Project 365: Day 1- June 17th

So, yes... Project 365 has started again. Are you ready for this? haha! I'm so excited to get back in to the swing of things. I was so overwhelmed when I first had Tayler with not having enough time to do certain things, but now that she has grown up a wee bit, she's a little more occupied on her own sometimes which gives me time to do this! :) So here we go. 
Today was a pretty laid back day. Tayler and I hung around the house and waited for E to get up :) Then we got ready and went to the grocery store with Gigi. I have to say, these grocery trips are some of my favorite moments. Tayler and I wander around Walmart with my mom for an hour or two.. we chit chat.. Mom gets to spend time with Tay. It's awesome :) I love it. Once we finished up, I was loading the car and mom was 'talking' to Tayler and oh my word, was she talking back, haha! It's the cutest thing now. She tries to respond with coos. Melts my heart! Here's a picture of her and my momma:

And I will say this: I only paid $39.42 for our groceries this week :) We have enough for 5 meals and 5 lunches for me! YAY!! It felt like SUCH an accomplishment!! I'm getting better at this grocery shopping thing LOL
Once I got home, we went to the 'Homecoming.' I'm not really sure what the 'meaning' of it is, haha, but they have some yummy food, games, rides, etc. Of course, Tayler really doesn't care about any of that right now, but we still wanted to take her to her first one! :) She was wide awake at first... just crusin' along...

Then the bumps of the rocks and gravel put her to sleep, haha!

Her and her daddy were having a good time :) Aren't they cute together?

And here's her and mommy after we got home! It started raining and we walked there... soooo we booked it to get home!! We had a good time! Can't wait for next year.. she'll be a little more excited :)

Cheers to a new Project 365!! :)

Project 365 Repeat!

It's been almost 3 months since I've did Project 365. My last full day was March 29th and I'll be honest with you. I miss it! So, here's what I've decided:
I'm going to take pictures every day. If I have time to post that day, I will. If I don't. I'll catch up on another day, but either way... every day is going to be documented! Life is going by entirely too fast for me right now and I want to start capturing every moment of it! :)
So there you have it! Project 365 is going to begin again starting today!!!!
PROJECT 365: DAY 1 (REPEAT)= JUNE 17TH, 2011 :) 
Holla!

Project 52: 11 Weeks Old :)

Tayler turned 11 weeks old on June 16th, 2011. :)  

 
Along with turning 11 weeks old..... we had her first set of dreaded shots :( :( Of course, any mommy out there knows what I'm talking about and how painful that is to watch! Ugh. It completely killed me. I hate seeing her cry. Her face turns beat red.. her cry is blood-curling. It was heartbreaking. They started off giving her a shot that you drink.... Well, if you know my daughter, you know she doesn't take anything orally well... if it isn't her formula, of course. Well, Tayler was gagging, the nurse kept giving it to her, and guess what? SHE THREW UP. EVERYWHERE. (Even on E who had to leave for work right after LOL it's funny now!) I felt so bad for my sweetheart. She was crying and so upset. Then, if that wasn't enough, she got 3 more shots in her legs and boy, that crying was terrible. She kept staring up at us... It looked like she was wondering 'Why aren't you helping me?' It was so sad :( Thank God no more shots for 2 more months! Here's my sweet baby leaving:

I snuggled her all night long :( She was super fussy and had a darn fever, bless her heart.
But in good news... lots happened this week!
First of all: Tayler is LOVING her boppy and starting to REALLY get some amazing head control. I love this picture of her :)

And she's loving her bouncer! I tried to put her in it before, but she didn't have enough control of her body for it to be safe or enjoyable. Now, she's getting the hang of it :)

Also, Tayler had her first trip to the river this week! :) We spent all summer last year at the river so it was only appropriate to introduce Tayler to it! :) Her and Jaylee enjoyed it together! They are starting to recognize each other and what not! I love it! :) I hope they are good friends growing up!

And Tayler wears sunglasses now. Gotta protect those eyes early!

Yea, she's adorable, haha! :)
So that's week 11 for us :) On another note (something I didn't get a picture of!) is SHE RECOGNIZES HER BOTTLE :) I held it in front of her last night and she said "OOOOO!" and started kicking her legs. She knows what that means, haha!!
I'm so in love with this little girl. I LOVE watching her sleep :) I LOVE hearing her 'talk.' I LOVE seeing her milestones! It is amazing!

Finding Romance..... Beyond the Cries

I will say this: Having a baby does indeed change the 'bedroom scene' a tad bit. Sorry mom if you're reading this, haha! I'm sure this won't be your favorite blog of mine.... You can "x" out and my feelings won't be hurt ;) haha!
E and I have a 2 month old. I know, I bet you're all shocked, haha! But seriously-- we have a 2 month old that NEEDS us. (And when I say NEEDS us, I'm talking.... she can't do much at all without our help. We change her diapers, feed her every 2 hours, hold her, burp her, hold her up so she can sit, bathe her... you get the picture, hehe!) We LOVE our sweet Tayler and we are SO thankful for her being in our lives, but what a transition it was in EVERY area of our life when she entered our world. Where we once went to bed whenever we wanted (because we didn't have to worry about 2AM feedings....), we now go to bed when she goes to bed, so we can sneak in a few more hours of sleep before she wakes up again. 
It's been an adjustment.. but I think the greatest adjustment has been our sex life (or should I call it our 'romantic life?' haha!) When I first had Tayler, we didn't have sex at all (for obvious health reasons... we waited until I was cleared at my 6 week appointment..) but after that, we were still struggling to find time to be intimate. Waking up in the mornings, I'd feed Tayler, sneak in a few more hours of sleep, feed Tayler, wash bottles, sterilize bottles, prepare bottles for the day, start laundry, clean up, feed Tayler, get a diaper bag together, get Tayler ready, run some errands (all while E was sleeping because of his work schedule..). By the time E got up.. I was beat! He'd wake up, we'd eat lunch together, watch a TV show while one of us was playing with or holding Tayler... E would then get ready for work, I'd start dinner, we'd eat dinner, I'd pack E's lunch, and he'd head out the door. The next morning, we'd start it all over again. And on the days he didn't work, we were so worried about catching up on sleep (because coffee only works for so long til you just crash... can I get an amen? haha!) that we didn't even THINK about sex. Seriously-- when Tayler was about 8 weeks old I said, "E-- do you realize we haven't had sex for 2 weeks..." and both of us were completely shocked. We hadn't even missed it. BUT I had started missing it because I realized our relationship was suffering a bit...
And don't give me that look, haha! I hear from women all the time-- "Sex shouldn't be the most important part of a relationship/marriage" and seriously-- I completely agree. BUT truth of the matter is this: Sex SHOULD BE A GREAT PART OF A RELATIONSHIP/MARRIAGE. It's not about lust. It's about pleasing your partner. It's about your souls connecting. E and I talk about it all the time after being intimate-- when we are intimate, we feel like we are connected... we are one. It unites us. It eases our stress and frustrations. It gives us time to just enjoy each other... Sex is important. Please remember that! 
So when we realized that we hadn't been intimate in about 2 weeks... we realized that's why we had been arguing. We felt so distant from one another. I told E I felt more like his roommate than his partner. It was true! I felt like we just talked, watched TV together, and went our separate ways. It bothered me. So, we decided we needed to do some revamping. We had to get our intimacy back (well, somewhat back.... if we got our intimacy back to how it USED to be, I don't think Tayler would ever be taken care of ;) bahaha. Gross? K, I'll stop!)
We worked hard at taking advantage of our down time. Why not use one of Tayler's naps to be intimate as opposed to watching our DVR? It's DVR. It can wait. Our intimate moments will soon pass us by. We realized we could take a nap through the day, so we'd feel more rested after she went to bed at night. We spent time cuddling while watching TV. We smacked each other's behinds when waking past. (HEY- it's cute and sexy, haha!) As I stated before, it was a difficult transition, but we knew it was something we had to do... for our sanity's sake! And guess what? We have been a much happier couple. No, not because we're having hot, banging sex every day... but because we care enough about each other to make sure we connect both physically and spiritually. Given, it's about 1-2x a week now, but it's progress. 
For those of you that have children-- do you still find time to reconnect? Do you make time for one another? How do you make sure you have romance in your relationship?
If you are struggling with finding intimacy again, WORK AT IT. Trust me! You will be happier if you do :) It is sooo worth it!

Project 52: 10 Weeks Old... Plus, Some Reflecting

On June 9th, 2011, Tayler turned 10 weeks old :) She's 12lbs and 24" long. My chunky money, haha!! She is looking cuter and cuter by the day. Oh stop it, I know I'm biased, but seriously, even if I wasn't biased, she'd STILL be the cutest baby in the world ;)

We recently took her to the doctor for her 2 month check up and he told me that he wants her to start eating 5-6oz every 4 hours. Right now, she is eating 3-4oz every 2 hours and boy is she packing on the pounds, haha! If you remember, last week I talked about how she's in the 75th percentile for both weight and height. What does that mean exactly? Well, Tayler is bigger than 3 out of 4 children her age, haha! So, her pediatrician is asking that we start working on that. I tried. And failed. She threw it all back up. I wasn't FORCING her to eat 5 ounces. She'd slept all night (10:30PM to 4:30AM) and was starving and usually I only let her eat 4 ounces regardless, but I let her keep eating and it ended terribly. I really don't know how she's going to fit 5 ounces in there. She can RARELY get 4 ounces down... 
Anyways, her pediatrician told us she looked healthy and smart! :) And of course-- HAPPY! Would you guess any thing else coming from that girl? She's ALWAYS smile-y haha! See:

She's also getting much better at holding her head up. We've been doing a lot of work with her on her boppy pillow and she loves it! I thought this picture was adorable. She's like 'Sup?' haha! 

 As crazy as it sounds, I've been starting to teach Tayler her alphabet, numbers, sign language, and please/thank you. I figured it's never too early to start, so we sing the ABCs every morning. We count while she's getting ready for the day (as I'm buttoning her sleeper, onesie, etc.). I'm trying to teach her 'I love you' in sign language. Right now, she just stares haha, but hopefully she's catching on ;) And I say things like: 'Tayler, please burp for momma.' I know it's not something I can demand from her, haha, but I still want her to hear those words.
I see kids all the time in stores throwing fits, screaming, not using their manners,etc... and I pray every night that we have a daughter that is kind, gentle, and mannerly. I pray that God blesses Ethan and I with wisdom to raise her the right way.
You know, when I was pregnant with Tayler, I only thought about protecting her physically in life. I rarely reflected on HOW we were going to raise her. What were we going to teach her? How would she learn right and wrong? What kind of discipline would we use? When would she be allowed to do certain things?.... It's scary knowing that you are the PRIME leader in your daughter's life. It frightens me sometimes that my actions could be repeated because lets face it.. I don't always make the best decisions. 
The past few years, I didn't really think about my actions. I said whatever, drank whenever, joked about whatever, listened to anything I wanted, watched whatever I wanted... but now I find myself thinking, 'Would I want Tayler to repeat that?" Yea, she's only 2 and 1/2 months old, but I still find myself wondering if she will pick up on those lyrics or that TV show. It's amazing how becoming a parent makes you change your whole life... and truth be told, you don't even mind it!