Newborn-6 Weeks (March 31st-May12th)

Here's a newborn snap shot of our sweet Tayler. This is the day we brought her home from the hospital. (April 3rd, 2011) She was 5lbs 12oz and 20" long. And yes, she was already trying to lift her head at the hospital, haha! Ornery girl! She had already, of course, had her first icky poopy diaper and her first pee-pee.  Everyone said she looked like a baby doll here! I agree! I remember being a nervous wreck.... they sent me home from the hospital with no instruction manual. Scary! :)

Tayler was 1 week old in this picture. (April 7th, 2011) We were cuddled up in bed for a night of relaxation while daddy was at work :) Tayler was a little over 6lbs and still 20" long. We were still waking up quite a few times in the middle of the night which is why she was still sleeping in her bassinet by the bed.  She smiled while sleeping her first week, she had her first bath her first week (April 8th), and of course, she had her first cry! If you don't feed that girl IMMEDIATELY, she gets quite upset, haha!!

Tayler was 2 weeks old in this picture. (April 14th, 2011) She had a well-baby check-up this week and we were told she was 6lbs 13oz and a little over 20" long. Her pediatrician was so proud that she had put on 1lb and 1oz since she came home from the hospital-- and of course, I was proud!! :) She went through her doctor's appointment like a champ... except for getting her weight checked. That scale was freezing, haha! She started doing her first tummy time... and hated it haha! And Gigi stayed with us this week! YAY :)

Tayler was 3 weeks old in this picture. (April 21st, 2011) She had newborn pictures done by Jessica Barber Photography and was wiggling all around, haha! She isn't a fan of having to sit still for pictures, haha!  We went on our first grocery trip this week :) She loved it.. but of course, she had to eat through it haha! I had my first day as MOMMY this week too! Since she was born, I had been with someone (either Ethan or my mom) every single day... and this week marked being alone with her every day.. and guess what? We survived it! We got into a routine and it was wonderful! We had a good time on the porch swing (her first time)... Also, Tayler started her fussy period this week. She became a fussy baby from about 6:30PM to 9:30PM. It was rough at first.. I remember just crying and crying... But other than that, Tayler is an amazing baby, hehe! She started sleeping in her crib by herself this week and she had her first holiday--- EASTER! :)

Tayler was 4 weeks/1 month old (April 28th-May 1st) in these pictures!  Struggles-- She is still fussy at night time. I refuse to claim Colic. I keep pleading the blood of Jesus over her. I know that if God can heal her of cysts when I was 18-27 weeks pregnant with her, He can take care of this fussiness. It starts at about 6:30PM and lasts until about 9:30/10:00PM. She just screams and cries... constantly. The only thing that seems to soothe her (sometimes...) are car rides, holding her and walking around the house, or eating. (Which obviously we can't feed her every time she cries...) It's been trying, I'm not going to lie. It honestly just breaks my heart because I feel helpless :( It tears me up inside to see her crying and not be able to fix it for her. I try everything... the swing, a car ride, noise, play mat, her binkie... and these rarely help. Sometimes we get lucky, but most of the time, we just have to suffer through those 3-4 hours at night time. Please just pray for us and pray for her. We refuse to claim Colic. Triumphs-- Besides those 3-4 hours at night, things have been wonderful with her! :) We had a wonderful milestone last night (and yesterday..) First of all, she napped in her crib yesterday (and put herself to sleep might I add!) for 2.5 hours... then, we put her down at 10:30PM to go to sleep in there and she slept until 3:30AM by herself in her big girl crib. I was such a proud momma (and a thankful momma! She let me sleep for 5 hours CONSECUTIVELY :))

Tayler was 5 weeks old in this picture! (May 5th) :) She was about 9 pounds in this picture. Yes, she's gained that much weight since she was born, haha! She went to her first ball game and we actually stayed during the whole thing... she'd been to Steak and Shake.. Tla Que PaQue.. Oh yes, we are quite adventurous! :) I couldn't believe she was 5 weeks old this week and growing like a weed. We measured her and she was about 22" long here as well! Crazy how she is growing!! She's up to 4ounces in her feedings and is sleeping like a complete champ at night... still in her own crib :) She's starting to make noises (finding her voice) and starting to grab things (like the things that hang from her car seat!)

Tayler is 6 weeks old in this picture! (May 12th, 2011) Oh my gosh, doesn't she look so much bigger? She's 10lbs 14oz here and just about 23" long! I think her pediatrician is going to freak when he sees her in 2 more weeks, haha! What is this 6 week old doing? She recognizes voices pretty well now... she's starting to watch things (i.e the TV) and follow things too! She also ROLLED OVER! Yes, she did-- from her belly to her back. She still hates tummy time, but I think it's working :) She is sleeping for about 6 hours at night time too which this mommy can't complain about :) Also, tears are forming when she cries now! She is growing up entirely too fast. She's wearing 0-3 month sleepers now because NB just won't fit :(

Stay tuned for weekly updates every Friday :)

Project 52

I LOVE blogging. I don't think that's a secret to anyone, haha! But lately, I've been struggling with having a long period of time in which I can sit down and blog every day.... and I lack material to write about anymore, haha! So, I've came up with an idea....

I'm going to start a "Project 52"--- the 52 weeks of Tayler.

I plan on sitting down every Friday (the day after she turns a certain week old....) and write about what she did that week... what we accomplished.. our struggles.. our triumphs... our goals... our milestones.. and of course, a weekly picture of how much she's growing with her weight :)

I wish I would have started this sooner, but I guess it's better to start now rather than later, right? :) I have pictures from the past 6 weeks, just no weight, milestones, etc... but I'm going to try and do a small recap when I get another free moment and then build from there! :)

I can't wait for you all to join me on a NEW journey :) 

American Idol Recap

It's getting tough now. It's down to the final 4 and let me tell you-- they are all amazing! Of course, I have my favorites.... but I do enjoy listening to all of them. I think it's because they're all so different and unique. So, lets do a recap of last night, shall we?
James- Alright. Here's the deal. I dig James. He did an amazing job on "Don't Stop Believing" and really got the crowd motivated. As J-Lo said, "He set the bar..." BUT, I have to be honest-- he isn't my favorite. Maybe it's because we just saw Adam Lambert do the same things 2 seasons ago so it doesn't seem that "amazing" or "unique" to me? I'm not sure, but I will say this-- I'm hoping he goes home tonight. I'm probably getting my hopes up... but a girl can dream... right?
Scotty- Now Scotty is my American Idol. Lets just cut straight to the point here----- he is amazing. He can sing like no other.. he has great stage performance.. he's hilarious.. and he has morals. (Some might not think that matters, but in the music industry, I think that speaks volumes.) He cracked me up last night when he kissed his cross necklace after Lady Gaga told him to make love to the microphone, haha! He said, "Lord, this isn't my doing.." LOL Killed me! So, long story short (or not so short)... I hope to God Scotty goes through to the next round. He definitely deserves it!
Lauren- I love Lauren and she seemed to really come out of her shell last night (especially with that song about being "evil" haha!) I'm telling you, her and Scotty were KILLING me last night with their whole Southern Goodness thing that they had going with Lady Gaga, haha! But that last song Lauren did put her over the edge. She did phenomenal! 
Haley- As I always say, my husband is in love with Haley. Could be the tight leather pants that make him drool, I'm not sure, haha, but either way-- she does have a great voice. It's unique and that's what I love. I know I could turn on the radio, hear her singing a song, and could pin point that that's her (much like I can do with Maroon 5.) She did a great job last night on BOTH songs (despite what Randy and J-Lo said.) I'm going to be honest here-- I could CARE LESS if a song is a "hit-song"... who cares, right? I enjoy listening to her sing REGARDLESS. So let that go people! :)
After saying all of that, I will say this-- I hope James Durbin goes home, but my prediction is that Haley will go home tonight. We shall see!

WHAT IS SCENTSY??

Scentsy is a direct selling, wickless candle company headquartered in Meridian, Idaho. The company is owned by Orville and Heidi Thompson and sells its products through a field sales force of more than 70,000 independent sales representatives known as Independent Scentsy Consultants, who market and sell Scentsy products through home parties!

I love Scentsy! It fills every room in my house.

I love money! It's needed to pay our bills.

I love my family.... which made making the decision to become an Independent Scentsy Consultant that much easier! I can work from home, plan parties with friends, host parties, and run an online Scentsy store. Want to join my team? Click the Scentsy link on the right hand side of the screen, scroll down my Scentsy page, and click 'Join my Team.' Stay at home mommas--- this is a great opportunity for you!

You can shop my online store here: https://alyssabay.scentsy.us/Buy 

Learning to Grocery Shop

Okay-- I don't mean literally... I just mean.. I'm learning to grocery shop--- SMART!
I have been reading a lot about couponing and about getting good deals at the store. I have been talking to people about what they do, how much their weekly bill is, etc. Friday-- I felt like I had a game plan. I was ready! I typically make a grocery list on Thursdays and clip coupons on Friday that center around the grocery list, but this week... I clipped coupons and then centered my grocery list around that! 
See-- when I say I clip coupons, I mean I clip coupons I NEED, NOT coupons that are going to get me 49 shampoos. Not that there's anything wrong with people who do that, but I don't have the space.. and I don't have the time to purchase that many of one item, haha! So, I clip coupons just to save money on my weekly grocery list. Period.
So, this week, I purchased things to make: 
green bean casserole
jambalaya
7 layer taco dip
(We have 5 meals a week, but I had a Digorno pizza in the fridge and we have tons of leftovers, so those were going to occupy 2 days! :))
I also purchased things to bake a cake for a friend's birthday, protein shakes for our breakfast in the morning, orange juice, milk, bananas, apples, and oranges.
And guess what our bill came to??
$52.10--- FOR A WHOLE WEEK OF GROCERIES!
I'm not sure what all of you readers spend a week or bi-weekly, but for us.. that was knocking at least $50.00 off our usual bill!!
I'm so proud :)

Mother's Day :)

It was my first Mother's Day, Sunday May 8th :) And it was a gorgeous day for it! 
I woke up in the morning to my sweet baby girl and my wonderful husband! He bought me things to garden with since my parents were buying me flowers for my first Mother's Day :) He bought me clippers, a shovel, gloves, a rake type deal, and a watering pail. He's such a sweetie!

And yes, they came in handy! We planted the GORGEOUS flowers my parents bought me! Ethan created 2 little garden areas next to our front steps (He got the rocks and mulch for free!) So, I planted 18 flowers in each of those sections and then planted 36 marigolds down our walk. And of course, we had to plant a little something in front of the trailer even though no one will really see it, haha! Here's a shot of our gorgeous house now. I LOVE it!

I never knew gardening and planting flowers could be so relaxing. And what was even more relaxing? Tayler started her fussy streak about 7:30PM and since it gets dark here at around 8:30PM, I was in a hurry to get it finished. Well, Ethan took Tayler inside and sat with her while she screamed, so I could work outside and finish things up. That might not sound like a lot to some of you, but I'm usually alone with Tay every single night... I battle through this 'colic' (if that's what you want to call it..) every evening and I'm typically alone. And ever since I've had Tayler and started dedicating all of my time to her, I felt like I no longer had anything that was 'mine.' I used to scrapbook, but just haven't been able to sit down and do that in awhile... and it meant the WORLD to me that he took her inside and tried to calm her down and keep her occupied while I just sat outside on our gorgeous day and plant flowers. I love my daughter, but it was sooo nice to have some alone time.. and do something just for myself, you know?
We visited with Ethan's mom earlier in the morning on Mother's Day and then we headed into the city to meet my mom and brother for lunch. And of course, we had a little photo session! I got a picture with my momma and daughter... my brother and I got a picture with my momma.. and I got a picture with my little family :)

We gave our mommas pictures of Tayler, Ethan, and myself and they loved them! It wasn't much, but we thought it was pretty special, hehe!
We had a pretty awesome day! Everyone made my FIRST Mother's Day spectacular! :)
Including the reason I'm a MOMMY....

Hope all of you mommies out there had a GREAT day!