Pumpkin Patch...

We took a trip to the Pumpkin Patch today. Eliza led Daddy through the straw maze.
Watched the piggy eat corn.

Crawled through the tunnel that was in the middle of the hay bale pyramid.

Looked at the "exotic animals." They had a zebra and a kangaroo!

Picked a pumpkin just her size.

And tried to hold it long enough for Daddy to take a picture!

We really enjoyed the fall weather and seeing all the pumpkins!

Our family outing was a success...

...everyone had a good time...

...even Talia!

Can we please not come back here for awhile?

I'm doing what I hate the most...a post without a picture. However, I would not have wanted a picture to go along with this post anyway. I've decided that I need to record this for my own records so read on at your discretion...

Three weeks after Talia was born I started having really bad abdominal pains. It started off like a regular stomach ache but kept getting worse. I tried to make dinner, nurse Talia, and do some other things but finally gave in to the pain and called Darran asking him to try to hurry things up at work so he could come home and prevent dinner from burning. He made it home and I ate dinner amidst sharp pains. As the night went on it got so bad that I tried to lay down in bed for awhile. Unfortunately, that's when the vomiting and fever started. That got worse and the pain got worse. I couldn't be in any position but a fetal one. I asked Darran to give me a blessing so he called dad who came right over to help. A little while later, and after calling Sis. Ransom to get some nurse advise, we decided to go to the ER. I have never had to go to the ER so that was a new experience for me. Mom came over and she and dad took care of the girls through the night.

Through the long process of going to the ER they finally ruled out that I did not have appendicitis. They had hooked me up to an IV, gave me lots of Tylenol and pain medication, but couldn't figure out what was causing the pain. My fever when we were there at one point was 104! But my fever went down, I wasn't nauseous, and the pain had subsided some. So they sent us home...at 4:00am. They told us to try and see our doctor that morning and if we couldn't to come back to the ER.

We relieved mom and dad and tried to get a few hours of sleep. But I woke up again to excruciating pain and more vomiting. Mom was wonderful and took the girls for a couple of hours so we could get a bit more sleep until my appointment with our family physician at 11:30 that morning. I was in so much pain that I couldn't stand up straight. Poor Darran had to walk beside me trying to support my bent over body. My doctor couldn't figure out what was going on. He and the nurse practitioner decided to call my obgyn. He was not working that day but told them to send me over to see his partner. So we left doctor #2 and headed to see doctor #3...hoping to get some answers!

When we got there they did an ultrasound and the doctor came into the room after seeing the pictures and said he knew exactly what the problem was. I still had a piece of the placenta in me from giving birth. This was happening three weeks after Talia was born. The timing was kind of strange...usually it would manifest itself much sooner. So the doctor said let's take care of this now. So a couple of hours later we were in the hospital again...only in surgery this time. They needed to perform a D&C to get it out. So they put me under and I woke up in a whole lot less pain! It was amazing! They kept me overnight because I had developed an infection on top of all that. But it was nice to be pumped full of antibiotics and get it taken care of.

The hardest part emotionally was not being able to nurse Talia. But when all the medication was out of my system and we could get back to normal she didn't skip a beat...what a blessing. And the biggest blessing throughout the whole ordeal was Darran. He is such a loving, caring, supportive, and worrisome husband...and I love him for all those things. He was by my side the whole time and really was my biggest comfort. And of course I can't forget the blessing of having my parents and parents-in-law to jump in and help at any moment. What a relief to my heart and mind that my girls were in good hands and I could focus on getting myself better.

When we left the hospital the next afternoon we were talking about being there when Talia was born and then again three weeks later. Darran looked around the room and said, "Can we please not come back here for awhile?" I wholeheartedly agreed!

Talia's blessing...

Darran blessed Talia on Sunday, October 10th...or 10-10-10! She was so sweet in her little white dress...I love her feet in this picture. She looks ready to dance!
Eliza, Talia, and mommy ready for church.
Our sweet family! It was an eventful day and we were blessed to have so much family join us. Eliza was in heaven spending church and the afternoon with her cousins! Darran gave Talia a wonderful blessing. Joining him were Grandpa, Papa, Great Grandpa Hague, Uncle Chris, Uncle Dean, and our good friend Toby. After church we all headed to our house for some food and visiting.

Our happy family...Grandpa and Grandma, us, and Nana and Papa.

Four generations...Great Grandma Hague, Grandma Hague, Mama Moody (as Eliza likes to call me sometimes) and our sweet girls.

Us with Grandparents and Great Grandparents!

Say what? More pictures?

Just because...

The bunny slippers are too cute not to have a picture of! Eliza loves a good "smoodie!"
While Costco's smoothies rank up towards the top she really prefers daddy's smoothies!

Summer just about gone...

With fall upon us we've been trying to soak up the last warm days outside. Eliza loves a good picnic...
...and time on her swings. We'll miss you summer!

One last time...

I couldn't resist a couple more lawn mowing pictures at the end of the season. This girl LOVES helping her daddy!
Is it possible to be that stylish and cute when you're mowing the lawn? (Aunt Elayna...check out the shoes!)

Sometimes it's just easier to mow the cement!

Our girls...

Two peas in a pod!

Talia's story...

On Monday, September 13th, Darran accompanied me to my hopefully last doctor's visit. It did end up being my last (as a pregnant woman) since our doctor wanted to send us to the hospital as soon as we were done. I had a moment of panic...I'm completely ready but when the reality hits there seems to be hesitation. We told our doctor we wanted to at least go home and get our things, have something to eat, and tell our sweet Eliza what we were doing. So about 2 hours later we headed to the hospital. On the way I started to have little contractions. By the time a nurse got me all hooked up in the exam room the contractions became more consistent. The nurse wasn't convinced we would be staying but after about a half an hour she came back and said she was going to admit us. By then contractions were coming every couple of minutes.
So we moved into our room, had the epidural around 8:00pm, and Talia Brooke was born a couple hours later at 11:20pm.

She weighed 7 lbs. 2 ounces and was 19.25 inches long. She made more noise than Eliza did when she was born but we've since learned that she does NOT like being naked so she was apparently just making that known from the first moment!

Proud Grandmas! They were such a great help and what a wonderful blessing to have both of them with us!

Proud and happy parents...we're officially a family of four! Crazy!

Daddy and baby Talia.

Sweet sister Eliza...giving kisses to baby sister.

And reading her books.

I love when they wear beanies! Such a sweet baby!

Talia's outfit for her first picture.

So snugly! Welcome to the family Talia! We love you so much!

Sweet moments...

Just some random pictures of these sweet girls we call our daughters! Eliza just adores Talia. She would hold her and love her every moment if mom would let her!
I'm still almost daily amazed at how our little girl has become our big girl...and now we have another little girl! Time goes so fast!

Daddy trying to get a picture of Talia posing...soon enough Daddy, soon enough!

We love these little chicken legs! And they are constantly moving!

My favorite thing about changing Talia's diaper is Eliza always wants to keep her entertained by reading her a book. (I swear I did not teach her to hold the book like that...though the teacher in me is very proud!)

Eliza sang I am a Child of God to Talia when we were still in the hospital. It's one of her favorite songs so she was more than willing to share it with Talia!

Bath Time!

We love bath time!

Talia seems to enjoy having her hair washed and listening to the water...

but she isn't a fan of having to get undressed and be cold. And that's been evident from day 1!

There's nothing like snuggling with a clean smelling newborn!

Eliza quotables...

A good book can be read anywhere, right?

"Mom! Talia eyes on!"

When Talia wakes up her eyes turn on according to Eliza.

The other day we were outside playing in the backyard. Darran and I came in and Eliza followed a couple minutes later. Although when she got to the door she announced, "Guys, Eliza take off pants!" We looked to see that indeed she had taken off her pants...outside! In between laughter we asked her to go get them. Which she promptly did, went right upstairs, put them in the dirty clothes, and changed into a skirt. When she came back downstairs she was ready to eat dinner. Those are the moments where we wonder is she 2? or 14?

Two cute sisters!

We've been debating how much Talia looks like Eliza. There have been some moments where the memories of Eliza being this small come flooding back. Boy do the grow up fast!

Eliza 7 days old.

Talia 10 days old.

Eliza the day we brought her home from the hospital.

Talia a little over a week old.