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)