The Great Escape (Part 2 of 3)

Most of these pictures speak for themselves. Really, I'm too tired to type much.

Taylor Ellen Jackman was born 24 July 2010 at 1:29 pm.
7lbs 11oz, 19 inches long (tall?)

She came out a bit wrapped up the umbilical cord, but the doctor did a masterful job of making sure nothing got complicated. We feel very blessed and lucky to have another happy, healthy baby.
























A big thanks to Dr. Elizabeth Weisert of Copperstate OB/GYN. (She also did a fantastic job with Aiden 2 years ago.) She is a wonderful doctor to work with.















All cleaned up.






More to come tomorrow...

The Great Escape (Part 1 of 3)

We checked into the hospital around 8 am. Jen (pictured below) was our very helpful nurse for the entire day. In the first hour we were there, the doctor broke Miranda's water and started the pitocin drip.





This is a shot of "Happy Miranda". With very mild contractions spaced 2-3 minutes apart, you would be happy too.





The "let's get this over with" drug. (Pitocin)





At 10:00 am the bump is still kicking around. The nurse ups the pitocin dosage.





After hours of charting, things started to move a little bit. Contractions started to space out a bit, but became much more intense.





T-minus 1 hour and counting. Miranda gives me the "look". As in: "It's time to put the camera away and get to work.





About 20 minutes after this last photo was taken, the contractions started to become very intense and painful. 20 minutes after that at 1:29 pm Arizona Time... (Please wait for part 2 of 3)

Aunt Annie's Alligator...

What begins with "A"? A visiting cousin provides the perfect photo op. Of course, no one told Aiden. He was already in his pajamas.

The Old Man is Snoring

It's the first rain storm of the season. All three kids immediately ran to get their rain coats.

4th of July Photos

1 - Aiden in Timeout
2 - Blue Eyes
3 - Sydney with our fourth of July Strawberry/Blueberry Shortcake. (For the record, we don't know how she got that scrape.)
4 - Aiden ate his before I could get a photo.
5 - Emma sporting her new haircut.

Rocket's Red Glare

This year I finally gave in and let the girls stay up late for a fireworks show. Since Arizona is one of the few states that bans all fireworks (including sparklers) this was their first real exposure to fireworks. They enjoyed it, but by the end Sydney closed her eyes, laid down on the blanket and said, "Wake me up when there is a big one."

As I side note, I would just like to mention how technically difficult this photo was. I had to pre-focus in the dark. Then I had to compose on something that wasn't even there. I had to guess where the fireworks were going to be. Then I needed to light the girls with a hand held flash and still have it come out looking natural. I hope that when they look back in many years they realize how difficult it was. (Read that last sentence again. It might just be the lament of all parents.)

Emma (and Aiden)

We finally got around to shooting Emma's 6 year old photos. These are just a few of the sassy little girl. Even though these shots are only a few days old, they are already outdated. This morning Emma took a trip to get a haircut. She now is the
proud owner of a cute little bob. It is a better haircut for the Arizona heat.

During Emma's photo shoot, Aiden really wanted to participate so there is a bonus shot of the blue-eyed dude at the bottom of the post.

Only a couple more weeks before Aiden is no longer the baby of the family. Time to grow up little man. There will be a new baby in town.