my due date. After talking with Bob and his mom, we've decided to pick May 12th as our little girl's birthday. It was Bob's dad's birthday, and we thought it would be a great way to honor his memory. Pretty cool, huh?

NEWS FLASH - It's a....

GIRL!!!!