Christmas 2010 letter

Ok, 2010 went way too fast! It’s almost a complete blur for us but I think we have a pretty good reason. Let’s recap the year with highlights!

In January, we learned that we were going to have a girl. We were beyond surprised because we both thought we were having a boy. It was a good surprise though and now we could finally refer to the baby as Taylor. She was so cute on the ultrasound but she was so feisty. We almost didn’t get to find out her sex because she didn’t want to cooperate but eventually we won!

In April, Christina quietly celebrated her 29th birthday. We visited the tulips of Skagit County on Easter Sunday and Zach took many pictures. We plan to return in 2011 with Taylor for pictures and to enjoy the beauty of nature’s glory!

In June, Christina went on maternity leave on her estimated due date, June 8th. Early, the next morning, she woke up in labor! Long story short, Christina was in labor for a total of 51.50 hours, the first 26 hours were spent laboring at home before Christina was dilated enough to be admitted to the hospital. She spent 4 hours trying to push out Taylor and it was discovered that she was presenting with her forehead and she was posterior, which is not the best position fit through Christina’s pelvis. We ended up having a c-section and Taylor Elisabeth Ahrens was born on Friday, June 11, 2010 at 6:26am, weighing 6lbs, 15oz and measuring 21.25 inches long.

Taylor was born to nurse and has been ever since she was born! She has been growing at a healthy pace and she is just thriving! After a couple days in the hospital, we all came home to finally rest! We had a slew of visitors for the next couple of months and it was really amazing to have our friends and family meet Taylor and spend time with us. We are so excited to have you all in our lives and I cannot thank you enough for all of your love and support.

The summer was spent getting to know our new daughter, relaxing at home and socializing with friends and family. Some highlights include:

- Fourth of July party at the Aske Family home (these people know how to party, I can’t wait for next year!!)

- Taylor’s meet ‘n greet Picnic at the Houghton Beach waterfront

- Zach’s 33rd birthday

-Wedding of Meagan and Russell Geisler on July 31st on the MV Skansonia

- Wedding of Michael and Jennette Berta on August 6th at Volunteer Park/DAR Rainer Chapter house reception

- Walks at Greenlake (and other parks) with my mama friends and their kids

- Two visits to my parents’ river house in Oregon for fun with my family

- A trip to Boise to visit my best friend Olivia and her parents, Molly and Gary. It was Taylor’s first plane ride and she did amazingly well. We did a mini trip to McCall, Idaho too and had an amazing time!

In late September, Christina returned to work and Taylor started her new daycare. Taylor loves being at Fariba’s house and the two of them are very sweet together. We are told that Taylor likes to watch the big kids play and she is very happy, laugh-y and is overall a very good baby.

This fall we had a lot of firsts. Taylor’s first Halloween and Thanksgiving! In developmental milestone firsts, Taylor started reliably rolling over, using her hands to prop herself up on her belly, first sleeping in the crib all night and she can almost sit up unassisted! She really wants to walk though and I doubt she’ll be much of a crawler but she could prove us wrong. Taylor turned 6 months on December 11th and we are in disbelief that she is already half a year old! Time certainly does fly so we are making sure to treasure every moment we have with our daughter. She is certainly the main joy in our lives and our constant focus!

As you can tell from our family photo, the animals are not in our actual picture. We thought we could get our two cats, two birds and Taylor into the picture but Taylor was so wriggly that we had to be creative. Overall, the animals are doing well. Max and Lulu are 4 years old now and they continue to be the sweetest cats ever. They have had quite the adjustment with Taylor but they have been nothing but sweet to her (or they run away lol). Catie and Blue are doing well too. Now that Blue can fly, he loves to chase (or follow?) Catie around the house. They are best friends and we are so glad that we have both of them. They are oblivious to Taylor for the most part but sometimes Catie will perch on Taylor’s shoulder (or try and share toys with her). Taylor is fascinated by all 4 animals and we hope that she will grow to be a lover and protector of animals.

Overall this year has been great! In fact, it was a record year! As always, we are looking forward to what the new year has in store for us and we enjoy keeping up with all of you! We are very blessed to have such amazing friends and family members in our lives. Thank you all for being such an amazing support system!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

With love,
The Ahrens Family Zach, Christina, Taylor, Max, Lulu, Catie and Blue