My Emergency Room Visit

**WARNING**: If you are squeamish about blood or lady problems...you probably don't want to read this post.

I had a really nice visit to the Emergency Room on December 1st. I felt foolish even going there, because I was not dying. I didn't even feel sick. But I was having some serious problems. I had been bleeding off and on for about 6 weeks. It was a nuisance for sure, but nothing I was super concerned about because I had gotten an IUD in 6 1/2 months before. From what I read, IUDs take 6 months to a year to even out the cycles and the flow. So I tried to just deal with it.
But...it started getting heavier. I bled through my pants 3 days in a row in just a few hours. I was starting to get concerned. So, I scheduled an appt at my doctor's office and saw the NP. She told me it may be the IUD, and that they would schedule me for an ultrasound the following Monday.
The major concern started when I changed my tampon at quarter to 6 and left my house to go to bunco. I had to stop at Smith's in Orem on the way, and when I got there I felt damp. It had been maybe 20 minutes. I drove to the house we were having bunco at and gave Taylor to my mom (Scott was working of course, isn't that the way it goes) and went into the restroom to try to figure out what was going on. I took out the soaked through tampon and something plopped into the toilet. It was a large clump of blood. At this point I was concerned that maybe I had somehow gotten pregnant and I was having a miscarriage. I called my mom to the restroom and asked her if she thought I should be concerned and we decided I should probably call my doctor the next day. So we left Taylor with some of the bunco ladies and went to my mom's house to get some clean clothes for me. By the time we got to my mom's house, I was feeling like I was dripping. My mom's house was only 6 blocks away. That was when I was REALLY concerned.
I called the on call doctor and when I didn't get a response very quickly, we just headed over to the instacare, where they proceeded to tell us that I needed to go to the emergency room. So that is how I ended up there. I called my hubby when we went to the instacare, and then called him again when we got to the emergency room. He made it there right as they were taking me back. They did an exam and took some blood and did an ultrasound. What they discovered is that my IUD was not in the correct place.
Apparently my uterus is severely tilted back to the point where it almost makes a U shape. The IUD either didn't get place all the way up to begin with or, it slid down and attached itself to the uterine lining, which was causing all of the bleeding. They cleaned me up quite a bit and ended up scheduling an appt with my doctor for the following day to get my IUD out and get a new form of birth control. They kept telling me they were glad I came in, but since I never felt sick or had a lot of pain, I felt really stupid being there. I guess it was better safe than sorry.
The following day I went to my doctor in the afternoon and got the implanon (birth control in the arm), and the procedure to numb my arm was painful, and it was sore for a several days, but so far it has been just fine. My doctor made sure to tell me that I am not a good candidate for an IUD. Really?

Thanksgiving 2011

Our Thanksgiving was rather low key this year. It usually is I guess. We went to Scott's parents house just like always. Taylor had a good time playing with her cousin Alyssa. Taylor just adores Alyssa.

It is so fun to watch them interact. Taylor was the center of attention for a large part of the day. After we ate all the yummy food, we played a few new games that Scott and I had bought for his parents a little while back. We really enjoyed Malarky. Shockingly, I was bad at it. I am not a very good liar and I am usually not very creative.

We did the Black Friday thing, but we didn't even go out until after Taylor's morning nap, so it wasn't very busy. Scott had to take care of some work stuff, and when he got home we met up with the fam for some shopping. We didn't actually do any shopping because we didn't have any money to do so, but the three of us enjoy being out. Taylor just likes to people watch and see what is going on. She fits right in with her parents.

Halloween 2011

I have been so bad at blogging lately. I need to get better at it. It is pretty bad to update on Halloween in December. Anyway, I decided to be creative this year and I don't honestly know I came up with either of our costumes, but I thought of them in advance this year and got everything put together myself. Taylor was a 80's workout instructor and I pretty much purchased everything for her costume on the ebay.

Taylor went Trick or Treating at my work, but didn't actually get any candy...I actually just walked her around and showed her off. In this picture she is playing on the floor afterwards.

We didn't go trick-or-treating that night, Taylor has never had candy, and I don't need any, so she looked super cute dressed up, but no one felt the need to go out and pound the pavement to get the treats we didn't need.
I decided to be cotton candy this year. Scott and I made my costume. I dyed batting pink and found a giant clear garbage bag which Scott spent quite a bit of time drawing the cotton candy logo on. I was really happy with how it turned out, and I have to admit I was really disappointed that I didn't even win a prize a work. Unfortunately, the costume contest a work is really based on the presentation of the costume (or the show) as well as how much people like you. It made me sad that so many people told me how creative and cute my costume was and I even had people ask if it was real cotton candy, but alas, not enough votes to win. Oh well. I liked it.

Don't worry about the horrible shine on my head. It was a little warm in all that stuffing. ;)

Anniversary #4

On October 26th, Scott and I had our 4th anniversary. It seems like it has gone by really fast. We weren't able to take the week off this year because my boss had a big hunt that week. So we took our vacation in August and took a couple of days off for our anniversary. The day of our anniversary, we took Taylor to her baby sitter and headed up to Mulligan's because it was a cold day and they have a heaters on their driving range. Well, the heaters were not on. We were VERY cold. We didn't finish our buckets and headed out to lunch. We ate at Hires Big H. Scott is a big fan of their burgers. After lunch we went bowling at the place where we kind of had our first datish thing. Too long of a story to explain on this post. I won the first round and got a 167. I am pretty sure that is my personal best. Scott won the second one and I think he was around 180 and I was around 140. We actually bowled really well for people who haven't bowled in over a year. We still had some time to kill since Taylor was asleep at the babysitter's so we told her to text us when she woke up and we did a little bit of shopping. That night Scott took Taylor and I to The Cheesecake Factory, the traffic was ridiculous, but so worth it. It was sooo good. I got a BBQ Chicken salad that was big enough to feed 3-5 people and boy oh boy was it tasty. It definitely did not disappoint. Taylor got her first taste of food that isn't mashed. I gave her pieces of banana and avocado, and surprisingly, she ate the avocado better. Scott got fettuccine alfredo that he said was ok, but Scott is very picky. I love that place and I haven't had it for years. I was so glad Scott took me there for our anniversary. He is so sweet.
The following day, the pregnant babysitter told us she couldn't take Taylor because she was just too uncomfortable, which was totally understandable, so Taylor got to play with mom & dad all day. She was such a joy to have with us all day. We got a later start than we hoped because we had Taylor, and we headed up to Salt Lake again. We ate lunch at a diner up some canyon in Salt Lake, I guess they are known for their dinner, so we kind of disappointed. After lunch we headed over to the Salt Lake City cemetery. Yes, we went to a cemetery. All but a few of the prophets were buried there, so we went to see. We had to go to the office of the cemetery and get a map of where the prophets and notable people were buried. It was really interesting and we really enjoyed ourselves. Taylor loved it too, but I think for her it was just exciting to be outside. We were really glad we had a map, because the cemetery was extremely large. We would have never found anything. We spent several hours there even with a map. It was interesting to see that some of the headstones of prophets were really discreet and others were VERY large. President Hinckley's was good size. We would have walked right past President Hunter's if we had not been looking for it. Not far from President Hinckley's headstone, was one that had a really cool poem on it. I guess it was a poem? Scott and I really liked it though. We also saw one headstone that had a free mason's symbol on it. That was pretty cool.

After the cemetery we went to see Brigham Young's headstone, at dinner, and headed home. We had planned to go to Gardner Village, but we ran out of time. We did stop at the corn maze at Thanksgiving Point, but it was dark and cold, so we didn't stay long. Guess we can always go next year when Taylor is a little bit older. f
Overall it was a great anniversary. Even though we didn't have a lot of money to spend. We really enjoyed ourselves. It was great spending time with each other and our super cute daughter. We didn't have to spend loads of money to have a good time together.

7 Months & 8 Months

I don't know why I never seem to have time to blog. Maybe because my little one REALLY likes the laptop cord and laptop and wants to grab it or crawl all over it every time I get on it. Or, maybe because by the time I get done with Taylor every night I am usually pretty tired and just feel like getting into bed and reading a book or something. Guess it is just not a priority. Since Taylor is now 8 months, and I missed the 7 month post, this is going to be a combined post about 7 and 8 months. I probably won't remember when anything happened anyway if I did two separate posts.

Taylor is a very active baby. She started scooting around maybe a week shy of 7 months and then it turned it to crawling about 3 days shy of 7 months. It wasn't really a surprise to us since she had been up on her knees quite a bit and she just doesn't want to ever sit still. She has recently started pulling up on things as well, so I don't think walking is in the too far distant future.

Since learning to crawl Taylor discovered the doorstop behind the door and very much enjoys playing with any of them she sees in the house. Her cousin taught her that it to one side and let go it makes a cool noise, so that is what she does. We have purchased plenty of toys for her, but she really likes doorstops, shoes, & cords. Yep, she is a little different. She does also love a little white stuffed panda bear that was given to us as a gift at my baby shower. She will smile and laugh at it before she picks it up and chews on it. It is pretty cute.

Her main baby-sitter had a baby herself, so she temporarily goes to someone else. She is so flexible though and she adjusted to the new place really fast. The girl that watches her has two boys and one of them is about a month and a half younger than Taylor. From what I hear, they very much enjoy looking at each other and smiling at each other.

She is starting to become more of a binky baby, so I try to keep them put away unless she is going to bed or riding in the car. She must have a love hate relationship with binkies, because she throws them out of her crib at night. This is wear I find them.

Under the crib against the wall. I call it the binky graveyard. It makes me laugh when I can't find all of the binkies and I look there.

She has been sick a lot recently, but that could be partly because of the changing of the season. She had a cold and then got over it and I got a cold and gave her a new one. Then she had some diarrhea issues and we are hoping that is over. She has 6 teeth and I think she is getting another one, which seems to cause her all sorts of problems. Almost everything that is wrong with her can be caused by teething.

Overall even when she is sick she is very happy baby. I can see she already has an attitude and she is going to be a little spit fire when she starts talking, but we love her to pieces and enjoy her every day. I hate having someone else watch her all day, but it is so fun to pick her up and watch her light up and crawl as fast as she can over to me. Someday I hope to stay home with her and watch her be cute all day long. Oh dreams...

I'm losing it!

No, not my mind, weight. I am finally losing weight again and I couldn't be happier about it. My weight has been crazy with the pregnancy and everything. I gained 40 lbs during my pregnancy and then lost 33 within the first 6 weeks after Taylor was born. Then I gained 13 back slowly. Towards the end of nursing, I started weight watchers because I was fed up with how my body looked. I have now lost 11 lbs. It has taken two months, but I am ok with losing slow and doing it healthy. I am sure I could lose more if I added working out, but I still haven't figured out how to do that successfully without sacraficing something important to me, like time with Taylor, Scott or sleep. Anywhoo. I am currently 11 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight and once I lose that, I am going to stay on weight watchers to lose another 20-30. I am really enjoying it because it is not restrictive and I don't feel like I CAN'T have certain foods. I just pick and choose what I want and what I am going to sacrafice to have it. It doesn't go as fast as HCG, but I don't feel like I am not eating anything either. This is something I can definitely do long term. Hooray!

Boring

Recently I have decided my life is VERY boring and extremely predictable. My week goes like this:

Monday Thru Friday

• Get up between 6 and 6:30, shower and get myself semi decent, get my snacks ready for work, get Taylor ready, drop her off at the baby sitter and go to work.
• Work 8-5, with the exemption of my lunch break that usually consists of running errands. After work, if Scott hasn't picked her up, pick up Taylor and make it home by 6.
• Fix dinner if Scott is hungry or find something for me to eat if he is not.
• Play with Taylor and then feed her dinner at 7 and give her a bath if it is bath night.
• Give Taylor a bottle and get her to between 8 and 8: 30.
• By 8:30 I am spent, so I clean a few things up and then drop into bed and cuddle with hubby and watch TV for a little while.
• Wake up at least once a night and feed Taylor again and sometimes wake up a couple more times with her.
• Repeat

Saturday & Sunday

• Get up when Taylor does
• If I am lucky, take a nap when Taylor takes her morning nap, if I am not, clean the house or take care of things that didn't get done during the week
• Get groceries
• Get lunch
• Run errands
• Play with Taylor
• Spend time with one of our families
• Church if we don't sleep through it or miss it because we didn't realize it is Stake Conference.
• Spend as much time as a family as possible

Then the week starts over and we do it all again. I would really like to add in a workout, but I just don't know where I would get the time or energy to do it. This week I have told Scott twice that I want to work out and didn't end up happening. I guess running around the house for 2 hours between getting home and Taylor going to bed has to count for something right?
The weird thing about this is I am not even complaining. I am actually pretty happy these days. We are still struggling with sleep, so I have bad days, but I am pretty content with how my life goes. I just wish there was more time in the day so I could get more done, or do something exciting to change up the routine. I am excited for the upcoming holidays to change things up a bit, and I am really excited that some day (not as near in the future as I would like) I will get to stay home and be a mom and I can decide what we are going to do that day and not be a work drone. But...with that being said, life is good, and I have a lot of blessings to be grateful for. I get to spend time with my adorable daughter and fantastic husband every night and every weekend and right now I couldn't ask for more than that.

We've Been Doing Stuff

I can never seem to find the time and desire to blog anymore. When I get Taylor down to bed at night there is usually plenty to be done, and therefore, I don't spend time blogging. I do post pictures on facebook, but that is a lot quicker then writing an entire post and putting in pictures. So here is a recap on what we have been doing for the past month.

We went on vacation the end of August. We decided it wasn't hot enough here in Utah and we headed to Arizona. When I think about what we did for our vacation, all I can think is we golfed. The golf was good. We enjoyed it a lot. I played really well for only playing maybe twice in 2011 previous to our trip. We also went to Tombstone (thought it would be better). The coolest thing we did there was a ghost tour at the Birdcage Theatre. The history was really insteresting. The only other thing it seems like we did was eat. We tried to find some really good places to have ribs. And if anyone ever goes to AZ, Scott recommends Scottsdale BBQ Company. Good food. We also went out to dinner with a good friend of mine from BYU-I and visited at their house. It was great to see her and her little guy. We left Taylor with my in-laws. I did cry twice while we were gone because I missed my little one. Once in Tombstone when we were playing with a little girl at dinner, and once on the way home when we decided to stay the night in Vegas. Vegas was a lot of fun, but the minute we booked our room, I started crying. It sucked for Scott because we booked it on his phone, so when I burst into tears we were walking the strip. He said he got some looks. Anyway, while we were doing this:

Taylor was doing this:

I think she had a good time at Grandma's house, but I'm sure she missed us as well. Right when we got back, she was a little grumpy with us.
Honestly life has been a bit of a whorlwind since we got back from vacation. We both work all day long and spending  time with Taylor takes up our evenings so we only have the weekends most of the time. We are trying to fit in date nights where we can.
Two weeks ago Scott took me up to the Heber Creeper while my parents watched Taylor. I had never been on a passenger train and I was super excited once we go there found out what we were doing. Scott surprised me and took me on a sunset BBQ. It was a little chilly, but it was a lot of fun and it was a different kind of date and that is never a bad thing. I love surprises.

That last two weeks I have barely even functioned with how crazy things have been. Last Monday Taylor had her 6 month check up and I didn't work that day because or baby sitter had an eye infection. Taylor threw up at the doctor's office, but acted pretty normal so no one thought much about it. I guess teething can make babies puke, and I have really sensitive gag reflexes so it wouldn't be super crazy if Taylor did too.
Tuesday was normal until that night when I started throwing up. I threw up all night long and part of Wednesday. Of course I didn't work. I did take Taylor to the baby sitter so I could get some sleep which turned out to be a bad idea, but we are not there yet. Scott has been working crazy schedules because he has had some changes in his employees, but was able to come home Wednesday night and take care of Taylor and I. I was so grateful! I don't know how I would have functioned that night because I didn't have enough energy to walk up the stairs holding Taylor. He also got up all night Tuesday night with her. It was a huge relief while I was so sick.
I felt better Thursday morning and went to work, but my baby sitter was then sick. So I ended up picking her up at 11 and taking her to my parents to watch her until 3. They had already had the stomach bug so I figured I wouldn't be spreading it to them. I had to leave work early to take care of Taylor on Thursday.
Saturday Taylor couldn't keep anything down. She pretty much spit up or threw up everything we fed her except apple juice mixed with water and then her dinner that night. But Sunday she did much better so we still took her to the baby sitter on Monday. By Wednesday she was doing awful. She started screaming at night and not taking her naps. She had a horrible day at the sitter's on Thursday, so I made a doctor's appt for her on Friday. By Friday she was feeling much better though. The doctore thought she possibly got the stomach bug twice or she was just throwing up from her teeth. These two teeth have been really hard for her... ugh. So finally yesterday Taylor was back to normal and did really well. Hopefully we are done with that craziness for a while...

So that is pretty much all that has been going on with us...

Taylor is 6 Months Old!

Every time Taylor gets a month older I am shocked how quickly the last month went. The last six months have gone by so fast. She is such a big girl! She is 29 inches long (99%) 17 lbs 5 oz (76%), and her head is 43.5 cm (79%). I always have to remind myself that she is as young as she is because she is so strong and so big I expect her to act like an older child.
She currently has 4 teeth and one more I am guessing will come in in the next few days if not sometime today. She has really struggled with the last two teeth coming in. They are really hard on her and she has had two that were so close to cutting for 2 weeks. One came through and we are still waiting on the other. I don't know why her teeth take so long to come in and cause her so much pain. It is really sad and it is hard to be so helpless against it.

She doesn't quite crawl yet, but she would really like to. She gets up on hands and knees a lot and can move her knees forward, but can't figure out how to move both the hands and knees together. She ends up in downward dog position a lot too. Haven't gotten a picture of it yet, but it is really cute.
She sits up by herself now. She of course still topples over, but she is getting much better.

She is a really good eater now too. She eats everything I have given to her and now that she has a booster seat with a tray, she is really enjoying meal times. She eats her entire dinner most of the time.

When she is not in pain, tired, or hungry, she is a lot of fun to be around. She laughs at her toys and at her self. She loves to show off her top teeth now and will smile really big and scrunch up her nose so you can see them. It is pretty cute. We adore her and love playing with our happy little baby.

5 Months

Baby Taylor is 5 months now! I can't believe it. She is growing so fast. She is so big and so active. She wants to be moving all the time. She has been eating "solid" food for a month now and it depends on the day how well she does. She started out pretty rough, then got better, and now it seems like she is always distracted when I try to feed her. She will get the hang of it sooner or later. Right now it is like she just doesn't want to sit still to eat. Hopefully that goes away! I think part of the problem is I am feeding her in the bumbo and we need to get an actual space saver high chair instead. I think she would be more restricted that way.
We have been pretty sure that she is still teething. After the first two came in, we got a small break and then she seemed to be in pain again, but the last two days she hasn't acted like there is much pain. Who knows, baby teeth a little unpredictable.
She still smiles a lot and most of the time she is a joy. She can get frustrating at bed time and during feeding time, but she enjoys her baths and playing with mom and dad. We take her outside every night before bed and she LOVES to be outside. She loves to watch the wind blow through the trees and will make all sorts of excited noises out there.

She does a lot of crunches when you lay her down. She doesn't like to be laying flat. She wants to be up and moving, so she will lift her head and shoulders and her legs and try to get up. It doesn't work, but it is super cute. We did buy her a exerciser/activity center that she gets to be upright in. She didn't like it at first, but I think she is getting to be a little more fond of it. 

She has started going to her new baby sitter, and she seems to really like her. She is taking better naps now and she smiles like crazy when I drop her off. I am so glad we found someone that will work for us. She doesn't have a day care center and won't take more than two kids. Right now she has Taylor all the time and a friend's daughter once a week. It is really ideal for us, and she really is great and she seems to love what she does. It would be even better if I could stay home, but this is a better solution than a lot of our options.
Now if we could only get Taylor to sleep better at night...

Taylor's Blessing

We finally had Taylor's blessing on Saturday August 20th. With it being Scott's first blessing, we decided to do it privately. We reserved the relief society room and the pavilion and had the blessing inside and then a lunch for our family after. All of our siblings made it to the blessing except for one.
Scott gave Taylor an amazing blessing and of course I cried. It was really special.

Taylor did really well even though I scheduled the blessing right during her nap time. We didn't get very many good pictures though. Taylor did well for the blessing, but wasn't loving picture time. Guess she takes after Scott. I don't particularly love getting pictures taken right now either, but for different reasons ;)

After the blessing we had A LOT of food. We ordered a 7 ft Sensuous Sandwich which was a big hit and both sets of parents and my sister brought salads and fruits and veggies. We had to wait a little while after the blessing to eat, so I guess I didn't plan that part the best, but hey, it was my first time doing something like this, so I am not going to beat myself up about it. All in all, I thought it went really well and everything turned out really nicely. I am so happy to be blessed with a husband who is a worthy priesthood holder. It was a great day.

Demo Derby 2011

We have started a little tradition of going to the demolition derby in Nephi every year. This year was a little bit crazy. Right after the first heat, a big storm came in. The wind was blowing so hard there was dust everywhere and there was no way we would have seen the cars running into each other if they had been going. Then they called announced that the Fire Marshall had declared an emergency and because of the lightning we all needed to get out of the bleachers for at least 1/2 hour. So we all went and sat in our cars for a while. The storm sort of past and we all went back out. I think some people left, and it was chilly, but this derby was awesome. This was the first time Scott or I had seen a car get completely flipped over, and it happened TWICE! I had forgotten my camera, but my sister took this pic on her phone:

This was the second time. The car on bottom actually had a fire and that is why the firetruck is there. We left right after the grudge match because it was getting late and we needed to get Taylor home. She was sleeping soundly at her grandparents house. I was soooo glad we didn't take her to the derby to be out in the crazy weather. We had a good time overall I think. When the wind wasn't blowing and it wasn't rainy, it wasn't too bad.

This is Reality

I haven't been posting a lot lately. Partly because I don't have a lot of time these days and partly because I try not to be negative on my blog, and I am finding it very hard to stay positive all the time. I was sure my entire life that I wouldn't want kids. Wrong. Once I realized having kids might be alright, I was sure I would be fine with working and leaving them with a sitter. WRONG.
I am really struggling with my life right now. I know I should be grateful for the many blessings that I have. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful place to work. I am blessed to have my mom available to watch Taylor right now, and I am blessed to have found a good baby sitter I will be taking her to in the future. I am also very blessed to have a fantastic husband.
I think I struggle the most when I haven't had a lot of sleep and last night was a hard one. I got about 3 1/2 hours straight and another hour in there somewhere. I broke down into tears at one point and started feeling like all of Taylor's issues are my fault.
Before I went back to work Taylor was taking 3 hour and half naps a day and sleeping 4 to 6 hours straight every night. Ever since I have been back things have been super unpredictable. Part of that was the teething I know, but I am just feeling like the inconsistency is making Taylor cranky and not wanting to sleep.
This morning I was feeling three things: I am disgusting and overweight, I am not a good mom, and I am not a good wife.
I really wish I could quit my job like NOW, but I can't. Money is a lot tighter right now than before Taylor was born (that's a given), and we wouldn't be able to pay our bills if I quit work. But even though I work for a great company, it has been a month and a half and I just flat don't want to be at work every day. I feel like things were better with me, Taylor & Scott before I came back to work. I 3/4 of my baby weight right away, and was staying there, but after I came back to work, I gained 10 lbs. Right after I came home from the hospital, I was more in love with my husband than I had ever been. Now, he feels like the room mate. Like I never spend time with him and take care of him.
A while back in a writing class I took at BYU, I wrote a paper about success. My definition of success was to have a happy marriage and family. I may be doing well at work and my boss has an abundance of nice things to say about me since I got back, but I feel like a total failure. I don't have a happy husband and daughter.
This is really me venting because I am tired, which makes me a little more grumpy. I know this time will pass and everything will get better. I am just struggling to put on a happy face.

Teething Time

The last few weeks have been pretty tough. My happy, easy baby has turned into a grumpy, needy baby. She has her days that she is still her normal self, but especially the last weeks has been hard. She has only been sleeping 2 to 3 hours at a time with a few exceptions, and that has been really hard for me being up all night and working the next day. I feel like I have been a bit of zombie all week. The good news is both teeth broke through towards the end of the week. I am hoping now she will calm back down and we will get our happy baby back. We were so spoiled we don't know how to handle the grumpy one. She is such a sweet baby even when she is grumpy she will smile and laugh, but it will change in a second and she will cry. It catches you off guard, and it is hard to handle. Let's hope she doesn't get any more teeth for a while and we can all have a break.

Has it been 4 months already?

Taylor is now four months old. Well, today she is four months and 12 days to be exact. I am amazed how big she is. At her 4 month check up she weighed in at 13 lbs 11 oz (53 percentile), she is 26 inches tall (97 percentile) and her head is 42 cm (78 percentile). She is getting so big, but she is still pretty slender. She still wears mostly 0-3 month clothes because the bigger clothes don't quite fit her around the waist. It depends on the clothes, but in most cases the 3-6 month bottoms just won't stay up.
She is generally a pretty happy baby. I love to make her smile & giggle. She has several ticklish spots, but you have to get them just right in order to get a good laugh out of her. There is no greater sound to me than her little laugh. She has been a little grumpier lately because unfortunately she is teething. Of course she has to get her teeth a little early. I don't want to give her tons of Tylenol so I have tried 3 different homeopathic remedies and nothing seems to help a ton. If she is hurting bad, she has to have the Tylenol unfortunately.
She has been rolling from front to back for a really long time, but now she rarely does it. She just rolls from back to front and then gets mad because she still doesn't love tummy time. She tolerates it better than she used to, but she usually ends up getting mad. It gets frustrating. We decided we need to get her a entertainment exerciser thing so she can play standing up, she loves to stand when we are holding her, and I think getting something like that will enable us to get things done in the evenings besides turning her back over.
We started Taylor on "solid" foods right on the four month mark. Because she is such a good eater and she seems to always be hungry my doctor suggested it. She doesn't do the best with the rice cereal, but she loved the apple sauce. She did a lot better with it and actually got some into her belly instead of all over her face and chest. It is a work in progress, but I'm sure she will get it. She loves to eat, and she tries so hard to gobble up the food, she just needs more practice on how to get it to stay in her mouth.
Here are a few pictures I took of her in her fourth of July outfit even though we didn't get it in time for her to wear it on the fourth. She loves to be outside, so we decided to take pictures outside.

The 4th

Taylor's first 4th of July was a busy one. We actually had more time to ourselves than I thought we might, and that was nice. We also had family in town on both sides. On Saturday morning Scott got up super early and went golfing and Taylor and got back in bed around 8 and slept till 10. It was so nice to get a nap for the first time since I have been back to work. Once Scott got home and I got myself and Taylor ready to go, we went to lunch where Scott took this picture.

I absolutely love it. I actually don't look too bad in it either for half of a face. Anyway, after lunch we headed up to the freedom festival arts & crafts show. I of course bought some more little flowers for Taylor's hair and a little onsie for her to wear on the 4th. I bought her an entire outfit online, but it didn't come in time. We met up with Scott's family for a few minutes while we were there and then headed home and put Taylor down for a nap. Later that night we went out to home depot and bought some flowers to re-do our flower bed out front. It was looking pretty sad, and we were happy to get that done.
Sunday evening we headed down to Nephi to visit with Scott's family. The entire family was there for Sunday & Monday, so it was nice to hang out with them. We played ultimate frisbee and realized how old we are playing against the kids. First time I have felt old and out of shape in quite some time, but I guess having a baby 3 1/2 months ago gives me an excuse. We had a BBQ on Monday night and then headed home early because Scott got called in to work and got Taylor to bed a decent time. No fireworks for us.
We also spent Monday morning at my parents house visiting with my sister's kids. My sister and her husband brought them down on Friday, but they had some sick kids so we weren't able to visit until Monday. We didn't want Taylor to get sick. We were going to go to the parade on Monday morning with my fam, but we didn't make it in time. By the time we got there, the kids were ready to go home. Maybe next year when we have a little older baby. Right now I let life revolve around her and her sleep. It was nice to see our nieces and nephew and spend some time with them as well. I am sad we didn't get to spend more time with them because of sickness, but we go to see them for a little while. On the 4th we ended up leaving both places because of Scott having to work. We will see everyone again towards the end of August for Taylor's blessing (I know, finally, it was hard to get all the fam able to come on one weekend). I am looking forward to that.
Here are some pics of the fam in Nephi. I took my camera, but didn't get any pictures. I need more. I don't have very many of me and Taylor or me and Scott for that matter.

This is our niece Alyssa, Taylor looks like her baby pictures.

All the Morgan grand-kids

How the time flies by

This beautiful little one is 3 months old already. It makes me sad how much she has changed and how quickly the months fly by. She already has such a cute personality and is also very strong-willed. She still smiles a lot and coos and giggles. She really likes to smile at fans and talk to them. She will talk to people too, as long as you are letting her lay down. She fusses if she is held too much. She is not a little cuddle bug like I would like her to be. She loves to lay on her blanket and kick her little legs and roll over. She started rolling over from her back to her front, and then fusses because she doesn't like tummy time. It is pretty cute. She also very much enjoys sucking and chewing on her hands. Apparently they taste pretty good. All in all she is a very good baby and I can't get enough of her.

Back to Work

It has been almost two weeks now since I have been back to work. It sucks. I miss being around Taylor all day and it is clear that her schedule has been thrown off because she is taken care of by different people all the time. Her sleeping is pretty random. Some days she naps really well and others she doesn't. We have had a few rough nights as well. She sleeps 4-6 hours straight before she wakes up in the night and I am grateful for that. I just wish I could be home with her to provide a little stability. Hopefully this won't be for more than a year. I have registered and made a deposit for the winter 2012 bridal fair at Provo High. I figured if I made the deposit I would have to actually do it instead of just talking about it. I desperately want to be able to do flowers as a full-time job. I love to do it and I wouldn't have to be away from Taylor. My boss asked me how long I plan on being at work and what my intentions were and I got emotional telling him I wanted to be home. I bawled my eyes out the second day of work on my way to drop her off at my mom's house. I can't imagine what it is going to be like when I drop her off with someone that is not family. Luckily, it is looking like I might have a good prospect for watching her that a friend is currently taking her daughter too. Recommendations are good and she is willing to work with us on price. I am really hoping that works out.
It is really nice to see people at work and spend time with adults during the day. It is nice to have the interaction, but I don't like dealing with grumpy clients who don't want to pay for their coverage and want to complain about anything else. Being a mom is much better. Although it is a struggle, it is easier to understand why Taylor is crying even if I don't know why. She doesn't know how to tell me what she wants. Clients at work are just ignorant. Anyway, it is a really good place to work and I really do like my boss, but life has changed. I would much rather be with my precious little one at home. I know it is a righteous desire and if I work towards it, I will be blessed with the ability to accomplish it.

Daddy's Day

I know this post is a little late, but I wanted to post it anyway. For Father's day, I got Scott a cute plaque that says, "A daddy is his daughter's first love." I saw the quote somewhere and had a work friend of mine make it for me. It turned out so cute. Scott decided to go to Mesquite and go golfing for a few days as well, so I gave him some money for that. I know, super sentimental right? It was what he wanted and he had a good time having some time away from the stress of work.
Scott is a great dad. He doesn't feel like Taylor knows him, but I have no doubt that she will. He is so good with kids, she will soon like him more than me. A few weeks ago, I was getting ready to go in the morning and I walked in our bedroom and Scott was dancing with Taylor to daddy daughter songs. It was so cute I tried not to cry. The following morning was Sunday, and I actually got a picture of it.

I'm sure she knows who her dad is and feels his love for her. Watching him with her makes me love him so much more. I am so grateful to have such an amazing husband and father for Taylor.

18 Holes

Saturday Scott and I were able to play 18 holes of golf together for the first time this year. Scott's parents are sweet enough to watch Taylor for us every Saturday. We usually do grocery shopping and some errands, but this time they offered to watch her long enough for us to play golf. It was kind of a rough night with Taylor, but we were able to get out the door shortly after 8 and get out before it was too crowded on the course. I started out pretty well, then got really crappy for a while. At about hole 15, I pulled it together and felt pretty good about how I played the last few holes. Considering this is the third time I have played this year, and the two other times I only played nine holes, I think it went pretty well. It was so nice to get out in the sun and not have to worry about a little one.
We played the front nine pretty quickly, but when we got to the tenth tee they had sent some people out on number ten that were pretty slow. It took us and 1:45 to play the front nine and 2:45 to play the back nine. At the eighteenth tee while we were waiting for the group in front of us, mr. tough guy in front of us came back to tell us that there were people in front of them and hitting into them wouldn't do us any good. Scott asked him when we hit into him, and he said we didn't. Scott and I were boggled and more than slightly annoyed. We had waited for them and waited for them, and then he comes back and acts like a jerk? Really? Wow. The marshall had to ask them to speed up around hole 16 and they actually did, but they were SOOOO slow. I did accidentally hit into them on one hole because my aim sucks, but he went from me looking like a jerk to making himself look like one. Good times. Gotta love people.

It's Time

I am not one that likes to post about weight, but I am going against my better judgement and just putting it out there. I gained just shy of 40 lbs with my pregnancy. I lost 30 of it within the first 3 weeks or so. I was pretty happy about that. I hoped to continue to lose a pound or so a week. Not so much. I am stuck. It just fluctuates back and forth a few lbs. I really miss running and working out. I have gone for walks a few times, but Taylor doesn't like riding in the stroller in my neighborhood. I am sure it is because of the stupid creases on the sidewalks. She is fine if I walk in the street, but that is not exactly safe. Ugh. I really need to get on a workout routine and I am debating getting up a half hour earlier when I go back to work so I can get in a 30 minute workout every morning. I guess we will see what happens. I don't know how mom's do it. When Scott is home he could watch Taylor while I work out, but I want to spend time with him too. I am still madly in love with my husband after 3 and half years and I can't stand to not see him. I would almost rather be pleasantly plump and be able to spend time with him than take 45 minutes of our time together and work out... Such a dilemma. I am not even at the heaviest I have ever been, but I am ready to be more fit. I guess we will see where this goes. If you can't tell, I haven't quite figured out what I will be doing...I just know I need to change something. I REALLY miss running and racing. I will get back to it hopefully by next summer when I can take Taylor in the jogging stroller.

My awesome life

Right now my life is pretty great. I spend all day with an adorable little one and I have an amazing husband. There are a few things that I would change of course. Scott has spent way too much of his time during my maternity leave working his hind end off. He was working too hard because he was short people. This weekend it is because of the holiday. Luckily I live close to family, so I was able to spend some time with them while he was away. At first being a mom was really hard and I wasn't sure what in the world I got myself into. Now that Taylor is sleeping a little bit better and doesn't have to be held as much, I am feeling much better. I am starting to get things around the house done and I feel productive for the day. It is still the hardest job I have ever had, but those smiles from Taylor, and the support of my awesome hubby make it worth it. Scott bought me these awesome flowers on Thursday. 

Just because he loves me. I almost cried. It made me feel so good to have a husband who appreciates what I do and still makes sure I feel special and important. (Notice it is a golf bag. I thought that was pretty cool too.) He also was sweet enough to get me a gift card to a spa so I can have some me time for mother's day. That will be a welcom treat when I use it. I am constantly amazed that my love for my husband can still continue to grow. He is such a wonderful man and I am so lucky to have him in my life. Watching him interact with Taylor warms my heart and I savor those moments when it is clear how much he loves his little girl. I couldn't ask for a better family.

I am so grateful that we had Aflac so I could get disability pay so I could stay home for the entire 12 weeks of maternity leave. We would have never survived otherwise. I am also glad we have it to help pay for hospital bills. Altogether with disability and the amounts we received from aflac, we got about 7 times back what we put into the plan. We will keep it for our next child as well.

I am very sad that I have to go back to work in a couple of weeks. I can't stand the idea of being away from Taylor for 10 hours a day. I once again grateful for my mom who will be watching her for the first couple of months. She only lives 10 minutes from work, so at least I can go see Taylor on lunch breaks and not have to instantly be away from her all the time. I know I am a boring mommy blogger right now. I can't help it. Not a lot going going on besides spending time with Taylor.

2 Months Old

I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. Taylor had her two month check up last Monday. She is now 11 lbs 4 oz and 23 1/2 inches long. I am amazed how big she is. Yet sometimes she can still look so tiny. She is a very happy baby. She smiles and coos a lot and loves to lay down on a blanket and kick her legs. i have started putting her in front of a baby Einstein video and she smiles at it and stays quiet through the whole thing. I am guessing she likes it. She does not like tummy time. This morning I put her on her tummy four times and each time she just rolled over. We don't think she is too far from rolling over from her back to her front either. She just can't seem to get the arm underneath her out of the way. That's ok though. We absolutely adore her, and I am already starting to miss some of the things she did when she was a little bit younger. I fear that she is not going to be much of a cuddler because when she is awake and being held, she is pushing up on her legs and moving around a ton. She is always looking around and seems to be afraid she will miss something. I am dreading going back to work. I can't stand the thought of leaving her, and we actually don't have anyone set up to babysit after August. My mom is watching her while she is off work for the summer, but we don't know who will watch her after that. Anyone know someone that will do it for cheap? We seriously haven't even looked. It is hard to know who to trust. I know my mom will love her and take good care of her. I am hesitant to take her to someone I don't know will do the same. Ugh... anyway, hoping to update more about my life soon. But for now, Taylor just woke up and needs to be fed.

Taylor's Newborn Shoot - 4 Weeks Old