Hey Everyone! It's been busy at the Nulphs (just like it is all the time :)) We've been saying we're going to get the internet at our new house for months now but it hasn't happened yet... I guess we'll see how long it takes. We are loving the new house. Now that we've got our own place I can't even imagine living in a tiny little apartment again. We have been so blessed to move there. The kids actually have room to move around and we've got enough space for our storage- it is so so nice.

Speaking of the kids.... Zander is over 20 months now. He is still so full of energy! He's starting to really talk a lot- not just words but 2-3 word phrases. Quite the little copycat too- we have to watch every move we make. The saying is true: actions speak louder than words. :) Good thing or bad thing?

Zander was stuck on "the kitty movie" for several weeks in a row so we had to watch The Aristocats at least twice a day. It was nice when that wasn't so important but now it's "the puppy movie" so we have to watch 101 Dalmations. Oh well... can I really complain? They're movies I loved when I was little and he could've gotten hooked on something that I really hate. I should just count my blessings.

He does so many cute things- he loves to smell. He always has to smell his food before he eats it. ALWAYS. Not even kidding. Even if he knows that it's something he likes, he smells it first. I don't know if it's to make sure we aren't trying to feed him something nasty or if he's just going to be a professional taster when he grows up. :) He pretty much likes to smell anything though. I think he gets a lot from that particular sense. He will smell Taizlie's feet and then he shakes his head and goes, "Phew!!!" and grins at me. It makes me laugh every time.

He is such an awesome big brother too. I never would have guessed that he would be able to help me with Taizlie but he really does. If I've got my hands full and she drops her toy he will go give it back to her so that she's not sad. And when Taizlie is asleep I will turn on the monitor and when she wakes up if I don't go right away to get her he will go lay next to her and talk to her until I can get there. He is mommy's little helper with just about anything but he loves to help with Taizlie the most. He is my good boy.

Taizlie is already 5 1/2 months old! I guess I haven't written about her birth yet so I better do that. Toward the end of my last trimester my doctor informed me he was going to be gone for a few weeks- leaving just before my due date and not getting back until 2 weeks afterwards. I can tell you.... I was NOT impressed. But... it turns out it didn't matter anyway because she was 15 days late. In fact, I think my doctor got off the plane and pretty much came straight to the hospital to deliver my Taizlie. When my due date came and passed, I kept thinking that I was going to go into the guiness world records as the only woman in the world who was pregnant forever. Seriously... it felt like she was never going to get here. My doctor's PA (who I saw while he was gone) was getting a little worried too. He had never seen anyone go as late as I did without any kind of dilation. I saw him on a Thursday and when he checked me I was not dilated at all. We made an appointment to induce me the following monday (which would have been 16 days overdue). Thankfully I started feeling contractions Friday evening. I didn't sleep very well that night- the contractions were just painful enough that I couldn't sleep through them. Then I contracted all day Saturday. Greg was supposed to work that day but after staying up pretty much all night and not knowing what was going to happen that day, I asked him to take it off. I contracted all day and through the night again. Around 3 in the morning on Sunday the contractions were getting really strong and had been about 5 minutes apart for over an hour so Greg called his mom to see if she would come over and stay with Zander while we went to the hospital. Judy and Katy came over and- no kidding- as soon as they got there my contractions weakened and went to 20 minutes or more apart. Greg was all dressed up to leave and Judy and Katy had to sleep in our living room for no reason that night. I felt so bad. On Sunday morning when everyone woke up I was completely exhausted. By this time it had been two full nights and days without sleep and I could've just fell over. Judy knew how tired I was (and Greg from staying up with me) so she and Katy took Zander home with them for the day. Greg and I tried to rest as much as we could that morning and from 2-3 in the afternoon the contractions were strong and 3-5 minutes apart again. I wanted to wait a little longer but Greg knew I was so tired and we would have to go to the hospital anyway the next day so we went. When we got there and settled in (about 5PM) the nurse checked me and I was just waiting for her to say "Oh just a one" but thankfully I was dilated to a 4. HALLELUJAH!!! I sat and labored for another couple of hours and when the doctor came in I was an 8! Wow! Finally the home stretch!! She was born in the wee hours of the morning and we were so thankful to finally meet our beautiful little girl. (trust me... after 3 straight days of labor and no sleep I was READY to meet her :))

Now Miss Taizlie is a big girl. She's got her two front teeth on the bottom (and she really uses them- REALLY...) She doesn't want anything to do with real food- just still on the breastmilk. And she doesn't want it from a bottle, she wants it straight out of the tap. She is so so cute and getting more so every day. She sits up on her own and loves to play with Zander. She will smile and giggle at just about anybody but Zander makes her laugh the hardest. Just like her big brother, she is a huge fan of the shower. She's already getting close to the 20 lb mark (I can't believe it- I swear I was still pregnant just a couple of weeks ago).

Greg and I are staying busy with our babies. I still get to just stay home with them and it is SO nice. Greg is taking over as a spreader operator this spring and he is pretty excited about it. I think he's looking forward to something different and what man could say no to driving a big powerful truck right?

Our little family is going to go to Missouri in a couple weeks to visit my sister and we are super excited. It will be a fun trip to take- especially right before Greg's busy season hits at work and we pretty much don't see him for a couple months.

That's pretty much the big update for now! Sorry some of the pictures are sideways. It was already taking forever to load and I didn't want to take the time to figure out which pictures needed flipped.

- The Nulphs