I'm back!

Soooo, Things have been super crazy!!! I have been totally loving being a mommy. Taelyn is now 6 days shy of 4 months and she is a mover and a shaker! I am completely amazed at how fast she is growing. She is the most pleasant child I have ever known. She is most definitely the kind of kid that will make you want to have a million more. At 2 months she started sleeping though the night and she sleeps anywhere from 8-10 hours! I have her on a tight schedule and when it is nite nite time, she will surely let us know!

So much has happened since my last blog. She celebrated her 1st 4th of July. I went back to work. She can sit up in her bumbo. She is in the beginning stages of teething... and the most exciting thing (I think), She was in a MOVIE!!! She got an audition for a Huggies Commercial, but didn't get it, but then the film that they took from there was given to a director and he LOVED her. The movie is called the "Warm Up Guy". It is an independent film, should be complete in August and go to the fall film festivals and if it gets picked up by a major company, it could be seen at a theater near you! She worked for 1 hour and got paid $100. She is already making more money than Mom and Dad! She was so pleasant during the shoot. When she was asked to cry, she was so smiley that they cut out the crying scene all together. The director said that not crying is a good trait for the baby to have. She played Baby BOY Cormac. He is the main character. So it is a small part, but significant. We are quite excited to add that to her resume.

On June 25th Shaelyn and Scott, (Taelyn's namesake) had their little girl Kailey Reed Cooper. I am so sure she and Taelyn are going to be BFF's, although right now I don't think they know the other even exists. Kailey is a cutie with 2 dimples... Auntie Teresa is very jealous. I always wished I had dimples!

4th of July we had our 3rd year block party and it was a success. Lots of the neighbors came out and we watched the University of Redlands fire works show from the top of our street and had fun poppers for the kids. All around great day!

So I hope to have lots of interesting stuff to write. I just took a short hiatus from blogging. I was feeling overwhelmed with being a new mommy that I would just spend hours looking at my baby. She could do absolutely nothing and I am just completely amused! I am the happiest I have ever been and it just keeps getting better!

Blow Out!

Taelyn had her first diaper blow out. It was disgusting!!! I don't know how I even managed to clean her up, but I am glad to say that it happened after her umbilical cord fell off. She was in her boppy, she was wide awake and I was just watching her. When she goes poo poo, she makes the funniest poopy face. So when I was sure she was done, I took her and attempted to change her diapy. The moment I removed her receiving blanket, I saw it. She was wearing pants and boy were those pants full. I removed her pants, and her onesie and then her diaper. I used a million wipes, and that was just to get her clean enough to carry her upstairs and get her in a bath. It was tough to say the least. She cried the whole time poor thing. I wanted to cry to. I tried to treat her clothes hoping I could salvage them. The receiving blanket and the pants suffered some minor discoloration, but the onesie was a lost cause. I was forced to send it to the trash. I survived my 1st blow out =)

Easter Sunday

We spent our Easter at Russell and Gigi's house. Lets just say it was so not our typical Easter.... There was WAY too much DRAMA for my taste. The sad thing was, we saw it coming and there was nothing we could do about it. Lets just say that there is always that "one" family member that you just don't know how you are related and just don't want them to be apart of any family function, they were there and the rose to the occasion, sadly. Through the drama, we were able to have a good time for the kids and I remembered to take a few pictures.

Taelyn doesn't usually take a pacifier, but this time she decided to hold it herself.


The guys hanging out while the kids were hunting eggs.


Allan and Maya looking for eggs.

Jay, Sierrah, Maya, Kirah, Allan and Leah showing off their findings.

Taelyn and Mommy

Mom's 60th Birthday Luau

On April 3th we had a Luau for my mom's 60th birthday. I have to say I was a bit stressed out about how it would turn out. I didn't get very many RSVP's but there were a lot of people there. Everything turned out really great. There was a lot of pressure on me because I am the one who planned the whole thing and did pretty much everything. On Friday I was at my mom's house pretty much all day so that I could get the decorating done and some of the cooking. We had it catered, but we had to cook as well. So come Saturday, all I had to do was pick up the food and the cake. It is so difficult to get ready and get out the door with a new born. I was later than I planned but we got there and things were actually running smoothly.

Mom with all of her grand children

The Hawaiian Dancers were great. Everyone enjoyed them, the food and the cake were great.

I think Leah found her calling as a performer, she loved the spotlight!

From 16 to 60 and STILL Beautiful
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

My mom was happy at the end of the day and everything went according to plan, so I was happy and she was happy, so I have to day all in all it was a SUCCESS!!!

It got told towards the end of the night


Gigi was serving up all the wine


Taelyn and Me, she was so good, she slept most of the party!

Motherhood's 1st HUGE SCARE

This week started off rough! On Monday, I had the scariest incident of my entire life!!! I was home with Taelyn by myself. Todd had softball practice with his girls. I fed Taelyn, burped her and put her down for a nap. I got up to do some house cleaning. I was in the kitchen putting dishes away and what not, when I hear a little cough, it wasn't loud and it just sounded like she was fine. Tyson came running in the kitchen and jumped on me with both paws and runs back to the living room where Taelyn was. (people who know my house, it is a good 10-15 feet away from the kitchen)

I get to Taelyn and her face was BLUE! It looked like she wasn't breathing.... I was sooo scared, probably the most scared I have ever been in my entire life. I immediately grabbed her and put her on her stomach and started hitting her on the back. She threw up more vomit and bile than I have ever seen in a little baby. Then she let out a huge scream and didn't stop crying for like a half an hour. I tried calling Todd over and over again, but he was on the softball field and couldn't feel his phone, and my mom was at work. I was crying, she was crying, I just did everything I could to calm her down. The fact that she was crying was a good sign for me. She finally calmed down as I got a hold of Todd. He came home and everything was back to normal. When I retold him the story of what happened, I was still very emotional and couldn't get the whole story out without crying. That was such a scary situation. From everyone I talked to I did the right thing, but that was just pure instincts. I guess it is true what they say about motherly instincts kicking in at the right time. I had no idea what I was doing, I just reacted. Taelyn is fine and I am fine, but man, I didn't think we would be at that moment. Thank God we survived!

Our 1st Week as Parents

Our 1st full week of being parents has definitely proven that is it TOUGH!!! I have had so many ups and downs this week. Taelyn Mylanah DiMillo was born on March 20, 2010 at 7:43 am. She was 7 pounds 8 ounces. She had a head full of hair and was absolutely perfect.

Taelyn was everything I thought she would be. She was actually bigger than I thought she would be. She was 3 weeks early, but surprisingly very big. Because she was so healthy, the doctors decided that she was well enough to go home after just one day. On Sunday, right before we were completely discharged I was visited by some old and dear friends. Serena, Pam, Raylea and Jessica. That was such a nice visit. I wish I could have caught up with them more, but that little bit of time was great.

When we got home we were welcomed by a sign made by Shae and Scott on our garage. That was so sweet to see the moment we pulled into the driveway. I was so happy to be home and I just wanted to get Taelyn in the house so she can get used to her surroundings and see Tyson and Tony. We weren't home very long before Apo, Grandpa, Bapa Russell and Auntie Gigi and the kids came to see Taelyn.The 1st day home was wonderful, yet overwhelming because my family alone can really fill a room. When they left, it was just me, Todd and Taelyn with our boys. It was the most amazing feeling. We went to bed shortly after everyone left and boy was it a rough night. Taelyn woke up probably 6 to 7 times over the course of the night. It was hard. I had her in her bassinette, and then after about the 4th time of her waking up, I just put her in the bed with us and that seemed to do the trick. She still woke up, but it wasn't as bad.

Monday we had many more visitors and it was just a nice day at home, we didn't do anything else. I was having a HARD time because I had a ridiculous pain in my neck and nothing helped. It was so horrible I was forced to seek the help of a Chiropractor. At the time, I wasn't sure what he was doing to me. It hurt, then felt better, then hurt and then felt worse. I had x-rays done to see what happened and went home. While I was at the Chiropractor I was having some serious Taelyn withdraws. I was having some separation anxiety. I was in tears because I missed her so much. I wanted to leave the doctor to get back home to my baby. I had Todd send me pictures of her to see what she was doing (sleeping) to make me feel better. Todd said I had to stay and take care of myself so that I could be well enough to take care of Taelyn. He was right, but I was having a slight breakdown.

Tuesday we had our 1st doctor's visit. We went to get blood drawn first, so that the results would be ready when we saw our doctor. Taelyn was very good for her prick, but man, it hurt my heart to see that happening to her. The doctor did NOT have good news for us. Taelyn had Jaundice and needed to go directly into NICU... here came the water works... Todd held it together since I couldn't. We drove back to the hospital that we just left and had to admit our little girl into the NICU. They immediately took off all of her clothes, put some shades over her eyes and got her in her little incubator She didn't seem to mind, but man I was a WRECK. My little baby looked so helpless. I was sad. I stayed with her until they forced me to leave. Todd ran a few arrant but was with us as soon as he finished.

Taelyn was just so calm and pleasant, she had no idea what was in store for her.

This is my MOST favorite picture of her so far. She has her little baby blood pressure cuff and heart monitor and was just ready for anything. Her face is just priceless.

My poor baby... looking at her like this made me so sad *tears*

After a long night with Taelyn in the NICU, we were told her Jaundice was better and that we could take her home!!! We received a bilirubin blanket that we needed to keep her on for the majority of the day and night. I didn't want to have to do that, but this was better than her being in the NICU. I went back to the Chiropractor and found out I had a ruptured disc. There really was nothing we could do about it but give it time to heal. I did a few treatments in the office that seemed to help. I got home as soon as I could to my little girl.

Thursday we didn't do anything at all, we didn't leave the house. Taelyn stayed with her blanket while Todd and I just hung out with each other. It was amazing. I am loving my little family.

Friday we went back to the doctor and and was told Taelyn's jaundice was better, but she still needed to keep her bili-blanket. After we left the doctor's office, we went to lunch at Sizzlers. It was Taelyn's 1st official restaurant visit, she slept the whole time. Uncle Chaz and Tita Jess came over for a visit. It makes me so happy to have people come over and see Taelyn. We had a great visit with them. They got to play with Taelyn... Chaz actually fed Taelyn. He did such a great job. We have such a good baby.



Saturday Taelyn is exactly 1 week old. Todd had opening ceremonies for the softball team he is co-coaching. He wanted me to take the baby to the field for a little while. Taelyn and I went for about 15 minutes and was over it. Taelyn and I left and went to my mom's house. Apo was so excited to see Taelyn. We visited with Apo until Todd's game was over and then we went home. We had many visitors. Stephen and Aimee came over with Allison, Genny a coworker of mine, Tylesha, Marco, Calvin, my mom, Cherry, Chanelle and Junior all came over. It was pretty overwhelming at one point because they were all here together.

After all of that, Shaelyn and Scott had the UFC fight at their house so I made some pigs in a blanket and fruit pizza for Todd to take over. I stayed home with a few of our visitors and Todd, Marco, Calvin and Russell went over. All around great Saturday. It was most definitely a VERY busy and emotional week. I am just so happy to have my little family. I am BLESSED beyond measure. I thank the Lord everyday for everything he has given me and I and just so THANKFUL.Taelyn, my little "GLOW WORM"

Taelyn's 1st smile caught on camera... also while glowing ^_^

Labor...

I have been completely slacking on my blog... things have been kinda hectic. I guess I am gonna start from where I left off. Todd and I had an awesome night together on the 18th, then on the 19th we were scheduled for induction. We were supposed to go in at 7am, but anyone who knows our doctor knows he is late, so instead of waiting and getting frustrated, Todd and I took our time to get to the hospital. Besides, I really didn't want Taelyn to be born on the 19th, (I don't like odd numbers)

Todd and I had some yummy Thai food at Le Basil. I wanted to have something good to eat because one thing I learned from our many trips to Labor and Delivery, is that once you are there, you don't get to eat until everything is over or they send you home. I was not about to go into this long journey hungry! After we ate, we went to Brookside Park near the hospital to just kinda spend some time together and video tape what a beautiful day it was, and Todd wanted to capture my waddle. He said that is something he didn't want to forget. We were calm and collected and very happy and in love with each other and VERY excited about the new adventure we were about to embark upon.

We arrived at the hospital at about 1pm. We were admitted and given a room. It was just us for most of the day. The nurses hooked me up to my IV, then gave me Pitocine to induce the labor. It was an all day thing. I wasn't worried because I didn't want to have Taelyn until after midnight. This time around, Todd brought my laptop, so I was on Facebook and playing games for the majority of the beginning of the labor.

When the contractions started getting worse and worse, the nurse finally said I could get the epidural. That was not great, once the needle was in, my blood pressure as well as Taelyn's blood pressure dropped. It was a VERY scary moment for Todd, my mom and Gigi. I honestly don't remember what happened, but I do vaguely remember Todd cussing at the anesthesiologist. When everything was better and we were stable, I asked Gigi what happened, and she was surprised that I didn't know. I guess I was being asked questions and I was answering, but I really don't remember. Todd got upset because he didn't think the doctor was moving fast enough to fix whatever was going on. (hence the cussing)

After the epidural, things were at a standstill. Things didn't start happening until about 7am, and by 7:43am, she was here. I was coached by Todd, my mom and Gigi. It was rough. The pushing was no problem it was after the pushing where I was supposed to be resting, that HURT. I had a lot of tension in my neck that hurt like nothing I ever felt before. YES I was on Facebook the entire time. I had my phone and was updating. They tried numerous amounts of time to take my phone away, but it was like my security. It helped me focus. Labor was not as bad as I thought it would be, it helped me to think that people do it all the time. There is nothing that compares to the end result. I had Taelyn Mylanh DiMillo at 7:43am on March 20, 2010.