Spokane Christmas

We headed over to Spokane last Thursday to spend Christmas with Todd's family. It was perfect, we spend most of our days eating (way to much), reading, and playing games. Taylor had her first solid foods at Grandma's house and even slept through the night! Her cousing Maddie was a big help, she loved helping feed, and change Taylor. The kids received matching Christmas pajamas from Grandma & Grandpa that they were all really excited to wear.

We feel so very fortunate to have such great family and friends in our lives. If this is even possible I think having a baby has made me that much more of a softy. I think it has made me more appreciative of the little things. This weekend we will be ringing in the New Year with our good friends Jake & Brooke.

Merry Christmas!!

I can't believe next weekend is Christmas already, where does the time go? I am sure your thinking is that all she thinks about? Everytime I sit down to update our blog I can't believe its been so long since I posted something.

We just returned from the doctor for Taylors 4 month appointment. I love going to the doctor to see how big she has gotten from the last appointment. We both could do without her having to get shots, so many tears afterwards. She only received two shots today and barely cried afterwards. Our big girl did so good at the appointment today, she also received a great report from the doctor so we are thrilled about that. Here are her stats:

Weight: 16 pounds 3 ounces- 95% percentile

Height: 24 3/4 inches- 75% percentile

Head: 17 3/4 inches - over 100% percentile (off the charts)

I went back to work this last week and am currently trying to get adjusted to life as a working Momma. It was harder to go back to work than I could have imagined. The best part about me going back to work is Todd is now off work until February. He will be Mr. Mom until then. Its only been a few days and he's got Tay rolling over for the first time. I love sneaking back into the house to see the two of them together. He plays the guitar for her and occassionally sings to her, so sweet!

Almost 3 months old...

It amazes me everyday how fast Taylor is growing. I can't believe she will be 3 months old on Saturday. I have a month left before I go back to work. I plan to spend this last month cherishing our time together. We have been checking out day cares in the area and finally decided on one. I think it will be much harder for me than it is for her.

2 month Appointment

Waiting with Dad for the doctor to come in, still happy at this point as it was prior to shots.

We just had our two month check up appointment this morning with Tay. She did so good until it came to the shot portion of the appointment. After her shots she wailed like crazy and her face turned beet red, so sad.

Here are her stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 2 oz, 76%

Height: 22 1/2 inches, 49%

Head: 16 1/2 inches, 96%

Its no surprise that her head was in the 96% percentile, she definitely got her big dome from her dad.

Hello October, when did you get here?!?

I have totally neglected my blog over the past several weeks. Our good friends Deb Morell and her daughter Kelly Poort through a shower for us a few weeks back. I confessed at the shower that before we had Taylor I would wonder what all the moms did all day and why they couldn't update their blogs more often. Many of the blogs I checked daily and to my dismay no updates. With that in mind I am going to try and be better about this blogging business. Tomorrow is Taylor's 8 week appointment, she is growing like a weed. I will be sure to post a picture of her as well as her stats when we get done with her appointment.

In the past month we took our first road trip to Seattle for Kurt & Leslie's wedding. Tay got to spend the evening with Grammy and Pop's while we attended the rehearsal dinner. The following night we took her to the wedding with us and she was a hit. She slept almost the whole time despite the loud music and people chatting. So fun to introduce her to our friends who hadn't met her yet. We also crammed in some family photos with Grammy & Pops and the R.Benzels before heading home.

The following week I took a solo trip to Seattle to visit my office and then our good friend Ali held a sip and see at her beautiful new home. It was so fun to introduce her to all of the ladies who have been anxious to meet our little lady.

We packed the family up for one more trip to Seattle this past weekend for the Cougar game. Tay stayed with Grammy & Pops again, they were total troopers and took care of Stacy's two kids too! They did a great job and didn't even seem tired when we got home after the game. I was quickly reminded throughout the night that I am no longer in college. Sunday was a rough one for us, however in the grand scheme of things we had a great time catching up with old friends and people we hadn't seen in ages.

Taylor Jean Benzel

Cousins meeting for the first time! (13 days apart)

Our first family photo!

After surgery meeting our sweet baby girl!

Proud daddy, waiting for mom to get out of surgery.

Taylor Jean Benzel, born at 2:30 pm on 8/20/11, 6 lbs 13 oz

This post is a little overdue but, better late than never. Its also quite lengthy so bare with me.

August 20, 2011 our lives changed forever in a way I could not ever have imagined, Taylor Jean Benzel arrived!! We got coffee and took the dogs down for a walk by the river, just like many of the previous Saturdays. We came home and started working in the yard. Around 10:30am I started to have contractions, which were a little bit more intense than any contractions that I had to date. I started to get tired so I headed inside to take a shower. Just before getting in the shower my water broke. Figuring I had hours I took my shower and started getting ready. As I dried my hair the contractions started coming more frequently. Once I told Todd my water had broke he started packing the car and getting ready to go. We jumped in the car and made the 3 minute drive to the hospital, quite possible the longest car ride in history when you have such intense contractions. I had to stop twice in the parking lot to get through the contractions. We checked in and they wheeled me up to my room. Little did they know that in the next hour as they got everything in order I would go from 3cm to 10cm. (with no pain meds) This baby was ready to come out and we were so ready to meet her. Our little lady wanted to make a dramatic entrance so after a bit of fetal distress and the doctor discovering that she was breech we headed to the OR for an emergency c-section. Because of the situation they had to put me completely to sleep as they couldn't wait the 15 minutes for a spinal.

After surgery I woke up in recovery anxious to meet our little girl. I was taken to my room where Todd and Taylor were waiting for me. I was so groggy that I thought that I was only gone for 30 minutes when in reality I was gone for almost 3 hours. Todd was amazing and took care of her during the time I was in surgery, he even picked out her first outfit. It was an amazing experience that I have a hard time explaining in words how special it was. They handed her to me and she snuggled right into my chest. As we snuggled our little girl I asked Todd what he wanted to name her, he immediately said Taylor Jean. We knew before we arrived at the hospital that her middle name was going to be Jean after my Grandma. We were very excited to introduce our little lady to her Grandparents, both sets arrived shortly after I got back to our room. Our good friends Jake and Brooke were celebrating their anniversary in Leavenworth so they stopped by to meet little Tay. Todd's sister and her family made the trip over to see us, Maddie and Colin were very intrigued by their new cousin. My sister bravely packed up both kids and drove over to see us. I wasn't able to go over when she had Payten so it was fun to get to meet Payten.

Enjoy the pics, please excuse my lovely hospital gown. :)

37 weeks- Full Term!!!

I am officially full term today at 37 weeks. Three weeks from today is my due date, not that I am counting the days. At my appointment last week the doctor confirmed that she had already dropped and that I was already dilated 3cm. Of course this news got me all excited at the potential that we didn't have to wait 4 more weeks to meet our little miss. I ended up having three hours of contractions in the middle of the night and was fully convinced I was having her last week. Since then she seems to have snuggled in for the long haul. I had my 37 week appointment today but he didn't check me, he said that at this point they aren't going to do anything if I was even more dilated. So now its up to me to be patient and wait for the contractions to start or my water to break. I am sure Todd is already sick of me asking him each day, "Do you think we are going to have a baby today?!?!"

30 Years Old & 34 Weeks

We packed up Friday and headed to the lake for a few days away. Friday we stopped in Spokane to visit with Todd's folks and have a little early birthday celebration before heading out to the lake. Saturday I road along with Todd, my dad and T's folks while they golfed at Twin Lakes Village. Saturday we had a big BBQ and celebrated my birthday out at the lake. Crazy to think of how many birthdays I have celebrated out there! A big thanks to Aunt Kitty and Uncle Bob for letting us come stay for a few days. Wish we could have stayed longer, I miss summer vacations and being able to stay out there for a week at a time. Sadly we only were able to stay the weekend, so we headed home to grab the pets from camp on Sunday. A few more lake photos to follow.


I still can't believe I am THIRTY! I can still remember turning 21 like it was yesterday. I certainly don't miss the hangover that I had when I turned 21 but crazy how the years have flown by. I am 34 weeks this week and starting to get a little antsy. Sleep at night is becoming slightly more challenging. So excited to meet our baby girl in 6ish weeks.


Last night we had a belated birthday celebrations with our good friends here in Wenatchee. We are really fortunate to have such a great group of friends here.

32 Weeks & Content

Have you ever had a feeling that you were right where you were supposed to be? I have eight weeks left before our baby girl arrives and I couldn't feel more like this is exactly where I am supposed to be in my life right now. Lately I have just had a sense of calm come over me and that everything feels like its falling right into place. I have a hard time describing it but, whatever this feeling is I LOVE it!

We don't have anything planned for the rest of the summer until baby arrives, I don't think that I have ever had this many free weekends in one summer. While nice, I will be the first to admit that I get a little stir crazy. My favorite thing to do it to make up projects for Todd to do, I am sure he loves it. I resorted to taking my own photo these days since the photographer has so many projects he is currently working on.

We are heading to the lake at the end of this week, I am looking forward to a few days away. I can't wait to take our kids to the lake some day, we spent a week there every summer as a kid and had an absolute blast. It will also be fun to celebrate my birthday with my family, its been a long time since we have been together and what better milestone than the big 3-0!

28 weeks

Almost 29 weeks, which means we only have 11 more weeks to go. Crazy to think 11 more Mondays of just Todd and I and the pets! To say we are excited really doesn't cover it. I am also not sure nesting covers the weird things I have been doing lately. If only I could be this motivated all the time. Things are getting cleaned that I am sure have never been cleaned before. Thanks to many of our good friends and family the nursery is getting stocked up with lots of cute clothes and books. People ask "so do you think your ready?", my answer is typically "well, ummm just about as ready as you could be despite the fact that we have no idea what we are doing!" The other question I am starting to get is how I am holding up in the heat. So far so good, knock on wood. Thank goodness for air conditioning. I did have a kankles scare a few weeks ago when I was in Seattle working for a few days. I went to take off my shoes and couldn't see my ankles and my toes looked even more like fat little smokies than they normally do. Other than that things have been really good. I even got out yesterday and played 18 holes of golf, I was pretty tired by the end.

I am a little behind on blogging, once I get the pics in order from my Seattle & Wenatchee showers I will post them. We are so grateful for our friends and family for all of the wonderful clothes and gifts, BGB (Baby Girl Benzel) is already so spoiled.

Baby Benzel's Nursery

My folks came over for the weekend to help us get the nursery ready for baby Benzel's arrival in August. They are expert painters and love a good DIY project. Friday night we hit up Home Depot to pick out paint colors. Three colors later we were heading home to get started. Friday they painted the ceiling and got started on prep work for the walls. Saturday they painted all day and then we put all the furniture together. Sunday we took care of some final touches and then finally put the room together.
A HUGE thank you to my folks for coming over and working away the entire time they were here. We couldn't have done it without them.

I'm Back!

I spent all last week in Arizona for a big event we had in Tucson. It was a fun but long week, 24 weeks pregnant and 16 hour days are tough. Todd picked me up at the airport on Saturday and was a little surprised how much my belly had grown in the week that I was gone. He said something like "Well you can really tell your pregnant now!" I had my six month check at the doctor yesterday, where did the last 6 months go? I can't believe I am getting close to being in the third trimester already. We also had childbirth class last night and we got to see the new labor and delivery section of the hospital. Its really starting to sink in that in a little over THREE months our little lady will be here. We are beyond excited!

This weekend my folks are heading over to help us get the babies room ready. Stay tuned for some before and after shots that I will post when we are finished.
My apologies for the quality of my photos, they are from my phone. We just located our camera so hopefully the pics will be improving. My photographer thinks these little photo sessions are for the birds.

22 weeks (well almost)

Look Ma, no kankles....YET! Here is a pic taken today at almost 22 weeks. Sorry about the quality, we seemed to have misplaced the camera this past weekend.

Busy Weekend

Thursday we headed up to Oak Harbor to join my family in celebrating the life of my Grandpa Pete. The service was Friday morning at the Catholic church he had been a member of for many years. It was filled with lots of great memories and stories of the wonderful man who was my Grandpa. The ceremony concluded with members of the US Army presenting my Grandma with the flag, I had never seen that done before and was a sobbing pregnant mess by the end. I will always remember him for the jokes he used to tell and growing up he always asked my sister and I the same question (jokingly of course). "Have you been getting into Grandma's ugly pills again?" He was always smiling and telling jokes. He had a love for warm Busch Lite and the Cougs. We will miss him dearly but know that he fought a tough battle with brain cancer and that he is in a better place now. After the service at the church family and friends gathered at my Grandma's house to continue celebrating his life. Everyone changed into their Coug gear which I loved because I know that is what he would have wanted.

Friday after the gatherings concluded we headed to the ferry and stopped in to see our friends Kyle & Jodi. They are due in three weeks with their first baby, and didn't find out if they are having a boy or a girl. I think we managed to talk babies for 4 hours straight! Jodi looks fabulous for being just three weeks away from her due date and it was such fun to catch up with great friends we hadn't seen in a while.

Saturday we headed over to Todd's sisters house in Redmond to pick up all of the fabulous hand me down items for Baby Girl Benzel. We packed up the car full of fun stuff like a crib, rocker and bin of clothes. We even had a few minutes to visit with them before they headed off to Great Wolf Lodge for the night. We headed home to Wenatchee in time to pick up the dogs from camp.

Sunday we headed to Moses Lake to play golf and have dinner with Todd's folks. It was Cynthia's birthday so we decided to brave the wind and squeeze in a round of golf. It was a chilly round of golf but was filled with lots of fun and laughs. We headed out for a quick dinner afterwards. (photo to follow).

We now have most of our nursery furniture, however most of it still needs to be assembled. Thanks to my folks who are coming over in a few weeks to help paint the nursery and assemble the furniture. I will post some before and after photos once we get things going.

Blogging

Today, I officially decided to start our blog. Truthfully I set this blog up two years ago when we moved into our new house, as you can see I haven't gotten very far. I am much better at blog stalking other people than starting my own blog. With a baby on the way and life getting more exciting I decided to start documenting our lives. Prior to now I would have just been the crazy pet lady who talks about her 4 pets incessantly, now there is a real baby to celebrate. Welcome to our crazy journey, thanks for joining us on this exciting ride called life!