Easter 2009

Aly had so much fun with Easter this year. We colored Easter eggs the night before and Aly loved it. She would grab the eggs out of the dye without using the spoons. By the time she was done her hands were completely black. Brianna and I just watched.

Then the next morning we went to see what the Easter Bunny had brought us. Aly got lots of cool things. She got the SpongeBob Movie and some headbands and some other toys. Brianna got some rattles and keys.

They both got matching Easter dresses. Here is a picture of them with their new dresses on. Aren't they cute?! We couldn't get Aly to take her hand away from her mouth though.

Then we did an Easter egg hunt at my grandma's house. Aly loved looking for the eggs and would get so excited every time she found one.
Here she is with all her eggs.

Aly's night with Papa

Today Aly went to Chuck E Cheese with Papa (That is my dad, for any of you who didn't know that). She had so much fun. When she got home she got excited telling me about it. When we looked at the pictures she showed me everything they did.This is her racing on the SpongeBob game. Apparently, she didn't make it very far past the Start/Finish line, but she had fun anyway!

She was more interested in the tickets coming out on this game than anything else. There is a video of her playing this game too.

This was the only ride she would go on. She must have a facination with antiques!!
Here she is putting the tickets in the ticket counter.

Then they went to McDonalds for dinner. Just so you know, she did not eat that whole 10-piece nugget meal, they shared it ;)

AmberLee's new hairdo

I cut and dyed my hair yesterday. It is so different, and I'm still not sure if I like it. I like the way it is cut, but the color is going to take some getting used to. Joe loves it, he says he thinks I'm having an affair on him :) Anyway, here are the pictures!!

Aly's 2nd Birthday

We did Aly's 2nd birthday party last Saturday. It was SpongeBob themed. She LOVES SpongeBob. She loved opening presents! Deryck tried to help and she yelled at him, LOL. She didn't want ANY help!! She also loved blowing out the candle...and she got to do it twice so everyone could get a good picture of it. The cake was cute. I ordered it at Wal-Mart. It cost me $20. A little pricy for a cake in my opinion, but we had to have SpongeBob!

Brianna is home!!!!!

Brianna got to come home today!! Yay!!! She is doing great. No oxygen and no antibiotics!

Baby Brianna Mae

Brianna Mae Shuler was born February 12, 2009 at 6:35 pm. She weighed 6 lbs. 7 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. Here are some pictures of that special day.Waiting for her to be born.

Right after she was born.

This is what I loved about this hospital. When I had Aly, they took her and cleaned her up as soon as she was born so it wasn't until about 30 minutes later that I first got to hold her. With Brianna, they handed her to me as soon as she was born and let me hold her for a minute before they cleaned her up. It was special being the first one to hold her.

All cleaned up!!

This is us with the doctor and the nurse that delivered Brianna.

Aly got to hold her little sister for the first time! She loved her. She was so protective of her. She made sure she was happy. Every time Brianna would START to fuss, Aly made sure she had her binkie. When they took her to give her a bath and do all the testing, Aly freaked. She didn't want them taking her away, and she had to be taken down to the nursery to watch and make sure she was okay.
As you can see here, she is still making sure Brianna is okay. She doesn't like the idea of someone else holding her. She is going to be an awesome big sister.


The first night, the nurses started to notice Brianna was having a hard time breathing. They checked her oxygen over the course of the night and it continued to be low. So the next day (Friday) they decided she needed to go to the NICU and be put on oxygen. Later they found out she had pneumonia. She got put on antibiotics and can't be held too much because it upsets her and her oxygen levels drop really low. She has to stay in NICU until at least Friday to have her antibiotics for 7 days and may possibly have to stay a little longer depending on how she is doing.

This is her with all the cords, oxygen and IV she has. Right now she is also under lights because her bilirubin was high and now can be held only by me to feed her and Joe gets to hold her for a little bit too, but that is all, then she has to be put back under the lights.

It is really hard seeing her like this, but I know it is what has to happen in order for her to feel better. Hopefully she will get to come home soon!

Presents from Grandma Shuler

Aly got a present from her Grandma Shuler. She was so excited. (After Christmas she loves opening anything she can get her hands on.)
Here are some pictures of her in the new clothes she got. Isn't she a doll?

Hogle Zoo

We went to the zoo yesterday. Aly loved looking at all the animals, except the giraffes. They were a little too big and too close for her liking! She rode on the carousel and loved it. It was the first time she has gone on a carousel without clinging to me the whole time.

The monkeys were her favorite. She loved watching them swing around and come up to the glass. We couldn't get her to look at us for a picture because she was too facinated by them.

UPDATE!

I know it has been forever since I have posted anything, so here is an update on life here at the Shuler house.
Joe is doing good. He is working hard to get ready for the baby. He has been at work a ton and then still finds the energy to help me get things done around the house. He is the greatest and I can't thank him enough!!
I am getting bigger and more uncomfortable every day. I have 2 weeks left in this lovely pregnancy. I have an induction scheduled for February 12th, but if I go into labor before that I will not be complaining. I am so ready for Brianna to get here. I will even take the getting-up-every-two-hours thing just to be comfortable again!
Aly is a total busy body. She does anything she can to mess up a clean house. I clean the house and she follows right behind me messing it all up again. She is a good girl though for a two year old. She will do what I ask her to on most occations. She is learning so much and getting so smart.
Anyway, I will post as soon as Brianna decides to come, which better be soon :)