Reality Check

Well my long lost friends....here I am again.

Our trip to Western NY to visit my Nonnie & other family too went so well. The kids were perfect on the plane (thank you to fun snacks mostly). We were able to visit with my family, who loved seeing the kids. I got a decent amount of time to spend with Nonnie between naps and her radiation treatments. I also was able to tell my family in person that we're going to be adding another member to our family next April! That's right folks- the Taylors are having another baby!!

Which leads to where the heck I've been lately. The last two days of our trip were the first two days of me feeling nauseaus, nasty, pregnancy sickness. I made it home & crashed. Literally. I ended up having strep throat ontop of the normal pregnancy whoas. But boy did it land me flat on my back for a few days until the antibiotics really took care of things!! But, as has been the case with both my other pregnancies I am in barely functioning mode right now as I try to break off my intimate relationship with the three toilets in our house. Unfortunatley this time around miracle drugs are not working.....so the reality check is that blogging is going to be put on the back, back burner for now. Things like cooking, cleaning, and changing diapers to name a few is quickly filling up what time I'm not in the bathroom. I have a sono tomorrow afternoon to get an due date & see the heartbeat {yeah!}. I'll let you know how it goes when I can.

Until then!

Family Evenings

We've slowly been attempting to take walks as a family...without our stroller. We tried walking on a path in a local park so that there was not traffic nearby to worry about. And we've even moved on to walking to the park near our house.

Surprisingly, Isaac is the one who wants to be carried & Brooklyn hoofs it the whole way. Not so surprisingly, they all have ended in meltdowns requiring assistance back home or to the car.

I love the cheesy grin on her face!

We're so blessed to have so many choices for fun & free
places nearby for our family to enjoy our time together!

What does your family enjoy doing during the evening to spend time together?

What's Better?

What's better than lounging around on a lazy summer day? Being with Daddy!! Nothing's better than that!

I love seeing the relationship between these two develop! She lights up whenever he enters the room. She's started realizing that when the garage door opens it means Daddy is home. She runs to the door, waits with her arms up in the air and says, "Da Da. Da Da" over & over again. The only one who is envious of Daddy loving on Brooklyn is Isaac.

Helpful Hints

We can't be the only ones who are looking for creative & new uses for those pesky shoes you have kicking all around your house. Lucky for you Isaac has diligently been working on coming up with helpful suggestions for you!

They make great containers for snacking on the move!



Storing extra toys. This time it was wooden blocks. I've found balls, puzzle pieces, and crayons too. I am now in the habit of checking my shoes, not for bugs, but for hidden treasures.



And my personal favorite: Why not use your rain boots as a cozy to keep your milk cup or other favorite beverage cold?












On a side note- it is very frustrating when you drop your lollipop in your rainboot & can't get it out again. Equaly frustrating when you eat it & get a mouthful of boot 'fuzz'.

Hope that helps you get more use out of your shoes!

Antiquities Pictures

These pictures are from quite a while ago, but I just LOVE them!!

I scanned in the prints & do not have rights to copy from Antiquities so please don't copy, but enjoy!!

Dreams Redeemed

Zach and I have had a rough few weeks with the kids. Brooklyn is teething (which is taking forever) and Isaac is doing what I assume is normal 2 year old behavioral battles. Despite that we've continued to plan fun family outings which seem to be going like this:

*Zach and I plan a good time in our day to do something we thing the kids will LOVE.

*We talk it up with the kids to get them excited too.

*I envision a great time as a family laughing and running with stellar photos to prove that it happened.

*We get there (or sometimes in the car ride there) meltdowns begin.

*Deep breaths and calm voices are used frequently.

*Tantrums continue. Wailing & nashing of teeth show their ugly little heads.

*Our dreams of above noted family time come crashing down in a firery blaze.

*Children are hauled off to the car, given drinks & snacks to keep their mouths occupied and Zach & I drive home asking each other why we even bother.

But yesterday, the clouds parted and a fun family stress free afternoon actually happened!! {shock & awe abounded}. With 95 degree weather & high humidity we decided to go to the pool (they don't allow cameras, which I appreciate, so no pics to prove it happened). The kids had a great time! We had a great time! No tantrums!

Zach had taken Brooklyn back to the pool after her snack, while Isaac lazily munched on his almonds. He leaned over to me and said, "I really happy Mommy!"

Me too buddy, me too!!

Man's Best Friend

We have the best dog EVER!! Lady has a roller coaster relationship with the kids. They love her, want to chase her, pull her ears, pet her. She mostly sighs a deep sigh and walks away from them. But if there is food involved, it's a whole different story. We found out how a boy & his dog become best friends- once Isaac started feeding himself. Now that Lady has two kids to clean up after she's in heaven.



On a side note we recently found out that Isaac is allergic to both our cat & dog. Thank you Zertec for making this moment possible (and allowed by mom for a few minutes).

For the Love of Mimi & Pap

We just got back from spending an afternoon with Zach's extended family to celebrate Grandma & Grandad's 65th wedding anniversary (what a legacy they have created!). On the drive home I asked Isaac what his favorite part of the day was and he responded enthusiastically, "Getting to see Mimi & Pap!"

I love to see the relationship my kids have developed with this amazing couple and, in turn, the love they lavish on my children in a way I never will be able to.

So here are some snapshots into why they are the amazing grandparents they are

Johnson County Fair

Okay- Sorry I missed posting yesterday. So today I'll do two to make up for it.

This week we went to the Johnson County Fair and had a blast!! Isaac was able to ride some of the rides by himself and LOVED it!!! Brooklyn wanted off of the merry go round before it even began. But we had a fun family evening for next to nothing anyways.

Here's the proof:

Green Thumb

Isaac loves to check our garden for "omatos", pull ripe ones off the vine, and carry them around. Usually one of the kids bites into it, discovers they still don't like tomatoes (just like yesterday) and throws it somewhere.


There is hope though. Isaac has not liked almonds for a long time & tonight that's all he would eat at dinner. Everytime he put one in his mouth he said, "Mmmm...Igick {Isaac} like almonds!"

Oh- and I didn't make the time to edit this picture. We'll see if I get around to it soon

C is for Crapy Craft

So we've been studying our way through the alphabet. This week we're on C.

I may be the only one who has had this happen, but I've had the desire to paper mache something with Isaac. I thought he'd like getting messy. I decided today was the day. We were going to make a C is for Cow head out of a balloon covered with paper mache.

Isaac loves to help us mix stuff so that was easy entertainment.

He loved it when I showed him a few times how to put the paper in the goo and put in on the balloon. So just as he reaches up to put his first piece on, the balloon pops. I guess that's what I get for using the only balloon we had- a water balloon. And let me just tell you- that paste was everywhere & made a huge mess!!! I tired to quickly regroup and find something else that work, but lost Isaac's attention and interest long before I could get it together.

I did try to redeem myself with doing a painting project I just read about with both kids, since Brooklyn was now up. You put a bouncy ball in an old stocking, tie it off & dip it into paint. Then you drop it onto paper to make splatters. No stockings for this chick, so and old pair of socks fit the bill. Both kids liked it- score!! Brooklyn even obeyed when I told her the paint was for her "paint brush" {old sock} not her mouth. I did use just water with food coloring so that no one would be poisoned.


Every time Isaac dropped his ball onto the paper he yelled, "WOW LOOK AT THAT!"



I'm 50/50 today- not bad!

hint: if you try this do it on a hard surface- the grass doesn't let the ball bounce much.

BLing Bling

Seriously we're in Day 4 of a month of post & I'm dry already.
Hmmm.... Let's look through our pictures & see what we can come up with.

Oh here's a good one.

Did you know Brooklyn is now sporting some adorable bling?

Cute Huh!

We got her ears pierced at our pediatricians with her 1 yr. well visit
(right before she got vaccinated)
What a way to say "Happy Birthday to you Brooklyn!"

She doesn't even mind them now.
While she can throw a ball almost as good as her brother,
she is a girly girl too,
often sporting a necklace or hat as well.

A girl's got to accessorize you know!

These little piggies

Have I told you how much I love having a girl?
Dressing her up & doing her hair to tame her crazy curls has just been so much fun!!

Her hair is now long enough to get into the tiniest of pig-tails.




















Couldn't you just eat her up?!!?

Bring in the Clowns

We recently went to a small circus. When I say small I mean SMALL. They did have some fun animals to see before & during the show: elephants, zebras, camels, goats, and a hippo in a pool.

The circus began with all the performers coming out for a song/dance number. The ladies were in lion, cheetah, and tiger printed costumes. I leaned over to Zach and said, "I guess they can't afford to have real lions."

Despite being small they had some great performances and acts. Isaac loved it but really just wanted the elephants to come in the whole time. Brooklyn was a bit fussy, but every time the music came on she bounced up & down and danced along.

It was a fun time as a family & a great introduction into the circus for Isaac, Brooklyn & I. Yes it was my first circus too.

I'm that girl....

I had a friend ask me recently, "Is your blog all rainbows & sunshine?"

Hmmmm.... I hope it's not. I hope I'm transparent that we're a real & flawed family.

But just to be sure I'm going to highlight some of my stellar moments lately....

I am that girl that was so busy rearranging the groceries in the trunk of her car that she didn't notice her children driving across the parking lot in their shopping cart "car".

I am that girl that locked herself out of her house with her one year old INSIDE. FYI she was in her crib for some much needed 'me time' and eventually fell asleep. I did have a baby monitor with me so I could check up on her. Isaac and I went into the garage to fix the vacuum only to realize in my attempt to keep my family safe I had locked the door into the house without getting a spare key made first. Luckily our neighbors work from home & let me use their phone (and they were not appalled that neither of us had shoes on & Isaac didn't have pants on either. More lucky for them was that I had the brilliant idea to put a bra on under my pajama t-shirt before I went out). Zach was more than glad for a reason to leave work.

I am that girl who had to call for help because I was stuck in the tar pit that is my kitchen floor created from all the food my children have dropped/spilled/thrown there. It always seems within 5 minutes of mopping the floor someone has a sticky disaster happen. So I often think, "If I clean it, it gets dirty. So if I leave it dirty will it clean itself?" For those of you wondering, no it has NOT happened yet.

I am that girl who realized the day before a Bible study I'm leading that I'd only prepared one week, not two. I did get it done, but would have liked a little more time for the topic to marinate in my mind.

And I am the girl who dutifully read {stalks} lots of other people's blogs but can't seem to keep mine updated. With that in mind I am turning over a new leaf- I am going to attempt to blog every day in the month of August. Day one...check.

See you tomorrow!