Little Miss has ARRIVED!

Well the big day has come & gone and we were left with the greatest blessing a second time. Little miss Harper Ellison Toogood was born on November 21, 2011 at 1:09 p.m. She was 7lb 12 oz (just 2 oz bigger than Graham) & she was 20.25 inches long. She has a TON of hair... in the delivery room I just could not get over how much hair she had. I just kept saying her hair, her hair, her hair?!?!?!?! over and over agin. Ha!

My labor this time was MUCH faster than with Graham. I was induced but the didn't have to do much. I went in at 7 a.m. & I was already a 5! Holy moly I was halfway there on my own! I got all hooked up & they started the antibiotic I had to have in my system this time. I did not have it with Graham & I hope to never have it again. It was terrible, made my arm feel like it was attacked by fire ants! YUCK! Anyway.... She didn't check me again until 1 because my water was about to break anyway & I had to have 2 doses of antibiotics before I had her so that we would not have to be monitored for 48 hours. Well 1 p.m. rolled around, she checked me said it was time to push & BOOM Harper was her @ 1:09. It was FAST!
She is the sweetest blessing! Graham had to take a week to warm up but he did & he loves his "little baby seester, Harper". She is such a good baby & we just can't stop staring at her! It's amazing how God picks each of us to belong to certain families & we all fit just perfectly. His plan truly is divine & feel blessed by my family everyday.

It has been kind of hard to be so far away from family during this happy time... We got to show Graham off right away & had so many visitors everyday, so it's been quite different this go around. We have had several visitors but you know it's just not the same as being in the same town. With Harper being born right before Thanksgiving we were SO blessed to have my parents stay about a week with us. My mom was SUCH a blessing!!! I am NOT one to ask for help & she is great about just DOING it without requiring me to ask her to do anything. She always running around taking food orders, playing with little Graham, and cleaning. I am definitely taking notes, she is a wonderful mom, I am truly blessed! Thanks to her we had Thanksgiving... it was MUCH smaller than ever but special. Thanks Mom! It really is amazing how much you take for granted when you have always lived so close to family... I know we are still in Texas, but it's so much further than down the street. I really do miss my family so much... Thank goodness for Keith, Graham & Harper they make this new place home to me.

You know people say that you forget things from the first baby when you have another baby & I can say I agree & disagree. It feels like yesterday Graham was this small but I have forgotten details about having a newborn. I so badly wish I would have written his EXACT schedule down @ each stage just to remember. I know Harper is a different baby so it would not be the same, but just to have something to remind me would be nice. Here is what she is up to...

Newborn diapers
Newborn clothes
Feeding every 3 hours during the day
Wakes up 1 time for feeding at night
Weighed 8.3 at 1 Week & 8.12 at 2 weeks (bigger than your brother!)
Love to be held
More & More alert everyday
HATE diaper Changes (you have pooped on everyone... even Graham)

She is such a sweet sweet baby & we are so happy to be her family!!! Harper Ellison praise the Lord for your safe arrival. You will never know how thankful we are to have you in our lives but I pray that we show you everyday just how much we love you. Children truly are a gift & our blessings from these two gifts are overflowing! May we always show our children God's love & help them to follow him in everyway. Here are some pictures from the BIG day....

Almost forgot to say she wore the same outfit home that Graham did... thought it was a sweet idea to bring all of our babies home in this sweet outfit.

Harper Ellison

Well sweet Harper...

We are counting down the hours now until your arrival & I am feeling terrible that we have been so busy. Thank you for being such a good little baby & allowing me to be so so so active moving & chasing your big (but still little) brother! We are SO looking forward to your arrival & we have finished your nursery & have everything you would need, plus TONS of love. I can't wait to see what you will look like & act like! I hope that you know we have loved you every second of your little life, even before your heart was beating we loved you! I know that just like Graham, you will change our lives in so many ways (for the better of coarse).

What a wonderful blessing to have something so precious to focus on during this move. You & your brother are the light of our lives & I truly feel priviliged to be a mom. We love you so so much & hope that you want to meet us as much as we do you!

Love you baby girl
Mommy

Our Little Pumpkin

Well Halloween 2011 has come & gone. Keith & I both LOVE Halloween so we hope to meet a lot of new people before next years so we can kick off our Halloween party again. We decorated a little but not like usual at all... honestly I am about to decorate for Christmas (I know it's crazy but it will be one less thing to do after little miss gets here).

Graham was a pumpkin & he really enjoyed himself! He left the hat on basically the whole night & LOVED going up to ring the doorbell for treats. He said trick or treat & thanked everyone! Such a sweetie... he also loved handing out candy with Keith when we got home. Glad our little guy is on his way to being festive for our favorite Holiday!

Also our neighborhood was AWESOME! Tons of people walking around all dressed up & Tons of decorated houses... how fun! Sometimes you just don't know how some things will be... it's like when we were moving here I asked Keith if he thought people in Austin put up Christmas lights...LOL! He thought I was crazy... I mean I figured they did but it just doesn't seem like it will feel like Christmas time when it's still in the 80's! Ha! Anyway here are a few pictures of our little pumpkin all dressed up!

Baby Belly & Baby Room

Well as this whole pregnancy is quickly coming to a close I figured I would post pictures of the growing bump & her precious room. I LOVE how it all turned out... No pink, but still sweet & girly. As far as the belly I have stayed quite a bit smaller this time around. I think I have done pretty good with both pregnancies really. Harper is already measuring 6 lbs's 6 oz already! Their guess is about 8 1/2 pounds if she goes full term. With her being a good size & this being my second pregnancy so close to my first they think she may show up earlier?!?!? Who knows?
Anyway I have really enjoyed being pregnant again... It's such a HUGE honor & blessing to be a mommy & I have tried to relish in it's every moment. It has definitely FLOWN by... with Graham, moving & life in general I can't believe it's almost time for her arrival! We LOVE you SO much miss Harper Ellison & we can't wait to see your precious face!


20 Weeks


24 Weeks


30 Weeks (left with Graham/ right with Harper)


36 Weeks


Now here is her sweet nursery...







And her CRAZY big brother.... Happy 20 Months Graham Weston!!!! He seriously talks about Harper 24/7.... I know he has no idea really, but it's precious non the less! We love you to pieces little boy

Ch-ch-ch- Changes!

Well here in the Toogood household we have been through some MAJOR changes in the last 4 months....

We listed our house For Sale by Owner
Sold it in a couple weeks
Had a Gender Reveal Party.... It's a GIRL!!! (Harper Ellison Toogood)
Had a SURPRISE shower/birthday lunch
House got Packed
Stayed with my parents for a week
Now live in Cedar Park Texas
I have a GROWING belly (with a sweet little girl inside!)
Graham is 19 months & counting
Keith is getting ready to open the first of many Taco Markets

Man... I know there is more but seriously I just hit the high points! Ha! No seriously all these things have kept us running around like CRAZY PEOPLE! Moving was truly a whorl wind experience, it all just seemed to fly by me. I literally abandoned most housework & spent as much time outside with Graham, with family that I possibly could.



Our gender reveal party was a total success! It was so much fun to put together & I had 2 special people help with invites & cake. (Thank you Monica Curry & Danielle Touchstone) If you live in the Lubbock area seriously these girls are TALENTED! I really did not care boy or girl, just healthy! I know people say you just say that, but seriously we wanted to have another healthy baby not just to have a boy or girl. God knows what will fit each family perfect so I definitely trust HIS judgement! It was really great because that morning we got to go see a healthy baby on a sonogram without the anticipation of finding out the gender immediately it really took any anxiety out of the air. Then later that evening with family & friends we cut into a cake that had a layer of PINK icing! We are so excited about our little Harper... what a blessing. Graham talks about Harper ALL the time, clearly he has NO idea but I think it's sweet that he talks about her. He asks when she is going to sit by him in the car ALL the time... I'm pretty sure we have a social butterfly as of lately... Don't blame him I would be bored back in the back seat too! He is going to love her to pieces & I can't wait to see their relationship unfold!








Next up was a surprise luncheon my sister & mom put together! OMG was I surprised!!!! That is putting it lightly, seriously they had to do a lot of sneaky work to pull that thing off. I was SHOCKED, so sweet to celebrate both things together. I got some great things for Harper too! Going to have to get used to more "things" that come with having a little girl!




Then by the end of August it was time to pack up & move!!! It was truly hard to leave Lubbock. I know so many people dog on how terrible Lubbock is but it's my hometown! I loved it & love it still because all the people I love are still there! I know God has his hand in how we came down here & I am looking forward to see our lives unfold here but I would be lieng if I said it wasn't heartbreaking knowing Graham won't be as close to family (in location) as I was growing up. Now I am going to need to learn how to stay in touch really well (something I have never really been that good at long distance wise). We have been in our house for a month & a half now. It is slowly starting to feel like home to us. I am SO thankful to have Keith & graham with me on this journey. They are both what get me through being homesick... and sweet Harper will be born here! We have had SO much changing & going on that this pregnancy has FLOWN by me! I am already starting to go to my new doctor weekly this coming week! It has been crazy but I know God sent us this sweet little baby to keep our minds looking forward.


If you think of it please say a little prayer for Graham... He is SO observant and he misses everyone quite a bit! He is adjusting really well but WE ALL have our moments, ha! Something that he did the other day just melted my heart.... Keith is going to back to Lubbock to work some until the new store opens here so it was just Graham & I. I guess I was being quiet when Graham came up to me put his hand on my shoulder & said "Mommy Sad?" I said yes Mommies a little sad but it's ok. He said" I hold you hand". Talk about a tear jearker! Sweet baby boy! Here a few pic's of that sweet boy @ 19 months






Well thats all for now.... I have many posts that go back but I must find my pictures first... ha!

Time is FLYING!

Well I can not believe our sweet baby boy is 15 months old & I am 15 weeks along with baby 2!!! It has been WAY too long since my last post but as usual life got crazy. We have had serious technological problems and that has made blogging impossible. I still need to have a post dedicated to pictures as soon as I can get those uploaded.

Anyway.... Since last time I found out I was pregnant again 3 weeks after Graham turned 1 & we could not be more thrilled. We have always known we wanted our kids to be close in age & I feel blessed beyond belief to be able to have #2 so soon. I know so e people thi k we are crazy or that money, college ect. Is going to be crazy but we just feel that we are building a family & I know things will be hard but I am excited about the relationship our kids will form because they are so close. God is good & honestly this is the season that we are in so complaining about double diapers, lack of sleep ect is crazy. I know those may be things that go with having kids & i try to live in each phase because it is all passing so quickly. I honestly love being a mom & I feel so blessed!! Thanks to all who rejoice with us & thanks to everyone who calls with congrats or just to check on me... We grateful for all of you. I have felt just as good as I did with Graham & I have actually had more energy this time. What a blessing with Graham so so so busy! I am going to start posting pics at 16 weeks (Friday) since that was the first pic I took while pregnant with Graham. It will be fun to compare... Not showing yet & no weight gain. I am actually looking forward to starting to show... So cute I think. Next Monday is my 16 week check up & we also get to get the date for our big sonogram when we get to find out the gender. We honestly don't care boy or girl... Just healthy! God knows WAY more than I do what would be perfect for our family so I trust his decision. He picked Graham who is perfect for us so I am excited to meet baby 2! I will keep you updated on all things baby.

Then in April we took Graham to Florida to disneyworld. I knew this trip was more for Keith & I rather than him but he shocked us by loving every moment! We still don't let him watch tv so when we went I didn't know what he would think of the characters but he loved them... Not scared at all. Getting to go on this trip with Graham was awesome & I know it's something Keith & I will always treasure. He was great on the airplane & since that was the first time we were not home for nap taking everyday he was awesome! Such a good boy!

May was full of sweet Cape getting dedicated at church & Mothers day & a Memorial day trip to Dallas. I will do several more post with lots of pictures as soon as I can get all pics uploaded. My goal is to blog at least every 2 weeks... We have SO much going on that I will post later so that will be so much to blog about.... Until then sorry for lack of posts & I'll get pics ASAP! Enjoy these few that I have in an email until then. I also have SO many video clips of Graham talking that I need to put up, they are SO cute. He is SO chatty & still says a million things and more.

gDiapers

Well we decided after Pampers changed their diapers to the new dry max (they are causing many babies diaper rash). Graham had never really had a diaper rash but maybe once & it lasted one diaper change. After we noticed the new pampers with dry max he instantly got a rash & it would NOT go away! We changed to the night time diapers all the time (no dry max) and it healed. We decided to switch everything up to gDiapers... My sister has been using them on Cape & she like's them so we are going for it! They are SO stinkin' cute that's for sure! Here is Graham with his first gDiaper on!!! Wish us luck!

Our Baby is 1!!!!!

Well I am going to just write & then tons of pictures to follow!!! I have been SO behind on this lately... just in the month of February there was my nieces 4th birthday then almost 2 weeks later my nephew & my sister-in-law share their birthday on the 23rd, our anniversary (4th) was on the 24th, then Graham turned 1 & my great grandmother turned 88 on the 25th!!! Needless to say February is a taken month in our family. (It's ok if you didn't follow just know it's A LOT)

This past year has FLOWN by way too quickly for me. I feel like it was yesterday I was still feeling Graham spin around and kick while I was still pregnant. Now he is spinning around & walking all over. The first year is FULL of SO many changes for a baby. He is looking SO much more like a little boy instead of a baby everyday & I am trying to soak it all up everyday. Becoming parents has been such a joy for both Keith & I. Graham could not be more loved by so many people & we feel SO blessed everyday. He has seriously been the easiest baby( he seriously never cried.... can't say that now but it's such a pitiful one). He has always been a GREAT sleeper & I partially credit it to his nature but at the same time I credit it staying that way to us as parents. He's only this small for such a short time & it has been SO important to us to keep him on a schedule for him to be content... it's not annoying to me & it does not put me out to do these things, it's a joy to watch a content happy baby & know how his temperament will be a any part of the day because he is on a good schedule. Sometimes the easier way can be the hard way in the future.

His personality is really developing & he is talking SO much.Keith & I decided we needed to make a list of all the words he can say right now because I know I will forget. He is such a good copy cat... you can say a word a few times, show him what it is & he will pick it up almost immediately. I made a list I have it below but I think he knows about 27 words. He is also LOVING to walk & now CLIMB all over everything. The climbing started just a few days ago, it is SO scary. I looked down at my phone because Keith had just sent me a text and when I looked up he was standing on our wood bench. NO help just sheer clinging & climbing!!!

It takes Graham about 30 minutes to warm up, once that is over he is good to go... I just LOVE to watch him, he is SO much like Keith & my brother. He likes to process things before just jumping ALL in, it's SO cute & I love that he is just himself! I was worried when it came to his party that he might be SUPER shy with all the family here at once, bu he did GREAT! He had a little time after his nap to warm up when cousin Brynlee, Gigi & Bop-E got here a little early. I feel so blessed that Graham has so much family that will love & support him always. They were WAY too generous with gifts, but we were so blessed that they came to celebrate Graham's precious first year of life. We had it here at our house & I decorated (I LOVE decorating for those of yo who may not know me well). we kept it pretty simple & invited family. It was SUCH a special day, Keith & I reminisced over our day last year at the same time. Our lives have changed SO much all for the better since the moment God blessed us with this little boy... we are SO blessed & we are thankful everyday.

Here is a list of all of the words Graham is saying these days-

mama
dada or daddy (he just started saying daddy last week)
nana
papa
Boss (what he calls my dad)
hot
down
clock
Boo!
Murr (what we called my grandmother... I have shown him MANY pictures)
Cracker
balloon (comes out baboon)
More ( he says & signs it now)
car
ball
bath
uh oh
wee (only while sliding)
cool
baby
bye bye
no no
night night
Bottle (baba)
bird (burr)
book
bubba (we call hm bubba & he calls himself bubba... I am hoping he know his name is Graham ha!)
we will say 1... then he will say 2 free!!!

He will also follow these commands-

rub your hands together (hand sanitizer)
blow your nose
come here get your ________
he will point at almost anything when you ask him where something is
he barks when you say puppy

We are weaning him from a blottle s he is on whole milk & he has 3 bottles & 1 sippy soon to drop another bottle. He LOVES straw cups & has ever since he was 10 months.
He is still taking two, 2 hour naps... one at 10 & one at 2.
He sleeps from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m. everyday. ( we have enjoyed this since he was an infant, thank you Graham & a lttle help from Babywise)
He has been eating all table food since about 9.5 months
He has 8 teeth & is working on his 4 molars.

It is SO amazing to watch him learn & see how much he has changed in a year! I love that country song "I saw God today" bc I seriously feel that way everyday!

Graham,
We love you SO SO SO much. I pray everyday that someday you will truly know what a blessing you have been to us. You are sweet, curious, smart, sometimes cautious, beautiful, loving little boy. The last year has gone way too fast for me, but I am going to enjoy each stage & I look forward to what your second year of life will bring our way.

Thank you Lord for entrusting Keith & I to take care of such a sweet baby boy. You truly know how to pick the baby that will fit so perfectly into each family! We are blessed you picked Graham for us!

Here are some pictures of 1 year & Birthday bash!