Newborn Photo Shoot...

Remember my friend Tracy, the amazing photographer? Well she came by to do a newborn photo shoot of MacKenzie and even managed to get some amazing shots of the girls. I've said it before and I'll say it again - she's AMAZING!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thank the Lord every day for blessing me with such beautiful, healthy girls. I don't know what I did to deserve them, but I am so, SO grateful to be their mama.

And I'm grateful for kind friends who are willing to share their amazing photography skills. Thanks again Tracy!! You are seriously awesome.

Fouth of July Recap...

Thanks to Doug and his nifty phone, we have a few photos of how we spent our Fourth...at the beach, with family, digging for sand crabs...basically, just enjoying the freedom we are blessed to have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hope your 4th of July was just as wonderful as ours! 

Happy Fourth of July...

We are at the beach today, playing with cousins, but I still wanted to post a photo that kept in spirit of today's holiday (yup...it's from our February photo shoot, but that's okay). We hope you enjoy your 4th as much as we are enjoying ours!

Happy Birthday America!!

So Much For Trying...

Do you remember back in February when I put lots of time, thought, and hard work into making this ABC Canvas for the girls? 

  

Well...unfortunately the girls decided to add their own artistic touches to it using orange marker and a Sharpie. I nearly cried when I saw that the special gift I made just for them had been ruined.  There was no hope of saving it, no sense in even trying.

    

Guess I won't be making them anything new any time soon (although seeing the smiley faces on the ice creams cones does make me chuckle now...but definitely not when I discovered their artistic contributions). Maybe this is their way of acting out to all the changes that have taken place in our family? Many people warned me this would happen...with the new baby and all. But really?! Do they have to be so destructive all the time??

P.I.T. - Photographers in Training...

Every time I go looking through my camera, I find oodles of photos taken by my sneaky little girls. I figured if they love to use the camera so much, I might as well let them practice! Here are a few of the photos they've snapped recently...man oh man, do these girls make me laugh.

  

 

Roo the dancer and Aiden the photographer

  

MacKenzie's welcome home sign

Aiden insisted on getting one of me and Mac...she wasn't too happy about having to wait until I was done nursing, but such is life...

And, of course I wanted to get one of my 3 little stinkers...not that clear of a pic, but I love the different expressions captured in this photo!

Bathtime...

By far, MacKenzie's favorite time of the day seems to be bathtime. She loves being in the water, splashing and kicking to her heart's content, and she cries the second we take her out. It won't be long before she's too big to bathe in the sink, so I plan on enjoying every single moment of tub time.

 

Looks like we have another fish on our hands...

Lucky To Be Me...

These girls, whether they realize it or not, are such amazing examples for me. I know I should be the one who does the teaching - being the mother and all - but I can honestly say that a day doesn't go by when I don't learn something (or a lot of somethings) from these amazing little gals. I am amazed at how much sweetness can be bottled up in such little bodies. They are so patient and forgiving, are filled with so much tenderness, and are the definition of pure, genuine, unconditional love. Bottom line...I cannot adequately express my gratitude or state enough just how. much. I. LOVE. these. girls.

 

 

 

 

Yup...I'm the luckiest mom ever.

I. LOVE. THESE. GIRLS.

  
 

 

 

 

'nuff said

1 Month New...

1 Month Stats:

9 lbs. 4 oz.

21 inches long

14 1/4 inches - head circumference

Notes: Yay!! I am officially one month old today. After a rough first week in the hospital, I have been able to spend the rest of my first month of life at home with my family. I sleep a lot...and I get lots of snuggles and cuddles from my sisters, and papa, and mom. I sleep in a bassinet next to mom's bed, but I also love my swing and boppy pillow. The doctor is very pleased with my growth and progress...so much, in fact, that she says I don't have to go back for an entire month. Yippee!!

Family Night Out...

Tonight we took a family night out. We decided to hit up the street fair in downtown Huntington Beach. The girls really wanted to participate in the jumbo bounce houses, but settled for taking a walk along the bridge (a.k.a. the pier) instead. Ever since we lived in Oceanside, these two munchkins have loved pier-walking. By now, it has become somewhat of a family tradition. It was a little chilly tonight, and pretty windy, but we toughed through it and enjoyed our evening stroll.

On the way back to the car, we stopped and let the girls pick out some mini cupcakes. What were the flavor choices of the evening? Aiden chose purple cotton candy flavor, Reilly went with blue bubble gum, Doug hose german chocolate, and I went with Red Velvet. What a perfectly delicious ending to a great family night.

MacKenzie Taylor...

...the newest member of our family has arrived!! Although the arrival came a couple of weeks ago, I am just now getting around to posting photos of our sweet baby girl...sorry for the delay.

For those wanting to know the stats, MacKenzie weighed in at 7 pounds 9.3 ounces and measured 19.5 inches in length. She was delivered by C-section. Unfortunately, she had a lot of fluid in her lungs which resulted in low oxygen levels and difficulty in breathing. Little Mac had to spend the first day in the transition nursery under the watchful eye of nurses until she could regulate her breathing on her own...that was a long and lonely day for me. On day 3 of our hospital stay, the pediatrician noticed a small dimple along her spine (usually indicative of an under-developed spinal colum...a big problem) which resulted in a field trip down to the radiology department for an ultrasound. Luckily, everything turned out okay and the ultrasound showed that MacKenzie's spine is fully developed with no holes or gaps or anything bad. Day 4 was supposed to be release day, but Mac's bilirubin levels were a little too high so we had to stay an extra day so that she could lay under the blue lights and get into normal levels. Aside from hating the eye mask, she did pretty good with the whole treatment and we were able to leave the following day by noon.

Aiden and Reilly absolutely LOVE their new roles as big sisters. They want to help with anything and everything baby related...from changing diapers to dressing to bathing to feeding (when possible) to burping. There have been no jealousy issues with the baby (which seems to be the first question people ask), but they seem to be fighting more amongst themselves than usual. In addition to the very helpful BIG sisters, we have been fortunate to have received a tremendous amount of help from my parents, Doug's parents, and family and friends. Tonight is the first night where we don't have any help...and I'm a little worried about the reality of it all. I want to do this right...I want to be a good mom...I want to include everyone and give everyone the same amount of attention and I want to stay on top of things around the house and try to maintain a routine and to be patient and loving and easy-going and not mess up. My mom kindly reminded me to not set unrealistic expectations...she knows me too well. So I have decided to simply take things one day at a time.

I will try to keep the blog updated with the haps and mishaps of our transition from a family of 2 kiddos to a family of 3 kiddos...but since I don't know how regular or frequent I will be at posting, here are some photos from our stay in the hospital to hold you over until next time...