Reagan Joelle Taylor is Born

Introducing Reagan Joelle Taylor! She was born after 4 hours of labor on June 14th, 2009. She weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz. and was 19 and 3/4 inches long. Here she is getting her first real stretch after being curled up inside mommy for so long. She looks pretty content, huh?

Mark and I worked together to prepare for our 2nd natural/drug free birth. We took Bradley Method classes (which we love and highly recommend) and Mark was my trained on being my birthing coach. He did an amazing job and all went really well. Reagan was born alert and healthy. Here are her wide eyes just hours after she was born.

Mommy and Daddy in nursery with Reagan.

So precious. Our 2nd little angel.

Nana and Papa come to visit. Nana us always bearing blankets to her new grandbabies. Thank you, Nana.

Visitors came even though they couldn't see or hold Reagan in person. Thank you Simmon's family.

The proud parents.

Unfortunately Reagan swallowed some meconium at birth which caused her to have labored breathing and her oxygen levels to drop. She wound up going to the NICU at the UofU Hospital after the nurses at our hospital could not place an IV for antibiotics. She stayed in the NICU for 6 days and was finally able to come home a week after her birth. Although this was challenging for us we felt really blessed after seeing some of the other babies who were born at 1 lb. 8 oz. or worse. Thank you mom and Lesli for helping us out so that we could travel to and from the hospital all week long.

Grandpa Rayback and Grandma Lily Rayback came to visit and brought us dinner.

Meira visits mommy in the "hospitable." Poor Meira had to wait a whole week to see or meet her sister for the first time.

...and Then There Were 4...

Happy Father's Day, daddy! Mark couldn't have had a better present than to bring his little girl home from the NICU on Father's Day. I have to toot Mark's horn a little bit and say what an amazing father he is. I knew I had a great man when I married Mark, but to be honest I didn't realize just how great. Mark changes diapers, makes meals, cleans the house, plays with the girls, holds, hugs, wipes away tears, reads books in character, tickles, is patient, fun, funny, and the list could go on. I would like to mention that on top of all of that Mark remains a romantic and loving spouse as well. This is my little shout-out to him praising his name. I consider myself to be one of the luckiest women in the world. I love you sweetie.

Daddy and his two girls who are meeting for the first time. Meira is a proud big sister. We wondered how she would adjust, but she has been soft and very loving to Reagan. If Reagan starts to cry Meira will sugest that she is hungry, wants her momma, or that she needs to burp. If Reagan spits up and I am not right there to clean her Meira will grab the burp cloth to wipe her up for me. She has been so helpful and concerned for her baby sister.

Reagan did give her a Mrs. Potato Head and drawing board when she arrived at the house to meet Meira. I wonder if that helped at all. :-)

Meira, mommy, and Reagan are Mark's three girls. The gender war is definitely dominating on the female side so far, but Mark loves it...so he says. :-) I love being a mother of 2 and I love having a baby in the house again. It has been truly wonderful. I never imagined what a challenge it would be to me at first though. It is a definite juggling act to help two little girls. I have fought feelings of guilt that I couldn't give either girl the full attention that they needed. Mark sat me down and gave me some really encouraging advice that a sibbling is one of the greatest blessings that either of our girls could have even if they have to share their mom's time. I would not change having my sibbling for anything and I am sure that is how it will be for our babies.

Our first whole day together as a family Mark took work off. We went on a picnic and to the park. Here is Meira eating one of her favorite foods, cheese.

Meira is not quite heavy or tall enough to use the drinking fountain at the park on her own although she tries.

Reagan is awake from 1-3 hours and then naps from 2-4. She has been a really good sleeper at night and is already sleeping for 5 and a half hour stretches. She is such a good baby. When she cries it is always for a reason. Sometimes she'll make one little cry and wait to see if anymore is needed. She is a sweetheart.

Karen (a friend of the family), Grandma Lily Rayback (holding Reagan), Aunt Molly, and Uncle Reuben came down to go to the splash pool with Meira.

Napping at the splash pool.

Meira is in love with the water and loves being splashed. We spend a lot of time at the splash pool.

Anyone notice something that looks a little off? Yep, daddy's shoes.

Bathtime in the kitchen sink...so relaxing.

Reagan's Newborn Portraits

We have an amazing neighbor who took portraits of our family, Reagan, and Meira. I wanted to post a few of our favorites. If you would like to see some more of our neighbor's work you can go to http://www.mindykiddphotgraphy.com/

Meira Turns 2 With Elmo

Happy 2nd Birthday on May 27th, Sweet Meira! One of Meira's favorite characters right now is, of course, Elmo. Consequently, we decided that it would be fun to have an Elmo birthday party. Meira told random strangers in the supermarket for weeks about her Elmo party and what we would be doing at it. "I have an Elmo party!" she would exclaim. We played Pin-the-Nose on Elmo. Meira especially liked when daddy pretended to accidentally pin the nose on Meira instead. Then we played Hot Elmo (instead of Hot Potato). Finally, as the grand finale, we did the Hokey Pokey with Meira in the middle dancing and loving it. It was so much fun and Meira was so excited.

At two Meira is very smart and fun. Everywhere we go people are amazed at her language skills and memory. Of course, as her parents, Mark and I think that she is a genius. She can say full sentences which means a lot of cute things are said. On our anniversary in May we asked Meira if she could say happy anniversary mommy and daddy. She smiled and said, "Happy in the nursery mommy and daddy." We laughed and thought how appropriate her connection was. What a cutie.

She loves to play outside, catch bugs, color, play with Play Doh, sing songs, dance, go on the carousel or ferris wheel, and swim at the splash pool near our home. She has grown into an amazing little girl that we adore.

Meira got an Elmo doll that actually talks to her and says her name from mommy and daddy. He is her buddy.

Grandma chased Meira through the "hot Elmo fire" entrance to the party. She loved that the most of all the decorations.
Meira received sunglasses, a bug hat, a bug raincoat, and a bug pinwheel from the Tippet's family. She loves them all and can frequently be seen outside looking like a little bug herself. We are grateful she likes being covered in the sun and it's a double bonus that she looks so dang cute. Thanks Tippets. Meira got her first tricycle from grandma Rayback. We can push behind until she learns how to petal herself. She seems to like it, but hasn't caught on to petaling. Bubbles are so much fun. Meira loves to chase and pop them. Here she is giving a try at blowing them herself. Most of the time the wand winds up in her mouth and the bottle spilt. Notice all of the RED! We wore red in honor of Elmo, of course. When we went to Red Robin for dinner they knew right away who was in our group.
Last, but not least. Meira had Elmo cupcakes which she snuck into all throughout her party. I hope that people didn't mind that they had their Elmo ring taken off and sucked on before they got a taste themselves.

Make a wish Sweetie Boo! Happy Birthday our big 2 year old. Thank you to all of our family who came and made this party such a memorable hit! We love you.
Meira and grandma playing with her new Elmo doll and high chair. Elmo frequently eats meals with us now.

Having Another Girl!

You got it folks, we are having another sweet little girl! She is due June 18th and we are really excited. Although Mark is excited I think it will take him a little while to accept the fact that he is so outnumbered. One of his main concerns is that he won't have anyone to watch Star Wars with. I assured him that our little girls could love Star Wars too if we show it to them young enough. :-) Meira already loves football and cheers, "Ootah, Ootah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!" There couldn't be a better daddy for little girls though. He is wonderful and we love him.
Our little girl is healthy, wiggly, and already sucking her thumb. It looks like she will follow her big sister's footsteps in the thumb sucking. We feel very blessed to be adding onto our family and to have everything going well so far. We'll keep everyone updated.

2009 Update!

I saw the owl wall paper and had to use it. Meira is in love with owls right now. As a matter of fact, when she saw it come up on the screen she immediately starting hooting and saying, "OWEL!"
This will be a no picture update. I suppose that an update is better than no update at all, right? I have to download many new pictures that I have, but I am not patient enough for our slow computer to get the job done.
2009 is starting our great. We are aware that the Lord has given us many blessings starting with Mark's new job working for Siegfried & Jensen. This is a fantastic firm that handles a variety of personal injury cases. Mark is handling all of their Spanish speaking cases which is great because he is fine-tuning his Spanish speaking skills from his mission.
So far Mark loves his job. The people he works with are all very nice. He has more time away from work and a lot less stress. But best of all, Mark no longer has to travel!!! We are thrilled that Mark gets to be home with the family more. It is especially nice news because we are pregnant with baby #2.
Yes, our 2nd bit of news for 2009 is that our family is growing. We are due June 18th and can hardly wait to find out next week if we are having a boy or a girl. We don't care either way. Like most parents, we just want a healthy baby.
I feel like I am an official mom now. We bought our first van this past weekend. We are the proud owners of a Toyota Sienna van. I can't believe that I am a "van mom" and for some reason that just makes me feel old. Don't think that I am complaining because this van is going to be awesome to take lots of baby stuff and get babies in and out of, but do you know what I mean? I guess it's just a new chapter in life that I am entering. I embrace it with open arms.
Meira is growing like crazy. She is our parrot repeating everything that we say. She gets her colors in her box right about 90% of the time now. She recognizes and remembers people she meets, including their names (which is better than me). She loves "Ring Around the Rosies) and will have anyone sing and repeat it as many times as bearable. It is also the first song she has attempted to sing. Spinning in circles she says, "pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, ashes." We are sure that we have been given a genius child. But then, we know that most parents feel that way about their children. We are just thrilled with her desire and ability to learn every day. We adore her and love the little girl she is becoming.
I am busy at home with Meira and trying to get ready for baby #2 who will be here sooner than we can imagine. I really enjoy being at home to take care of my family's needs. I look forward to another baby in our family. I know that that update sounds really plain and boring, but anyone who is a mother or father can appreciate all of the unwritten details that accompany motherhood. My life is busy, full, and fortunately happy.
The Taylor's are well beginning 2009. I'll get some pictures and details of what's been going on as soon as possible.