American Idol at the MO State Fair

We took the girls to the Missouri State Fair on Saturday (August 18th, Bella's 2 month birthday!) where the American Idols were performing. It was INSANELY hot, but neither of the children kicked up a fuss about the heat. We started the day with funnel cake (which Taylor didn't like) and the barns. In the barn we met Santa Claus. To answer the age old question "What does Santa do for the rest of the year?"...he raises cows. Although to do business he goes by the alias Bob Barley. He let Taylor pet one of his cows and a bull. She loved it and she loved talking to him. He showed us pictures of some of the children he's met over the years. That was a great experience!

We went to the kids' barn where Taylor got to see some chicks, puppies, kittens, ducks, more cows, a horse, sheep, pigs, and (her personal favorite) a donkey. She said it was Donkey from Shrek. The sheep was pretty darn funny too. I didn't know that when a sheep said "baa" that it sticks it's tongue out as far as it will go to say it. Taylor and I laughed hysterically at the poor sheep.

We had dinner at The Poultry Foundation restaurant where I had smoked turkey drumsticks. Yum! Taylor had chicken nuggets and Jay had a chicken sandwhich. It was a crazy cheap meal for the fair and an enormous amount of food.

After we ate we went down to the Midway to let Taylor ride some rides. Our child is an adrenaline junky! She rode the carosel first and was hooked. She then road the train, the space ships, the flying puppies, the motorcycles, and the cars. She wanted to ride the ferris wheel, but for some reason it was closed.

We went to the American Idol concert in the grandstand and Taylor had a fantastic time dancing the night away. It was a GREAT concert. All of the songs were popular songs that you could sing along to and from where there are 10 of them performing the show was action packed and non-stop. Saying that, they did have an intermission to give the back up singers a break. But it was a whoppin' good show.

We were back at the Midway for Taylor to give it a second go at 11PM. We didn't get home until 2AM and both girls were sound asleep. In fact, the whole family slept in until 10AM that morning. We had such a fantastic day! This is what being a parent is all about...making these so very special memories.

They're two wild and crazy girls!!!

This is my first week without someone here at the house to help me since Bella was born. It has been WILD! For the most part things have gone decently smooth...all things considered. Taylor has been a little mischevious, but I was expecting that. Let me give you a rundown of all of the trouble she's gotten into lately:

1) She threw a small flashlight and hit Bella in the head, but she was devastated when Bella started to cry.
2) She covered one of the dogs in Little Mermaid stickers.
3) She sits on Bella in her swing to try to swing with her.
4) She pushes Bella in the swing and gets it going as high as it possibly can go.
5) She shakes the bassinette as hard as she can when Bella is in it.

We've been trying to make a point to do some special things with her to show her that Bella is an addition to the family, not someone who is taking time and attention from her. We went to the spray park yesterday and Taylor had a wonderful time playing with the kids there...although she tried her best not to get wet despite the fact that it was 90 degrees outside. I've also set up a playdate at my house next Thursday so her friends can come over to play. We took her on a walk and got her an ice cream cone at the McDonald's at the end of the road. I think she is having fun. She REALLY wants Bella to be big enough to play with her. That will happen all too soon.

Jay and I had a WONDERFUL 6 year anniversary on July 21st. Bill & Lynn sent us out on the town and bought us dinner at an absolutely stunning restaurant in the plaza called Plaza III. I had an awesome cut of prime rib and an incredibly scrumptious chocolate soufle. We also had a wonderful glass of Vouvray to compliment our meal. Jay bought me the new Harry Potter book as my gift and I bought him a shaved dog...explanation to follow:

The dogs stink. Simple enough. So Jay took them out onto the back porch to wash them down with the hose, but the hose was attached to the power washer. So Jay just ran the water through the nozzle (no the power washer wasn't on) to bath them. Well apparently Pippa has really sensitive skin and it completely tore up her back. The vet shaved her and put her on pain medication, antibiotics, and a lotion twice a day to clear it up. Pippa now has a reverse mohawk. Not a good look for her.

I got my hair cut at Salon Bellissima here in Liberty and I love what Cassie did with it! I also got blonde highlights and that helped lighten my hair up. Jay didn't like the fact that I got so much of it cut off, but if he wouldn't hate it I would've had her do something more dramatic. I just don't have time to fix my hair in the mornings!!!

Well, that's life in a nutshell for me. Tune in later to hear more about the wild adventures in the O'Brien household!

Isabella Inez O'Brien's Birth Story

It was Father's Day and we were attending the early morning service at Desperation Church when I was so uncomfortable we had to leave the service early. I called my OB/Gyn and she told me to go on in to the hospital to get the baby checked out and to see if I was having back to back contractions. When we arrived at the hospital I was having what they call "irritating contractions" that produced no change in the cervix. They figured out that what was causing the contractions was my right kidney acting up again. They hooked me up to an IV and monitored me overnight when my kidney started bleeding. The doctor came in early that morning and told me that she was going to induce labor to prevent any damage to my kidney.

Dr. Joy Saunders broke my water at 8:30AM on Monday morning June 18th. That was an interesting experience. Rather than a nice little trickle it was sort of like a fire hydrant that has had its cap removed. After my water was broken I started having contractions every 7 minutes. They started a pitocin drip and my contractions started coming every two minutes. I'm a WUSS so I had my epidural at noon. It was an AWESOME epidural. I felt nothing but some pressure as her head began to descend. We started pushing at 2:20PM and at 2:30PM the nurse told me to stop pushing and just let the contractions do the work. The doctor arrived at 2:40PM and I had about two more pushes before she allowed me to deliver Bella myself at 2:45PM.

Bella was born "grunting" which is a sign of respiratory distress...not to mention that she came out looking like a smurf. They found a spot on her lungs that they said could be pneumonia. We all began praying and thanks to the Lord's mercy the spot was gone the next day. She then jaundiced and we spent the next couple of days watching her sunbathe in the NICU. We got to bring her home on Friday June 22nd.

Awaiting the arrival of Bella

We have had a little scare with preterm labor a few weeks ago so my mom, aunt Frances, and father-in-law Bill have flown in to await the arrival of Bella a little earlier than previously planned. It has been hugely helpful to have some help during this time that I am supposed to "rest" to help keep the contractions at bay. Everyone has been here for a week and I think that they are exhausted from all of the unpacking, cleaning, and settling in that they've been doing. By the time the baby gets here we'll ALL be suffering from exhaustion!

Taylor is having a FANTASTIC time having all of these new playmates here staying in her new house. She likes to take Papa outside to play in the back yard. She likes to take Nanni out to play with bubbles. She likes to harass Maw Maw for food. She'll be so sad when everyone leaves, but maybe she'll be so entralled with Bella that the transition won't be that bad.

Y'all be praying for us as we await Bella's arrival. Please pray for a quick, safe, and as pain-free as possible delivery.

Taylor's 1st Night in a Big Girl Bed

We finally got bed rails for Taylor's big girl bed and have baby proofed the room so tonight is the first night for Taylor in her big girl bed. I'm a little concerned. We went to Target and WalMart looking for bedrails that go all the way down the side of the bed, but we could only find ones that went halfway down. Needless to say I'm a little worried about her falling out at the bottom of the bed. Jay had to inform me that he always fell out of the bed at the bottom. I have never heard of such a thing...but apparently that happens.

Right now I am watching Grey's Anatomy (DVR) and listening to Taylor babble on the monitor. She's clearly not unhappy with being in her new bed and I don't hear her jumping either. All good signs!!!

Jay's become the grass Nazi even though we've only been in this house for 2 weeks. He is currently oustide trying to jump the battery on his riding lawn mower with is truck. I somehow think that this is some really horrible scenerio that you see in sitcoms not in real life. I'm going to go outside and make sure that he is still breathing.

Spiderman 3

We have long anticipated the coming of Spiderman 3 and today it has finally arrived! Jay and I were blessed to be able to go see the movie today at lunch. Marian came by the house to watch Taylor while Jay and I ran off to the movies. Jay was disappointed by the movie because he is a comic book freak. I thought it was pretty darn good. Venom was pretty awesome. Jay didn't like the sandman much at all. He said that the character was unbelievable and inconsistent. I guess I don't go to movies to analyze them, I go to have fun and be entertained. All in all, I thought it was a winner.

Babies and baby snakes...

We had our 3D ultrasound last week and Bella is so beautiful! She looks very much like Taylor did as a newborn. She has a full head of hair, a cute little pug nose, very full lips, and chunky little cheeks! We got to watch her smile, stick out her tongue, drink, and play with her hands and feet. She keeps her hands and her feet up by her head. It looks reallly uncomfortable. At my OB appointment this week the nurse told me that I'm measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule. We'll see whether or not that prods Bella to make her appearance at the end of June.

Speaking of babies...I saw my first little Missouri snake today. It gave me the heebie jeebies. It was only like 8 inches long and it was really skinny and light brown. I looked it up online and it looks like it is a harmless earth snake that eats worms. Still yet...yuk!!! I was so freaked out by the snake that I just about locked myself out of my house with my two dogs and Taylor still inside the house. That would've stunk!