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?!?!"