Halloween, etc.

Yes, Thanksgiving is tomorrow which is why I at least need to do a little Halloween wrap up before the remaining holidays came and went. I swear the holidays just get better and better as Tay gets older. When we carved pumpkins this year, Taylor wanted to have a happy one and a bad one so here they are...

It was like she had to pay hommage to the pumpkins everytime she walked into the house. Too cute for words.

At preschool, Taylor and her little class sang a couple of songs. It was so cute. It's been so fun to see how much she loves school and her teacher.

A few months back Dustin brought home the Wizard of Oz for Tay to watch. I was like there is no way that you are showing that movie to our two year old, she will have nightmares for weeks! He insisted so I told him that when she's up in the middle of the night, it's his problem, not mine. He agreed. Of course, I was completely wrong. She absolutely LOVED the movie! At first her favorite was the "green witch", but then Dorothy won out which is why SHE decided to be Dorothy for Halloween. Since she was torn and really loved the "green witch", I told her I would be that. Dustin jokingly asked her what he should be and she said the Tin Man. So it was then that the Tate family took on the Wizard of Oz...

Taylor is 3

I can't believe that my little girl is 3! Granted, it happened a few weeks ago, but it's still hard for me to believe. Dustin and I were racking our brains about our lives three years ago before Taylor was born and just how quickly everything happened and the miracle that she was and has been in our lives. It really was just the flip of a switch that our lives went from a sense of emptiness to complete and utter fullness. And she did that! And now we have a feisty little red head that will keep us on our toes for at least the next 15 years, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

So of course our little redhead would want an Ariel birthday party since that is her favorite princess so a Mermaid party it was. She invited her best friends and cousins and it was the most darling thing ever. The only thing missing was her friend Lilly who got sick that day and couldn't come. So first we decorated princess crowns.

Mia, Taylor, Charlotte, Allie and Maggie. Tay couldn't ask for better friends or cousins. She is the luckiest girl in the whole world!

And then what's a Mermaid party without a Mermaid cake attempted by yours truly, but not executed quite as well as hoped for, of course.

And then there was the Treasure Hunt put together by daddy. Daddy did an excellent job of putting together some clues and they had to find the items in the yard. Cousin Bo was there to help as well. The final clue led to the garden where they dug up the treasure chest with some candy for each of them. Dustin did a darling job. It was seriously so cute. I was so proud of him!

I think that they had already found the dinglehopper and were either onto Sebastian or the seashell...

And can I just give a very special thank you to my sister in law Savanna and my friend Josette. They stayed and helped out during the party. Dustin came home for some of it too, but there is no way I could have done it without those two ladies, they were a huge help to me so a special THANK YOU to them.

And here is the birthday girl blowing out all of her candles, after an outburst during the birthday song informing us she wanted to eat on the grass!

My 3 year old Birthday Princess who at times can look so angelic...

And her birthday present to me... Potty Trained... woohoo!!! Finally!

Sisters

Well I think that this may be a record for how long I have gone without blogging. And I have missed so much, but I am definitely not going to go through it all. I think the one thing that has been on my mind the most lately has been sisters. I don't know how I got so lucky to be blessed with two girls. It makes me think about my sister. Since there is just the two of us. Work happened to be a little slow for her when Hannah was due so she came out a little before she was born and spent almost and entire month out here with me. I know Dustin was a little anxious about that and as excited as I was for her to help out, I honestly didn't think that we would last that long, but she gave all of us a more precious gift than we could have ever asked for. Taylor got enough attention through it all, Hannah was well taken care of, I got in a few extra naps and somebody to talk to (besides Tay) throughout the day and Dustin and I even got in a couple of dates and he even got some home cooked meals those first few weeks since I had some extra energy! And my girls some precious time with their aunt. My sister was amazing! We would laugh about memories and I would feel bad because we didn't always get along growing up. I wasn't a very good big sister. But just being with my sister was a reminder of how grateful I was that Taylor and Hannah had each other. Because anyone with sisters knows there will be both good times and bad...

So Hannah is now 3 months! She has got to be one of the happiest babies I have ever seen. It's funny how you start to compare things about your kids and what I remember from Taylor at this age. Taylor was always standing and holding up her head really well. Hannah is weak sauce in that regard. She refuses to stand and doesn't hold her head up well. HOWEVER, she has the most beautiful smile and she is smiling and talking all day long. I can't stop giving her kisses all day long and neither can her big sister. She is sleeping through the night for the most part. She loves the water, pool and baths (as most babies do). She is a really easy going baby just as Tay was. She mainly cries when she's hungry, wants to be held or needs to be changed. I just can't get enough of her!!!!

Hannah and her Daddy after her Baby blessing on 7/31

Grandma Ann and Hannah - Grandma crocheted her dress!!!!

Taylor is about to turn three and giving me a run for my money! People say three is worse than 2, but then it gets better. I'm not sure if it will ever "get better" with her. I think she's one that's always going to keep me on my toes! She can make me want to rip my hair out one second and then she is as cute as a button then next second and can make me melt. Her favorite things right now are riding in the trailer of the bike with her daddy. She's really into the Disney movies and is known to even cry in Snow White, are we sure she and I don't share the same DNA? She loves her friends. For some reason at the beginning of the summer she was terrified of the pool (although she loved it last summer). Thank goodness we overcame that fear and she loves to swim again. I'll try to post some belly flop footage next go around. I could not ask for a better big sister for Hannah. Her only fault is that she wants to give too many kisses or just be all over her. Or that she is bratty to other people (family members included) when she throws her hand up at them and says "No! My baby Hannah". I have a feeling she will be an over protective big sister. Hannah may not like it, but it sure can be cute! At least right now...

Now that Dustin is totally and completely outnumbered, we were talking about daughters a month or so ago in the car. He had been talking to a guy who was about to have his first kid which was a boy. He is hoping to have all boys. Without any prompting from me or any gasps upon that remark from the other guys remark, Dustin said something to the effect that he feels he would've been completely deprived if he didn't have a daughter. The conversation went on and he went into more detail, but it still brings tears to my eyes when I think about him saying that. I think it's not only just because of the joy and the specialness that Taylor has brought to our lives, and now Hannah. But I think it's just how special these individual little girls are. WE'RE the lucky ones.

Sisters... and hopefully one day BFFs

Allow Me to Introduce...

Hannah Lynn

Our new addition was born last week and we of course couldn't be more excited! Of course she decided that she had to make a dramatic entrance so for those of you who have yet to here the story, here's how it all went down. It's a long post, so only if you feel like a long read...

I was due on Saturday, April 30th, but even after a membrane strip a few days prior, nothing was happening so I figured I would just be induced the following week. In a moment of what I consider complete inspiration, my doctor decided that I go in for a Non Stress Test instead of another doctor's appointment (a few days after my due date) since he didn't have any clinical visits that week. Anyway, I went in for my test and after being hooked up to the machine for less than 10 minutes, Baby Hannah's heart rate pretty much fell off the monitor for a few minutes. The next thing I knew the nurse was calling for a wheelchair and telling me that we were going downstairs to Labor and Delivery. I thought that they got the baby's heart rate back on the monitor because it was beating so fast, but soon realized it was just mine because I was freaking out. The nurse told me Hannah probably leaned on the umbilical cord for a couple of minutes, but I'm trying to stay calm while I'm freaking out on the inside. I'm calling Dustin to come to the hospital, again, trying to stay calm since I'm really not sure if I'm overreacting on the inside or not. He of course, was ecstatic so apparently I didn't make things sound too serious. Next, I'm calling my mom to get on a plane and calling my sister who luckily came into town a few days before to let her know she'll be spending the day with Taylor.

The rest of the day remained interesting. They got me into a room right away and hooked me up to a monitor. When I heard the baby's heartbeat, I felt at ease again. They started me on the pitocin and it was around 930am. The doctor assisting my doctor was supposed to break my water around 1130am. Dustin was asking her if that was what it was supposed to look like since it didn't seem like anything came out. She was kind of snotty and said yes, so Dustin didn't question anymore, I mean what did we know.

4 hours went by, every time they increased the pitocin, Hannah's heart rate would drop and my contractions still weren't that strong. That's when my doctor came into check on me and asked how the epidural was going. I told him I didn't have strong enough contractions for an epidural yet. He was surprised, asked about my water being broken. So, he double checked and realized that in fact my water hadn't been broken. When he broke my water, that was a little more what Dustin and I expected would happen when my water was going to break. I don't think any additional details are needed there.

It didn't take too long after that for the contractions to increase and the pain to set in. However I didn't realize that I just had to ask for the epidural. I thought I would get checked to see if I had dilated to a certain point or maybe the nurse would ask. After a couple of hours, I was in some serious pain and told the nurse and she finally asked and I was like “I can have the epidural?” And she was like “Of course, didn't you know that?” Apparently, not... Anyway, once that happened, life was much better, at least for about an hour or so. Except for the fact that my doctor informed me that he had been on call all night the night before and he asked if it was okay that he not be there for the delivery. No, it wasn't, but who was I to say that? At least I was familiar with the doctor he was handing me off to, but sad he wouldn't be delivering my baby.

My mom had just arrived and Dustin's parents took Taylor to get something to eat. I was almost fully numb when my nurse came in telling me that there were going to be a lot of people coming into the room. Apparently Hannah's heart rate had once again dropped off the map, but this time for a long time again. So when my nurse came in and realized that I was fully dilated, the next thing I knew there were what felt like 20 people in the room. 10 nurses, 2 NICU doctors, an OB and they were paging the doctor who was supposed to deliver my baby, but she hadn't quite made it yet. They were putting an oxygen mask on me and then getting me ready to push because they needed to get Baby Hannah out as soon as possible. Apparently, when I would lay on my side her heart rate would go up. So after another dose of epidural since we thought I might need a c-section, about 45 minutes of pushing and a forceps delivery, Hannah Lynn was born at 758 pm. All 5 lbs, 2 oz and 20 inches of her. When she came out, she was white, almost grayish, and limp. Her eyes were wide open, but I swear I thought she wasn't alive. They had Dustin cut the cord and then they took over to the NICU doctors within just a couple of minutes, she was crying. We later found out that the cord was wrapped around her neck and apparently that was causing most of the problems. It wasn't until talking to the pediatrician the next morning that I found out that they actually had to resuscitate her. But through all of that, it of course could have been worse, but in our world, she turned out perfect and only gets more beautiful every single day.

Taylor has been a champ. I was going to post a month or so ago about her terrible two's that I have been enduring, but she has been just amazing since Hannah has come. She just wants to hold her and feed her and burp her. Sometimes we have to make her keep some distance for Hannah's own safety, but it's amazing how she seems so big now and how it feels like she has grown up months since Hannah's arrival. I think that Quique has taken it the hardest! And then there is Dustin who finds it nearly impossible to sit still for more than 5 minutes. And yet he sat by my side in the hospital from first thing in the morning until late at night (thanks to my mom and sis for taking Taylor) just holding Hannah, doing work and never complaining. I seriously feel like the luckiest/most blessed mom alive (but I know that there are many of you out there that feel the exact same way). She has already changed a ton since we left the hospital so I guess it's time to take some more pics and post them...

Our Little Princess

In one swoop, there goes one of my goals for 2011... being a better blog updater. It's not that my life is so jam-packed with interesting things. I think it's just that when there are actually interesting things to talk about, then I don't have the time to write. When I do have the time, I have nothing interesting to talk about or I'm just so far behind I just wait until the next exciting event. It's a vicious cycle.

Last week we went home to Cali for one last visit before the baby comes. I'm sure I will build up to the idea of traveling with 2, especially since Tay is getting a lot better, but right now that task seems a little daunting. I think the whole idea of two kids still just gives me excitement and anxiety attacks all at the same time.

It was a pretty low key trip. Dustin did come into town for the weekend which was nice. We had some nice dinners and I got my food “fixes” in which I do when I go home. Taylor is talking a lot more which helps to put my mind at ease even if we do only understand 50% of what comes out of her mouth, but here are a couple of the Tay highlights:

After Dustin got into town and we had some lunch, we stopped over at H&M. When I was browsing through the kid's section for Taylor, apparently she grabbed the plastic tiara (below) off the shelf. I figured Dustin grabbed it for her. It's funny how this dad loves having a princess a daughter. As much as I thought I knew about him before we had kids, he still surprises me. Anyway, she comes running over to me with this tiara on saying in her sweet little voice “I'm a princess, I'm a princess”. She usually talks about herself in the 3rd person (Tay Tay this or Tay Tay that) so at first I wasn't exactly sure what she was saying. But she was running all through the store “I'm a princess” or Tay Tay a princess”. And of course Daddy had to buy it for her and Grandma would have if Daddy didn't. She wore that thing so much that I had to bribe her with a sucker just so she wouldn't wear it to church on Sunday! (Bad Mommy!!!)

The princess on one of her favorite thrones - Daddy's shoulders.

Then in the car with the addition of her Ariel sunglasses

On Saturday, we went to Fairyland in Oakland (thanks to Heather for the recommendation). It's been there for ages, but I had never been there before. We walked in and Taylor didn't stop for the next couple of hours running from one thing to the next. She is just like her dad nonstop! She loved the animals and turning the key in the slots to hear the different stories (well mainly just turning the key, she didn't really stick around to listen) but my favorite part was when we went into the little church. It had little stained glassed windows and pews. She must have somehow known it was a church or maybe we said it was because it looks different than our church. Dustin and I sat down in one of the pews and then our little 2 year old went to the front of the room, turned towards us, folded her arms, closed her eyes and proceeded to mumble out some sort of prayer. It was the cutest thing and Dustin and I started laughing so hard. She did it a few more times so that I was able to somewhat get a picture. There weren't too many pics that day because she wouldn't stand still for a second!

We also were able to visit Heather and Roman, Marley and meet beautiful Paisley. As much as Taylor acts like a princess, she has some tomboy in her too. She really likes to play with boys and had a great time with Roman. It was so great to see Heather! Taylor also loved getting kisses from their dog Marley. Quique doesn't give a lot of kisses directly to the face, only to Taylor so she kept sticking her face right into Marley's for more. I think she also missed her buddy, Q.

Riding with Daddy on the train.


She just finished wrapping her arms around Snow White for a big hug!

Looking at us laugh at her after she gave her prayer.

Tay's Latest Obsessions:

Bubble Baths – Anytime I ask if she wants a bubble bath, she is ready. Except she calls them “booble baths”. Does she think she's French? She would seriously have 2 or 3 a day if I let her. But honestly, sometimes she gets so dirty, we need 2 a day. That may be how it is this summer...

Chocolate Milk – This started at Grandma's house since Grandma spoils her granddaughter. Taylor drinks a lot of milk, but now she always wants chocolate milk!

Cats – she LOVES cats. Little does she know she'll never have one while living in this house, but she can enjoy the one at Grandma's house. :)

Friends – Anytime she sees little kids, they are friends. She will tend to get shy at first, but she always points and says friends and a lot of times she just wants to go and “slay with friends” aka play with friends.

Going Outside – The girl goes through the doggy door constantly! It doesn't matter if there's snow on the ground, or if it's freezing cold outside. It doesn't matter how many times I've told her that she has to has shoes and a jacket on to go outside, she'll slip out anyway. And when I catch her outside without shoes on or without a jacket on she'll say “jacket” or “shoes”. She cries when I make her come in. She just loves to be outside and most of all she loves....

Quique – Sometimes I already feel like I have two kids. Quique will run out the doggy door with one of Taylor's toys and Taylor will get upset. This is Q's way of getting attention. Then Q will come inside after I get mad at her. Then Tay will be upset because she wants Q to be outside playing with her. I feel like I'm settling arguments between the two of them constantly and it's a dog and a little girl... it's hysterical (except when it's happening of course).

Current Non Obsession:

The Toilet - She loves to talk about p00h, and I swear I will never use the bathroom alone again, but she has no desire to get on the potty!!! I should have never tried to plan to have her potty trained before the baby, because maybe then it wouldn't have been a plan to fall through! I swear she will never be interested... UGH!!!

There are many more, but of course, I can't think of them right now because I'm trying to bust out this already very lengthy post so hopefully more to come soon!

Playing Dress Up at Grandma's - too much fun!

Christmas

Christmas just gets better every year! And this year although it seemed like I was so ready for it to come, then it all of a sudden came and went so fast. But with Taylor I really did enjoy it so much. It was even better than last year and I am sure next year will be even better!

This year she had an obsession with Santa. Or as she liked to call him, "anta". She still didn't get the whole idea that he brought her gifts or anything like that, but pointed him out everywhere that we went, she even associated him with things. Frighteningly enough, when we would sometime have our little discussions about Jesus, she would sometimes call him Anta, even though she knew full well He was Jesus. Pure obsession! Except that is, when it came to sitting on his lap, then it was a full blown meltdown like when Santa came to Grandma TT and Papa's house...


For Christmas Eve, my Aunt Paula (my mom's sister), my cousin Matt, his wife Jen and their kids Emery and Isaac come over for our Christmas Eve feast. I look forward to this every year! Most importantly because my mom and sister are actually here to celebrate a holiday with me which is the very best and also because I actually get to play hostess for a night which although I need a lot of work at, is a lot of fun! Unfortunately my sister didn't come out this year which was sad for me and for my mom. It wasn't the same without her.

Our Christmas Eve feast for the most part, however, is virtually the same from year to year. It has been since from before I can remember when I would spend the holiday coming out here to visit my mom's family with my Grandparents who have now passed on and all of my aunts and uncles. We start with a salad, this year we did a Caesar with my mom's yummy homemade dressing (although the salad changes from year to year), Prime Rib cooked medium rare, except for Jen, (although hers is getting a little more rare each year, probably because we give her so much crap), Twice Baked Potatoes, Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce and then the dessert varies from year to year. This year was my friend Amy's yummy chocolate cake. Jen did all of the appetizers and brought the rolls which were excellent. And after a day of cooking with my mom, I am one happy and fulfilled girl! It's one of my very favorite holiday traditions! Even Dustin has grown to love it as well.

After dinner, Paula read a book to the kids and Dustin read the birth of the Savior from the bible. Then it was time for presents. Jen supplies the pj's for the kids. Yes, Taylor has wet hair because she had to take a bath after smearing butter in her hair during dinner... that girl sometimes!

Christmas morning Dustin was so excited he barely waited for my mom to get upstairs. I virtually had to yell at him to stop in his tracks! It's not like Taylor knew what was going on outside of her room and in the mornings she can play in her room for hours! We had one of Santa's present set out on the coffee table and a couple more wrapped on the sofa with her stocking. The rest of the presents were under the tree. I must say that I have not done very well thus far with presents for Taylor. You would think since I spend all day with her I would know what she wants, but Santa on the other hand this year struck GOLD! Once she saw her Disney Princess Castle, she didn't look at anything else... litterally!

We had to open the rest of her presents and show them to her. Since then, she has loved all of her presents and we realized that we did pretty good this year. The grandparents did pretty darn good too! Later that day we went to Grandma TT and Papa's house. They got the kids a playhouse for their house. Taylor played in the playhouse the whole time we were there! She didn't care about opening any other presents at their house either.

When we came home, she went back to playing with the castle. PJ's went on and she was all about her castle and the Dora microphone. Although I think Daddy had just about as much fun singing and playing with the microphone that night as she did with the two of them going back and forth... it was priceless! It went something like "I did it" "Tay Tay did it" "Daddy did it" singing to the tune of Dora. Let alone the millions of other things they were singing.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I didn't get any pics of our New Year's festivities, unfortunately. Those were spent at Dustin's parent's house eating lots of food and playing on the Wii doing some Dance game and singing Karaoke, laughing my butt off. Nothing like making a fool of yourself in front of family. But the kids LOVED it! Taylor was shaking her little rump like nothing else and loving every second of it. 2010 was such a great year, I can't even imagine 2011 being any better!

Disneyland

Well I'm officially a month behind. Usually that doesn't matter too much, but Tay is growing up so fast and we really did have a jam-packed month with my dad in town, Disneyland, Christmas, New Years, and now Taylor in a big girl bed. I am a horrible blogger and journal writer so we'll see how my memory serves me. Since I finally am getting back to a normal schedule this week, I'm going to try and catch up the blog. I guess we'll wait and see how I do...

Disneyland was magical. What else can I say? Taylor is only two, but it was an amazing experience seeing it through her eyes. The last few times I had been were with my mom and sister a couple years ago and then with swim team trips in high school so seeing everything through the eyes of a 2 year old was special beyond words. Plus, we flew my mom down for a Birthday/Christmas present. She and Dustin share a birthday so they both spent their birthday at Disneyland which was fun too!


Taylor of course loves the princesses! We thought she was going to be able to take a pic with Ariel, but of course they changed up princesses by the time we got to the front of the line and Ariel had left, but surprisingly, she went right up to Aurora and sat up on her lap which was an absolute miracle! I was shocked! When we got to Belle who is her 2nd favorite, she got scared and I had to stand with her. That girl is so unpredictable!!!

But later in the day when we ran into Snow White, her obsession was no longer with the princesses, but with "da vitch" as she would call her. She couldn't keep her eyes off her and kept wanting to look at my mom's phone so she could see the picture of the witch. After Disneyland, when people would ask her about Disneyland and if she saw the princesses, she would just say "and da vitch". We also went on the Nemo submarine ride which she LOVED! But again, when I would prompt her to talk about Disneyland and ask her to tell people if she saw Nemo, she would say "and the sharks". Apparently, my daughter has a dark side to her...

She was excited about seeing "da Mow" aka Mickey Mouse, however when it was time to take a picture with him (yes that is my pooch - bad shirt choice, however it has now substantially grown in size) all she wanted to do was stare at Mickey Mouse and touch his ears which made taking the pic with him extremely difficult; oh well! It's all about her enjoyment, right? And she loved looking at him!

I think Taylor really enjoyed being able to be held and just be around her dad for like 3 days straight, so when it came to going on the rides, she really only wanted to go with her daddy. Grandma and I were chopped liver. But, it was okay, we still got to have some special moments with her.

I swear Taylor got more scared on the Fantasyland rides than Pirates, Haunted Mansion or any of the others. We knew when she was scared because she'd get off the ride and say "it's okay, it's okay" or "I'm okay, I'm okay". But she loved the Haunted Mansion. I guess it's not as scary decked out as the Nightmare Before Christmas and it was so cool. Also, Taylor is obsessed with pumpkins so she really loved it!

She also loved the It's a Bug's Life movie at California Adventure. Probably good she wouldn't wear the 3D glasses but she loved seeing all of the bugs and all of the extra 3D hoopla that went along with it.

OBSESSED I tell ya! She couldn't stop touching the witch, nor talking about it!

Some other highlights:

• Taylor also loved It's a Small World which is amazing at Christmastime. She called all of the dolls in the ride babies. And when we got to the Hawaii section and there were the "babies" hula dancing she said "Shake It" (one of her favorite Backyardigans songs) and started dancing like the hula dancers. It was so precious.
• A few weeks after Disneyland we were singing Jingle Bells and she kept saying "the babies". I couldn't understand what she was talking about. Then Dustin remembered that they were playing that song during the ride. What a good memory she has!
• She went nuts at the World of Color show at California Adventure when she saw Ariel projected on the water and then the fish. It's not hard to tell what her favorites are. She certainly makes it known.
• When we walked by the tea cup ride she said "Look" and then told us that they were taking baths. Maybe that was more funny for me or a 'you had to be there' moment.
• At the hotel in the mornings she would run around and the last morning before we left she was running around with these two sisters (one slightly older and one a little younger than her) that would just follow her around and do what she was doing, especially the younger one. It got me so excited to think she was having a little sister.
• FAVORITE MEMORY - She LOVED the parade. The parade was awesome and for 30 minutes or however long it was, she barely moved a muscle and just watched it. Occasionally she would say look, but mainly just stared in awe. At one point, Chip and Dale (the squirrels) came out driving a car, the car broke down and they got out of the car. During this parade there is no interaction with the audience except for waving. Taylor was standing in between us in awe. Chip or Dale (one of them) came over to Taylor, right up to her in the middle of the parade, stopped, touched her face went back to his car, grabbed one of his big acorns brought it back over to her. She just stared at him and touched the acorn and he just touched her face and stood there for at least a minute or two. It was one of the sweetest things in the world. Straight out of a Disneyland commercial. I was so frozen I couldn't even grab the camera in my lap, I think I had tears welling up in my eyes. It was one of the cutest things in the world that my description can't even begin to do the moment justice. It was like the parade went silent and all eyes were on Taylor and the squirrel, whichever one it was. I don't think I'll ever forget that Disneyland moment.

All in all; amazing trip. I'm sure Taylor will forget most of it. But for now, coming from a girl whose answer is "no" to everything, when you ask her if she had fun at Disneyland, her answer is "yes". I also think it goes down as one of Dustin and my mom's best birthdays' ever. Mission accomplished!