To go along with the theme I had last year: The Wild Ride I Like to Call- 2010 I thought I would comprise a "The Wild Ride I Like to Call-- 2011" ... to remember the good times, the struggles, and everything in between.
January 7th, 2011: This was the date we found out that our sweet baby was alright. For weeks, they had been telling us that she had pretty good odds of having down syndrome. They had found some cysts on her brain and I was placed on 'high risk.' On this day, my mom, dad, husband, and I drove to the OSU Medical Center to have an in-depth ultrasound done of Tayler. They looked at everything-- her heart, her lungs, her kidneys, her facial features, and of course, her brain. The first few things she told us was that she did not have club foot or cleft palate. They told us her heart was healthy as were her lungs and kidneys. After that, we looked at her brain. The ultrasound technician told us that if there were cysts indicating that she had down syndrome, you would see black circles in certain areas. I swore I could see them, so I immediately got upset. But as she showed us better pictures, we began to see........ nothing. The ultrasound technician told us that our sweet baby was PERFECT and she did not have down syndrome. It was a HUGE sigh of relief. God is so good to us and I am so thankful that He had His hand on our baby!
During February and March, we began planning for the birth of Tayler. She was due April 7th and we had A LOT to do to be ready for her! Also-- I was in my last few months of graduate school to be a teacher. So, I got all of my assignments ahead of time and began working on them. I saved all of them on a flash drive so that after Tayler was born, I could just submit them without having to worry about the workload. Thankfully, I got it all done... just in time :)
February 12th, 2011 was the day of our baby shower! It was an adorable theme--- black, white, and hot pink dots! My mom and the other members of my family did an amazing job putting it together! The food was outstanding and the gifts were incredible. We had so many people there and it was so nice to share that moment with them :) It was crazy to think that I was 32 weeks pregnant... only 8 more weeks until she was to arrive! I was anxious to find out what she looked like... :)
February 19th, 2011 we had a 3D/4D ultrasound done of our Tayler! We wanted to see what she looked like. It was my EARLY birthday present, hehe! :) She was TOO adorable. We saw chubby cheeks and little tiny belly rolls. That made me want her here even more! We shared this moment with Mom, Dad, Corey, and of course, the hubby and me. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present!
March 6th, 2011 I turned 24. Gettin' old, folks :) AND I got my hair cut. Had to get a mommy-do, yo!
March 30th, 2011 was my last day pregnant. My water broke at 8AM... I was home all by myself about 40 minutes from my parents and about 75 minutes from my husband. Fortunately, they let my dad go and he came and sat with me until Ethan got home (they let him off early too ;)) and we were off to the hospital! I was a nervous wreck because I wasn't sure how labor was going to be!
March 31st, 2011 our sweet Tayler was born at 2:22AM. It was about 18 hours of labor. I was dilated 2 for approximately 12 hours. Slowly progressed to a 5. I was a 5 at about 1:10AM. They came in to give me my epidural at 1:15AM. I WAS DILATED 10 AND READY TO PUSH. (I kept telling the lady I had the urge to push.. no one believed me, haha!) And thus, I pushed for 1 hour without an epidural... and Tayler came into this world! :) This was her first picture EVER.
April 11th, 2011 I graduated with my Master's Degree in Distance Learning Education. When I started my Master's Program in September 2009, I wasn't planning on getting married... or having babies. Oh how times changed :)
April 23rd, 2011 was Tayler's first holiday-- EASTER. She was dressed in an adorable outfit that her Gigi got her :) She was 3 weeks old... :)
May 2011 brought Tayler's first Memorial Day. As with any other holiday, we had her dressed to match the occasion! It was SUPER hot that day though, so we left a little early and took her home to the lovely A/C :)
June 6th, 2011 Tayler had her first trip to the pool! We lived right next door to it, so we took her over there for a few days and let her 'sun bathe' haha :) She didn't cry at all even though some cranky ladies told me it was ridiculous to have my 2 month old in there.... whateverrr, haha! :) We had fun!
June 19th, 2011 was Ethan's first Father's Day! :) Here's Tayler posing with her card for him, hehe :) We had a wonderful day! Ethan got a hammock and he LOVES it!
June 26th we moved in with Gigi and Papaw. We wanted to start saving up for a house, so we decided to move out and get our finances in order. We needed a bigger place! Every room in our trailer was full of Tayler's things, haha! We definitely knew that if we wanted a bigger family, we needed a much bigger place! Some didn't think this was the best decision for us, but we knew it was what we HAD to do! Thankfully we had some really supportive people in our lives (including Gigi and Pap) and they helped us! This was Tayler's room at their house!
June 30th was Tayler's first time riding in the stroller like a big girl!! We went to watch Uncle Corey and Aunt Marie play softball :)
At the beginning of July 2011, we went on our FIRST FAMILY VACATION together to the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky. We had SO much fun together! My husband, Tayler, and I went along with Gigi, Papaw, Uncle Corey, and Aunt Marie. We spent a lot of time together and it was so relaxing and perfect. Hard to believe that Tayler was 3 months old here...
And of course, it was Tayler's first July 4th too! And of course, she had an outfit with a LARGE bow to match, hehe! Gigi and I get carried away.... oops! :)
July 17th, 2011 Tayler went to her first family reunion with Mommy and Daddy! Everyone just oo-ed and ah-ed over here :) Most didn't even know I was pregnant since the reunion was July 16th last year and I was pregnant, but only like 3 weeks so I wouldn't have known! Crazy, huh? :)
July 30th, 2011 we had our wedding reception. We got married December 28th, 2011 but I was 7 months pregnant and just wasn't prepared for a crazy wedding or reception, haha! So, we got married at the court house and then celebrated with our friends and family in the summer. It was perfect! We got to do everything like we would have if we had a 'real' wedding :) We had our first dance.. cake... and toasts. It was wonderful! I even got a dress!
August 13th we took Tayler to her first MOPAR. (This is one of E's favorite things!) A bunch of old cars (and some new cars) cruise a strip in a city nearby and you get to watch them do burn outs and all of that cool stuff! Tayler was mesmerized! She absolutely loved being there!
August 17th we took Tayler to the fair for the first time! She had SO much fun! We ate a good bit of food... saw the animals.. and looked at all of the fun lights. They even had a giant sand box that she got to 'play' in :) This was right around the time Tayler started eating real food (like mashed potatoes...) and she enjoyed some with Mommy!
August 29th she perfect the sad face. This will live forever I am sure. We are definitely in for it, folks!
September 4th we had to say good bye to our little brother, Ethan. We are all a part of the Big Brother Big Sister foundation and our little was moving to another state with his mom. I remember when I was pregnant for Tayler. Dad and I went to little Ethan's school to have lunch with him and he said, "Did you find out what you are having yet?" I said, "Yes! A little girl" and he said, "Oh, that's gross." LOL! Now, he got to have a picture with that "GROSS" girl, haha :)
September 15th Ethan and I put an offer in on a home and it was accepted. FINALLY! We had put 2 other offers in on 2 other homes and they got counter-offered with prices we couldn't afford. This was GREAT news!
October 31st was Tayler's first Halloween! We totally dressed her up like a duckie and passed out candy! It was REALLY cold and of course, Tayler can't eat candy LOL so we didn't take her around trick-or-treating, but we had a blast passing out candy with her :)
November 14th was Tayler's first trip to the mall using one of their little cars. Of course, she has been there before in a stroller, but we wanted her to have this experience one day, hehe :) So Gigi and I took her along for the 'ride' :)
November 16th was Tayler's first pancake day in our home town :) She fell asleep for like the first 30 minutes of it, haha, but she finally woke up and enjoyed them! I was so excited to take her because I knew she would just LOVE it and she did!
November 24th was her first Thanksgiving! I am so glad that she was BIG this time of year because then she got to share LOTS of yummies with us! We had mashed potatoes, turkey, cake, and her favorite.... ROLLS!! :) We had such a fun day with her!! I love that little girl.
December 1st brought about her first TSO Concert. We LOVE Trans Siberian Orchestra and try to go to their concert every single year, so it meant a lot to be able to take Tayler to this event! :)
December 5th she met Santa for the first time. She wasn't a fan :P
December 20th we finally closed on our FIRST home! It was a long process (considering we put our offer in on September 15th!) But we made it! We are SOOOOO happy with the purchase and we are having a blast decorating and making it look like OUR home.
December 24th/25th was Tayler's first time enjoying the Christmas festivities our families have! We got to visit tons of people! Papaw and Gigi spent the night Christmas Eve night so they could open presents with Tayler Christmas morning :) We enjoyed some yummy breakfast casserole and got to open lots of gifts! It was the PERFECT day :) I am so thankful that this little girl is in our lives this year!!
December 28th was Ethan and I's one year anniversary.. Hard to believe 1 year has passed. A lot has happened for us this year! We have got to witness the birth of our amazing baby girl, moved in to our own home... LOTS of blessings! I am SOOOOOOO thankful and sooo excited to see what 2012 has to bring. :)
And we are going to the end the year on December 31st-- the day our baby turns 9 months old :)
Hold on for 2012... it's going to be amazing!
