Wilkins Family Blog

{Paige Sarah}

2012-01-23T14:08:00.009-07:00

Yes, it is true. I am a slacker.
Our cute little baby was born, blessed, is now 2 months old, our oldest turned 6, lost her first tooth, had a dance recital, Christmas came and left, and the New Year arrived. All without me blogging about it.

So now I need to play catch up:

{The birth of Paige}
Short(er) version:

We thought it was time 2 times before she actually arrived. Yes, I went into the hospital hoping to leave with a new little one only to be sent home. It's not like it was my first kid. She's my third. Contractions both times were two to three minutes apart. I was in PAIN!

My doctor's appointment the Tuesday (22nd) before I had her I was 75% effaced and dilated to a 3. He told me when the contractions were close to go to the hospital. I made a little comment that he would probably just send me home again. He assured me he wouldn't. So I went home. Suffered the rest of the day and through the night. There was a time that night that I was having so many contractions I thought I was going to die. But I knew if I made it until morning I can get to the hospital, the Doctor wouldn't have to get out of bed and he would let me have the baby :)

7:30 am came around (23rd) and I told Troy we better start getting the kids up and ready. We dropped the kids off at my Mom's around 10:00. And for the third time headed to labor & delivery.

This time after getting "checked" and hooked up to all the monitors the nurse came in and told us the Doctor told her to get me completely settled in......we were going to have a baby!

About 10:30 my water was broken. Throughout the entire pregnancy I had my mind set on no epidural, like with Parker's delivery. After I was in the hospital the first time. I changed my mind. The nurses were instructed to start me on pitocin. I refused to let them start the pit until the epidural was in!

At 11:30 the pit was started right when Mr. Fritz was giving me the epidural.

Checked at 1:10 and I was a 5.
By 2:00 I was feeling a little pressure 'down there' but I knew the nurse was going to be there in 10 minutes. So I didn't call the nurses in.

2:10 rolls around and the nurse comes in. I was ready.
She knew how fast Parker came into this world that she wouldn't let me push until the Doctor got there. She starts getting the room ready while we wait for him.

He arrives and one push later. We have a head.
One and a half pushes after that our sweet little Paige is in the world. 2:19 pm.
No pain and super easy. Epidural was heaven.

7 lbs. 4 oz.
19" long.
(@ 39 weeks)

Our biggest and longest baby.
(Taylor: 6 lbs. 13 oz. 18" long @ 36.5 weeks)
(Parker: 7 lbs. 1 oz. 18" long @ 38 weeks)

Shortly after she got here Troy started making phone calls. The best was when we called Taylor Jane. She has been waiting for SO LONG for this little sister. The whole month of November she kept asking me if I wanted to have this little baby. Of course I did, but it wasn't that easy :)
She informed her she had a little sister and she very quiet. "Okay, want to talk to Parker?" then as she hands Parker the phone Troy hears her in the back ground running around in excitement. So cute.

The doctor's were all going to family dinners (Thanksgiving) the next day that by 7:00 am my doctor was in and I was discharged. By 7:30 Paige's doctor was giving us the okay to leave. She had to still get her hearing test done so we didn't get to officially go home until close to 9:30-ish.

She has been a wonderful baby. At about 15 minutes old she was ready to nurse. We go about every 3 hours between meals. She is currently sleeping 6-7 hours each night (HEAVEN!) She goes to bed around 8 and usually after I get Taylor (Parker on Mon/Wed) off to school she is up. She usually only takes one long nap during the day and then little cat naps the rest of the day.

3 weeks old::

One Month::

We went in and got family pictures taken the week after Christmas. Parker was a little stink. (More pics later when I get all of them. Or you can see them on FB)

We blessed Paige on New Years Day. My sister from Belgium was in town and so it was perfect to bless her while she was here. I made her dress. Leading up to the blessing day she was pushing 5 days without a stinky diaper. I knew it was because she wanted to make a mess of her blessing dress. The day before we had a blow-out....on Grandma's lap. But I was happy! ;)

During the blessing she was also filling her drawers. But luckily it all stayed inside the diaper.

We did not really stay up and celebrate the New Year. Troy woke me up at midnight, "Happy New Year" by 12:10 we were both out of bed cleaning up throw up in Parker's room. (Saturday morning was Taylor's turn).
My dear sweet friend Courtney made all the food for the blessing (how awesome is she?!?!?) If Gina wasn't in town and Courtney wasn't going through so much making the meal for us I would have pushed the blessing. But we didn't.

Every one that came to the blessing lunch pretty much got the flu. Sorry family!
It also made the rounds in our family. Luckily Paige was skipped.

Life with three so far has been okay. The oldest two are so noisy sometimes we forget about sweet little Paige and when the room finally gets quiet, that is when we hear the little cries. Poor thing! But that is very rare.
Taylor is still very obsessed with her little sister.
Parker has had the hardest time with the new addition. He was demoted and he didn't like that one bit. He also became a true terrorizing little boy. Little Troy I should say :) But we love him.

At seven weeks, she weighed in at an even 10 pounds. I think I only feed our kids cream. They chunk up pretty good.

This pretty much sums up the last two months of little Paige. Minus her two month pictures. Which will be taken and hopefully posted soon.
She is a complete duplicate of Taylor. We see resemblances every day and looking through baby pictures.
It's makes me curious if she will be a mini-clone of Taylor as she grows up!

Growing Up

2012-01-08T17:54:00.004-07:00

We left church early last week (Paige's Blessing) so this week was the kids first official week in their new classes.

Taylor Jane is CTR 6 (and the ONLY girl in her class.....)

And Parker T is out of Nursery as a Sunbeam.....

Both kids {love} their teachers (Parker has the same teacher Taylor had so I knew he would love her because she is so much fun and so good with those little kids.....)

Right before we headed out the door for 9:00 am church.

Only 16 months until Paige gets to go to Nursery :) LOL

{Comparison}

2012-01-08T17:46:00.003-07:00

Just a quick comparison of the three kiddos.

I say it every day that Paige looks like Taylor, but going through all the pictures I see a lot of similarities in all of them!
They are definitely siblings!! :)

{1 Week}

2011-11-28T12:30:00.007-07:00

The day before I had Paige the Doctor let me schedule an induction day at my last appointment.
That induction day would have been yesterday.

I am so glad I had her before her 'eviction' day :)

Today she is one week. We had our follow up Doctor's appointment for her yesterday.
Weight: 7.0 lbs.

A few notes::

**Her middle name: Sarah is Troy's Grandma's name. In my head it was between Sarah and Madilyn (My Grandma's name) for the middle name. Obviously Sarah won.

**So far she has been a very content baby. If she gets fussy, just picking her up and letting her lay on your chest calms her down quickly.

**She has the tiny little chicken legs like Parker had with long toes.

**I get up with her a few times at night, but she goes right back to sleep....and so do I. But I am still exhausted.

**I have never had a baby poop as much as she does. She is a pooping Queen!

**Troy calls her a little goat with her little cry and grunts. I don't hear it.

**She has cute, fun little hairy ears. One ear has more hair than the other.

**She had the longest finger nails when she was born. I really hate cutting little tiny baby finger nails, but she needed them cut one second after she was born! They were stinkin' long!

**She doesn't 'hate' to be un-swaddled but she does hate to be naked.

**She has peed on me more times in the past week than Parker ever did-you know they say to keep little boys covered. I never had that problem. Paige is a different story. :)

**Taylor absolutely {adores} her. Maybe a little too much. After school she always runs in the house and asks where her little sister is at. I have to tell her multiple times to give me a little space when I am nursing her. I am a huge bubble person and having an audience of Taylor AND sometimes Parker hovered around me is a bit too much to handle. Taylor's response, "I just love her so much!"

**It upsets Taylor if Paige starts crying and it takes me a minute to comfort her. It's like a little stampede when the two older kids hear her wake up over the monitor. They are so excited to see her.

**Parker has turned into full time little boy. I guess I am lucky it took him 3.5 years to get there, but he is constantly jumping, stomping, yelling, teasing, testing boundaries and making messes faster than I can clean them. He loves his little sister, but not as much as Taylor.

{Thankful}

2011-11-24T18:06:00.003-07:00

Much to be thankful for this year.

Paige Sarah Wilkins finally decided to join our family yesterday afternoon.

11-23-11
7 lbs. 4 oz. 19" long
2:19 pm

Best delivery out of the 3.

Sad that I didn't join Troy and the other two kids at Thanksgiving dinner, but thankful that he took the two little rascals for the day to give me and Paige some quiet/rest time. :)

More to come......hopefully-

{Halloween 2011}

2011-11-05T04:36:00.005-06:00

This Halloween was rather easy for me.
About 6 weeks ago while browsing the costume racks at D.I. I spotted a bumble bee outfit for Taylor and there wasn't any convincing her to where it for Halloween. Score!
All I had to buy was the tights, wings & headband. I guess I bought a black long sleeve shirt to go under too :)

Then about 2 weeks later Parker told me he wanted to wear his monkey costume that we have owned for about a year now (picked up at a yard sale!) No convincing me!

Costumes done. :)

On Halloween day I made the kids a little 'spooky' lunch. Parker thought it was hilarious when I was putting the 'teeth' into his apples.

I don't think he really realized that the white 'noodle brains' were actually string cheese. His reaction to Taylor:

We went to our ward trunk or treat then to our good friends house to have homemade donuts and let the kids run around. I was a bad manager of time early in the afternoon.......
A nap for me & the kids trumped hauling the kids around to family before the trunk or treat. I blame it on being 9 months pregnant. :)
Regardless the kids that Halloween was awesome.
Taylor did inform me during the trunk or treat that I needed to make her & Parker bigger trick or treat bags for next year because her bucket filled up way too soon.......

{9 Months}

2011-11-05T04:22:00.002-06:00

It's 4:20 am.
It's not unusual for me to be awake at this time.
It's more unusual if I AM sleeping through this hour.

But tonight I am having contractions like crazy. Enough to get me out of bed and find a different spot to suffer through ;)

I am officially out of the 'no baby' yet zone.
I have hit 9 months and the baby has nothing but green lights to come when she wants to come. I want her to come. And soon. I am to that point.
But I will keep her in there cooking as long as she needs to be in there. Just not too much longer :)

Dr's appointment this last week, looked good. I am moving along and getting ready. YAY!
Here I am 9 months-

Probably the last preggo shot I will take. I am feeling like a beached whale more and more each day.
The lack of shirts that officially fit vs. the shirts that fit the week before doesn't help.

Okay, enough rambling. I have gotten my mind off the contractions for a few minutes at least.....

{8 Months}

2011-10-08T10:53:00.002-06:00

Ah! Another month down! One more month to go then if I go into labor there's no stopping this little one from coming!
Yahoo!

Not much has changed in the last month. Still the same aches and pains, but the uncomfortable restless nights and the braxton hicks are starting to pick up. I know it's part of the process, but I don't have to like it. :)
I made Troy take me on a date last night to the temple and then dinner. I had contractions like crazy when I would stand up, but it was worth one last temple trip for a while ;)

A few days back the kids and I stopped into D.I. because all of my usual t-shirts I wear to bed were getting WAY too small. The shirts in the women's department just didn't strike my fancy so we wandered over to the mens department. There I found plenty of shirts to get me through the next few weeks.
Now every time I am wearing one of my t-shirts Taylor is constantly asking me is I am wearing a boy shirt. Even when I explain to her that the Women's CSI volleyball camp shirt is NOT a men's shirt she still insists I am wearing a boy shirt. Or the shirt that says DANCE on it.
When that little girl gets something in her head it is so dang hard to get it out!

Both kids are getting super excited for this little one to come, but their comments on how huge my belly is getting always stings just a little :)

{7 Months}

2011-09-21T10:36:00.003-06:00

This post is about 3 weeks late! :)
Seeing how I am only 1 week away from the 8 month mark!
The 7th month is always the hardest month for me. I don't know why. It just is. I am done being pregnant. 9 months really is a long time to be pregnant! :)
At least I am in the single digit weeks countdown now! Yahoo!

I went to the Dr. today and I have officially started my 'every 2 weeks' check ups!
I also had to get the flu shot.
My last appointment 3 weeks ago, I had to get the rhogam shot AND take the glucose test/blood drawn.
In 2 weeks I will have to get poked yet again with another needle.
Good thing I don't HATE them.

Here is a comparison of 28 weeks when I was preggo with Parker.

And in case you were wondering.....

N0 name for this little one yet. This poor kid will probably be nameless until the day she is born. But I do know we will not be leaving the hospital without giving her a name! I hear it's a pain to have to do all the paper work afterwards. So we will see....

Taylor needs help!

2011-08-31T13:11:00.003-06:00

Last night Troy watched the kids while I went to Kiwi Loco with some friends.

The kids were outside playing when Parker ran in talking jibberish.
(Story re-told, may not be 'exactly' how things went down....but close enough!)

Troy couldn't understand him just Parker telling him "Tay, tied"
(He may be 3 years old, but remember he has to go to school for speech therapy!)
He was sent back outside to play

Then Parker came in again, "Tay needs scissors."
Now he was really sent back outside with no luck.

Each time Parker came in to Troy he was sent back outside.
**Wouldn't you Mother's out there, take a guess that Taylor might need some help & to go check on the other child????** :)

Finally Parker came back inside with this:

Taylor's other attempt for help. She had tied a ribbon to the side of the tramp and then tied the other end to one of her pants belt loops. She was stuck.

Finally Parker came through and got Dad to come outside and free her :)

Parker {Preschool 2011}

2011-08-31T12:51:00.004-06:00

Cute little Parker T gets to go to preschool two times a week.
The only reason I am sending him this year to school is because he needs to go to speech therapy.
With him testing into the school district preschool he also gets to ride the bus to and from school.

Don't worry, I am not sending him on the bus with all the older kids.
This is the 'preschool only' (short bus). There is the driver, one aide, ONLY preschoolers (on Monday there were 5 in his class) and there are seat belts (Taylor's reaction to Parker's bus having seat belts & not her bus was priceless!)

He leaves for school 20 minutes after Taylor and gets back 20 minutes after I pick Taylor up and return home.

Here he is first day all ready to go (sort of). I took him to school the first day and made him ride the bus home. Today was his second day and he went to and from on the bus. I think with a little time he will be a little more comfortable going on the bus without him Mom. :)

Me: Parker, Move the paper so I can see your face.

Parker: What Mom?

Parker: No paper Mom!

Parker: Get my baby Puppy!

Then he was done. He didn't want to hold the paper or stand still for that matter. At least it captures his little personality!

He is growing up a little too fast! I think it really hit me this week how big he was getting because he is now potty trained (3 weeks no accidents out of 3.5 weeks of the whole potty training process! Go Parker!) and going to school....on a bus.

It was a little weird to go to my Dr.'s appointment and get my hair cut and I didn't have to worry about finding someone to watch the kids while I was out! Mondays & Wednesdays have now officially become "Get stuff done in the mornings, kids free day!"

{Kindergarten}

2011-08-23T14:11:00.004-06:00

Our cute little Taylor Jane started Kindergarten yesterday.
She has been looking forward to this day since she did the Kindergarten testing last spring!

I gave her a choice of me taking her the first day of school or her riding the bus. The bus won.
But I did feel better when we picked her up and she told me the bus was too noisy, her feet wouldn't touch the ground, no one sat next to her, she kept sliding off the seat and she didn't have a seat belt....only the bus driver!
She then asked me this morning if I would take her to school. Nope. Sorry Missy. You had your chance! :) She better learn to love it, come 7:25 am all year round she will be getting on that bus!

Today was a different experience. I think she was just a little too nervous yesterday that every little thing was just wrong in her opinion.
Today she sat with one of the girls in her class, she didn't complain about the noise, or her feet being able to touch. She loved it.

Meet Scratchy.

No time outside is spent with out one of the two kids hauling this poor cat around. Sometimes the poor thing is being hauled upside down while in Parker's arms but Scratchy still lets the kids catch her/him (I haven't looked at the gender....)

I did shed a few tears, but I survived. Now this coming Monday I will probably cry again, because it will be Parker's turn to go to pre-school. What will I ever do with two mornings a week will all that time just to myself??!?!??

I am sure I will find something. :)

{6 Months}

2011-08-13T17:37:00.003-06:00

I hit the 6 month mark a few days ago.
Why is it, when you are the one pregnant 9 months can last FOREVER, but if it is someone else you know that is pregnant it seems like they announce they are pregnant and then BOOM next week they are having the baby?!??!?!

Just a thought.

Troy is in grain harvest so this month is a self portrait in the bathroom mirror :)

Baby #3

2011-07-18T09:34:00.007-06:00

I guess it is about time I post something about the new little baby we are expecting.

If you haven't already heard/read the news on facebook Baby #3 will be making it's arrival to our family mid-late November. (Official due date is Dec. 1, but I have yet to make it to my due date with either of my kids). So I am going with November :)

All four of us piled into the ultrasound room last week and we were able to see this cute little face:

Going into the ultrasound, both Taylor and Parker were dead set on wanting a little girl. We had to keep reminding Taylor that it might be a boy. She didn't like that idea.
She did whisper to Troy during the ultrasound that she would be okay if it were a boy or a girl. So that was comforting that she would have been 'ok' with a boy.

But she didn't have to settle. A few minutes in, the tech announced it was a girl and from then on you would hear random giggles and squeals of delight coming from the older {very excited} big sister. Then she wanted to go home :)

The money shot:

It's a GIRL!The tech said this little one was not shy about revealing that she was a girl. I like to think because she constantly had her feet up by her face or curled up so tight, it wouldn't be very hard to see she was a girl :)

Right before we left one of the last images we saw were of her curled so tightly into a ball that her feet were by her head. As you were looking at her 'calves' you saw her little head peaking between her two legs!
Maybe we have a little gymnast on our hands?!??!?!

And, then there is what Mommy (aka Me) looks like at 20 weeks:

A few facts about this pregnancy:

*I have been SICK! I can count on one hand for BOTH Taylor and Parker's pregnancy how many times I threw up....three. With this one, it's a pretty safe bet to say just about every night leading up to week 18! I have been getting better though. A few nights I feel fine, then a bad night.

*From the moment we found out we were pregnant, I always had a feeling it was a girl. Then I started doubting my feeling the week before the ultrasound. Maybe I was trying to convince myself that a boy would be 'ok' also :) Just kidding, I would have been completely fine with either gender. But I am excited it's a girl! :)

*I have heard alot that three kids is extremely hard. I had a hard time adjusting to two kids. So I am pretty much terrified of having three! At least the other two are older. Taylor will be just shy of 6 and Parker will be 3.5.

*We have no idea on names. Clueless.

*I am 98.9% certain this is our last. There is something about gaining/losing the baby weight AND losing your body for 9 months that I hate. But I do love being able to feel the baby move and to nurse. I just love being able to stay at home and nurse my babies. Call me crazy.

*This is my first baby that I was 'bigger' in the summer. Thus, when my regular clothes started getting too tight I didn't own a single pair of maternity capris/shorts. With Taylor I would have just suffered and continue to squeeze into regular clothes, but knowing the comfort of those stretch waistbands I wasn't afraid to go maternity with the first sign of discomfort :)

*I am planning on a non-epidural delivery. Parker's delivery was a lot easier than Taylor's and the recovery was like night & day. But we will see how it goes when the time comes and this one decides to take longer entering the world than Parker did :)

And since I never got around to posting the previous preggo pics I made Troy take of me here is week 12 and 16:

Week 12:
Taken the night of Taylor's dance recital.

Week 16:

Troy felt a little left out, (and I am sure will kill me for posting this picture!) but it makes me laugh that he needed his picture too :) I kept his face in the picture because you can totally tell he is mocking me and acting like a goof ball (and sticking his stomach out?!?!?!)

Love you Troy :)

1st Annual Wilkinson Family Reunion

2011-07-11T10:18:00.005-06:00

My family held our very first family reunion over the 4th of July weekend.
We crammed so much fun into that weekend, it took my kids a few days of long naps to catch up with all the days of no naps & late nights.

I think I am still trying to catch up. :)

I was very lazy, and very horrible not to bring my camera for the first day of fun.....

{Steadman's} water slides: Friday
Good thing my sister in law had her camera and snapped some pictures for me and then I stole :)
Thanks Cindy!

Of course, it took some convincing with both of my kids to go down the slides, but once they did go, you couldn't get them to stop!

I love this picture!

{Boating} :Saturday

This day I was better. I actually TOOK my camera with us. But I never TOOK it out of the bag!
I tell ya, I was HORRIBLE!
Troy's sister Maria lives on the river and she was kind enough to let us bring our boat to her place and let my family invade her home.
She was also nice enough to set up her little water slide at her house.

(Again, another stolen picture from my sis-in-law!)

{Family Dinner}: Sunday

Being Sunday, we fired up the grill and made shish kabobs and filled our plates with yummy food!
My sister Melissa had a tv that broke so we took it down to some sand pits and blew it up. Me and my kids sat by the cars during the shooting portion. They are dare devils I tell ya.

Then the moment Taylor had been waiting for all evening. We set off fireworks. It was her first time witnessing fireworks and she spent most of her time sitting next to Grandma & Grandpa on the front step of the house. She made it further then I ever did when I was younger. I watched from inside the house through the window. I wonder where they get there dare devil-ness from?!?!? :)

It was both my kids' first time witnessing fireworks. I am such a mean Mom. But my kids wake up early, therefore go to bed early and they just aren't worth it to keep them awake for the fireworks.
Taylor liked the pop-its. Hated the sparklers. Parker at least held a sparkler, then pointed it down when I wasn't looking and had some sparks hit his feet. Then he was done.

{Parade!} Monday
After our usual scout breakfast at our church we headed to Albion for their parade. Guess what! I actually took out my camera and took some pictures! Not many but a few!

Waiting for the parade to start

Grandpa was in the parade and when he arrived to our little group of people, we were bombarded with candy! He threw handful after handful of candy at us. And it wasn't on the ground we had pieces flying at our heads! Thanks dad!

We stayed at the park long enough for Taylor to go on a train ride, then on a pony ride then it was off for my little family to meet Troy & his family back at his sister Maria's for another day of boating!
I was really surprised that Taylor was BEGGING to go on the pony rides. So not like her. Parker chose to hang out in the stroller parked in the shade. Smart boy.

We skipped fireworks that evening. We were all tired and since we had some the night before I thought it was good enough :)

Phew. Re-living those four days makes me tired all over again! But it sure was fun!

Taylor Gets Feathers

2011-05-28T08:45:00.003-06:00

It all started the day Taylor came home from preschool and informed me her cute preschool teacher had some pink hair.

From the sounds of it, all the little girls that went to school to Andrea were pretty impressed with it.
If you didn't notice in Taylor's preschool graduation pictures, she has a few stripes of colored hair. We found some hair color spray at Zurcher's one day and just color a few strands once in awhile. Then it would wash out the next day.

Thursday when I was getting my hair cut, I asked Kandice (Troy's sister) about the colored hair. She told me they were feathers. There was another lady at the salon that puts the feathers in hair. So, I signed Taylor up :)

Later that evening we stopped by the salon and two feathers and a few strands of 'bling' were placed in Taylor's hair.

She loves it! (Even though her super excited expression says it all in the pictures! She didn't really want me to take pictures right then)

A few things I LOVE about it:
1. You can wash them.
2. You can blow dry them.
3. You can flat iron them!
4. They will stay in for at least 2 months
5. It isn't any harsh dies or chemicals in her hair.

Taylor also likes that she can do all of the above and the color will stay in, but she also loves that they won't come out when she plays tee ball, plays outside, or when there is thunder (don't ask me how she came up with thunder as an option to lose the color in her hair!)

It's fun, cute and a cheap way to make one little girl happy :)

Dance Recital 2011

2011-05-25T13:32:00.000-06:00

We officially have 2 years of dance under our belts. And from the looks of it, we will be having many more years to come.

Taylor just loves dance. She loves the friends in her class, loves all the fun costumes and during recital time: the make up! She is such a girl!

After making her play fall soccer last year, I asked if she wanted to play spring soccer and with a quick reply: "No, you have to run too much." (She must not be mine! LOL)
I told her tonight she had tee ball practice and she started crying. Not a good sign.
If I mention anything dance, she never thinks twice. She is not nervous on stage, she just gets up there and does her thing.

I think she is our dancer. Not our sportster.

This years theme was "Barn yard Boogie"

I thought their costumes were super cute. Taylor wasn't a huge fan of the bow on the bum, but left it alone after the first complaint about it.....

She does two dances. One ballet and one tap. The video is of her tap dance. I only brought the 7d, so we took pictures of ballet and recorded the tap.

This isn't the best picture, but it's the best we have of the stage props. I thought they did a great job on them.

Taylor is the 4th from the right.....fyi.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Taylor Graduates

2011-05-24T09:31:00.003-06:00

Just because I am MONTHS behind on this blog, doesn't mean A LOT has been happening and pictures weren't taken.

Because a lot has happened and oodles of pictures were taken. Just not posted :)

Yesterday, Taylor 'graduated' from preschool. She was so excited! I thought she would be sad, but she was not. I think the thought of kindergarten is way more exciting to her. That and the fact that 'she can stay home with me all the time' (in her words).
We will see how long that excitement continues when she realizes, that while she was at school Parker and I did very little in her absence. :)

She absolutely loved her preschool teacher.

She was able to bring home her ABC book that they worked on all year long. It's only been 24 hours, but her and Parker have probably looked through that book 1,000 times. No joke.

Way for Taylor for accomplishing preschool graduation.
Now on to the next stage of life when she gets to ride the bus and see her school teacher more than her Mom.......*tear*

The Birthday Party

2011-01-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday was birthday party day.

She kept asking me all day what all her friends were going to bring her for her birthday. :)
(P.S. They did NOT disappoint! She was spoiled!)

The poodle theme decor:

The cupcakes/cake
I forget how much work goes into rolling out cake fondant....

I made the cute little rhinestone poodle on her shirt:

Using This

We had a great turnout. Of all the Aunts and Uncles that live close by we had them all crammed into our home except for two! (FYI Troy has 6 bro/sis and I have 5!)

Blowing out the candles....
Parker tried a few times to blow them out before her. He's become quite the little stinker.

The gifts:

Top row:
LPS: Ryan & Maren, Lalaloopsy: Mike, Jana, Dusty & Gina, Little Doll: Theron & Joyce
Middle row:
Necklace: Melissa & David, Brown Headband: Patrice & Warren, Disney paper dolls: Mimi & Papa
Bottom row:
Cinderella & horse: Mom & Dad, Bag full of goodies: Maria & Steve, Princess Cake set: Jason & Christy

She was very quiet throughout the entire night. Never showed much emotion while opening gifts (as you can see!)
But she has made her rounds of playing with ALL of her new gifts.

My sister in law pointed out how nice she was being and that she never threw any fits.
The fit throwing came right before the last guest walked out the door.

I was hoping for none. But as the saying goes, "It's my party & I'll cry if I want too."

Thanks to all for coming & for spoiling our little girl! :)

A Little Help

2011-01-24T10:46:00.003-07:00

I love the location of our home.
In the country just enough, but not too far away from town.

The only bad thing?!!?!?
We are surrounded by fields, and have NO gravel in our yard.

Add the two together in the winter and mix in a few sunny winter days and our yard quickly turns into a mud hole.

The other day, the poor UPS guy went to turn around in our yard and just kept on going!
He was stuck.

As he walked to our door, he was just shaking his head.
We kind of laughed about it, then I called the hubby to come rescue him.

Good thing Troy was just down the road, AND we had one of the tractors at our house. UPS didn't have to wait long before he was back on his way making deliveries.

We need some gravel.
Badly.

Taylor turns 5

2011-01-19T17:16:00.005-07:00

Yesterday my first born turned 5.

It's hard to believe that it has been 5 years since I became a mother.
Depending on the day, it's felt like I have been a Mother for f.o.r.e.v.e.r.
But on other days, it's like I blinked and it's been 5 years. Wow.

To celebrate her big day, we headed to Utah.
Well, not just for her birthday. My nephew was graduating from Fire School so we made it a double whammy.

We went to Troy's favorite thrift store shopping: D.I., The Pepperidge Farm Thrift store in Richmond, The Fun Park where the kids ran around the place.

My niece Calista won 1,000 tickets on her first token! (She should go to Vegas!)

Opened up a couple presents:

Goldilicious from Grandma & Grandpa

Belle & Horse from my nephews.

Hit my nephews graduation.

Kody & my Dad. The metal piece behind them was Kody's class' (all 9 of them!) project.

Congrats again, Kody!

Then afterwards, we went to eat.
Appropriately, The Firehouse Pizzeria, was the restaurant of choice.

Nice face Braden.

End it with a ph'zzookie m&m cookie/sundae for Taylor's birthday celebration.

Phew.

Then we headed the 2 hours home.
Hit a MAJOR snowstorm and had to drive pretty much blind (good thing for rumble strips!) the last half of the way home.

Double Phew.
Nothing too major for the little 5 year old, but that day is coming. Sunday to be exact.

Happy Birthday Taylor Jane!

A Little Song for you::

2011-01-01T14:36:00.003-07:00

I have been singing this little song in my head all morning.

It goes to the tune of "Popcorn Popping"

I look out the window and what do I see?

Our new Sequoia looking back at me! :)

Look what we got yesterday!!!!!!!!

Yahoo! I am so excited, words can't explain!

Famous Last Words

2010-12-08T20:34:00.005-07:00

Troy is a very well intentioned pack rat.

He finds items and (his famous last words!) says "I can sell this!"

But never does.
The item(s) then get shoved somewhere in our home.

Repeat 100x. (LOL)

Well, he finally did it.

He gathered up (A TON) his valuable 'junk' and added

This:

to get this:

and then bought himself (us) a new one of these:

(Canon 7D)
Yay! It does video! :)

Merry Christmas to him! ;)

After our photography seminar in February this will be on ebay too.....

(Canon 20D)

Hopefully sooner rather than later.......

Pumpkin Patch 2010

2010-11-03T20:41:00.005-06:00

It's a family tradition to go to the pumpkin patch with my sister and her kids and have Grandma & Grandpa come too. Grandpa was a poop this year and stayed home.....

This year it was on the 29th of October, but we made the trip to pick out some pumpkins!

This little munchkin was OBSESSED with "Baby Pumpkins" every time I turned around he had found another one. Most of them were rotten!

Taylor's first pick:

Of course Melissa's boys find a big ol' pumpkin across the field and have to haul it back to the wheel barrow.
Keegan was nice enough to carry it for Landon....

Speaking of Landon: He got this hoodie sweater that completely zips up to look like this:

Kind of creepy huh?!?!?

He is just so stinkin' cute!

And guess what! He found another baby pumpkin!

Taylor's second & final pick of the day. She didn't make it too far before I had to help her!

After all the pumpkins were picked out it was over to take some group pictures.
Parker found one of his favorite: Baby Pumpkin and started banging on EVERYTHING with it.

Attempting group pictures.
Ashton (top left) "The sun is in my eyes!"

After a few more pictures, we moved my kids out of there and Ashton down to get the sun out of his eyes. The sun followed him :)

One funny one. Ashton still trying to see straight.

Final shot of the day: Me & my kiddos. I love them so much!

::Kids::

2010-10-27T22:27:00.005-06:00

This is my daughter all wrapped up into one picture.

Enough Said.

It also quickly became one of my favorites of her little photo shoot I took her on tonight! :)

And this, well this feels like my life.

Kids running away from me, Taylor leading the way with Parker just behind and everything is blurry. Sometimes I feel like I am living one big blur......

But I love it.

If Dogs Could Talk

2010-10-08T15:17:00.004-06:00

This morning as I was doing the dishes, I looked out my kitchen window and had to give a little laugh.

This is what I saw:

Our passed out Takoda didn't get rid of the evidence before sleeping it off. :)

*No, that beer can does not belong to us. It was found somewhere else and drug up to the house by the stinkin' dog*

Something Messy....Stress Free!

2010-09-20T17:08:00.004-06:00

If you know me, you would know how much MESS stresses me out.

A.L.O.T.

I love to can peaches, but I absolutely HATE the mess it makes!
Last year, I was pretty much at my wits end and I decided I will not can anymore because I can't handle the messy stress.

Kid you not. I am THAT BAD.

Troy came home last year near the end of my canning process and asked why I don't can OUTSIDE?

Outside? You can do that?

Fast forward one year and this is what I did this past Saturday....

OUTSIDE! Yay!

I was even lucky enough to have a hubby that wasn't working much and was NICE to help me do it all!
Even Taylor got in to all the action.

Then she got bored and made a sign that we had peaches to show all the passing cars....

No one stopped, but she thought she was pretty cool. :)

When we were done, we took the hose and washed it all down.

AND My house stayed clean......Heaven.

You won't find me canning inside my house again.

The Gathering Place Giveaway!

2010-09-17T08:53:00.000-06:00

Since I work at the Shoppe, I can't enter the giveaway for this charm pack of BLISS fabrics....

So I am passing the word on to all of you to enter to win!

I am a little sad I can't win this....I love this line!

GO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!

1st Day of Preschool

2010-09-01T12:59:00.004-06:00

Today was the day...

First day of preschool for little Taylor Jane!

She has been nothing but excited for this day to come!
She was totally ready to go!

Of course, nothing helps her get through it all like Hello, Kitty.

Dress, back pack....you know the 'cool' stuff!

I just don't know how little Parker will be without Taylor around to steal his toys, boss him around, or force him to play 'house' with her.

Today him & I made a trip to Wal-Mart, the post office & then took all the groceries home & put away all in the two hour time slot. :)

I didn't cry leaving her at the preschool, but I did get a little teary eyed last night when I finally let her pull out her backpack and put it on!

She is growing up so fast!

Dinner Dilema

2010-08-30T18:45:00.000-06:00

On the menu for dinner:

Steak
Baked Potato
Corn on the Cob

I have 3 potatoes in the fridge. When I go to put them in the oven, one is bad. Only have 2 for the 4 of us. No biggie.

Buy 3 corn on the cobs. Kids never eat a whole one anyways. Go to put them in the boiling water, one is completely spoiled and end up with 2. Just great.

My package of steaks has 3 steaks in them. One for me, one for Troy and one to split between the two children.

As I am dishing up plates:
I get half of one corn, half of one potato and one steak.
Kids get half of a half of corn, half of a half of potato, half a steak

Half way through our meal, Taylor wants more steak. I give her some of mine. Then she wants thirds and more corn. All of which comes from my plate since Parker is scarfing down all his food.

Dinner has been over for 10 minutes and I am still hungry. I NEVER run into a problem of not enough food AND both kids eating all their food so that there is no left overs.

Maybe it's time for me to start cooking full portions for all 4 of us......

Lion Vs. Monkey

2010-08-24T21:36:00.003-06:00

Look out Lion Boy.....

Monkey Boy is in the house....

Or we could possibly have both in the house at the same time.....

Either way: Monkey or Lion it's not complete without a little blue blanket.

(I couldn't pass up the monkey outfit at a yard sale for $5. It was his size and it's his way of playing dress up. Plus Halloween costume for Parker? Check.)

Grandma's Funeral {In Pictures}

2010-08-12T08:48:00.006-06:00

It's hard to write about funerals.
There are so many emotions.

So instead, here are the pictures I took at the cemetery/dinner after wards....

All the Grandsons were the pallbearers, three of which were my brothers...

Jeff

Jason

Jeremy

Honorary Pallbearers: The Grandsons in-law (that were there)

My Dad & His siblings...

Donna, Rusty, Ron, Glen (Dad)

All the Grand kids, minus two. My oldest sister Gina lives in Belgium and wasn't able to make it and one Grandson passed away a few years ago.

Now add in all the Greats. (Minus a few & 3 Great Greats)

One more cute picture of my cute/shy little baby boy :)
It was a sad day, but I know that she is where she wants to be.....with Grandpa.

Ragnar & A Half Marathon

2010-07-26T21:42:00.005-06:00

Way back in January I started running.
I was running for a reason.

The Wasatch back/Ragnar race.
I put in many hours and ran a lot of miles in preparation for this race. I even ran the Pomerelle Mtn. road. It was a killer and I was so extremely sore from it. But I knew it would only make me stronger (once I could feel my legs again that is.....)

The weekend of the race finally arrived (way back in June).
Leg 1 down.
Leg 2 down.....sort of. This was a hard leg. I was so tired and exhausted. During this leg I thought I had a side stitch. I just ran through and kept on truckin'.
Later that night when it was our vans turn to get a shower and some sleep my stomach was very tender....right in the place where my stitch was at.
After a full belly I went to hit the sack and catch some zzzz's. Only it didn't go so well. My side progressively became more and more painful. I couldn't sleep it became so bad.
I finally got up and went outside to the aid station.

Verdict: Either appendicitis or colonitis.
Leg 3 was my hardest leg. 8 miles with 1.5 straight uphill climb. They advised me not to run any more.
But I trained too hard that I didn't NOT run my planned 3 legs. I did however switch with Troy's niece and took her easy 4 mile downhill instead.
It was very painful, I won't lie. But it wasn't un-bearable. I finished that leg and I just wanted to die. Every little bump in the van killed and it really hurt when I was walking around.

The following Monday I made an appointment with the Doctor.
The official verdict: Kidney stone! He told me that a 5mm kidney stone is pretty big. Mine was 7mm.
Just great.

Even though I didn't have an enjoyable finish, I am still very glad I did the race. It is a great feeling of accomplishment and all the long hard runs I did in preparation finally paid off.

Read some of my other teammates experiences here, here, here, and here.

Three weeks after the Ragnar, I was stupid and signed up for a half marathon. I was looking into running one right before Ragnar but hadn't made any commitment. But after Ragnar I started looking at some half marathon training schedules, which were VERY similar to all the training I did for Ragnar, I signed up.

I started and finished my first half marathon. I wouldn't say it was a great experience, but it was an experience. Half way through the race I was just mentally battling with myself to keep on moving and get to the finish line. Let's just say....girls, we have the visit every month and mine visited right smack in the middle of the race. Enough said. (Sorry if that embarrassed any one!) My time wasn't great, or at least in my mind what I wanted to run it in compared to actual running time. But I did it. And I really don't think I will want to run another one.

My body hits a wall pretty hard at 8 miles. I think I will stick to 10K's. :)
So there it is. My two big races. I have ran 4 times since my half marathon (on the 10th). Some days I feel lazy that I didn't run, but then there are days that I just want to rest. I just want to play with my kids, or clean the house, or do a little sewing. Just anything BUT run. And I think that is okay.

And for the record. I have yet to pass my kidney stone.

Saying Goodbye to the Larsen family

2010-07-26T21:21:00.007-06:00

A good friend of mine & her cute little family moved back east to start med. school.
The only right thing to do was throw a going away BBQ party for them! :)

Instead of hamburgers & hot dogs we made shish kabobs. They were delish!

After the food was gone, the little kids started in on a water fight.....

But us parents ended it when the water was gone and they started cracking open the pop cans.

Picture of all the little kids.....

And of the ladies. I am so glad I am friends with all these ladies. They are all just so wonderful!

Taylor & Ana

These two always had their moments. I never knew if they were going to get along or not. A week or so before they left, Ana came over and stayed the night.

These two were up until 11 just laughing and giggling away. When they finally did fall asleep it was in the same bed and Taylor wasn't very happy when she woke up the next morning to find out we moved her back into her own bed.
Sunday as we were pulling up to church Taylor asked me if Ana was going to be there, when I told her no, she informed me, "I miss Ana." So sweet. I am constantly having to remind Taylor that they moved far away and that Ana won't be at the place where we are going. I think she is really going to miss her in dance this year too....

Me & Erin

I am going to miss Erin a lot. She was the one that met me three times a week to run with me at the beginning of the year when I first started all my training for my races.
We got to sit and talk every Tuesday afternoon while our girls danced away.
She was also the one that drove into my field and gave us such a great laugh for our freezing cold 5K together! Erin, you will never live it down about that day of the race! ;)

Good luck with Med. school Dave & when you are done, don't forget to bring your cute little family BACK TO IDAHO! :)
We will miss you guys!

Grandma Wilkinson

2010-07-26T21:14:00.002-06:00

My Grandma passed away early Friday morning. It is kind of bittersweet. She will be missed dearly, but I know she is in heaven and just LOVING being with Grandpa. Grandpa died when I was 2 years old, and Grandma never remarried.

Whenever she would have a stroke or her health was getting pretty bad, she would always tell us she just wants to go and see Grandpa. She missed him alot.
She lived in assisted living for 15+ years so her health was never great.

She fell and broke her hip the weekend of the 10th and she just went downhill from there. We knew it was going to be soon.

She was greatly loved and will be missed by many.

Obituary here

100 Miles

2010-07-09T07:18:00.002-06:00

On May 25th, I ran for the first time with my Nike+.
Today's short 2 miler pushed me over the 100 mile mark.

Next time I run, will be tomorrow morning and it will be my very first half marathon.

Some famous skater dude congratulated me on my miles and called me a "Bad A**"

Now hopefully as I am running I will remember I am a "Bad A**" instead of all the "What was I thinking" or "Seriously, Alisha a half marathon????" thoughts that will be going through my head.....

Trying to Win

2010-07-04T13:11:00.004-06:00

A few weeks back Troy and I made a little bet.
He wanted to be xxx amount of lbs. by the 4th of July.

Today is the final weigh in. Before church he had 3.5lbs to go.
After church he had 2lbs.

Now this is him, straight from church without any lunch.....
*Long Johns
*Sweat pants
*t-shirt
*2 sweaters
*1 stocking cap later

I think he is getting nervous.

Just like in High School. Wrestlers piling on the clothes running trying to sweat off some weight.

He has until midnight to get to his goal.
Stay tuned to see who wins :)

***EDIT*****
Troy won the bet. He was down on the treadmill for a good hour and managed to get 1.5lbs lighter than his goal.
Then after the weigh in, he ate lunch and drank a powerade only to be OVER the weight needed.
I lost on a technicality.

His clothes after he was done running was so GROSS! They were all just sopping with sweat and totally nasty.

Spring Dance Recital 2010

2010-06-04T21:03:00.007-06:00

A little late with this post, but better late than never right?!?!?

Taylor's recital was a few weeks back. She did wonderful. She may not always do her best during practices, but she is a little performer.

The Saturday before the recital was dress rehearsal. It was also the day that the kids with 100% attendance received a trophy.

Taylor was so excited to get one :)

All year long she never had a problem going to dance, I think that was because her teacher was her Aunt Maren (who she loves!) and she would see her cousin Jacie there in the other room (whom she also adores).

(I have a video of the actual performance, but they aren't uploading right now....check later)

After the finale Taylor was showered with gifts.

Flowers from Grandma & Grandpa Wilkinson:

A Barbie movie from Aunt Melissa:

And A Barbie Mermaid from Troy & I:

This is Taylor's friend, Ana, not only from dance but from church also. These two were very unpredictable on whether they were going to get along that day or not. But none the less, she was always excited when she found out that Ana was going to be at the same place as she was going to be. Sadly, they are going to move soon as her Dad goes to Med school. Hopefully they find their way back to this area when he is done :) (Hint Erin....)

And so this ends her first year of dance. I wanted to put her into tee ball this summer, but every time I asked if she wanted to play it was a very firm NO, so I didn't push the issue. Hopefully next summer. She does say she wants to play soccer this fall though. So maybe she is a soccer player/dancer. :)

Taylor's Sunbeam Teacher

2010-06-04T20:56:00.004-06:00

Our Primary has a WONDERFUL Sunbeam teacher!

It is not just Taylor that ADORES her, but every child that this lady has comes away loving her. No joke.

She has lesson plans that put us all to shame and has such a fun way of teaching the children.
I just got an e-mail from her with some pictures that they have taken recently after their lessons.

Thankful for animals. They had a Safari hunt and went looking around the church for animals. She made each kid the cutest pair of binoculars.

This last Sunday I saw them walking around the church sporting these awesome glasses.

Thankful for eyes day.....

She is the type of teacher that kids always remember and LOVE coming to church because they know she will be there ready to teach!

I love that my daughter gets to experience her greatness!
Now if only we can keep her there for another two years until Parker goes through (maybe I have a little pull since I am in the Presidency?!?!??!) :)

Happy Birthday Parker!

2010-05-06T14:24:00.005-06:00

(He is saying "Horsie" here)

My Baby boy is two today! I can't believe it!

I remember the day he was born, Troy was out moving water. The next day when we were being released from the hospital we had to wait for him to finish moving water so he can come get us....

6 Days

6 Weeks

For his first birthday it was nice outside, we had a BBQ with our family

Today, the weather is so cold moving water and having a party outside is far from our minds....

Never the less celebrating this sweet little boy is on my mind!

Happy Birthday Parker! You make me laugh every single day with how silly you can be! I am so happy we were blessed with you!

We love you!

Blankets from Mom

2010-05-06T14:04:00.004-06:00

I came upstairs from a long run and found my two kiddos having a picnic.

It makes my heart happy that they love their blankets I made for them. ;)
And that they can play nicely together (hooray!) and stay out of trouble while I am running! ;)

I think Parker just likes his because it has horses on it....but I will never know until the little rascal starts to TALK! :)

Dance Pictures

2010-05-06T13:59:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, Taylor had dance pictures.

I {LOVE} their recital costumes! They are just so cute!

I know Taylor has alot of hair, but I am quickly reminded just HOW MUCH when I have to curl it into ringlets for dance! But it's oh so cute and she loves it too! :)

Easter 2010

2010-04-12T13:48:00.008-06:00

Easter post a week late....but I wanted to have pictures of the kids in their Easter clothes.

Parker is completely obsessed with his tongue lately. Almost every stinkin' picture I tried to take of him he is running away from me, goofing around or sticking his tongue out! Stinker!

The Easter Bunny also found the kids....
Parker (an obvious) got a horse and Taylor was a little spoiled and got her very own mp3 player. She was constantly stealing mine and wanting to use it every time I was trying to run and wanted it myself. So the Bunny delivered....

Last Sunday we had a delicious brunch with some friends while we enjoyed the first session of Conference. Then it was off to my parents for food, dyeing of eggs, and an egg hunt.

And last but not least a bunny birthday cake for cousin Ashton (his birthday was the following Tuesday) I received a request by him for a chocolate bunny cake with sprinkles......This was the best I could do ;)

It is always an adventure to get all the grand kids together, look at the camera, stop crying, stop picking on each other and smile.....I didn't get a single good one. :)

(All the local cousins. We are still missing 7 grand kids...okay 8, one is on the way...
{not an announcement, my sis-in-law is expecting} and 3 greats!)

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter, I leave you with a goof ball of a kid.....That makes me laugh EVERY stinkin' day with how funny and happy he is......

Stink Eye

2010-04-11T17:33:00.002-06:00

At church today the kids and I took our usual seat by our usual people.
Kind of.

There was one couple right in front of us that I have never seen before. They were probably in their late 50's-ish. Assumption.

Troy (as usual) was in the front of the chapel helping with the Sacrament.

Before I tell this story, I just want to say that today was a GOOD day at church. I thought my children were very well behaved and pretty quiet.
Good enough that I was actually able to listen to the speakers.

At one point Taylor was putting her feet up on the hymn books. I always tell her to get her feet down. Before I had a chance to tell her, this guy in front of us turns around and tells my daughter to get her feet off the books!

I was shocked!

During the remainder of the Sacrament when the kids would make a slightly loud noise he would turn and give my kids the stink eye over his shoulder.
Parker grabbed a piece of paper and barely crumpled it and he got 'the eye.'

It wasn't just me imagining that this man was doing this. The lady next to us and my good friend in the row behind us all saw his actions. Even Troy saw it.

I found the whole thing kind of comical that he was like that. It didn't offend me.....I actually wanted him to turn and say something else to my kids so I could tell him to stop being a parent to MY children. I know, not very LDS of me, but seriously. Any one with kids knows that little kids make noises, that there will be crying and that there just might be a crumple of paper.

It may not have offended me, but there just might be a day when he offends some one that it will be there first day attending church or on the fence of being inactive due to feelings getting hurt too many times.

Just had to get my morning experience off my chest.
I'm done now......

Dear Erin,

2010-04-03T19:36:00.006-06:00

Even though the evidence of our very eventful morning is quickly disappearing....

The sound of us laughing hysterically will always be remembered (and the look on Troy's face as he came to rescue us....)

I added a picture of the correct way to enter our driveway (see below/click to enlarge) just in case.... :)

P.S. Thanks for joining me in the bone chilling/sweat to death 5K this morning.
Good times. Tons of laughable memories that even though the tire marks you left behind in the field will be long gone soon, I won't ever let you live it down.....ever :) LOL (see I am still laughing!)

And we definitely need to go shopping without the kids again.....

Thanks!

{Hugs}
Alisha

P.P.S. In addition to already burning my spatula to a frying pan this morning, I have now set off the fire alarm twice while baking my nephew's birthday cake.....and the cake is not even close to being done, yet alone burnt.....Not my day in the kitchen!

One Expensive Book

2010-04-01T15:27:00.003-06:00

I finally broke down and got myself a library card.
I don't read (alot) and after our trip to Mexico, I found myself reading more.
So, to the library we went.

Taylor was in heaven and that first day I am pretty sure she checked out every Dora book they had. Parker wasn't too interested.

On our second visit, Taylor found all the Barbie Books and Parker....well if you know him just a little bit you will know how much he LOVES horses.

He found a horse book.
The Berenstain Bears Wild West to be exact.

He hauled this book every where he went. I would constantly find him just staring at the same page over and over again pointing out all the different horses.
He insisted he sleep with it.
For Christmas, Santa put a flash light for each kid in their stocking (for the purpose of looking at books if they need a few minutes after they lay down....).

Parker would just take his little flash light and flip through the pages of this book.

One day, as we went to get Parker out of bed it came to my attention that we now owned this beloved book.
He had torn EVERY STINKIN' PAGE OUT!

It wasn't until returning it to the library, explaining what happened and asking them how much we owed them that I realized just how big a mistake that little stinker made!

Book replacement: $13.96
Library Fee: $5.00

A $20 book!
Even Better a $20 book that we can't even keep to read because the pages were shredded!

I have yet to take my kids back to the library.
For the simple fact of not wanting to buy any more unnecessary books.

Little Helpers

2010-03-23T13:34:00.003-06:00

A couple weeks ago, I got an itch to do some major spring cleaning of my house.
The kids were constantly at my feet, trying too hard to help.

They were actually driving me crazy!

So I gave them both a wet rag and told them to wipe the lower cupboards down.

They did great.
And I didn't have to do much to those cupboards after they were done :)

{Another} New Addition(s)

2010-03-23T13:15:00.005-06:00

Back in September I posted about a new addition to our family.

Since then, one day while out feeding good ol' Snow White. I noticed something.

There was two of them. Identical. Both gray. Both very wild and ran from me.

Who knows how long we actually had two cats and just kept seeing one, then maybe seeing the other not realizing we actually could be seeing two entirely different cats.

So we were fine with two.
Still not knowing the gender, Taylor named the other one Cinderella.

Fast forward to about two weeks ago. I went in the barn to see how we were doing on cat food. I knew one was outside the barn (that is what reminded me to go check them) and when I went inside I saw the other.

It was FAT.
Not just gaining weight because it was eating too much fat, but pregnant fat.

Troy saw the Momma a few days ago and agreed. It was going to have kittens.
And soon.

This afternoon, I was curious to see if we had any new kittens. I went in search.
I heard them.

But searched every corner of the barn. No luck.
Then I took a chance and climbed up into the barn rafters.

Sure enough. I saw a box, with the Momma's head sticking out the top.

I crawled my way towards her and sure enough (as she jumped and ran away from me) there they were.

Six to be exact. New ones too.
Now, I don't like cats but these kittens were cute....something innocent and cute about 'newborns' :)

After getting my camera and making my back up to them, I was being watched while I took pictures. She still wouldn't let me touch her, but this was the closest she has ever let me get to her.

And then again after I climbed down and was leaving....

If anyone wants a kitten (or two) in the close future, let me know. We will have some to give away.

P.S. Isn't our barn the greatest, non-ghetto barn around?!?!? :) It's old, really old. Give me a break! LOL

P.S.S. I guess we now know we have one female and one male cat. Great. Lots of kittens......they are both good mousers so I am not getting rid of "Mommy" or "Daddy" just kiddos. ;P
The Dad is our Cinderella, hahahhaha

{Mexico 2010}

2010-03-01T19:29:00.009-07:00

So I went the whole month of February without posting....that is a record!

On February 5th, Troy and I headed down to SLC.
The next day we attended my nieces baptism. Later that night I said good bye to my babies.....for a whole week. It was so hard and it was the longest I have ever left them.
The week gone could have never happened if my brother and sister in law weren't the wonderful people that they are and take care of the kids while we were gone.....{Thanks Jeff & Cindy!}

{Sunday}

Designated travel day. We left for the airport bright and early (too early!) and arrived in Cancun by mid-afternoon. Then took a van ride to our hotel: Dreams Puerto Aventuras
Since it was Superbowl Sunday, that night on the beach we ate and watched the game on some major big screens on the beach.

{Monday}

Tour the area day. We walked to the local shops to check out where we were. The Marina could be seen from our hotel balcony. The Dolphin Discovery was also located there also. I think swimming with the dolphins would have been fun, but I would only really want to have the dolphins come and push my feet, and to do that you had to buy the 'best' package which was $179-ish a person! Wowza! :) That night we went to Playa del Carmen, toured there, walked the beach and visited a Mexico Wal-Mart. That was quite the experience! As we were leaving we stopped at a booth to look at some adventure activities....more about that on Wednesday :)

Picture Above:From our hotel balcony.....The 'adults only' pool. The smaller one on the left had a swim up bar. How lazy that you can just swim up to the bar to get yourself a drink.... Even farther to the left was the marina.

Picture Below: Better angle of the Marina
{Tuesday}

Trip to Chichen Itza. It was at least a 3 hour bus ride, but on the way there we made a few stops.
First, a stop to an underground cenote.
They only gave us 30 minutes there, so Troy and I opted not to get in and swim. But it was huge, and the ropes strung every where and one wrapped around a rock as an anchor were quite humorous. ;0)

The ruins were great. Don't know if I would ever go see them again, but at least I can say we saw them :) The details were amazing!

{Wednesday}

Remember Monday night when we stopped at the Wal-Mart adventure booth?!?!? Well we got roped into doing a time share presentation. Only because we got two tickets to an adventure of our choice, both tickets for 50 bucks. Without going we would have spent $120 a piece!

We were told it would be a 90 minute presentation.
FOUR hours later Troy is banging his head on the wall, shooting himself in the head telling them NO and that we are DONE! Let us go!!

Maybe we should have paid the extra money..... :)

{Thursday}

Our Adventure day, that we sat through 4 hours of people trying to convince us to buy their time share.... We chose Xcaret.

It was at this park, we went snuba diving. I did not spell that wrong. It was really sNuba diving. I was totally fine with the whole idea of snuba diving.

Until, they strapped the weighted belt to my waist, put the regulator harness to me and dropped us off the side of the boat.
I freaked! I was so worked up that I was grinding my teeth so hard, I locked my jaw up and could barely open my mouth to put the regulator in! After trying to get me to go down a few times, the instructor let me take the belt off and just skim across the top of the water. After a little while of this another instructor came along, grabbed my hand and pulled me under.

I, then, was okay with all of it :)

After all the snuba fun we had an 'authentic' Mexican dinner. The restaurant was LITERALLY attached to the horse stables! You could smell the manure while you were eating.....gross.

Before we left for home, they had a show. The first half was amazing! The costumes were unbelievable and the whole thing was great.

Walking into the show most of the characters were standing all over, so you can get pictures with them.
I have some videos of some of the performances. I will get those uploaded and posted into a new post....hopefully soon :)

0

They were so authentic, this guy had a REAL snake wrapped around his wrist!

{Friday}

One of my favorite days....
We took a ferry to Cozumel island. Once there, we rented a scooter and headed out of all the hustle and bustle of people. (It was super windy!)

After about 30 or 40 minutes we stopped and walked around some of the beach.

The water was hitting the rocks so hard, and there were blow holes everywhere.

Right as Troy was looking into one.....it come up WAY higher than before.....

Oops!

If you have ever lost a shoe while in the ocean, it could have washed up to the shore. There was so many shoes and trash along the shore.

A little farther down the road, we found a great spot to play in the water. Beach was pretty clean, only about 10 other people playing there.
It was a blast! Well, until one time I came up from a big wave to find my swimsuit top down WAY farther then it should be and a little after that I came down again onto a rock and cut my toe open :) I was a little wounded. Physically and mentally. LOL

Shortly after our ride back in, some lunch, wondering of the streets we headed back to catch the ferry.
There was a HUGE down pour! The rain was coming down so hard, it was ridiculous!
On the ferry ride back there was a band there that played for us. They were great and their first song was "Have you ever seen the rain" That song has officially been sung MANY MANY times in our home in the last two weeks. Mostly by Troy and now Taylor. :)

{Saturday}

Relax at the hotel day. This was our first day we didn't leave the resort. I lounged by the shore and read (while Troy sat there next to me BORED!) then left to take out the kayak.
Shortly after I moved to the adults only side (quieter and less wind) Troy comes strolling in telling me I had to come snorkeling with him.

Just off the shore of our hotel we saw more fish (and was just as close) as when we went snuba diving! It was amazing. And then I hit my shin against some coral....and yet again I become wounded. That one hurt! ;)
I got cold so I bailed out a little before Troy and went straight to the hot tub....ahhhhh heaven :)

{Sunday}

Travel day again. The only bad thing was we didn't get on our first flight until 12:30 and had a 4 HOUR lay over in Chicago. We didn't get into Utah until 11:30-ish, then had an hour drive to my brother's house.

I was so excited to see the kids that I was up at 6:00, grabbing Parker (which was awake crying and would probably went back to sleep) giving him hugs. He wouldn't look at me at first. But Laid on me for a long time :) When Taylor saw us she got all choked up and almost started crying....Mommy too :)

It was such a much needed vacation. After almost 7 years of marriage we took our first real vacation. I could definitely get use to taking vacations!

Thanks again Jeff & Cindy!

Rain Boots

2010-01-31T21:17:00.004-07:00

My sister Gina sent Taylor some cute red rain boots, lady bug umbrella and rain coat for her birthday.

She loves those boots.

(Right before her birthday party...eating dinner)

So did Parker. So much that they were fighting constantly over who got to wear the boots. Because of all the fighting, Gina sent Parker his very own pair.

They are little giraffes and they are so extremely adorable!

Who knew rain boots could be so fun?!?!?

Thanks Gina! :)

The Birthday Celebrations

2010-01-31T20:54:00.005-07:00

It only took me two weeks, but my days are going by so fast it feels like yesterday!

Taylor had a wonderful birthday, surrounded by loving family members.

The day before the party, she received one of her presents from me: a new apron.
Just in time for the cake making process.

She loved it and was so excited to make her Princess castle cake. She just didn't have the patience to let the cakes cool.

The finished cake:

And the birthday girl:

ALL her presents were either Barbie related or My Little Pony.
Two of her favorite things.

Troy's gift to her was the kitchen cupboards for her barbie house. Maybe someday I will get around to posting it and getting the pictures off the other camera of her opening presents :)

I still can't believe she is {FOUR!}

Happy 4th Birthday Taylor Jane

2010-01-18T21:27:00.002-07:00

Four years ago today I became a Mommy.
Troy became a Daddy.
Our Family grew to three.

I can't believe how fast the past four years have flown by!

Happy 4th Birthday Taylor Jane! We love you {tons}

Birthday party post to come.....

Sunbeam

2010-01-03T17:23:00.002-07:00

Today was the day I was both excited for and dreading at the same time!

Our little Taylor Jane officially moved into Nursery!
The last few weeks of 2009 we would bring the "New Sunbeams" into closing exercises. Taylor was a mess, always wanting to sit by me and crying if I had to do something that didn't involve her sitting next to me.

I was worried that her being in the Primary Room the whole day was going to be exhausting!
She cried when it was time for class. I went in and sat for a few minutes with her. Her teacher is amazing and started class off with the story of Baby Moses. Then she pulled out a 'Baby Moses' for each kid. Huge hit with Taylor! I sneaked out right after that and she never looked back.

When it was time for Sharing/singing time she sat in her chair like a good girl and listened and tried to sing along.
Every once in a while giving me a thumbs up and smiling that she was having fun.
Thank goodness!

Now we will see how she does next week when it's my turn to do sharing time......

New Years Day

2010-01-03T17:05:00.004-07:00

We woke up in the year 2010 with snow. Really wet snow!

Perfect for making a snow man.
The temperature was perfect, so by 9 am we were dressed and out playing in the snow.
I had been sick lately so I was planning on staying inside. But after I walked Parker outside to join Troy and Taylor in all the fun, I didn't want to miss out.
So I sucked it up and pulled on my snow clothes.

This was Parker most of the time....falling down usually face first.

Or trying to see through his hat. :)

A little help....

And done.

After the snow man was complete we strapped our sled to the back of Troy's four wheeler and took the kids for a ride (One of us always sitting with them of course!) :)

Hot chocolate and graham crackers quickly warmed us up.
Too bad all that playing didn't wear Taylor out enough to take a nap!

Wrapping up December

2009-12-31T20:20:00.007-07:00

I have full intent to turn all my blog entry's into a blurb book (I have the first year done/printed and half of the second year started!) so I am getting all of '2009' pictures that has sat in a folder all month, into this year.

So, almost 100% of my blog is pictures of the kids, this post is no different! ;)

1. FEED ME

You know exactly what Parker wants when he is hanging onto this counter.....food. All the treats are in the cupboard just right up there.......

2. Tea Party for Two please

As Troy was leaving for the shop one morning, he stepped into our room informing me the kids were at the table eating breakfast. I was lazy that morning and after a few minutes finally dragged myself out of bed......
Only to find Taylor sitting as cute as ever in her Snow White dress sporting some shades. Both Parker's bowl and her bowl were in the sink and Parker's tray wiped clean before she brought out the tea cups. Both now enjoying an imaginary cup of tea and cookies. She is growing up so fast and (most of the time) does all that she can to help me out and keep things cleaned up :)

3. Guitar Hero Fanatics

After a little break from the Wii, Troy has been playing Guitar Hero again. Taylor loves to play along side of him and Parker RUNS to the couch when he hears the game turn on. He just sits and watches Troy play, just in complete 'ahhhhhh'

4. Dance Recital Wrap Up

Taylor had her final Dance Recital at the local High School. I think she was a little 'stunned' when they first opened up those curtains and the entire auditorium was full and the lights were all on THEM. But she did good. Grandma and Grandpa brought her flowers. Best thing ever. She loved them, and they are actually still alive and on our kitchen table....recital was on the 19th!

5. Pretty as a Princess

I know major blackmail pictures to show Parker's future wife, but he wanted the dress on!

Shortly after it was on he wanted it off because he kept tripping over it. Instead he wanted a shorter version. ;) We added a gun holster to help keep him a little 'manly' :)

Like Taylor's cute little dress??!?!? It was mine when I was younger...given to me by my Grandma Rios. I loved that dress. I love that my daughter loves playing in that dress.

6. Christmas 2009

I want to upload the first video of Taylor and Parker on Christmas morning when they walk out of their rooms and see that Santa came, but video uploading is taking forever! The pictures taken are on Troy's camera and I haven't even looked at them myself. They will most likely be added later. Until then, here's our cute little family at my sister's house after our first Christmas dinner for the day. We went straight from her house to Troy's family dinner. We were stuffed! ;)

Hope you all have a Happy New Year!
This last year has been wonderful and full of fun with our two crazy little ones.
Here's to a wonderful 2010!

Dressed to Impress....Christmas Style

2009-12-31T18:54:00.003-07:00

The two Sunday's before Christmas the kids went to church sporting their Christmas outfits.

I made Taylor's dress this year and quickly found out that I HATE putting in zippers! ;)

I just love how cute a little vest and tie makes our little Parker T. But should have bought the next size bigger....After one wash, the second time wearing it he was busting out of it! And we had to shoe horn his shoes on the second week! He is growing too fast!

Peek a Boo Puppies!

2009-12-31T18:34:00.004-07:00

The night of our ward Christmas party, we informed Taylor that Santa was going to come visit.

She was so excited. She ran into her room, found a picture that we had cut out of a toy magazine and said she was going to ask for 'this' toy.

I was done with my Christmas shopping for the kids....so I thought. Knowing that she was going to be taking this picture and asking Santa to his face for peek a boo puppies I started searching online for them.

She got the puppies, Parker got the barnyard animals. Fitting for both.

She was terrified of Santa (which was my DAD!) but we convinced her just to stand there and show him the picture.

She was better that way. Parker screamed, even after bribing him with candy.

Later that night, Taylor informed us that Santa had the same glasses as Papa.
I think it's time my Dad retires as our ward Santa surprise :)

Christmas morning came and Santa did NOT disappoint. :)

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Ride 'Em Cowboy

2009-12-30T20:23:00.003-07:00

Christmas morning Grandpa Wilkins came down to see what the kids got from Santa.

While here, he quickly learned Parker's love for horses. Anything (and Everything!) he will straddle between his legs and try to ride it. Even his new puppy blanket became a horse.

Fast forward to Monday morning. Grandpa called and said he was bringing something down for Parker.

It was a horse.

Even better, it was the same horse that Troy remembers playing on when he was little.

The first day Parker's little bum was glued to this horse.

Every morning he runs to his horse and goes for a ride.
There have been a many fights over the horse.
The horse has even bucked both kids off, but they love it and continue to climb on.
Parker has really got it moving, which makes me a little too nervous.

Best present ever. Even tops all his Christmas presents.
Maybe his little stuffed horses are up there, but definitely the {BEST.}

New Bedding.....Room re-arranged.....again.

2009-12-30T19:53:00.007-07:00

Taylor's old comforter was falling apart (I bought it from Wal-Mart, what did I expect???) so for Christmas I made her a new one. She 'knew' I was making it for her because she was SUPER excited that I was putting Minkee on the back.

BUT she didn't know I got it back from the quilters, got the binding done, made a sham or a throw pillow to go with it. Christmas morning, she was WAY excited when she opened it up!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

In order to put the doll house in her room, we had to re-arrange again.
Looking at the last time I posted about her room, I have changed alot....new curtains, new toy box, doll house, moved the coat hanger, moved the kitchen, new bedding.

I thought I was completely done...

Today I actually added something new. I made her a minkee pillow case for her 'usual' pillow. Since receiving the bedding, she would only sleep with the little throw pillow. I know it's because she likes the minkee, so today I went and bought more minkee (which matches the minkee on the underside of her quilt) and some {super} cute pink minkee as an accent and made a pillow case.

Hopefully now she will sleep with a bigger pillow.....

All Packed Up

2009-12-30T19:43:00.003-07:00

Troy and I's gift to each other this year for Christmas, is to take a much needed vacation.....Just the two of us.

We have the tickets and hotel lined up, so February 7, look out Mexico! ;)

My Brother and Sister-in-law nicely agreed to take our kids for the week (Thanks!). After I got off the phone with them, I told Taylor that she gets to spend a whole week with them. She was so excited she started packing that night.

She kept asking me if she could bring all these different things. I kept telling her it's going to be awhile until it's time but she insisted on packing up.

At one point she had her and Parker's little minkee pillows, both their blankets, Parker's pacifier and two sippy cups all shoved into the corner. Along with bags shoved with toys. She started screaming when I took Parker's stuff out so he could go to bed.

I don't think she will miss Mom as much as Mom is going to miss her.

New Barbie Doll House

2009-12-27T19:23:00.004-07:00

As requested, Taylor received a doll house for Christmas.
I wanted drawers below to store all the Barbie stuff we have accumulated over the last year (Barbie is very loved these days!)

Troy did a wonderful job (as he always does on things he builds!) Hardwood flooring, tile in the bathroom, wood threshold between rooms, window dormers....I could go on with how wonderful it is, but the pictures are good enough.

I wanted the bedroom and kitchen cabinets in by Christmas, but when the deadline was fast approaching, kitchen stuff got put on the 'to do' list. Birthday to do list.

The bed was made and better than I ever imagined. I made Taylor new bedding for her room, so out of the leftover scraps, bedding was made to match Barbie's bed. :)

Next big project on Troy's list Parker's bed.....

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Minky Pajamas

2009-12-09T21:16:00.004-07:00

A lady I work with asked if I can make some pajamas for her grand-daughters. I told her about the time I made some pajamas for Taylor out of the minky and she loved the idea.

I made three pairs for her. Every time I was cutting out a pair Taylor was at my side asking if those were for her. Then as I was sewing them together, she would ask if those were for her.
Both times the answer would be no.

I decided to get some material and make the kids some. They both love the minky so I knew I couldn't go wrong.

They turned out cute and were a {HUGE} hit when I gave them to the kiddos. If I were smart, I would have just waited and had them as their Christmas pajamas, but I had already purchased those so these were 'bonus' jammies.

I had enough left over out of Parker's that I made him a little pillow to match. Man, this kid {LOVES} this pillow. He would carry it around the house with it up against his face. You put him in bed and the first thing he goes for (okay third....blanket and pacifier come first and second), but he is hooked.

I don't blame them for loving them, if I knew I wouldn't look like a fool wearing them, I would make some for myself.....

Festival of Trees 2009

2009-12-06T15:47:00.004-07:00

So it begins.

Our little Taylor Jane has officially started performances in her dance class. Friday night it was at an old folks home and Saturday it was at the Festival of Trees.

She has sooooo much hair that it took us an HOUR to get it all curled and pulled back and THEN it was on to make up. I never realized until Friday night how long her eye lashes were! I'm Jealous.
I was lucky Saturday afternoon because Aunt Kandice cut Taylor's hair and then volunteered to curl it for us. For some reason, she made it look so cute and the curl lasted longer! We might have to recruit her for every performance......

As we were heading into town for her first performance, she kept telling Troy and I, "Everybody's gonna love me!"

Which they did :)

She did a great job.
Video is from Festival of Trees. In the first dance watch Taylor and the little boy (the only one in her class) he keeps kicking her present and she is NOT liking it! Good stuff.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thanks Grandma, Grandpa (times 2), Melissa, Keegan, Landon, & Ashton for adding to our little cheering section!

Happy 27th to {Me}

2009-11-25T23:32:00.004-07:00

Today I turned 27 years old. For some reason I have really struggled this year with turning another year older. I don't know why. But I feel old. I am almost 30 and that's a little scary to me. None the less, I had a good day. Troy watched the kids while I got to browse the fabric store aisles! yay! :)
Taylor is in desperate need of a new quilt for her bed, so I went out and purchased fabric to make her one.
Ice cream cake at my parents, then Troy took me to the Movie. The Blind Side. Really good! I think it would have been better if we weren't sitting in the front row. Literally, the place was pretty packed so we were on the front row! My eyes were a little crazy towards the end and my back and legs hurt from pushing my seat back to an incline for the whole thing. {Thanks for watching the kids Mom!}

I have been wanting a right hand ring for some time, and this year Troy and the kids got me one :) I can't wait for it to get here! It went from a birthstone ring, to this. I am loving the idea of this one instead of my first choice. :p

I was also blessed with wonderful sisters that showered me with gifts (thanks ladies!), loads of phone calls, and tons of facebook wishes. Thanks all!

Even though I struggled with turning a year older, here's to many many more!

Morning Conversation

2009-11-21T13:16:00.002-07:00

Last night I went to the movie {New Moon....LOVED IT!}, as I was getting ready to leave Taylor asked me if she could come.
I told her no and that it was a little too scary for little girls. Her usual answer, "Why it scurry?" I went on to explain that it had wolves in it so she would be really scared of them. She was fine with me leaving after that.

This morning as she woke up and came into our bedroom this was our conversation,

"Mom?"
"Yes, Taylor" (still trying to get a few more minutes of sleep!)
"You see the movie"
"Yes"
"Did you have fun"
"Yes, Taylor it was really fun"
"Were you scurred of the wolves?"
"No, Mommy liked the wolves."
"Were they cute little baby wolves? Not big scurry ones?"
"No, they were big."
"I don't like that movie"

She turned and walked out of the room.
I love how she asked if I had fun and that she remembered that I went out with my friend, mom, sister and niece. She really is growing up right before my eyes!

{18 Months}

2009-11-11T20:47:00.003-07:00

Last Friday, Parker turned 18 months. Which "officially" put him in Nursery! Yay!
He has gone in a few weeks before, but Sunday he was 'legal' :)

He is getting so big. He only says a hand full of words, but he will let you know if he needs something, if Taylor is pestering him, where he is hurt, and if he is HUNGRY! :)

Seriously, this kid makes me laugh when it comes to food. If you ask him if he is hungry (and if he is) he will stop in his tracks of what he is doing, and RUN to the high chair. Then he will continue to shake the tray until you catch up and put him in.
No joke.

He is such an easy kid, but lately tantrums are kicking in and he is starting to spend a little time out time. You barely get after him and he will adjust his attitude or stop doing what he is doing. Or cry. He is so tender hearted.

He doesn't like to share Mom. I spend alot of my time with two little ones fighting over who gets to sit on my lap. Or gets a little more of my attention.

If the camera is in hand and you tell him to say cheese. He stops, looks right at you, smiles and (tries) to say cheese. So cute.

Since he got his ear tubes, he has yet to get another infection. Well worth the money for the tubes!

LOVES his pacifier and blanket. I had mentally told myself that at 18 months we will get rid of the pacifier. I still have that plan, but Taylor and I are going to Utah this weekend leaving him behind with Dad/Grandma. It's not fair to them to have to put up with a little one going through Paci-withdrawals so it will be put off a week. Or two. :)

{HUGE} tease. He knows exactly what buttons to push on Taylor and what toys to touch to make her freak out! He laughs the entire time she is screaming. Then after a little while gives them back to her and runs off to find some more trouble to get into. Her blanket has a huge bulls eye on it in his mind.

A little too fearless. He runs towards water, flops around on our bed regardless if he is close to the edge, runs from you and grabs at any and everything in his path....he laughs. At least we have him taught to turn around on stairs and to get off the couch. Nothing letting him fall down a few stairs didn't cure. :) I also let him run into the cold water the other day, he didn't like it. And didn't go back into it after that :)

He is constantly trying to ride this little puppy. One day he will realize he is just a little too big for it. Or he will break it. What ever comes first.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

He may be a little stinker sometimes, but we sure do love him!

Nothing like adding a little spice into our lives right?!?!?

{Trick Or Treat}

2009-11-01T07:56:00.010-07:00

{TRICK OR TREAT}

Since having kids, this year was the first Halloween that Troy wasn't in the tractor and was able to come out Trick or Treating with us! Thank Heavens, because with the two little ones I needed the extra set of hands :)

Our Little Dorothy
(I think her little dress turned out so cute!)

Our Little {Not So} Cowardly Lion

I took away the pacifier.

It's crazy how one minute they will melt my heart with how cute they are and the next drive me so insane I want to pull my hair out! :) This was a melt my heart moment.

We hit a few close family members and neighbors, then (after dinner) our ward trunk or treat.
I figured Troy would want me to walk around the 'parade of costumes' with the kids so I asked if he would take pictures.
His response: "Not with that strap!"
It kind of took me by surprise that he volunteered to walk around the gym with the kids. Not complaining.

Once Parker figured out what his basket was being used for, he pretty much had a death grip on it!

Sitting outside with some dear friends. AKA checking out their stash!

Usually after the trunk or treat we would be done. Pack the kids up and take them home. This year we walked around the little neighborhood by the church with my good friend Courtney and her boys.

Taylor {LOVED} it! Her and Carson were so funny and cute together! They were cracking us up! As we approached this house, Parker was running and so excited that he face planted into the bushes along the walk way. Then couldn't get up due to his extra padding around his mid-section. {Hilarious}

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Then off to Grandma & Grandpa's.

Parker was so tired he didn't even wake up after the drive home and changing him into jammies.

This Halloween takes the cake {so far} since having kids.....

Craft Fair

2009-10-25T21:10:00.002-06:00

Want to see pics and hear all about my craft fair experience???

Go HERE then! :)

Nail Biter

2009-10-25T20:02:00.004-06:00

Today while at church, I noticed how long Taylor's nails were. I took a mental note to cut them when we get home.

A little while ago, I remembered that mental note and tracked her down with the nail clippers in hand.

To my surprise, the long nails were gone.
She took matters into her own hands courtesy her teeth.

Dancin' Queen

2009-10-23T09:05:00.002-06:00

This came on tv the other day and Taylor became quite the little dancer....

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What's for Breakfast???

2009-10-23T08:50:00.004-06:00

Our little boy can eat. And I mean really eat!

Just the other morning this is what he ate.....

1 Bowl Blueberry Muffin cereal
1 1/2 slices of toast
Few bites of my cream of wheat
1 yogurt
1 banana

After I got him out of the high chair he went straight to where Taylor's leftovers were at....

Finished her bowl of cereal
3 animal crackers
2 slices of cheese

After that I cut him off.

Barbie Conversation

2009-10-23T08:37:00.004-06:00

Yesterday afternoon, while I was busy sewing away, Taylor was quietly (surprisingly well behaved too!) playing with her barbies on the floor.
She had all her barbies, barbie car, all their clothes, brushes, shoes etc just kind of muttering play time conversations to herself.

After a few minutes I finally really tuned into her conversations and it went something like this....

Barbie: Kik (really it's Kit, but she struggles with her T's) you need to pick up your toys now or they go in the garbage.

Kik: No Daddy, I love them!

Barbie: Kik, I just teasin'!

Can you tell who she has this conversation with a lot?

Hint: I never tell her "I'm just teasing"

When did my little girl grow up and have play conversations that actually make sense with her toys????

Trying it On

2009-10-09T12:03:00.005-06:00

I found Parker's Halloween costume a few months back at Once Upon A Child. It was a 2T and I was pretty sure it would fit. Plus the price was right. But as Halloween is getting closer and closer I started to get nervous it wasn't going to fit.

So we tried it on.

He loved it, Taylor loved it, and it fit (little big, but not drowning him!). We were all Happy.

Hint of what Taylor is going to be....

But I still need to make the dress. Someday I will find the time.

Really Tired

2009-10-09T12:00:00.005-06:00

When in the high chair, it means business.

FOOD.

He must have been pretty tired.

Two Little Helpers

2009-10-09T11:50:00.003-06:00

Whenever I am doing something, I can pretty much count on one little girl helper by my side.

Lately, the little boy has decided he wants to help along side.

Even long after Taylor was done playing in the water and the dishes were complete, he was still standing in the same place...

....scrubbing the same pan.

He must have some OCD from his Mom :)

Someone to Watch Over Me

2009-09-28T09:55:00.004-06:00

As I arrived to church yesterday afternoon, I had to take a few minutes and just sit there. We were early so I had the time.

As I sit there, I try desperately to get my hands to stop shaking and gain my composure. As hard as I try I just couldn't keep the tears from falling.

You see, I just experienced a first for me and I hope to never have to experience it again. Ever.

A mile and 1/2 earlier:

As I was approaching an intersection there was a car coming from the opposite direction waiting for the car in front of me to pass so they could turn left.
If it were me waiting to turn, I was close enough behind that I would have waited for both of us to pass before turning.

Well, this old lady did not wait (or after it happened did not see me) She turned right in front of me as I was entering the intersection. I slammed on my brakes but I did not slow down.
After seeing the car pass me, my worry of her hitting the front of my car vanishes and all I can think about is now she is going to slam into Taylor. When I still didn't feel her hit us, I see the cement barricades that are placed on the side of the road and since I swerved a little to the right I am now going to hit the other side of my car into them. Slamming poor little Parker into it.

After going through the entire intersection and now past the barricades with my foot on the brake I am in a panic of unknown. But as soon as our entire car is safely past all harm, my car comes to a soft stop on the side of the road.

I turn and check the children and they sit peacefully in their seats.
Get out, car is fine, old lady (that needs her drivers license taken away) is fine (only now turned around and stopped in the middle of the road).

I assure her we are fine and she just continues to tell us she saw the car in front of me, but never saw me.
I was completely fine while chatting with her. As soon as I get in the car, Taylor is now hysterical and frightened. I assure her we are alright. As soon as I start to drive away, I can't stop my body from shaking and the tears start swelling. Now it's my 3 year old daughter that is concerned for me and keeps asking what is wrong and assuring me we are fine.

Of course it's fast and testimony meeting so I am just an emotional wreck and any little thing sets me off and the tears just flow.

I am pretty sure Troy thought I was crazy for being so upset over this almost accident, but the thought that my two precious little ones were sitting in the backseat and could have been harmed upsets me.
When we got home and I was telling Troy what happened he asked if there was a problem with the brakes for not working right away.

I am positive the brakes are fine, I just needed to keep my speed up to pass the crazy lady and the barricades. The car doesn't have a mind of it's own so I {know} who it was that stepped in to help me avoid the worse.

Never doubted in my mind who it was.
Never.

So it Begins....

2009-09-17T12:49:00.003-06:00

(Picture from 2008 Harvest)

Yesterday was the start of 'my' 7th season of beet harvest. (My, meaning me taking lunches up to the field every day/Not having a hubby around for a few weeks.)
Early digs usually only take a few days then the 'real massive' harvest starts mid-October. But this year, they are all being dug early. I am kind of excited that the farming season will be done early this year!

Yesterday as I was packing Troy's lunch to take to him in the field Taylor couldn't wait until I was done so we could visit Dad. She was even the one that handed him the goods.
Today she was just as excited, but insisted on carrying the lunch by herself to the car and SHE was the one to hand it to Dad again.
We will see if the excitement continues for the full two weeks, or she will be begging to stay home when I say it's time to head to the field.

I have tried convincing her that riding with Dad in the tractor is fun, but her answer: "That tractor afreads (afraid/scares) me."
She won't even get out of the car to throw beets around like previous years.

How unlucky am I to get a kid that doesn't want to ride with their Dad in the tractor?!?!?!? Every farmer's wife needs to have kids that can be sent to ride with Dad at least once in awhile!!!!

My Day

2009-09-14T19:59:00.004-06:00

I am not even half way done.

Every year while canning, I remember real quick why I don't like doing it.
I just have a little too much OCD. But it's worth it....sometimes.

Not Her Cup of Tea

2009-09-12T16:57:00.002-06:00

While wondering around D.I. a couple weeks back I stopped and looked at the VHS movie titles.
Seeing all the 'classics' that I watched when I was little and {Loved} might I add.

I started putting them in my cart. Taylor soon became a big helper girl and would pick out a few that she liked too.

You see, we have a DVD/VHS combo so them being VHS didn't bother me.

That night after dinner my sister's and I started making a new quilt and pillows for Gina's bed. To distract Taylor until bedtime one of her new videos was chosen from the stack and the show began.

This is what she chose to watch first....

She didn't get to finish it because it was bedtime. The next morning while I was cleaning up breakfast, I asked if she wanted to finish the show.

Eyes wide she said "NO! It's too scerry. It afreds me." (In Taylor translation: It is too scary. I am afraid of it.)

So Alice in Wonderland has been overlooked since. She never thinks twice about wanting to watch it nor does she debate if she wants to try watching it again.

Maybe in a few years when she isn't afraid of EVERYTHING, we will try. Until then it will just look pretty in the cupboard.

{The Gathering Place}

2009-09-11T13:53:00.006-06:00

There is a store here locally that people from ALL over make the trip just to buy from.

It is my go to store to buy all the fabric for all my crafty sewing projects.

The other night I received a call.

I was offered a job!

I went in the next day talked to the owner and walked out (first after buying fabric for a new quilt for Troy and I's bed! I love this store so much I will probably be paying THEM to work there!) with a job!
I will only work a few days a month so it is {VERY} part time, which is perfect for me and my little growing family, but I am super excited and can't wait! :) It will be great to get out without the kids and work somewhere where I can keep my creative juices flowing!

I won't start until after harvest is over (great blessing that they are willing to wait until the bulk of Troy's work is over!) but it's still going to be great!

So.....that is what is going on in {MY} life right now. :) This and I went out on a girls night last night to Perkins then the late show of Julie and Julia and it was {fabulous!} I love hangin' with the girls!

Four Wheeling Fun

2009-09-08T20:46:00.004-06:00

My sister Gina, from Canada was in town visiting so of course a family dinner get together was planned and took place at our Casa.

Troy was nice enough to take all the nephews (because locally all Taylor has to play with are boys so no nieces!) for four wheeler rides.

Usually Taylor is terrified of the four wheeler....not this night!

5...6...7...8...{Dance}

2009-09-08T20:02:00.004-06:00

Today was Taylor's first day of dance class.
Since learning that she was going to be in Aunt Maren's class she has pretty much asked every day if she could go to class.
{Finally!} the day arrived and she was super excited when I had to wake her up from her nap to get her dressed.

She did great. No tears and she did what she was asked to do (completely different from Gymnastics last year!)
I think knowing the teacher (REALLY well) and having a friend (Ana from church) she knew helped out a ton!

During the tap part of class she kept turning to all the kids and kept telling them to be quiet or she would just cover her ears....it was noisy!

Having to take two pairs of shoes every week to class, I decided to make her a little dance bag....

And of course a dance bow...

Maybe next week I will actually bring my camera INTO the studio and not leave it in the car.....

And to throw this in because when she is older she will hate the day she started doing this and asking me to take a picture of it just so she could see herself.....

White Water Rafting

2009-09-03T20:15:00.004-06:00

A few weekends ago (I am so far behind on blogging, it's ridiculous!) some friends invited us to go white water rafting with them.

I have asked Troy to take me a few times so I was so excited that everything worked out for us to go!
Melissa watched out kids overnight for us (Thanks!) and we left and had a wonderful time!

I didn't take very many pictures and I was a little bummed that the ones that others take for you on the "Big Kahuna" wasn't posted online.

The crew.

Of course we let all the men do all the work...

First time going and it was a blast. Will go again. Hopefully sooner than later. :)

A New Addition

2009-09-03T19:51:00.003-06:00

We have a problem here out on the farm.

We added a new addition to our home to help solve the problem.

I am not a fan, but if it helps....it helps.

We tried for three, but only one stayed.

Introducing.....

This afternoon after feeding the new little one, I asked Taylor what we should name it. I don't know if it's a boy or a girl, but it's name is "Snow White." It's not white either. It's gray.

You can't squash the name given by a three year old.
So Snow White it is.

It's very wild (GOOD....it stays away from me=less annoying!), and watches from a far while you are giving it it's food. Then waits until you are long gone before it eats.

I thought Takoda might kill it, but so far she has pretty much left him/her alone. :)

Hopefully this will take care of the mice in the cars problem.

Gross I know.

Double the fun

2009-09-01T15:23:00.003-06:00

After Taylor received Mr. Pony for Christmas, I am now officially glad I decided to go back and get one for Parker's birthday.

Because one would be sad......

If they didn't have their own.....

to play together.

Who's that {cute} little Girl?!?!?

2009-09-01T14:25:00.004-06:00

Oh wait, it's our son Parker T. :)

After a few public poop leakages, you would think I would put some extra BOY clothes in my car or at least the diaper bag.
But I haven't.

The week of Burley fair, Parker had a big accident so he got to go to the Cassia fair sporting a pair of his sister's denim capris with a cute butterfly on the back pocket and pink stitching. Cute.

And I ONLY had those because I had some spare clothes in the trunk from Taylor's potty training days....

Fast forward about a week and while visiting Warren & Patrice he had another accident.
This time he got to take a bath (much better then being washed off in the bathroom sink at Papa Kelsey's!) and come home in his cousin's pink pajamas....thanks for the rental Delanie! ;)

The next morning I think he was a little embarrassed that he was wearing pink.

He wouldn't come closer to me so Taylor went to him....Both my girls in pink....Oh wait... :)

But always so happy...

Today, while at the park was another accident and having NO other clothes available we ran to the store and had to buy a pair of shorts.

I will get some spare clothes placed into my trunk....eventually.

Another 5K

2009-08-15T20:05:00.005-06:00

I ran in {this} 5K run this morning.

It was cold.
The wind was HORRIBLE the first mile.
I left my long sleeve shirt on to stay warm....bad idea. I can't run with material on my arms. It bugged me the {WHOLE} time.

I need to train outside ALOT more if I am going to keep up my running races. *Step away from just the treadmill! :)
I love the feeling I have when I am done running....accomplishment.

I shaved :22 off of last weeks time.
I had a blast!

My sister-in-law joined me in this wonderful event to help support the Call family (Thanks for running with me Christy!).

I graduated with their daughter {LOVE HER!}. Took {ONE} very mandatory speech class from *THE* Mr. Call (I can't act and I hate speaking in public....but his class was always a blast!). The Mrs. of the family is wonderful with a {huge} loving heart. You would never regret becoming a friend to any of the Call family members. Friend for life.

I wouldn't have missed supporting them, even if I had to crawl the entire way!
Now it's time to take the day off tomorrow and REST! :)

I think I want to run here or maybe here next. I can't decide which one. Any of you want to come run with me?

Grandma JoAnn's Funeral

2009-08-13T21:33:00.005-06:00

The funeral was a {Beautiful} service. Many tears were shed, and a few chuckles here and there as we all remembered JoAnn.

During the service Taylor was on her best behavior and Parker (blessing in disguise!) was actually sick from teething, so he just sat quietly on my lap and cuddled for the entire time.
Parker was an Honorary Casket Bearer so he wore a boutonniere, he hated it and kept trying to pull it off. Then gave up.
At the grave site they had all the Casket Bearers and Honorary ones take off their boutonniere and place it on the casket. He didn't like having to take it off...silly kid.

We didn't take pictures of Troy in his nice new suit, Taylor in her pretty dress or Parker all spiffy in his pant suit. We just focused on the day. (I am planning on them wearing their attire to church on Sunday...picture to come then.)

**EDIT**
Troy's niece e-mailed me this picture of Troy and Parker placing the flower on the casket....Thanks Nikkala!

We did get a picture of all the grandchildren (and some great) that were there and that all stood up and sang "I am a Child of God" during the service.

And one quick picture of Taylor and myself....

We know she is in a better place and Thank goodness for our knowledge in the Gospel so that we know we will someday be with her again.

First 5K in 9 years!

2009-08-09T19:15:00.007-06:00

Yesterday I ran my first 5K since the fall of my senior year!
Almost 9 years ago!

Wow!
I was only a few minutes off of what I was running back then.
Kind of shocked me! :)

There is a little old lady in our ward that is ALWAYS taking pictures. She is so nice, she always gives you a copy!
This one of the kids and I is RIGHT AFTER I came in from running.

I have another race this coming Saturday!

{Bonk}

2009-08-09T18:56:00.004-06:00

This happened almost two weeks ago.

This kid is going to keep the hospital bills rollin' in! :)
I am actually not sure what he hit, I am guessing my side table next to our bed. That is where I found him when he started screaming bloody murder.....

It was HUGE within seconds.

He fell asleep in Troy's arms while he was putting ice on it.....

Poor kid.....

A Loved One Lost

2009-08-06T20:53:00.003-06:00

(7 Kids, 21 Grandchildren & 14 Great-Grandchildren)

The last few days have been hard. Very emotional, long and exhausting.

We received word about Troy's Mom on Tuesday afternoon. Things were bad.
This morning came the phone call we were all expecting.
She had passed.

We know she is in a better place now, but it's still very hard.
She will be missed.

The last few days, I have heard many stories about her. Some stories I had heard before, others were new. It's hard listening to all the grandchildren telling stories about Grandma, knowing that my kids won't know her like that.

A {HUGE} thanks to my {Wonderful} Mom, {Awesome} Sister and {Fantastic} Friend that have taken our kids no questions asked while Troy and I have been at the hospital and helping with funeral plans. We are truly blessed that you are part of our lives and are more than willing to help us out in this time of need.

Theron & JoAnn's 50th Wedding Anniversary Dinner
(2005) {I am weeks away from having Taylor....don't judge}

Parker's Baby Blessing Dinner

JoAnn's Birthday Party 2009
(Grandson's...in attendance)

(Granddaughters.....in attendance)

Cousin Sleepover

2009-08-01T08:26:00.004-06:00

I watched Melissa's youngest two a week ago while she was away on a baseball tournament with the oldest.

Taylor was so excited to have them come over and sleep at her house.

They were all super excited to sleep in the tent. As I was setting it up and realizing how squished they were going to be I tried to talk one of them out of it and sleep on Taylor's bed.....No go.

So all three crammed into the little tent.

Landon had to sleep in the middle so his feet could hang out the door. I loved how he was sleeping on Taylor's shoulder.

Little Ashton (after getting in trouble with Troy for hitting and keeping the other two awake) cuddled right on up to the side of the tent.

Ashton may have kept them from falling asleep, but I am pretty sure it was Taylor waking them up the next morning to PLAY......

After breakfast they ALL needed a bath, so we threw on some swimsuits and filled the tub with bubbles to play.

It was a full day of laughter and playing. They spent HOURS outside in the water.

Taylor had so much fun that she threw a huge tantrum when Grandma and Grandpa came to pick them up so they could spend night #2 with them.

Corn on the Cob

2009-08-01T08:16:00.003-06:00

One evening while making dinner, Taylor walks in and asks for corn. She {hates} corn. Has never eaten it before. Surprised, I totally agreed and she went down stairs to retrieve a can of corn from the storage room (favorite job, next to feeding the puppy!)

As I as opening the can she said, "No, this one." Pointing to the picture on the can. She wanted corn on the cob. She wouldn't eat it that night for dinner.

A few night later while at the store, we got some corn on the cob.

Parker LOVED it. But then again, he LOVES anything food. Taylor?!?!? So So. She took a few bites then wanted me to cut it off.

I don't really know how much he actually ate of it......

Not 100%

2009-07-31T11:37:00.003-06:00

You know you are not feeling 100% yourself when your son walks in your room wearing his sister's sparkly silver church shoes sporting the biggest smile ever and you think, "I should take a picture."

You don't because getting up off your bed to get the camera seems so hard and not something you want to do at the moment.

I wish I would have taken that picture now that it's over.

I wish I felt 100% again so I could walk normal (my back/hips are KILLING me!) and stay away from the bathroom.....

Cafe Rio

2009-07-29T22:01:00.005-06:00

I convinced Troy to take me to dinner the other night. Restaurant of Choice: Cafe Rio.

It was my first time {ever} going there. It was delish! Troy liked it too....until we were done eating and we were looking at the receipt and he learned that we were charged extra for the sour cream and guacamole. Not to mention to make our burrito enchilada style we paid more.
He also hates places that you get to 'choose' how your meal is made. Like cold stone. He hates it. He just wants to order something and they make it. He doesn't want to have to SAY which beans. :) Haha. Gotta love him! :)

It was great to have a sitter and have a nice meal without little ones!

I will go back to Cafe Rio. Don't know if Troy will.

To those that have found the {BEST} dish, let me know. I had the chicken burrito...
Wanted a salad but was a little worried..... :)

Who's Kids are these anyways?!?!?!?

2009-07-09T16:19:00.001-06:00

They get all their weirdness from their Dad......

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

4th of July Weekend

2009-07-09T12:48:00.008-06:00

We had a fun filled 4th of July this year. My brother and his cute family from Utah were in town so we were having non-stop fun.

Friday bright and early we hit City of Rocks. It's crazy how growing up we would go there and climb several times in the summer. But Last Friday was the first time in YEARS since I found myself there. It was great. Taylor was excited the whole drive to my Mom's about climbing the rocks. I don't think she knew how {BIG} these rocks were going to be! She lasted half way up the first rock and she was done :)

Her and Parker spent the day hanging out with Grandma, while the rest of us did the climbing. We were climbing to the top of bath tub rock when we were two with my Dad. The youngest we had actually climbing with us was three and he just seemed so little to be climbing. It was a little stressful with all the kids....I don't know how my parents did it.

Taylor was freaking out just going this high on the rocks....

Three siblings that made it to the top: Jason, Me, Jeff
(I stole this picture Cindy! :) Thanks!!!)

After lunch and the drive home it was straight to my house for a BBQ and some water playing.
THEN off to Keegan's Championship baseball game.

Saturday it was the Annual Scout breakfast at our ward.

Rupert Parade:

There was no hope for candy if you were sitting behind these four!

Both of Taylor's Grandpa's were in the parade:
One at the beginning (my Dad)...Color guard holding a flag.

One at the end (Troy's Dad)...Grandpa Theron made that cute train!

Lunch, then home for some MUCH needed naps.

After naps (and skipped swimming at the pool) it was off to my Mom's family Reunion.
More food, tennis tournament, and a mad game of football! :) Wish we would have got pictures (or some video!) of the football game! It was so much fun!

There was enough room at the park that the kids just ran and (for the most part) stayed out of trouble. At one point I looked over and realized that Taylor was letting her cousins bury her in rocks.....

The kids were exhausted (Mom too!) that we didn't attempt fireworks. It was just home, into the bath and then straight to bed.....for all of us!

It was a wonderful holiday! Would have been even better if Troy would have been able to join us for some of it....
(He had too much water going on.)

Parker Happenings

2009-07-01T08:16:00.007-06:00

I have so much going on, that I really don't know what exactly is going on that is keeping me so busy! I pretty much have a whole month of blogging to do about the kids (of course, who else do I blog about?!?!?!) so here's the month of June....in a (long) nutshell....

His Happenings are mostly videos, so I put them into two video montages.

*Parker is becoming the King of temper tantrums....Taylor is the Queen. At the beginning of the month when he really really started walking around with his push toys, he would get very frustrated when he would fall or get stuck.
The worse thing about these tantrums is he just throws himself in any direction. There are times when others are holding him, that he will almost throw himself out of their arms (and it's mostly in my direction, because he wants me and not them.)

*Because he is obsessed with walking, we will push any and everything! Bumbo chair was his choice of transportation on this particular day.

*I was vacuuming under the couch cushions one day and both the kids thought is was so fun to play with. Especially Parker because he could actually climb onto the couch by himself.

*After swimming lessons, we usually found ourselves at a park somewhere. Parker has fallen in love with slides. I had him go down on his bum a few times, but his all time favorite way of going down in head first and he just has a huge perma-grin and laughs the whole way down. This kid is going to make sure the hospitals stay in business.....I can just feel it. He {loves} playing outside. Slides, sandboxes, dirt, rocks, puppies (especially Takoda) would easily entertain him for hours.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

*He has started getting an interest in sitting still for a few minutes in front of the tv.......show of choice?!??! Of course, the one and ONLY Backyardigans. Lots of dancing going on there!

*He started walking on his own the day he got his tubes in his ears. He walks everywhere. I say THANK GOODNESS! I actually really {hate} the crawling stage. Their hands and knees are dirty, you can't put them down in public, they find micro-spects of dirt to put in their mouths, playing at the park is really hard when they are crawling through wood chips and dirt....I could go on. I like when they walk, call me crazy.
He also likes to walk on his TOES when he is pushing his toys around. Taylor did the same thing. They are going to have some awesome calf muscles. :)

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

*I don't have any videos of this, but I call him our little Sheep. All I hear from his mouth throughout the day is "Maaaa" An occasional "Tay" or "Daaa" or "Dauuu" (dog) will come out, but Maaaa is the favorite. I don't think he really ever needs me, I think he just likes to say it.....

Taylor Happenings

2009-06-30T22:22:00.013-06:00

*At the beginning of the month Taylor and I had a "Mommy/Daughter" Day. It wasn't planned, it just ended up that way.

It started with a day at the salon, both of us getting our hair cut. Then we went together to the circus that was in town. Parker got to spend the day with Grandma (my Mom) while we were out. It was weird only having one kid to look after for the day. I thought the circus was going to be a long show when the first two seconds we were there, Taylor spotted a clown and started FREAKING out, but she calmed down and ended up loving it!

*Taylor loves to help me out and lock the car door while I am getting Parker out of his seat. She takes it pretty seriously. Remember THIS day when the Locksmith was called?!?!?
Well, one day I walked outside to get my purse out of the car. The door was locked. We actually have a spare key to the Honda, but it was in my purse....locked in the car (good place for it huh?!?!) So as I am walking back to the house, Taylor is standing at the screen door and I am telling her that she only locks the car doors when I tell her too. I told her the keys to the car are inside now I have no way of getting in.

She looks at me confused and tells me to get the other keys (you know the ones we let her play with around the house or some plastic keys will work) I tell her those won't work and say that locking the doors without permission is naughty.

She looks at me with those gorgeous big blue eyes and replies, "ME? No, I a Princess."
Then she runs off telling me she will be "Right back"

She returns with these:

The Princess now asks permission to lock the doors or waits for me to tell her to do so.

(We had a second spare, that I didn't know we had, in the fire box so no locksmith was called)

* She has always loved playing with her dolls, but lately it's a little more 'real.' Trips to the store, Playing outside, Baths (pretend ones), Combing of hair, Laying them down for naps, and feeding them....

* Usually while playing with her babies, or her baby brother she is sporting some beautiful shoes...of mine. I can't help but smile, but I am just waiting for the day when an ankle is twisted and the fun will stop....

But until then, she will be looking ever so cute. :)

*Now that swimming lessons are over (Thank Goodness!) and we are back to taking baths in the mornings Bubble baths have become favorites. And my only bargaining chip to get her IN the bath to get ready for the day! Two weeks of not really getting ready really spoiled/ruined her :)

* A few weeks ago (that's how long my posts are over due!) I watched Melissa's kids for her. After everyone (including Parker!) helped me hoe, rack, dig, pull (what ever tool they could find!) weeds with me, I turned on the sprinklers and let them run. The boys {loved} it! Taylor?!??! Not so much. She didn't want to get her clothes dirty (or wet) nor did she want to get her hair wet. That's my girl!
So we watched as the boys ran around like the crazy boys that they are, then we had some popsicles. Oh, I love summer! Especially when I can send the kids out to play to help keep the INSIDE of my house clean! :)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

* The relationship between Taylor and Parker is finally changing. My house is extremely too loud, there are always toys EVERYWHERE causing me stress because I feel like during the day I am pretty much just going room to room cleaning up after them. But I can't complain.
The noise level is caused by laughter and {nice} playing. And the mess is caused by them actually playing in the same room with the same toys at the same time.

Their favorite is Parker pushing the shopping cart with a baby properly placed, Taylor decked out in a set of my heels, sporting a purse and they go 'shopping' around and around the house. I need to get a picture of video of this scene, but I am usually trying to catch up on cleaning or laundry that I forget too!

I love these two and {LOVE} that they are finally starting to play (nicely) together. I am totally happy and content with the TWO kids I have....for now. Ask me in a few years and I might change my mind (or have my mind BACK!!!) to have anymore kids ;)