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Miss Lilah’s parents both shared a bit about how she came to be 🙂 Love their answers!

• How did mom and dad meet?
  Mom: We met through our mutual friend at a local bar during a classy and romantic game of jumbo beer pong.

  Dad: We met through a mutual friend who thought we would like each other, turns out he was right.

• How did mom tell dad they were expecting?
  Mom: I called him at work 700 times until he answered and then he had zero cell service so he had to run all over the place to get a few bars. I wish I would’ve planned something a little more loving instead of almost getting him fired…

  Dad: She was so excited she called me and blurted it out, I didn’t mind though cause it was one of the happiest days of my life.

• What was the best/surprising/worst/most annoying thing being pregnant? (Dad can answer too 🙂 )
  Mom: I have no idea what tayler said but the worst part was by far throwing up (I did so for 23 straight weeks) and the best thing was getting to feel her hiccup 🙂

  Dad: The best thing was waking up every morning knowing we are going to have a little peanut.

• Did you find out if you were having a boy/girl? What was mom and dad’s reactions?
  Mom: We did! Of course Peanut made it difficult and crossed her legs at our first anatomy scan. During our second ultrasound she went spread eagle for about 30 seconds so we could see the goods. Tayler cried (I’m pretty sure his tears were like 80% happiness and 20% sadness that he had been wrong my entire pregnancy about Peanut being a boy). I was just happy to know she was healthy.

  Dad: We found out we were having a girl and we couldn’t have been more happy to be having a little angel.

• List the possible baby names, and how did you narrow it down?
  Mom: I have this endearing quality of never making decisions/changing my mind nonstop. About once a week I had a new name picked out that I swore was going to be hers and then I’d change my mind. Lilah was the only name to actually last longer than a few days so we went with it!

  Dad: It was down to the last minute and we just played the like dislike game till we picked the perfect one.

• How did baby prep go? (Putting in the car seat, setting up the crib, stuff like that.)
  Mom: No one told me that you needed a Ph. D in advanced engineering and rocket science to put together all of the stuff we had for her. The high chair mocked me while her swing just completely destroyed my self-esteem.

  Dad: Not to brag or anything but I felt I was a champ at putting four pieces of wood together.

• How did labor and delivery go… and how did dad do?
  Mom: Labor and delivery was a nightmare. I went into labor two weeks early on a Friday night. I labored naturally for almost 24 hours before they told me I needed to be induced because things weren’t progressing. Shortly following the devils liquid (pitocin) I got an epidural. Shortly following that my not so little girl got stuck in my pelvic bone and we had to have an emergency c section where my epidural failed and I felt everything until they could get pain meds into my hand IV. And my brave husband, who is terrified of needles and blood, sat by my side like a champ through out the whole thing.

  Dad: Delivery was a long and stressful 30 hours and all I kept think is how unbelievably strong my wife is. I think I did better than I thought I would.

• Did your baby look like what you expected?
  Mom: Pretty much. She looks just like Tayler which is fitting since he did all the hard work of carrying her 9 months and delivering her ?

  Dad: Yes she came out looking as beautiful as her mom.

• What were mom’s first thoughts when she saw her new baby? And dad?
  Mom: I wish I could say I thought something beautiful and poetic but I was high as a kite with the amount of drugs they had to give me so I’m pretty sure I just cried like a baby once we were finally able to see her.

  Dad: I was so happy I was crying, I have never seen such a beautiful little girl before.

• What have the first few days with the baby at home been like?
  Mom: The first few days were a whole new level of terrible. I still had tree trunks for legs, my incision hurt constantly because I refused to take pain meds and tayler had to go back to work. It took us probably 3 days just to get a little sleep.

  Dad: It took time to adjust but I think once we all got settled and in a routine it went a lot better.

• Who does your baby look like?
  Mom: Dad

  Dad: Me

• Does your baby have a nickname?
  Mom: Peanut

  Dad: Peanut

• What is your favorite itty bitty part of your baby, and why? (Like toes, hair swirls, fingers, etc)
  Mom: Her little toes and the way she constantly sticks her tongue out

  Dad: I love everything about her, it’s hard not to love every little thing.

*And of course I had to include some of that little tongue sticking out 😉

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Carrie Bandy is an Canton newborn photographer also specializing in families and baby photography in the Canton, Ohio area including Akron and New Philadelphia, Ohio.

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My first return newborn clients! I did their older daughter’s newborn session 2 Junes ago 🙂 During their session, I felt like a broken record, saying, “WOW! She looks just like a mini version of Tavi!”

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And now some commentary from mom about Baby Ellie 🙂

• How did mom and dad meet?
  Jordan and I met during our senior year of high school. He was playing pool at our friend, Kristin’s, house after he was cut from the baseball team. Kristin and I had just got back from watching “Norbit” (one of the dumbest movies ever but we thought it was hilarious at the time), and we were acting ridiculous – stupid movie quotes, excessive giggling, pathetic attempts at flirting, etc. Jordan hardly said anything that night, and we didn’t speak again for a couple months. I thought he was cute, and he probably wouldn’t give me the time of day considering the way I was behaving that night. Eventually I called him, asked him on a date, and he surprisingly said yes. We’ve been together for 9 years this April.

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• How did mom tell dad they were expecting?
  Jordan was playing with Tavi in the living room when I tossed the pee stick at him. He said the line wasn’t dark enough, and wouldn’t believe I was pregnant until a few days later. PINthisimage
• What was the best/surprising/worst/most annoying thing being pregnant? (Dad can answer too 🙂 )
  Jordan would tell you that the worst part is that I’m psychotic while pregnant. I thought the worst part this time around was Ellie’s iugr diagnosis at 20 weeks gestation, and hoping every week that they wouldn’t have to deliver her early. We made it to 37 weeks, and she is doing very well now. PINthisimage
• Did you find out if you were having a boy/girl? What was mom and dad’s reactions?
  Yes, we did find out we were having a girl. It took three ultrasounds for her to finally show the goods. I was excited because Tavi would have a little sister to grow up with just like I did. Jordan was excited too although I think he was hoping it was a boy to even the score a little.

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• List the possible baby names, and how did you narrow it down?
  It was a little more difficult this time to pick out names. We had a boy name but couldn’t agree on a girl name. I sent Jordan a million texts a day with girl names, and he turned all of them down. Jordan suggested names like Ruth and Edna…….he said it was just to mess with me but I wanted to hit him. I have a crazy Aunt Edna so I didn’t find it funny. We finally agreed upon Estelle but I hope if we have another it’s a boy.

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• How did baby prep go? (Putting in the car seat, setting up the crib, stuff like that.)
  We just bought a cage this time. It doesn’t take up much space, and she won’t be able to escape when she starts crawling. 😉

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• How did labor and delivery go… and how did dad do?
  C-section #2 was a breeze. Before the c-section, I was joking around with the delivery nurse and resident about buying coke from the homeless man on the corner by the hospital. A medical student walked in and overheard the conversation. If looks to kill, I would have been 6 feet under. After that I kept repeating I don’t use drugs when the med. student was around, and hoping she didn’t send a social worker/job and family services to talk to me. I don’t remember hardly anything from the first c-section so this time was definitely a better and funnier experience.

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• Did your baby look like what you expected?
  Estelle looks just like her dad, and a skinnier version of Tavi. I totally expected that.

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• What have the first few days with the baby at home been like?
  Two under two is no joke. The first few days were rough trying to adjust to no sleep again, and a toddler who didn’t like her sister. I probably could have used the theoretically coke I talked about before my surgery.

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• Who does your baby look like?
  Dad
• What time was your baby born?
  9:32AM

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• Does your baby have a nickname?
  Ellie
• How did you feel when you first held your baby?
  Relieved – she was healthy

  PINthisimageCarrie Bandy is a Canton newborn photographer also specializing in families and baby photography in the Canton, Ohio area including Akron and New Philadelphia, Ohio.

Miss Hailey’s mom shared her baby story 🙂 I love when the parents fill this out!

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• How did mom and dad meet?
  We met at a party at The University of Toledo.
• How did mom tell dad they were expecting?
  After trying for 2 years with no success.. We were quite surprised to find out that we were expecting! Mom was a few days late and thought I would take a test just in case fully expecting it to be negative. When the test came out positive, mom told dad by shouting and running in to show him the positive test.
• What was the best/surprising/worst/most annoying thing being pregnant? (Dad can answer too 🙂 )
  The best part of being pregnant was being able to eat a lot of ice cream.
  The worst part was not being able to sleep in the end.
  The most annoying part was being put on bed rest because of pre-eclampsia.
• Did you find out if you were having a boy/girl? What was mom and dad’s reactions?
  We found out that we were having a girl but mom and dad were both surprised because you we thought we were having a boy.
• List the possible baby names, and how did you narrow it down?
  Hannah, Hailey, Caitlyn. Hailey was just the one that we kept going back too! 🙂
• How did baby prep go? (Putting in the car seat, setting up the crib, stuff like that.)
  I got put on bed rest at 32 weeks after several days of hospital visits and almost being induced on the spot at one of those visits. I was told to go home and try to make it through the weekend. So, baby prep was very rushed and dad had to go to babies r us by himself to get the last minute stuff ready!
• How did labor and delivery go… and how did dad do?
  Labor and delivery went well. I was induced beginning at 7 am. We were in labor for 27 hrs before Hailey Grace arrived.
• Did your baby look like what you expected?
  She looked better than we could’ve expected. We are blessed to have her!
• What were mom’s first thoughts when she saw her new baby? And dad?
  Mom’s first thoughts were joy and anxiously awaiting for her to begin crying to know that she was okay. Dad’s first thoughts were happiness that she was healthy and proud.
• What have the first few days with the baby at home been like?
  Rough, haha. She has her days and nights a little mixed up.
• Who does your baby look like?
  dad
• What time was your baby born?
  10:12am
• Does your baby have a nickname?
  Hailey Grace
• How did you feel when you first held your baby?
  Happiness
• What is your favorite itty bitty part of your baby, and why? (Like toes, hair swirls, fingers, etc)
  Her hair and how much she has.

Something a little different for this share, a collage of all my favs 😉

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Carrie Bandy is an Canton newborn photographer also specializing in families and baby photography in the Canton, Ohio area including Akron and New Philadelphia.

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I am *pretty sure* that mom doesn’t know dad submitted this form! I laughed out loud, and I hope you also enjoy Owen’s journey into this world:

• How did mom and dad meet?
  I kissed the closest girl next to me at a New Year’s Party…my wife must have liked it.
• How did mom tell dad they were expecting?
  Cinnamon roll/bun left in oven…forgot about bun…nearly burnt the house down.
• What was the best/surprising/worst/most annoying thing being pregnant? (Dad can answer too 🙂 )
  Boobs
• Did you find out if you were having a boy/girl? What was mom and dad’s reactions?
  It was a surprise…dad cried like a little baby.  Mom reacted with love and compassion.
• List the possible baby names, and how did you narrow it down?

  Owen Matthew was our go to on the first baby for a boy name.

  Probable girl names were:
  Ruby Tuesday (dad’s choice every time mom asked seriously about names)…seriously though, we both liked Ruby but could not come up with a middle name.

  Annie

• How did baby prep go? (Putting in the car seat, setting up the crib, stuff like that.)
  Prep was at a bare minimum with the 2nd child.  We still don’t know where we are going to put him when he has to start sleeping in his own room.
• How did labor and delivery go… and how did dad do?
  Quite possibly one of the most intense and intimate experiences of our lives.  Dad did awesome, but not as awesome as mom.  Let’s be honest, after seeing what women have to go through during child birth; there is no argument that women are tougher than men.
• Did your baby look like what you expected?
  For some odd reason, a majority of people expected a boy and it was a boy.  He definitely looks a lot cuter than our first born did at this stage.  Of course, at the time we thought she was adorable too.
• What were mom’s first thoughts when she saw her new baby? And dad?
  Dad’s first thought was…”The anatomical make-up of this child suggests that it is male!”  Seriously though, once I saw the sac, I knew it was a boy and started screaming it like a little school-girl.
• What have the first few days with the baby at home been like?
  Foggy, exhausting, and a little less than chaotic at time.  I don’t know how families with more than 2 kids do it.
• Your own topic:

  If my wife finds out that I submitted this, then she may have me castrated.

  Seriously, though, when Alena met Owen, it was possibly the cutest thing ever. She made a point to introduce him to everyone in the room and repeatedly said “Awww, baby.”

• What time was your baby born?
  10:27 am
• Does your baby have a nickname?
  Our daughter calls him Nowen, so that is it for now.  I would like to be Big-O.
• How did you feel when you first held your baby?
  I felt like Mufasa from the Lion King
• What is your favorite itty bitty part of your baby, and why? (Like toes, hair swirls, fingers, etc)
  His indented chin

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Carrie Bandy is an Canton newborn photographer also specializing in families and baby photography in the Canton, Ohio area including Akron and New Philadelphia, Ohio.