We remembered our anniversary this year!

OK, so we haven't forgotten it...yet. But if any year was the year we would, it would be this one! SO glad Anya was born in September. There is WAY too much going on in October in both of our families!

Still it'll be Anya's bday, then the week after, our anniversary and my dad's bday, and the week after that, Jordan's bday and HIS dad's bday. Everyone will be getting the shaft, basically.

But anyway, this anniversary I prepared a masterpiece for Jordan:

Dear Honey:

It's no secret I like NERDS, but beTWIX me and you, there are ZERO nerds out there with the SYMPHONY of good looks, talent, and charm you have, that sends me on a love trip to MARS. You are my ALMOND JOY I always want to SKOR, and I always have a WHOPPER of a good time with you, as I SNICKER at your amazing "grandpa jokes" :) I guess that's proof that what I feel for you is a little THINGAMAJIG called love.

A masterpiece, right??? And super cheesy!!! I know, I'm pretty much a professional at these things...although Jordan thought I might have stretched it a bit with the "beTWIX." Whatever!

For our anniversary, we went out to dinner...WITH a coupon...and came home EARLY instead of going to an expensive movie...because I was tired...and we thought it would be too expensive to go to a movie...yeah, we definitely ARE an old married couple!!

Honey, thank you for 5 wonderful years together. And thank you for this :) I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

The Story...

Due date was October 9th.
My doctor said he'd induce on the 4th though. (much to my happiness...NOT fun 3rd tri)
I really didn't want to wait that long, and it seems as though neither did Anya :) Besides, last
doctors' visit I was dilated at a 3 and effaced at 70%.

On September 28th, I was done being pregnant, and willed myself into labor. OK, fine, I didn't, but I went into labor and was very happy about it!

Since I was positive for Strep B (same with Claire), it was important for me to go to the hospital sooner than later because they need at least 3-4 hours of intravenous antibiotic in me before I deliver.

So I called my doctor. They said to come in. At this point, I had started feeling contractions in the early afternoon at Target, with my sister in law, Camille, and Claire. Because we were walking around and everything, it's not like I was timing them.

So they had me come in. My doctor said he was looking for signs that I was actually contracting because I seemed kind of fine, but don't worry, they hooked me up to the machine and the contractions were coming at 4 minutes apart. But since I'm totally brave, awesome, and strong, I could handle it... :) I was now dilated at a 5 and effaced at almost 80%. My doctor said that my membranes were so thin that my water could break at any time...so it's not like I wanted to go home and pack! Who would want to clean up a water breakage?

So I was sent to labor and delivery and was set to go. Jordan came with Claire in a little while and then some family came over to keep me company. Finally, I got the epidural (I held off as long as I could, not that I was planning on going AL NATURALE or anything!!) But, the epidural unfortunately slowed down the contractions quite a bit...

Claire passed the time a bit with Diego, one of her faves, and playing with band-aids :)


She kept saying "Mama, sick." And she was actually wanting to kiss me all the time...which is rare because she usually, when asked for a kiss, says "NO" in a really cheeky way.

Around 8pm I was done with the round of antibiotics and ready to go, so they gave me pitosin and we just waited....and waited.....and waited....

Me being a dork. While waiting. Jordan was bored too.

Poor doctor had to come in at like 2am. But he had another patient that late anyway, so it was OK.

Finally, my contractions became a lot stronger and she was ready to come. My doctor was really really good at telling me "how" to push this time, and she came out in 4 pushes!! They still had to clip me a little...sucky. Oh well. A few stitches aren't so bad, I guess. Fortunately, Anya didn't have meconium like Claire did, and they gave her to me right after she came out! I didn't even know what to do about that...she was gooey :)

So I just kissed her. Claire had the meconium, so I didn't get to hold her right away while they cleaned her out.


I just love my little girl!! The first pictures.

I didn't cry this time with the birth. I don't know why, but we have definitely bonded with our little angel.

Yep, 8 lbs. 3 oz.! No WONDER I was so ornery during my 3rd trimester. Seriously. It was the worst (but still not as bad as the first trimester). I will stay up with Anya all night long every day for 3 months rather than repeat the 3rd tri... Claire was only 7 lbs. 3 oz. and was a few days late, so it was definitely different! But Anya seems more like she is a couple of weeks old, not necessarily chubby, just some nice chubby cheeks :)


Claire loves her too...so far :) She always wants to hold and kiss "baby sister, Anya."

So far, she is SUCH a good baby!! She sleeps ALL the time, nurses like a PRO, seriously. I don't even need to focus on the special hold to get her to latch on or anything! She also isn't gassy (yet, at least?) and hardly ever cries. Bliss! And so far, Claire has been great with her. She has her moments, but definitely doing pretty well...just the "normal" tantrums :) haha

And mommy loves her too :)



*The End*

Introducing: Anya Corinne Taylor

Here she is!!

2:30 a.m.
September 29
8 lbs. 3 oz.
18.5 inches long

More to come...

Here I am at 2:45 a.m.

A couple of ways I think my life might change in the next few weeks...

-I will no longer pray to "keep down breakfast." Yes, it's still happening!
-I will get more sleep: I know this sounds crazy, but when you have to get up 15 times a night to pee, getting up 3 or 4 times seems like a breeze, right?
-My body won't go into snooze mode at 7pm every night
-Climbing the stairs in my house won't feel like I'm climbing Mt. Everest
-My belly won't feel like it's 100 lbs.
-I will have another "cute" little excuse as to why my brain has refused to function properly
-I may have aches and pains in other areas though...
-Chasing after Claire won't feel like the Running of the Bulls
-Putting in a load of laundry won't cause my husband to ask "um, did you just run a marathon?"
-My clothes will start fitting again?
-I won't feel like a beluga (which is our "nice" term for "whale" around here, since they're "smaller" than the typical whale)
-I will stop chewing on ice chips (of course, this is AFTER my starvation day at the hospital)
-I may stop "breathing like a 400 lb man." Yes, this is my husband's description of the way I breathe these days. I love you honey :)
-I will put the "I give up muu'muu" away...until next time...if I could ever imagine letting myself have a "next time" in the near future...
-I might not feel like a deadbeat mom? Or maybe I'll feel that way still but in a different way?
-I'll have twice the mess, twice the comedy, and twice the love
-My new child might have a name...
-Might start cooking again (but don't hold your breath)
-I will stop having to "eat or throw up" every 20 minutes. Man, that will be nice!!!
-I won't have to think up creative reasons why I need to have this parasite extracted from my body early :) (CUTE parasite, I'm sure...don't get me wrong)
-I will have gone through 2 incredibly long and not-fun pregnancies...something I never imagined I was capable of! (when pregnant with Claire, I would see these moms with 2+ kids and think, "HOW."
-We will be more poor :)
-Claire will be in for the "single-child-syndrome" shock of her life! How to handle more tantrums....
-My face will start deflating to only one chin
-I won't be getting up at 2:45 a.m. for toast

Are some of these wishful thinking??? Maybe.
I guess I'll see...and maybe you'll get another inspiring post about it in a few weeks. Or, T-24 days, to be exact!

Kiddie Pool Fun

One fine morning, Claire and I went over to Grandma Taylor's house for breakfast. Claire did not care about breakfast...especially when she discovered the kiddie pool :)

And grandma, the way-nicer-than-mommy-and-most-people type, filled it up with WARM water--not just hose water. SPOILED! I must say! She was also taking care of Sam, Claire's little cousin, and they had a BLAST.

Of course, neither of them had swimsuits, and Claire only had jammies on...which didn't stop them at all. Soon their diapers looked like the New Year Blimp. I called Jordan over to take pictures, of course! So fun!

So happy in the pool :)

The saggy diaper--not to mention these particular jammies are super loose on her! So her pants were falling down too.

After a while, we just stripped them of their clothes, put Claire in one of Sam's outfits, and they both played with NO diapers on. This is the BEST shot--LOVE LOVE LOVE Claire's wedgie!!! So funny!!!

Soaked and so happy :) Um, this picture on the right--doesn't she look like a boy?? Crazy.

Claire's 18 Months (and some Claireisms)

Claire is getting shorter and fatter! Hahha :)

Height: 31.5 inches: 35th percentile
Weight: 25 lbs.: 55th percentile
Head Circ.: 18.5 inches: 72nd percentile

She's got a good sized head too :) Yep, Claire's dimensions are really evening out! Dr. Harrison also took out Claire's staples and asked how many words she was saying (we said "um, like a million?" :) and how she was eating, playing, etc. PS. I'm sooooo glad this was her last round of shots til Kindergarten! YAY!

So, how about some Claireisms? What is she up to now?

*Claire has decided that "no" and "mine" are some fun words to DRAAAAAAAW out. If she doesn't like something or want something, (like a radio station in the car!) she'll say "nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnno!" and she won't just say "mine!" to a playmate, she'll say "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmine!" It's so funny. But we try not to laugh, and tell her to be nice!

*For a little while, when Jordan or I would sing songs to her before bed, if she didn't want that song, she'd say "no" when we'd start singing... it was frustrating for a while, but then I decided to just try 3 songs and "tough" if she didn't want any of them. But then Jordan learned a little trick :) He started infusing the songs with words like "elephant," "monkey," "teddybear," etc. and she was happy. Ha!! But now, she doesn't do it anymore! I can sing whatever I want :) And after each song, she says "again" very sweetly :)

*Claire has now become a ham. When we tell her to "smile" this is what she does:



Silly monkey :)

*Whenever prayers are said, Claire always, without being asked, will fold her arms for the entirety of the prayer! She totally keeps her eyes open but at least we have one thing down! She also says a big "AMEN!" at the end--even during sacrament meeting, haha. And she says "ah-men" not "a-men." Very proper, I must say.

*Um...last night, I said prayers with Claire and after I said "amen," she didn't say anything, so I said, "Can you say 'amen,' Claire?" And she said "No way!" I was shocked!!! She would not say "amen," only "no way!" I couldn't help but laugh my guts out.

*Claire is parrot-ing EVERYTHING these days. She also enjoys saying "silly," "no way!" "medicine" (yeah, that's her favorite thing..she's teething...), and is really understanding a TON.

*Unfortunately, Claire has learned to say "shoot" from Mommy, and "Oh crap!" from Daddy. She has never used any of these "in context..." until yesterday. Daddy got her out of the car yesterday afternoon and her sippy cup dropped. Without a moment's hesitation, Claire said, "Oh crap!" I guess you're not supposed to laugh, but we are bad. We did.

*She loves butterfly kisses, Eskimo kisses, and giving hugs to mommy and daddy (as well as the koala in a book she has :)



*Um, Mommy is "chopped liver" when Daddy is around. Just saying. She is a definite DADDY'S GIRL.

*Claire's current favorite songs are "I'm so Glad When Daddy Comes Home" (of course), "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," and of course, "Do do do do do Dora!" and the "We Did It!" song from Dora as well :)



*Um...obsessed with Dora. She also likes "Zoomi" (Team Umizoomi)

*We've been trying to teach Claire the colors. So far, she knows how to say green, blue, brown, and yellow. BUT, when I ask her what color something is, she generally says "geem" for everything haha. She'll get it!

*Claire likes to "bounce" and "dance..." They're the same thing. Except when we say "dance," she just bounces a little higher haha.

Ah...I can't remember anything else. She's just a cutie. I love this age. If only she'd stop eating Crayons!

Cecret Lake

No, it's not a typo...it's called "Cecret" lake :) My aunt Shaunie is so hilarious. She LOVES flowers--more than ANYONE I know in the world! So she invited us to go to Cecret Lake during the best flower-blooming season, and it was totally gorgeous, of course! It was really funny though because every step of the way, she was dying over the flowers, and they were almost all the same, but every "lupine" and "forget me not" varieties were very important haha.

Claire was quite the hiker! But mostly she just played in the dirt, rocks, water, etc. She was almost oblivious to the flowers--we had to keep telling her that they were there! She just wanted to play with the rocks...tomboy on our hands? Probably not--hope not! She has to be super girly like mommy ;)

Anyway, here are some pics...


Here's the trail to the lake! SUCH pretty flowers, of course!


Eager to "get hiking!"


Claire's favorite part--the dirt.


More dirt... Let's be honest--we had to stop a lot on this "hike" :)


Another favorite--the water!


Getting dirty!


Shaunie and me. There I am in an "I give up" outfit looking like...what's the word...um...a whale...I really need to have this baby SOON!!! AH!

And Shaunie took a "family pic" of us in the flowers...check out Claire's SUPER cheesy smile!

Needless to say, I didn't exactly make it to Cecret Lake. The last part of the hike is all uphill and looked labor-inducing (at this point, walking to the very back of the movie theater is like hiking Mt. Everest, so...). But the "journey" was great!