Taylor and Shelby meet Santa!

Instead of fighting all of the mall crowds to get our screaming child with Santa picture, Daniel's family had a great plan.

Daniel's uncle knows a guy who plays Santa at the malls and he came to their home and invited all of the little kids to come.

It was amazing!

Santa and Ms. Claus came in, the kids sat on the fireplace and sang christmas songs. Each child sat on his lap and got a present from him (we provided the gifts ahead of time). Anyway, this was the best way to let Taylor experience Santa, even though she still cried! She did, however, have a great time singing songs and watching him.

Seeing Santa come in

Mr. and Mrs. Claus

Looking at Santa during the singing. (Notice she sat down at the spot furthest from Santa)

Watching other kids sitting on his lap (notice they are not crying)

Taylor (notice she IS crying)

She did go back for the present! (I am soooo close because I had to be right there to get the crying picture just before this one.)

Baby Shelby with Santa

Taylor's First Haircut!

I finally loaded the pictures from Taylor's first haircut... Before our pictures with Christy we wanted to get Taylor's hair trimmed. As many of you know Taylor's hair is, well, hard to tame. It sticks up in random places, and never seems to look brushed, even right after brushing it. I decided to take her for her first cut hoping that evening it up would help, which it has for the most part, but the hair is still hard to work with.

I wish I had gotten more pictures of the haircut, but taylor would not let me go. I had to physically hold her in the chair. Even after she calmed down when I tried to remove my hands from her she freaked out. We tried everything, Fox and the Hound was on TV, they gave her a sucker, sang, etc. She was just not a happy girl. After it was over though she immediately went into showing it off. She rubbed her hair and said "oooooo, pretty."

Family Pictures - With link and password!

Last Friday, we had family pictures taken. We were photographed by Christy Martin, one of the most talented photographers ever! She really is amazing at what she does. Coming out of the session I was thinking "there is no way she was able to get a good shot, especially a family one." Boy did she suprise me! Not only did she get a family shot, it is one of my favorite shots from the day.

When we had Taylor's pictures done, we got a canvas of her sleeping on a low pedistal. I really wanted a sleeping baby picture of Shelby to get a canvas of as well. Shelby had an entirely different agenda. She was awake the WHOLE time, despite me nursing her, warm blankets, etc. Of course, she fell asleep as soon as we were in the car to leave. Still, Christy was able to get some great shots and hopefully one will work for a canvas.

If you go to the following link you can see our Session Pictures.

http://www.christymartinphotography.com/

Go to the Website.

Click on view proofs at the bottom of the screen.

The password is nash.

Shelby's First Bath - October 27th

Of course the first bath would not be complete without a picture of Shelby crying her little heart out!

Finally, comfy and warm!

Halloween

Our little Lady Bug! The great story behind this is that Taylor had no intentions of wearing this outfit after we got it home...I assumed we had wasted the money on it and she was going to go around the neighborhood as Taylor Nash not a ladybug. However, on Saturday (Halloween) she had begged for a piece of sliced cheeses all morning and I was not giving in (that child could eat her weight in cheese). So after nap time I bribed her, that is right I told her if she put the costume on she could have some cheese and guess what? It worked!

I know the picture is dark...but she's enjoying her cheese!

Shelby was too small to be really anything except a beautiful new baby, but she did wear a cute Halloween sleeper most of the day.

Taylor's First Fish: October 11th

Sorry for the delay on getting pictures uploaded from October. The next few posts will get me all caught up!

This was the cutest thing ever!

We were at Daniel's Dad's lake and I had gone out to the store to get food for dinner and came back to find Taylor holding her first fish!

Taylor caught her first fish and would go on to catch a few more that day. Her daddy was sooooo proud, you couldn't wipe the grin off his face for days!

This was my animal lover of a daughter when we had to put the fish back in the lake. I thought it was already dead it had been out of the water for so long. She wanted to hold that yucky fish forever! She just cried her little heart out!

I was able to catch a lot of wonderful pictures of Taylor spending time with her Daddy, this was one of my favorites!

Our new addition

Can your heart actually be ripped out?

• I thought mine was going to be!

• Saturday was a rough day for little Shelby. She was not having any dirty diapers and was having shocking/vomiting episodes throughout the day. By Saturday evening she was beginning to yellow (jaundice). Daniel and I rushed to Scottish Rite to get her looked at. After getting in a room we saw numerous of nurses, all of which were trying to get an IV started since Shelby was so dehydrated. I really thought someone was squezzing my heasrt having to watch my new little baby being poked an proded for hours. after 2.5 hours and at least 13 nurses, her IV was finally started.

• The first doctor we saw contributed everything to acid reflux, which didn't surprise us too much because Taylor had the same problem, just not nearly as bad. Then she had an "episode". She began to choke, this time it was much worse than any other time before. My precious baby couldn't breath, she lost coloring, and I was for sure that something was majorly wrong. Daniel and I were alone in the room except for a nurse who couldn't speak english well enough to understand anything we were saying. Daniel went into the hall shouting for help and they did come running to help us out. A respiratory therapist came in and got her breathing again. What a relief for a heartsick mother who continued to cry my heart out for the next half hour.

• At shift change at 7AM we saw a new doctor who gave us the worst scare EVER. She said that she was fairly certain that my new bundle of joy was not put together properly. That maybe her esophogus didn't connect to her stomach and she would probably need massive surgery to correct it.

• My heart fell out of my chest, and we began to pray. Praying as hard as we have ever prayed about anything, ever.

• We were admitted and in a real room around 8AM. Shelby went through a series of tests, chest X-rays, Upper GI, etc. All the while I was not allowed to feed her (for fear of something in her GI tract being wrong), so I spent every few hours pumping to keep my milk up and coming in.

• She had her upper GI around 1:00 and thankfully everything was normal. She was put together exactly the way she was supposed to be! Which left us with the diagnosis of acid reflux, only a VERY BAD case of it for a child so young.

• They started her on zantac and kept us over night for monitoring. We came back home Monday around 3:30, with a semi-healthy baby and some very tired and emotionally drained parents.

• The first few nights back home were a little rough, but she is now doing wonderfully on her meds, sleeping well at night, eating great, having dirty diapers, and is the most precious thing in the whole world.

• What a crazy, hectic, and heartbreaking start in a brand new place for such a wonderful little girl. But we did get a reminder of how good God really is.

Shelby FINALLY Arrives

• Daniel and I checked in to the hospital at 6AM Thursday morning to be induced. I was nervous, scared, and excited all rolled into one. I knew my life was going to change so much and I kept wondering if I'd love her as much, what would she look like, etc. (and by the way, yes, I love her just as much!)

• Apparently no nurse or doctor were in a hurry to meet our little Shelby. They started the pitocin off SLOWLY.....bumping it up maybe every 30 minutes. So from 6 until about 1, we were bored out of our minds. Sometime around noon, I asked if they were considering breaking my water to get labor started. I was so ready to be in labor, to begin having contractions and to know that a baby was really on the way.

• They said that my doctor was going to come over on his lunch and break my water...YAY!!! In the meantime, Daniel went to get him some lunch and I waited patiently for the epidural, which I decided to go ahead and get before he broke my water (labor is a bit painful after that).

• The idea of not waiting until I was actually in pain to get it proved to be the best decision I have ever made!

• My doctor shows up at 1:00 (before the epidural AHHHHH) breaks my water, and I was on the phone with Daniel at like 1:08 beggin him to get back. I was already in full on labor! At 1:00 I was 5cm at 1:15 (when the epidural arrived) I was fully dialated and she was ready to come!

• My doctor, however, had gone back to his office, not thinking that I would move so quickly and I was told to NOT push. Were they KIDDDING! So from 1:20-2:00 I waited, it was the worst sort of waiting EVER!

• Doc showed up at 2ish and she was here at 2:15.

• What a blessing! Not a long labor and she was finally here.

Baby Shelby's Arrival Begins, Just not the way we thought it would.

• So I head to the doctor yesterday, hoping, wishing, and praying that I would be dialated and the doc would send me to the hospital and we'd have our new baby girl. That is how Taylor came into this world, so I just hoped for a similar story with Shelby.

• I get to the doctor and they do all the routine stuff and my blood pressure is WAY TOO HIGH! Like 170/100...Scary High. The doctor checks me, I am 4-5 cm 60% effaced. He says he's going to admit me, but run blood work before inducing me. They wanted to make sure that I did not have pre-eclampsia, which could possibly mean C-section for me.

• So, other than the extremely high blood pressure (which was scary) everything seemed to be running a very similar course to Taylor's arrival. I was very excited! Daniel meets me at the hospital, they hook me up, I have good 4-5 minute apart contractions for a good hour (then they kind of subside), they take my blood, and we waited.

• The results were great, my blood pressure had gone down to normal, I was thinking, okay, induce me then. They had other plans. Plans to make me miserable....they were going to "observe" me through the night and, possibly, induce me in the morning. Great...

• Needless to say, Daniel and I had the worst night of sleep ever, the hospital was noisy, we were in a labor and delivery room and babies were born throughout the night next door to us (which can be quite noisy), the nurses station was so close to our door I think I know every detail of many of the nurses day/night. And just so you know, the ladies working the late late shift really like their jobs....they couldn't stop cutting up and laughing....REALLY LOUDLY! =)

• 6:30 comes with a litttle less than an hour of sleep. The nurse takes my blood again, results are great. My doctor happens to be at the hospital delivering another baby and stops in to tell me that he is going to send me home....
• WHAT?!?! Are you kidding?
• No, he was definitely NOT kidding. And I'm thinking, I am 5 cm, I am having some contractions, I am already here in a delivery room, and you are sending me home? He also informs us that if I do not go into "full blown" labor on my own he has scheduled an induction on Thursday morning at 6AM.

• What difference in the world is less than 2 days going to make? I guess we'll see...
  So, here I sit at home. Just waiting for Shelby's arrival to "really" begin.

Having Fun...

Taylor had a blast with her Grandaddy... first stop was the aquarium at Bass Pro Shops on the way to play putt-putt. No pictures of golfing, it's dark and flourescent lights so nothing would show up. Last was dinner at Chili's and a fun shoulder ride in the parking lot! The joys of being a child...

I know it's blurry, but I love the excitment on Taylor's face!

Sesame Street!

So, I really wanted to take Taylor to see Sesame Street, but thought she'd hate it unless we were really close. Well, really close was definitely NOT in our budget. I had come to terms that we would not be able to go, then my mom calls and says she has great news. She entered a contest with Gwinnett Daily Post and WON front row tickets to today's show!!! I was extremely excited, as we have tried to do something with Taylor almost every weekend before Shelby comes.

Taylor had a BLAST!!!! We were right in the action and she was visited by 5 or 6 of the characters. They hugged her, patted her head, blew her kisses, etc! It was such a fun time.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Getting Ready

For the next addition to the Nash household...baby Shelby!

We just can't wait to welcome our second daughter into the world. I am due on Halloween, but am hoping she'll come sooner =) We have been preparing for her arrival for several months. Her room is almost complete, her play-yard/basssinet is set up in our room, her swing is in the living room, and Taylor still has no idea what is going on!

Going "Bye-Bye"

"Where are you going?"

"Bye-Bye"

Taylor had grabbed her purse (one of my older ones) and pulled her plane into the kitchen.

I wish we could really get on a plane and go "bye-bye"!

Visiting the GA Aquarium

Taylor had a blast looking at all of the fish!

If they would have let her get in she would have!

I really wish that the aquarium were not so crowded, it would have been much more fun. We did however have a great day with Daniel's dad and Cindy. We went through the aquarium walked around the park and had a great lunch. We can't wait to ge together again!

Walking in My Daddy's Shoes

After putting her suntan lotion on I always let it sit for about 5 minutes to let it dry good on her skin. She usually plays until we go out, today she decided to put on Daniel's shoes... I couldn't resist taking this picture.

A day on the Lake

What is a family to do when they are bored at home and Daddy has the boat already on the truck? Go to the lake! We decided to take Taylor out to Tribble Mill and spend a few hours out on the lake. She really had a good time learning to fish =) and splash off the side of the boat with her Daddy. She did have a life vest on, but it was so uncomfortable for her we let her take it off. Going under 2 miles per hour didn't cause us to worry much.

This happens to be Daddy's favorite picture from the day.

I love how focused she was on turning the reel...

Just relaxing with Daddy.