Taylor's Two!

I know it is cliche, but holy crap!  I have a two year old daughter?  It seems like just yesterday we were spending every night holding her hand at UAB while she was clinging to life.  Today, she's living it up.

We made the decision to go to Chuck E. Cheese for her second birthday party.  It was 3 hours of pure madness, but Taylor and her friends had fun and that's what mattered.  Below are a few pictures from the party.  Enjoy!


The cakes:

 This pizza was in various bellies 5 minutes after this shot.

Becca was pretty excited.

Mommy helping Taylor blow out her candles.

Taylor was really liking Chuck E Cheese.

Trust me, she really did like him.  You can't tell from this photo though.

Sweet birthday girl!

Opening presents.

Caden scaring the rest of the children.

She doesn't hide emotion well.

Look at the play kitchen Mommy and Daddy got Taylor!

Welcome Avery!

Yesterday, the Laney family welcomed a new addition, Avery Grace!

Date: 8/26/2011
Time: 5:13 PM
Weight: 6 lbs, 7 oz
Length: 20"
Status: Beautiful!

Thursday night, August 25, 2011, Rebecca and I came into the hospital at 11 PM so Dr. Short could induce labor.  Although Rebecca had a considerably better pregnancy than last time, the midnight throwing up and extra frontal baggage were getting too much to handle.  She actually started contracting before we came into the hospital.  The "thinning" medication did its job and her water was broken at 8:15 AM.  The contractions came hard and fast and Rebecca did a wonderful job of pushing through them, but it finally came time to have an epidural.  It worked amazingly for about an hour and then. . . pain, EXTREME pain.  The contractions kept coming harder and faster than the pain continued worsening.  Dr. Hall did her epidural again and this time kicked up the dose.  It did the trick!  After almost 9 hours of active labor, Avery came at 5:13 PM with only 2 1/2 pushes.  Dr. Short told Rebecca to hold off on pushing for a second while Dr. Short tied a bow in Avery's hair.  It was a sweet gesture, but the bow came up quickly. Here is that baby, mad at the poking and prodding, shortly after birth.

Taylor has been a great big sister so far.   I dont' think she fully realizes that Avery will be coming home with us, but she does already love her.  She has kissed her several times and we have let her hold Avery (with a little help).

Girls, I just know you are going to be great friends!

Taylor Turns One!

I have been a serious slacker updating Taylor's blog as of late.  Today, I'll update on her birthday party and Halloween.  Rebecca actually posted on her birthday party so I will let her do the rest of the talking (note you can follow her blog here).

My daughter turned ONE!! My two pound ten ounce bag of bones that I have blogged about so many times before, is ONE YEAR OLD?! Someone please tell me where in the world the time has gone? I've been taking it a little harder than I thought I would. I've shed LOTS and LOTS of tears. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that she is growing up healthy and happy. I'm thankful that she started out so small with the odds stacked against her, yet she is and always has been healthy as a horse. I'm just sad that it seems to be happening at warp speed. I had such a horrible pregnancy and if you know me or follow Slide Rule then you can understand. I fear that I may never get another child and I'm trying my best to hold on to every second of baby Taylor has left. She loves me right now and I am her whole world. I'm certain the day is coming when she won't want to snuggle with me so much and I won't seem as cool to her. That breaks my heart. However, this weekend we celebrated Taylor's first birthday. We had a small party at our house with just family and one set of friends, who might as well be family! We had a blast. Taylor absolutely adores playing with other kids and so Sunday, she was in heaven! She wasn't exactly excited about playing in the cake...she's a girly girl and playing with our food is obviously for boys! Right?! She got lots and lots of sweet presents and the help opening them was endless. Thank you to everyone for coming and partying with us! Below are some pictures from the festivities!