Matt's 31st bday!

Today was Matt's birthday and we were so excited to celebrate. However, we couldn't celebrate too much because it was Sunday and he had a bust church day today. I did get up and make him some breakfast before he left for his meetings. I tried to make blueberry waffles and for some reason they didn't really turn out that well, but it was the thought that counts right? I also surprised him with a Nothing Bundt cake.

I wasn't too sure when he was going to get home so I kept to our typical Sunday night dinner...with my family. Well almost everyone. Eva was pretty sick so Brian and Eva stayed home. Erin was nice enough to make him a cake and we had a low key night.

Brielle made him a card

I bought special candles for him

He wanted to light his own candles.....something about playin with fire makes my man happy.

Brielle was so excited to be celebrating a birthday

Brielle loves to help and carried all his presents to him

My mom bought him a helicopter

I bought him a nerf gun and a fire pit

Crystal wasn't too sure if they were going to be able to make it over tomorrow night for Brielle's birthday get together so she brought over her gift to open. Of course Brielle was happy to open her own card and present.

She was so cute with this bear, it made her very happy

Thanksgiving

I originally was scheduled to work Thanksgiving Day but luckily a co-worker called and wanted to switch days with me. I was more than willing to give up my holiday pay so I would be with my family on Thanksgiving.

The holidays are so hard trying to accommodate both families. Sometimes I feel it doesn't matter what we do, one or both sides of the family are disappointed because the lack of time we spend with them. Today was no different. I anticipated on going to my parents house in the morning and hanging out with them before the big family gathering at my grandparents. However, Miles took a long morning nap and I didn't get a chance to get over there too early. Then we were limited on the time we could spend up at Grandma and Grandpa's because we needed to leave for Fallon.

I was AMAZED at how many of my cousins were actually there for Thanksgiving: Scott and family, Phil and family, Andrew and Andrea, Mathew and Natalie. I was super sad we didn't have much time to visit. In fact I only had time to say hello (if that) before we left.

Having 6 kids in the Taylor family results in a pretty good family get together, even if some members were missing. Shawna didn't come down this year but everyone else was in attendance. We had our Thanksgiving feast at Grandma Millers and Marcella and family plus her mom and dad were down. We had a great time visiting with everyone.

As crazy as the day was I am grateful to have both families living so close. I am grateful to have wonderful, loving, cute kids who make my heart melt and put a smile on my face. I am grateful for the most amazing man who loves and supports me 100% and does all that he can to make me happy. I am grateful to good health. I am also grateful to have Brian and Crystal back in town and Erin engaged, and a mother who is cancer free and still here with us. I have so many things to be grateful for and happy we have a day to celebrate our gratitude.

Pie making

I have missed out on our family tradition of making cranberry pie more often than not. With all of us in town this year I didn't want to miss out on our opportunity to make pie together. Normally we make the pies the day before Thanksgiving but I had to work. However that night (despite being super tired) I was bound and determined to gather the family together and participate in our annual pie making.

We didn't start till late in the evening because I had to put Miles down for bed. Matt was super nice and stayed with the kids and sent me over to make pies. Erin, Perm and Brian's family all gathered at Mom and Dads to make our pies. Due to the last minute decision, my mom (for the first time) didn't buy a ton of ingredients to make a lot of pies. However we did have enough for everyone to make at least one pie.

Even Eva participated and was excited to help

Notice who is getting a back rub.....Mom you are too good to me

We realized Crystal has never done the peanut brittle snake trick. When you open the jar, the snakes jump out at you. It was a great prank.

It was getting a little late and we were all going a little crazy.

We all got our creative juices flowing and created some fun designs out of the crest. I am so grateful everyone was willing to gather together so late and enjoy some pie making.

Dad created a turkey. I think it turned out really good

Crystal did an amazing job on hers

Erin represented her country lovin and Perm payed tribute to the UNR football team who has had an amazing season this year.

Even though we did have a late night, we had a great time hanging out and making pies.

Happy Anniversary

Today Matt and I are celebrating our 8th year of marriage. I originally told my Dad I wanted to kidnap Matt and go do something. I had already arranged Perm to be home so he could watch the kids. However, it snowed that day and Matt needed to get up and help do snow removal. On the flip side of it, he was able to come home in the afternoon and we decided to stay home and play with the kids. This was the first time Matt has been home early enough to play in the snow when the sun was still out. He built a little ramp so the kids could go sledding. Matt went with Miles while Brielle went down SEVERAL times on her own. It was so fun to watch her get excited and have fun. She would get off the sled and say, "I wanna do it again."

Brielle had a ball playing in the snow. She was so excited to touch and feel the snow with her bare hands. I was having a hard time keeping her gloves on her. In fact (bad Mommy moment here) she ended up not wearing them most of the time. Her poor little hands were bright red and near the end they were starting to hurt her (I did attempt several times to put them on).

She couldn't get enough of the snow

She loved how it felt on her skin and was excited to eat it.

Our neighbor invited us to go sledding in her backyard which was a BLAST!

Even Brielle went and had a good time until....

They hit some powder...

And it flew in their face....

And she was COVERED in it

And she couldn't stop it

It was one wild ride

Poor Matt didn't wear his proper snow attire and got pretty wet.

Even Perm face planted while going down

I had Matt take Brielle again, just so she wasn't afraid. Her face is priceless....but she went

Even I got to go a couple of times and had a blast.

By the time we were done, Brielle was frozen to the bone. She had the unpleasant experience of the painful, tingly pins and needle feeling as her hands were defrosting and she cried. We couldn't get her to calm down until we bundled her all up with coats and blankets and let her watch a movie. Then she was pretty happy.

So our anniversary didn't really go as planned and we never did go out. We had a great time being together as a family. It was a treat having Matt home for the afternoon. I am the luckiest women alive to have such an amazing husband who is dedicated to her family. Each year of marriage gets better and better. Happy Anniversary my love.

What a conversation!

For the most part I love the things that are coming out of Brielle's mouth. I just had to write some of them down before I forgot.
-Last night we were playing with a toy that had an O shaped disk as the ammunition. After shooting all the disks Brielle tell us, "I need the o's!"
-We have had some trouble in nursery lately. I think she has been beaten up too much and she doesn't like to go in. Today I sat with her for a little bit and then told her I was leaving. She seemed ok with that. After church I went to pick her up and the nursery leaders told me she did really good, she even participated in the lesson. So on the way home I asked her what she learned in nursery today. She quickly responded (clear as day) "bout Jesus Christ." I was shocked so I thought I would ask another questions since she did so well with my first question. I asked her what she learned about Jesus Christ. She once again promptly answer, "he was baptized" (clear as day again) OH MY GOSH!!! She did learn something. This was our first real conversation like this. I LOVED it!
-Today she told me she wanted to see a lady bug and ran to the door. I told her that they were hiding because they don't like the snow. Then she promptly said, "I ask Dad." and ran to Matt to ask him the same thing. HA! I guess she did this a lot with my mom and sister the other day when they were watching the kids. She would tell or ask my mom something and if she didn't like the response would say, "I go ask Erin."
-SNOW: need hat, rain coat, boots, go outside!
-She is starting to gain alphabet recognition. I have a puzzle with all the letter and so I would ask her to poit or pick up a letter and she would.
-new words and sayings: instead of OK she says Ota, dont know? What's that? Whos that?
-Momma! I need socks off...I have toe jam!
-hums songs and sings along with some

Miles is 4 months old

Time is flying by. I have loved being able to stay home with my little man and watch him grow. This month he has changed so much. Normally we would be at a point where we would have to transition him into his own room (because I have to go back to work) but I don't have to yet (Yippee!). So he is still sleeping in our room but he sleeps in the co-sleeper. He has hardly if ever slept with us in bed (I think we are too scared something is going to happen because we are sound sleepers).

The first time he fell asleep on his own. It's hard work hanging out.

Miles and Daddy at Bishops Pumpkin Patch

Miles personality is shining through more and more. He is still a layed back, chill, happy-go-lucky, smiley baby. He is starting to lose his hair (oh boy and am I losing hair too-WAY more than I did with Brielle....I think I am going to go bald). I am not sure if he is going to lose all his hair or not, he is starting to thin on the sides. It saddens me to see all the hair in his co-sleeper when I pick him up.



Look close at the side, you can see it balding



He still isn't a big fan of holding his head up

 We sure have enjoyed having Miles in our home. He sure brings so much love. He is just a bundle of joy.
He will only tolerate being in a sitting position for a short time. He is SO stiff. I have to force him to bend so he can sit. He just wants his legs to be straight.

 During the month we have been able to celebrate his first Halloween. It was SO fun to dress him up. We did a photo session and got a few cute pictures. 


The month of October we took advantage of the fact that I still was on maternity leave and so I was able to do so many Halloween/Fall outings with him.

We went out to Lattin Farms in Fallon, I think the squash was as big as his leg.

He woke up just in time for some pictures, lucky him.

heading out to the pumpkin patch




Our first bug! We found a caterpillar and Miles was pretty curious

 

Our first theme park ride. OK not really, they are being pulled by an ATV

His muscles are getting stronger. He rolled over from front to back at 3 months and 9 days old.

and he is able to sit up a little more. He is still unsteady and needs something to hold him up.


Another first was trick-or-treating in Fallon. It was fun taking him door to door but then it started to get too cold. We came in and hung out with his cousin Addy.

Miles and Addy (one month)

I suppose he became so warm and cozy he thought he would take a cat nap, or he was tired of me taking a million pictures.

They both crashed. SO CUTE!

Aunt Julie thought she would win the "favorite" card and give him sucker. Of course he immediately put it in his mouth and then Mom had to be the bad guy and take it away.



After the sucker was taken away, he was out to get something else.



Grandpa, Grandma, Daddy and Miles after Treat-or-Treating in Fallon

A  big difference between Miles and Brielle is the drool. He is still drooling. People keep telling me he is trying to get teeth and I keep praying they are wrong. 

He is starting to drool and drench his shirts (Brielle didn't really do that)

Another fun fall outing was to go play in the leaves. He had his face in them more than anything. He must have been tired because he did not want to lift his head up much.

He doesn't really like being on his belly and lifting his head, but occasionally he will

Miles has some  new tricks he likes to show off. One of them includes stick his tongue out:

Another trick is to blow bubbles (which essentially means more drool).

He still doesn't take a pacifier very often (I keep tryin) but he does like his fingers. He has his fingers in his mouth ALL the time. I am starting to wonder if I am going to have a thumb/finger sucker.

Even though both families have several babies right now, he still gets plenty of love and attention. How can you not pay attention to such a cute baby?

Grandma Ross is always asking, "How old is he?"

Grandma Taylor and Miles

My mom was happy to give him some lovin after her trip from China.

Grandpa Hicks and Miles

A few other fun things he is doing:
-Loves books. I put a book in front of him and he scans the pages and pats at the book.
-Grabbing toys and my necklace
-doing sit ups
-On November 11th he did this:

He is growing up too fast! First it's rolling over now sitting on his own

My little man, we love you!