First Halloween

For Ally's first Halloween we went to our church's Sugar Rush. It was a ton of fun. For the majority of the night we ran some games. We were in charge of bowling and the game where you have to knock over the cans with a bean bag. We tried bowling with Ally but she didn't slide down the board to well. She was good at knocking over the cans but it became a little old always having to pick up the cans.

Ally and I were originally going to dress up as Angela (Me) and a cat (Ally). This is funny if you watch The Office. We changed our minds because it would have taken planning and we didn't know if Pete should be Andy or Dwight. Either one would not have been up to date with the show but it would have been really fun. So we figured out a better threesome to be: an inappropriately dressed foreign soccer player, a referee, and a soccer ball. The best part of our costumes was that everyone figured out who we were without heaving to explain it.

Unfortunantly I was the only one who took pictures with our camera so I was not in any. But there was a photo booth where Ally and I were the test subjects to make sure the lighting was correct. There were many pictures taken and of course this is the one that came out but it is the only one that I have of my outfit.

summer: exit stage left

Well summer is over. Not to say that it went quick. In fact it went quite slow and I loved every second of it. It was great getting to hang out with Ally. She is getting so big and is crawling everywhere. She is smiling and laughing more as well. My favorite thing that she is doing right now is resting her head on my chest for like two seconds (she is not a cuddler at all). I thought it would be hard to go back to work but on the first day back, when I returned home Ally gave me a big smile and crawled right for me. I loved it! She makes it worth leaving just so I can return home again. If you can believe it I am not going to post a picture. But don't worry I will again soon..... All right I have to, it just doesn't feel right otherwise.

Wiffle Ball

My husband has become a huge wiffle ball guy. It started out as a little hobby where he would go outside and make a wiffle ball dance like crazy. Then he searched on the internet one day to find if their was a legal strike zone designed for wiffle ball and a whole world opened up for him. There are official rules including double plays, there is no base running, and there are even tournaments that lead up to a world series. Then we met this guy named Richard and we call him the wiff master. Richard came out to Corona and led practicies and encouraged Petey to get into the tournaments. Petey was finally able to play in a tournament a weekend ago. His team consisted of Jay Hobbs and Steve Taynton. The first game of their careers they were annihilated which was very fitting. I think it brought them down to earth. I do have to admit that the tournament was a lot of fun and the most bizarre part of the whole tournament is that I ran into a girl that I used to play club soccer with.

To my faithful followers

Sorry I have not posted in a long time. I always feel like blogging takes so much time but it doesn't. Don't worry, I am now on summer vacation so there should be many posts to come. This one we will spend time catching up with Ally. She is 5 1/2 months and is almost crawling. She has been at this stage for a while. She can go from her hands and knees to sitting. She is laughing, "talking", and chewing on anything she gets her hands on.

2 Months on top of Mt Roubidoux

3 Months on top of Mt Roubidoux

4 Months at the Grandparents house

Ally's First Photo Shoot

On February 14th we had Ally's pictures taken by my teacher friend, Laura, at her house where she has her studio. It was quite an experience. I can remember going to get my picture taken at Olen Mills when my sisters and I were still young and cute, but then we grew up and stopped going. I didn't know what clothes to bring so I pretty much brought all of her girly clothes and then I threw in my favorite things to put her in. My favorite picture is the one where she only has a beanie on. I love that beanie even though it's pink and I HATE pink. Having a little girl only makes me hate it more. Ally did very well at the photo shoot. She would start to cry so I would try giving her a pacifier and she actually took it! Since the photo shoot I can count on one hand how many times she has taken the pacifier again. Oh well, I kinda like the fact that she doesn't like pacifiers. Now I will show you the pictures from the shoot.

In this picture she looks a lot like my little sister Jane.

She is so cute in this outfit but I also wanted to post one of her crying.

We use that bathrobe all the time.

I think she already knows sign language.

This is my favorite picture.

Can you find her toe jam?

my new hair did

shortly after giving birth i looked in the mirror and was ready for a new do. as i sat in front of kitty (my hairdresser) and she asked the question "do you want bangs", instead of answering with the usual no, i stated boldly "i don't know what do you think?" when it got down to it we agreed upon shorter bangs that can't be tucked behind my ear. and thus i walked out of the hair place with something that i have never had before: bangs! my new bangs and i hit it off really well. for the first time in my life i spend more than 2 minutes doing my hair after i take a shower. some pictures of my new hair do:

i know it makes me look like a 12 year old and at one of the middle schools that i teach at i was mistaken as a student, but that's okay because i love my new hair do.

Ally Adele Taynton

It all started on January 6th at 9:40 am... at least that was the time of my doctor’s appointment. I didn’t think I was going to make it to that appointment because I was due January 1st and never expected to still be pregnant six days later. As with all previous appointments, this one started with a urine dip. I should have known something was up because the nurse had to look at the bottle to compare the color in order to rate it. I was ushered into the exam room, or whatever it's called, to wait for the doctor. As the minutes passed I was becoming more and more anxious. She finally came in and checked the baby's heart beat, measured my tummy, and asked if I had been feeling any contractions or anything. I had yet to feel anything close to a cramp let alone a contraction. She then let me know that I had a really high amount of protein in my urine and because I was already overdue she was going to send me to do some blood work then I was to check myself into Labor and Delivery.

As I walked to get the blood tests done I called Petey who was at work an hour away and told him what was up. As I walked to the Labor and Delivery I called my mom and she was by my side in less than 20 minutes. It took Petey closer to 50 minutes to get to my side. The doctor decided to induce me at noon and due to the baby's heartbeat dropping; I had to stay lying on my side. Petey, my mom, and I passed the time by watching the office episodes on DVD.

The real fun didn't start until midnight when the doctor broke my water. The following three hours were the first taste of labor that I had felt. Ouch. I then received my long overdue epidural. Although the pain didn’t disappear completely, I felt a whole lot better. At 5:00 am the nurse checked me and I was at 6 cm dilated. She came back 15 minutes later and checked again and I was at 9 cm dilated. I tried to catch some sleep but instead I watched my husband and my mom sleep. At 6:00am the nurse came back in and said “alright, it’s time for you to push”… so I did. Then on January 7th at 7:17am Ally Adele emerged into the world weighing 7 lbs 4 oz, measuring 20 inches long, and a full head of hair on a huge cone head.

I can’t believe I survived. My husband and my mom were what got me through. I can’t imagine how hard it would have been without them supporting me the whole way through.