Rexburg Open House, Three Months and Thoughts

Taylor, Isaac and I had the opportunity to go to the Rexburg Temple open house on Saturday...and I must say, it is gorgeous!!! (But really, which temple isn't?? So that's not new news...) We took the YM and YW up--which I think would be such a neat and special opportunity as a youth--and they all really enjoyed going. There were SO many people at the open house, so it was a bit rushed, but wonderful nonetheless. Despite the freezing weather and wind, it was a great experience, and Isaac did so well through it and looked at all the chandeliers. It was pretty cute.
Then Sunday came, which is, drum roll....Isaac's three month mark! For some reason I feel like 3 months is a milestone...perhaps because that's how the clothes are marked. (O-3 months, 3-6 etc). It's AMAZING how fast time flies. We took our routine "sit on the couch, in the same spot, with the same teddy bear" picture, and like always, he was SO not interested. So here they are....

This is at two months....

And this is yesterday...

My little boy is growing up!!!!

I wish he was wearing a onesie so you could see his feet and legs like in the two month pictures... (I thought about it when we were taking the pictures, but changing him was definitely out of the question) Ok, and isn't this the cutest position you've ever seen? His arm up on the arm of the couch! Taylor tried to cross his ankles but that didn't last long.

Since he was so "camera shy," Taylor tried to make him smile, and we got some cute pictures from that.

This next one is my absolute favorite. I think it's foreshadowing what's to come...his fun personality seems to be showing!!! :-) Oh, I love this picture!!

We had a good Sunday yesterday. One lady bore her testimony in our ward and what she said really resonated with me, and I thought I'd share it. To preface, she has a little boy, who's probably four, and he is a handful!! And she's the first to admit it...another girl has said that you just sit behind them and it's great birth control. So, the mom said that this past week she was about to wring his neck because he keeps getting into stain spray, this was the fourth bottle apparently, and it didn't matter where she tried to hide it, he kept finding it. Regardless, it was a rough week. So she was talking to someone and they mentioned something they had heard from a general authority (don't know who it was though, sorry). And he said "You cannot raise the Lord's children Satan's way." And what's Satan's way? Force, coercion, anger, tension, yelling, etc. And let's be honest, everyone has those moments. But when I thought about that phrase...."You cannot raise the Lord's children Satan's way" ahh....it just is so...I don't know...true!!! There is a reason why Satan's plan and Satan's way was not the chosen one...and yet, we can fall to those ways so easily. This mom went on to say that these children that we have been given are entrusted to us that we may raise them so they can return to their Heavenly Father. It was just such a wonderful reminder and so beautifully put that I wanted to share it as if to journal the day and thoughts. Instantly I was thinking "Oh how could I put that on a plague?" or "Where could I hang that phrase?" :-) I love it!!

More Pictures from Last Week

Here's some more pictures and stories from this last week. This story is a classic. One day my mother and I were talking and somehow it came up with her saying, jokingly, that every grandmother has a crocheted kleenex box cover. So, Taylor and I thought it would be so funny to find the ugliest kleenex box cover, wrap it up for Christmas, and say "To Nana, From Isaac." So, here are some pictures from that...it was priceless!

My dad had just opened a nice gift from Isaac that was an "Ahh..." gift, so I think my mom was expecting something all sentimental...it was funny.




So, Saturday, Dec. 29 was our 2 year wedding anniversary! Wahoo!! I love anniversaries. We have made it a goal to go to the temple for every anniversary and do sealings at the temple, so we thought we'd take advantage of having my family in town to watch Isaac, so we went up to the Idaho Falls Temple on Thursday night...it was a great night. (We went out to dinner on Saturday night together and bought a new big bookcase for our house...I am SO excited...Taylor is going to put it together tomorrow, I'll have to post the before and after pics when it's done).

Then on Friday morning, we did something we haven't done in almost a decade. We had family pictures taken of my mom's entire side of the family. We got up EARLY and drove up to Idaho Falls for them. Here are some that we took ourselves...I am hoping the one that she took of our individual family turns out well so I can blow it up and frame it...I'm crossing my fingers!!

So, I mentioned that we had to get up EARLY for these pictures, right?? My parents rode with us to Idaho Falls...this is them in the backseat on the way home...asleep! Taylor and I were laughing pretty hard...

So, another classic story. We get back to Blackfoot after the pictures, and I have to get back to work for the afternoon and we are literally yards from the house (my grandparents live at the end of a lane) and Taylor drove right into a three foot snow drift. We were definitely stuck. When we left in the morning, there was a small snow drift and we noticed it, but when we got back Taylor completely forgot about it and went right into it. We thought "Oops, oh well..." because my dad had his truck at the house and we thought it would be a simple deal to just pull us out...wrong again. There wasn't a place to hook the tow rope on the Camry, so they were having a hard time figuring out how we'd get out...they got shovels and tried to dig us out, then they thought about putting the snow chains around the tire or behind the tire to see if that would give us traction, they even tried to open the trunk and look the tow rope around the bars that lift the trunk lid...nope!! After about 30 minutes of freezing for the boys and sitting in the car for Isaac, my mom and myself, Taylor found a place where they could put the rope and we were out...I tried to capture the amount of snow and how stuck we were, but I don't think the pictures give it justice...

You can tell in the above picture just how close we were to the house.

Christmas Update

I haven't blogged in what feels like forever, and now I have so much to say that I just don't want to do it. Last week, my parents and sister drove to Idaho and arrived on Friday. Let me tell you, being at work knowing that they are in town was so hard!! It was needless to say the longest afternoon! Nana gave Isaac a bath that night and we got some way cute pictures...





The highlight of Saturday came when we took Isaac to Idaho Falls to have his picture taken with the "real deal" Santa. It was really cute--it was taken at a professional photographers studio--it was really neat, and thanks to my Aunt, we were able to do it. We just had to pay a flat rate for the sitting fee and then we get a free 8 x 10 of it...we put Isaac in his red "My First Christmas" outfit--once we get the picture back, I'll have to scan it in because it was adorable!

Oh yeah...another funny/bad incident that happened on Saturday...Taylor went snowmobiling with my dad and uncle on Saturday...so to preface: boys will be boys, especially when it comes to toys. I guess Taylor was going down a hill or into this little ditch-like area and saw a drain pipe so he knew he had to watch out for that...well, long story short, no details, he lost control and the sled went one way and he went the other. Well, the sled was fine, but a nice 4 x 4 wooden post broke Taylor's fall. He hit the wooden post so hard that it snapped in half! My uncle found him just laying in the snow and he asked if Taylor was alright and Taylor mumbled, "I think I dislocated my shoulder." So, he was sore for a day, but is all better now...thank goodness!!! I told him we should at least go get it X-rayed at the ER before Dec. 31 since we've already met our deductible! But, he refused and is showing no signs of pain today....

Sunday my parents and sister came to church with us since I had to teach YW...it was so fun to have them there...then on Christmas Eve we went up to my grandparents house and enjoyed a big snow storm! We had our traditional crab and clam chowder dinner (for those who don't like fish there were hamburgers...but crab dipped in cocktail sauce is actually pretty good...) and then we opened gifts from my grandparents. Isaac had a really hard time sleeping during this day because there was just too much going on, so he was rather cranky, which in turn made mom rather cranky!

But Christmas morning came and we were able to celebrate it with my family at our very own place!! It was really great! I made our traditional creamed egg breakfast (yum!) and then we opened stockings and gifts...it was truly a great Christmas!! Taylor got the Blackberry Pearl phone which he wanted and loves--he has been playing with it non-stop! I (well, we) got a camcorder, wahoo! Now we will be able to upload videos to the blog!! Too bad we haven't had anything "video worthy" yet. Anyway, it was a great Christmas--for dinner we went to my grandparents for another traditional meal--Prime Rib. YUM YUM YUM! It hit the spot.

We went and saw the new National Treasure movie tonight-- a definite must see! We really enjoyed it.

Another exciting piece of info--it seems that Isaac is sleeping through the night!! He has been fairly consistent since Friday and has slept from 11 to 7, so we aren't complaining!! He is getting so big, he is right on the edge of not being able to fit into his 0-3 month outfits...I can't believe he'll be 3 months in the coming week...crazy!!! Some of the latest things he has been doing is smiling and cooing a lot (especially at his bedtime feeding) and he is laughing out loud!! I LOVE it, and immediately following his laughing is the hiccups!! Haha, it's great.

We sure have been spoiled to have all this attention and love for Isaac with my parents and sister and her husband being here...Isaac loves it as do we!!

(I told you I hadn't blogged in a while...and my sister took Christmas pictures on her camera, so I don't have them yet).

Weekend in Utah...Surprise!!

Taylor and I went down to Utah from Saturday to Sunday, and it was a complete surprise to his family!

On Saturday, we (meaning the YW Presidency) took the YW to Salt Lake, and then Taylor's family was having a family Christmas party on Sunday, so we decided to kill two birds with one stone...(That is the correct phrase, right!?) So, we left *EARLY* on Saturday...at least, way to early for a Saturday...:-)....and drove into Lehi to surprise the family...it was great. It made the trip all worth it to see the reactions when they saw us. So, Taylor's brother Jordan and his wife Erin were in the midst of a move, so Taylor stayed and helped them move while I went up to Salt Lake and met up with the YW. The afternoon was busy with the Joseph Smith movie, lunch at Olive Garden, tour at the Beehive house, tours/exhibits at the visitor's center, and then looking at the lights on Temple Square. It's opportunities like this that make me grateful for a small YW group (we had 9 YW there in total) because we were able to all go. It was a great day and I'm glad I was able to go.

After looking at the lights, I went and met up with Taylor and Isaac so we could go to dinner with my sister at Jason's Deli...yum. It was fun to have some one on one time with her, and she got a new camera for her birthday last week, so we had fun taking tons of pictures of Isaac. Jason's Deli has ceiling fans...and this was Isaac's first experience with looking at them...it was hilarious...the pictures prove that he was way more interested in them than us!

Then we went back to Taylor's house and continued taking pictures...now he wasn't so distracted, so we got some fun smiles out of him...

Isaac LOOOOOOVES his dad. It is by far the cutest thing. Taylor could walk into the room and Isaac will just light up into all smiles, it's so adorable!

He's starting to giggle when he smiles, it's so fun!!

Thanks for driving up to SLC, Aunt Heather!!! It was so fun to spend the night with you!!

I don't have very many pictures from the Christmas party on Sunday, and the ones I have aren't very good, but it was a lot of fun!! Everyone went to great lengths to make it very memorable. From the food to sugar cookies for the kids to decorate to the ugliest Christmas sweater contest to gifts to reading and watching a presentation of Luke 2 to Santa coming and leaving gifts on the doorstep...it was great!! We are truly blessed to have such a great family!!

I have been feeling so blessed and so grateful for Isaac and Taylor in my life. Isaac is such a sweet and special spirit in our home. When I was with the YW on Saturday we went through an exhibit--I forget what it was called--but there was a "room" where two parents were talking about their child and one of them said "Just think, he was in heaven just one week ago." And that just struck me really hard....Isaac was in heaven just 2 1/2 months ago, how incredible is that!? I forget that so often! Even though he can not talk or do much right now, he teaches me so much about love and the love our Savior in Heaven has for each one of us. Isaac is truly a precious and priceless gift. I treasure every single moment I get to look at him, to hold him, to be with him, to snuggle with him, to kiss him, to love him and to just be his mother. And I feel so blessed to be his mother because I have such an incredible man by my side---Taylor is one of the most supportive, caring and loving persons I know. I am truly so grateful for him, he is my companion, my strength, and my passion in life. I can't imagine my life without him as my husband and as my children's father...our children are SO lucky to have him as their dad. I love the men in my life!!

Hey...

Annie Webb: I can't open or read your blog anymore...it doesn't recognize me...help, please! :-)

Staff Appreciation Day at Work

Yesterday, our office staff got a sweet Christmas present...we were given the afternoon off to go out to lunch together and get pedicures. I've not been one to get a pedicure very much seeing how I'm not a big foot person, but it was fabulous!! It was really fun to go out with the staff at work (there were four of us, one was not there because she is out on maternity leave) to enjoy the afternoon and what we were celebrating. The only bummer is that I put my shoes on prematurely because it squished the nail polish...and those who know me know that it will most likely not be fixed anytime soon....(Mom, Heather (sis-in-law) you want to come to Idaho again anytime soon?! haha...)

It was really nice to have some "me" time to pamper myself, I believe every woman should take some time for themselves to rejuvenate and re-energize every once in a while....it's like you don't realize how much you needed that "me" time until you have it. So my new goal: make the time to have some "me" time, because in return it only makes me more focused, relaxed, and rededicated (if that makes any sense...) :-)

Answer to prayer!!

So we had an interesting weekend. To say the least, this past week was my first week back at work, so it was Isaac's first week with the babysitter. Taylor and I have been feeling "unsettled" about the entire arrangement, and on Friday I just felt so uncomfortable that both Taylor and I felt like we needed to figure something else out. Well, I was talking to our really close friends in the ward, and they got hit with some financial issues last week and long story short, offered to watch Isaac. HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!! We love this couple so much that we are totally stoked. We asked them before Isaac was even born, but seeing how they had their first child 7 weeks before, we didn't know how comfortable they would be...well, she is feeling like she is more in a routine with hers that she is willing to take on the two....I can't even tell you how relieved Taylor and I feel!!

Other highlights of the weekend:

So, after that good news, we went to our ward Christmas party and it was pretty fun. They played a game, pretty much a "How well do you know your husband?" and they asked 8 couples to come up to the stage and I looked at Taylor and he goes "No way." Well, my friend was telling us to go up, so I stand up and start walking up...so Taylor has to at this point...haha...so they blindfold the women and then the husbands have to walk by and you have to guess which one is your husband by the feel of their hands...I totally got it right! I was very impressed with myself. (Pat on the back, thank you, thank you...) :-) It really was fun.

Ok, so let me ask a question. Have you ever played a board game with just you and your husband?? On Saturday night I was in the mood to play a board game, so I got "Clue" out and started setting it up, and Taylor thought it was so lame to play that game just the two of us. (It was that or Sorry! and I knew if we played that that the sweet revenge would always be on me, so I opted for Clue). I thought it was fun to change things up a bit and play...Taylor did end up playing with me but thought it was so weird...have you ever played a board game with just yourself and someone else?? :-)

Another fun highlight...we got our Christmas letter mailed on Saturday!! Wahoo!! Our first year sending out a Christmas card and our final count came to 139....139!!!! I love it though, I seriously love the fact that probably 70 percent of that is just Taylor's family and that that wasn't even everyone, we went through and had to pick and choose! So hopefully all who care to receive one will get theirs this week, if not, please leave your address because we'd be happy to send you one...I've had our letter written and envelopes addressed since...oh the beginning of November! (If you can't tell, I've really been looking forward to starting the tradition of sending out Christmas cards!)

Isaac had the cutest outfit on today for Church. He wasn't really in the mood for pictures when we took these though....

Two Month Doctor's Appointment

Isaac got four shots today!! Sad! Both Taylor and I were able to go to the visit, I'm very grateful that Taylor was able to go and that he cared to go. Anyway--back to the shots--I was right by his head and holding his hands and when they pricked him (they have two nurses give the shots and they give two at the exact same time, twice--obviously, that makes four shots in total) and when the first two went in, Isaac just screamed!! His face turned BRIGHT red and he was crying so hard it was like he wouldn't breathe...it was terrible...especially for mom and dad. But it was over quickly and Isaac calmed right down and by the time we put him in his carseat he was all smiles again. So he was a trooper! Now for the percentiles...(Kim, I thought about you the whole time) :-) Isaac weighs 12 lbs even, is 23 1/4 inches long and his head was 40 cm I think. So, he's in the 50th percentile for his weight, length, and head. What can I say? Our baby is perfectly proportioned!

The battle wounds:


I was thinking after this appointment how some parents tend to "bribe" or "spoil" their kids after doctor visits where they get shots or even when they get hurt...I totally understand it now. Because honestly, I felt so bad for Isaac, I would do anything for him to make him feel better...obviously there's not much I can do for him now, but when he gets older I can totally see myself taking him for ice cream or getting a treat to ease the trauma of the doctor!

Oh...and seeing how today is the 6th, a.k.a. two months...it's time to keep with the tradition and post a picture of Isaac in the same spot with the same teddy bear...

Here he is at one month again:

And here he is at two months....does he look bigger to you?



What do you think??

Weekend in Colorado & Back to Work

For the last weekend before I had to go back to work, Taylor, Isaac and I flew out to Colorado. We had a GREAT weekend!! We left Friday afternoon from Idaho Falls and Isaac did TERRIFIC on the airplane!! We went to the Flying Horse Country Club for dinner on Friday, then on Saturday morning Taylor and my dad went hunting...surprise, surprise! :-) ....so my mom and I went up to Castle Rock and got some Christmas shopping done--again, Isaac was such a good trooper through all of this. Once we all got back from our activities we went to the movies--we saw August Rush--a very good movie. Plans were to go out to dinner, but we were feeling pizza (ok, so I was feeling pizza...) :-) so we went back to the house and ordered it. Come Sunday we went to church and Nana sure had fun holding and showing off her grandson!! Then we had fun taking pictures and playing with Isaac for the afternoon. The flight home was late, but Isaac still did well and fell asleep, so we couldn't have asked for more!! Here are some cute pictures from the weekend:

It was so good to be home--thanks mom and dad!! The visits are always too short though!! Thanks for taking such good care of Isaac.

Well, my eight glorious weeks of maternity leave came to an end today. We got home around midnight and I had to be at work at 8 am today. It will take some time to get back into the swing of things, but it was good to be back at work, because really, that's how it has to be right now. It went by fast, so that helped with it being day one, and Taylor was able to spend some of the morning and afternoon with him, so it was comforting to know that Isaac was with his dad.