It's A...

When you are trying to get pregnant for a long time and you keep thinking, 'this is the month', you start thinking, maybe dreaming is the more proper terminology of how you're going to tell your husband; at least I did. There were so many months that I was so convinced that I was pregnant. If my chest felt slightly more tender or I had headaches; honestly you grasp onto ANYTHING! Anyway, my point being that I had dreamt so many scenarios as to how I would tell Dustin that I was pregnant and of course, I never got to use any of them. In fact, I was so convinced that I was pregnant with IVF the first time that I lied to him about when my blood test was so that I could surprise him. Of course that completely backfired when I had to call him on the phone at work sobbing because they had told me I pretty much wasn't pregnant, (when in fact I was pregnant 2 days later). My point being I wanted to do something a little more special when finding out the sex of our baby. I am not one that can wait until the birth of the baby. I would never want one thing different in terms of Taylor, but all of that was more than enough to handle the first time around, that I don't need any surprises or lack of preparation the second time around. She was enough to last me a lifetime and beyond!

So... Liz gave me an awesome idea! Dustin and I had an ultrasound appointment on the 30th. We decided not to find out the sex of the baby at the appointment. Instead we asked them not to tell us and to just write it down and put it in a sealed envelope. And actually, the thing we cared about the most at the appointment was that everything was okay, especially after the fact that my sister in law, Brooke found out that she had lost her baby at the appointment just 6 months or so before, so they made sure to show us the heartbeat first which put me at ease. And everything else seems to be looking good so far, so honestly, that was most important. Anyway, I took the envelope to a store. I picked out a girl outfit and a boy outfit. AKA a pink University of Utah onsie and a red one. I went up to the cashier and gave them the envelope and asked them to open the envelope and ring up the correct outfit. The man was almost confused and then was almost nervous that I wanted him to be the first one to look at the envelope. He packaged up the onsie with the envelope and when I came to sign the receipt I just asked him to cover up the price because there was a $1 differential and his reply was "I'm already one step ahead of you, just in case you were a math whiz". And there you had it. My plan was to do this for a romantic dinner for Dustin's birthday, but between my dad being in town and Dustin out of town for work and then a trip we had to Disneyland, the only time we had was our night in Vegas on the way to Disneyland so it was a family affair. Taylor of course is not good at restaurants, which totally stresses me out, but it still made for a wonderful evening.

So I let the birthday boy open the present and tada...

We're having a GIRL!!!! The funny part is that although I was totally happy with whatever we were going to have, I guess I kind of thought that we were having a boy, because I was kind of more surprised than I thought I'd be. But now that it has had time to sink in (even though I am still in complete denial that I am pregnant although halfway through this pregnancy) a girl couldn't be more perfect! My sister and I are 3 years apart and these girls will be 2 years and 8 months apart. I can honestly say that I didn't always treat my sister as well as I should have growing up, but that I wouldn't trade having my sister for anything in the whole world. I think that God knows exactly what sibling we need and I needed a sister. There is something so special about a sister bond. I wouldn't trade my girlfriends for anything, but there is still something special about a sister that is even different and I am so grateful that Taylor will have the opportunity to experience that. I thought when all was said and done that Dustin may have been a little sad and wanted a boy, but he is just as excited if not more about having another girl. With Quique, (the girl lab) he's definitely outnumbered now!

It's True!

Apparently third time's a charm! After a lot of thought, Dustin and I decided that we would try In Vitro just one last time. If we got pregnant great, and if not, then we knew we had tried it for the very last time and we would walk away from trying to get pregnant and be completely content with adopting from here on out. All we had to do was look at Taylor to know that everything would work out just fine. And then, miracle # 2 came our way... I'm pregnant.

But of course, we always like to make things interesting and we never seem to make things easy. Anyone familiar with IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) is aware that it is a 2 month or so process. It begins with going on the pill so the doctors are in control of your cycle, to taking shots, to daily ultrasound appointments to monitoring your eggs then there is an egg retrieval followed by an embryo transfer and then two weeks later you find out if all of that time, energy, emotional investment and money paid off.

As many of you may know, I was diagnosed with epilepsy. I still have seizures so we changed up my medication a couple months prior. But a week prior to starting the shots portion of IVF, I developed a rash side effect from my seizure meds which forced me off that medication which then delayed my IVF for a month while I changed up my seizure meds. Of course I want to make sure that I'm okay, but just another frustration during the process.

We were finally able to continue and finish the IVF process. It was finally time for the pregnancy test. We had been here before. The first time we did IVF I miscarried (which is the main reason we decided to try one more time). I would go in for a blood test and then wait a few hours to hear the results. When I miscarried my HCG level was really low and then jumped two days later. We figured that if this was the case, we wouldn't get our hopes up on a successful pregnancy. They want your HCG to be above 100 that first day. The first time mine was at 46, however this would still show as positive on a pregnancy test. So we decided to take a pregnancy test to see if the dream was still alive or if all hope was gone. I must say there was shock when I turned to Dustin to show him a positive pregnancy test. But at the same time, we couldn't get too excited because we didn't know how high my levels were, but I had only seen one other positive pregnancy test in my lifetime so I just sat and stared for a few minutes to take in the moment, even if it was going to be short lived.

The nurse called me 4 or 5 hours later to tell me I was pregnant. I think when there wasn't a scream on my end of the phone her immediate response was "you cheated". I said I did (take a home pregnancy test), but the main concern was my hcg levels. When she told my levels were 127 then I gave the scream that she had been awaiting.

2 weeks later was our viability ultrasound. The last time we went through this was when we found out I had miscarried so this was when the nerves set in. When our doctor told us there was a baby and a heartbeat, tears immediately started streaming down my face. I had prepared myself for the worst and couldn't believe this was actually happening. But it didn't take long for things in the room to get serious. My tears of joy soon turned to tears of fear. The doctor informed us that the baby was measuring small and the heartbeat was slow. Dustin goes into Dustin mode and immediately starts asking questions, I just start crying. Ultimately, she told us that there was a 50/50 chance that we would have a baby the next week when we came in for another ultrasound. I continued to cry and I know that she wanted to tell me something different, but she couldn't. The nurse kept telling me that this doesn't mean that things won't work out, but my pessimism had already set in. And then on top of all of this, of course Dustin was going to be out of town that whole next week for work.

Honestly, I thought it was going to be the longest week of my life, waiting to see if our baby would make it or not. It was hard because when we decided to do this round of IVF we decided not to tell anyone except our parents so at this point only our parents, my sister and 2 or 3 friends knew and that was it. I knew that if the baby didn't make it, it would be hard, especially if Dustin and I had to do it while he was far away. But surprisingly enough, the week was not bad, we were both strong, we both felt comforted for whatever was ahead of us. The other thing that helped me was Taylor. I would just look at her and know that whatever was meant to be would be. When I seriously try to even think about how she ended up in our lives I can't even wrap my head around how it happened. All I know is that she was supposed to end up with us and that one way or another that was how it was going to be. So I knew that if this pregnancy didn't work out it was purely because there was another baby out there that we needed to adopt. I can't even begin to explain how much faith I have in the hand of God in our lives, but I knew that at this point it was all in His hands. And knowing that anything can still happen, I still do.

Lucky for us this baby is a fighter and all has worked out so far. Our doctor was so sweet and told us how she had been thinking about us all week which meant a lot because doing IVF up at the U means she has a lot of patients all week long.

So apparently, this little boy or girl must have just implanted a little late or in other words at the last possible second which I guess means that's another miracle in and of itself.

Well that was 2 months ago and since then, things have been good. I have finally started to feel better although I guess I wasn't too sick anyway, but being nauseous all day is still hard for me. But then again... I'm pregnant! How can I complain? I say it out loud, but to be perfectly honest, I still don't really believe it and I think that I'm still waiting for something to go wrong as sad as that is to say out loud. Maybe once my belly is sticking out for the world to see, and I feel somebody moving inside of me, it will all start to feel a little more real. Whatever the case, it is truly a miracle and Dustin and I feel blessed beyond measure! 17 weeks down... 23 weeks to go!

So here are the two embryos that were transferred into my body. Dustin and I assume that the top embryo is what is now the baby growing inside of my body since it is the larger one and was the better of the two embryos. However, we all know what happens when we assume... Not to mention the fact that the embryo did implant a little late, so who really knows. Whatever the case, one of these two embryos is the baby growing inside of me right now. Pretty cool, huh?

Chicago

I think it was probably not long before Taylor was born and the movie "Rudy" came on tv. Of course Dustin and I couldn't help but watch it and by the end I was in virtual convulsions from crying. But I told Dustin that if Utah ever had the opportunity to play Notre Dame that we were going to go watch them play. It was seriously within a week of my declaration when they announced that Utah was playing at Notre Dame in the 2010 season. So it had been decided long ago that we would be going to the game this past weekend. Although I don't know if I consider it a game when we didn't even really show up to play, but that's a whole other story for a whole other blog.

So I'm finally leaving Taylor for the first time since she was 3 months old. At that time I think neither she nor I cared that much when leaving each other, but this time was a little different. My mom and sister flew out so I knew she'd be in good hands and I needed it, but it wasn't until the last week when it dawned on me that I'd be leaving her. Well that all diminished the day before I left when my mom and I got food poisoning. I was so sick I don't even know how I got packed. I was puking 3 hours before getting on a plane, it was awful! I had been looking forward to this weekend away with Dustin for months and I could barely function. Not to mention I was leaving my sick mom with Taylor, but luckily my sister was flying in just a couple of hours after we left.

But despite all of that, it was a great weekend. Notre Dame was amazing. The campus was all it was cracked up to be and so much more. It was beautiful, the traditions were so fun and the fans were so nice! Thanks to Jennifer, I had some insights prior to going so that helped out a lot. Even though our team played horribly, just being there was so worth it. And all of the fans and security were saying how we'd brought more fans than any other away team they'd seen, so at least our fans showed up even if our team didn't.

Warning - Pictures are from Dustin's phone because the camera was one of the many things I neglected to pack....

Pictures can't even describe the beauty.

In front of the stadium

Dustin in front of Touchdown Jesus

Inside the stadium, trying to keep dry at times throughout the game

Dustin with his BFFs John and Mark. Dustin is such a good hubby. Most guys were there with their friends and dads, but poor Dustin had to bring his wife...

ND Band is like 10 times the size of our band and so much cooler... sorry Utes!

We just drove in for the game and stayed in Chicago. Dustin had made reservations at some great restaurants which we didn't even go to. Food was not on my priority list that weekend which is usually at the top of my priority list whenever we go to a new city or on vacation for that matter... oh well! I also packed the bare minimum and it ended up being colder than the weather forecast so I was a little cold, but it was still great. We saw the Lion King on Sunday, which Dustin hadn't seen before. I think it was better than he expected so that was a plus. It's definitely a city I would love to go back to when I'm feeling better, but I still was able to enjoy it and I love love loved it!

And as much as I love Tay and missed her it was just like old times just spending the weekend with my hubby. And when I got home, apparently Taylor didn't miss me. I love that she had fun with her Grandma and Aunt, but I think that there was a part of me that maybe was hoping she missed me just a little bit... oh well!

Yes... I think the paleness was still showing, even on Sunday...

Halloween Fun!

Another fabulous Halloween has come and gone. Taylor has come a little closer to getting it. Maybe she'll totally get it by next year. This post is packed with pics, but I'll try to keep things short. She has a new obsession with pumpkins and that only intensified after our trip to the pumpkin patch. She ran through the mini haystack maze, sat on the tractor...

measured up to the scarecrow...

took silly pics with daddy, and finally picked out her own little pumpkin. She would not put it down the rest of the day. She even took a nap with it later in the week! On the way home, I asked her if I could hold the pumpkin and she just said "mine, mine, mine". Wow! Apparently, that said it all!

Then we had to carve the pumpkins. I LOVE Halloween, but I HATE carving pumpkins. Dustin pretty much did it all, hence the reason they look good. The third one was supposed to be a SF Giants pumpkin, but it didn't quite work out, plus I think we were a little worn out from the other two and Tay had lost complete interest by that time.

We cannot get Taylor to look nor smile at the camera unless we tell her to say "cheese"... and then this is what we get. It's like one extreme or the other. Welcome to my world!
Our two carved pumpkins with Taylor's baby pumpkin, that she takes naps with. :)

Halloween turned into more like a 3-day weekend. Friday we went to Dustin's office for trick or treating. His office always does a big Halloween party so it was fun to see all of the crazy costumes. Of course I completely forgot to get pictures of all of us together. I'm always so bad about that!

Taylor and Landon. He is always so sweet to her, but I think all he really wants is his football back. :)

Taylor and Owen. He was Elmo and she just kept hugging the hood of his costume (which is Elmo's head). Maybe she should have been Elmo.

Then it was back home to pick up the chili and off to the Trunk or Treat.

Taylor and Charlotte hanging out in the trunk. Tay did take Charlotte's sucker from her a few times. And we wonder why our kids get sick??? Taylor wasn't really into the Trick or Treating, but she loved hanging out with the big girls and playing the games.

I know that Sunday was Halloween, but here in Utah, Saturday was the day for trick or treating, so we just went to a few houses during halftime of the Utah game. Dustin started getting a guilt complex for not taking out Taylor more. I told her he could take her out, but she really only enjoyed knocking on people's doors. Beyond that, the rest of it just didn't sink in. Why push it?

Then Sunday, Dustin's mom (Grandma TT) had a Halloween party and dinner at her house so once again we all got dressed up and went over there.

Dustin went a little lazier on the make-up Sunday, but he was a member of the Blue Man Group, and I of course was a cat. Taylor is obsessed with cats and since I am not a cat person and bless her heart we'll never have one, I thought she might have fun with me meowing at her, which she did.

Grandma TT with her Grandchildren

It was a fun evening. It was towards the end of the night. Taylor loves to go in her Grandparents room and either jump on the bed or trap herself in the shower. Chris (Grandma TT) was checking on her from time to time. Dustin was looking for her. He kind of let out a scream. My sister in law was concerned, I figured he was just playing with Taylor because he does that sort of thing, then I hear him yelling to me to come here right now. We go into the bathroom. Taylor has been turning on the jetted tub hot water nonetheless, not sure how it's not scalding how, getting in the tub and then pulling in her papa's laundry into the tub with her. Apparently, it looked like fun to Mia so she jumped in there with her. Dustin starts getting mad at her and she has a bar of soap in her hand and apparently just offers him some soap. She is splashing around in the tub, soaking wet from head to toe! I was laughing so hard I couldn't even stand up straight.

The guilty parties...

As we're taking off their wet clothes, Savanna asks Mia why she got into the tub because she shouldn't do that without mommy around her reply "to get warm". Unfortunately Taylor doesn't talk enough for us to ask her. I would've loved to hear her response since I KNOW she was the instigator in all of this. When Taylor was taking our stuff to the car and they were putting Mia in the car he asked Mia if she liked taking tubs with Taylor and her reply was "that was funny!" The story doesn't do it justice, but at just over 2 years old, I have a feeling we have a real menace to society on our hands and I may have to do a lot of apologizing to my sister in laws and friend's of Taylor's moms. Beware!

Beyond that... exciting week!

Monday - Giants clench the World Series! So fun after we watched them give it away in '02. My parents are big fans so I grew up watching them, especially my mom who used to listen to the games on the radio when she couldn't watch the game on TV. So exciting and nobody gave them a chance... loved it!!!

Tuesday - Election night! Popping up some popcorn and then going to sit back and watch the show.

Saturday - Game Day returns to Salt Lake; Utah takes on TCU. No idea if they can actually pull it out, but they have a chance and it will be an awesome game AND my mom comes into town.

What a week! I don't think I could ask for much more than this!!!

September has become a crazy month in the Tate household. It starts with Taylor's birthday, then there's the beginning of football season, and the month tops off with our wedding anniversary. I'd have to say it's a pretty awesome month. And with the Utes doing awesome it's just the sugar on top!

As Dustin best put it in his letter to Taylor, she is honestly night and day to the child she was a year ago. She is energetic, fiery, independent, curious, with loads of personality that can run circles around me all day long. But every once in a while she'll shed another side. Here are two quick stories. Probably more for me than anyone else. One for me to go awww and one to remind me of my frustration. But through it all, when I think my love for her can't grow anymore, somehow it does. Love is truly amazing in that way.

Story #1

One of Taylor's favorite things is climbing up on the counter chairs in the kitchen. Another frustration because she loves to climb on the counter and get into everything let alone scare me to death. Anyway Taylor was just sitting on the chair. Apparently she has also turned into a people watcher at an early age as well. Taylor was watching her friend Lilly (who is just a few months older) play in the front yard across the street. I was in the vicinity, but not watching every move. Taylor refers to Lilly as La La.

Taylor: "Hi La La"...."Oh La La" (giggling) At this point Lilly is playing with her dog and apparently Taylor thinks this is funny. Pause for a little bit. "La La... ok?" Taylor is on the verge of crying...when I go over to her, she has tears in her eyes.

I look outside and Lilly is laid out face first in the front yard and within seconds she jumps up and she's running off to play with the dog again. I had to console Taylor and let her know that Lilly was okay and to show her that Lilly was playing with Cooper (the dog) and that she was just fine.

It's hard to explain in a blog, but for those of you that know Taylor, you don't really see those tender moments so when you do, it just makes your heart melt as a mom. She gets concerned for me when I stub my toe and yell out in pain or she sees tears when I cry in one of her Disney movies (yes I'm a sap for those of you who know me well). But I've never seen her show concern for a friend like that which was so sweet. And to be honest, she's a rough and tough girl so those moments are few and far between anyway, so it was a precious moment.

Story #2

I've been trying to work on Taylor with her letters so last week I decided to take just one letter and work on it a little throughout the day. I had a little white board that we wrote the letter on. The letter was D. So we put a picture of Daddy and we had a doggy and a duck and talked about the letter D and things that started with the letter D. It seemed she kind of grasped it the first day. So the next day I was pointing to the letter D on the white board and asking her what letter it was. Of course in her usual Taylor manner she completely ignored me. So I started telling her again about how it was the letter D. I did my whole spiel again. I probably said the phrase "the letter D" 20 plus times. So I asked her again.

Me: "Taylor what letter is this?" repeated a few times because again she ignored me

Taylor: "Two"

Are you kidding me? Have we really even talked about numbers? I mean we count things and she has some number magnets but we really haven't looked at the number 2 much except when I asked her how old she is and I haven't done that for weeks. And maybe if that was the only time that was her response, I would have been okay but I repeated the whole scenario above multiple times on that day and the next and guess what her response was..... TWO!!!!

Taylor is either totally messing with me (which is totally doubtful because she's two), I'm a horrible teacher or we have a VERY long way to go. I'm thinking it's a combo of the last two scenarios. My mom of course got a huge kick out of it. But then Taylor laughs or does one of her adorable things and how can I get frustrated when she does something like that?

So, moving on, here are just a few random pics from the past couple of weeks. The first one Tay was playing in her room. When I went to check on her, I couldn't find her. I started calling to her and then I heard some shuffling. When I opened the blinds, this is what I found...

Luckily, we haven't updated the blinds in her room yet...

Nice try... I can see you now...

Taylor thinks she's starting a new trend...

Our little Ute all dressed up for the first game, although we didn't take her. I have since taken her to one game and I don't think that will be happening again this season. Sorry Tay. I think it's better for all of us and the fans that sit near us. :) Maybe next season...

Happy Birthday Tay Tay!

I'm a week and a half late but the big 2 year celebration did take place! It's hard to believe that our little girl is 2. But what else can I say but these last two years have been absolutely amazing! I couldn't have planned for it to be better if I had tried to myself. Since it was Labor Day weekend we went up to Dustin's family's cabin and spent the weekend there and then had a family day at home on Monday that revolved around Taylor and found out just how a two year old acts. Although everyone tells me 3 is worse than 2... I can hardly wait! :) It was still more than we could ask for and Tay was able to hang out with her cousins and ride around in the paddle boat and and in the golf cart, swing in the swing and play on the slide and in her car. She was in 7th heaven! I made her the world's ugliest Elmo cake for her birthday, yet it was still recognizable to her, and she didn't even eat it, just stared at it; at least it tasted good. I will cherish these days when she is somewhat in admiration of some of the things I do. I just love her so much and can't believe she's two!

Taylor helping me make the cake (sorry for the blurriness)

World's ugliest cake that shifted during transit to the cabin...

Taylor admiring her cake wearing her birthday crown from Grandma TT

Taylor before bedtime playing dress up with daddy

There is so much more to say, but I am going to embarrass Dustin a little right now and do something behind his back and include part of a letter that he wrote to Taylor for her birthday. Hopefully he doesn't kill me for doing this, but all I could think of while writing this post was the letter he wrote to her. The bond they share is sweeter than anything that I can describe and I am sure that any of you with daughters may feel the same way about your husbands so here it is... Sorry honey, please don't kill me. This is purely out of love and adoration for what you wrote.

Taylor,

I can't believe you're already two years old. It literally feels like last week when your mom and I received a phone call from Pam telling us that your birth mother wanted to meet with us to discuss placing her future baby for adoption with us.
That call was so unexpected, yet felt so expected at the same time. We had been fasting and praying for months for you. We just didn't know when that would be and we knew that it would be possible that we'd have to wait years.

But the call came much sooner than expected and we were filled with hope. The day came for our lunch appointment. We were both so nervous and excited to learn a out you. But we received another phone call that morning, on September 3rd, telling us that she had to cancel our appointment because she had gone into labor two weeks early. What did that mean? Did she still want us to be your parents, even if she had never met us? That day was one of the longest of our lives.

But as you now know, your birth mother was inspired to still meet us while you were in the nursery in the hospital and our meeting was so touching. All of us realized that our Heavenly Father had a special plan for you and xxx, your birth mother, wanted to give you a life she couldn't provide herself. The next day, we brought you home from the hospital and our lives became even more complete because of you.

Its hard to imagine now, but you were such a quiet and mellow baby. And just like now, everybody fell in love with you at first sight. Not only your beautiful red hair, but your sweet temperament and special, soothing spirit. I always wanted to spend quiet time with you, just holding you, singing to you, and thinking what an amazing gift you were.

Two years have past and you're now not the quiet, mellow baby. You're curious, climbing onto everything, craving to touch everything and wanting to speak so badly. You have amazing coordination, which makes me feel like a seer, because I told everybody you were going to be my little gymnast, and your ability to do somersaults and climb on anything is playing itself out that way (like how you can climb out of your crib!). And you're speaking more each day. Your new favorite toy is the Little Mermaid doll mom got you. And you call her Arielle and you say it so sweetly. I turn on the movie almost daily just so I can hear you say it over and over.

I also love how you can actually tell everybody how old you are. You get annoyed with how often I ask you, but its only because I've never heard the word 'two' sound so cute and sweet in my entire life. It won't be long until you're speaking sentences. You are one of the happiest little girls in the world.

I just want you to know how special you are. You are so loved by me, your mom, Quique (your dog, who's just jealous of your toys), your grandma Ann, your Aunt Ashley, your Grandpa Ross and his wife Cary, your grandparents Papa and TT, your great-grandparents Marilyn and Alph, your aunts and uncles Brooke and Tyler, Tim and Lindsay, and Steve and Savannah, and your cousins. And you are known as the ward baby, because the entire ward just loves you so much. You are going to be so talented and are going to be able to connect with so many people. I know that Heavenly Father is going to use you as a tool to show His love towards His children. Your mom and I hope to provide you with every opportunity to cultivate your talents and hobbies, and we will do everything we can to give you brothers and/or sisters so we can all share your natural nurturing skills (you're obsessed with babies!).

We're spending your birthday weekend at our cabin near Manti. Mom made you an incredible Elmo cake(you're also obsessed with 'Memo'), and TT gave you a new car to ride in. Then we're coming back to our house to open your bike (from Grandma Ann), your kitchen (from grandpa Ross and Cary), and your baby and baby accessories from mom and dad. It will be a great weekend, because we're all together.

We just want to tell you how much we love you. Happy 2nd Birthday Taylor!

Daddy

Spudman - Part 3

It was Dustin's 3rd year at the Spudman Triathlon in ID and I am very happy to say that there were no flat tires this year... yeah! And even better he beat his personal record by 7 minutes and completed it in 2 hours and 23 minutes. It was so awesome!!! But probably the best part of it all was that he was able to do it with two of his best friends, Mark and John. He and Mark have been best friends for 25 years, how crazy is that? And with John it has been 22 years... amazing! You get the three of them together and it is pure comedy and yet they love and adore each other so much. It's truly something very special that most people don't have so I always love watching them in action. I was the only wife there so I was a little on the outside, but they are always so nice to include me in their millions of stories. :)

Pre Race

Taylor was a trooper. She does not sleep well away from home except at Grandma Ann's, so she finally fell asleep in our bed at around 12:30 or so and we were up just before 6am and Dustin's wave hit the water at 8:10am. So for hanging out in the sun waiting for Dustin to finish, even though she got cranky, she really did awesome. Here are some of the highlights (mainly of Taylor):

• Dustin beat his swimming time by about a minute even though he probably did only about a total of 20 laps in the pool to train. Great job or lucky guy! What would he do without that current? ;)
  
• When Dustin came by on the bike we were screaming go Dustin and go daddy. After that anyone who came by on the bike, it was "go dada" from Taylor.
  
• Then when Mark came by on the bike it was go Uncle Mark so after that it was "go Mah, go Mah" to anyone after that.
  
• During one of the waiting around times on the bike when Tay was going to lose it; it turned into Babies Gone Wild and she started to lift up her shirt for the bikers that went by. No, I have no idea where that came from, but I couldn't help but laugh and she thought it was hysterical!
  
• Before the swim Mark was taking her baby and hitting his head and saying "ow" and Taylor thought it was so funny. After they took off for the swim about 30 min later or so with her sweet baby that she is always nurturing, she took her and was hitting her against her head saying "ow" and then laughing at herself. Such a mimic.


• We got to see Kevin and Lindsay who did so awesome!!!


• Somehow or another I still heard two more high school stories that I hadn't heard. After knowing John and Dustin for over 11 years and Mark for almost that long and hearing so many stories, I still don't know how that's possible.


• Dustin managed to finish the race at 2:23, however got so excited that he didn't cross the finish line that registers his time that was just a yard away so his time is posted as 2:24. Too funny.
  
• At the end of the race, Dustin took his "potato" medal and put it around Taylor's neck. She said WOW and then pranced around with it on after the race and didn't take it off didn't take it off until after the 3 hour ride home. When he asked where her potato was, she would hold it up and then rub it against her cheek. So cute!


• And after only 5 or so hours of sleep, she ran around during the race, pushing the stroller, up and down hills and all around. I am sure this is normal for an almost 2 year old, but I now see why some parents buy leashes for their kids. She wouldn't stay near me. Some times I wonder if it's her personality or my lack of parenting skills as I see the sweet kids that are sleeping in their strollers or staying right by their parents' sides. I know, it's probably both! Also, she didn't fall asleep on the 3 hour ride home!

The Swim

The Bike goes too fast so no pics of that...

The Home Stretch of DT's Run

DT and JP

BFFs - John, Mark and Dustin. I thought it was so cute how they even color coordinated for the event in primary colors.

All in all, great trip and congrats to DT for such an accomplishment. One that I will never do. I think that I am perfectly fine sticking to the Sprint Triathlons. :) I'll admire him and be his cheerleader as he does the longer distances!

Highlight from Today:

I was unloading groceries from the car and Taylor was walking around with her baby (of course). She was holding her upright patting her on the back, walking around, and saying "shhhh" in her ear. Where does she get this stuff? This time I went for the camera, but of course, I was too late. One time I will share one of these precious moments with you... I promise!

Our Little...

Our Little Climber

I'm sure I don't know the half of things since she's a girl and she's only the first, but a few months ago I was answering the door and she was by my side. Then I'm shutting the door and seriously within minutes I'm not sure where she went and then I find her in the bathroom and here is where I find her...

You know she's got skills because this is a pedestal sink! She only had minutes to get up there. She is climbing up bar stools and I think I've already displayed her in one of her drawers. I think she's bummed I settled for a water table instead of a pool in the backyard so why not just make the water table her pool so she climbed up into that as well. The list goes on and on. She can pull herself out of the pool. But the ultimate climb thus far came last week when she went down for her "nap". I put it in quotes because she doesn't really nap. Maybe once or twice a week, If I'm lucky. I more or less just put her down in her crib and then she talks and rests so that I can have some "Jamie" time and she can have some quite time. I had put her down and it had been about 25 minutes or so and she was still talking away in her room. I happened to be in a nearby room when all of a sudden I heard the doorknob on her room.... no way! So we had her reenact later that night...



(There was no crying during the nap, probably this was only because we made her do it 10 times because the video camera wasn't working and we had to do it on Dustin's phone... we're so mean!)

Our Little Ute

For those that know our family, especially Dustin, we are big University of Utah fans... Go Utes! A couple of months ago, Taylor got a hold of a key chain that played the Utah fight song. She would hit the button repeatedly and I would clap along to it. It got to the point where Dustin would sing the fight song and Taylor would start clapping. Then later, we noticed sometimes that Taylor would start clapping and singing na na na na and it sounded kind of like the fight song. It seemed random the times when she would do it. Little did we know that she was way smarter than us. We were in the car going somewhere and she started doing it in her car seat and I was like Dustin, she's doing it again and turned to look back at her. I noticed the car next to her had a big sticker of this

on the back window next to her. That little stinker. The logo was on the key chain so every time she saw the logo she was clapping out the fight song and processed the fight song along with the logo. Dustin has a cycling jersey so every time he puts it on same thing. She was even doing it to the US flag. I have no idea where that came from. She has now toned it down and now just says na na every time she sees the logo. But now it has gotten to the point where little miss smarty pants associates it with sports so the other night we went swimming and she saw people playing tennis and pointed to them and said na na and then when we took Quique for a walk and people were playing soccer she pointed to them and said na na. It's amazing how their brains process.


Our little Foodie

I thought we were going to have the pickiest eater and I'll be honest, it depends on the day. But then sometimes she will eat some of the craziest things. Especially when my mom and sister are around! Whenever I go home to Cali there is a Sushi place that we always go to, I think we've been going since my sister was like 5. They know my mom by name and even though they just changed ownership, they still give my mom her “discount” when she goes. Although I have introduced Tay to seafood, I'll probably hold off on the raw stuff for a little bit longer, but here is my (at the time) 21 month old eating seaweed salad and sipping miso soup from a straw. She was also digging the crab and cucumber salad. More like she ate the crab off of the cucumber (and loving it!)....




Then there's another Italian place I love to go. It's so hard because Taylor is at such a hard age where sometimes she does a great job and sometimes she is just a pill. Of course she was being a pill so we had to go outside which was actually nice. Pasta is actually her favorite, but I wasn't sure about the Gorgonzola sauce and the certainly not the peas, but she wasn't even eating off her plate, she was just eating off her Grandma's and she couldn't eat fast enough!


Here she is eating some Mexican. Nothing like some guacamole, enchiladas, black beans, rice and who knows what else all over your face. How would it be if we all ate like this? At least she seems to be enjoying it (in a psycho kind of way)???

But I will say that her very favorite is dessert. She can be the bottomless pit when it comes to chocolate or ice-cream. Wow... just like her mom! Maybe she needs to learn some control from her daddy. :)

You don't know how much her love of food makes her mommy and daddy happy. Sometimes I joke with Dustin about how we may not have ever gotten married if we both didn't love food as much as we do. There is nothing we enjoy more than enjoying a fantastic meal together even if it means a hefty price tag at times, so we are so excited to see our little one following in our footsteps.

(INTERMISSION, Potty Break, Lunch Break, whatever)


Our Little Flirt

There is something about the red hair that seems to lure the little boys at her gymboree classes in because she has had a couple of different boys give her some sweet hugs. But thus far, there are just two boys with whom I have actually seen my sweet little angel flirt back. Have you ever seen a one year old flirt or be smitten? It is actually quite sweet. The first time I saw this was when we were at that sushi restaurant in Cali in March, so Tay was 18 months. It was adorable. What was crazy was when I went home 3 months later and she was still smitten with him. He was so sweet with her. And she would just watch his every move and would always want to give him a high five. At least she has good taste!

She's already started the "I'm not into you" act, even though she is... wow they learn early!

Taylor's other crush is a bit closer in age, but she still goes for the older ones... watch out daddy! Camden is one of Dustin's best friends' sons. If you could see how sweet he is with her, you would have a crush on him too. He dotes on her and plays with her and just makes her feel like she's a big kid and somebody special. It warms my heart just watching him with her. In church he'll hold her on his lap and play games with her and even I wouldn't even be able to tear her away from him. Camden is one person who can cheer her up when she's sad and she'll run to him if she sees him from a distance. She has a very special place in her heart for him and it's very apparent.

Current Obsessions

Airplanes/Helicopters – This has probably been for the past 7 or 8 months but whenever she hears one she always points to the sky and now she usually says bye as it flies away

Babies - Probably obvious from my previous post

Elmo - Probably obvious for most kids this age

Shoes – Tay doesn't say a lot of words yet and this was probably one of her first, she's also a girl, there are probably many reasons, but she loves pointing out shoes yours or hers

Bugs – This is a newer obsession. She will crouch down or lay on the ground and look at them.
Izzy would pick them up and put them on her hand so now she'll even pick them up. She loves them!

Flies/Butterflies/Bees – To Tay, anything bug that flies is a fly. She doesn't really like flies. She does like butterflies but she doesn't always say butterfly and sometimes can only say fly. If Tay can see that it's a bee, she does like bees, which really scares me because she wants to touch it. It's all a learning curve right now.

Swimming – She loves going swimming or as she calls it fwim. She has no fear. She jumps in, pulls herself out. She can't actually swim, but she loves being in the water.

Cats and Cows – She loves animals but most recently she loves cats and cows or as she usually calls them meow and moo. I really don't understand the obsession with cats since Dustin and I really don't have any interest in cats. My mom has one that she somehow inherited so that must be how, but it's mow or neoooooow. She also loves roaring when she sees pictures of bears, lions or tigers. Apparently she's more into sounds than names.

Singing/Dancing - She sings at during the day, in the car, at church and she dances when she hears music and during sytycd on tv. She LOVES to sing and dance. But again, normal for any kid her age.

Rocks – There is a pond where we take Quique to swim. Sometimes we'll hang out there for 30 minutes or so and Tay is totally content just throwing rocks the entire time. In fact, the girl may be developing quite an arm. Time will tell, I guess.

The Moon – When we go on our walks later in the day or evening, she will point up at the sky over and over again pointing at the moon. She loves looking at the moon, knowing where the moon is and showing everyone where the moon is. When we were walking down the street the other night it went behind the tree for a second and she got so sad and when she saw it again she was so happy. It was so cute.

Well... very long post, but there's a bit of an update on Tay!

Precious Moment

I'm baaack. Well kind of. Hopefully later this week with a ton more updates and pictures because sweet Tay has grown up so much in the past few months. My biggest downfall is my laziness in downloading pics and video. And really that's the fun part. So between Dustin and my mom nagging, I will have that by the end of this weekend. However, since my blogging and journal writing is terribly lacking, I had to quickly write down just a sweet story from yesterday. It will probably go down as one of those "you had to be there moments" but I'll do my best to try to capture it.

Currently Taylor has an obsession with babies whether it's human babies or dolls. When we were in California last month, my mom's friend Barbara gave her a cute baby doll and since putting that doll in her hands, she rarely puts it down. It's actually really sweet to watch because when she carries the doll, she is usually cradling the doll whether it is with one arm or two. There is the occasional throwing it over the banister down the stairs (one of her favorite past times with her toys). Or like yesterday, throwing the doll into her best friend Lily's pool or as she now calls her Lala. (so cute!) But for the most part she is very nurturing towards this doll.

Anyway, yesterday we were running a few errands, she was in the back seat jibber jabbering away. She is saying some words, but for the most part when she is singing or talking a lot it's jibber jabber. I was tuned into my talk radio so it took me who knows how long to realize that she was kind of sing songing these 3 syllables over and over again. The third syllable was long and ascended as she sang it. Of course the words to me were unrecognizable. When we got to the stoplight I turned around to see what she was doing. There she was sitting in her car seat. She had her baby doll laying on her lap looking up at her with her head at her knees. It was just like I would hold Taylor when she was a few months old. When I would have her head on my knees and I would kiss her feet and play with her belly. And then I looked up at Taylor and she had her hands over her sweet face. There she was playing peek a boo with her baby doll.

I can't even begin to describe the emotions that went through my body at that moment. I started talking to her and telling her how precious she was and how much I loved her and on and on. Her big blue eyes just stared at me through this rant and looked at me like what is wrong with you?

But after my little rant she just went back to playing peek a boo and I just parked and waited in the car and watched her some more just trying to soak in every minute, hoping that this was one of those moments that I can burn into my memory and never forget.

A Beautiful Day

This is just one of those random days when all I can do is laugh. This blog post is mainly for me, but since I'm not great about writing in my journal, I'm posting it on the blog. Lucky me had the 24 hour flu beginning Monday night and I was worthless yesterday so I was ready to get out and get things done today. After a morning trip to the grocery store, I was unpacking groceries listening to Taylor talk and sing to herself when I went into her room and this is what I found...

You can't really tell from this picture, but she is actually in the middle drawer, not the bottom drawer, so she had to crawl up into it. As if that wasn't enough, I go to grab my phone and I tell her to smile (which as I have said before, she never does) and she pulls out this fake, cheesy smile. What is that scrunchy face?

The day only got better as it went on. We went to her Gymboree class (our 2nd week) and apparently she was quite the hot commodity. There was one little boy Talan who was watching her rock in the wooden boat. Instead of wanting to get on the other side and rock back and forth with her, he decided to get on the same side and rock with her. He already has the moves and he's not even 2!

As if that wasn't enough, when we were in circle time, there was another little boy, James. It was like he looked at Taylor and it was love at first sight. He just kept going up to her and not only staring into her eyes, but kissing her. And then not only kissing her, but trying to hug her and kiss her on the lips. Honestly it was one of THE CUTEST things that I have ever seen. His mom was laughing and getting pictures because she had never seen him do this before. I wish I had had the video camera for this one. I guess the red hair has some affect on the boys at an early age.

The other highlights of the day were her singing constantly (even while watching American Idol), going down the slide head first (the girl has NO fear) and hanging out with her cousins, Tate and Bryson. And the weather was absolutely perfect. What more can you ask for?

Tour de St George

As always I am weeks behind. March just flew by and was over before I knew it. I'll probably be a bit out of order, but I was so proud of Dustin that I had to talk about our trip to St. George 3/26-3/28 so that he could do the Tour de St. George. It's a bike race where you can choose between 30, 75 or 105+ miles and he did the 75 miler. I was supposed to go for the 30 miler, but that definitely didn't happen (gosh I'm lazy!)

Anyway, we went with the Peterson's and Dustin and John are so amazing. John hasn't been on a bike since the ULCER last year and Dustin has been riding on his bike hooked up to his trainer downstairs (thanks to Connie for that!), but hasn't been able to train much (especially outside). For the first 30 miles of the race they his a really strong head wind, which is probably pretty obvious when you're going 6 mph downhill. But they pushed through and they finished the 75 miles. I figured that was enough to do Dustin in for a few days, but he wasn't even sore after that. WOW! I know I couldn't do it. I don't think I've gone more than 12 miles on the bike. Anyway, they did awesome and we had a really fun weekend.

My favorite picture of John and Dustin during the race. Dustin said it was so beautiful while they were riding. I think this gives you a good idea...

Dustin after the race... Yes I will explain why my child looks white trash in a sweater and a diaper...

One of the added bonuses of the trip was that Taylor made a new friend. Not that she hangs out with a lot of kids, but she's at the age where she doesn't really engage in playing. She is more of an observer. John and Steph's boy Cole (who is just a few months older) pulled her right out of her shell. He was like her best buddy all weekend. They would just mimic each other and laugh at each other. It was adorable! When Steph and I were waiting for the boys to finish, there was a water fountain there where the water shoots up from the ground (hence the video below). So Cole and Taylor with nothing better to do decided to play in the water. Anyone could have seen that I was a mom of 1 and Stephanie was a mom of 4 because I was freaking out that Taylor was wet and that she was getting cold where as Steph just let Cole play and play as calm as could be. I didn't think that I was "that" mom, but I guess I am.

Here they are nestled between two couches just giggling with each other. We can never get Taylor to smile for pictures so you can tell she's a happy girl!

At one point Cole stepped on a hole and some of the water shot out into Taylor's face and she made one of the gasping breaths (like when she comes up from underwater in the pool) and then with a big smile started clapping. I finally took her shirt off so before the sweater and diaper she was white trash with her sopping wet jeans and no shirt. I decided not to document that :)

Oscars Gift Show

Dustin called me at home a few weeks back to see if I wanted to go to LA with him to do a promotion thing for Del Sol. He had me sold at the thought of going to LA to visit Ashley so I was in. The whole movie star thing has never had me completely intrigued, I think I'm more star struck by my favorite radio Talk Show Hosts or some athletes. But I got into it and had some fun.

To be honest, the weekend was a bit of a disaster. Things can always be worse, but it just seemed like one thing after another kept going wrong and it was so frustrating. I wouldn't use "relaxing" to describe the weekend, but it was so great to see Ashley and it was fun to have a weekend with Taylor and Dustin even if Taylor wouldn't nap or really sleep that much for that matter.

Friday night Ashley took us to a great Thai Restaurant called "House of Thai". Pretty much a tiny little hole in the wall, but so good. The Coco soup was so good and they give you so much food! Even Tay joined in eating Chicken Satay and was loving it, even at 9:30pm which was 10:30 her time.

Saturday was spent at the Gift Show for most of the day and minus a few setbacks which is so not worth getting into, things were great. Now that I've been wearing the Stay at Home Mom hat for the past 18 months, it was actually nice to kind of feel like I was a working mom for the day (not that I would trade the SAHM thing for anything!). Virtually everybody was so nice and fun to talk with. A lot of the actors were more "blasts from the past" but that was right down my alley. Here are some of our favorites...

For all of you Sex and the City or White Collar fans, Willie Jarson was so nice, but his son stole my heart. He loved the Del Sol products and was even a little salesman going around to others like Dave Delouise telling them that they had to go by the Del Sol booth to see the products. Adorable!

Joosten from Desperate Housewives so personable and so much fun!

Dustin with Jerry Mathers aka Leave it to Beaver.

For all of you foodies out there, how cute is Marc Dacascos' (Iron Chef) family?

This cutie comes up and sticks out her hand and says "I'm Ariel Winter from a show called Modern Family". Before she even finished her sentence, Dustin and I were like "Of course we know who you are; we love that show". She was a sweetheart!!!

If you are my age there is no way you never watched Scott Baio in Charles in Charge.

While talking about CIC, one of Dustin's crushes from growing up; Nicole Eggert. What guy didn't love her?

Speaking of heart throbs, what girl wouldn't want to take a picture with Gilles Marini?

Dustin and I are usually aren't ones to watch the Oscars lately because there is way to much political soap boxing going on, but we decided to this year. All of a sudden we see this guy walking up to the podium and we were like we saw him yesterday. Oh yeah, just the Pete Docter, the director of Up receiving his Academy Award. We had no idea!

I saw Fred Willard down the way a bit and almost choked on my sandwich trying to get Dustin's attention. Although we both love him, Dustin definitely has a man crush. He even told Fred that his favorite line of all time is "How much do you think I can bench press?" Not sure if these guys like their lines being repeated to them or not, but Best in Show is one our absolute favorites!

Cloris Leechman - I'm not even sure where to start. I wasn't sure if she wanted another frisbee or what and then she was taking off the packaging and I was so confused until she posed for the picture... Mind you, she was all happy and full of smiles until she took the picture and then made the above expression right before the picture took. She said she messed up and wanted another picture, only to do the exact same thing. Favorite picture of the day... she is hysterical!

As I mentioned before, athletes are still some of my favorites. Maybe it's just because I'm an athlete at heart (even though I'm not a very good one) but I have complete adoration for athletes. There is something very special about them. I was glued to the Olympics for 2 weeks and the Winter sports aren't necessarily my favorites. Whether it's watching a sports movie, NFL Sunday, college games or my 3 year old nephews play soccer, there is something special about sports which is why probably when I saw each of the guys in the pictures below, my heart sped up. Here is when I got a little start struck...

Dustin had to virtually beg TO for a picture, but here we are with him and his super sweet and beautiful girlfriend. Love him or hate him, he is an amazing athlete.

And then there was Chad Ochocinco. He was so awesome! He was so quiet, which is not at all what I would expect from him, but so nice. Dustin and I were on cloud nine!

Of course I don't have any pictures with my sister... what do you know? But it was so great to see her even if it was super short. Thanks to her for all of her help and getting us through the day and to her roommate for taking Taylor for the day! So here's a pic of Ash...

Here is my adorable sis with Amarosa (The Apprentice). She of course gladly took the Del Sol product we gave her, but declined taking a picture with the product, however said she would be willing to take a picture with Ashley. Why would Ashley want to take a picture with her? I'm not even sure why Amarosa was even there??? I don't recall seeing any other Reality Show peeps.