I became Queen Bee

look at that head of hair!

First Family Picture

Elliott and Mom

Me in Labor

Elliott was born at 36 weeks and 4 days on May 28, 2009 at 5:22 p.m. He weighed 6.4 pounds and was 19 1/2 inches long.

At around midnight I woke up to what I though was me wetting the bed. I went to the bathroom and noticed it was clear and when I tried to stand up it wouldn't stop. I quickly went downstairs to Taylor who was playing video games and told him I though my water broke. Taylor jumped into action gathering the essentials: the laptop, movies, phone chargers....While I grabbed our day pack and we headed off the the hospital.

The nurses put me in a room to test the liquid to make sure it was my membrane, it was... we were going to have a baby! Soon they had us in the labor and delivery room. Taylor and I waited for a few hours to see if I would start contractions, around 7 a.m. the doctor said I was and so they would wait to see how far I could go. Around 11 a.m. I was tired and my contractions were not becoming stronger or more consistent. So I requested some petocin. A few hours after the petocin I was having stronger contractions and was dilated to a 4. At this point I was tired and decided to have an epideral. This was the best decision I had made all day! After the epideral I was able to get a few hours of rest, where I dreamed of all the good food I would eat when I was done. Around 5 p.m. the doctor checked to see how far I was dilated... it was a 1o! He said "let's have a baby!"

At first it was hard for me to push because I couldn't tell when the contractions were, but as they got stronger I could feel the pressure and was able to get really into the pushing action. Within 20 minutes Elliott has arrived. Taylor was totally fascinated by the whole process and active in his birth, helping me count and encouraging me during the pushing... he even cut the cord. Elliott came out crying and they put him right on my chest. Because he was born a few days before "officially" being full-term they did test on him and brought in a specialist to make sure his lungs were all good.

Elliott is perfect and doing well, he took to breast-feeding right away and is working on his strength to keep it up. He also receives bottle feeding to help him gain weight. He likes being wrapped up like a burrito and loves to hear mom and dads voice. Wish you all could be here to meet him, as I know he will grow up too fast!

As my title states: I became a queen bee yesterday and it feels amazing.

Online Window Shopping

Sorry Anthropologie, you know I love you but I'm going to have to pass on the hammer pants...

And what is there really to say about this number.....

But I do like :

Taylor's Band Released a New Album!

I'm proud of Taylor for continuing his music when we moved to Denver. He did not give up after playing with various people for months and he finally found a group of guys he clicked with and formed Black Sleep of Kali. They just finished their first album and I'm excited for him. He worked really hard on it, flying back to Salt Lake City several times to finish the vocals, guitar and mastering. I enjoy his band on a personal and musical level. Even though we have a baby due next month I know this will not stop Taylor from rocking, nor would I want him to. I think it is incredibly important for children to see their parents pursuing dreams, hobbies and just basically having a life outside of the family. Hoju will have many chances to see his dad do what he does best.. ROCK.

If you are interested you can listen to their music here: http://www.myspace.com/blacksleepofkali

Nesting is for the birds...

I imagine all the things I can accomplish now that I'm out of school and the only one I seem to do is....

I'm starting to get contractions this week, which has made sleep even more uncomfortable. Not to mention......

My feet feel and look like:

Hoju is aspiring to become this:

and I have the energy of a:

resulting in me only having enough energy to work for about 6 hours a day (I'm useless for the last 2 hours). I just want to go home, build a pillow nest in my bed, and half-watch T.V. shows on my computer. Oh, and don't forget back rubs from Taylor!

Starting on the Nursery!

We have finally started working on the nursery. Tay and I put together the crib on sunday and I'm now working on the details of the room. I think my paintings turned out cute for the room and the toy box my dad made looks great. Also I love the orange blanket my mom made, it's the perfect color! The pets are loving the shag rug and I find Pippen sleeping in there every morning.

More pictures to come...........

Work Baby Shower

Carrie and Melissa planned a cute shower for me at work. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment...

Thanks to all the ladies at work for the baby shower!

Basement construction

Tay and our friend Nick have been working hard these past weeks trying to get the spare room ready in the basement so I can get the nursery started! I can't thank Nick enough for helping us out! *For those of you who don't know Tay and I don't sleep together due to his violent night terrors* So we've been waiting to do the nursery until Tay has somewhere to put his bed. Here are some Pic of the progress of the spare room. We should have most of it finished by next week!

Happy Mother's Day

To all the moms out there, especially my mothers. I'm so glad I have two great mothers who are always there for me and will be coming to help me out when Hoju is born next month. I must admit I'm getting nervous about not having anyone there but Taylor and myself. I've missed out on having a female mentor me through this pregnancy and it has been taxing at times. I also get nervous about not having anyone around after the baby is born and doing things on my own by trial and error. These are the times I wish I had family support close by.

Anyway, back to Mother's Day....Tay surprised me last night with a little gift and a cute card for Mother's Day. He said I was close enough and he wanted to recognize all the hard work I've put in this year. What a great man!

Here is a picture of me at 33 weeks!