Save The Federal Adoption Tax Credit

Many who read our blog already know about our wonderful journey of adoption. Through this journey, we've become more passionate about adoption and everything that goes into making miracles like ours take place.

Many people don't realize that in 2001, as part of the Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, a federal tax credit for adoption was introduced. This tax credit has become such a relief for families who wish to adopt. In fact, it has helped increase legal adoption in the United States (for both international and domestic) by a considerable amount over the past decade. It has come to our attention that the Adoption Tax Credit (HR 213) is scheduled to expire at the end of 2010.

Most may not be aware, but the costs of adoption are staggering. Whether its international adoption or domestic, the costs range anywhere from $10,000 to $40,000 (and the average cost is right around $20,000). The Adoption Tax Credit will give adoptive parents a credit up to $12,100. There are so many wonderful families and couples who can provide loving homes for children, but need this financial assistance. Chances are that we will find ourselves in this position of adoptiong again.

If anybody is willing, we are asking you to write to your representative in Congress to save this federal tax credit from expiring. Below, we've included a letter that we wrote and you can feel free to include any parts of our letter in your own letter. We're sure that many of your lives have been blessed by adoption. For us, it has been a miracle that has blessed our lives, our child's life, her birth mother's life, as well as our extended family's lives. There are 150,000 - 200,000 adoptions each year in the U.S., each, as ours did, with impact that touches many more lives.

If you are not sure how best to contact your representative, you can click on the link below and type in your state and zip code to access a mailing address or even send an e-mail directly.

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Dear Congressman Matheson,



We are writing as a family to encourage you to vote
for the adoption Tax Guarantee Act of 2009, HR 213. As you are already well
aware, this bill is a pending legislative effort to prevent the expiration of
the Federal Adoption Tax Credit. As a young family whose lives were recently
touched by the blessing of adoption, we feel strongly that this is an initiative
that our government should continue to support, which encourages the growth of
strong and loving families. As you may or may not be aware, the costs associated
with adoption are staggering and continue to rise. After years of dealing with
the heartache of unexplained infertility, we spent a substantial portion of our
savings on infertility treatments, including two rounds of In Vitro
Fertilization. We always thought that we would eventually conceive through these
innovative procedures, but after a miscarriage and a many failed attempts, our
eyes were opened that the only way to start a family was through adoption. With
this tax credit (that we will be receiving next year), it helped to make this
adoption in our family possible.

Without going into too many details of our adoption
journey, in short, it was a miracle felt by us, a financially distressed mother
who at the last minute realized that adoption was the only way to give her child
and herself a better life and a miracle which blessed the life of our daughter,
Taylor, who has two loving parents who are able to provide her with all of her
needs. Our story is only one example of the 200,000 adoptions or so that take
place every year. We do not know if you have been involved with adoption in your
own family, but as any of our family members or friends can attest, it is one of
the most beautiful and special experiences that can take place in a lifetime. We
hope to adopt another child if not more as we grow our family. With adoptions
that cost an average of $25,000 per adoption, this Federal Tax Credit is just
one step in helping to make these adoptions financially possible.

We appreciate you representing the needs of your constituents and we love living in
this state where family values are so important. We are very hopeful that you
will represent those values as you vote for this bill. We love sharing our story
and if there is any way that could help with the passing of this bill, please
let us know.

Sincerely,

Dustin and Jamie

Taylor's Walking!

So, Tay's walking! Kind of. You'll love this video footage of her taking her first few steps. We get so excited that we scare her.

House Sold!

Well, today is a very good day because, after seven months of aggressively trying to sell our rental property, we closed the sale today!!

Most who read this know that this was our first home - and it happens to be just right across the street from our current house. We bought our current house three years ago, and it was a sudden move, as we really had no plans to move. But it was a house we always liked and we moved fast. As such, we didn't have our house up for sale when we bought it - so we decided to rent that house out.

It's been an adventure. Three years ago, the market was hot. So who would have thought that, by waiting three years, it would be one of the worst times to sell??? Being a landlord was a great learning experience. We had some nightmare tenants to start with (unless you think it's cool to have the police come over because they were shooting birds out of the neighbors trees), followed by some of the best tenants you could ever ask for.

So why did we sell now? Well, we'd have to pay capital gains tax on the house unless we sold it by the end of November. With the uncertainty of where property values will go from here - and the desire to not have a hefty tax bill - we decided it would be best to sell now. And for the last seven months, it was a major stress - and it's a HUGE relief to not have an extra mortgage now.

But even though we're so excited that it's sold, now's the time where we're reflecting on all of the memories from our first house. So, I'm going to take you down memory lane with us. So, now's the time where we get all reflective. Start playing the sappy music that Clark Griswold listened to while watching old home videos in the attic . . .

When you see these photos, you'll probably think the same thing we're thinking when we look back at the house when we bought it - which is "what we're we thinking???" I really don't know WHY we would have bought the house, seeing how it looked then. Well, a few excuses: (1) we were wide-eyed, not-yet-married, and just excited to be getting something of our own. (2) we bought the home for the great area. My sister moved in the month before, and it was a convenient location, a good value, and we liked the large trees. (3) we saw potential. Our goal was to make it into a home we loved over the few years that we'd live there. This house was livable, but also had plenty to improve upon, which was something we liked. And I think we ended up doing a decent job of improving it.

Seriously. This is the photo from the flyer from when we bought the house. Notice the beautiful foilage in front of our house. Yes, that is the front of our house behind the overgrown fetzer and junipers.

The very day that we closed on the house, our good friend, Gordon, came over and helped us cut down those junipers that were blocking our front door and front of our house (as you can see in the photo below):

And what about this beautiful stone-work? The funny thing is, I actually liked the stone work when we first bought it. And trust me, the pictures do no justice with how bad the "stone work" was. It was really bad. It took me two years to realize what a meager job it was, until one day, Jamie came home and found me ripping it all off with a crow bar and sledge hammer. With no warning, I had enough.

Well, here's what the front of our house looked like as of now:

Backyard when we bought it:

Backyard when we sold it:

Our beautiful kitchen. I loved the color scheme in the house when we bought it: white. The whole house was just spray-painted white. We later found out why - it was covering up a much worse paint job.


Kitchen now:

Our family room:

The same view of our family room a few years later:

The main bathroom at time of purchase:

The main bathroom seven years later:

So, good-bye, first house. We hope you can provide as many valuable memories for the new owners as you did for us. And at least you're not going anywhere - we'll be seeing you often whether we'd like to or not.

1st Triathlon

As of Saturday, I am officially a Triathlete. Well, a sprint triathlete, I guess. It was a 400 meter swim (which was quite interesting), 12 mile bike and a 5K run. I was always intrigued by triathlons, but never thought I'd actually do one. I guess this is something that I can check off my list.

I think that I've made mention of it before, but I have seriously become one of the laziest gals around since my swimming days. It was like some type of rebellion for me and working out seemed like hell to me. But I was so inspired by Dustin the past two years not only with his triathlons, but his biking and his constant drive to stay in shape. Since I had a couple of friends who wanted to do one to it seemed like the best thing. I always do better when I feel obligated by others to do something. But knowing me I knew that I had to just sign up for it, otherwise I wouldn't do it. So for the past 3 months or so (with a 3 week hiatus in September) I have been training. Training was a bit hard with a baby and a husband who is a busy man, but I started to feel that fire that I haven't felt for a long time.

So I know that this isn't some award show, but I wanted to thank a few people. Thanks to my mom who was seriously going to fly out to watch me until I forbid her to do so. She has always believed in me and has always loved to watch me compete. I guess I am pretty blessed to have two parents who have always been involved in my extracurricular activities. Thanks to Quique! Without her dragging me along on some of those runs, they may never have happened and I may not have made it through them. I know 3 miles is nothing, but it is a lot for someone who has always hated running. I am grateful to my friends who have done a tri and the ones who did it with me and for all of the love and support! Thanks to my IPod and especially the show "Glee" for their rendition of "Don't Stop Believing". That song helped so much when it was too cold to run outside and I had to run on the treadmill.... yuck! Thanks to Taylor! I have always wanted to be a mom (like my own mother) who wants her children to know that anything is possible and that you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to. It was something that I knew I had to teach by example so she was a huge inspiration for me. And of course to Dustin. I was so proud of him two years ago when he did his first triathlon and he inspired me so much. He has been my cheerleader, my trainer, my teacher, whatever I have needed. He has even been my whipping post when I was scared to death to clip in and out of bike with cars driving right next to me. It was such a big sense of accomplishment, one that brought back a lot of fond memories.

And I am sorry to those people that I had to swim over because apparently the swimming in the pool part wasn't organized great, but I still had a lot of fun!

Ava and me before the triathlon. Ava just turned 6 and did the Kid's Triathlon with two of her brothers and our other friend's son, Luke. It was by far the cutest thing I've ever seen!

After the race... I look like crap, but was actually proud of myself. Here I am with two of my biggest fans!

Marissa and me after the race. She is in her 2nd year at Utah State and is one of the Young Women that I got to hang out with when I worked with the Youth in church. She did so awesome and we are already planning to do another one together next year!!!!

Amy and Megan (and their husbands) participated too, but they were a bit preoccupied with kids so I didn't get a chance to get a pic with them because right after the race we were off to Vegas to watch the Utes beat UNLV. (The race was in St. George). I couldn't have asked for a more perfect weekend, minus the driving part of course... :)

September in Review

With Taylor's birthday starting us in September, football season starting, a trip to Cali, bike rides, trying to sell a house and then our anniversary to end September, it was a pretty awesome month. And even though I can't seem to account for a lot of it, I definitely didn't make time for the blog. As I mentioned before, we celebrated Taylor's actual birthday at the Utah vs Utah State game, however we wanted to make sure that she did have a party. So we had some of our family and a few of our friends over to join in the festivities. Honestly, we were planning on something really small, but there were so many people that supported us and prayed for us that made our miracle possible, so we had to include some more people. Although, there were so many of you that also made this possible, so know that we celebrated you as well on Taylor's special day.

Cam posing with Taylor on her special day with her special crown from Grandma TT that lit up and everything!


The cake that didn't turn out quite so great. Luckily I still have a year or two to improve my cake making skills.



The video is a little long, but next to the cute kids painting Taylor's face, the funniest part is how hard it is for Dustin to watch. For those of you that don't know him as well, he was the kid that if he got anything on his hands, he would freak out. Bless his sweet little heart!

After her birthday, we went home to visit my fam. We hit a Giants game and a football game and got to spend some time with the family, but as always, the week went by way too fast!

For our anniversary, we decided to do it on the Saturday before. It was a perfect fall day. Dustin had some church stuff in the am so I took Taylor and Quique to Tanner Park so Q could swim and run around with her friends. Then Dustin had a great idea to meet for brunch up at Solitude Ski Resort, so he rode his bike from our house up Big Cottonwood Canyon and Taylor and I met him there. This picture doesn't give the day justice, but the weather was perfect, just like our wedding day.

The brunch was amazing and Taylor really seems to like eating out with us and for the most part she's an angel! We ended the day by watching Utah beat Louisville so we couldn't have asked for a better day and I couldn't ask for a better family!

Two of my very favorite people.

Taylor is all about the open mouth kisses...

We love the gap between her top front teeth. Who can resist that smile?

And she has the sweetest laugh that I could listen to all day long!

Happy Birthday to You!

Yesterday we celebrated Taylor turning 1! We started off the morning when Taylor woke up singing "Happy Birthday" and the birthday wishes only continued the whole day through. (Thanks to everyone for the text message and singing telegrams). Dustin worked yesterday so I decided to just do some of her very favorite things. We went to Tanner Park so she could laugh at all of the dogs and watch Quique swim and then we took Taylor to the pool so that she could swim. I don't know if it was because she is a big fan of the pumped up Beach Boys jams (water aerobics class was going on) or if she just missed the pool but she was a splashing mad woman in the pool, just laughing and laughing. And for her evening excursion, since it was the first day of the Utah Football season and she doesn't really get to choose what she wants to do yet... she got to stay up until 11pm and watch the Utes play. She was loving the family sitting behind us and even started reaching for them so she could sit with them (which of course, she did). She was such a good girl and stayed awake through the whole game!

There was too much for Taylor to look at, so she wasn't hamming it up for the camera... Go Utes!

I can so vividly remember a year ago on her birthday. The morning started out with a phone call that we would no longer be meeting with the birth mom we were supposed to meet on September 3rd because she had gone into labor. She hadn't chosen a family to place her baby with so we had no idea what that meant, we were just waiting all day to hear anything. That night I had a youth activity at church. I was getting ready to go and Dustin came running into the parking lot with the biggest smile on his face and I knew. We hadn't been chosen yet to take Taylor, we hadn't met Taylor and we hadn't even met the birth mom, but at the very moment, I knew that we had a baby coming our way. And even though nothing was certain, April and Amy took me to Target (at like 10pm) since we had NOTHING for the baby and to be honest, we didn't even know if we would be getting a baby. And then it was a year ago today that we met Taylor and we got to hold this beautiful angel that God had sent to us. And a year ago tomorrow, we took her home.

I look at the year two years ago compared to this last year. I love Dustin with every ounce of my being, but two years ago was hard. And even with all of that love, there was something missing. I hope I don't offend anyone by getting religious, but this experience has given me an even deeper understanding of Christ's atonement. It's not just about him dying for our sins, he is also there to take away the pain. I know for a fact that I was in a lot of pain emotionally two years ago, I know it, but I don't remember it and I certainly can't even feel it. The moment Taylor was placed in my arms, every little void, gap, anything was filled. I know that there are so many people out there that don't believe in God, but every time I look at Taylor, I am reminded that there is a God, and of the miracle that he entrusted Dustin and I with.

Last night, we were messaging back and forth with Taylor's birth mom. She wanted to post a video and some pictures of Taylor and was asking us about it. You can tell she is just so proud of Taylor. She was telling us how she has shown her friends pictures of Taylor and us as well as emails, etc. and how people have told her that she seemed to have found the perfect couple for Taylor. She completely agreed with them and told them she knew that we were the perfect couple because she was guided to us. Those are certainly some big shoes to fill, but it's what is always driving me to be a better mom and I will always consider Jami our guardian angel. She gave us the most beautiful and self-sacrificing gift that has changed our lives for ever and filled us with such love and joy. There is nothing more beautiful than watching my husband (I love more than anything) continue to fall head over heels in love with his daughter and to watch him become such an amazing dad. I don't think life gets much better than that.

Countdown...

I am a very bad blogger. But I promise the last few weeks probably haven't been interesting to anyone but Dustin and me. Last weekend Dustin was out of town for a surf expo in Orlando, so we joined some of his fam up at their cabin which was so wonderful. I swear that Taylor gets so sick of me sometimes so since dad had been at work all week and then was gone over the weekend, it was good to have a change of scenery and some faces other than mine. It was a fun weekend with two of my cute nephews, Aunt Brooke, Uncle Tyler, Grandma TT and Papa. We saw Blue Herons, pelicans, lots of bones (Tate is quite the bone collector). On top of that, we went and saw the bones of a mammoth found not too long ago as well as a Dinosaur quarry where a lot of bones were found. Very cool!

Taylor and Papa up at the cabin. On Saturday we were getting ready to go and I couldn't help but noticed that they were matching!

As for Taylor, we are officially counting down since there are now only two days left until the big 1st Birthday! I honestly can't believe how fast it has gone by. Seriously a year ago we received a phone call that there was a birth mom that wanted to meet with us, but we weren't the only couple. We figured it was a long shot and here we are with the sweetest angel in the world that has filled our lives in ways I can't even begin to describe.

But she has turned into a handful (a good one of course). Although she isn't walking on her own she is all over the place. One of her favorite activities is taking things out of drawers and cupboards. Her daddy loves coming home to that... ;)

She wants to walk, but she struggles a little with her balance. A week or so ago, Dustin was walking around the house with her and he got tired from bending over so he let her go on the floor. She screamed and screamed until he walked around with her. Almost 30 minutes later, she was still walking around but I think her legs were so tired that they would just drag behind her sometimes, but she still wouldn't stop going.

She LOVES books. We were getting ready to go to church on Sunday and when I went to take a book out of her hands so we could get in the car, she screamed until I gave her back the book. Then we were in one of our classes (still with the same book in her hand) she opened it up and started saying "da da la la ma la..." Apparently she was reading the book.

She also loves to dance. In the same class in church, the teacher played a song at the end of class which was a sweet soft hymn, but Taylor must have thought it had just the right beat because she was standing up holding on the chair and when the music started, so did her dancing. Usually she requires a little more beat in the music she dances to. I think her favorite is Michael Jackson. She did a lot of dancing during all of the media coverage of his passing when they would play his music and then it came on tv the other day and I looked over at the couch and this is what I saw... (the second time around, but the first time was so much better)

Her new found passion is the stairs. The problem is, she is great going up, but hasn't figured out how to go back down which causes a bit of a problem (This video is mainly for Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Ashley)

ULCER

On Saturday, Dustin did his first century bike ride! 108 miles!!! He has been a busy bee this summer with his triathlon and biking and I couldn't be more proud of him. If I'm on the bike for 45 minutes I am hurting bad so I can't imagine him being on a bike that long, let along pedaling for over 100 miles. Each year he does something that inspires me more and more! It's just another reminder that I need to get my butt in gear so that Taylor has something to look up to me for.

DT after the finish line!

DT and JP. Dustin had a great start and then at mile 50 stopped for a bit to wait up for John. Little did he know that while waiting, John passed him right up and ended up finishing before Dustin. Dustin was pretty darn proud of his friend who barely even stopped for food or water during the ride!

Tom, Dustin and John. All three completed their first century bike ride. Pretty darn awesome!!!

Back to Reality

Thank you for bearing with my mental breakdown last week. I think after enduring the better part of a week when Taylor was crying (actually screaming) for 45 minutes plus any time that I would put her in her crib whether nap or bedtime, just made me a bit loony and desperate last week. So thank you for the advice and support. Things are going better. I am just going to keep on trying things, but it looks like I may just be one of those moms with a baby who cries herself to sleep. Yesterday she only cried 40 minutes before falling asleep for her nap (and it was crying not screaming) and last night after playing with the Larsen's for an hour, she fell asleep with only a few brief cries after putting her in her crib. Last week just must have been one of those weeks. I really am so grateful that my biggest concern right now is a child who cries herself to sleep so I apologize to any of you going through much harder and more difficult things than that. Apparently I just got a little self-consumed. Thanks again for all of the support!!! I promise to have a more normal blog post later this week.

Our Little Angel with her mischievous grin, the first morning that she was caught standing in her crib. (Friday, July 24th)

Help!

Honestly, I don't even know if anyone reads my blog anymore, but I need some mommy help! After some advice from my friends 6 months or so ago, I started putting Taylor down without rocking her to sleep. There was nothing in the world harder than listening to her cry herself to sleep, but I knew it was best.

6 months later, she is STILL crying herself to sleep! And since I woke up Friday morning to her standing up in her crib, now she immediately starts pulling herself up and screaming when I put her down. (Don't worry... the crib has been lowered). She doesn't care if I'm in the room with her or not. So sitting next to the crib, won't work unless there is a piece I'm missing. The minute I start to put her in her crib, she will start screaming, even if I have just barely rocked her to sleep. I have even stooped to putting her in bed with Dustin and me (once or twice) and she just thinks it's playtime. She sleeps through the night perfectly, it's just the going to sleep part.

I have looked on some mommy forums and there are some books suggested such as "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", "No Cry Sleep Solution" and "Baby Sleep". I know that what works for one baby doesn't always work for another, but I am willing to take any suggestions you may have even if they may seem crazy. Crying is one thing, but the screaming takes it to a new and very unpleasant level. It's too the point where I don't know if I'll ever be able to take her on a trip because I can't very well let her cry herself to sleep in a hotel room! I could have never made it overnight in ID, if it wasn't for my mom. (Oh yes and I think she slept a total of 4 hours that night). Please post a comment or send an email to the email link on our blog. It's an email for Dustin, but I can access it. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for all of your help from a very desperate mommy!!!

Spudman - Round 2

For the second year in a row, Dustin participated in the Spudman Triathlon in Burley, ID. This year, my mom came out for the event too so he had his own little cheering section. However, this year he hit a few blips in the road (literally) that he didn't have to deal with last year. With the training he has been doing, I knew that he was going to break his 2:30 time from last year, I just didn't expect what happened to take place.

He started off the swim well although once they all get out in the river with their orange caps and wetsuits, I can't keep track of who is who. It was about the time that he was supposed to be coming in on the bike when I got a call on my cell. It was a 208 area code so at first I thought maybe it was a friend I had touched base with the day before, but decided to answer it any way. It was Dustin. My heart dropped into my stomach for a minute because I had heard an ambulance leaving not too long before. (And for those of you who don't know, there was a man who died during the swim part of the race the year before, so I was probably a little extra anxious). He told me that he was on his second flat and had to wait to have somebody pick him up. Apparently for the 1400 participants there were only 2 bike techs and he had already used his spare tube on his first flat. He said that he was going to try to get a ride in soon so that he could at least run the 10K. But as the next hour passed, I started to get a little nervous and couldn't imagine what was taking him so long. I also knew that after this amount of time, there was no way he would run the 10K and I was trying to think of ways to offer encouragement because I knew that he was going to be so upset.

After about an hour and 20 minutes, I saw him riding in on a bike, I didn't know if it was his bike or not because he had mentioned that his was beyond repair, but I got so excited and was cheering for him like a mad women as I ran down the final stretch of the bike race behind him. I looked at my watch and it was 15 minutes after he had finished the entire triathlon the year before. Knowing that he knew this, I watched him transition into his running gear as I am still cheering at him like some crazy lady with tears streaming down my face. I couldn't believe that he was going to finish. I know me and I know that I would've said "oh well" and that would have been it, but that wasn't good enough for Dustin. I went running back to my mom and Taylor and I told Taylor that she was so lucky to have such an amazing dad who didn't let the fact that 2 flat tires and a lot of waiting around for help didn't stop him and that he kept going and finished the race. When he finished, I can honestly say that I was even more proud of him and inspired this year than I had been the year before (and I was pretty darn proud and inspired last year...)

Apparently a large, rusty industrial pin was what blew out Dustin's tire and since the tire was so ruined, the spare tubes didn't really give him the help he needed. (How does a race like this not clean the streets before the race??? We saw at least 5 people carrying bikes in on their shoulders and a few people who just didn't finish so that was definitely a problem this year.) His first flat happened 3/4 of a mile into the bike and his cartridge only filled up the tire 30% so he had to walk back to the starting line (in his bike cleats) to get another cartridge to fill up the bike. At 7 miles is where the tube couldn't hold up and he waited 45 minutes for a tech to help him patch that up letting him know that it may not last another 18 miles. When Dustin was riding in, his tire was flat. I know he's still pretty upset, but both his swim and run were faster than last year despite all of his emotional turmoil this year. I couldn't be more proud to call him my husband and Taylor's daddy!

This was just before the swim started. Look at that beautiful view over the Snake River, not to mention that sexy bod my hubby has.

Talking with his friend Dave right before the swim.

The very last stretch and he was still going strong!

After the inspiring race, Taylor had had enough and was ready for a nap.

Dustin and his friend Aaron

Taylor (in Review)

A few weeks back we went to Dustin's family's cabin for a short 4th of July get away. We were there for less than 48 hours and I think it took me almost 24 hours just to get everything ready and packed. Having a baby more than doubles your load! Taylor had a great time with her cousins as you will see below, but one of the cutest things that happened was with Quique. Quique loves to go to the cabin, and even though she gets to roam free for the most part, she still seems to follow Dustin or I around wherever we go. One morning Dustin and I decided to go for a bike ride so we left Taylor behind with Grandma and Quique. When I got home, Taylor had been down for a nap for the past hour or so and apparently, Quique had been sleeping by the closed door to Taylor's room and had not moved since Taylor went down for her nap. I don't know if she went into protection mode or if she just didn't want to leave the one member of her immediate family that was left, but when I went downstairs in the dark to see her curled up by the door, I honestly wanted to cry.

I am always weeks and weeks behind, and I am so bad about taking pictures, but here are just a few pics and a few quick thoughts on the sweetest girl to enter my life. Although she hasn't been as sweet the last couple of days due to her top teeth coming in, but she is still a really good baby, so I shouldn't complain.

Apparently Mia was thinking "it's my party and I'll cry if I want to" as we celebrated her 1st birthday and all of the princesses each got to make a crown to wear.

Taylor's crown wasn't enough. I guess she wanted Allie's crown too.

The girls playing in the blow up pool on the deck

I know I am a little bias, but seriously... could she be any cuter? (Side note - the bracelet is not cutting off circulation, it is in one of her fat crevasses, however we have now taken off the bracelet).

The latest updates on Taylor are:

• With her top teeth coming in, she has been making this horrible sound as she scrapes her gums/teeth together and it sounds like nails down a chalkboard... ugh!


• Although she has been army crawling for a bit, she has officially started crawling like a big girl on all fours. This first occurrence was out front on the grass while I was attempting to ride a road bike and eating asphalt trying to clip out of the bike.


• She is pulling herself up on everything she can (as you will see below). She has no sense of balance, so I am sure it will be quite a few months before she's walking, but she loves to pull herself up and stand whenever she can.


• She HATES going to bed. After almost 6 months of putting her down without rocking her to sleep, you would think she would be able to soothe herself, but 99% of the time she kicks and screams and cries herself to sleep (whether it's bedtime or nap time). She has also refused a 2nd nap so for the last month or so we have been down to one nap a day. But I will say once she is down, she is a great sleeper, but the stubbornness is coming through strong!


• She plays peek-a-boo on her daddy's chest. She will nuzzle her head in his chest and then she'll throw her head up to look at him and he'll yell "peek-a-boo" and then she'll throw her head into his chest again.


• She LOVES little kids. Our friend's kids will dote all over her and they can get her belly laughing like nothing else. She just gets excited to see them. It's so cute!


• She loves the water. We have been doing a mom and tot swim class and she loves it. She never cries except this past week, when the instructor came out with a dive stick for one of the other kids and she had to have it and screamed and cried until she could hold it and put it in her mouth. See... I'm not over exaggerating about the stubbornness.
  

Taylor started doing a model pose. This doesn't fully capture the pose, but I think she's telling me to talk to the hand...

Great Grandma Jean, Taylor and Grandma TT. This is special to me, because I never had Great Grandparents, in fact I never met one of my grandparents and another one died when I was 5 and Taylor wasn't ever able to meet any of her great grandparents on my side of the family so I think that this is pretty cool!

The 3 Amigos/Cousins

Our newest G2 sponsor. I seriously left her for a minute or so as I was working in the kitchen and she managed to get herself up on the box. This is also the way that she says hello... she salutes you with an extended arm. (No Heil jokes are necessary ;)

Daddy and 2 of his favorite girls

To My Favorite Sister in the Whole Wide World

It's kind of the running joke that I call my sister my favorite sister, since she is my only sister, but today I want to wish my favorite sister in the whole wide world a very happy birthday. Growing up, I was a horrible big sister. I wasn't good at including Ashley in things that I did and I wasn't someone that she could look up to or lean on for anything. It is one of the biggest regrets that I have. But Ashley is a fighter. She has been since she was born 27 years ago at 3 lbs 12 oz. She has had so much thrown at her throughout her life and she still fights her way to survive and be happy. We are so different and so the same in so many ways. People think that we look alike, but she is way more gorgeous than I will ever be, however we do sound alike. And even though we haven't lived in the same house for 12 years, we have similar mannerisms and phrases. It's almost kind of scary. And even though I'm the "big" sister, I look up to Ashley. She has had a very rough couple of years, but people who don't know that would probably never know. She can light up a room in seconds. She can talk to anyone and she has an incredible gift at making others feel special and loved. She is extremely creative and very talented. And right now, even though I don't know how she does it, she is living her dream from when she was a little girl... in front of the camera. She has done some modeling and now she has had some extra parts in a movie and some tv shows. I could never imagine living that moment to moment lifestyle of never having a steady job or knowing if you can pay the bills that month, but Ashley embraces it.

Even though this girl is tough as nails, she has a heart of gold. I remember when we were little and somebody swatted a moth and she cried and cried trying to nurse it back to health. She even took care of our Great Aunt's dog for years after our Great Aunt died. If you had seen this gray poodle, you would think that she was on death's door, but Ashley would cradle and cuddle her and hand feed her to the point that this dog lived years longer than she ever would have under normal circumstances. No matter what physical ailments a person may have, while other people are staring, Ashley sees right past that into the soul of someone and treats them for who they really are. She can frustrate me like no one else, but it usually has to do with those free spirit traits of hers that make her so special and so unique.

So here is to my favorite sister and best friend, Ashley. I have always said that I would choose her to be my only sister than to have multiple brothers and sisters because she fulfills and surpasses anything that I would and have ever wanted in a sibling. I love you so much and here's to having an amazing year!

Even since we were little, Ashley has always been the life of the party and so fun to hang out with. She always makes me laugh!

We did go through some years with some pretty cute hairstyles... my always seemed to be worse... :)

Yet through it all, Ashley has always been able to ham it up for the camera.

I couldn't ask for a better Aunt to Taylor. Even though Ashley doesn't get to see her very often, she is so amazing to Taylor when she does get to see her. I'm so glad that Taylor has Ashley to look up to and to teach her the things that I can't (like nutrition, skin care, putting on make-up)!

Happy Birthday Dear Jennifer!

The 4th of July is a very special day in 2 regards. Of course we get to celebrate the birth of this glorious nation that we live in and all of the freedoms that we are blessed with, but we also get to celebrate the birth of one of my dearest friends, Jennifer. (I will refrain from using her last name since she probably would appreciate that I don't). Of course everyone is different and unique, but I can promise you that if you don't know Jennifer, you haven't met anyone like her... (and you are definitely missing out!

I met Jennifer when I started Synchronized Swimming. She of course was one of the best in our age group and even better than some of the older girls. I don't know how others felt when they first met her, but I seriously thought she was so cool. She didn't care what anybody else thought of her and she felt free to tell you exactly how she felt, no matter what. We must have been 9 years old and she invited me to her house for a Halloween party and I thought that was the coolest thing ever! From that time forward, Jennifer was a staple in my life. Her parents were my parents and even though we went to different high schools, we were inseparable. We swam on the same swim team in the summers around age 13, we had all of the same jobs, whether it was working the snack bar, coaching Synchronized Swimming or working at Sunflower.

I was talking to Dustin the other day about Jennifer because something reminded me of her. We were so different in so many ways. I have always been a people pleaser and she could care less what others thought of her, she was an extremely talented swimmer and Water Polo player (far better than me), she is so funny, she is so creative. She was everything I wanted to be and wasn't. The only thing that we were both really good at, was being each other's friend. In fact Jennifer is one of the best friends you could have. Some of my fondest memories in the world are with her and I am reminded of her all of the time by the most random of things, but they are memories that I treasure forever. Since she lives across the country, we don't get to see each other much. The last time was at my wedding which was almost 7 years ago, but no matter what, she will always be one of my very best friends. I am sure she is going to be so bugged when she reads this because she hates it when I write long posts. (I had to return the birthday tribute favor.) Honestly, you only have to read a couple of posts on her blog to get a glimpse of how funny she is and the places her mind goes. She is one of the most special people that I know.
I love you Jennifer and I hope you had the happiest birthday! Here's to joining the ranks of the big 3-0!

August of 1995 - Just before leaving for the famous WCSC Sausalito Dinner. Too funny that I spent my life with this girl and yet we have very few pictures together... or maybe I just need to track some down from my mom.

Catch Up

Well it's 1:30am and I can't sleep. I figured why not just catch up on Taylor since it has been way too long and maybe it will keep my mind off things.

So nearly a month ago now, Taylor turned 9 months. She has only grown an inch since her last appointment 3 months ago (I think she's going to be a little shrimp), but she did reach a whopping 19 lbs 13 ounces. I swear she weighed more when were in California, so maybe all of this crawling around has made her start shedding some pounds. Honestly, I love the chub and I'm not quite ready to see it go, but trust me, there is still a lot there to enjoy. Here are some of the highlights and some of her favorite things right now:

• She loves waking up in the morning, always has. She just laughs when I pick her up. However she hates going to bed. After almost 5 months of putting her down without rocking her to sleep, she usually cries for at least 5 to 10 minutes. Sometimes (like tonight) she cries for over 30 minutes so I whimp out and pick her up. Her manipulation works and then before I know it, it's 10 pm.
• She is crawling! It may not be the traditional crawl, more of an army crawl, but she can move quick. I was cooking in the kitchen the other day and I looked back to check on her in the living room and couldn't find her. It had only been a couple of minutes but she made her way behind the couch!
• We haven't swam too much, but when her daddy took her in the pool on Memorial Day, she was kicking and swimming all over the place! I knew that she loved the water, but I've never seen her that excited in the pool. Most of her water experiences are in the bath tub, with all the splashing, it feel like I end up taking a bath with her.
• She loves hair. I don't mean just touching or pulling hair, I mean eating hair.... ugh! With a shedding dog in the house, no matter how much I vacuum, she is always bound to find some and she loves putting hair in her mouth. It is sooooo gross!
• Honestly, Taylor puts anything and everything in her mouth. I did have to stick my finger down her throat a few weeks back because she was gagging on something. It was pretty scary.
• She loves dogs barking. Whenever she goes over to her Grandma TTs and their yorkie is barking, she will honestly belly laugh. So cute!
• She barely fits in the bumbo chair and the other day she actually popped out of the bumbo chair. I look away for a minute and when I look back she is on her stomach on the kitchen counter. It's like I can't even take my eyes off her!
• She loves our daily walks. We usually take 2 walks per day to accommodate Quique, but Taylor loves it! Now that the rain is apparently gone, we can hopefully enjoy the outdoors even more!
• She loves music. A lot of times she will start to almost dance a little when she hears music. The other night we went to Red Iguana (my favorite Mexican Food except for maybe some food in Mexico) and the two gentlemen who go around with their guitars came over and sang a children's song to Taylor. She was in between them in her high chair and she just kept looking back and forth from one guy to the other. It was like she knew that they were singing to her. I got some of it on video, but it just doesn't do the experience justice.
• She claps all of the time. It's funny because she actually does it when she's happy or she hears people laughing. I hosted our Dinner Club this last month and we were laughing in the other room and Dustin told me when she heard us laughing she started laughing and clapping her hands.
• She is just a happy baby. We are so blessed to have such a special and happy baby. She is so good and so sweet!

I know I'm leaving out so much, but I do have one mommy highlight (at least I will only write one, but of course there are many many more):

• Less than 3 months of formula and then we are on to the real stuff! Our bank account will be so happy!

The only other update is Father's Day. I know that we are well past that special day, but this year it was so special. Dustin was actually ready and wanting kids long before me, but he waited until I was ready and then who knew it would be such a process! Whatever the case, he is such an amazing dad. Taylor lights up whenever he enters the room and he can make her laugh so hard. He is so good with her and the love those two have for each other is one of the most beautiful things that I have ever seen. I am so grateful for a husband who is such an amazing dad and I am grateful for how hard he works and all of the sacrifices that he makes so that I can stay at home with Taylor. I'll be honest, staying home has been quite a life changing event for me, but I am so glad that I have the opportunity to do it because of Dustin. Dustin will be so entertained by her some times and he will say "I know you get to see this all of the time, but I love this"! Watching Taylor grow each and every day and watching her personality blossom is a miracle that I get to watch almost every minute of every single day and I'm so glad that I get to be a part of that. Who knew that this sweet little bundle of joy could fill our lives and to fill some of those empty spots in our hearts in ways that I can't even begin to explain. I love you DT! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Trip to Cali

I won't bore everyone with all of the details, but we had a great trip to California. Dustin came out for a few days and then Taylor and I stayed another week. My mom got us tickets to Wicked so Dustin got to see it for the first time, we spent time with my dad and Cary, hung out in San Francisco, ate lots of wonderful food and we were able to visit some friends. All in all it was a great trip. We watched "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" while I was home. There is a great line (which I am totally paraphrasing and will totally butcher at the same time). Brad Pitt is talking about coming home after many years of being out to sea and says something to the effect of when you come home, it looks the same, smells the same, and even feels the same. The only thing that's changed is you.' This is so true but it made me excited for the time when Taylor is older and I can come back and show her all of the places where some of my most wonderful memories are and to see the people that I share those wonderful memories with.

Wicked - Hands down my favorite play, although I did like Glinda better the first time... before they toned down her part, but the costumes were much better the 2nd time. Dustin enjoyed it too! But maybe not quite as much as me. But before the play we had to eat at House of Sake for some sushi. My mom has been going there for so long that they give her a 15 or 20% discount every time she goes. How awesome is that!

While we were at Wicked, my dad and Cary watched Taylor and seemed to have a lot of fun! Thanks to Cary for the great pics!

Grandpa and Taylor.... love it!

My dad is one of the best cooks I know and he and Cary made us paella one night. It was excellent. Here we are hanging out at Grandpa and Cary's house!


Cary is a huge horse lover and has and awesome saddle set up in their house. Taylor is starting early... :)

Taylor's first lemon... she loves it! Her Grandma Ann will be so proud!

My dad and Cary's amazing Paella and always beautiful presentation!

Taylor loves it when daddy blows in her face. And thanks to Cary for all of the beautiful pictures she took and for allowing me to use them on the blog!

Grandma and Taylor at Tadich Grill in San Francisco

Dustin and I with our bibs, getting ready for the best cioppino. Dustin and I were so excited that we didn't even take a second to take a picture of how great it is!

Taylor riding the carousel at Pier 39

Sorry for the blurry picture... I was able to visit one of my dear friends, Heather and her new baby Roman. The picture doesn't even begin to show how cute he is.

All in all, great trip and lots of fun! Can't wait to do it again... although it was nice to come home.