Black Friday

First I'll back up to Thanksgiving...
I am so thankful for the fact that we are surrounded by friends and family members that we love. We, Chris and I, decided not to travel to visit my family this year to keep Taylor at home, but it was hard not seeing my family! I hope they know how much we miss them and look forward to seeing them soon.(sooner than we thought, keep reading) Taylor had a great first Thanksgiving and was crashed out for the short ride from Chris' parents house to ours.

A short nap in her crib and then she was ready to start playing again.

Now that she's got crawling down, it's on to pulling herself up onto EVERYTHING!!!

So we ended our Thanksgiving evening by relaxing at home watching the second season on Weeds and watching Taylor pull herself up on everything.

After reviewing the ads, I decided that I would get up early Friday morning and try to get some of the flannel fabric that was on sale at Joann's. I have seen several rag quilts on blogs that I liked and thought I would attempt to make Taylor one. I can stamp, scrapbook, cross-stitch, knit, and crochet, but I struggle with the sewing machine. I want so badly to be better at sewing so I keep attempting more and more projects hoping that I will get better one day. So I will keep you updated on my adventures at making a rag quilt. So I set my alarm Thursday night to be at Joann's at 6 am for cute(cheap) flannel for Taylor's quilt. Alarm went off way too early and snooze was much better. After a few hits on the snooze button I got myself out of bed and figured I would sneak out of the house before Taylor got up, leaving Chris to the morning routine today. Then the phone rang...

it was my mom. Not wondering why I wasn't already at Joann's beating the little old ladies off for my few yards of cute flannel fabric(more on that in a minute), but to let me know that my grandfather passed away early this morning. Now I know some of you may be wondering why I'm blog about this. I find my blog to be like my journal. Most of the time my world is filled with all the wonderful things that surround having a baby girl, but every once in a while our world is turned the other way. My grandfather was such a sweet and wonderful man. The past 10 years he has battled Parkinson's, but I will always remember him as the active man he was. He and my grandmother would spend any chance they could outdoors. Whether it was fishing, hunting, or gardening, they loved it and did it together. I even got to reap the rewards of their fishing or gardening on many an occasion when my grandmother would fry up some fresh fish or create a veggie dinner all straight from the garden. Many times the cherry tomatoes went straight from the vine to my mouth! I am so thankful that I was able to see my grandfather a few weeks ago when I went home. I know that Taylor won't remember him, but I will show her pictures and remind her of who her great-grandfather was. This is a picture from that weekend and of Taylor giving him a high-five. If you know anything about Parkinson's, then you will know how huge it was for him to open his hand and that combined with Taylor's actual completion of a high-five was highlight of my day.


So there I was all set to go shopping for fabric and then the news. After some tears and hugs from Chris, I wasn't sure what was going through my mind or I was truly thinking in my right mind, but something inside me pushed on with current objective. I gathered my stuff back up and headed on for the store. Still thinking, 'Did that really just happen?' and 'Most people are going to be at Joann's for the Christmas decor and I should still be able to find cute fabric' both at the same time. I pull up to Joann's head in for cute girly fabric. Well here's a warning to all my fellow not-so-often sewers, do not attempt to hang with the pro-sewers on fabric sale day. The aisle of flannel probably held over 400 different bolts when the store opened at 6am. I got there around 7:30 and you could still find lots of solids, but the cute patterned flannel was only found in high piled carts of the pros. And don't bother asking if they are going to buy the whole bolt because these ladies are serious and their mother never taught them to share. I found myself stalking the flannel aisle in hopes of a yard or two being returned after someone like me only needed a little off the bolt. I drooled over the adorable patterns in other shopping carts and settled with a simple ladybug print and a few solids to go with it. I may use this as my trial quilt and then just spend the money on full priced fabric(with coupon) and get the fabric I really want. It's sad when you stand waiting your turn for the cutting counter and can't figure out if you are about to cry because a)your grandfather just died, b) the lady in front of you has TWO carts full of flannel and just snapped at you for asking if you have a yard of her cute fabric, c)you wonder why you even bothered to come to Joann's when something like this could wait, or d) a combo of A and C. Yes I know it's odd that I went shopping anyways, but I just can't explain why I did. I've spent yesterday and today just trying to follow my normal routine and prepare for our trip home for the funeral. Normally my day of Thanksgiving is a day of excitement as I get down the Christmas decorations and start putting up the tree. I love decorating for Christmas!!! But this year Black Friday took on a whole new meaning and for some reason I can't fully get into the decorating spirit. I am going to try some Christmas carols tomorrow and hope that helps get in the holiday spirit. I even have Christmas presents calling my name to be wrapped and put under the tree! I have some pictures of our home being transformed into a Christmas wonderful, but those will wait until tomorrow. Until then goodnight.

~Wendy

ps. GO TECH!(it was not a good first half, but they came through after all) Too bad OSU couldn't beat OU and guarantee us the Big 12 South Title, but we'll see tomorrow what happens.

Taylor Tuesday

Those who have seen Taylor lately will know this as the raspberry face. Even those who sit behind us in church know this face too! Taylor loves to entertain everyone at church, especially while the priest is talking!

~Wendy

Another First

We knew it was coming

We've seen the signs
But it finally happened...


Taylor's getting her first tooth!

She has been chewing on everything possible for the past three months, but she's been acting a little different the past couple of days. I've been feeling her gums for the past few months, but tonight there was definitely a little tooth sticking through what used to be smooth gums. No wonder our little girl has been a bit fussy and chewing on toys more often and normal! I'm sure we are in for a change in our world now that a tooth is making it's appearance. On top of that, I'm still nursing her and I can only imagine what fun adventures are ahead for us! Guess it's time to get Taylor a toothbrush and start teaching her good dental habits.

Caught

Caught....
one little girl standing in her crib

Found by
her daddy when she should have been napping

Punishment:
lots of kisses and hugs and a crib that has been lowered

ps. this is taylor tuesday

7 month update

Taylor turned 7 months old on Friday. I took pictures, but sometimes it takes me a little bit to get them off the camera and uploaded to the computer. And yes I did buy the next book in the Twilight series, but just got it today and am going to make myself wait a couple more days until I'm allowed to open it. I had fun taking Taylor's pictures, but had to watch as she tried to crawl off the edge of the chair a couple times. She's also much nicer to Rosebud(her elephant) as we have been playing with her on the floor more often.




After we got done taking pictures, we played on the floor. Taylor was given 'My First Purse', but Taylor can't seem to grasp the concept that lipstick goes on our lips and not in our mouth.


Sometimes I can't believe that Taylor is already 7 months old, but then I watch at all the things that she does with ease and realize that our baby is growing up. She moves a toy or object from one hand to the next without any problems. I was looking back at the pictures of when she first learned how to hold on to an object and then those from when she first grabbed the toy from us. Taylor now takes milestones and cruises through them as fast as she crawls towards the remote or dog toy. Here are some of the things that have happened over the past month:

• Loves to make the raspberry noises and is really funny when she puffs her cheeks up to make the noise.
  
• Has learned acknowledge when she does and does not want things. Taylor does not hesitate to push away a bottle or toy if it's not what she wants.
  
• Foods so far: applesauce, pears, peaches, bananas, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, squash, and zucchini. She was not a big fan of squash and bananas and sweet potatoes have to be the favorites so far. And yes we are mostly on homemade baby food unless away from home. Gerber's containers are much easier when not a home. She is a great eater and even though she didn't like squash, she still continued to open her mouth for more, but would cry when she realized what was going in.
  
• Taylor has taken to having her lovey bunny to sleep with and it's adorable to see her snuggle in with it as she goes to sleep.
  
• Crawling, crawling, and more crawling.
• Pulling over trashcans is a new fun time for Taylor and a panic moment for mommy.
• Within the past week, Taylor has started to truly pull herself up. Walking here we come...
• Stay tuned for an upcoming post about another first that occurred recently.
  

I know not all of this is exciting to everyone, but this is my way of keeping up with the way she changes each month. I know one day she will be wanting to know what she was like as a baby and when she hit each milestone and this is a great way for me to document that information for her. Now I will leave you with a picture of our sweet girl cuddled with her lovey bunny. She no longer looks so tiny in her crib as when we first put her in it.

Obsessed

poor chris. last week i started the book Twilight and haven't been able to put it down since. i literally became obsessed with reading this book. i am slowly making my way back into reading non-baby books and picked this one up after all the mom blogs raved about it. it's been sitting on my dresser since september and even got passed over so that i could read Nights in Rodanthe.(another great book) i always forget how much i love reading until i really get into a book. i found myself so excited for a free minute during nap time to pick back up with the story of bella and edward. who would have thought i would love a book about vampires so much??? there are three more books in the series, but i have told myself that i need to wait at least a week before i get the next one. has anyone else read the book? i keep telling chris that he needs to read it so that i have someone to talk to about it. i'm also excited about the movie coming out in a few weeks, but i can tell from the previews that it won't be near as good as the book is. any other good book suggestions once i fly through the other three books, and i prefer fictional books.

~wendy

Weekend

Taylor and I drove up to Fort Worth this past weekend to see Nana and go to a friend's wedding reception. We took some time Saturday morning to go see my grandmother and grandfather. I think it's so neat that Taylor is able to spend time with great-grandparents.

Taylor was showing off her new skill of high-fiveing to my grandfather

Then spent some time hanging out with Great Granny Franklin

Taylor is starting to take after me and my love for cats. She loves seeing our cat Tessa when we go outside, but really loves chasing the cats at Mia and Nana's houses. Poor KiKi and Princess(the cats) don't know what they're in for when she comes around. Here is a picture of Taylor when she found Princess in the bedroom.

I really need to get better at taking more pictures because we got home and I realized that I didn't snap a single picture of Taylor and Aunt Desha... and we saw her TWICE! I also didn't get one while we were all dressed up for the reception and Taylor was look pretty cute in her pink dress. Here is a picture to leave you with of Taylor crawling around Nana's house. Mom said that her house seemed too quiet without Taylor's noises.

Thanks for a great weekend Mom aka Nana!

Wendy

Taylor Tuesday

I should name this Taylor Thursday instead, but here is our picture for this week. Chris had Tuesday off, so Taylor and I enjoyed the day with him home! Taylor has found a new way to play on her floor activity mat and just loves standing up. I'm the worried mom that sits behind her worried that at any point she will let go and fall. I'm guessing there is always something to worry about, no matter what age.

6 month pictures

Taylor is almost 7 months old, but I got her 6 month pictures back last week and finally had a chance to scan them. I just love how this photo session turned out. It's amazing how different her 3 month session was from her 6 month. At 3 months, she was just starting to smile so we spent the whole time with her laying there and trying to get her to smile for the camera. This time she sat up by herself, crawled towards the camera, beat on the pumpkins, drooled, tried to eat the "hay" around her, and was a good sport about an outfit change. There were tons of pictures taken, but I had to narrow them down to just a few.

This next one is my FAVORITE!!!

Taylor was still in a great mood, so I did a quick change into her Halloween costume.
She loves to stand up right now and looked adorable in her ladybug costume!

I loved this picture because she's watching me drop leaves from above her
and the photographer caught some of the leaves falling too.

This is not today's edition of Taylor Tuesday.... stayed tuned for that later on.

~Wendy

Boards

Back in September I won a contest for a free custom family board from the Shabby blog. I have always wanted one of these and just never broke down and bought one for myself. I am so proud of our family and love having something in our home to display it. Check out this cute board that she made me



I have it above our front door inside the house and it such a great addition to our home. I got to pick all the colors and the font. Plus, she sanded the edges for me to give it a bit of a love-worn look. And yes those are Texas Tech colors that just happen to go with all the red in our house. On top of winning this sign, the owner offered me a discount off my next purchase. It took a little bit for me to narrow it down, but couldn't resist this sign for outside my laundry room. It seems like laundry is just a never ending chore and is one of my least favorites to do besides dishes.


I was so excited when I got home one day and they were waiting for me on the front porch. I couldn't get Chris to hang them fast enough, but it just took me a little while to get pictures posted. On top of getting these two cute boards, the owner threw in a bonus board for me. Check out how cute this is and how perfect is goes with our home.



My Willow Tree figurine matches the colors in the board so well and fits it well. It actually sits on the media stand right next to our TV, so everyone in the living sees it as they are looking at the TV. Just imagine how cute it will look with Christmas garland around it soon! I can't wait for Christmas decorations. I just had to show off my newish decorations in case you are looking for Christmas present ideas.

~Wendy

Move over Gerber

Move over Gerber... there's a new chef in town!

Upon receiving some great mommy advice from a friend, and hearing how much money could be saved, I attempted to make my own baby food. I use the word attempted because that is how all my culinary adventures should be described. Poor Chris had to endure my 'attempts' at cooking the first couple years of marriage. I still make attempts all the time, but I have gotten much better at cooking and stick with the favorites that I know how to cook. Taylor has been eating solid foods for about a month now and has tried carrots, applesauce, sweet potatoes, bananas, peas, pears, and then revisited carrots with a more successful result. Sweet potatoes have been her absolute favorite so far so I figured that was a good place to start. After a little trial and experiment on the baking, I had two ice cube trays full of baby food. I was able to make $16 worth of food for $3.59(keep in mind that I goofed on some potatoes and had to throw them out). And even better is that Taylor loved them! I have since then made bananas, carrots, and yellow squash. For my fellow mommies, 'Deceptively Delicious' by Jessica Seinfeld is a wonderful book that tells you all about pureeing veggies and fruits. It also tells you how to hide full servings of veggies in common meals. I have to tell you that I feel a little bit like the chick from Baby Boom when she is creating all the applesauce for her baby, except that I don't think I'll be mass producing. If anyone wants to know how I made the food just let me know. It really is simple and you are able to control exactly what goes into your baby's food!

Poor Chris is subject to my attempts again as I will start using my baby food cubes to hide veggies in our dinners too!

~Wendy

Happy Birthday

This special birthday wish goes out to my sister-in-law Kirsten. Please turn your head sideways to view since I forgot to video the correction direction. If anyone knows how to rotate this video, please share!

Taylor had a blast with the sign, as you can tell so I was able to catch a few other photos in the process. Taylor loves attacking magazines and papers but I steal them away as soon as I catch her with them, so this was quite a treat today.





































We hope you have a wonderful birthday Aunt Kirsten!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Love, Wendy & Taylor

Taylor Tuesday

I hope everyone has voted or plans to vote sometime today. So, in spirit with the election results coming later today I thought 'Peace' was a good theme for today. Yes, that's right. I put thought into what Taylor was wearing today just for Taylor Tuesday. I just love this shirt and yes Taylor does like both Peace and Peas.

Happy Halloween

Chris and I had looked at several catalogs for a costume for Taylor, but when I went to look at the store, she grabbed this one and held on tight. I figured it was her way of telling me that she wanted to be a ladybug for Halloween. It's kinda funny, because I almost did her nursery in the cutest ladybug theme. She also has a ladybug that hangs on her carrier that has pulled her out of a few crying fits ever since she was born. Taylor was just too cute in her costume and even funnier when she would crawl around while making her raspberry noise. Hopefully I will be able to catch it on video soon to share with you. It's the funniest/cutest noise ever!

Checking out her BIG pumpkin

Posing with the orangutan from Aunt KK's costume

Watching Aunt KK

Miss Texas, Ladybug, and SuperChris

The theme for our Halloween party this year was 'What I wanted to be when I grew up', so Chris and I thought of some of the fun things we always wanted to be. I loved watching the beauty pageants when I was a little girl and who doesn't love a tiara??? You can't see it from the picture, but Chris actually has on a cape that his mom made him when he was little on top of his red cape. She even did the Superman logo, but used a C instead of a S for him! Chris' parents came over and got Taylor so that we could have a baby-free night and enjoy the party. This is my first night with Taylor away, so I'm dying to know how she's doing. I guess you don't ever stop being a mom!


Don't forget to get your red and black on and Guns Up! Tech plays UT Saturday night and it's going to be one great game! GO TECH!!! Did I mention that I've been singing Taylor the fight song so that she knows it by the time she starts talking?

Love,
Wendy