Hermana Taylor

A few weeks ago we said goodbye to our sister Abby. She is on her way to a wonderful adventure in Santiago Chile! Although the goodbye's were hard, I know she is right where she is supposed to be.  She will be sharing her  testimony of the gospel with the good people of Chile for 18 months.  That seems like a long time, but when thought of in terms of how fast Beck's first year went, I know she'll be back before we know it. 

The night before we took her to the MTC we had a rousing game of Curses. 

That one is always good for a laugh.

Jalene had to dance with her arms every time she spoke. 

Chase had to pretend he had teeny tiny arms

and here is Abby giving her Miss America acceptance speech

On our way down to Provo to drop her off,

we stopped at PF Changs for some good eats and last minute mission advice.

Beck looked like such a big boy in his booster seat!



We all miss her like crazy around here, especially this little tyke.

We know she is going to be an amazing missionary.

March 1, 2010

February 28, 2010 12:00:00 AM 

I was driving with Chase down the empty Salt Lake Avenues towards the hospital to be induced. 
It was almost two weeks before my due date because of Pre-eclampsia. 
It was a quiet night, and I didn't even notice the rush of cold that usually happens when I go outside
I was so nervous.  So scared.  not for the baby part, just the unknown of being medically induced.

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Fast forward 10 hours exactly


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10:00:00 AM.  I looked into this angelic little creature's eyes for the very first time and to be cliche',
it WAS love at first sight. 

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One year later.  I don't know how time passed so quickly.  but I'm still in love. 
...but my angelic creature is not the same teeny tiny newborn that he was a year ago. 
he has grown, a lot.

We had a family party for Beck and Kyle on Sunday, and today we are just making the day all about fun for Beck.  Here are a few sneak peaks of Beck at his party.  He LOVED these balloons.  They entertained him for a whole thirty minutes ;-)

Guess who took these great photos?  You got it! Jalene!

Happy Birthday Little guy!  You are LOVED!!!

I have my cake and eat it too.





I was extra lucky this Valentine's Day.  I had not one, but TWO Valentines. 

The littlest one spent the day with me, and the handsomist one spent the evening.

This year I had a new kind of love to add to my Valentine's Celebration, thanks to this little man. 

One that includes someone needing me for survival, although I feel like that need is reciprocal. 

      

The Mister and I had a delightful evening enjoying Pei Wei Shrimp and watching this girl in Hairspray. 
(What a great show!)
After sending the babysitter home we reminised about how we fell in love-
and there was some tickling and giggling involved.
I love this guy so much.
We also talked about how we are so happy.  In our marriage, in general with life. 
Happy Valentines Day Tom Love!

this little guy...

...is ELEVEN months old!

and I can't even believe it.

What is even crazier- is that he'll be a YEAR in one month. 

 I am frantically trying to figure out how to freeze him so he can be my baby forever.  so far, no luck. 

It feels like every day he learns so much more, looks so much older. 

His latest tricks are dancing when he hears music, and smacking his lips for kisses.  We love it.

He tries to stand on his own every now and then, but only lasts a few seconds. 

I'm fine with him taking his time to walk honestly!

His little personality (and attitude!) is coming out a lot more lately.  I think he will be a tease.

The kid still loves all food, and is slowly weening himself. 

He still nurses twice a day but I can tell its all business for him and then he wants to get to exploring. 

He really has developed into a great little sleeper. 

 He has learned to put himself back to sleep if he wakes in the night. 

This has also made naptime much easier on Momma, which historically he has not been very good at. 

Happy Eleven months little man.  Your parents sure LOVE you!!!!

'round here

Five days now.  It started out with a severe headache, morphed into a cactus throat, and now I spend my days voiceless and my nights up coughing.  I don't get sick often, but when I do, its bad.  The worst part is, my little buddy has it too, albeit a much milder version (thank heaven).

Chase is watching a movie about "Pistol Pete", so I brewed up some hot honey-lemon water and decided to take the plunge.  Into the blog that is.  I'm so far behind, but I'll make an attempt. 

It sounds cliche, but my my we have been blessed.  Chase accepted a job offer at Orbit Medical.  It is a much better fit for him than his old job.  He's been there for almost a month and loves it already.  The only downside is that if/WHEN he has been successful for a few months, there is a good chance they will promote him and ask us to relocate to somewhere like Spokane, Portland, or Pheonix.  While the adventure sounds great for a couple of years, I haven't come to terms with the fact that we'd be moving away from family.  I guess we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it. 

We had a magical holiday season.   It sounds cheesey, but coming from me its not that weird, right?

Christmas in B-Town

Every part of Christmas was more fun with a little man to enjoy it with us. 

Jalene and Lincoln organized a temple lights date with us and Kyle and Jade.

 Next year we'll remember that it closes at 9:00 so we'll be sure to get there earlier.  ;)

gotta love cousins in matching Pj's. 

We spent Christmas in Boise with some of our favorite people

Reindeer fighting? no, just "Minute to Win it" Christmas Eve Party.  My mom plans the best parties!

Happy first Christmas to these newlyweds!

Tayler was at the perfect age for the magic of Christmas. 

We had lots of fun watching her get so excited with each present.

The first thing we do on Christmas morning is admire baby Jesus in his manger. 
One of our favorite Christmas gifts this year was our own manger to begin our Christmas good deed tradition. 

This little guy didn't really know the difference between a present and wrapping paper,
 but he sure loves this hat that Mimi made him!

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New Years in the field

The older siblings hopped on a plane to join the rest of the fam in Oklahoma City for New Years. 
It was great to reconnect with them and see what their missionary life is like. 

Beck was definetely the favorite person all week. 

I loved that he got to spend some quality time with his Grandma and Grandpa.

One of my favorite memories of the trip was the day we spent exploring Oklahoma University's campus. 

We spent literally HOURS taking pictures of the silliest things. 

We laughed our heads off taking these jumping pictures over and over and over again.

This is what the Taylor boys call "Tackling for loss of Yardage"

Every night we would stay up until wee hours of the morn. 

 It was like we just wanted to soak in every min we had with these guys. 

has it been three years yet?

This is the very picture taken moments after Beck officially said "BALL!!"  He got such a reaction from us that he repeated the word over and over again. 

He definitely understood the concept of throwing the ball and chasing after it

-and Chase could not be more proud

We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas season! 

Now if only I could get over this blasted cough!

uno dos tres

uno.

The strangest thing happened to me last night.  Chase walked over to hand me my phone.  I reached out to take my phone from him with my left hand, my right was on the computer mouse.  At the moment we connected, SPARK! I felt it run though my whole body and it turned my computer OFF.  How crazy is that?! no damage done, just a lesson learned. static is strong folks. 

dos.  Ask me if my Christmas decorations are down yet.  Actually, don't ask. As long as its down before my B-day, I'm good, right?


tres.  Someone has been smearing boogers all over me for two weeks now. 
But how can I care when its from loves from this kid?

P.S.  Christmas and Oklahoma coming soon, I promise!

My ten month old (repost)

Sometimes blogger and I don't get along very well.  I didn't actually mean to post this yet the other day.  Now, I can't get it to upload anymore pictures.  hmm...anyway, here is what I could do.

A few of my favorite things about you at ten months...

 You are busy! You aren't satisfied sitting in one spot for very long. You are a super speedy crawler and love to pull yourself up on anything and everything.

You are such a good eater! I have never given you anything you didn't like.

Although, you prefer anything you can hand feed yourself.

You communicate through pointing. 

You are still facinated with lights and always point to the light fixture as soon as we go somewhere new. 

You just said your second word! First was Mama, next is BALL!

You love balls and when you see one you repeat its name over and over again until you have it.  You love to throw the ball and then chase after it and throw it again. 

 I'm pretty sure you got your love of footballs from me. ;)

You are a mama's boy. Lately you've been a little hesitant around people you don't see very often.  You have a shy streak too.  You love attention from others but always bury your head in my shoulder with a shy grin.

Although you're shy, you are social.  Anytime we laugh you are quick to do a funny little fake chuckle too.  It is so darling to see. 

You are opinionated, and seem to have one about everything. 

You love to give hugs and gooey kisses.  Daddy's favorite time of day is when he goes in to get you in the morning.  You always wrap your arms tight around his neck and cling to him for some good morning love.

You are a pro at clapping your hands and think it is so fun to do. You often clap when we finish changing your diaper or when we first go in to get you in the morning.

                                                   

Eight teeth.  4 on top, 4 on bottom. You are such a big boy!

We love you so much baby Beck.  You keep us busy and we wouldn't have it any other way.