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.

waiting on a baby

pete: waiting on this baby reminds me of something deep in my past... somewhere around 8th grade I hear the echos of Ricky Martin: "she bangs, she bangs, oh baby, she moves, she moves...".

mary: just so everybody knows, pete was talking about the baby moving inside of me. She never seems to rest and latley has been moving a lot more. It's cool that every time pete puts his hand on my bump he is able to feel the baby moving. It makes me feel like he gets to experience pregnancy with me. It feels like there is so much time left before the baby comes but I know that she will be here before I know it. People have been saying that it doesn't look like I can get any bigger but I feel like I'm not that big yet. An awesome part of this pregnancy is that I have not gotten any stretch marks yet! We'll see if this continues till the end...