Tate Chronicles

Skiing

2012-01-30T21:37:00.004-07:00

My parents started me in ski school when I was a little kid. Although I don't remember my own experience that well, we do have the video to back up Ashley's freak out experience when she had had enough and threw her skis on the ground and she huffed off in the middle of her ski school experience up at Alpine Meadows in Lake Tahoe. Although we would ski from time to time when we came out to visit while I was growing up, I can honestly say that I have never skied since moving out here over 13 years ago.

I think Dustin has been counting down the minutes as to when he could take Taylor for the first time although both of us knowing it could really go either way with her. She tends to be either hot or cold with things. For over a year he has been pointing to the mountains and showing her youtube videos and talking to her about how he is going to take her skiing. It has gotten to the point that whenever Taylor sees the mountains, especially snow in the mountains, she talks about skiing in the mountains with daddy. Well, on Saturday, he finally got his shot! There's been a few times he had contemplated it, but we both felt it was best to at least take control over those things that we could. In other words, take her up on a day when the sun was shining, she was in a good mood, etc. Beyond that, it was out of our control.

Dustin took her on Saturday morning to go rent the skis and that of course started with a meltdown. She didn't want to take off her princess boots to put on the ski boots. (I have a whole other blog post dedicated to the beauty of Taylor at age 3 right now...) Bribing didn't calm her down as it usually tends not to do, so he pulled out the phone and turned on a video of people skiing. She loved it and was then inspired to try on some ski boots. Way to go daddy!

The other enticement for skiing was that she was meeting two of her cousins, Tate and Bryson, up there, Two of her favorite things in this world are her cousins and her friends so she was all about going skiing when she knew that they were going too. I didn't go to see her ski. Hannah and I stayed behind, but apparently she loved it!

Tay with her cousins - Tate and Bryson

I guess her favorite part was when she went up on the lift (the little lift) with her daddy and then went down the hill with him in between his legs. I guess we always knew we had a little daredevil on our hands. Below is just a little video on one of the flatter parts. But I must say, I was a proud mama! One thing I have learned with Taylor is to expect the unexpected... When I am expecting her to behave, she doesn't. And I never expected this on her first day!

(If you listen really close, Taylor says "don't watch me"... that's my girl. Attitude and all! :)

Halloween, etc.

2011-11-23T17:42:00.006-07:00

Yes, Thanksgiving is tomorrow which is why I at least need to do a little Halloween wrap up before the remaining holidays came and went. I swear the holidays just get better and better as Tay gets older. When we carved pumpkins this year, Taylor wanted to have a happy one and a bad one so here they are...

It was like she had to pay hommage to the pumpkins everytime she walked into the house. Too cute for words.

At preschool, Taylor and her little class sang a couple of songs. It was so cute. It's been so fun to see how much she loves school and her teacher.

A few months back Dustin brought home the Wizard of Oz for Tay to watch. I was like there is no way that you are showing that movie to our two year old, she will have nightmares for weeks! He insisted so I told him that when she's up in the middle of the night, it's his problem, not mine. He agreed. Of course, I was completely wrong. She absolutely LOVED the movie! At first her favorite was the "green witch", but then Dorothy won out which is why SHE decided to be Dorothy for Halloween. Since she was torn and really loved the "green witch", I told her I would be that. Dustin jokingly asked her what he should be and she said the Tin Man. So it was then that the Tate family took on the Wizard of Oz...

Taylor is 3

2011-09-27T16:06:00.005-06:00

I can't believe that my little girl is 3! Granted, it happened a few weeks ago, but it's still hard for me to believe. Dustin and I were racking our brains about our lives three years ago before Taylor was born and just how quickly everything happened and the miracle that she was and has been in our lives. It really was just the flip of a switch that our lives went from a sense of emptiness to complete and utter fullness. And she did that! And now we have a feisty little red head that will keep us on our toes for at least the next 15 years, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

So of course our little redhead would want an Ariel birthday party since that is her favorite princess so a Mermaid party it was. She invited her best friends and cousins and it was the most darling thing ever. The only thing missing was her friend Lilly who got sick that day and couldn't come. So first we decorated princess crowns.

Mia, Taylor, Charlotte, Allie and Maggie. Tay couldn't ask for better friends or cousins. She is the luckiest girl in the whole world!

And then what's a Mermaid party without a Mermaid cake attempted by yours truly, but not executed quite as well as hoped for, of course.

And then there was the Treasure Hunt put together by daddy. Daddy did an excellent job of putting together some clues and they had to find the items in the yard. Cousin Bo was there to help as well. The final clue led to the garden where they dug up the treasure chest with some candy for each of them. Dustin did a darling job. It was seriously so cute. I was so proud of him!

I think that they had already found the dinglehopper and were either onto Sebastian or the seashell...

And can I just give a very special thank you to my sister in law Savanna and my friend Josette. They stayed and helped out during the party. Dustin came home for some of it too, but there is no way I could have done it without those two ladies, they were a huge help to me so a special THANK YOU to them.

And here is the birthday girl blowing out all of her candles, after an outburst during the birthday song informing us she wanted to eat on the grass!

My 3 year old Birthday Princess who at times can look so angelic...

And her birthday present to me... Potty Trained... woohoo!!! Finally!

Sisters

2011-08-16T12:30:00.003-06:00

Well I think that this may be a record for how long I have gone without blogging. And I have missed so much, but I am definitely not going to go through it all. I think the one thing that has been on my mind the most lately has been sisters. I don't know how I got so lucky to be blessed with two girls. It makes me think about my sister. Since there is just the two of us. Work happened to be a little slow for her when Hannah was due so she came out a little before she was born and spent almost and entire month out here with me. I know Dustin was a little anxious about that and as excited as I was for her to help out, I honestly didn't think that we would last that long, but she gave all of us a more precious gift than we could have ever asked for. Taylor got enough attention through it all, Hannah was well taken care of, I got in a few extra naps and somebody to talk to (besides Tay) throughout the day and Dustin and I even got in a couple of dates and he even got some home cooked meals those first few weeks since I had some extra energy! And my girls some precious time with their aunt. My sister was amazing! We would laugh about memories and I would feel bad because we didn't always get along growing up. I wasn't a very good big sister. But just being with my sister was a reminder of how grateful I was that Taylor and Hannah had each other. Because anyone with sisters knows there will be both good times and bad...

So Hannah is now 3 months! She has got to be one of the happiest babies I have ever seen. It's funny how you start to compare things about your kids and what I remember from Taylor at this age. Taylor was always standing and holding up her head really well. Hannah is weak sauce in that regard. She refuses to stand and doesn't hold her head up well. HOWEVER, she has the most beautiful smile and she is smiling and talking all day long. I can't stop giving her kisses all day long and neither can her big sister. She is sleeping through the night for the most part. She loves the water, pool and baths (as most babies do). She is a really easy going baby just as Tay was. She mainly cries when she's hungry, wants to be held or needs to be changed. I just can't get enough of her!!!!

Hannah and her Daddy after her Baby blessing on 7/31

Grandma Ann and Hannah - Grandma crocheted her dress!!!!

Taylor is about to turn three and giving me a run for my money! People say three is worse than 2, but then it gets better. I'm not sure if it will ever "get better" with her. I think she's one that's always going to keep me on my toes! She can make me want to rip my hair out one second and then she is as cute as a button then next second and can make me melt. Her favorite things right now are riding in the trailer of the bike with her daddy. She's really into the Disney movies and is known to even cry in Snow White, are we sure she and I don't share the same DNA? She loves her friends. For some reason at the beginning of the summer she was terrified of the pool (although she loved it last summer). Thank goodness we overcame that fear and she loves to swim again. I'll try to post some belly flop footage next go around. I could not ask for a better big sister for Hannah. Her only fault is that she wants to give too many kisses or just be all over her. Or that she is bratty to other people (family members included) when she throws her hand up at them and says "No! My baby Hannah". I have a feeling she will be an over protective big sister. Hannah may not like it, but it sure can be cute! At least right now...

Now that Dustin is totally and completely outnumbered, we were talking about daughters a month or so ago in the car. He had been talking to a guy who was about to have his first kid which was a boy. He is hoping to have all boys. Without any prompting from me or any gasps upon that remark from the other guys remark, Dustin said something to the effect that he feels he would've been completely deprived if he didn't have a daughter. The conversation went on and he went into more detail, but it still brings tears to my eyes when I think about him saying that. I think it's not only just because of the joy and the specialness that Taylor has brought to our lives, and now Hannah. But I think it's just how special these individual little girls are. WE'RE the lucky ones.

Sisters... and hopefully one day BFFs

Allow Me to Introduce...

2011-05-14T15:49:00.005-06:00

Hannah Lynn

Our new addition was born last week and we of course couldn't be more excited! Of course she decided that she had to make a dramatic entrance so for those of you who have yet to here the story, here's how it all went down. It's a long post, so only if you feel like a long read...

I was due on Saturday, April 30th, but even after a membrane strip a few days prior, nothing was happening so I figured I would just be induced the following week. In a moment of what I consider complete inspiration, my doctor decided that I go in for a Non Stress Test instead of another doctor's appointment (a few days after my due date) since he didn't have any clinical visits that week. Anyway, I went in for my test and after being hooked up to the machine for less than 10 minutes, Baby Hannah's heart rate pretty much fell off the monitor for a few minutes. The next thing I knew the nurse was calling for a wheelchair and telling me that we were going downstairs to Labor and Delivery. I thought that they got the baby's heart rate back on the monitor because it was beating so fast, but soon realized it was just mine because I was freaking out. The nurse told me Hannah probably leaned on the umbilical cord for a couple of minutes, but I'm trying to stay calm while I'm freaking out on the inside. I'm calling Dustin to come to the hospital, again, trying to stay calm since I'm really not sure if I'm overreacting on the inside or not. He of course, was ecstatic so apparently I didn't make things sound too serious. Next, I'm calling my mom to get on a plane and calling my sister who luckily came into town a few days before to let her know she'll be spending the day with Taylor.

The rest of the day remained interesting. They got me into a room right away and hooked me up to a monitor. When I heard the baby's heartbeat, I felt at ease again. They started me on the pitocin and it was around 930am. The doctor assisting my doctor was supposed to break my water around 1130am. Dustin was asking her if that was what it was supposed to look like since it didn't seem like anything came out. She was kind of snotty and said yes, so Dustin didn't question anymore, I mean what did we know.

4 hours went by, every time they increased the pitocin, Hannah's heart rate would drop and my contractions still weren't that strong. That's when my doctor came into check on me and asked how the epidural was going. I told him I didn't have strong enough contractions for an epidural yet. He was surprised, asked about my water being broken. So, he double checked and realized that in fact my water hadn't been broken. When he broke my water, that was a little more what Dustin and I expected would happen when my water was going to break. I don't think any additional details are needed there.

It didn't take too long after that for the contractions to increase and the pain to set in. However I didn't realize that I just had to ask for the epidural. I thought I would get checked to see if I had dilated to a certain point or maybe the nurse would ask. After a couple of hours, I was in some serious pain and told the nurse and she finally asked and I was like “I can have the epidural?” And she was like “Of course, didn't you know that?” Apparently, not... Anyway, once that happened, life was much better, at least for about an hour or so. Except for the fact that my doctor informed me that he had been on call all night the night before and he asked if it was okay that he not be there for the delivery. No, it wasn't, but who was I to say that? At least I was familiar with the doctor he was handing me off to, but sad he wouldn't be delivering my baby.

My mom had just arrived and Dustin's parents took Taylor to get something to eat. I was almost fully numb when my nurse came in telling me that there were going to be a lot of people coming into the room. Apparently Hannah's heart rate had once again dropped off the map, but this time for a long time again. So when my nurse came in and realized that I was fully dilated, the next thing I knew there were what felt like 20 people in the room. 10 nurses, 2 NICU doctors, an OB and they were paging the doctor who was supposed to deliver my baby, but she hadn't quite made it yet. They were putting an oxygen mask on me and then getting me ready to push because they needed to get Baby Hannah out as soon as possible. Apparently, when I would lay on my side her heart rate would go up. So after another dose of epidural since we thought I might need a c-section, about 45 minutes of pushing and a forceps delivery, Hannah Lynn was born at 758 pm. All 5 lbs, 2 oz and 20 inches of her. When she came out, she was white, almost grayish, and limp. Her eyes were wide open, but I swear I thought she wasn't alive. They had Dustin cut the cord and then they took over to the NICU doctors within just a couple of minutes, she was crying. We later found out that the cord was wrapped around her neck and apparently that was causing most of the problems. It wasn't until talking to the pediatrician the next morning that I found out that they actually had to resuscitate her. But through all of that, it of course could have been worse, but in our world, she turned out perfect and only gets more beautiful every single day.

Taylor has been a champ. I was going to post a month or so ago about her terrible two's that I have been enduring, but she has been just amazing since Hannah has come. She just wants to hold her and feed her and burp her. Sometimes we have to make her keep some distance for Hannah's own safety, but it's amazing how she seems so big now and how it feels like she has grown up months since Hannah's arrival. I think that Quique has taken it the hardest! And then there is Dustin who finds it nearly impossible to sit still for more than 5 minutes. And yet he sat by my side in the hospital from first thing in the morning until late at night (thanks to my mom and sis for taking Taylor) just holding Hannah, doing work and never complaining. I seriously feel like the luckiest/most blessed mom alive (but I know that there are many of you out there that feel the exact same way). She has already changed a ton since we left the hospital so I guess it's time to take some more pics and post them...

Our Little Princess

2011-02-23T15:59:00.006-07:00

In one swoop, there goes one of my goals for 2011... being a better blog updater. It's not that my life is so jam-packed with interesting things. I think it's just that when there are actually interesting things to talk about, then I don't have the time to write. When I do have the time, I have nothing interesting to talk about or I'm just so far behind I just wait until the next exciting event. It's a vicious cycle.

Last week we went home to Cali for one last visit before the baby comes. I'm sure I will build up to the idea of traveling with 2, especially since Tay is getting a lot better, but right now that task seems a little daunting. I think the whole idea of two kids still just gives me excitement and anxiety attacks all at the same time.

It was a pretty low key trip. Dustin did come into town for the weekend which was nice. We had some nice dinners and I got my food “fixes” in which I do when I go home. Taylor is talking a lot more which helps to put my mind at ease even if we do only understand 50% of what comes out of her mouth, but here are a couple of the Tay highlights:

After Dustin got into town and we had some lunch, we stopped over at H&M. When I was browsing through the kid's section for Taylor, apparently she grabbed the plastic tiara (below) off the shelf. I figured Dustin grabbed it for her. It's funny how this dad loves having a princess a daughter. As much as I thought I knew about him before we had kids, he still surprises me. Anyway, she comes running over to me with this tiara on saying in her sweet little voice “I'm a princess, I'm a princess”. She usually talks about herself in the 3rd person (Tay Tay this or Tay Tay that) so at first I wasn't exactly sure what she was saying. But she was running all through the store “I'm a princess” or Tay Tay a princess”. And of course Daddy had to buy it for her and Grandma would have if Daddy didn't. She wore that thing so much that I had to bribe her with a sucker just so she wouldn't wear it to church on Sunday! (Bad Mommy!!!)

The princess on one of her favorite thrones - Daddy's shoulders.

Then in the car with the addition of her Ariel sunglasses

On Saturday, we went to Fairyland in Oakland (thanks to Heather for the recommendation). It's been there for ages, but I had never been there before. We walked in and Taylor didn't stop for the next couple of hours running from one thing to the next. She is just like her dad nonstop! She loved the animals and turning the key in the slots to hear the different stories (well mainly just turning the key, she didn't really stick around to listen) but my favorite part was when we went into the little church. It had little stained glassed windows and pews. She must have somehow known it was a church or maybe we said it was because it looks different than our church. Dustin and I sat down in one of the pews and then our little 2 year old went to the front of the room, turned towards us, folded her arms, closed her eyes and proceeded to mumble out some sort of prayer. It was the cutest thing and Dustin and I started laughing so hard. She did it a few more times so that I was able to somewhat get a picture. There weren't too many pics that day because she wouldn't stand still for a second!

We also were able to visit Heather and Roman, Marley and meet beautiful Paisley. As much as Taylor acts like a princess, she has some tomboy in her too. She really likes to play with boys and had a great time with Roman. It was so great to see Heather! Taylor also loved getting kisses from their dog Marley. Quique doesn't give a lot of kisses directly to the face, only to Taylor so she kept sticking her face right into Marley's for more. I think she also missed her buddy, Q.

Riding with Daddy on the train.

She just finished wrapping her arms around Snow White for a big hug!

Looking at us laugh at her after she gave her prayer.

Tay's Latest Obsessions:

Bubble Baths – Anytime I ask if she wants a bubble bath, she is ready. Except she calls them “booble baths”. Does she think she's French? She would seriously have 2 or 3 a day if I let her. But honestly, sometimes she gets so dirty, we need 2 a day. That may be how it is this summer...

Chocolate Milk – This started at Grandma's house since Grandma spoils her granddaughter. Taylor drinks a lot of milk, but now she always wants chocolate milk!

Cats – she LOVES cats. Little does she know she'll never have one while living in this house, but she can enjoy the one at Grandma's house. :)

Friends – Anytime she sees little kids, they are friends. She will tend to get shy at first, but she always points and says friends and a lot of times she just wants to go and “slay with friends” aka play with friends.

Going Outside – The girl goes through the doggy door constantly! It doesn't matter if there's snow on the ground, or if it's freezing cold outside. It doesn't matter how many times I've told her that she has to has shoes and a jacket on to go outside, she'll slip out anyway. And when I catch her outside without shoes on or without a jacket on she'll say “jacket” or “shoes”. She cries when I make her come in. She just loves to be outside and most of all she loves....

Quique – Sometimes I already feel like I have two kids. Quique will run out the doggy door with one of Taylor's toys and Taylor will get upset. This is Q's way of getting attention. Then Q will come inside after I get mad at her. Then Tay will be upset because she wants Q to be outside playing with her. I feel like I'm settling arguments between the two of them constantly and it's a dog and a little girl... it's hysterical (except when it's happening of course).

Current Non Obsession:

The Toilet - She loves to talk about p00h, and I swear I will never use the bathroom alone again, but she has no desire to get on the potty!!! I should have never tried to plan to have her potty trained before the baby, because maybe then it wouldn't have been a plan to fall through! I swear she will never be interested... UGH!!!

There are many more, but of course, I can't think of them right now because I'm trying to bust out this already very lengthy post so hopefully more to come soon!

Playing Dress Up at Grandma's - too much fun!

Christmas

2011-01-05T16:26:00.005-07:00

Christmas just gets better every year! And this year although it seemed like I was so ready for it to come, then it all of a sudden came and went so fast. But with Taylor I really did enjoy it so much. It was even better than last year and I am sure next year will be even better!

This year she had an obsession with Santa. Or as she liked to call him, "anta". She still didn't get the whole idea that he brought her gifts or anything like that, but pointed him out everywhere that we went, she even associated him with things. Frighteningly enough, when we would sometime have our little discussions about Jesus, she would sometimes call him Anta, even though she knew full well He was Jesus. Pure obsession! Except that is, when it came to sitting on his lap, then it was a full blown meltdown like when Santa came to Grandma TT and Papa's house...

For Christmas Eve, my Aunt Paula (my mom's sister), my cousin Matt, his wife Jen and their kids Emery and Isaac come over for our Christmas Eve feast. I look forward to this every year! Most importantly because my mom and sister are actually here to celebrate a holiday with me which is the very best and also because I actually get to play hostess for a night which although I need a lot of work at, is a lot of fun! Unfortunately my sister didn't come out this year which was sad for me and for my mom. It wasn't the same without her.

Our Christmas Eve feast for the most part, however, is virtually the same from year to year. It has been since from before I can remember when I would spend the holiday coming out here to visit my mom's family with my Grandparents who have now passed on and all of my aunts and uncles. We start with a salad, this year we did a Caesar with my mom's yummy homemade dressing (although the salad changes from year to year), Prime Rib cooked medium rare, except for Jen, (although hers is getting a little more rare each year, probably because we give her so much crap), Twice Baked Potatoes, Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce and then the dessert varies from year to year. This year was my friend Amy's yummy chocolate cake. Jen did all of the appetizers and brought the rolls which were excellent. And after a day of cooking with my mom, I am one happy and fulfilled girl! It's one of my very favorite holiday traditions! Even Dustin has grown to love it as well.

After dinner, Paula read a book to the kids and Dustin read the birth of the Savior from the bible. Then it was time for presents. Jen supplies the pj's for the kids. Yes, Taylor has wet hair because she had to take a bath after smearing butter in her hair during dinner... that girl sometimes!

Christmas morning Dustin was so excited he barely waited for my mom to get upstairs. I virtually had to yell at him to stop in his tracks! It's not like Taylor knew what was going on outside of her room and in the mornings she can play in her room for hours! We had one of Santa's present set out on the coffee table and a couple more wrapped on the sofa with her stocking. The rest of the presents were under the tree. I must say that I have not done very well thus far with presents for Taylor. You would think since I spend all day with her I would know what she wants, but Santa on the other hand this year struck GOLD! Once she saw her Disney Princess Castle, she didn't look at anything else... litterally!

We had to open the rest of her presents and show them to her. Since then, she has loved all of her presents and we realized that we did pretty good this year. The grandparents did pretty darn good too! Later that day we went to Grandma TT and Papa's house. They got the kids a playhouse for their house. Taylor played in the playhouse the whole time we were there! She didn't care about opening any other presents at their house either.

When we came home, she went back to playing with the castle. PJ's went on and she was all about her castle and the Dora microphone. Although I think Daddy had just about as much fun singing and playing with the microphone that night as she did with the two of them going back and forth... it was priceless! It went something like "I did it" "Tay Tay did it" "Daddy did it" singing to the tune of Dora. Let alone the millions of other things they were singing.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I didn't get any pics of our New Year's festivities, unfortunately. Those were spent at Dustin's parent's house eating lots of food and playing on the Wii doing some Dance game and singing Karaoke, laughing my butt off. Nothing like making a fool of yourself in front of family. But the kids LOVED it! Taylor was shaking her little rump like nothing else and loving every second of it. 2010 was such a great year, I can't even imagine 2011 being any better!

Disneyland

2011-01-03T09:57:00.005-07:00

Well I'm officially a month behind. Usually that doesn't matter too much, but Tay is growing up so fast and we really did have a jam-packed month with my dad in town, Disneyland, Christmas, New Years, and now Taylor in a big girl bed. I am a horrible blogger and journal writer so we'll see how my memory serves me. Since I finally am getting back to a normal schedule this week, I'm going to try and catch up the blog. I guess we'll wait and see how I do...

Disneyland was magical. What else can I say? Taylor is only two, but it was an amazing experience seeing it through her eyes. The last few times I had been were with my mom and sister a couple years ago and then with swim team trips in high school so seeing everything through the eyes of a 2 year old was special beyond words. Plus, we flew my mom down for a Birthday/Christmas present. She and Dustin share a birthday so they both spent their birthday at Disneyland which was fun too!

Taylor of course loves the princesses! We thought she was going to be able to take a pic with Ariel, but of course they changed up princesses by the time we got to the front of the line and Ariel had left, but surprisingly, she went right up to Aurora and sat up on her lap which was an absolute miracle! I was shocked! When we got to Belle who is her 2nd favorite, she got scared and I had to stand with her. That girl is so unpredictable!!!

But later in the day when we ran into Snow White, her obsession was no longer with the princesses, but with "da vitch" as she would call her. She couldn't keep her eyes off her and kept wanting to look at my mom's phone so she could see the picture of the witch. After Disneyland, when people would ask her about Disneyland and if she saw the princesses, she would just say "and da vitch". We also went on the Nemo submarine ride which she LOVED! But again, when I would prompt her to talk about Disneyland and ask her to tell people if she saw Nemo, she would say "and the sharks". Apparently, my daughter has a dark side to her...

She was excited about seeing "da Mow" aka Mickey Mouse, however when it was time to take a picture with him (yes that is my pooch - bad shirt choice, however it has now substantially grown in size) all she wanted to do was stare at Mickey Mouse and touch his ears which made taking the pic with him extremely difficult; oh well! It's all about her enjoyment, right? And she loved looking at him!

I think Taylor really enjoyed being able to be held and just be around her dad for like 3 days straight, so when it came to going on the rides, she really only wanted to go with her daddy. Grandma and I were chopped liver. But, it was okay, we still got to have some special moments with her.

I swear Taylor got more scared on the Fantasyland rides than Pirates, Haunted Mansion or any of the others. We knew when she was scared because she'd get off the ride and say "it's okay, it's okay" or "I'm okay, I'm okay". But she loved the Haunted Mansion. I guess it's not as scary decked out as the Nightmare Before Christmas and it was so cool. Also, Taylor is obsessed with pumpkins so she really loved it!

She also loved the It's a Bug's Life movie at California Adventure. Probably good she wouldn't wear the 3D glasses but she loved seeing all of the bugs and all of the extra 3D hoopla that went along with it.

OBSESSED I tell ya! She couldn't stop touching the witch, nor talking about it!

Some other highlights:

Taylor also loved It's a Small World which is amazing at Christmastime. She called all of the dolls in the ride babies. And when we got to the Hawaii section and there were the "babies" hula dancing she said "Shake It" (one of her favorite Backyardigans songs) and started dancing like the hula dancers. It was so precious.
A few weeks after Disneyland we were singing Jingle Bells and she kept saying "the babies". I couldn't understand what she was talking about. Then Dustin remembered that they were playing that song during the ride. What a good memory she has!
She went nuts at the World of Color show at California Adventure when she saw Ariel projected on the water and then the fish. It's not hard to tell what her favorites are. She certainly makes it known.
When we walked by the tea cup ride she said "Look" and then told us that they were taking baths. Maybe that was more funny for me or a 'you had to be there' moment.
At the hotel in the mornings she would run around and the last morning before we left she was running around with these two sisters (one slightly older and one a little younger than her) that would just follow her around and do what she was doing, especially the younger one. It got me so excited to think she was having a little sister.
FAVORITE MEMORY - She LOVED the parade. The parade was awesome and for 30 minutes or however long it was, she barely moved a muscle and just watched it. Occasionally she would say look, but mainly just stared in awe. At one point, Chip and Dale (the squirrels) came out driving a car, the car broke down and they got out of the car. During this parade there is no interaction with the audience except for waving. Taylor was standing in between us in awe. Chip or Dale (one of them) came over to Taylor, right up to her in the middle of the parade, stopped, touched her face went back to his car, grabbed one of his big acorns brought it back over to her. She just stared at him and touched the acorn and he just touched her face and stood there for at least a minute or two. It was one of the sweetest things in the world. Straight out of a Disneyland commercial. I was so frozen I couldn't even grab the camera in my lap, I think I had tears welling up in my eyes. It was one of the cutest things in the world that my description can't even begin to do the moment justice. It was like the parade went silent and all eyes were on Taylor and the squirrel, whichever one it was. I don't think I'll ever forget that Disneyland moment.

All in all; amazing trip. I'm sure Taylor will forget most of it. But for now, coming from a girl whose answer is "no" to everything, when you ask her if she had fun at Disneyland, her answer is "yes". I also think it goes down as one of Dustin and my mom's best birthdays' ever. Mission accomplished!

It's A...

2010-12-16T10:19:00.004-07:00

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!

2010-11-21T21:24:00.008-07:00

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

2010-11-18T13:35:00.008-07:00

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!

2010-11-01T15:39:00.009-06:00

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!!!

2010-10-04T19:15:00.004-06:00

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!

2010-09-15T10:51:00.003-06:00

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

2010-08-02T13:26:00.008-06:00

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...

2010-07-24T18:08:00.012-06:00

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

2010-07-14T11:21:00.002-06:00

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

2010-04-14T21:31:00.002-06:00

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

2010-04-05T12:43:00.005-06:00

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

2010-03-08T16:19:00.011-07:00

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.

Hawaii

2010-02-19T18:47:00.007-07:00

A couple weeks back we went on a Tate family trip to Hawaii with Dustin's side of the family. Honestly, I think the end of January is the best time to get out of Utah; especially to somewhere warm. Although I was quite nervous about a 7 hour flight with Tay and the fact that she would be sleeping for a week not in her own crib stressed me out, but it turned out great... except for one big reality check. After being married to Dustin for 6 years and travelling all over before Tay came into our lives, "vacationing" takes on a different meaning with Tay. I wouldn't trade it for the world, but it's not the same when I come back with a little to no tan, no books read, no great restaurants visited. BUT, (yes I know poor me) I did come back with some pretty special memories that I wouldn't trade for the world. It was just another reminder that kids really do change everything!

We were able to be a bit self-indulgent for a few hours and went scuba diving and left Taylor with Grandma TT. Probably one of the best scuba diving trips I have ever been on because we saw frog fish, eagle rays, a ship wreck, octopuses, eels, Sea Turtles, 6 white-tailed reef sharks, Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins and some Alaskan Humpback Whales. There was just one downfall... Dustin almost died. Well, maybe that is exaggerating a bit, but we had a scare. Although Dustin is far more advanced than me, he has always had some issues with his sinuses so after ascending from our 98 foot dive, he had a "reverse squeeze". In other words the air wasn't letting out of his sinuses which caused him to almost blackout and have a bit of a panic attack underwater. But he was absolutely amazing and handled it a million times better than I would have. It's just a bit scary when you look over at your husband and he is engulfed in bubbles because he is breathing so hard and you know something is wrong, but there's not too much I could do. We had an awesome instructor and amazingly, it all worked out. He even went on the second dive which shows how amazing he is!

But Taylor had a blast! We tried to keep her out of the sun as much as we could, but the last day she spent most of the day in the water. We should have done that every day, because it was impossible to get her out. She loved it!

We stayed in Ko Olina on Oahu and we were able to hit all of the hot spots. One of our favorites in North Shore and we took the scenic way up with my sister in law, Savanna as our fabulous tour guide. Which of course meant we had to hit the shrimp trucks and the famous shaved ice with ice cream in Hailewa. We did the flea market, went whale watching, went to the USS Arizona and just had a blast!

Grandma TT spoiled her granddaughters of course, with some hula outfits. Here she is with Mia. Even at the hotel somebody asked if the two of them were sisters... hysterical!

Our hula girl

Tate, Bryson, Allie, Tay, Mia and Bo. Of course the one day Taylor was not cooperative!

Tay not really cooperating for the family pic... this was the best of about 10 takes.

Dustin's awesome photography skills.

A stop on the way from North Shore to see some Sea Turtles

A Dustin original :)

Dustin loves all of his nieces and nephews, but he is having so much fun with the nephews right now and they absolutely adore him. Bryson followed him around wanting to eat next to him all week long. It was adorable. One night, things were getting a bit crazy so to calm things down a bit, Dustin decided to introduce the boys to Sumo Wrestling. Tate of course knew that those were the guys who fought in diapers. So after the competition started, Tate decided to strip down to his undies to get the full effect...

All in all it was a wonderful trip and we are so thankful to Dustin's parents for putting this all together! I did manage to lose her favorite dolphin that she sleeps with every night, but at least she didn't come back with a sunburn. And she does seem to be surviving without the dolphin (it's a miracle).

2010

2010-01-23T15:57:00.007-07:00

I feel like it was Taylor's birthday and then I blinked and then it was January. These last few months flew by so fast! I now completely understand why people say enjoy every minute with Taylor because before you know it, the time will have passed. I think that I have said this before, but I am definitely not a newborn mom. I love newborns, but Taylor has been soooo much fun these last few months that it doesn't even compare.

The red headed personality that I always heard people talk about (and I never really believed) is true and it has arrived. Taylor can be the sweetest thing one minute and before you know it she is throwing herself on the floor in a full blown temper tantrum. Seriously??? She's 16 months! I thought I had until she was 2... ha ha ha to all of the moms laughing at me right now.

As always, I did a horrible job of taking pictures, but here are a few with some of my fam that came into town to visit...

The best sister in the whole world! If any of you watched Castle on Monday night, you may have seen her in the background towards the beginning of the episode...

Ash and Tay - Ashley always has a lemon water in hand.... Taylor couldn't ask for a better aunt

Of course I didn't get a picture of Tay with her Grandma, so I had to get her with the sweet puppy that we were helping out with...

This is the first of Taylor's new hobby of getting into things whether it's her old car seat...

the bottom drawer of her dresser (after she threw out a few of the clothes of course)

or the crate for the puppy. Only a few of the many places she crawls into.

You can call her mischievous or just comment on my poor parenting skills as she sits in her chair (from Santa )after she got into a tube of my lipstick. The picture is small, but I must say she did a pretty good job for her first time :) And she loves the chair so much that if you try to sit in it, she will push you out. I dare you to try next time you come over.

The next few pictures were taken by my dad's wife, Cary. Tay and her poodle from Grandma Ann

This tent from Grandma TT has brought her more joy than we could have imagined!

The cutest and sweetest puppy in the whole wide world!

Taylor, her Grandpa and Cary

Awwwww!

So we played host to my mom and sis for a couple of weeks over Christmas and New Year's and then my dad and his wife, Cary came into town for a weekend. So a big shout out to my hubby for being such a good host! Things have been busy and Dustin has been travelling a bunch over the past month, but here is what Tay has been up to.

She is officially walking. After taking her first steps, it only took her 6 WEEKS to start walking on her own. I thought she was never going to walk.
She's not talking, but thank goodness for those Baby Signing Videos from my mom. She says "more", "milk" and "all done". At least we're starting to communicate. I'm sure when I get my first "I hate you Mom" I look back fondly on the days when she didn't talk, but right now, she and I are both ready to communicate! The story of the rest of our lives... I know.
She is fearless! Dustin loves taking her on Merry Go Rounds and she even went on this mini roller coaster. I just about had a heart attack, but she was just fine and loved it. Seriously, how many 16 months old can pretty much ride the carousel all by themselves?
I'm pretty sure she knows a bunch of her body parts even though she ignores me half of the time I ask, but if you ask about her belly button, even with a onsie on she will try and show you.
She says "Hi" to everyone wherever we go. Most of the time it's to people not even looking at her, but she loves to wave hi or bye.
She loves reading her books. I should have clarified before; she does talk, just not in a language that I understand. She will just open up her book and start jabbering away. Actually she pretty much jabbers all day long!
She LOVES Quique and actually any dog for that matter. The little dogs make her laugh, but she will just lay on top of Quique and give her loves and kisses when Quique is laying down. The other night she even swung her leg over Q like she was going to ride her.

I could go on and on, but I won't bore you will all of the details. One thing is for sure. Dustin and I are falling more in love with this fiery little redhead every single day. I can't even begin to imagine my life without her!

Thanksgiving

2010-01-01T08:46:00.010-07:00

So sorry to those few people who read our blog. The holidays came upon us and we had a hard time managing our time and keeping up on the blog.

Where to begin?

Thanksgiving! What a great holiday! It's kind of a secret, but Dustin's favorite holiday is actually Thanksgiving. We say it's kind of a secret, because he doesn't want to be known as a 'bah-humbug' because he likes Thanksgiving better than Christmas. But he's pretty convincing when he tries to defend this as his favorite: 'it's about family, food, and football'. No presents. Not nearly as much stress. It's just a relaxing two days to spend with family and eat well.

We spent this past Thanksgiving, just like last year, at Dustin's family cabin nearly Manti, Utah - a small town about two hours south. It's a lot of fun to spend it there. It's big enough, so all of the siblings and nephews and nieces were there. And the day after Thanksgiving, there's a Christmas parade in town to kick off the holiday season - with Santa and all. And it's so small town. You feel like you're back in the 1940s. Taylor loved watching - because there was plenty of music, lots of colorful lights, and people clapping and waving. She obviously hasn't grasped on to the Santa concept yet, but she was sure fascinated by his colorful coat, white beard, and loud laugh. We're really excited about when she'll have that little-kid anxiety and excitement for Christmas.

Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving weekend at the cabin:

We needed a family pic with Tay and Quique. It seems like there's never a good time for a pic, but that weekend was as good as any. We ended up using this picture as our Christmas card picture.

Taylor with her two little cousins, Mia (center) and Ally (far left). Hanging out on the porch at the cabin.

Save The Federal Adoption Tax Credit

2009-11-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-30T09:04:00.000-06:00

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!

2009-10-29T23:03:00.022-06:00

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

2009-10-20T20:43:00.008-06:00

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

2009-10-08T12:04:00.007-06:00

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!

2009-09-04T07:49:00.003-06:00

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...

2009-09-01T08:04:00.007-06:00

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

2009-08-12T17:17:00.005-06:00

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

2009-08-04T10:39:00.004-06:00

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!

2009-07-31T08:08:00.003-06:00

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

2009-07-29T11:29:00.004-06:00

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)

2009-07-23T09:17:00.007-06:00

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

2009-07-14T07:58:00.003-06:00

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!

2009-07-05T21:47:00.008-06:00

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

2009-06-24T01:34:00.003-06:00

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

2009-05-26T12:11:00.010-06:00

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.

A Perfect Evening

2009-05-23T12:08:00.002-06:00

Last night was just one of those night's that was just perfect! The birthday celebration continued last night with just the two of us (Dustin and I, of course). Dustin had planned to go to a hotel in Midway, but I think since I've been out of town, I was feeling like just staying at home. Anyway, bless Mark and Sarah's hearts for taking Taylor for the night so Dustin and I could just enjoy a night to ourselves. We went up to Park City and did a little bit of shopping at the outlets and then we were off to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse since the one in Salt Lake closed. Ruth's Chris is one of my two favorite restaurants in Utah (Cucina Toscana being the other one). Anyway as always the food and service were perfect and there was also some entertainment during dinner with a guy playing a keyboard with his 16 year old son playing the bass, and his 18 year old son singing. Right after we sat down they started singing "The Way You Look Tonight" (which was our song at our wedding). This 18 year old kid's voice was like listening to Michael Buble... it was just perfect! It was almost like we had our own private concert because our table was so close to them. I forget how important those nights are to spend just with Dustin because it was exactly what we needed and it would have never happened without Sarah and Mark and the kids. Thank you so very much!!!

P.S. Once I'm not so lazy I'll post some pics and a cute little video of Taylor from Cali. She is really developing quite a personality!!!

Surprise, Surprise!

2009-05-19T13:08:00.003-06:00

Well, Dustin pulled it off! He managed to throw a surprise party for my big 3-0 and I didn't have a clue. I've been visiting my fam in Cali for the past week and a half (hence the lack of blog posts), but I'll catch up on that later this week.

So... Taylor and I were supposed to get in around 9 last night, but Dustin called me Sunday night to tell me he had changed my flight. He said he wanted to spend some extra time with Taylor before she went to bed and since our sweet angel has her daddy totally wrapped around her finger, I totally bought the story. I definitely kept Dustin on his toes because my flight got in earlier than expected (by like 30 minutes, when does that ever happen) so he had to stall and a little and I still had no idea. It wasn't until we were pulling up our street, that I noticed a couple of familiar cars and then Dustin was rushing me in without my luggage and I opened the door to our small family room packed with some of our family and closest friends. Dustin had embarrassing pictures of me all over the place, and a beautiful collage with the #30 splattered everywhere and what is a party without food and cake. (Thanks to my friends for bringing some of my favorite goodies). Dustin has been working hard all week to fix up the yard, clean the house and totally keep me out of the loop. He didn't even call me on my birthday, I had to call him and then he kept rushing me off the phone. I think he just didn't want to blow anything at the last minute. It was honestly one of the sweetest and most thoughtful things that Dustin could have done. And not only because of the party, but I know that he was totally outside of his comfort zone planning a party, but like everything else, he put his whole heart into it (he even sent out e-vites with music from 1979). It was a very very special day!

Yesterday gave me time to reflect about my life. Except for being in California, it was like any other day, I would have never known it was my birthday. But as I was saying so long to my 20s it made me kind of glad they were over. I started off my 20s with an identity crisis. I didn't really know who I was or where my life was going and to be honest I didn't really love who I was. But after 10 years of some of the highest highs and some of my lowest lows, I couldn't ask for a better way to start my 30s. I am starting my 30s as a mom of one of the sweetest angels in the world, I am married to the love of my life whom I love and adore more and more every single day, I have a family, actually two families that I love being a part of and I have some of the very best friends that I could have ever asked for. Walking into a house with some of my favorite people in the world (minus a few of course) I can't imagine a more perfect way to end my 20s and step into another 10 years of what I'm sure will be a lot more ups and downs, but I'm starting off on more solid ground. I can hardly wait!

Da-da

2009-04-30T21:16:00.002-06:00

It finally happened! Taylor formulated her first word this morning. I was changing her diaper and I hear dada. I thought that it was my mind playing tricks on me and just wanting her to actually formulate words, but she just kept on saying it. I immediately call Dustin and of course he puts me into voicemail. She is still saying it until the voicemail beeps and then of course she stops. I had to tell someone so I called my mom so that I had a witness. Taylor didn't disappoint and said it about 30 more times during our conversation.

I still wanted Dustin to hear it in person and when he got home, he finally did. When she was rolling around on the ground and then turned to look up at Dustin and said "DADuh" I think that his heart completely melted... (as if she doesn't already have her daddy wrapped around her finger). Then for the next 20 minutes she rolled around saying dadadadadadada. Granted, we are both fully aware that she is formulating words/sounds and doesn't know what she is saying, but next to her giggle, it's one of the sweetest things I've heard come out of her mouth. I must say, however, I am looking forward to the day when there is another male in the house. Maybe then I will finally understand what it feels like to be the most loved person in the house. Between Taylor and Quique, Dustin is definitely the favorite. But of course I'm not jealous or anything... :)

A Day I'll Never Forget

2009-04-29T09:02:00.000-06:00

My life pretty much revolves around Taylor, Dustin and Quique and although I will never forget the traumatic events (for me) of yesterday, in some ways it was nothing new from the last 7 months. Some of you will read this post and think I'm a total whack job where as others of you will read this and you would have done the exact same thing as me if you were in the same situation.

I know sometimes my posts can get long, but I think that I do need to preface this story. Taylor will always be my firstborn, the child that we prayed for for so long, my very first baby. However in some ways, Quique was my first baby. Dustin and I had always wanted a dog but with him getting his MBA and working long hours and with my demanding job at the time, it didn't make sense. When all of that changed, it was the perfect time and as I see it, we got the perfect dog. The dog was never meant to prepare us for a baby, but I guess in some ways Quique did. I cried the first time I had to leave her and she cried at me. I slept on the floor next to her crate when she would cry at night and (at that time) Dustin didn't let her sleep on the bed. I took her to the vet 4 or 5 times in the first 3 months we had her because I would get so paranoid. I came home for lunch from work every day for about 5 months to let Quique out of her kennel outside and to check on her. Quique has comforted me during some of the biggest struggles in my life over the past couple of years, she has made me laugh and Dustin and I have enjoyed every second we've been able to spend with her.

Yesterday we went to Tanner Park (as mentioned in the post below). This time I wasn't really thinking and we went further than we usually do this time of year. At the end of one of the trails is the beginning of the run off where kids in the summer will come and "shoot the tube". There is a big pool of water and the water right now is coming out incredibly strong. I wasn't really paying attention and not really thinking of just how powerful the current is in that pool and before I knew it, Quique was on her way to swim in there because she always does and how can a Lab resist another pool of water. I tried calling to her to come back because I started to get a little nervous, but once I saw her swimming, I figured she was fine. As Taylor and I made our way to her, I noticed that she had been in the same spot for awhile. That's when I started to get really nervous and calling (more like screaming) to her to come to the side but she wouldn't... more like she couldn't. Quique doesn't swim in one place so I knew something was wrong and she must have been stuck in some sort of eddy. Before I knew it, I was taking off the Baby Bjorn and placing Taylor on my backpack on the ground in between some rocks so that she would be safe and then with my jumpsuit, shoes, cell phone (didn't realize at the time) and all, I was making my way in the water. Even though I have been swimming my whole life, I didn't realize just how strong the water was pushing until I got in. I also hate cold water and can't even begin to explain the temperature of the water because I can't even remember. I finally made my way to Quique and couldn't really swim her over to the side because of the way the water was pushing and pulling so I tried pushing Quique over to the side. But as it looked like she was getting close, the current just sucked her right back in, actually it sucked both of us right back in. After we'd get sucked in, I would try pushing her again, but it was never enough. What felt like hundreds of prayers went through my heart and my mind, I think I even said a few out loud, but I still wasn’t able to get enough leverage to get Quique to the side where she could then pull herself out. I was able to stand on the ground for a little, but right where I needed that last piece of footing, it was a drop off and there was nowhere I could stand. I was starting to swallow water and I was getting really scared. I finally gave Quique another push and it was just enough to get her to the rocks so she could pull herself out. After Quique got out, it even took a few more minutes before I could get myself out. By that time I was exhausted and I think that my body was cramping from the cold so I know without a doubt that it wasn’t me who got my dog to the side and out of the water, I was definitely being watched over.

It was a long walk back to the car and a very wet ride home, but I feel so blessed that we made it. The trauma of it all didn't really hit until the car ride home when I looked in the rear view mirror and saw my two babies... the tears just kept flowing. I was also so proud of Quique. I'm sure she didn't have a clue as to what was going on, and she probably didn't understand why in the world I kept pushing her, but she was so strong swimming and she never gave up... not even for a second. She probably could have swam longer than I could have.

The retelling of the story doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what I felt, but physically and emotionally, it put me out of commission for the rest of the day and I thought it would help so that I didn't keep replaying the whole ordeal over and over in my head. The other night I was reading a book and there was a quote from Mother Teresa that said "I know God will not give me anything I can't handle, I just wish he didn't trust me so much". I think God knew without a doubt that I couldn't just watch my dog slip before my very own eyes knowing that it was all my fault so I am very grateful to Him that He knew I wasn't strong enough for that.

Spring Fever

2009-04-25T16:36:00.005-06:00

Since growing up in Cali, I still struggle with winters here in Utah. I can usually handle it until about the beginning of January and then I am done. This tends to be a problem since we still see snow in April and sometimes even May! Dustin has always been a big lover of the 4 seasons, but I think the 4 seasons that I experienced in Northern California were just perfect. However it was funny a few weeks back when we had one of those just perfect evenings in the 70s and Dustin made some comment that he could live in that 365 days per year. I was in shock! Apparently my hubby has gone a little soft. Maybe I won't always have to live in snow???

Anyway, we enjoyed a great week with sunshine (until yesterday) so we made a few visits to Tanner Park aka Disneyland for Dogs. There is quite a run off from the mountains so the current was pretty strong in some of the streams. Sometimes it was like a swimming treadmill, but she did get pushed around a few times and I got a little nervous, but Quique really is an amazing swimmer... it must be in the genes :) We watched my two and four year old nephews play soccer or watched one of them not play soccer. I was thoroughly entertained. We were also able to meet up with some friends from the park, spend some time in the yard and just enjoy all of the Vitamin D that the sunshine had to offer! I can't wait until the cold rain and snow are gone for good!

The only time our Labrador Retriever will actually "retrieve" takes place when there is a stick and water for her to swim in.

Could my baby Quique be any cuter???

Off to retrieve a stick...

This is the view as we walked down one of the trails. You can see Quique off to the right. When we go to this park she never runs straight down the trails, she zig-zags back and forth across the trails.

She is such an awesome swimmer. She pretty much just floats on the water and her tail is like a rudder on a boat. It's amazing how natural swimming is for her.

Does it get more beautiful than that? (Well not me, but my two beautiful babies and the scenery as we start our way down the trail). And you are still looking at some bare trees that haven't bloomed yet!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T12:17:00.003-06:00

I hope that everyone had a Happy Easter! With weather like we had yesterday, it was definitely a Happy Easter for us! I really always have the best of intentions to update our blog, but sometimes the last thing at night I want to do is think and type on the computer so I just procrastinate since I seem to be really good at that.

Last week we had two beautiful days at the beginning of the week so Taylor and I were able to get outside for at least a few minutes to start cleaning up the backyard. With everything that went on last summer with in vitro attempts and trying to get adoption paperwork together, the yard was quite neglected so we have to make up for two years now. The first day, I wasn't thinking and as I was taking out the plants from my garden from last summer, I put Taylor in the bumbo chair as I worked. Taylor quickly figured out she could just lean over a little bit and pick grass. Of course at this age, anything that she grabs goes directly in the mouth, so I am glad to say that she is still doing all right after eating grass and dirt last week. I learned by day #2 and since she is really starting to sit up well, I put her on a blanket on the grass and she just watched me work and played with her toys. She LOVES being outside which may be the reason that when it was stormy the rest of the week, she wasn't the most pleasant little girl to be around. That and the fact that she is fighting taking two naps even though she is rubbing her eyes and so tired!

Yesterday we went to church in the morning and the Easter service was definitely one of the best I've been to. Some of the musical numbers just gave me chills up and down my entire body. It was a great way to start out Easter. Then we went over to Dustin's family's house for a late lunch/early dinner and we were able to get some pics of the girl cousins together now that Steve, Savanna, Bo and Mia have officially moved back to UT. We're so excited about that!

Taylor in her Easter dress

Grandma TT with Allie, Mia and Taylor - Sidenote: Now that Mia's hair is starting to turn slightly red, Taylor now has 2 redheaded cousins. What are the chances of that?

The three girls Allie (4months) Taylor (7 months) and Mia (9 months) almost to the day since Allie and Mia were both born on the 2nd and Taylor on the 3rd. Poor little Mia has a strong dislike for grass.

Taylor Allie and Mia in their cute Easter dresses from Grandma TT and Papa

Our little family!

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-04-01T11:42:00.003-06:00

Last night Dustin and I watched Slumdog Millionaire. In my "older" age, I haven't been as big of a fan of the rated "R" movies. I think that I'm just a little weaker and can't handle the violence, the language or other things (that will remain nameless so that I don't get any weird hits on my blog). Anyway, to my point, I'm more selective of the movies I do watch and I don't usually rely on the Academy Awards to dictate what I do and don't watch. Anyway, Dustin got home from a business trip a week or so ago and watched this movie on the plane and couldn't stop raving about it, so we decided to buy it yesterday. It was phenomenal. It is easily one of my top 10 favorite movies of all time. I loved the story line, I loved learning about the cultural parts of India and I loved the acting, especially of the children (I have always had this obsession with little kids speaking a foreign language). I think it's the cutest thing in the whole world! The movie was heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. One of Dustin's business associates in Belize is from India and said that it really is a real depiction of the slums of India which is so crazy to see. I'm honestly not 100% sure as to the R rating, probably just the reality of the poverty, a little bit of language and some of the situations, but I loved it! At the end of the movie, it was similar as to how I felt after watching Wicked, I just wanted to hit rewind and watch it again!

6 Months

2009-03-27T12:56:00.003-06:00

Well at this point, Taylor is almost 7 months, but we just went to her 6 month appointment on Monday and she is doing great! She is now 17 lbs and 10 ounces which puts her in the 71% and she is almost 26 inches long which puts her in the 44%. I still can't believe that my little munchkin who was barely on the charts is now moving her way right up them (especially when it comes to her adorable chub).

Six months brought some very exciting times in the Tate household and the fun just keeps on going. Taylor has now cut her two bottom teeth. She is trying to sit up on her own, but still has the round butt syndrome. She is nowhere near crawling, but I'm okay with that. She is trying to feed herself so we are feeding her with two spoons in an attempt for her to learn how to feed herself, but really, it's only made things even messier. She is still loving squash and sweet potatoes and she is perfectly fine without the green beans and peas. She seems to prefer oatmeal to rice cereal and she started the Graduates Puffs this week. She hasn't quite figured out how to get the little crackers from hand to mouth, but right now her sock is in her mouth, so it's obvious that she has found her feet.

Here are a few of Taylor's favorite things:

Her daddy! As much of an angel as Taylor is, sometimes we do have our rough days. It's really hard trying to explain that Taylor has been a pill to Dustin when he walks in the door from work and she can't stop smiling and giggling at her daddy. I have never heard anyone make her laugh harder than her daddy. She just lights up when she sees him, yet she seems to have the same reaction on him.
Kissing... watch out boys! Since her first week of life, her Grandma taught her how to kiss so she is very good at grabbing your face and giving kisses. Beware, because if Taylor grabs your face, chances are you'll be receiving an open mouth kiss! Thanks Mom!!!
Quique. I think that she's finally figuring out who Quique is. When Quique comes in the room she'll just stare at her and maybe even laugh. She loves petting Quique and giving her loves. Quique seems to like it too!
Sucking on her hands. She hasn't really done the pacifier thing since she was a month or two old, but she always has her hands in her mouth. Especially the left hand, she tends to favor her left hand so I won't be surprised if she is a lefty!
Baby Signing Time. When I am not quite ready to get up in the morning or need a little break during the day, I just plop Taylor in her playstation and turn on her Baby Signing Time DVD and she is in 7th heaven! These two things have been life savers (thanks Mom!) Even my mom and sister couldn't believe how engaged she is with these DVDs. When she was hating the car, I would play the CDs in the car and now she doesn't seem to hate the car anymore... magic!
Talking. She doesn't actually talk, but she loves to hear the sound of her own voice. We may have an Ashley on our hands... (love you sis!)
The Baby Bjorn. She is completely content when we go on walks or if we are running errands and she gets to face forward in the Baby Bjorn. She is already a people watcher!
When she sleeps, she loves to have something covering her face, and that's usually her pink stuffed animal dolphin. She used to just cover her eyes with her hands, but now she uses her dolphin or sometimes her blanket. I love just watching her sleep, she is just so precious.
Utah Basketball and Utah Jazz games. The noise, the lights, the Utah fight song, she loves it all!

Taylor sleeping with her dolphin over her face

Taylor at the Zoo last week with her Grandma TT on the train

Taylor's 1st Carousel ride.

Taylor with her cousins Tate, Bryson and Allie, her Aunt Brooke and Grandma TT

Bath Time - nothing like a swig of bath water... yum!

Taylor with her cousins Emery and Isaac and Quique.

Taylor's famous face that she started making when she started cutting her teeth.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T21:34:00.004-06:00

Since the day is coming to an end, I hope that everyone had a fabulous St. Patrick's Day! This was a holiday that was celebrated every year in my home growing up, so I have tried to hold on to some of my family traditions. Since Dustin is out of town this week, we celebrated the holiday on Sunday as a family. I made the traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage along with some carrots and potatoes with white sauce, horseradish and mustards. Probably not as good as my mom used to make it, but still pretty good!

I remember very vividly growing up when my mom was finishing up cooking, my dad would bring out his glass of green beer and he would pour the milk into our (my sister and me) glasses and miraculously the milk would turn green. I am so grateful to my parents for always celebrating holidays and getting into them so much because they are memories that I treasure and hope to pass on to my kids.

No... we didn't put green dye in Taylor's formula, we'll save the green milk until next year. But we couldn't let her miss out on the fun. Her Grandma along with her Aunt, couldn't help but make sure that Taylor was in the spirit of the holiday. Her shirt reads "I'm Your Lucky Charm". I think that that is the understatement of the century for us!

Today, I also spent some time making a cake for a church activity we had this evening. I attempted it for Dustin's birthday, but this time I was actually able to make the three layer cake which two layers for his birthday due to a shortage in 8" cake pans. (Who knew that it was so hard to find 8" cake pans - 4 stores later). This is the Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake I made... is there a better match made in heaven on this earth than peanut butter and chocolate???

Taylor has had some rough times over the past couple of days due to her being on the verge of cutting her second tooth. With Dustin out of town, I had to bring her to the activity I went to and she wasn't incredibly happy, so after some crying, we finally got home to find this on our doorstep...

Sweet Liz brought over some cookies for Taylor from her BFF Lilly. Maybe it was one of those moments, but it almost brought me to tears. It was just one of those tender moments after I had just spent a couple of hours with some of my dearest friends in the world, to come home to a very thoughtful gift from one of my other very dear friends. I feel like the most blessed person alive to have such an amazing family and friends!

Best Weekend Ever!!!

2009-03-11T12:12:00.006-06:00

It is official... Taylor is ours forever and ever!!! It was a jam-packed weekend of Taylor, Taylor, Taylor and it is one of my very favorite weekends of my life! There is a lot to say, so just bear with me.

Friday

Friday was the day we made the adoption legal. We had our court hearing at 8:30am with Judge Barrett. Since I've never really been in a court room, I was kind of hoping to sit in the court room like you see on TV, but instead, the judge took us into his chambers (a little more intimate, perhaps?). I didn't think that Friday would be too big of a deal seeing as how Taylor already feels like she's been ours for 6 months now. I was asked some questions by our lawyer and then asked if I would like to say anything additional and then the same questions were asked of Dustin. Although my mom and sister were on the couch behind us bawling, I didn't get too emotional, until our case worker Pam began talking a little bit about the adoption. This is when I was flooded with emotions. We have only known Pam for about 7 months and we've only met with her a handful of times and yet my love for her is stronger than I can put into words. It was through her inspiration that Jami (Taylor's birth mom) even looked through our paperwork from the beginning. She was one of the main instruments in making this adoption possible. We love her so much and we will forever be grateful to her.

It's official! Taylor is a a Tate!

My mom and Ash came into town to share this awesome experience!

Taylor and Pam (our adoption case worker... she's the best!)

Judge Barrett who made this adoption official!

Saturday

Saturday was the big day. Friday we made the adoption legal, but on Saturday, we made the adoption eternal. I tend to not go into my religious beliefs a lot on my blog. I know that religion is something that people keep near and dear to their hearts, but with this amazing experience we had this weekend, I felt it necessary to share the experience that we had. I know that there are many that read this blog that aren't familiar with the LDS faith, so I will explain a little bit about what we went through on Saturday. When Dustin and I got married, we got married in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. Since there are certain requirements to enter the temple such as to being a member of the LDS faith along with certain responsibilities and commitments as to how you are living your life, not everyone is able to enter, once the temple has been dedicated. Because of this, not everyone was able to see us get married, even some of our nearest and dearest friends and family members. But it was still a step that we wanted to take because in this ceremony we were sealed as husband and wife for time and all eternity, not just until we die. In regards to Saturday, if I was able to give birth to my own children (or if this happens in the future) they will be born in this covenant that we made when we got married and continue to live. However since Taylor was adopted and she was not born of me, we have the very rare opportunity to actually take her to the temple with us and have her sealed to us for time and all eternity.

I cannot even begin to explain the emotions the flooded me when I walked into this room where some of the most special people in our lives were seated. There were friends and family who have been there for us through this process. Some had had this same opportunity of adopting children, others had placed babies for adoption, but even those who had not been blessed with adoption in their lives, they had been with us through some of those most difficult times over the past couple of years. They were with us as we endured the pain of not being able to start our family, a pain that was so real at the time, but I can no longer feel. During the ceremony, Taylor smiled at her daddy and others in the room as these special words and promises were spoken. I can honestly say that it was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. I can say without a doubt that I know that this sweet little angel that was put in our lives was always supposed to be our little baby. I can't even begin to imagine our lives without her. Her special spirit has touched all that she has come in contact with and I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father who entrusted Dustin and I to be her parents.

On the temple grounds after Taylor was sealed to us for time and all eternity

Sunday

On Sunday at church, we were able to bless Taylor and Dustin was able to give her a blessing for his first time as a dad. It was a very special blessing and the words that he spoke were some very precious promises that were said that will be with her throughout her life. After church, Dustin's parents allowed us to use their house for some of our friends and family to come and celebrate the weekend that we had.

Taylor with her Great Uncle Jay

Taylor with her Grandma TT and cousin Allie (who was just blessed the week before)

Thanks to everyone who has shared this journey with us. We know that we could not have gotten through this without our family and friends as well as all of the prayers that were given on our behalf. There has been so much love and support shown to us and we can never repay you with all that we have received. Thank you can't even begin to explain the gratitude and love that we feel towards everyone. We love you so much!!!

Mom of the Year

2009-03-01T18:24:00.003-07:00

WORST mom of the year that is! Since I had a hand in causing my daughter to look like this...

And like this...

I think that I deserve the title. So here is the long version of how this poor rash came to be. Thursday night was the monthly dinner club with the girls. This month the theme was to try something new. Growing up I used to love making calamari with my parents. I remember cleaning the squid with my dad and then frying up some calamari. Since I really can't remember doing it, I decided to try it out. Of course Taylor happened to be a little cranky during this process so I was working on the calamari and then tending to her... back and forth. Apparently during one of those times I must not have washed my hands well or touched her skin or something.

On Friday morning after her bath, I noticed she had a bit of a rash on her stomach and the tops of her arms and legs. I called the nurse at my Pediatrician's office and she said that with rashes, they have to see them to be sure. At this time, making the calamari hadn't even crossed my mind. I decided to wait it out a couple of days to see how it went and by Saturday it was bad. Thank goodness for my sister in law, Brooke the pharmacist. She has helped me out so much! I figured by this time it was probably an allergic reaction since cooking calamari probably wasn't the best idea around Taylor. Brooke told me about the Aveeno baby bath powder that helps soothe rashes. She also took time to go through her notes and told me to try using a humidifier at night. I guess allergic reactions usually peak around 72 hours. Great, another day to see if things get worse!

Last night I gave Taylor a bath and actually today her legs are looking better. I was just giving her a bath and crying feeling like the worst mom ever. Even though Taylor is as smiley as can be and doesn't seem to be irritated at all by the rash, my heart just breaks when I see the rash all over her face and body and know that I was the cause. I guess this is only the beginning of feeling inadequate. I just hope this rash goes away before finalizing the adoption in court on Friday. Nothing like showing up with a big rash all over your baby's face in court telling a judge how suitable you are to be the parent of this child.

On a lighter note, the countdown has officially begun! We can hardly wait until finalizing the adoption on Friday, sealing her in the temple on Saturday and blessing her on Sunday! What an amazing weekend this will be!!!

It's Great to be a Ute!

2009-02-14T10:58:00.009-07:00

As if an undefeated football season wasn't enough including the Sugar Bowl Game which Dustin and I think will probably be the best game we will have ever attended in our lives, the University of Utah sports are still on a roll! Taylor has been a busy girl. In the last two weeks Taylor has been to 2 Utah basketball games (as Utah is now #1 in the Mountain West Conference), a Utah Gymnastics Meet (now the #1 University Gymnastics team in the nation) and the Jazz game (her third one this season)... wow she's been a busy girl. And she has enjoyed every minute of it! Her daddy definitely wanted her to see the gymnastics meet as he hopes that is her future calling. :) I think she actually enjoys the basketball games better, but I'm sure that may change as she gets a little older.

In other news Taylor rolled over for the first time on Sunday! I really hadn't pushed her to do it quite yet because I have been thoroughly enjoying her staying in one spot, but I couldn't help but get so excited when she did it. Of course I'm the one home all day with her, but Dustin witnessed the first rollover without me... typical. Anything for daddy!!!

Beyond that, nothing too exciting in the Tate household. I did enjoy a trip to InstaCare on Thursday night after slicing off the top of my thumb. That probably sounds a little more dramatic then it really was, but apparently I don't know how to chop an onion without acrylic nails. Maybe I should learn how to chop properly. I didn't need stitches (I swear it looked deeper than it actually was), but the doctor did ask me if I wanted to take the top of my thumb home... gross! (PS... A special thank you to April for taking Taylor while I made the clearly unnecessary trip to InstaCare. I'm so lucky to have some of my best friends as neighbors!!!!)

Thanks to the Robbins for a fun night at the Gymnastics Meet! Not to mention that the kids took great care of Taylor the whole time!

We had fun at the Jazz game with the Brog's. Thanks to Liz for taking some pics (photo courtesy of Liz)! Taylor and Lilly will one day look back and know that they were BFFs before they even knew it.At the U game. Nice big bow... huh? So how is it possible that when walking up to the game some guys told us that we were make our little boy a U fan before he even knew it??? I can understand if she was just wearing red and black, but I think that the bow is pretty obvious...

A Day of Firsts

2009-01-30T14:53:00.005-07:00

So last Saturday (yes almost a week ago) we took Taylor for her very first swim in something other than the bathtub. The plan was actually to take her while my fam was in town, but it just never happened and then by the time we had a chance, she started to come down with a cold. Anyway, it was so much fun!

When I was about two months, my mom started me in the water. My mom is definitely not a swimmer, but since we had a pool in our backyard, she was deathly afraid that if I fell in, she wouldn't be able to save me. Since her near death experience gave her no motivation to learn how to swim, she decided that both Ashley and I would learn at a very early age. Since the water has been such an important and truly wonderful part of my life, I wanted to make sure to get Taylor in early as well. I have taught swim lessons and swim teams, but when it actually came time for me to dunk my own child under the water it was a very scary thought. I finally toughened up and did it. It was so fun to watch Taylor in the water. She wasn't smiling, but she wasn't crying either... she was completely content. It really was beautiful and I am so glad that we videotaped it. Of course I have no idea how to put it on the blog, but I did get up the courage to dunk her (I promise I have proof) and she did awesome!

Later that day we took a trip to Target and daddy decided to take on the Baby Bjorn and since Taylor wasn't sleeping or about to fall asleep (like she is on our daily walks with Quique) we decided to turn her facing forward. Dustin had a blast with the whole thing and Taylor was taking things off the shelves left and right. I know one of these days I am going to come home with something that she swiped. I've got to keep my eye on her.

The last first of the day, was a first for me. I am not quite sure what my problem is, but ever since my days of swimming/water polo/synchro/whatever have ended, I have pretty much lost all motivation to work out. I was doing a little bit before I got married and then since then I have just gone downhill. Which is very odd since Dustin is in great shape and constantly trying to "motivate" me. You would think that I would want to be healthy, but I guess I am just lazy. I used the "burned out" excuse for a few years, but I don't think I can use that any more.

Anyway, Dustin has been trying so hard to find the right mode of exercise to entice me to work out and so far, we haven't had any luck. I was planning on doing a beginner's triathlon in October with some of my girlfriends, but when Taylor came a month before that, my life kind of turned upside down (in the best way possible of course). Any way, I had bought shoes to clip in and out of Dustin's road bike and still had not used them. Since Dustin set up his road bike on the trainer downstairs, he persuaded me into giving it a whirl. Let's just be thankful that I wasn't clipping in and out on the pavement or while moving since I probably would have fallen flat on my face, but actually found it to be a lot of fun. Of course I only lasted 10 minutes seeing as how my legs were burning in the first 2. And although I still have yet to get back on the bike. I do have a willingness to try it again. Maybe I've turned over a new leaf???

Dreams

2009-01-26T20:14:00.003-07:00

So last week, our company did a management retreat for our management team. It was a great way to get together to discuss strategy, generate a discussion of where we can improve, and discuss our 10-year, 5-year, and 1-year plan for the business.

First, we distributed a couple of really good books, which I'd recommend to anybody who leads (in their career or in any organization). The first is "Creating Magic", by Lee Cockrell - it's about his management experience at Disney and the key to providing a magical experience, for customers and employees, and produce great results. The second book is "The Fifth Discipline" by Peter Senge, which is a much more in-depth book about management. Great books.

We were able to go up to Midway (away from the gross inversion here in the valley) to go through some training, have some brainstorming sessions, do some presentations, and even take in a little skiing. But it was a healthy exercise becaue it's so easy to 'stay busy' and get caught up in the daily grind. Sometimes you have to force yourself to step away and make sure you're going where you wanted to go. And this isn't just good to do for work, but in our personal lives.

One exercise that I loved was for us to write down some of our personal 'dreams' that we have - things we want to do some time in our life. The main dream of the president of our company is to try and help as many employees fulfill their dreams. Last year, he sent one of our artists to a painting school in Tuscany, Italy. He also helped one employee go back to Brazil to visit his wife's family. And he bought a Fender guitar for one of the employees. But the purpose wasn't to put down a dream so that we could do it right away, but to learn a little bit more about each of us and also to think big, especially amidst this tough economy (2009 will likely be a very tough year, but that can be an excuse, or a reason to take advantage of a very unique economic environment).

So, during this exercise, somebody brought up this cool blog called "Where the Hell is Matt" about this guy who travels all over the world and videotapes himself doing a funny dance everywhere he goes. It's hilarious - but in a funny way, it's also pretty inspiring. You see this guy visiting some of the most diverse places in the world and getting everybody around him to join in on the fun:

So, one of my dreams is to dance like Matt. Well, not really. But it is to travel to as many countries as I can. I travel quite a bit for work, already (I'm likely going to Spain next week), but I want to travel and enjoy it. See the sights, eat the food, take it in with Jamie.
One country that I'm dying to visit is Israel.
I'd also love to write (and have published) a book somebody.

These are just some dreams you probably didn't know I had. Feel free to share some of your unique dreams in a comment.

Henry Poole is Here

2009-01-26T10:45:00.003-07:00

I feel like I'm always so out of the loop whether it's movies, fashion, music, whatever, so I'm not sure if anyone is familiar this movie or if once again, I'm out of the loop on this one. A few months ago, Dustin watched half of this movie (Henry Poole is Here) on the plane during a business trip so we have been anxiously waiting for it to come out on video. This weekend we finally rented it and it did not disappoint! I remembered seeing a preview (once the movie got going) but always thought the movie looked odd from the previews. Although the beginning may appear that way, it is a beautiful movie about faith and hope. There is some great dialogue, especially one about believers (of faith) vs. non-believers as well as some incredible symbolism. It is a touching movie, but you will still find yourself laughing. I'd love to talk more about it, but don't want to give too much away because it really is very well done with great actors and character development. I highly recommend it!

The movie brought about some great conversation between Dustin and I after the movie that really just made me realize how thankful I am for my faith and my testimony. Let me preface this one thought with the fact that Dustin and I have very strong testimonies of our faith and a deep faith in God, but he brought up the question... what if when we die, we find out that what we believe wasn't true? We both agreed that we wouldn't want to live a different way. We could look back and be grateful to live a happy and fulfilling life with the standards we always strive to have, and a strong faith in God and the atonement and always a hope for a better tomorrow. I know that personally, I could not have gotten through the last few years without my belief system. And every time I look at Taylor, I'm reminded of the miracle that was given to us. There are just a few too many "coincidences" in that story to be anything but a miracle from God.

4 Months!

2009-01-10T17:31:00.004-07:00

Last week Taylor Anne turned 4 months. I can't believe how fast it has flown by, yet there are times when I feel I have known her so much longer than 4 months. I remember those first few weeks and so many people telling me to enjoy every second because time will fly by. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure what there was to enjoy. Was I missing something? Knowing I had wanted Taylor Anne for so long and then not really enjoying those first few weeks made me feel all sorts of guilt. Maybe I am not a newborn mommy, maybe I just had to much change in my life in those first two months or maybe it was something else, but I do know that this last month has been my very favorite and I completely understand now what those people were trying to tell me. We left Taylor Anne for three days with my mom while we went to the Sugar Bowl and when I got home it seemed like she had gotten so much bigger and she had even picked up a new trick. I was only gone three days, actually 66 hours to be exact and I felt like I had already missed out.

Well Taylor went in for her 4 month check up and she is now 14 lbs and 23 inches long. She is now in the 60th percentile for weight which makes Dustin and I laugh hysterically since she was in the 4th percentile at her 2 week appointment. Ashley (my sister) calls her little "mish" because her legs look like she could be the Michelin baby. So here are just a few wonderful things about Taylor Anne:

She is definitely a grunter, almost to the point of annoying. She is not really mad or upset when she does it, I think it's just her way of communicating, but she is constantly sounding like she's trying to push something out...
She is sleeping through the night... hooray! Maybe that's why this has been my favorite month. Right before she turned 3 months, we moved her into the crib and she started sleeping through the night. There have only been 2 nights that she hasn't. This is my very favorite accomplishment! Way to go Tay Tay!
She is smiling a ton. She is so happy when she wakes up in the morning (complete opposite of her mama). She has even had a couple of belly laughs. When my mom was here and we were sitting on the couch, I was rubbing her belly and she was laughing away.
She is already a manipulator. She has been doing a bit of fake crying the last week or so. If I try to get stern with her she just starts smiling at me which in turn makes me melt and then I completely forget what I was even stern about.
She is done with the binky, but her hands are always in her mouth.
While I was in N'Awlins, she started blowing bubbles or sticking out her tongue and blowing, not quite sure what you call that.
She loves music. My mom got a CD called the Lullabies of Jesus. It honestly puts her right to sleep which is very helpful since she totally fights falling asleep.
She loves football and basketball. My mom and I were at lunch and she was getting fussy so I went to grab the diaper bag out of the car and my mom walked her over to a water feature to help soothe her. She calmed right down and my mom thought the mini waterfall was working. When she looked at Taylor Anne, her eyes were glued to the football game on TV. Every daddy's dream.
She started Rice Cereal this week. I was so excited when our pediatrician told us to start her on it. I was at the grocery store and there was a woman and her daughter admiring Taylor. She was asking me all sort of the usual questions, and then I proceeded to tell her she was starting rice cereal that night. I sounded like a totally geeky mom! Here is Taylor's first attempt at it below (I didn't want to bore anyone with the video footage, so I just posted some pics, but mom and dad, I'll send you the video):

Sweet as Sugar!!

2009-01-05T00:08:00.013-07:00

Jamie and I just got back last night from a short, but unforgettable trip to the Big Easy to see our Utah Utes play in the All-State Sugar Bowl. It was our first trip together, away from Taylor, and thankfully we had Grandma Ann (Jamie's mom) in town, wanting to get some alone time with her only grand-daughter. We feel lucky that she was able to stay with Taylor.
And usually when such is the case, parents look forward to getting some sleep. But there's no sleeping in N'awlins. Now, first let me just say that getting another undefeated 'regular season' for the Utes was special enough. As a Utah fan, I'm used to not asking for much more than a win over the Y and an occasional conference championship and a bowl win to remember. But Urban Meyer spoiled us. You see, he came in and in just two years, made the Utah program believe that they could compete on a national level. We went to the Fiesta Bowl in 2005 (the 2004 season), but then Urban left, and many Utah fans, including myself, couldn't help but think that the extra 'mojo' left with him.

But I would have NEVER guessed that Utah could possibly be talked about across the country as a team who should be considered national champions, but dreams do come true :)(here's just one of many articles: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/28477417/).

The trip was so much fun. My dad and my brother traveled down with us as well. My brother was the captain of the team last year, and so he hooked us up with player tickets (12th row) and we were able to meet with most of the players before and after the game.

New Orleans is a city that was created for bowl games. And it sounds like I think I'm some sort of expert on bowl games, but the truth is, I've now been to six straight bowl games - including two BCS games. And while the Fiesta Bowl was fun (mostly because there were so many Utah fans), the Phoenix area is just so big and spread out and it made it impersonal. I really liked the more personal settings of the other bowls better. But in the Big Easy, you get the best of both worlds. You know you're there for a major event, but also, everybody is concentrated in the French Quarter and everybody there is either wearing Utah or Alabama apparel. So you see so many people you know (we ran into cousins, Jamie ran into high school friends she hadn't seen since HS, we ran into neighbors, etc.). And you can't help but love the French Quarter - the french architecture, the jazz clubs, the food, the food, and the food! Jamie and I planned out on hitting a few restaurants to take in the full experience there - you've got to hit the Acme Oyster company for fresh seafood (their oysters are incredible, as is their gumbo), you've got to hit Petunia's for breakfast (their pain perdue french toast is amazing - as is their cajun sausage breakfast), and we hit Nola - one of Emeril (BAM!) Lagasse's restaurants, featuring more home-style Nola cooking. It was awesome!

It was a blast just to walk around in the French Quarter, listening to jazz or taking in a beignet, or going on a carriage tour. Or seeing celebrities - we walked right next to Jamal Anderson, and Chris Kemoautu, and even John Stamos (Uncle Jesse's taste in women has gone down since him and Rebecca split, I can tell you that much). The Alabama fans were really pretty nice. But I was so intrigued by the fact that it seemed that every male Alabama fan (at least between the ages of 16 and 35) had the same look - feathered hair with the bangs brushed over (even when wearing their hats, they wear them up to show the bangs), dress shirts tucked in, and boat shoes. They also usually sport a Northface jacket or fleece vest as well. But after sunset, and from what I understand, on game-day, you usually see them with blazers on. If nobody was wearing Utah or Alabama gear, you could easily tell which guys were going to yell out 'Roll Tide', just from their look. It was really interesting. I guess that look is pretty known. Here's a funny article about the 'Bama bangs' (http://www.sportsline.com/spin/story/9721273). I really envy Alabama's rich football tradition (they've been to the Sugar Bowl now 13 times, have been to 55 bowl games, and have 12 national championships) and their fans passion (you see them wearing Alabama slacks, Bear Bryant groundstooth scarves and hats, and everything in between) - and they yell out 'Roll Tide' every five minutes, usually every time they see an opposing fan. But I must say that 75% of the Bama fans we met were really classy - and very gracious in defeat (the other 25% were arrogant and/or ignorant - comments about religion, etc. - and every fan base, including Utah, has those types).

But as fun the Big Easy was, the game was that much more memorable. I knew Utah was good and that teams out west are underrated. But I never would have guessed that Utah would have spanked them the way they did. Alabama gave up just 27 points in 13 games in the first quarter - combined. Utah put up 21 points in the first quarter against them. Their fans were absolutely blown away. Alabama couldn't do anything - just 200 yards of offense - less than Utah State had put up against the Utes. And the crowd was into it. One Alabama lady, at the end of the game, said that she had been going to bowl games for 19 years, and Utah's fans were the most spirited she had ever seen. After the game, the police blocked off the streets from the SuperDome to the French Quarter - that's a path you would normally never walk at night. But with 10,000 fans hooting and hollering, it felt like we walked the 1.5 mile walk without our feet touching the ground.

A screen-shot of Jamie and I from footage from the game on Fox.

It was a trip we won't soon forget - and I have a feeling that Utah's success will go a long way to bringing credibility to this program, respect to the MWC, and if we're lucky, maybe even bring down the BCS. Hey, we can hope, can't we?

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T19:22:00.005-07:00

Things have been a bit crazy for the past couple of weeks! I will try not to bore you with too many details, but here are a few highlights from the last week or so. One of the many family traditions during Christmas time is to make my family's famous English Toffee and Caramels. In fact, I'm not quite sure how many generations, but I think the recipes go back to at least a great-great Grandmother. Since this can be a timely process, Taylor decided to cooperate and go down for some 2 hour naps which gave me the span of time needed to make a batch. It just makes me feel a little closer to my mom when I know that she's doing the same thing around the same time.

Then my mom and sister arrived on Saturday. Ashley hadn't met Taylor yet so it was a very special meeting. I decided to leave Taylor at home with Dustin so that I could park and help my mom and sister with all of their luggage since they're staying for two weeks (and I know how they travel). I have never seen them so disappointed to see me when they stepped off the plane. and they didn't see Taylor. I guess I know where I fall in the line of priorities.

On Sunday, Dustin's mom's side of the family had their Christmas party. We had the very special opportunity to be visited by Santa! Apparently our friend Mark is one of Santa's helpers and he graced us as Santa that evening. When Taylor sat on his lap he let us know that he can understand baby talk. According to Santa, Taylor wants her mom to forgo her Sugar Bowl Tickets so that her dad can bring one of his friends (interesting...) and she wanted her daddy to win the League Old School Fantasy Football Championship that weekend. Well Santa made one of those wishes come true, but the second one is definitely not happening! (Maybe next time Mark!)

Taylor on Santa's lap.

On Monday, we decided to do a Service Project. My aunt works at St. Joseph's Villa on the wing for the long care patients who will pretty much stay there until they die. Apparently, some of those people don't get too many visitors so we tied some fleece blankets and got some family and friends together and sang Christmas carols room to room. There were 11 kids and 2 babies and even a dog. I was so impressed with each one of the kids. So many of the people were touched telling us how special it was and for some the very best Christmas ever. One woman was blind and although she couldn't see the kids, she mouthed the words to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as the children sang. Everyone had a great time. I was one that refused to sing seeing as how no one would want to hear my voice, but I was brought to tears so many times, I couldn't help but join in and sing along too.

Taylor was joining in on the caroling and visiting fun.

Dinner at Lugano's on Tuesday with the Tate side of the family.

Bryson and Taylor and Tate and Allie. Taylor may not smile for the camera yet, but at least she is looking up!

Christmas Eve and Christmas were both just great days to spend time with family and eat spectacular food. (There's nothing like Prime Rib with horseradish and sauteed mushrooms, twice baked potatoes, salad and asparagus with Hollandaise sauce... yum!) Grandma spoiled Taylor this year so it will be very interesting once she actually understands what's going on around her.

It was a great past couple of days with family and friends. This is my absolute favorite holiday. I feel so blessed that I could share it with Dustin, Taylor, my mom and sister and Dustin's family as well. This has just been a great time to reflect not only on the birth of our Savior, but the amazing life that he led and the sacrifice that he made for each one of us. We have so much to be grateful for and so many blessings to rejoice in. Below are just two of my many!

Happy Birthday!!!

2008-12-14T16:50:00.003-07:00

Of course this is late, but I had to wish my sweet husband a very Happy Birthday! Unfortunately he has been under the weather this weekend so it doesn't make for a very happy birthday, but he's hanging in there. It was a little uneventful, but after the year we've had, I think that uneventful is just great. I was telling Dustin the other day that six months ago, neither one of us would have dreamed that we would have been blessed with a baby before his 32nd birthday.

I just want to say that I love Dustin so much and there is no way that I could have endured the last year without him by my side. He has been so positive and so patient with me through all of the frustrastions and let downs. There is no one in this world that I would have rather made this journey with than him. And now we feel more blessed than we could have ever imagined! Who better to celebrate all of this joy than him!

In addition to the birthday cheers for my hubby, my husband and mother share the same birthday... I'm sure that there is some Freudian meaning behind that, but I'm not going there. I just want to tell my mom that she is the very best mom in the world. I think back to that first week with Taylor and I would have been up a creek if she wasn't there just knowing what to do and how to handle my out of control emotions and complete disorganization that week. She has sacrificed so much for me and for Ashley and she has been the best example for the mother that I want to be with my children.

I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such a wonderful family and I can hardly wait to celebrate this Christmas with some of my very favorite people in the world.

Another Niece

2008-12-06T16:06:00.003-07:00

I'm a little behind (as always), but on Tuesday, December 2nd, our niece Allie came into the world around 3pm weighing 7 lbs 6 ounces and measuring at about 21 inches long. She has a head full of black hair, just like her mommy (Dustin's sister). Although when you look at her face there is a little bit of her daddy in there, she just has a lot of her mommy.

We were able to go to the hospital on Tuesday just about an hour or so after she was born and she is just beautiful! We love her so much! So now Taylor has two girl cousins... one that is 2 months older and one that is 3 months younger. Hopefully they all don't get into too much trouble as they get older. Congratulations Lindsay and Tim!!!!

Bryson holding his cousin as we wait for Lindsay to move in to the maternity section of the hospital...

Of course I didn't pull the camera out when we were with Allie because apparently I was just too excited to see her and hold her so we went back to the hospital on Friday night so I made sure to pull out the camera. When we got there, the lady at the hospital who does the newborn pictures was taking pictures of Allie. For any of you that know Lindsay, it was no surprise that she Allie had to do a few outfit changes for the newborn pictures. It made me think back to Taylor's first couple of days in the hospital, and t is so funny for me to think of how different my mindset was. Taylor's her birth mom got newborn pictures taken at the hospital, but to be honest I don't think I ever saw the pictures nor thought twice about them. I had to make sure just to get an outfit to take her home in so that she didn't have to go home in the hospital's white long-sleeved shirt and swaddled in a hospital blanket. :)

The second meeting of Allie and Taylor

Aunt Jamie holding her precious new niece

One of these days Taylor will ham it up for the camera, but apparently she still has no interest in doing so. What's crazy to me is that Allie is even bigger than what Taylor was when we brought her home. This was the very first time when I actually thought that Taylor looked big!

So on a totally unrelated note since I am actually on the computer, I wanted to make sure to capture Taylor at her very first Jazz Game. Unfortunately her good luck from the Utah football games wore off and the Jazz lost to Miami but she was an angel through the entire game. I think she really loves the lights and she's already become a people watcher at her early age!

Goooooo Jazz!

Happy Thanksgiving (a few days late)

2008-12-01T13:46:00.006-07:00

I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short, but I just wanted to recap my Thanksgiving and just highlight a few of the many things that I am grateful for. This weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to go up to Dustin's Family Cabin in Fairview which is just 2 hours away. We went up Thursday morning and came back Saturday. Even though it was short, it was nice to get away and spend some time with family. I made up my Praline Sweet Potatoes and headed up. Although it's amazing how an almost 3 month baby triples the amount of things that you can't leave home without. This is a very new experience for both Dustin and I.

Taylor with her cousin Mia whom she finally got to meet. (Only two months apart, can you believe it?)

The cutest nephews in the whole world (Bo, Bryson and Tate) making their scary faces for Uncle Dustin.

On Friday night we went to a light parade near the temple in Manti... so cute and so fun! The kids got excited to Santa on top of the fire truck!

Quique was very mad that we went four wheeling without her so we had to be sure to take her on a ride of the souped up golf cart. She loves having the wind blow in her face, no matter how cold it is.

Dustin and I had some time to talk on the way home from the cabin and we are just amazed at what 2008 has brought us. It started out to be a really rough year, not only with the miscarriage, but other things we were going through at the time and despite it all, it ended up being the very best year and made us realize just how much we had been blessed with.

I am grateful for:

Dustin - I can't believe this is our 7th Thanksgiving as a married couple. The holiday season definitely brought us some stress the first couple of years, but I look at how much both of us have grown over these years and that I love him so much more every day (well almost everyday.. love you honey). He constantly makes me want to be a better person and I have seen such a sweet and sensitive side come out with Taylor in our lives.

Taylor - As I have said before, she is our gift from God. She is smiling all of the time and I love her so much. My life has made a 180 since she came to us three months ago and I wouldn't want it any other way. My mom always told me that the love for your children will be different than anything else and I am seeing that more and more every day! But I can't be grateful for Taylor without being grateful for her birth mom Jami. Without her, we wouldn't have been given the most amazing blessing in our life. She sacrificed so much and did one of the most Christ-like things that anyone on this earth can do. She is in our prayers every night and she deserves to blessed with all that she desires.

Quique - I know that she's a dog, but she is full of love and fun and I just love her like she is my child. She was my baby when I didn't have one and she cuddles with me and loves everybody, especially dogs and little kids. She has the cutest personality of any dog I have ever met and she fills my life in so many ways.

My family - My mom and sister are coming in a couple of weeks and I am like a giddy child waiting to open her gifts for Christmas. It's so hard that they don't live near me, but I love them so much. My mom is my greatest example of sacrifice and love. She is a role model for me as to the mother I can only hope to be. My sister is my very best friend. She is so much of what I am not. She is courageous and carefree, yet she has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. I'm sad that I only see my Dad maybe once a year or so, but I love hearing about all of the new recipes he has come up with. My dad can fix anything and he is one of the most creative people that I know. I always had the best when it came to my dad, whether it was a synchro stage or swim-suit or a graduation all nighter. He always got involved in all that I did. Thanksgiving just isn't the same when I don't have my family to share it with. But I am so grateful to them for all of the memories they have given me to treasure year after year.

My in laws - It's nice to have some of my family close and I am so grateful that they have just taken me in as their own and love me so much. I am so blessed to be so loved and to be given so much from my in laws. My life wouldn't be full if I didn't have my nephews and now my niece and soon to be nieces. I was laughing all weekend at everything that they were doing. I am sure it will come back to bite me one of these days, but sometimes I can't help but laugh!

My friends - They are my rocks. I could never have gotten through these past two years without them. I have been lacking in the friends department since I moved out to Utah, but I am grateful for my friends that have moved away from UT (Autumn) or that I have moved away from (my swimming and high school friends) and I am grateful for my neighbors who have become some of my very best friends.

My faith - The gospel has gotten me through so much in my life and it has given me the opportunity to work with some amazing people that have impacted my life forever. I am grateful for the teachings as to how to live my life and for all of the many ways that it blesses my life and gives me the faith and strength I need to constantly move forward and progress.

The list could go on and on, but these are the staples of my life. I am who I am because of the list above, well at least the good parts. I am fully responsible for the not so good parts...

We're Going Bowling (BCS Style)

2008-11-25T10:41:00.004-07:00

Well Saturday was one of those truly amazing days. The Utah Utes went 12-0 for the second time in 4 years with 2 different coaches - HISTORIC! I remember getting bundled up early 4 years ago to go to College Game Day at the University of Utah with Dustin and his dad. It was a special day and in some ways even more special. We slaughtered everyone we played in 2004, but this year it was not at all expected at the beginning or even middle of the year for that matter. I will say that I was a little more confident going to a Bowl Game in '04. I was ready to go head to head with USC, Oklahoma or Auburn, but this year, my confidence isn't quite as strong. It looks like we may be going to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and assuming that Alabama beats Auburn and loses to Florida we'll be playing Alabama. How crazy is that? My hope is that we have a good showing and that we don't get creamed! :) It was an amazing season and I'm so glad that Taylor was able to take part by attending a couple of the games. We opted not to take her on Saturday, however we stayed surprisingly warm, so she probably could have gone. That was the only thing missing on Saturday night. It was such a fun game and the Utes put together an amazing game plan that gave them the W!

When it was a week or so before the TCU game and looking like a BCS bowl was a possibility, I asked my mom what she thought about us going to a bowl game for a couple of days since she is going to be visiting us at that time. The rest of the conversation went as follows:

Me: What do you think about us leaving you for a few days while you're visiting.

Mom: Would you leave Taylor with me?

Me: Yeah.

Mom: Well then I don't care what you guys do.

Apparently I am no longer the apple of my mom's eye. I guess the truth hurts sometimes. Anyway, it was an amazing day and an amazing season! Can't wait to find out for sure where we're going on 12/7!

Fiesta Bowl 2004 - before the new Stadium was built

Utah win over BYU (11/22/08) - 12-0 Baby!

Wedding Ring(s)

2008-11-22T09:28:00.002-07:00

I think that I am somehow jinxed when it comes to wedding rings. Growing up, I was known to lose everything and Dustin knew this before marrying me so I think that he was already nervous about my ring. However, that doesn't seem to be my problem, there's actually another problem that I seem to have that has now become recurring.

Dustin and I got engaged in Cozumel, Mexico when he was working down there. We did a little ring shopping while I was visiting and I found a setting I really liked. It was just over three years after we had been married and I remember the day vividly because it was the day that I found out that my favorite job was relocating to Orlando, FL in six months and I was devastated. After an emotional day, I got into bed and was taking off my wedding ring when I noticed that one of my side bezeled diamonds had fallen out. I remember thinking my day couldn't get any worse (even though it always can but luckily it didn't). Things were pretty crazy the next year or so and since I'm a procrastinator, it took me about a year and a half to finally take in my ring. I found out the goldsmith on the ring was pretty poor and I pretty much needed to have the whole thing redone. I decided to change it up and do something a little different, but I was going to keep my same diamond and then take the 3 remaining bezeled diamonds and turn those into a small diamond necklace.

So that brings us to two days ago. I was cooking a ton and cleaning the house to get ready for pinochle club that I participate in with some of my extended family members and this month I was the host. So after a long day, it was around 10pm and I sat on the couch to talk with Dustin about the day and he gasped. I couldn't understand what he was gasping about. He said... "your ring". I looked down only to see that my main diamond was no longer in my ring. Let's say I pretty much freaked out. I spent the next two hours on my hands and knees with a flashlight scouring my entire house. Even though it was dark, I checked out in the car and on our front lawn. I couldn't sleep even though I was exhausted and I was sick to my stomach.

The next day, Dustin made a claim with our insurance and luckily because we had the ring appraised this time, we would be able to receive some money towards a new diamond, but it certainly wouldn't have been for the full amount. I was retracing all of my steps and called Dustin's parents and left a message because I had been there earlier that day, but didn't put much stock in it being there. I had also been to Costco. I can just imagine calling Costco and asking if they had found a loose diamond on their floor if they could give me a call. They probably would have thought I was insane and just laughed at me. A couple hours later I got a call from Dustin's brother, Steve. He said "I found your diamond". My jaw dropped to the floor and I was like "yeah right". He said "No, seriously, I found your diamond. It was behind the bookshelf in the entry way". April was with me when I got the call so she can testify to my utter amazement and disbelief. I don't have a big diamond in my ring so how he ever found it is beyond me. Apparently my mother in law had heard something drop when I was in talking with her and my sister in law so she thought that maybe it was in the vicinity. How amazing is that?

Honestly, I have already had my big miracle this year. My wedding ring certainly doesn't compare to Taylor, but I was heartbroken not only to have to pay for another diamond, but more so for the sentimental value that that diamond holds. I think that my miracles are all used up for the year, probably until the next baby comes, but I am so grateful to my mother in law, Steve and my father in law for going around the house on their hands and knees and finding my diamond.

So now the dilemma is, once I do get my ring fixed, I think that I may be a little too scared to ever wear it again!

What a Week!

2008-11-16T21:34:00.006-07:00

It has certainly been one of the crazier weeks. Dustin was out of town for a few days, which always seems to make the days a little bit longer. But mainly it was volleyball, volleyball, volleyball this week. As I've mentioned before, I work with the Young Women in our church and they made it to a region tournament for volleyball which was great, but made it a really long week! Our sweet little Taylor was a spectator for close to 15 hours of volleyball in the span of 3 days and she was a champ! The girls played awesome and if we had had all of the girls for all of the games, we probably would have won the whole thing! But instead, we settled for 3rd place, which was so great!!! I am definitely getting old because this was exhausting for me and I didn't even play!

As for the latest Taylor updates, when I prop her up in the corner of the couch, this past week she has been pulling herself up past sitting position which usually ends up with a nose dive into the couch, so I decided to try her out in the Bumbo chair to see if I was getting way too ahead of myself and look what happened...

She was awesome! She was actually sitting up in her chair without her head bobbling all over the place. I was so excited that I took a picture of her on my phone and sent it off to her dad and grandma. Since I had to talk about it with someone, I walked over to Liz's house to make sure that this was okay and I wasn't torturing my poor child. We sat her up on Liz's counter and she just cooed and smiled at Liz... it was adorable! After that we came home to try out Baby Einstein. When I was out for a church activity on Wednesday, Dustin bathed, fed and showed Baby Einstein to Taylor, so I wanted to see what all of the fuss was about. She was glued! I couldn't believe it. My two month old stared at the tv longer than I can hold her attention... it was hysterical!

Then on Saturday, after some chores, we watched a lot of college football. In fact, Taylor was so into the game, I couldn't even get her to look at me for more than a minute. A Ute and a football fan... as if she hadn't stolen her daddy's heart already!

2 Months Already!!!

2008-11-03T15:01:00.006-07:00

I want to apologize in advance for my spelling errors. I promise I am smart, but sometimes when there is a screaming child in the background, I sometimes just push 'publish post' without proof reading what I have written. So please excuse any weird sentences or grammatical errors. I promise I'm a college graduate, but I'm still trying to multi-task with the mom thing.

Anyway... today Taylor is 2 months! A part of me can't believe it and the other part is like only two months? Whatever the case, Taylor truly is one of the loves of my life and it has just gotten better every day. So many people have been asking us how much she weighs or how tall she is and we had no idea. You would think we would have a scale at home, but we still don't. So we had the big drum roll and our Baby Buddha is 10 lbs and 21 inches long. Now compared to those of you with kids like my nephew Bo who popped out at 10 lbs and 22 inches long, that may seem like a peanut, but when she has gained 4 pounds and grown three inches since she was born and your pediatrician tells you that she couldn't be growing any better than she has... it is a huge sigh of relief!

So here are some new and wonderful things we've learned about and experienced with Taylor over the past month.

Taylor is still sleeping in the cradle in our room. I honestly can't tell you why she hasn't made it to the crib... maybe it's subconscious????
When I go to give Taylor kisses. she opens her mouth... it's hysterical!

I've learned that you need to make sure to clean behind your baby's ears when giving them a bath... Thank you April!
She has now been to two Utah football games (and watched heaven knows how many more games on TV) and she has been to at least 5 or so Volleyball Games. She's a sports girl already!
She is smiling up a storm. Her first real smile was at her dad in our Sunday School class at church on 10/12 and I just remember my eyes welling up with tears and I will never forget how precious that moment was.
She loves being held. It was in the evening during one of her cranky times and she was just screaming for a bottle. I made one up, picked her up and laid her on my lap getting ready to feed her. She immediately stopped crying and just looked up at me and smiled. Darn those babies learn manipulation at an early age!
At our church, we call her the ward baby. I don't think that I've really had to hold her much. Between the young women and everyone else in the ward it's pretty much like I get 3 hours off at church. Sometimes she even sits in a different pew for a bit!
Quique is still obsessed with Taylor's toys, but I love those early morning feedings when she is falling asleep in my arms and Quique is laying by my feet. There is nothing better than being surrounded by my two favorite girls.
Thank heavens for the swing... it has been a life saver!
The vacuum cleaner and loud continuous noises soothe her. Some times Dustin will just voice aaaaaaaaahhhhh in a loud voice until he runs out of air and it always seems to settle her down.
She usually averages at least 1 span of 6-7 hours of sleep each night. How lucky am I?

Her red hair catches all of the attention. Whenever we are out and about, we get stopped by at least one person.

When she's upset, the Utah fight song still makes her smile (of course only when her dad sings it).

I love listening to her coo. I wish she could tell me all that she knows, because I know she knows more than I do.

I love it when she is smiling at something near me, but not me. I truly believe that she sees someone. I like to think it's my Grandma and Grandpa.

She loves her weekly visits with her Grandma TT for a couple of hours and her webcam visits with her Grandma Ann. (Although Taylor and I have sometimes dropped the ball on some of those visits), but she will sit and coo when I put Grandma Ann on speaker phone and Taylor listens to her talk.

I'm sure that is way more information than you wanted or needed. Today was a really good day. Even though Taylor had to get some shots which made her cry, it was the best feeling for both Dustin and I as we were able to soothe her after her shots. I couldn't imagine not being in the room with her while getting her shots. Afterward I held and rocked her and Dustin sang her the Utah fight song. It was a beautiful moment. Since then she has wanted to be held up until now so I thought that I would quickly write down my thoughts. The only picture I could get of her today was while she was sleeping, but it's a beautiful sight that I could watch for hours and hours.

Our beautiful gift from God and Jami

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-10-31T14:58:00.004-06:00

So today is the first Halloween with a child and it's only 3pm and I'm about ready to go to bed! Halloween has always been one of my favorite Halloweens. I think the dressing up, the candy and it kicks off the holiday season! The only bad thing about Halloween that I've discovered in the past 10 years is that it's that much closer to snowfall and by January, I can pretty much do without snow.

Anyway, we started off on Saturday with a trip to Boo with the Zoo with the Heath's and the Larsen's which was a ton of fun. There were about 3 random people who asked if they could take a picture of Taylor because they though she looked so darling. Nothing warms a mom's heart more than that!

Izzy and Dylan and cousins Tate and Bryson

Taylor and my cousin's daughter Emery

My sweet little chunk

The Fam

Today we met up with my mother in law who teaches at an Elementary School and Taylor met up with a few of her cousins and two of her aunts!Taylor loved the 2nd grade program. As they sang and recited Halloween poems she just smiled and cooed away.Bryson, Tate and Grandma Chris

Bryson is always making us laugh...

Next stop was for mom to run home and change into her Halloween costume so that we could head up to Dustin's work. They do a trick or treat through the building and then a big lunch for everyone which is always a lot of fun. Honestly, I always see some of the most amazing costumes when we go there. Dustin and I were a little behind on costumes this year so since Taylor was an elephant and it is election year, our little conservative family couldn't go wrong with this:

Sarah Palin, the Elephant and Joe the Plumber

Now I get to rest for a minute or two and then off to the Trunk or Treat and then tonight will be a relaxing night as we watch all of the neighborhood kids come around in their costumes and eat homemade clam chowder and caramel apples and snuggle up with our bundle of joy. I don't think it could be a better night!

#1 Question

2008-10-20T22:18:00.004-06:00

So the number one question behind "how is Taylor doing" is "how is Quique handling everything?" It's been interesting. The first couple of weeks, she just ignored Taylor. I think it was the realization that "this thing" was staying, but also that it was messing with her life a bit. Especially since things were pretty crazy those first couple of weeks.

Since then, Quique has really come around. I still think that because Taylor is so small, she's not really sure exactly what she's doing yet, but Quique has acknowledged Taylor. When Taylor was just a couple of weeks old, Dustin took one of the late night feedings and while sitting on the couch (prior to the rocker) he was feeding Taylor. Quique jumped up on the couch, snuggled up next to Dustin and put her chin up on Taylor's legs. Quique always sleeps with her chin propped up either on Dustin or me or on one of her stuffed animals. Dustin said it was priceless.

With the visitors that have come by, Quique always thinks that everybody is there to see her so she wags her butt and licks people like crazy. I'm so glad she doesn't know otherwise...

Since then, she has discovered Taylor's toys. Not that she has a lot, but apparently she had more than I realized. Quique hit the jackpot when she found the bag with the few toys that she had. Quique has since inherited those toys which I know is not the way to handle it, but it was quite comical to see her squeaking one of Taylor's toys and a teething toy that no longer has the liquid inside.

But the most precious of all are the times when Taylor is in bed with us and Quique jumps up on the bed and snuggles up to Taylor and in between Dustin and I. Or the times when Taylor is screaming her head off because she's hungry. When I set her down in my lap and start feeding her the bottle, Quique will come right up and start licking her head to try and comfort her. I know that this has been a hard adjustment for Q, but once Taylor gets a little bit bigger, I know that they will be the best of friends.

I know that many see Quique as just a dog, but for Dustin and I, she has been and will continue to be so much more. She's only been a part of our family for the past 2 1/2 years, but she has been there for us through some dark times. Dustin and I truly believe that she has filled our lives in ways that no one or anything else could have. She has made us laugh so many times, she has comforted us in a way that only a dog can and she has filled our lives and our family in ways that so many couldn't even begin to understand. We love you Quique!

Daddy's two girls

A morning cuddle

Yes, that is Taylor's bottle in Quique's mouth.

And for a recent picture. She's hasn't quite found the camera yet... we're still working on that. But here she is after church on Sunday.

Cradle or Crib... or Cradle

2008-10-10T12:40:00.003-06:00

I'll be perfectly honest, (I think I say that pretty often, but if you know me at all, I'm a pretty open book if you allow me to be) I am not one that does well when I'm sleep deprived. I love getting at least 8 hours of sleep. I know that is more than most anyone out there, but I do love my sleep which is almost comical seeing as how I come from a family of insomniacs. Anyway, before Taylor, I always thought that I would be one of those moms that would keep her baby in the cradle by her bed for 3 plus months. After week two of motherhood, I was ready for her to go in the other room! Surprisingly enough, Dustin wasn't, so I waited.

Now she's doing a lot better and pretty much wakes up between 2:30 and 3:30am and then again around 6:30 or 7am. Last week, I cleaned out some of the clothes and toys that had made their way into her crib so that I would be ready to start her in the crib. That was last week! I still haven't opened the baby monitor package as though it's an excuse that I haven't been able to put her in the crib yet. Honestly, when she starts to stir and fuss around 3am, I wait for a few minutes thinking that by some miracle she'll go back to sleep, knowing deep down that she won't. I get up to make her bottle and then when we sit in the glider (which my mom so graciously bought for us) in her room and I feed her and rock her back to sleep, it is some of the most precious moments of the day that we share together. I see now why my mom was so insistent on buying the rocker because the short time we have spent in that chair has already been very special. I love watching her suck on her bottle. She'll wiggle around, make noises while she eats and then close her eyes and raise her eyebrows while her eyes are closed. And then when I put her on my chest and rock her back to sleep, there is nothing more precious in the world than when she curls up into my chest and falls fast asleep. Then I place her back in her cradle which my grandfather made for my mom that both my sister and I slept in. Maybe it's the nostalgia of everything and I get to feel like my mom and grandparents are with me during this nightly routine, but I have finally begun to appreciate just how wonderful the nightly routine is even if it does deprive me of my precious sleep. So now, I'm kind of used to having the cradle right by my bed and I actually kind of like it! My selfish desires are slowing turning... who would have thought?

The cradle my grandpa made that both Ashley and I slept in...

Taylor always sleeps most comfortably with both arms above her head which is why the swaddling never worked too well for her unless her arms were out of it.

Also, we had a few visitors this week. Kristin, who I swam with growing up, lives in Salt Lake so she and her beautiful daughter Audrey came by to bring us dinner and catch up which was so awesome! Unfortunately my brain wasn't working and I completely forgot to take pictures. Kristin got a darling pic of Taylor and Audrey so I'll have to get a copy of it from her and post it. And her dinner was so good so if she ever offers to bring you dinner, definitely take her up on it!

I learned from Wednesday night's mistake and made sure to take a picture when my roommates (prior to being married) came by, Bobi and Keely! This is a picture of Bobi and Taylor since Keely refuses to be in any pictures... Bobi is now married to my cousin so I guess she's actually my cousin now! They got some cute gifts for Taylor and it was so fun to catch up and reminisce.

I'm so grateful for all of my many friends who have stopped by, brought dinner, called or emailed, sent gifts and been so supportive! I know I haven't always been the greatest friend in years past, but I am so grateful for the opportunities to catch up and reconnect with those I haven't seen for a while. Thanks to all of my friends out there who have been so great to me!!!! I promise to be better at returning the kind gestures!

A Week of Firsts

2008-10-03T16:16:00.004-06:00

I'm probably not your typical first-time mom, in other words, I'm not a total germ-a-phobe and I can't stay locked up in a house for a couple months even with a tiny baby, so I dragged Taylor around with me this week. Dustin went out of town on Monday for a couple of days so this was my first experience without any daddy relief in the evenings. But I have to say, although we missed daddy a ton, we made it okay.

So this week I learned that Taylor loves noise. In fact, I think that it relaxes her. On Tuesday, I couldn't get anyone to watch her for a couple of hours so I took her to my work team outing and we went bowling. As loud and crazy as it was... she slept virtually the entire time. I was so proud of her. Here is a pic of her wearing what was required when you threw a gutter ball.

As if that wasn't enough for one day, our church youth group had a volleyball game that night. Since daddy wasn't around, Taylor came with. It was so loud and the girls were screaming and cheering because it came down to a tie-breaking game, but Taylor was as calm as could be and even slept through part of it.

This leads us to last night. Taylor attended her first college football game. I was sad to be so out of the loop this year, so since there was supposed to be nice weather, even though it was a 7pm game, and we were playing Oregon State who upset # 1 USC last week, I justified to myself and Dustin that she would be just fine. For any of you that follow Utah or Oregon State football, you will know that I couldn't have brought her to a more intense game. It was 2 minutes to go in the game and our offense had been playing like crap for most of the game. We were down by 8 and not only did it seem impossible to get a touchdown, but a 2 point conversion as well??? Apparently I'm a bad fan and underestimated our Utes. Not only did we get the touchdown and 2-point conversion (thanks to a PI call), our defense forced OSU a 3 and out and we got the ball back with a minute to go and were able to get ourselves in field goal range to clench the game. Here I am with a 1 month old baby, screaming my head off, the crowd is going nuts and I'm jumping up and down. I called my mom after the game so worried that I had scarred poor Taylor for life.

I was telling Dustin that who knows if I will eventually get pregnant or if we will adopt all of our kids, but one things for sure, together, with our genes, we could have never produced a baby as calm as Taylor. She didn't make a peep except for when she was hungry. She slept through the 1st half and totally let her mom and dad be wild and crazy fans without making a noise. Dustin and I could never be that calm. I think that she'll be our saving grace in the years to come.

Not our best picture, but our first family outing to a football game had to be captured...

Of course we had to make sure she was representing at the game. I don't think that people usually bring a baby as small as Taylor to the games, so even though these pajamas drowned her everyone thought she sure was cute! Here's our little Ute... maybe she'll be a gymnast for Utah. That would sure make her dad proud. :)

Here's to Taylor being 1 month today!!!! We couldn't be more blessed with such an amazing little girl!

Happy Anniversary!

2008-09-28T23:16:00.012-06:00

Today's our sixth wedding anniversary. It's been six years. Wow, time flies. It seems like just a few months ago when we were celebrating that great (but very long) day. For memory's sake, I thought I'd include a picture from that day - as one of my young men so observantly pointed out the other day: when it looked like I had a lot more pounds and a lot more hair.

Now, nobody ever said that every anniversary has to be romantic, right? Because I don't think we've ever really had a romantic anniversary - at least not on the actual date. Our first two anniversaries, I was out of town for work. So we've gotten used to celebrating this day on our terms, when we want to and how we want to. So it was with today.

Don't get me wrong. We had a great weekend. Jamie's dad and his wife, Carrie, (picture of them with Taylor to the left) came into town to come spend some time with the new grand-daughter, and we had a great time with them. And we're doing a good job of acclimating Taylor to the fun things in life - like Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Oktoberfest, and her first football game (coming this week).

But in celebration of this anniversary, I'd like to share a couple of our funnier moments that we've shared together during our ever-exciting marriage:

A couple of years ago, we celebrated our anniversary a few months late by taking a weekend trip to New York. We went to a couple of Broadway plays and went out to some nice dinners. But what I'll remember as much as anything was this classic moment. Jamie decided to go to the famous "Oidad" Salon (http://www.oidad.com/) - a salon that specializes in curly hair. She had used some of the product before and had always wanted to treat herself to an appointment to this exclusive salon.

After her appointment, she was looking and feeling like a million bucks (the appointment almost cost that much, I believe), and was definitely wanting to show off her beautiful locks as we walked around the city. Well, we walked about five minutes and I was taking her picture in front of Rockefeller Plaza, when all of a sudden, she had a look of panic on her face. I asked what was wrong. She told me to check her head. I didn't know what she was talking about . . . until I went over to her recently-styled hair and saw that a pigeon had taken a nice, huge poop on her head. After the initial second of shock, even she couldn't help but crack up. It was freaking hilarious.

And while that story was kind of at Jamie's expense, I've got an even better one at my expense:

During the week of our anniversary about four years ago, the owner of the company that I work for (who happens to live near us) invited the youth group that Jamie and I work with in our ward, to his house for a swimming party and barbeque. 'Captain Bob' had a newly remodeled pool and patio and wanted to treat our youth group to a fun activity. Obviously, I was just a bit nervous. I wanted to make a good impression with the owner of our company, with our Bishop (who I thought might have second thoughts about me leading these kids), and with the kids themselves. One thing to note - Captain Bob is one of the greatest people I know. He is such a believer in people, he's so generous and thoughtful and an incredible teacher. Needless to say, he's also very detail-oriented, and in the case of this party, he was very specific as to how he wanted everything organized and how he wanted it to run. So, when a few of the young women started trying to push me into the pool with my clothes on, I wasn't about to let it happen. I love messing around with the youth and being a goof - but I told them that I really didn't want to be pushed in on this particular night. I made them a deal that I'd even jump in the pool with my clothes on some other night - but not that night and not at Captain Bob's place. They respected that, and they quit trying.
Well, after dinner I was walking towards the pool getting ready to set up a game for the kids. All of a sudden, I felt somebody grab me and start pushing me towards the pool, and I knew I couldn't do anything about it. So, I just reached behind me and grabbed on to the person. I basically said, 'whoever is pushing me in is coming in with me.' Less than a second later, I was in the pool - but I kept my promise. I held on to whatever I was grabbing. As I came to the surface, I was still holding something in my hand. I looked at it - and it was a blouse. I looked up, and the Stake Young Women's President was bright red - and shirtless, covering herself up. She had pushed me in the pool, and I had yanked off her blouse in self-defense, and everybody saw it. Hey - don't mess with the bull or you get the horns, right? Actually, Jamie reminds me that I looked much more embarrassed than the shirtless woman.

We've shared some wonderful memories together, which I'm grateful for. Sure, there have been a few rough patches along the way. But that's made the good moments even better. I feel so lucky and so blessed to be married to such an amazing wife. And while we hope to have many, many more anniversaries to celebrate, our anniversary from 2008 will be remembered as the first anniversary as parents, and that's what made it our best one yet.

And for those who have told us that our posts aren't complete without a new picture of Taylor, here she is in her cow outfit:

Taylor's Newborn Pictures

2008-09-21T21:48:00.003-06:00

As you can see, we're still on cloud 9 with the addition of Taylor to our family, and it still feels somewhat surreal.
So, I decided that we needed to get some photos of her. Jamie, of course, also wanted picturs. But I was the one pushing for them. Not a typical thing for me to do - but having a little girl has made me a softy. I love pink. I want bows and bracelets for her. She's my princess.
A friend of mine had some really cool pictures of his family, including their baby boy when he was just seven days old, and he recommended the photographer that they worked with - Jamie Thorpe (http://www.jamiethorpephotography.com/). She's really good - especially with newborns. As you can see, the newborn pics show her in her 'birthday suit' - and while the pictures turned out adorable, Jamie (my wife) thought it was pretty funny to see Taylor get dad 'messy' in every way that she could get me messy. I was a magnet for her bodily fluids. But again, I must have gone through some metamorphasis by becoming a dad, because I don't think I would have taken too well under normal circumstances, but dad's must have a slightly stronger tolerance to gross stuff, because I just laughed.

Some of our favorite pictures are on the slideshow (to the right).