Trick or Treat!

We hope that everyone had a fun and safe Halloween. Taylor, Chris, and I enjoyed our first family Halloween together. Taylor made it outside for about an hour before getting fussy and needing to go inside. Next year we will go walking around our street with Taylor to collect some treats. Our neighborhood is quite the bustling place for Trick or Treaters. Our 4 jumbo bags of candy didn't last much longer than Taylor did. We are thankful that Halloween is behind us because it means that we will see Chris home more often. Now it is time to start thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas though! Eeek! Where did the time go?!? It was August just a few days ago right?

Mommy's Cute Little Lamb

Taylor snuggling with Daddy outside

Enjoying an evening at home

2 Month Check Up!

Taylor had her two month check up yesterday.....which meant some vaccinations. She took the shots like a champ and has had little to no reactions other than being a bit fussier than normal last night and tonight. But she still slept through the night last night and I'm hopeful that she does the same tonight. The doctor is very pleased with her progress. She is now 10 1/2 pounds which is 40-50% for her age and is 24 inches long which is the 90%! She is tall, which is funny because both Chris and I are short. Taylor chatted away with Dr. L and told her all kinds of funny stories. I say they were funny because she laughed and smiled the entire time. Dr. L was very impressed with her alertness and conversation skills (she gets that from me....I love to talk) and told us that she has some functioning that is closer to that of a 4 month old. Go Taylor! Our next well appointment is at 4 months so right before Christmas we will get more shots. And as much as I was looking forward to going back to work, I'm counting down the days to Thanksgiving and Christmas so I get some time at home with Taylor.

Almost Halloween

Halloween is always a busy time in the Trudden household. We celebrated our 2nd year of marriage on the 18th. Chris works long hours at his job, Halloween is like their Christmas, and it's almost the end of the first quarter for me! My co-teacher Natalie got Taylor the Tomie dePaola book, My First Halloween. Taylor really liked all the colors and images on the pages. She liked them so much she leaned in for a taste! Chris and his family got her some Halloween wear so she has been wearing them! We can't wait until next week when we get her Halloween costume and dress her up! =) I used some of my free time to make a small Halloween treat for a few special people!

All in all things are busy around here but good. =)

Taylor with her Halloween Book!

Daddy is definitely under my spell!

Tummy Time!

Hanging Out with Daddy!

Flowers from Chris for our anniversary! =)

My Halloween Craftiness!
The tin and candy corn I got from Target.
The Post-it note holder I made. =)
Click here for the video on how to make the post-it note holder.

New Toys for Taylor

Recently Taylor has been more interested in toys and mobiles so when Grandma Trudden was visiting last weekend she bought Taylor a mobile for her crib. At daycare Ms. Karyn said she loves the exercise mat and I had been meaning to buy one for some time now so we got one yesterday at the new Babies R Us in Columbia. Here are some pictures of the fun she has been having with both!

Looking at all the cool toys!

Having fun!

Played so hard she fell asleep!
Now this is a toy Mommy is going to like!

Watching my bunnies while I lay in my crib!

Happy 2 Month Birthday!

2 Month Photograph

Well it's been 2 months since Taylor was born. Time has certainly continued to fly! Taylor is continuing to grow and we are settling into a more permanent routine. This past Monday marked my return to work and Taylor starting day care. It was hard to drop her off that first morning, but I was proud of myself that I only cried one time in the car as I was driving away. I fought the urge to call and check in during the day because I knew if she was crying in the background I would lose it. =) Every afternoon I was met by a content baby who smiled and talked away to me before we left to go home. Ms. Karyn says she has been being a good girl. It appears she is a people watcher! I think she is more content there because she can watch all the other kids (boys mind you) run around. One of the boys even remarked the other day that she was just like a princess. =)

Things have been going well being back at work too! Clarksville ES is a great school and everyone has been very welcoming! I was able to get back into the groove of things this past week and next week I'm going to jump back into it a bit more. My new teaching partner Natalie has been AWESOME as well! I have a feeling it's going to be a great year!

This weekend has been one for celebration! Taylor was 2 months old on Friday and Chris and I will be celebrating our 2 year anniversary on Monday! =) Next up is Taylor's Christening and then Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Here are some of my favorite photos from the last few weeks!

Visiting with Grandma Trudden

Cuddling up with Daddy!

Big Smiles!

She was laughing away in this photo! Too Cute!

Fall is Here!

Today was a beautiful day so we started a family tradition of pumpkin picking! Chris, Taylor and I had a great time! It was a beautiful fall day! Taylor slept most of the time in the Bjorn. I think the day tuckered her out because she was fast asleep for the evening at 9 which is about an hour earlier than usual. All in all a very memorable 10/10/10 =) I couldn't think of a better way to spend my last day of maternity leave than with my little family!



All tired out from our day!

7 Weeks - Where has the time gone?

1 Month Photograph

Wow! Seems like everytime I sit down to write a post something comes up and I have to postpone. I have postponing a lot in the last 7 weeks, but with work looming in just one short week, I need to stop making excuses and get stuff done!

So how is little Ms. Taylor been doing?

Looking back over the last 7 weeks I wonder where the time has gone! It feels like it flew by in a whirl of excitement, exhaustion, joy, and stress.

The first few weeks were very rough as I was recovering from a C-Section and was not very mobile. We also had some concerns about Taylor's lack of weight gain. Turns out she wasn't getting enough milk from me. So she was very fussy every evening due to hunger and I simply couldn't satisfy her without feeding her all night long. After trying to be patient and let her work through it, and thinking we might be on the verge of colic, I called the Dr and went in to see the pediatrician. When they weighed her she had only gained 4 oz in 3 weeks. She should have gained 1/2 an oz to an oz a day. We also had an ultrasound done and learned that she has a spasm/thickening of a muscle in her stomach that causes her to spit up and restricts food from reaching her tummy. So we now have her on a special diet. We have stopped breastfeeding and now I pump, which is getting old really quickly, and she gets a special bottle of formula mixed with rice cereal. I still don't produce enough milk to keep up with the amount of oz she needs at every feeding so for now we are using formula.

Now she is a happy and content little baby. She has her moments when she is fussy and cranky but overall she is much more content than she was.

Looking at Daddy instead of the camera.

Little fuzzy but she looked too darn cute!

Chris and I have been settling into life as parents. We have been able to go out and run errands and do things around the house by taking turns spending time with her. I've started working at the gym again on Saturday's so Taylor has been enjoying time with her Nana while I'm at work. Grandma Trudden is going to be visiting this coming weekend so she will be a spoiled little girl, I'm sure.

I return to work on Monday the 11th and Taylor will be going to daycare. I'm hoping that she will enjoy her time there. I can't wait to go back to work but worry that it might be harder than I think to leave her with the daycare provider the first day. It's going to be quite the adjustment for both of us I fear.

I'll try to be better about posting more about what we have been up to here in the Trudden household.

I made a video for my students with some photos of the last 7 weeks so I thought I would post that up here. Enjoy! =)




I was also playing around with Animoto, one of my favorite websites so you can enjoy that video as well. It has many of the same photos but is a little more unique. =)

Taylor's First 5 Weeks