Our glimpse of heaven...

We've been busy...

2009-11-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Remembrance day!

Photo Crazy!

2009-11-10T23:43:00.002-07:00

Apparently we are photo crazy around here. Check out some cute kids here

New Photos

2009-11-08T23:46:00.010-07:00

Here are some new photos since I know that is all people really care about anyway! The first bunch are some that my friend Cory did for us, and the rest were just taken this afternoon after church with the girls still all dressed up. Life with 3 girls is still going great. We are loving our little family of 5. I guess it isn't so little anymore!

Gratitude

2009-11-03T20:22:00.003-07:00

I was thinking today about how blessed I am. Since the baby has been born (which is a blessing in itself of course) I have had so many friends, family, people in the ward stepping up to help out. I have had so many meals and treats brought over, people offering to help with the girls, my mom has taken Jadyn and Heidi nearly every day that Josh works for a couple hours to give me a break and a nap. People have dropped off gifts, helped with driving Jadyn to her ballet and swimming lessons. I just am so overwhelmed by the amount of help I have received. It makes me want to be a better person and to look for others that need my help and to be there for them. It is so nice to be so cared for and loved. Today when I walked in the door after Jadyn's ballet class, standing in the kitchen mopping my floor was my visiting teacher! (Josh had been out working in the garage and was able to let her in) what a nice surprise! I wanted to cry right there in front of her. I am so grateful to her. What an act of service. I couldn't stay because I had to take the kids to another appointment and when I got home she was still there and the house was spotless. WOW. Not only that but when she left she gave each of the girl a pack of crayons and some colouring books. She is always thinking of others. I want to be like that.

This evening I was upstairs putting laundry away and was thinking again about how blessed I am as I listened to the girls downstairs giggling nonstop and having so much fun together. I just love to hear them laughing with each other and bonding as sisters.

When I came downstairs this is what I found:

I couldn't even be upset, all I could do burst into laughter, grab the camera, and take them upstairs for bath time.

I am so blessed!

Pumpkin Carving

2009-10-28T20:08:00.006-06:00

Today we went shopping for the perfect carving pumpkins and spent the evening in some Halloween festivities! It was fun. This is our first time pumpkin carving with the kids and they LOVED it!

All ready!

Serious concentration here

Love her expression

This one too :)

Squishing the seeds and mush is just as much fun

Carving the face

Not too sure what is happening here, a victory dance maybe?

ps. yes the streamers are STILL up from Jadyn's birthday party.

Sisters

2009-10-23T09:04:00.002-06:00

Mya sure is lucky to have big sister's who love her so much!

Sweet baby Mya

2009-10-17T14:00:00.000-06:00

Mya Eden Taylor joined our family on Thursday October 15th 2009, at 1:55pm. She weighed 8 lbs. and 21 1/2" long. She is a pure delight!

Thursday morning started out with what felt like the flu, I woke up at 9:00 after Josh got up with the kids and let me sleep in. A friend of mine happened to call and offer to take the girls to ballet since her daughter is in Jadyn's class and she likes to give me a break once in a while. Bless her heart! I took the offer knowing I wasn't up for going out and she picked them up at 10:30. At that point I started wondering if maybe the baby was going to come that day. I never had flu symptoms before labour but I hear that some people do, but it might also just be the flu right? So then about a half an hour later I called my midwife, Carol, and told her that I am not sure but something might be happening today and to just be ready since I tend to go fast. So I was having some contractions, but nothing too hard and so I decided to clean the house If I was going to have a baby that day I didn't want a messy house. So I cleaned up toys, vacuumed and swept etc. eventually I had to stop during contractions because they were getting more real. So I called Carol back at 12:00 and told her that definitely this is it and she should probably come by and at least check things out. She arrived at 12:15, and I couldn't believe I was 8 cm dilated! So I started making phone calls to arrange for the girls to be taken care of and then I really wanted a water birth but realized that in the time it would take to fill the birthing pool I had ready I might already have the baby. So we skipped that and I took a hot shower instead, which helped with the back pain. I tried to get out and walk around again but the water felt so good that I just stayed in the tub the rest of the time. it was amazing what the water did for pain relief. So I ended up having the baby in my tub! I loved the experience. The midwives were so amazing and just let me do whatever I wanted, and let me be in control. There was nobody telling me I had to lie down on a bed in the most uncomfortable position with them checking me constantly. It was calm and quiet and just how I wanted.

The first 24 hours Mya was really fussy and gassy and just unhappy, but these last 24 hours have been wonderful. She is sleeping and nursing like a champ. I think she might have just been hungry before my milk came in because boy does she eat now! There is no holding back. I love having a newborn in the house again. Her smell, and all the sweet baby noises are to die for :)

Jadyn and Heidi slept at my parents house the first night so they just met their new sister yesterday. They were both instantly in love with her and take such good care of her. It's been hard with Josh and the girls sick, but everyone seems to be looking better today so I am hopeful for a little more sanity coming up!

Here are a few pictures to tide you over until we do some more!

Body art

2009-10-15T00:18:00.000-06:00

I just found these photos saved from a little while back for a post that didn't get finished. Apparently I need to keep a better eye on them... and my makeup bag!

Thankgiving weekend

2009-10-13T23:41:00.004-06:00

I just realized that this post never got posted. The weekend was really fun. We spent Sunday in Strathmore and then headed back to my parents place on Monday. Both nights were so wonderful. I just love getting together with lots of family.

Party time!

2009-10-10T17:44:00.005-06:00

Today we celebrated Jadyn's 4th birthday. It's not for 2 more weeks but I wanted to do the party early just in case this baby decides to come early. So far no baby so the party was a success and now the baby is officially allowed to come any time!

Be prepared for a lot of PINK in the following photos. It was a Royal Princess "tea party" and they had a BLAST! 14 kids all day and I am about ready for bed now!

And here is an interesting read:

Goodnight!

My craftiness, or nesting

2009-10-07T20:40:00.002-06:00

I have been sewing up a storm, I've made three skirts for the girls to wear when the baby is born, all with the same fabric line so they "match" and a baby blanket for my baby and one for my friend who just had a baby boy. Still working on my quilt, and have been making a bunch of tutus. I have a tutu fetish. I will post those another time. It has been cold and snowing this week, not fun, but it does give me a chance to hang out inside and sew!

Fall Photos

2009-10-06T23:04:00.006-06:00

I took the girls out for a mini photo shoot today before the weather gets too cold. The leaves and trees looked so beautiful and they had so much fun running around. I am sad that summer is over, but I love the feeling of fall and the cozy nights drinking tea and my heated mattress cover, and the fall clothes, and the nearness of christmas. :)

What we've been up to...

2009-09-26T21:59:00.003-06:00

Well my husband is a busy man lately. When he isn't working his full time job at Trans Alta, he is either busy doing mortgages for his realtor friends clients, or building our garage. It has been a summer long process this garage. He is doing it all himself with the help of some friends and family here and there. These are some pictures I took last week, we are finally getting the siding done and the doors and windows are in, then all we have left are the inside walls. If you can't tell my the photos that didn't even fit in my camera view, this is the biggest detached garage I have ever seen. It could probably fit 3 cars in it, but we made it a double door with a lot of space on the side which we will be using for storage. It's be nice to have the extra space. Thanks to everyone who has helped us so far, we really appreciate it!

The girls love to play outside alongside daddy while he works.

I am learning to quilt and working on my first one thanks to my friend Sandra who is so talented! She is offering quilting classes and has a business selling her creations here

I also made a blanket for my baby, it is minky soft on the other side. this lovely photo if you look really closely is the picture of the broken needle after I sewed right through my thumb. That's just something I would do of course.

Jadyn all dressed for green day at school. They also had yellow day and blue day last week but I didn't get photos. She is loving her preschool this year and asks every day if it is a preschool day. Oh and for the record she also asked me the other day why I don't go to work, and I was a little confused by the question so I asked her what she meant. And she said, I want you to go to work like daddy. I was almost going to be heartbroken, and then she continued, because I want to go to that park for kids who's mommy's work. I forgot that a few days before we had driven by a day care and they had all the playground equipment out and she asked if we could play there and I had told her that is just for kids that go to daycare when their mommy's and daddy's both have to work. So I guess she figured if I go to work then she can go play there!

And below are some photos of us catching the last week of summer by the beach:

This is where I found Heidi today after her nap. Apparently she woke up and started coming down and then decided she was still tired and fell back asleep on the landing. What a goof.

34 week belly

2009-09-13T22:27:00.003-06:00

My friend Cory did some maternity photos for me last week, here are my favorites!

The rest of the birthday photos

2009-09-09T14:13:00.005-06:00

I got the rest of the photos on disk today from Jessica, so I promise after this post I will have pictures Heidi in something other than her birthday shirt and tutu! But there are some better close ups of the shirts here for you Emily! Enjoy, this really was such a fun birthday party. I love being a mom!

trying to figure out how to say "2" with her fingers

Serena and Kabryn

Jessica and Savanna

The tail! lol!

birthday girls

Amanda and Rya

eating supper
opening her new doll who she is now in love with and insists on sleeping with along with her dog!

I think I am going to have a little bit of help when the new baby comes!

All the kids minus Fletcher who was probably off doing big boy stuff.

Buddies

2009-09-08T21:46:00.004-06:00

These girls are buddies, it is fun to watch them hanging out and having fun. I am excited to add a third to the mix!

And Jadyn and I love to bake together. She is so good. I give her a measuring cup and ask her to get some flour and she tells me "ok but I need a knife so I can level it" what a pro.

Birthday celebrations!

2009-09-06T22:31:00.006-06:00

This weekend was full of Birthday fun! On Friday Miss Heidi turned 2 years old! I can't believe that much time has already gone by since she was born. She is growing into such a sweet and thoughtful little girl, I just love having her in our little family! This past month she has surprised me with her vocabulary and is now talking in 5-6 word sentences, counting, singing and humming actual songs with the proper tune! and it is amazing to see what she understands. She is really thoughtful too, her favorite game is to take a toy away from Jadyn and run around the kitchen so Jadyn will chase her. She gets such a thrill out of being chased for some reason. Sometimes this works and they end up giggling and having fun with it, but other times Jadyn gets upset and as soon as Heidi sees that she is upset she will give the toy back her her. It is so sweet that she understand and cares when Jadyn is upset enough to solve the problem she has created. ok this doesn't happen EVERY time obviously, but it happens enough to show me what a sweet personality she has shining through. Her and Jadyn are best friends and it is so fun to see the sibling interactions everyday.

Other things to note for Heidi's second year:

favorite word: mine
favorite chore: unloading the dishwasher and putting her own special dishes away
favorite animal: we all know is DOGS
favorite foods: eggs, pasta, any kind of berries
favorite cartoon character: Dora
favorite toy: her stuffed puppy dog and dolls of any kind (polly pocket, barbies, magnet dolls), my makeup bag, her Dora toothbrush
favorite outing: going to the park and riding on the swings

Anyway so on Friday we had a family get together to celebrate Heidi's big two years. it was a blast having everyone around to celebrate. Heidi soaked in every moment of the attention she was getting!

The little birthday princess

Getting ready to blow out the candles, she is afraid of anything hot so this wasn't a huge hit, she just stared at them.

Then on Saturday we did a combined birthday bash with her buddy Savanna, who was born on the same day, we just invited a few mutual friends from the ward and it turned out great! I make them little matching shirts and they wore tut's to distinguish them. they they are both avid puppy dog fans we did a puppy theme for the party and Jessica made all the kids puppy ears and tails, SO CUTE! Most of the pictures are on someone else's camera that I will have to load later, but there are a few that I got here too.

The puppy cupcakes I made! Heidi loved them! (even though all she ate was the candies on the top)

Heidi's "post dinner" activity, she had a lot of energy!

Jadyn modeling her puppy dog ears. Aren't they so cute?

Today was great grandma Taylor's birthday so we went to her new home to celebrate with here. Lots of family again and it was a great time. She is the sweetest person ever and it was fun to be able to be with her and grandpa to celebrate. After dinner and cake, the kids went outside to burn off some energy in the field. I have never seen cousins get along so well as these ones, they are just all such a great friends. :o)

Josh's grandma and grandpa, aren't they so cute?

Blowing out all her candles!

Grandpa Taylor took all the kids out to the field to play after dinner. Here they all are trailing behind him, I thought it was so cute.

An overly exposed but adorable group shot of all the kids there today. Aren't they such a sweet little bunch?

Caleb and Issac

Sarah, Jadyn, Issac

Josh teaching the kids his somersault skills, they are all clearly in awe.

I just liked this.

Grandpa mentioned that he wanted to show Heidi a doggy at the front of the building, and you should have seen her bolt toward him, I couldn't get the camera ready in time to catch her running off. He sure knows the way her her heart!

Having a look at the dog together.

Field Trip

2009-08-31T20:51:00.005-06:00

For as long as I can remember Jadyn has been asking to go on a bus or c-train ride, since the new c-train station opened up by my house she has been talking about it every time we drive by, checking out the tracks, asking how it all works and always pointing out when a train goes by. Heidi is also very interested in the "choo choo's". So today we took a trip to the c-train station, bought our tickets and got on the train for a fun ride. They loved it! Jadyn couldn't stop smiling, she thought it was so neat especially when we went under tunnels, then we got off at a random station and she wanted to cross to the other side to take a different train, so we did that and rode home. By the second to last stop, Heidi finally got brave enough to get off my lap and sit on the bench beside me, and then got really daring and ran across to the bench on the other side. Up until then she had no interest in sitting anywhere other than my lap (what small lap space I have left for her to sit on)

I had to take a picture of this at our stop because it was so funny! this was seriously a garden growing out of the back of this car! Can you get more redneck? i wonder if they actually drive that thing.

And I am trying to get a picture of them holding hands at the grocery store tonight. Everywhere we go they love holding hands, the car, across the road, and apparently now the grocery store cart!

Things that make me smile

2009-08-27T21:44:00.004-06:00

Not sure why but I just saw these all lined up and it made me smile.

Heidi's first french braids!

And the results the next morning :)

Setting up her dolls for lunch was so cute

My life...

2009-08-25T22:00:00.005-06:00

This past week I went down to Utah with my mom and sisters and brother and we spent the week at education week. It was amazing! It's been a few years since I have been there and it felt so good to have a week of inspiration and education and shopping! I came hope feeling like a new woman after such a nice break and am still on a high from it! I got to room with my Aunt Kristi who is hilarious at 12:00am when she wakes up thinking it is 5:30am and time to wake up because she looked at her watch upside down! I am more motivated to be a better mom and wife, homemaker and scripture scholar. One of the classes I really enjoyed by chef Brad taught me all about cooking more with grains which I am excited to try out. While shopping with my sister I found this great find and picked up a couple. I love wearing it around the house even though over my belly it makes me look like a tent! Unfortunately I didn't take my camera out once during this trip it was just so jam packed with fun and I didn't even think of it.

But in order to pacify your need for some photos, here are some from the magazine I did a photo shoot in last month, it was a fun experience! Heather Ward referred them to me and now I feel like a celebrity!

This is really old but I turned 26 last month! I am getting so ancient! I still feel like I am 18, minus the huge belly and kids running around the house... anyway we were gone camping that week and Josh couldn't make it out until later in the week but he sent a surprise in my camera bag that I discovered on the trip and am so excited about! I have been wanting this lens forever so he put it on the camera and packed it all up for me to discover for my birthday. He is so awesome.

When I got home last weekend Josh had the house spotless and Heidi in a toddler bed, something I have been dreading doing because I had this idea that she wasn't going to do well and she has always been so good in her crib, but she loves her new bed and has been such a champ going to sleep in it! Although she fell out a of bed a few times so now I need to get one of those side rails, any idea where to get them? I looked at Walmart today and they had one there for $50! As if I am spending that much on a piece of metal, for now I just have pillows to catch her fall...

Anyway here are the girls doing what they do best while I am trying to get them all ready for bed. Apparently pants also double as beautiful Princess hair which is the look they are going for here, what do you think?

One more thing that I need to remember is that when I called home to talk to Josh while I was away he put Jadyn and Heidi both up to the phone, Jadyn and I chatted, and Heidi mostly likes to listen to the voice on the phone, she did say hi and bye, and Josh told me that she kissed the phone in the middle of it. I COULD HAVE DIED! What a sweetheart thinking she is kissing me through the phone! I love being a mom!

Tone Reunion

2009-08-14T23:36:00.009-06:00

The last week of July we had a family reunion with my mom's side of the family. We went camping in Drayton Valley and each day was filled with adventures. The kids love camping and being in the outdoors with so many cousins and things to do all day long. Josh joined us for the last part of the week when he got work off. I love my family, they are so fun!

Tasha brought a great craft for the girls to do one of the days. They wrapped embroidery thread around a wooden clothes pin to makes these adorable dolls, aren't they cute?

My handsome husband getting ready for the ride of his life! He rode with my mom since ti was going to be too bumpy and long of a ride for me and the babe, and he told me after how crazy my mom is and he was scared for his life a few times. Poor guy married into such a wild family, haha!

Heidi taking her stuffed animals for a ride. This is the best investment I ever made, my kids use these strollers daily!

Jadyn checking out the quad.

Best buds!

For the talent night my family wanted to show off our skills, so we painted frowns on our faces and sang "If you chance to meet a frown" this is use turning our frowns upside down. We are actually so cool in real life despite what this may seem.

Brooklyn all bundled up at the spray park, what a great smile!

Heidi doing what she does best, eat.

Josh's daughter Eliza at the spray park, she was such a trooper with her daddy torturing her with all the water!

Heidi playing by the pond in Della's yard.

Where dog's are, Heidi is never far.

Jadyn and Brooklyn on the boat having a great time!

Peeking through the fence at a dog. I had a hard time peeling Heidi away from that house!

Hailey just posted this photo on facebook and I literally laughed until I cried. Heidi's face and thighs, I just couldn't stop laughing!

My mom and Aunt Carla sure were funny to watch tubing, they put on a great show when we ran out of gas in the middle of the lake and had to wait to be "rescued" by Shane.And this is the whole gang that was there. Only missing a few! What a blast!

Dental delema

2009-08-13T20:06:00.003-06:00

I realize it has been a while since I have done a "real" post, but while this story is fresh in my mind I wanted to document it before I get into the juicy posts ;)

In February I decided it was finally time to take Jadyn in for her first dentist appointment to get all checked out and make sure everything looks good. Well I was told that she had two cavities on the top molars and was referred to a pediatric dentist. The waiting list was so long that I was worried when I finally got in over a month later. Well this dentist told me that she did indeed have two cavities on her top molars as well as her two back bottom molars, and the bottom teeth right in front look like the beginnings of cavities and might just need to be sealed. I was devastated! And for the last 6 months have been stressed out over what to do. They told me my options are to a) take her to the hospital for where they knock her out and do all the dental work at once including polishing and any sealants I might want and fill all the teeth. Or b) they could do it at the office and would give her some gas to relax her and then do the regular freezing but depending on how she reacted to it, it might take a few visits to get it all done. Oh boy. So I got quotes for it all and then lost them, so had to get the quotes again and then I thought about it for way to long not really liking either of my choices. Oh and even if I did book the appointments to get the work done they couldn't fit me in for another 6 months at the earliest, what the...? So finally last night I called up my old dentist from when I was a little girl and remembering having good experiences with him decided to give him a try. So they got me in this morning (brownie points with me already for not having to wait over a month) and they not only polished and flossed her teeth while making her feel comfortable and relaxed the whole time, but when the dentist came in he pointed out that there was a little staining on some of the back teeth that I need to be careful with, and if I don't look after them then they might turn into decay. WHAT?! "So what about the cavities?" I ask. "There are none" he says. (my heart skips a beat) He checked again and confirmed that there are no soft spots and only dark spots but absolutely no decay. Ok I am over the moon! Best day of my life!

All the way home I was smiling, and the thought occurred to me, what if I had made the appointment with the pediodontist and they had knocked her out and gotten in there only to find that they hadn't looked well enough the first time and they were only stains. Would they have told me or would they have done unnecessary work just to save face? I guess I'll never know. I would hope they would admit that they were wrong. I am going to stick with the third opinion!

South Africa Clothing Drive

2009-07-08T23:57:00.003-06:00

I just wanted to pass along this note from my cousin as I am sure some of you might be interested, if you are then you can let me know and I can arrange to get the clothing to Krystal. Thanks for your help!

Clothing Drive for South Africa

Dear Family & Friends,
As I am sure all of you know Booker and I have moved to Cape Town, South Africa. While we have been here we have seen a lot of poverty and need. We would like to involve everyone (who wants to be) in trying to help the children here, because our collective efforts will be worth so much more. Booker and I are coming back for a family reunion and Kari’s wedding at the end of July. At such time, we hope to bring back to Africa as many bags as we can of clothing and other items to the children here. We hope that there is too much for us to bring back in one trip, so we will either ship it or we will have people who will be visiting us from home bring it along with them.

We are going to be focusing on children between the ages of 0-12. These children really need all kinds of clothing and other necessities (tights, underwear, toothbrushes, and shoes). However, we want to focus on Sunday clothes and winter wear. The winters get to be around 15ºC so a jacket is needed. Plus it is very rainy, so any rain gear would be appreciated. Tights are important for kids to wear under their pants and dresses to help keep them warm, and a good pair of shoes as well. As for Sunday wear, any kind of church clothes (dresses, shirts, dress pants, sweaters, ties, and skirts), shoes and tights are all needed. If the children are lucky they have one set of church clothes. Most have to wear either their school uniform or their best street wear.

We certainly do not expect people to go out and buy these things, but hope that you will be able to look in your own homes, or homes of your neighbors to help fulfill some of these children’s needs. Hand-me-downs work just fine. We suggest turning to your own ward, by making an announcement of things needed and collecting them. If you are wanting and able to purchase items, secondhand stores are more than appropriate.

We will be collecting all the goods during our trip to Canada July 18-31. We will be in Magrath from July 18-25 and Drayton Valley from the 26-31. By providing these goods, you can make a world of difference to a family. These families are in real need. It has been a humbling experience to see the need of some of these families, and their ability to persevere and put smiles on their faces.

We have committed to our ward leaders to do this clothing drive, so please don’t let us down!!! Any little bit helps!

If you know of people who have not received this message, please pass it on to all (relative). The more people we have donating goods the bigger the difference we can make!

If you are willing to participate, please let me know, so we can figure out if we need to find more people to enlist!!!

Little ballerina

2009-07-07T22:46:00.004-06:00

Jadyn's ballet recital was a couple weeks ago and just as I was about to upload the video of it I got distracted with something else and haven't found where I put down the memory card, so annoying! So one day maybe I will post the adorable to die for video of her dancing on stage but for now here are some of the photos we got of the girls. They were so cute.

Family reunion Part 2

2009-07-05T22:42:00.006-06:00

So the second half of the reunion was Calaway Park on Monday and then we left to go camping on Wednesday for the weekend in Waterton. It was so fun. I felt like I barely saw Jadyn the whole camping trip since she was always off playing with her cousins who she adores. She was in heaven. Heidi had fun too but she still needed me around a little more. They were both champs too and were in bed every night in the tent by 7 and slept all through the night. It was awesome. I was so glad they didn't have a hard time sleeping or else that would have ruined the trip for me, and now I am even more excited for camping at the end of the month with my family!

Jadyn and Sarah are inseparable, and Issac too but he missed the photo.

Before Jadyn went on this ride I reminded her that she was a little scared the last time but she still insisted on going on, and after the first ridethey lined back up to go on again. Josh said she just kept saying over and over "I'm not scared" but the look on her face tells it all! What a trooper!

Heidi helping daddy set up camp.

The kids all built this bridge that crossed over the creek by our campsite. May hours were spent on this during the week!

Josh and the older boys went on a hike up to this spot where they went fishing.

Pretty girls

Such a little nut!

Jadyn with her buddies

Happy girl

Josh's mom and dad and Grandma who's birthday we were celebrating.

Such a fun week!