Four day fun

I was having a good time taking Brylee's pictures today for her birth announcements. Here are a couple I love, and the rest you will have to wait and see on the announcements. She is so easy going and happy as you can see! (Which I need, so its good) I know its probably "just gas", but she must have had a lot of it, because she kept smiling like this. Pretty good for 4 days old.

We just love her!

Welcome Brylee Joy

She's finally here! Brylee Joy Taylor was born into our family at 7:44 pm, Sunday December 7, 2008. She weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz, and was 19 1/2 inches long. Only 2 oz bigger than Madison was! I was so excited to see that I finally got one with my hair genes, because she has lots of dark hair! Lets hope she keeps it. We checked into the hospital around 3:00 pm, and overall I would say the labor went pretty well. Im happy to report that I was able to do it all naturally again, after being afraid I wouldnt be able to do it again.
Big sisters are all so excited she is here, and cant get enough of her. Alissa's comment in the hospital was that "she's soo cute and little...just like a kitten." They couldnt sleep last night while she was still at the hospital, because they missed her too much, and it was pure torture to Madison and Katelin to have to go to school today and wait longer to see her again. Zack is aware of the presence of a new baby, and is learning that he cant poke her eyes, sit on her, pull her out of her car seat and yank on her blanket when he wants to see her. It will be quite an adjustment for him. So far he is just having fun with it.
Mom and baby are doing well. Brylee does have to go back to the hospital tomorrow to get checked for jaundice and have her hearing screening re-done, since she failed it the first time. They said its probably due to the amount of meconium in the water before it broke. She was pretty full of mucus at birth. Its perfectly normal, but we are still anxious to hear a positive test result. Ever since we got home today, she has been sleeping. Of course she didnt sleep this soundly at the hospital, so Im pretty tired. But we promised pictures today, so here are a few. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support!
-Heather

Christmas Tag

Ive never done a "tag", but this looked fun, so here it goes...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? definitely wrapping paper, it takes longer to open thus prolonging the Christmas experience. Plus, the kids cant peek!
2. Real tree or Artificial? I love the smell of real trees, but they are pricey, and usually end up dying before Christmas and leaving a big mess all over the floor. So we opt for the cheaper fake ones, and go with a nice evergreen smelling candle instead.
3. When do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? Usually by new years.
5. Do you like eggnog? I love it, everyone else doesnt. So I get to drink the whole carton myself! YUM. This year, the first carton intended for Thanksgiving didnt quite make it, so I had to buy another one. It is yummy in Sprite too!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? A pony...Just Kidding. Thats what I always wanted, but never got, so I think the next best thing was either the ski's or the big box of Twix candy bars. I love chocolate!
7. Hardest person to buy for? Ryan by far! And then the parents.
8. Easiest person to buy for? My girls of course. They want everything! The hard part is narrowing it down to what they want the most.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Just a tiny glass one. I never know where to put it for fear it will get broken. Ide love a bigger one, but still dont know where it would go.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. C'mon people, dont be lazy! I love getting Christmas cards, so get sendin! (Although, I did send an e-mail Christmas update last year because it was an after thought. But the card with picture was in the mail!)
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? underwear, or that hideous sweater when I was little. (Sorry Mom and Dad!) Kids are so picky about clothes!
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, and the Santa Claus.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Fall
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes. Still new, never even used! Im not proud of it!
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Peanut brittle, toffee, homemade caramel, Dads Fudge. All very healthy, I know.
16. Lights on the tree? Most people think I am crazy, but I usually do about 10-15 strands. Ive been trying to scale back though. This year was a record with only 6 or 7. But I dont think it looks as good!
17. Favorite Christmas song? Hmm...all of them! Hallelujah chorus is nice. Oh, and the forgotten carols (Michael McLean). But they are all good.
18. Travel at Christmas time or stay home? Ive never really traveled, since weve always been close to family...until now. So I guess stay home for me.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? If I sing Rudolf...wait how many are there?
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Weve always had a star, but Im cool either way.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? The popular Christmas Eve Jamies the night before, and the rest on Christmas.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The crowds at the store! Thats why we try to get the shopping done early! All you black Friday people are crazy!
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? All of them.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? We always eat Egg Ala King (or egg toast as the kids call it), with bacon and hot cocoa for breakfast. Then ham, scalloped potatoes, jell-o and rolls for dinner. And of course, egg nog for me!
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? a pain free labor, without the epidural! Ha ha. But seriously...a new car!

Now I tag all of you who havent done this! YOUR IT!

Tree Time

Decorating the tree is one of the kids' favorite things to do. We always put it up the day after Thanksgiving, and they get to take turns picking which ornaments they get to put on. Then of course they fight over who gets to put the star on top. This year they all came to the decision that it was Madi's turn. If you ask Ryan, she is getting too big to lift up. He might turn into the designated tree topper in the next year or two. Zack loved all the pretty twinkling lights!

Zack got into dancing to the Christmas music!

The girls found the Santa hats and had to try them on

Bubble Blowin'

One of Zacks favorite things to do is drink from the cup with the built in straw, especially when it has milk in it. He blows through the straw until the bubbles from the milk touch his nose and spill over the side. Then he tries to pop them with his finger. Thanks to his sisters for teaching him the bubbles fun with this one!

Hairy contest

Ryan had a contest with his friends at work, to see who could grow the most facial hair in a week. By the weeks end, it started getting itchy and driving them nuts. On the last day, they all went to work wearing just their mustaches. Has anyone ever seen Ryan this hairy? Crazy men! I will try to get a picture of his mustache posted later, if its not too late! (Cheryl, I hope to see one of Doug too!) Personally, I kinda like the unshaven look, before it gets too long! What do you think?

Halloween

Well, here we are on Halloween. The kids enjoyed carving their own tiny pumpkins, and Zack liked to eat the seeds. Alissa still hasnt gotten into the mushy feeling of cleaning it out, but she loved designing her face. Afterwards, they got into their costumes. Just in case you cant tell, Madison was a spider princess, Katelin Tinkerbell, Alissa a butterfly fairy, and Zack a fearless dragon. I also caught Ryan goofing around with a beautiful Ariel wig on! Since they do trick-or-treating on Sunday afternoon where we live, we went to our friends house a couple towns over on the actual day. It was so warm and nice, the kids stayed out for about 3 hours and got a ton of candy! It felt much more like a normal Halloween this year, after trying to go with the flow last year. We all had fun.