Our little ladybug

So for Taylor's first Halloween we went to a friends house that lives in town. As you may have guessed our house is really quiet halloween night and we wanted to see some trick or treaters again. So one of our friends had some people over and everyone had little babies of their own. It was fun to see them all dressed up! We hung out and watched all the trick or treaters come and go. Taylor didn't quite know what to make of her costume, but she didn't hate it so that was good!
One thing I hated though was the time change. It never bothered me until I became a mother. Taylor has her schedule and it was very thrown off when the time changed. I thought it would take longer than 2 days to get her back on schedule, but it didn't, and now we're back on and it's wonderful! Thats about it for now, hope to find you all in good health and doing well!

Darius Rucker and of course Taylor :)

On Teusday the 20th of October I went down south because my sister had won some tickets over the radio to Darius Rucker (the old Hootie guy). We had such a blast! It was a good group of girls which included myself, my sister, Tracy and Alex. Darius sure puts on a great show! We danced and sang, and we all went crazy when he played his Hootie and the Blowfish songs! It was fun! This was my first trip down south without Taylor. My mother-in-law watched her while Greg worked. Thank goodness for family cause Taylor was sick and I thought it best not to tote her around everywhere, and I didn't want to get my mom or Steve sick as well. It worked out well, but seeing as how I'm with her almost all day everyday, it was weird being without her for 24 hours. She is getting better now, but now I think I'm getting what she had. The joys of having a family, everything gets passed around.

Well now Taylor is sitting up for the most part, and eating baby food, and just growing and growing! She's so fun and it just keeps getting better and better!

Having a convo with Daddy

Baptism

So I was chatting with my mom today and she reminded me to put up some pictures of Taylor's Baptism that occurred on September 27th. I have some of those pictures from my camera and I'm still trying to figure out how to get the pictures my dad sent via email. They are coming up as attachments and not jpeg's. So here are a few pictures from my camera and some others that I just think are cute. The Baptism went perfectly! Every mother dreads their kid screaming in public especially in front of a whole congregation, so Greg and I timed everything down to the "T". We fed her right before and tried to work everything else from naptime to playtime just right. Well it worked because not only did she not cry, but she even smiled as the holy water was being put on her head! We were shocked and very proud of her! People came from all over to witness this baptism and we couldn't believe what they did to get there! Thank you to everyone who was there and who wanted to be there but couldn't! We can't wait to tell her how many people really love her! Other than that she is doing great! She's rolling over and started rice cereal and has been sleeping for 11 hours at night! We still have to nail down some naptimes, but we're working on it. She's getting so big and those baby blues are still there and as beautiful as ever! She is 4 1/2 months now and starting to find her voice. I have a little video to share of her talking to Daddy! I hope you all are doing good as well!

Taylor's first giggle

So today I was holding Taylor and trying to change the channel when all of a sudden she starts to giggle! I looked down and realized that she was staring at the remote, of course not one of her toys that we've bought for her. Why is it that kids love the remote control so much? Anyway we are going to attempt to teach her later that the remote is not her toy, but for now that's the only thing that makes her actually laugh so we're sticking with it for now cause it's SO CUTE to hear her giggle! So, I caught it on video and have to share with you cause chances are, it will put a smile on your face as well! By the way she's 3 1/2 months old now. Enjoy!

growing up

So Taylor is going to be 3 months old in one week and things have changed. First of all she sleeps through the night! She goes to bed around 9 and wakes up around 6 and I'm a much more pleasant person to be around now :) She's alos cooing and holding her head up like a pro! Although sometimes after a long play period she gets tired of holding her noggin up and she collides with my nose or mouth, that's an interesting scene. Just picture it, I'm tearing up from the pain and she's screaming from the pain. But the best of it all is she's smiling ALL the time now... okay maybe not ALL the time but you know what I mean :) It's so fun watching her crack up at nothing. So we had this adorable outfit that one of my friends gave me and she looked so cute, so we decided to have a photo shoot and I thought I would share.

Other than that I started work last week at a new salon and I love it! The girls are great and I only have to work 2 days a week, rough I know. But my mother-in-law watches her one day and my friend watches her the other. I lucked out to have them available and willing to take care of our little one! I miss her of course during those days, but it's a nice break and I love my clients! Life is good!

pictures

Sitting up in the bumbo

The last pictures were done by Sean Troeger photography

2 months old

Well once again I apologize for not being good and keeping up with my blog, but my computer is super slow and it's so annoying! But we're working on that. Anyway the month of July has been pretty busy over here. Well let me start with the end of June, Greg and I went down south for a quick trip to attend my brother's and sister-in-laws housewarming party. That was fun cause a lot of people got to meet and hold Taylor for the first time and I got to visit with some old friends and family. Oh and my brother bought an amazing house that he got to show off as well! Then two weeks later my brother-in-law got married! He's one of the twins and his new wife Shelley is super sweet and of course looked beautiful as a bride! That was a fun wedding! The following day we went to a angels/Yankees game, and that was a blast as well! While we attended the game my mom and step dad got some one-on-one time with the little one. They got to show here off a bit too which they said was fun. But they also realize why people my age have children... "because it's tiring". I missed her of course but got to relax with Greg and family at the game which was fun! Then that night one of my best friends Alex hosted a dinner for us. Candace came over and we got to visit for a while. I do miss my friends and I was glad that they took time out of their busy schedules to see us! It was a long couple of days and we had Taylor in tow for all of it, and it took a little bit of a toll on her. She got a little sick when we got home, so I've definitely learned my lesson that I can't go see everyone when I go down there anymore, they'll need to come to me for the most part. She's feeling better but still has a little bit of a cough. Anyway, she's 2 months old today, and this makes me sad cause time is really flying by now! I'm really making an effort to enjoy everyday with her, but it is already going too fast! She's making noises now when she's happy and she smiles back at you when you talk to her. She's becoming more mobile and "playing" with some of her toys in her play gym. Oh did I mention she's adorable? She had a doctor's appointment today and she's still just as healthy as can be, and I can't ask for more! She weighs in at a healthy 12lbs 13oz and is 23 1/2 inches long. She weighs about a pound more than an average 2 month old, but the doctor said that she's longer than most so it's nothing to worry about. She eats the right amount so mommy isn't over-feeding or anything. Seems like she's gonna be tall! Oh and the sleep situation is much better now! She gets up once between 10 and 6 and that's great for a 2 month old! She's turned out to be a great baby! Sure she has her "fussy time" at night before bed, but what baby doesn't? I have no complaints (not even about the sleep), and I am truly loving being a mommy and Greg is a great daddy! We work great as a team which I think is super important! I know I sound cheesy right now, so sorry, but ever since I had her, I'm still super emotional! She's such a blessing, as is every baby, and I couldn't be happier in my life right now. As for me going back to work, I start at a new salon at the beginning of August and I'm working only 2 days (wed and Fridays). My mother-in-law is watching her on Wednesdays and my friend Sheryl has Fridays. I'm so blessed to have people who are close to me watching her instead of a stranger and I couldn't be happier that it's worked out that way! God has truly blessed Greg and I in more ways than one! Check out this video and I will be posting some pictures as well. I was going to call this video puke and play :)

update on Taylor

So I'm sorry I haven't been updating all of you on here, but as I'm sure most of you know, time is hard to come by with a newborn... plus I'm bad at it anyway :)
Everything is going great! We've had a few rough nights, but nothing to complain about. She doesn't sleep too well during the day unless we are going places or are holding her, but at least she likes to cuddle and likes the car. Other than that life with our new baby girl is awesome and she has our hearts!

We've had visitors on and off. The weekend before last Jeff met his new niece and Connor his new cousin. That was fun to watch, and Tracy bought them matching pj's so it will only get better :)
This past weekend, my mom, Steve and Allison came up to visit because Steve had not met her yet. Allison helped pull a calf and Greg taught her to drive our big loader tractor. So that was fun having them up here! While Allison was pulling the calf my mom was taking pictures (from outside the pin) and she accidentally dropped my camera. Now this sounds like it would be a bad thing, but for me it worked out great, for my mom... not so much. She felt really bad. But I got a new camera that I love! It's a Sony and it takes pictures faster and has a better quality of pictures, so right when I got it, I took a picture of Taylor and actually caught her smiling in her sleep! Because of this, I'm so in love with my new camera. Thanks mom :)

She's here!!!

Taylor Rae Douma proved my doctor right and made her appearance early! She was 2 weeks early almost to the day, and she's perfect! She weighed in at 7 pounds 5 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long and born at 2:04 the afternoon of May 20th. My labor and delivery went pretty good up until right after she was born. Some of my placenta was left in my uterus which cause unstoppable bleeding. About 15 mins of my doctor working on it I was rushed to the operating room for a D&C. While in there she noticed that my cervix was also torn so she stitched that up. I was close to having a blood transfusion, but my hemoglobin levels rose back up in timely manner, so there was no need. Other than that drama, it was an awesome experience!

Now baby and mom are doing great trying to figure each other out! I'm healing fine and she is a healthy as can be! Greg is already so in love with her he can't see straight and it's so fun to watch! My sister and sister-in-law Tracy were there for the birth and that was awesome as well! What a huge help they were! Now my mom has been here for a few days helping with cooking, answering 50 million questions, bathing and clipping of nails and such. Everyone has been so awesome and I really appreciate it!
So here are a few of the million pics I've been taking of our little girl.

Week 36/ 9 month appt

So nowadays pregnancy is divided into weeks, not months. Pregnancy actually is 40 weeks/ 10 months. With that being said, I had my 36 weeks doctor's appt this last Friday. My doctor wanted me to have another ultrasound because she thought the baby was big. Comes to find out she's perfect! She's measuring exactly what she should be and they guessed her weight to be about 6 pounds. My due date still is June 4th and everything looks good with her! As for me my blood pressure is a little high and I'm swelling by the minute everywhere BUT I'm 2 centimeters dilated and my body is preparing itself to give birth! Good news cause now I have a 50-50 chance of delivering early! Which with my hands being numb all the time and my feet looking and feeling like balloons, sounds good to me! Other than that everything is all ready to go, set up and washed, and I'm ready for the sleepless nights... kind of :) So hopefully in 2 weeks our little one will be here! Here's a little sneak peek at her (yep it's still a girl). This pic is her face close up and her big ol' lips clear as day. Other than that she's a little squished in there so we couldn't get a good pic like last time. I can't wait to see what she looks like, but I think she's cute already!

San Fransisco "babymoon"

So the week of April 27 Monday-Thursday Greg and I decided to take one last vacation before the craziness of having a baby becomes our life. We chose to go to San Fran because I've never been there and it's been about 20 years since Greg was there. Not to mention my aunt has a great condo there that she let us use as our baby gift. Well we had a blast! My aunt's place is amazing and located in the heart of San Fran! We got there Monday and got acquainted with the place and surrounding area by walking to market street. That area has a ton of shopping! Then on Tues we had tickets to the Giants vs. Dodgers baseball game. It was 48 degrees and windy, but we stayed the whole time and it was fun! They are rivals which made it even more fun! Then on Wednesday we had tickets to go to Alcatraz and that was just as cool as everyone said it would be! I have a weird obsession with prisons, so to go in one was awesome! Then we walked around Fisherman's Wharf the rest of the day. We took it easy cause my back and feet would start to hurt when I pushed it, but Greg gives me a foot rub every night these days, so I'm not going to complain too much =). Greg got to sleep in for a couple of days so he's not complaining either. Overall a good time with my wonderful husband!

3 showers for Taylor Rae!

So I am super late on posting this, I 'm still waiting on pictures from one shower and when I sit at a computer for a while, my feet swell pretty bad! You'll be able to see what I'm talking about in later pictures, I swear I'm turning into Shrek!

My first shower was on April 18th, and my mom, sister and sister-in-law Tracy threw it for me at my moms house. I had friends and family from down south attend, and it turned out to be such a great day! I got all kinds of outfits and stuff that I needed, so I really made out! PLUS I got to see all the people I love in one shot, instead of the usual running around the world trying to get to see everyone, they came to me! So, needless to say, it was awesome!

My second shower was the very next sat April 25th. That one was a friends shower from some of my friends that I've made up here. Sheryl, Natalie, and Laura threw it. It was at Laura's house (soon to not be her house anymore cause she's moving :() and if you know these girls, they set everything up so cute! I'm waiting on the pictures from that shower but I'll put them up once I get them because they did such a great job displaying everything! You'll see what I mean when I put a picture up of the diaper cake Laura made, it's amazing! It ended up being a fun and relaxing shower with friends, and I happened to get some good stuff there as well!

My last shower was on May 2nd at my mother-in-laws house (the new one about 1 mile away from me). She, my father-in-law, and some of the brothers kicked butt to get together and the furniture set up in time for the shower. They worked their butts off to get it ready (Greg and I went to San Fransisco for our "babymoom") and we appreciate it! While all this was going on my sister-in-law was planning the whole thing mostly by herself! Mind you, she has a 1 year-old and she lives down south! That shower turned out, like the others, decorated so cute and had great food! She did an awesome job as well! It was my biggest shower and I got all kinds of things I needed from my registry and some cute outfits as well! My mom, sister, Amie, Jackie, aunts, and friends and family all came from far away to attend, and I still can't believe they did that for me! I have never felt so loved and blessed!

In conclusion, I can't believe how generous people are, and I feel so blessed to have all these people in my life! They have all bent over backwards to help Greg and I start our family and I couldn't be more grateful! Thank you again to everyone, I love you all!
P.s. I can only post the pictures other people put up on their blogs cause I can't figure out how to get them from my email to here... frustrating!

update on pregnancy

So last week (week of the 9Th) I thought my "good luck" in pregnancy was over. Last week at my 7th month appointment I went in for a routine doctor's appointment and we did a glucose test to test for gestational diabetes. There's not really any cases of diabetes in my family so I wasn't too worried about it. Well... no one told me not to eat anything before the test! So I had a pop tart. Two days later my doctor's office calls me and say the sugar in my blood was a little high (like only 5 points over) and that I needed to go into the hospital and due a 4-hour test. So I did. First of all you have to fast starting the previous night, which isn't a good thing to hear for a pregnant lady. Then, they draw your blood, you drink the glucose juice stuff and they draw your blood every hour on the hour, for 3 hours... BORING! Well I passed with flying colors and everything is fine. I curse that pop tart till this day, not worth it!

Other than that everything is great! I'm still sleeping just fine (maybe too much) and still no heartburn or anything! I consider myself pretty lucky! Although I have been getting bigger which in turn makes things a little more uncomfortable, but that's unavoidable. Next thing to look forward to is the baby showers!

family, registered, and baby furniture weekend

So this past weekend Tracy, Jeff, Connor and Allison all came up to visit and to do some helpful baby stuff. It was so fun to get to spend time with all them and to see what new things Connor is doing! He is such a good boy and so funny! Since I don't get to see him but maybe once a month (if I'm lucky) its so fun to see all the things he's up to. He looks like such a big boy with him walking so good, and sitting on regular chairs! And he's just such a happy boy that it's so fun to play with him now! I wish I could see him more, but that's just how the cards are dealt I guess.
Anyway Tracy and Allison were such a huge help on Saturday when we went to register at "babies r us"! Tracy has all the "new mom" knowledge and Allison did all the clicking of the merchandise. And although Allison had to be Allison by clicking on some loud toys, it was what made it so fun! And they also did something else huge... they bought me my crib as a baby present! I still can't believe they did that, it was very generous of them! They also helped me pick it out. My mom and steve are also helping in a huge way too, they are buying me the dresser to match! AND my dad and stepmom already purchased the carseat and stroller to match! I am so blessed to have such a great family to help me with stuff like that! Thanks again!
Well it was obviously a great weekend and I now have pictures to put up of the completed nursery! Jeff and Greg set it up right when we got home and not to mention that they had dinner in the oven when we returned as well! What great guys!

baby bump and bedding

So this past Feb 11Th I turned 6 months in my pregnancy. Where in the world is the time going? My nephew Connor turned 1 two months ago, my niece Mya turns 1 today, my sister-in-law is having a baby in 2 months and my brother-in-law is getting married in July. And although all these things are great and Greg and I can't wait to hold our baby girl, I feel like life is flying by! Anyway people have been asking if i "look pregnant" yet so I decided to keep you up to date with my growing belly. The good news is I'm gaining just the right amount of weight that my doctor recommended and feeling great! Greg and I can feel the baby move everyday and now we can even see my belly move when she kicks. Its really a unique experience to have a human grow inside you, and being a first-time mom, a little weird. But its all fun!

We also got to see a picture of our bedding that my sister is bringing up to me this weekend, and I wanted to show you cause I'm so in love with it! My sister, Allison, has this friend who does custom orders for a very reasonable price, so I'm trying them out, and they are great! The bedding came out better than I could have expected! My sister also gave me some of their stuff for Christmas and I love that too! So if anyone knows someone who is expecting and can't find exactly what they want in the stores, you should check them out! I only know of one way to reach them and its through myspace and their name is me-sew-cute. Or you can ask me of another way and I can ask my sister. Anyway here are the pics!