watchful eye

i'm not sure who's watching who

Taylor Grace is One week!!

Taylor turned one week old this week! I cannot believe how incredibly fast her looks change. She is a sweetheart and loves to talk and make lots of noises when shes awake. Mark is back to work now and we are trying to get adjusted with the new "norm" of life. The dogs love her already and seem to have a sense that she is fragile . They are curious about her and want to kiss her all the time but are still respectful and keep their distance for the most part. Whenever she wakes from a nap both Raleigh and Tahoe feel the need to let me know.

uncles & more random

real uncle david

real uncle wes home from north carolina

tuckered out from a full day of constantly checking on the baby

small baby, huge carseat.....first trip out to the pediatrician's office


proud mama at pediatrician's office.

not too sleepy. and back to birthweight already on day 4

first visitors and more first days

aunt kim says hello













aunt susie



aunt kat












a loving brother...or
curious amazement...or
waiting for a nibble


grandpa

















keeping a real close eye on her yellow face
(ok, not so close) i'm just resting my eyes





obi ready for a diaper change

First few days and Labor story

first car ride

anyone want to check a pulse on that kid?

A bunch of people have been asking about our labor and delivery so here is a brief synopsis of the BIG day...

Mark and I arrived at the hospital at 11am for our scheduled induction. We got to the Labor and Delivery room around noon. By 1:00 the doctor had come in and broken my water to start some contractions. Next they started my pitocin drip which kicked up the contractions to the maximum- which then led me quickly asking for that wonderful epidural. The epidural was a dream and it was smooth sailing from there- no pain, no pressure...no problem. They checked me again at 2:30 and I had progressed from 3cm to 9 cm in a hour's time!!! We were stunned at how quickly it all went. I started pushing around 4:25pm and we had our baby girl at 5:07pm!

Taylor Grace Ellis arrived weighing 7lbs 9oz and she was 19.5 inches long. We had a wonderful labor experience-we could definitely feel the prayers of our friends and family with us! We are doing great now at home. Taylor has already been to see the pediatrician and she checked out healthy and already back to her birthweight after only 4 days!!! She's a hungry girl! We are completely in love with her and feel so blessed!

first pics of taylor

happy baby

after her first bath

family photo


proud obi (grandma)

first look

first kiss

IKE UPDATE...

We have been glued to the television the past few days watching hurricane Ike target our hometown of galveston, texas. As much as I love hurricane coverage...it has been very difficult watching places you know and love be destroyed. Mark's parents and sister evacuated to San Antonio and are safe but they don't know when they will be able to return home to assess the damage to their homes. We are very saddened at the devestation that happened and also thankful that it wasn't worse. I hear there are boats strewn about I-45 and some of the roads in town buckled making it impossible for officials to let residents back to the island. Its unbelievable to watch on tv. We are praying for those who are stuck there and stuck off the island worrying about their homes. In all the years I've been living back and forth between Texas and Florida I have been lucky enough to miss all the major storms that hit both states. I cannot imagine it being very fun to actually go through a hurricane, the summer storms we get here are enough to send me into a spin! Anyway I will keep the blog updated as we get info on our family's property.
Other big news...of course I'll be a mommy tomorrow. This has been one of the strangest weekends of my life between Ike and knowing I'll be birthing a child in the next 24 hours. We are so excited and ready. My emotions are running high of course feeling excited, anxious, nervous, but overall just READY. Its not supposed to be like this...its supposed to be spontaneous and unplanned and labor is supposed to start and I wont be able to do anything about it. BUT...I guess I'm already learning lessons in parenthood...sometimes things dont go exactly as planned and thats OK. So, prayers are much appreciated for tonight that we would be able to sleep and enjoy our last night as a free couple ( for a while anyway)..and of course for tomorrow. we will do our best to update with pictures and info when she's born. I am supposed to go in at 11am and will most likely have papers to sign and things should get rolling in the early afternoon. If things go fast I'll have our Taylor Grace after dinnertime...and if slower then hopefully by midnight! We'll keep you posted! We love you all!

I'm due today!!! But so is Ike

So, I've officially hit 40 weeks today! I got my labor and delivery orders from the doctor today. I would love love love to meet my baby girl this weekend but I decided to have a talk with her and I told her its ok to wait until Monday, since our eyes are all fixed on Texas as our hometown gets pummeled by hurricane Ike. I can't believe chief meteorologist Jim Cantore is standing in Galveston right now! I've been watching all day and thats what I'll be doing all weekend. We are all very worried about our family and friends who live there. Mark's family evacuated but only 50% of the people on the island left...and they havent seen a storm like this decades....So, we'll be glued to the weather channel until Ike's fury passes through. Here at home I've just finished my last grocery shopping and now I'll finish the last few things on my to-do list. I can hardly stand the anticipation but I feel so much better knowing she will be here by Monday.

I'll be a Mommy by Monday Sept 15th!!!!

Ok- so we got the call today! If our baby girl doesnt come on her own in the next couple of days my doctor will induce her this Monday! I'll go in on Mon at 11am and they will start the paperwork and pitocin drip in the early afternoon. They said if all goes normally I'll have her sometime before midnight on Monday!!! I am so happy to have a goal in sight now. Mark does have to work tonight thru sat night but he is off on Sunday and we will get one more date night together...if we can even stand the anticipation. Meanwhile this weekend our family all over Texas will be going through a major Hurricane....so it would be great if she waited until Monday so we can be sure and have phone contact with Mark's parents and sister. They all had to evacuate since they live on the coast...and Elaine in Houston. So, we'll be on pins and needles watching Ike and waiting for Taylor. The stress and excitement alone I guess could help me go early!!! Thats all the news for now. We'll be getting everything ready this weekend and I'll be a mommy for sure on Monday!!!! I cant belive it!

2 days until my 4th Trimester

So...we are now two days until my due date and also when my fourth trimester begins. No one ever talks about going into the 4th trimester ( which I guess would not be a trimester...it would be a quad-mester or something like that)...but apparently its pretty common to go into your 40-41st week. We just got back from our dr. appt and they are trying to squeeze us in to be induced sometime between now and Sept 18th. So, we are anxiously awaiting a phone call to see when we can go to the hospital. They guestimated that she's between 7-8lbs so we're doing great on size...of course I'd rather push out a baby closer to 7lbs.....for now we are just trusting the Lord that she will come at the right time or that all the details will work out so that I can be induced on the right day with the right doctor. So....we will update as soon as we know our induction date! We should know in the next 48hrs...unless she decides to come on her own!

39 weeks...no Taylor Grace yet

Hey- just wanted to give a quick update on my Doctor's appointment yesterday. I guess I've made a tiny bit of progress in the last week. I'm now at 3 cm and still 90% effaced....BUT Taylor has dropped to zero station which means she's completely engaged and now we are just waiting for some contractions and she should be on her way. The OB seemed suprised at how low Taylor is positioned in there. They said I'm in an excellent position to go into spontaneous labor and also I'm a great candidate for a nice induction (whatever that means). We are getting a little impatient now especially since I havent had too many good contractions yet....I've had some everyday but none that have really hurt or been really uncomfortable. Its hard since no one can really tell me what I will feel during a contraction...so its hard to tell the difference between real ones and false ones. Anyway so with all that being said, I have another appointment scheduled on Wed Sept 10th and if I havent had her by then the doctor will schedule an induction.
In other news my car is in the shop. It died on Monday afternoon outside a strip mall my mom and I went to. So we are getting it fixed and then we are planning on trading it this week for something else. We think Taylor might be holding out for her new car this week. So, for now we are trying to keep busy, watching the Republican Convention and Hurricane Ike...which could potentially hit around my due date ( its a category 4 now already!) 39 weeks tomorrow ....no Taylor Grace yet but we will keep you informed on any new info!