Thomas is HERE

So we decided to have Thomas come three days earlier than before. That's the nice thing with C sections, you can pretty much plan the date. We were initially sceduled to have him on February 11th, but thought that it would be best to be at the hospital over the weekend, so he came on February 8th. He had the most amazing squeal when he first arrived. He was 7lbs and 15 ounces and 20 inches long. Taylor was so facinated with him. She just stared at him for a few minutes with this look of wonder. He is so awesome and beautiful. So strong, but so fragile at the same time. and now some pics..

The days leading up to Thomas's arrival

So it has been a while since we posted. Things have been busy to say the least. Since the last post, Christmas has come and gone along with Daddy's birthday(me), New Years, a baby shower for Thomas, Taylor's Birthday, Mommy's Birthday, and Thomas's birth (we will get to that in the next post) . Of course with all these goings on, it would seem that every week there were presents to open. Taylor seemed to have become accustomed to opening new gifts if not daily, then weekly. I would come home and she would eagerly ask, "Open present, yeah?!"

Christmas was a lot of fun. This was the first year that Tay actually got into it. I think that by far her favorite gift has been her art easel. This is actually a favorite for all of us. Almost daily after I get home she will ask, "Wanna do chalk daddy?" or "Wanna draw a turtle daddy?" She tries to copy the things that we draw and often times they are pretty close. She has also been playing with markers a lot, in Taylor talk though they are referred to as "Mark Its" (which I think is more appropriate as she marks not only the paper, but her hands and face).

New Years was fun as we sat outside at night and watched the fireworks in the sky. Hearing Taylor exclaim "bootiful!" or "wow, pretty" was nice.

Thomas's baby shower was amazing. Beebs had created these awesome fishbowls using blue jello and Deanna made this awesome cake that looked like a pond. Both are hard to explain verbally as they were out of this world.

The timeouts are still in full effect. Taylor seems to respond well to the consistency that we apply them. However, it would seem that the days leading up to her second birthday, she learned how to throw tantrums. Most of the tantrums are short lived. Most are actually funny to watch because she is so flustered. Usually we can persuade her to stop and rationalize the situation by asking her to use her words. The real trouble begins when she doesn't know the words of what she wants, but these are the learning opportunities.

During the course of this time, Taylor received a set of pajamas with the Disney Princesses on them packed in a gift bag with the same aforementioned princesses. This was a gift from her aunt Kasey and uncle Wesley. I don't know how Disney does it, but little girls go nuts about this stuff. Taylor has only one movie that has one of these princesses (Cinderella). She immediately recognized Cinderella, who she refers to as BellaBella on occassion, and was intrigued with the identities of the remaining individuals. For about an hour after the party (I believe it was the baby shower) Taylor asked me "Who's that" and pointed to each on the characters on the bag. Surprising enough I knew them all, but I have to say that I was tempted to make up a couple of names such as "Not Snow Bright" or "Nastasia" or some thing like that, but I didn't.

The Face of the New - Words of the Elder to be

The Face of the New

SO yesterday we had a 3d/4d ultrasound of Thomas. This was actually our second attempt to do so, with our first attempt being this past Saturday. Our little Thomas was quite uncooperative on Saturday, as he hid behind the umbilical cord the entire time. This produced pictures that looked somewhat alien-esque. It looked at times that there might be a being inside my wife's womb that bore resemblance to a dinosaur (which really didn't shock me as I have put on a number of pounds since the birth of Taylor and have often felt like a T-Rex considering the length of my arms). Leaving Saturday, I felt that there is a likihood that we had a half dinosaur with a topless head and proud boy parts. Despite this, I was at ease as I knew I would love this reptilian creature regardless and eagerly waited his arrival.

Yesterday, I saw a more familiar face; very similar to the 3d pics of Taylor, save for slightly chubbier cheeks and the aforementioned proud boy parts. I supposed he knew that his parents, his sister and his Michi and Pop-Pop were hoping to get a good look at him. So Thomas decided to not dodge the prenatal paparazzi and showed himself.

While we all oooed and ahhed, Taylor took up her post beside her Mommy on the bed and hung out. At first she was concerned and somewhat upset at the sight of her Mommy laying there on the bed. Taylor tends to be very protective of Mommy, as well as of Thomas. She does not like it when Mommy has to see the doctor and cries all the while Mommy lays on the table. I suppose that from her experience of doctors and nurses, they potentially will hurt you and do so with a smile. This being our second session at this ultrasound location, Taylor was not as upset as the first time. In addition, the technician performing the ultrasound was the same as the one on Saturday and she had befriended Taylor already. As we got the first glimpse of Thomas, Taylor attempted to make out the picture that we all gasped at. I believe that Taylor thought us to be crazy or somewhat delusional, as I can imagine that such a first glimpse is hard to grasp and truly make out the image that is being rendered.

In the end we got our first look at Thomas and are very excited. Did I mention that he is a proud boy. :-)

Words of the Elder to Be

It has been some time since the last list of Taylorisms, but here are some of my favorites

- "choc-co-late raisens" - these are Taylor's favorite treats right now. But the manner in which she says chocolate is pristene. Unlike most of us, she anunciates each syllable ( of which there are three instead of the usual two that most people pronounce)

- "Laaaayterrrrr" - Taylor seems to understand the need to postpone events from time to time. Often, she will ask to do an activity and immediately see that I or Tommie are wearing a look that loosely translates to "Sorry baby, but we will do it later because it is ______". So she will answer her own question by saying ""Laaaayterrrrr". Such as "Chaulk...outside......Laaaayterrrrr"

- "Babe!" - ala Sonny and Cher circa 1965, Taylor will randomly call either Tommie or myself "Babe". Most recently, she woke Tommie up in the morning by touching Tommie's hair and softly calling "Babe, Babe"

- "WEIRDO" - So last Saturday, Chopper (the mongrel dog that he is) started doing his strange Kung Fu poses in the morning. He would run a few steps in the living room, do a half lean, and then take off for another few steps. At this I simply stated, "Chopper, you are a weirdo". Taylor immediately thought this was funny and exclaimed, "Chopper Weirdo!" Now she has used the phrase frequently with the most recent being last night at dinner saying, "Pop-Pop Weirdo!"

- "HOLD YOU!" - This is not a new phrase, but it is a phrase that has taken on a life of its own. Taylor will see something that she feels could use some love and exclaim "Hold dyou" . If it is something large on TV, then her arms will be outstrecthed. If it is something tiny in a book, her index fingers are stretched out in hopes that the being will leap off the pages and into her eager fingers.

- "Chicken Chorua" - In the Malayalam language Chore is a staple food and is just simply rice. Taylor has an affinity for Michi's Rice and Chicken and recently asked for it out of the blue. Since then, we have had to request Michi to make it twice. The second time being because Taylor's dad (me) thought three days of the stuff should be enough and that he would be safe eating the rest. Not the case (...and on the fourth day, she asked for Chicken Chorua again). It wasn't until the 7th day that the Chorua reinforcements arrived and she was pleased.


Sorry for the long post. We will try to get some pics out soon. We know that things are just going to get busier though, so don't hold your breath. (But if you do decide to hold your breath, please take a picture once you count to 238 seconds)

Happy Halloweeeeeen!

The fairy princess had a marvelous time...as did we! It was the best Halloween experience yet!

"Are my wings on straight?"
Too cute! I mean seriously....can it get any cuter than this?

Apparently so!

What a doll checking herslef out in the mirror!

It's almost as if she can't believe it either...how cute she is!

This is just priceless! She was trying to get her Zoolander impression down, but I kept making her laugh!

Now this one, she was just plain ready to go and I wouldn't let her hold all our water bottles in the picture.

Off to our first house

She saw our nieghbor's dog and was more interested in what he was doing...

At her second house, she was already a pro

Taking a much needed break in front of the "Great Pumpkin"

Ah...the "Great Pumpkin"

Daddy and the princess take it easy after a full night of treating.

Relaxing with her favorite chalk bucket.

(Scroll down for the pumpkin patch pictures in her other costume)

The acorn collector (10-16-07)

Flapper girl (10-15-07)

Cutie at the park (10-14-07)

Loving the Thomas (10-12-07)

Right at 5 months

Aunt Bean "Geen" comes for a visit (10-12-07)

Our little pumpkins

Here are our pumpkins...Daddy's Nemo pumpkin was still under construction at the time of this picture...

Tay's first time in a tent

With the daddy out of town, the girls needed to do something a little extra special to help the time pass. Mommy put up the tent in the living room and she and the tater tot camped out for the night. Clearly, tater tot loved it!