Peek-a-boo

Where's Taylor?

Here she is!

Taylor and I have spent many hours playing peek-a-boo since she was born. She has finally figured out how to hold the blanket(or in this case, the tablecloth) up and play along with Mommy. It definitely adds more baby squeals to the game now that she plays along and I love to hear those squeals and belly laughs!

~Wendy

8 Months

Well actually it's 8 months, one week, and four days. I've had the pictures and even planned what to write, but just never sat down long enough to blog. I started to last week and then got distracted with something else to do around the house. As much as I love the Christmas season, I'm ready to have it all done and be able to focus on the daily things. I'm still trying to figure out who is going to come clean my house so that I can snuggle up with one of my new books and drink hot cocoa on these cold dreary days!

Once again, another month has flown by at an amazing speed. Taylor's teenage years are going to be lightning fast at this rate. Each month we go to the chair in Taylor's room to take our monthly picture and this time she wanted nothing to do with sitting in the chair. She actually cried until I gave her the angel off her nativity scene. Then she proceeded to try to crawl out of the chair because she would rather stand up and hold on to the chair than sit in it. This actually explains Taylor a lot lately. Taylor is crawling all over the place and pulling herself on anything she can. The coffee table and kitchen chairs are some of her favorite hangouts, but she has also found it fun to remove all the contents from the bookshelf at her height.





















While Taylor still loves to make raspberry noises(especially during church) she has started with "da-da's", her fake cough, and clearing her throat. Chris had a cold a few weeks ago and Taylor thought it would be funny to imitate the noises he made. After she makes them she often laughs and that was my giveaway of her faking.

After reading that Graham can feed himself puffs and other finger foods, Taylor started with Gerber puffs and Cheerios. She loves both and can already recognize the container. The funny thing is that she will pick out all the puffs first and then eat the Cheerios. We also revisited the sippy cup. She does okay at holding it, but hasn't quite figured out to tip it up a little higher to get the juice out.



















Some other milestones for our 8th month are:

• Two, not just one, but two teeth
• Continues to be a wonderful eater with all her baby foods
• Still takes a morning and afternoon nap on most days
• Is very vocal during church and loves to make a joyful noise during the songs
• Thinks that all toys/items must be inspected by placing them in her mouth
• Loves to 'read' magazines and the newspaper
• Is great at clearing all items from the coffee table
• Loves Ki-Ki, Princess, and Tessa(the kitties). Taylor gets so excited when she sees the kitties or even hears Ki-Ki's jingle bell collar.
• Celebrated her first Thanksgiving, but no turkey yet
• Watched Mommy be confirmed and receive first communion at church while entertaining everyone in the rows behind us with her raspberry noises.
  
• Taylor averages around 18 lbs even though she eats very well. I think it's all the crawling she gets in. She is finally moving from her 6 month clothes to the 9 month size and still wearing size 3 diapers. I think this is the longest she's ever stayed in one diaper size. I wish I knew if she was going to stay in this size so that I can take advantage of diaper sales!
  

I could kick myself for taking so long to post this since it's hard to remember what new stuff she's done that should be for her 9 month update and not this one. That's what I get for being almost 2 weeks behind. I'll work on having pictures from Christmas up by Valentine's Day!

Taylor Tuesday

I know it's late, but I've been busy getting the house ready for Christmas. Who knew that three people and a dog could make a house so messy! Here is a picture from Taylor's second time opening presents. She didn't care much for the present until the wrapping paper was gone. I loved her sounds as she saw what was behind the paper! She is so much fun right now!

Merry Christmas!
Wendy

Christmas Card

The baby is napping, the bags are almost packed for this weekend, the shopping is done, all the presents are wrapped, the party mix is made, work is done, Christmas cards are mailed, all the Twilight books are read, and I finally get a chance to blog. I have a couple things to blog about that are overdue. I'll post this one and then post the rest after lunch.

Here is our "virtual" Christmas card that goes out to all my blogging buddies.
I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Love,
Wendy


ps. I'm scared to think of what is going on in Taylor's little mind as I took this picture

Taylor Tuesday

This picture is a perfect example of Taylor right now. She is one busy little girl and the Christmas tree is becoming more interesting everyday. I put ornaments on the lower branches that are Taylor friendly after hearing stories of Chris' first Christmas.(After weeks of telling him not to touch the presents, he cried Christmas morning when they finally wanted him to open presents) In this picture, Taylor couldn't decide if it was more exciting to pull herself up on the chair or play with the ornaments. The ornaments won out temporaily. I just love watching her curiousity in how things work or what things are. I'm sure this will get old after a while, but until then I enjoy watching Taylor grow and change.

Happy Taylor Tuesday!
Wendy

Christmas Card

I never thought one card could cause me so much stress! I have been working on our Christmas card for the past few weeks. I took Taylor's picture in her Christmas dress the weekend after Thanksgiving and have been trying to design a card for it for quite a few days now. Earlier this week I figured out that the picture just didn't so her justice. Here is it since I'm using a different one now.
I love this picture of her, but Taylor talks so much with her eyes and this just didn't do her justice. I have been following Taylor around with the camera for the past week hoping to catch another photo of her that would work. Finally, I did last night. I am in the process of printing our cards right now and will post it on here later this week.(once everyone has a chance to get it in the mail) Taylor was so funny while I was taking the picture above. She kept wanting to crawl towards the camera so I gave her an ornament to play with. That didn't hold her attention for very long so I gave her the candy cane. Our photo session ended when I noticed that some of Taylor's drool had made it way through the end of the wrapper. I'm still wondering if Taylor got her first taste of candy cane.

I got the chance to take Taylor up to visit Santa one day this week. We had done a few 'trial' runs around men that had beards and Taylor was fascinated by them. I wasn't afraid that she would cry when she saw Santa, but more afraid that she would grab his beard and yank really hard. She did great! She was very intrigued by Santa and sat there for a few moments just staring at him. She didn't even cry!


Here are a couple more photos of my attempts to get a good one for the Christmas card. And yes, that is my kitchen spoon that she stole and keeps as a toy in the kitchen. The other picture is Taylor with her reindeer. She goes and gets it from under the tree and drags it around the living room.





















All I know is that I better start working on her birthday invitation now if it took me this long to get the Christmas card right. Also, does anyone have any suggestions for a good photoshop/digital scrapbooking program? The one I got sucks!

~Wendy

Taylor Tuesday

Taylor has become quite the little kitchen helper lately and has even claimed one of my Pampered Chef spatulas. In between chewing, she kept up her new favorite word... Dada! Check out that pudgy little belly. I just love it!

Not Momma but...

You would think that spending all day with Taylor would make her want to say Momma first but no. Yesterday Taylor start jabbering with more than just random noises. She started actually making two letter sounds. Here is our little cutie making her new noises:

Have a great Friday and wonderful weekend!

~Wendy

100 Things

I saw this on someone else's blog and thought it was a great idea. Everything in BOLD is something I have done.

1. Started your own blog.

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland/world

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo (many years ago when it was cute to sing off-key)

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice(been there, but it snowed)

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run (that's funny)

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (do you want to see me pass out?)

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter (it's how I came home from the hospital)

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Fostered a rescue animal


Now it's your turn!

Taylor Tuesday

Never too early to start them off right!
(Thanks for the inspiration Nana!)

Celebration of Life

I wish they would rename funeral’s ‘A Celebration of Life’. The word funeral makes me think of a sad time and yet it is a time when family comes together to support each other. I believe it should be more of a celebration of the wonderful life that that person lived. A chance to share memories of how someone touched your life or to tell others how much you loved the one we’ve just lost. Often with funerals, I think of what I would want many, many years from now when I go on to the great dance in Heaven. Chris and I think the idea from PS I love You where they do the funeral/visitation at a bar is a great idea. Toast to my life. Drink a margarita and remember the fun times we had. Smile and dance and Celebrate that I was surrounded by so many friends and family that made my life the wonderful one it is! Just a thought.