Dedication and Daycare

Currently I am letting Taylor out of my arms for a few minutes while I do a little post...but will quickly snuggle up with her again as soon as I am done because, you see, I had to be away from the sweet little girl this week for more hours than I want to count. Maternity leave over, work and daycare begin!

But let me back up to the day before I went back to work - Mother's Day!! What a fun, awesome, and wonderful thing to be a mother, and have a day to celebrate it! I felt like it gave me an extra reason to love and snuggle Taylor, and it just makes me appreciate and love my own mom that much more! I never realized what an awesome job she has and what a blessing it is to be able to carry the title "mom". (Love you mem!!)
(Taylor and I when she was 1 day old...)
We had another celebration on Mother's Day as well - Taylor was dedicated at church! She did SO well in front of the church (thank goodness for bright stage lights to capture a little person's attention). Lots of family attended the service, and we had lunch at our house afterward (I think we found the maximum capacity for our little house! :-D).

Taylor with her grandma's at church
Cute little dress (on a very chilly Mother's Day!)

And now onto this week...what a week!! It was back to the classroom for me in two ways! I started teaching again on Monday, and also started my second to last grad class on Monday evening. Monday morning - first day at daycare for Taylor - whew - that was tough. I will admit that I was emotional getting her up that morning, when I fed her, when I changed her, when I put her in her car seat, the drive to daycare, and driving away from daycare (and maybe a little at school before the students were there and someone would mention her name). But we both made it through the first day, and each day got a little easier, although I didn't miss her any less! Getting back into the groove during the school day was easier than I thought - I was nervous to go back - it felt like it was the first day of the school year all over again!

It is especially hard to have to get her up and ready for daycare when she looks like this in the morning (this is not even a minute after she ate and I put her down to continue getting ready).



But one week down and only a few to go until the summer! It is going to be a fantastic summer!! Here are some more pictures...can't help myself... :-)


Bath time, blue eyes

Happy early birthday to me!! Baby Jogger!! :-)



Dressed and ready to watch daddy play softball for the first time!!

It's almost time....

Taylor is 11 weeks old this week...which means it's almost time for me to go back to work. (Sigh). This is going to be a hard transition, but I just keep focusing on how wonderful it is going to be to pick her up after work, and that summer break is only 5 weeks away! I think Taylor and I can make it 5 weeks!

At 11 weeks, we have such a talkative girl!! It is fun to be able to tell that Taylor really recognizes familiar things - when we are home she is quite animated compared to when we are out, and the past few evenings, she has just been a happy, little chatterbox (well, lots of cooing, gurgling and squealing :-)). We have switched to size 2 diapers, and I have spent a lot of time cleaning out her drawers of all the clothes that don't fit her anymore - it's a little sad to look at all her newborn things, and think of how much she has grown already!! Our "little" 2 and 1/2 month old is wearing some 6 month clothing now! My goodness do these early weeks go quickly, especially when she is changing so much daily.

Pictures!!

The highlight of this past week has been Tulip Time!

Walking in downtown Holland - Taylor likes to face out now in the Baby Bjorn and see what is going on!


Spring has definitely sprung in Holland - lots of flowers and blooming trees...



Smelling the tulips :-)


Taylor with her little buddy, Brady....I LOVE pictures of these two together, so sweet! Brady always smiles at Taylor, and Taylor just stares at Brady...so sweet!!
Their eyes meet....



The family with the tulips

Hanging out with daddy after he got home from work (hanging out on our bed brings out a very happy, talkative little girl...Taylor loves playtime on our bed, maybe it is the cozy, soft, warm down comforter :-))



Taylor all ready for bed...does she look sleepy? :-)

Wearing her first pair of blue jeans (thanks uncle paul and aunt mary-margaret!)
Blessed to be able to spend my days with this little cutie! :-)

Ten Weeks Old

Here is what we have been up to the last week! :-)

Slept in the bouncy seat (little Taylor has a cold and can breathe better when she is more upright...)

Made funny faces at mom

Read stories with grandma mem while mom and dad went out on a date!

Had a three-generation girls day out in downtown Holland

Wore our first pair of jeans - new little overalls :-)

Lots of tummy time

Played with Brady

Slept while mom and dad watched Avatar (first movie we have watched the whole way through since Taylor was born!)

Hung out on the couch

Cuddled with her new taggie blanket - love it!!!

Celebrated Earth Day (see her shirt - "Handle with Care")

Two months old!

A mere three months ago I was waking up at 5:00am, working out, going to work, teaching about letters and numbers, coming home, and putting up my tired, pregnant feet while eating dinner and watching reruns of the Office.

Two months ago we were welcoming a new life into this world, a life that we had known about for 9 months, but we were becoming acquainted face to face for the first time. We were learning how to feed, bathe, diaper, swaddle, and generally care for this little person. Everything was new, and the learning curve was slow at first.

Now, with Taylor two months old, it feels like she has been a part of our lives for a long, long time. I can tell the difference between cries (tired, hungry, over-stimulated, wanting to be held, wanting a pacifier, etc.). It takes hardly any time to change a diaper, and we can tell when she is thinking about soaking us in the middle of changing her because she becomes really still and quiet. We have a little bit of a bedtime routine now, and are getting to sleep at a more normal time. We know that we have to be patient and slow with the bottle for her to take it. We have to hold her a certain way, and that it has to be just the right temperature. And she is like her mom – she needs her sleep, and gets out of sorts when she is over tired.

Taylor has the best expressions and smiles, and can make me laugh out loud as we just sit and make faces at each other. She focuses so intently when we look at each other, and then will just break out into the biggest, gummy, smile. We call her the little boxer sometimes because she holds her little fists so tight that her knuckles go white. She likes to snuggle when she is tired, and generally wakes up happy in the morning and after her naps. She loves the sound of water (can’t wait to take her to Lake Charlevoix!). During tummy time, Taylor refuses to just lay and look at things, she wants to MOVE and kicks her little legs back and forth, looking like she wants to get moving and crawl if she could.

It is such a joy to be parents and to have a little person look to you and recognize you as their comforter and care taker. What an awesome job and responsibility.

At two months Taylor is 12 pounds 13.5 ounces (80^th percentile), and 23 inches long (75^th percentile). Big girl!! She’s growing so well, and the doctor’s say she is doing just perfectly. Music to our ears…

Brave girl after her shots (poor little thing - I think it was as hard on me as it was on her...)
I like her pink camouflage and sparkly band-aids.

Looking pretty with her daddy
Little smile

Boxing girl with tight little fists
Sleeping with her feet out, just like mom

Seven Weeks

Taylor hit the seven week mark on Wednesday, and we feel like we can see changes almost daily!! She is getting so much stronger with her neck and legs, and can hold her head up for longer periods of time. The hair that she was born with fell out a bit, but it is now starting to grow back in the front, and it is so cute! Her head reminds me of a little fuzzy peach - the little hairs are so short and soft. The bottle feeding seems to have taken a step back. She is refusing it more often than she is taking it, but we will continue to work on it. For the past 6 straight nights, Taylor has only gotten me up once during the night! She isn't going down until almost 11, but then will sleep until almost 4, and then not get up until almost 8. I hope this will start to shift earlier when I have to go back to work, but for now it is great!

Ryan and I are still trucking along. Ryan is busy almost every night working on things for his two masters classes this semester. I have started my final master's project, utilizing some of Taylor's naps while I am on maternity leave. We both cannot wait to be done with our master's degrees!!

This past week the weather has not been that great, and we are ready for the warmth and sunshine to return!! We're hoping for better weather next week for more walks, runs, and, yes, it's that time of year again, softball practices for Ryan. :-)

Pics

All clean

Trying to sit in the bumbo seat for the first time
Looking at her own reflection
Go team!

Heading out for a walk, it feels like winter again!!
Taylor after the walk, all snuggled in and sleeping
Taylor - our little rocket
Chubby cheeks :-)
Playing in her bouncy chair

Easter

It was a good Easter weekend!

It started with Ryan taking a half day on Friday, and the three of us headed to 8th street for the afternoon. Afterwards, Ryan and Taylor took a good long nap before dinner. :-)

Grandma mem and Grandpa Randy came up from Battle Creek on Saturday to visit and brought Taylor some Easter goodies - a few cute outfits and a fun counting book. It will be so much fun when she starts interacting with books more!

Then today, Easter Sunday, Taylor went to church for the first time!! She did so well! She slept through most of the service and didn't make a peep. It was fun to dress her up in a cute little dress, and have our church friends finally meet her! Afterward, we headed to grandma and grandpa Slagh's for Easter dinner. Unfortunately we had a little messy diaper incident, and we had to change her clothes before heading over, but she still looked awfully sweet! Taylor got a cute little Easter bunny - a little beanie baby named Hippity - lucky girl!

It was a big day for Taylor, and she took a really long nap after all the excitement (and her mom and dad may have napped as well :-)).

Here are some pictures from Taylor's first Easter Sunday!!

Family picture (trying to get all three of us using photo booth)
At church (iphone pictures :-))

Our sweet little girl!!