Owen Robert Taylor

He is here!!! Owen Robert (Robert was my dad's name) was born yesterday at 3:38 pm weighing 8 lb. and is 20 in. (our littlest baby so far) with a small amount of LIGHT hair! Both Collin and Samantha started out with dark hair and slowly faded to their color now. It looks like Owen is starting out with the same light color- so time will tell if he will get even lighter?! (He has the same little cowlick(sp?) up front like Collin- which is one of my favorite things. It's not super noticeable right now because his hair is thinner towards his hairline.)

I checked in at 6 am- I was already contracting-so they let me go for awhile before they gave me anything to help things along. Just like with Samantha's delivery- they figured I would go pretty fast- and again just like Samantha's delivery it was a long day (only because we were expecting a quick delivery) Both Owen and Samantha were posterior- which makes it harder for them to make it out smoothly. By the time it was pushing time- my epidural was almost completely worn off. I felt so much more than ever before- and for that reason- I am BEYOND impressed with those who CHOOSE to go natural- atleast I didn't have to feel the contractions leading up to delivery! Owen was having a hard time coming out- and every time I pushed, his heart rate would go down, so my doctor decided to use the vacuum and just get him out. That did the trick!

As Mike was over with the nurse checking things out- he called over to me "Well he has 10 toes and 11 fingers" I laughed and said "funny." But he wasn't kidding- Owen has a sixth finger on his right hand. On his thumb he has a mini thumb (fingernail and all) coming out the side.-Polydactactyly can part of a syndrome-but not necessarily, it could just be a random thing. Our pediatrician checked him out and she said that Owens little addition is just one of those things that can happen- and which actually happens quite a bit. We will be referred to a orthopedic hand surgeon who will most likely take care of it within the next couple months. I figure that this is something that little boys will think is cool and he'll brag about it to his friends- and if nothing else- he'll always have something cool to say for the game 2 truths and a lie!

I get to go home today (a little early)- the doctors gave me the option- and I jumped at it. I'm not too big on being in the hospital, plus I really miss my 2 other scraggle muffins. It will be nice to have my mom and sister around to help out and momentarily fix my homesickness that I have, especially have during any emotional time. I am so grateful for the love and support of our family and friends during such a neat time.

I will post more pictures later- as well as our Christmas ones......

Come on little guy!

Really I have no reason to be complaining right now. My induction has been set for awhile now- Dec. 29th. But a week ago Friday I lost my mucus plug (sorry I know that is such a gross thing to write about) and anyone that I talked to - a couple nurses- and my doctor- all said "Oh for sure you won't make it to your induction date- you'll be lucky to make it past Christmas" At first I was super stressed- I was worried about not being home with the kids Christmas Eve and morning etc. plus who would take the kids? All my friends offered several times- as well as some kind members of our ward- but even still I was stressed- it was the holidays. So I began to prepare and turned to prayer to ask Heavenly Father to help it so that baby could wait to come AFTER Christmas- even later on that day- I just wanted to make it to Christmas morning. Being the supportive,selfless parents they have always been- they paid the extra amount to fly out Steph to help just in case he came before Christmas. Steph got in late on the 23rd and has been with us ever since. It has eased so much concern having her here- but I feel horrible because it seems like she came out for nothing.-(although I have LOVED having some family here since we couldn't' go home for Christmas)
Now it's the 27th and no sign that sweet baby boy is going to come out unless he is forced out on Tuesday! I don't know why I am so disappointed that he isn't here yet-for heavens sake he really isn't even due until the 5th of January! I guess it's because I finally prepared myself mentally for the earlier delivery- and now nothing has happened! Poor kid is probably so confused on what he is supposed to do!
I would however feel completely ungrateful if I didn't express how grateful I am for my prayers being answered- I did get to be home with our kids Christmas morning- and that was something so important to me.
Either way- Tuesday we will finally get to meet the little guy! (hopefully "little"- ultrasound measured him at 7 lbs. 3 weeks ago- luckily ultrasounds can be off a little- and fingers crossed that it doesn't turn out like my sis-in-law whose ultrasound measured 8 lbs and her girl was 0ver 10 1/2 lbs!) We'll keep you posted!

Happy Birthday Samantha!

It was quite the weekend for Samantha. Her actual birthday was on Thursday. Luckily Mike was on call the day/night before- so he was home at 9 am - this made it so that Samantha didn't have to wait all day to open her presents. We just spent the day together as a family,went to Target to spend the gift card my grandparents sent her and then went out to eat that night to celebrate.

She had wanted an American Girl doll- so needless to say- as the proof is in the picture- she was thrilled and totally surprised to unwrap and find her Julie doll

I wish it wasn't so fuzzy because this is just so Samantha- she has such an enthusiasm for EVERYTHING in life- and is so grateful for everything. - I also love how excited Collin is too :)

She was a lucky little girl with so many presents from Grandparents and aunts and uncles!- all things to go with her new doll.

The next day was our ward Christmas party- the kids were excited because this was their chance to see Santa. I don't have the pictures yet- I completely forgot the camera- luckily my friend had hers- so I just need to get them from her.

Saturday was the BIG birthday party. Samantha decided that she wanted to have a Fancy Nancy tea party. So we invited a few of her friends over.

To start off the party- of course if we are going to have a fancy tea party we had work to do! We needed to get more fancy ( the girls either came in their favorite dress up dress or favorite nice dress) we started off by decorating crowns......

We then moved onto other important accessory- bracelets and necklaces.....


After we were all "fancied" up, we were ready for the tea party! We had crown shaped peanut butter sandwiches, pineapple and apples (which had toothpicks- because toothpicks- especially frilly toothpicks- makes things fancier- according to Nancy-although we did skip the frilly part of the toothpicks-) carrots (no way to dress those up, atleast I couldn't come up with an idea) and then bright pink punch! Of course they girls drank and ate with the pinkies up- and "dabbed" their mouths with napkins- ladies don't "wipe" they dab.

And then the cake!

Overall the party was a success! Samantha has been so lucky to make friends with such cute little girls who get along so well.

I'd say the only downer to the day-- was little Collin. He had such a hard time "sharing his Samba" he loves and adores his big sister and he didn't like having her attention on others. It was sweet but heartbreaking thing to watch. He did participated in decorating the crowns- but he had a visor instead- much more manly. The rest of the time Mike tried to distract him in the toy room watching Tom and Jerry. He did however really enjoy the cake- or maybe the frosting ....

Yuck.

It was a fun filled weekend- Mike and I learned/thought about a couple things after this birthday bash......

Me-

1-I was reminded of what an amazing mother I have- one who not only threw awesome parties but she also made AMAZING cakes.- me I order mine- what can I say, I'm a wuss.

2-I am going to follow my mothers example and do friend parties ever other year. This one wore me out!
Mike-

1- He is grateful that we are having another little boy.

Before and After

I have kind of ignoring our blog lately. With the baby coming in 3 short weeks, Samantha's birthday and birthday party, making baby stuff and doing Christmas stuff- it's honestly the last thing I want to do.

But seeing that I woke up at 5 this morning for no real reason- oh wait- it was to go to the bathroom for the 100th time- and couldn't go back to sleep- I figured I'd finally post about our Thanksgiving.

We had a great time- we went and stayed with our school family(minus the Perry's- I second Jena- it wasn't the same without you guys) - the Flanagan's- who live just 3 hours away- in Michigan. This was the first time we had seen them since the stupid tornado back in May. Our life and time in Kirksville almost seems unreal and so far away- so it was great to be with them again.

I don't have any pictures of Thanksgiving day- I left that to the pro and told her to send me some(no pressure Jena). But I do have some pictures of the day before and the day after- hence the title of the post.

The day before while I was baking my dishes for the next day- I found a project to keep the kids entertained (for atleast 10min.) They had a great time- and funny enough Collin seemed to get more into it than Samantha!

Samantha got a little over zealous with her toothpicks and lost interest before she finished

The day after Thanksgiving we went to the Henry Ford Museum. It was great- although Mike and Brian plan on going back when they can read all the signs and look at things longer than 2 seconds. (I admit I am SO not a sign reader when it comes to museums and monuments)

They had a Lego exhibit which was pretty cool.

Thanks again, Flanagans for a fabulous holiday- we had a great time-

Now it's your turn!

The Locket

Samantha has a locket that a few days ago she decided that she would put pictures of both of her brothers in it. Today on the way home from church she decided that Owen (what we are most likely naming the little guy) was taking too long to get here(my feelings exactly)- so she asked if I would just take a picture of my belly instead and that will work for now. Being the mean mom that I am- I will not be doing this for her- just like me- she will have to be patient until he gets here.

Masked Cutie

One day Samantha told me that she wanted to make a mask. I figured this was a great project to keep her entertained- so one Saturday she and I had a girls trip to Hobby Lobby to get the stuff.

She had the design in mind- so we came home and she went to work....... and here are the results

Turned out pretty dang glamorous if you ask me!

My first ever Giveaway!

I have a very talented friend Sara, who has ran a very successful etsy site for years (I don't know how many- for more than 2 1/2 years because that's how long I've known her!) Anyhow when I started my own I had talked to her about things, asked for advice etc. She told me that if it was ok with me she was going to post about my etsy shoppe on her blog. She said that by offering a giveaway it would generate a lot more traffic. Well just like a good friend she did it! Check out her blog for a chance to win one of my bracelets! Yeah!- and you'll also be able to check out her and her talent! A 2 in 1!

http://sarajoyner.blogspot.com/

Thanks Sara!!!

BTaylor Designs.....

It's been a long time coming- but with the huge help from my mom, dad and the support from Mike- I got my act together and put together an etsy site! I've had it up for a couple weeks but I have recently added quite a few new things. So I wanted to officially announce it!

I have found myself really loving to sit down and just create- it's been a great outlet when the house is quiet and the kids are asleep. I have tried to have a good variety of jewelery items- every thing is unique- no two things are exactly the same.

I do plan on adding non-jewelry items soon....

I hope you all like what you see!-and that you'll pass the word around!

http://btaylordesigns.etsy.com

"Tritter Treating and Pupt Takes"

These past few weeks it's been pretty rough around our house. We have survived and things are getting back to normal (thank heavens)!

Here in Columbus they don't always do trick or treating on the actual holiday. My understanding is that if Halloween lands on a weekend- they have a designated day and they call it "beggars night"- they have the time be between 6-8pm. People sit outside on their porches and driveways to pass out candy.

That night luckily it was a decent evening- weather wise. Collin still had a cough and Samantha had a fever and cough- we quickly dressed them- nothing fancy - heck I even forgot Samantha's wings. Mike quickly took them to our surrounding neighbors and then they came home. Luckily this meant very little candy for any of us to be tempted by!

On the actual holiday, we made our favorite dinner (Lemon sauce pasta- thanks Flanagans) and then we decorated Owl and Mummy cupcakes- or as Collin calls them "Pupt Takes".

In Loving Memory......

This may be a different kind of picture to use for this- but it brings back so many memories to me ......I'll list just a couple....
-My dad loved his kids- none of us ever doubted it.
-I love the way he is looking at Cassie- He LOVED kids, and was great with them. I wish he was here to enjoy his grandchildren.
-He loved to eat- and oddly enough any time I see Raisin Bran I think of him. Anytime he made a sandwich- or anything really- he would ask if anyone wanted some....of course we would say No- but once it was done, someone would inevitably want some- and he would end up eating very little. - and he never seemed to mind. (ya see- right here is proof- Cassie is mooching some of his cereal)

I am a very lucky/blessed girl to have had a dad like him here on earth- even if it was for just 16 years.

I love him, I miss him, and I am SO grateful for Eternal Families.

Yucky Sick

This past month Mike has been rotating in pediatrics. He has enjoyed it- but has not enjoyed what has resulted from treating so many kids with the flu. Yep- Wednesday he came home complaining of a horrible headache, a fever and loss of appetite. He has since not left the house. He has been pretty sick with awful body aches, a congested head and cough. The following day on Thursday, I lifted up Collin and threw my back out. Really painful but nothing funnier looking than a big pregnant lady walking severely crooked.
Today was Samantha's primary program, she worked hard and had her part memorized so of course she was majorly disappointed when she woke up with a fever and couldn't go. Then to boot it was also my week to teach in R.S.- luckily the education counselor was so understanding and took over the lesson for me.
Now all 4 of us are sick, not at all fun- but we're making the most of it- we'll just chalk it up to making memories.....especially since we have not been able to do some of the Halloween fun that we had planned- there's always next year!

Yummy Haunted Houses

I mentioned before that I was going to try and start some new traditions- especially now that we are so far from family. At Christmas time I LOVE decorating gingerbread houses- we never really did that as a family as a tradition growing up- but I just loved the few times that we did do it. I have seen in the stores the pre-packaged sets for Halloween houses- and so I thought PERFECT now we can do it twice a year! (Although at Christmas Mike has made me promise that we do "real" gingerbread instead of the grahm cracker way, hmmm... guess I better learn how to make gingerbread)

It was such a fun night- we all had a blast- Samantha did more dancing in the kitchen to the music we were listening to than decorating her house- and Collin ate more candy than he put on his house- but no matter- we made some good memories and started a fun tradition.

Making scary faces....

The Finished product

A picture of me.....

Lately, Samantha has been really concerned about being left behind, getting lost or taken etc. It's funny because when I was a little girl I was the EXACT same way- but more so. I was ALWAYS worried about being kidnapped- I looked out for vans without windows because those were perfect for taking kids. I didn't like going to the mountains because that seemed like a good place to take kids etc.- I know, I worried ALOT- heck I still remember in our kindergarten carpool CJ's mom saying "Amberlee, you worry way too much for a 5 year old"but to my credit- I inherited it- I have a nervous Mom and Grandpa (it's a running joke in our family)- so it only makes sense that Samantha is the same way. (poor kid, not something I necessarily wanted to pass down)
Anyways, the other day we were in the grocery store and Samantha says to me: "Hey mom, I have a good idea." me: "what's that?" Samantha: "When we get home, I am going to paint a picture of you so that when we go out, if I get lost I can show someone what you look like so they can help me find you!" It brought tears to my eyes- for 2 reasons
1-what a sweet thing to think of
2-I can only imagine what the finished product would look like given my current "condition"

A Cake and a Campout

A Cake

Halloween has always been my least favorite holiday, Fall is my favorite season by far- but I don't like the holiday that comes with it. I decided to make the most of it this year- and try and have a good attitude for my kids as well as start some fun traditions. I've made a list of things to do and to start out the kids and we went to the store and they picked out what Halloween candy they wanted as well as a cake and frosting. We were going to make an orange cake and decorate it- simple- but to little kids they were so excited. We then went to the movie store and rented a couple Halloween cartoons to watch while the cake was baking and cooling.

Now I had already decided that I was going to control myself and let the kids do what THEY wanted as far as the decorating went. I admit that in the past when my kids have done projects I have tried to "sway" them in the direction that I think they should do things-(a mean mom)- but not anymore.

The kids had a blast and they were SO proud of the way the cake turned out.

A Camp out

From the first few weeks of living in our house, Samantha and Mike have talked about having a camp out in our backyard. Well, because of our time in Utah and then Mike's hectic schedule this past month- our warm weather has gone. (plus if you ask me- I, for sure wasn't interested in having a visit from the groundhog, the squirrels, or the skunks that frequent our yard- and yes I know if we were camping in the mountains we would have the same visitors- but it just seems different when it's in your own yard)

So we decided that we would just set up the tent in our living room and make the most of it! Well the tent quickly turned into air mattresses instead.-either way the kids were happy because they got to sleep in the front room with mom and dad. Of course a night at the Taylors house would not be complete without a little Star Wars.

We all slept well- except for Mike- so all in all it was a great night-possibly to be repeated?!

Sporty's for Shorty's

Here at our Rec. center they offer a really inexpensive class for your 2 year old once a week for seven weeks. Myself and a few girls from my ward decided to enroll our sons. Each week they highlight a different sport and play it for about 30-40 min. It's completely laid back- and after our first week I think it's a hit! Collin was seriously on cloud nine the ENTIRE time. The sweet,excited look plastered to his face the whole time was all I needed to see- to know that it was totally worth the $!

This week they learned about T-ball. My camera was running out of batteries- so it was moving super slow- which meant that I missed a lot of the great shots.

Bear and a little girls prayer.....

This is one of those posts that is for just journaling purposes so that I don't forget it as time goes by (which now a days it happens more frequently).
Samantha had a neat experience this past week- and I want to record it for her so that in the future she will have it to look back on.
This last Tuesday evening I realized that it had been since Monday night while tucking Samantha in bed, that I saw Bear. We had been on errands and to the park that day- but I was 99.9% positive that Samantha had not taken him with us. Well, after looking for awhile with no success- we sent her to bed with a back-up bear and a promise to look more the next day. All Wednesday we looked- but still with no success. When Mike got home from the hospital- I went to the store and while I was gone- Samantha had told him that we STILL couldn't find Bear. He told her that she needed to pray to Heavenly Father and ask for His help. She then asked him- how does Heavenly Father help us find things? Mike then told her that often Heavenly Father will put "thoughts" in our head to help us. When I got home- she was all excited with what her dad had told her about prayer. At bedtime, she again asked for help in finding Bear. For a couple more days there was still no sign of Bear, I myself thought that we may have to move back-up Bear to starting position (wow- how about my lack of faith) and then one afternoon while I was making dinner - Samantha asked if I thought if Bear could be in the TV (meaning the entertainment center) I told her to look- but didn't think much of it because I thought that one of us had already looked. And lo and behold there was Bear crammed in one of the cupboards! She was THRILLED (to put it mildly) I immediately told her that this is exactly how Heavenly Father answered her prayer- He helped her to think about looking in the cupboard- just like Daddy said He would. We then knelt down together and thanked Heavenly Father for helping her to find Bear.- I record this because I am so grateful for this opportunity for Samantha to experience the real power of prayer and I want her to be able to remember this for the rest of her life. It is so scary to be a parent right now as the world around us is getting more and more evil. I want so badly for each of our children to develop their own testimony and faith in the Savior. I am so grateful for this gospel and that we have it in our lives to help raise our kids- and to have the tools to teach them. I am grateful for amazing parents who provided ways for me to feel the spirit and helped me to learn and grow so that I was able to build and strengthen my own testimony. I am also grateful that Mike took this opportunity to teach Samantha about prayer- and I am grateful to his parents for being who they are- and for teaching their children. (Wow, I said grateful a lot)

First, last and only prego picture!

I am only doing this as a favor to my friend Jena-
Currently 23 weeks...look like 32, I know- but really only 23.



I love this one the most because Collin is copying me in the background- goofball. And yes those are pictures still waiting to find a home on our walls- I have the hardest time figuring that part out when moving into a new place. I figure I'll have it worked out and all pictures hung 3 months before we move.

Utah (part one)

I am now finally getting around to writing about our trip to Utah. For some reason I have had a much harder time getting back to the swing of things, and oddly enough even though we have now been gone for a few years, it doesn't get any easier leaving Utah and family.
Most of my pictures aren't here yet- I am waiting for my mom to send the CD- luckily I have the ones from the first part of our trip- so that I can go in order-
Mike's brother David got married- he and Cami are so great together- and we are so thrilled for them. It was great to be with the whole family again (minus Elder Taylor)- the kids had a blast with their cousins- Evan and Andrew. The weekend went by too fast and before we knew it- Mike was on his way back to Ohio.


David and Cami were married in the new Draper temple- it was beautiful, super windy- but a beautiful.












The next day we went to the Natural History Museum and then out to lunch at Lion House Pantry.