Christmas Cuties!

Each year, we make it a tradition to get the kids fancy Christmas outfits. Here are this year's : sooo cute!

My Little Princess

This year, Addie and I made it a new tradition to go to the Princess Tea Party at the Festival of Trees. We went with our friends Jessica and Ava and had so much fun! I'm pretty sure Addie didn't fully appreciate the amazing little details that the planners put into this, but she finally got to wear her Snow White costume, which was all she cared about! She also got to meet about every Disney Princess possible, and she thought she was in heaven!!

Halloween Festivities

Do these silly animals look familiar?


















We had a fun Halloween this year! Addie has been so excited to wear her ladybug costume since we bought it about 2 months ago. I can't believe she lasted so long! I also can't believe I got her to take it off! Jackson made such a cute tiger, and he didn't complain once! We went to Idaho Falls on Friday night to Boo at the Zoo with the cousins and did trick or treating at the mall and the neighborhood on Saturday.

Here is a slideshow of our festivities:

Best of Friends

Wow, we have had quite the couple of weeks with sick, sick kids!!! Addie is still on the fence, but Jackson is doing MUCH better. He is a completely new baby! He has been so happy since his recovery. This video is hilarious - he was laughing hysterically at Addie simply stomping her feet on the ground:

Vacation Posts

This first slideshow is from our trip to Utah about a month ago. It was one of our last 5 day weekends of the summer, so we went to my parents' house for a few days and then down to Ogden's dinosaur park. We stayed in Layton, did some shopping (of course) and then met Matt's brother, Michael, and his girlfriend, Jessica, at Lagoon. We had a blast!

About a week after that trip, we flew to Seattle for Matt's education conference. We left Addie home with Aunt Ashlee, and the three of us had a great time. We hit the Space Needle, Pike's Place Market, ate some yummy seafood, and had great seats at a Mariner's game.

Our Little Idol

I have finally figured out how to use our video on our camera and Addie has been cooperating so nicely. Here is one of her singing her favorite song, "Temple" as she calls it:

Ok, and I PROMISE I will post updates about our vacations soon!

Addie's First Bike Ride!

Well, I have so many things to post and catch up on but I wanted to post this quick video of Addie. She learned to ride her bike all by herself today! She has been so excited ever since Grandma Taylor bought her a princess bike that it is all she has talked about. Here we are on our evening stroll. Thanks Grandma and congratulations Addie!

Fun at the Zoo

We have a pass to the zoo this summer, so we've been spending a lot of time there (when we actually get a sunny day). Here are some cute family pictures from our most recent trip:

Our Growing Kids

Jackson had his 2 month doctor appointment today (now that he is almost 3 months old). He weighed 12-6 and was 24 inches long, putting him right about in the 50th percentile. I can't believe how fast the time goes by. I have to go back to work on Sunday :(, so I hope Matt will have lots of fun with the 2 kiddos! Addie has been so cute with Jackson. She loves to play with him.



I also am thrilled to announce that Addie is now fully potty trained!!! She has been almost there for a while now, but she is finally doing it! She is getting to be so much fun. I can't believe the things she says! She is really smart!

We are excited for summer (if we ever see the sunshine) and for Matt to have a break from teaching. We have a lot of fun things planned, so hopefully we'll have lots of blog posts coming up soon!

Updates

Well, all sorts of things have been going on around the Taylor house. First of all, the kids and I went to the environmental fair last weekend, and the thrill of the day was Addie getting her face painted. After waiting for like AN HOUR, Addie told the lady she wanted a tiger. She looked so cute!






















Jackson continues to grow like crazy. It is so different having a boy. I weighed him at the hospital the other day and he was 10 pounds 9 ounces with his clothes on. Time flies so fast!
















There is never a dull moment at our house, but when I think there is, I try to take a nap. However, when I wake up, I find scenarios such as these:




















It's a good thing she's so dang cute or she would be in big trouble!!

I also have taken up a new hobby of clipping coupons thanks to my friend Genessa. With a little research and time you can really find some great deals. For example, I got all this stuff at Wal Mart for $9.89.


Pretty sweet, huh? It's pretty fun, and I'm getting better as I go. I think I'm going to start another blog that tracks my savings and I will post weekly deals or good coupons that I find, so look for the link in my sidebar.

Easter and Jackson's blessing

Well, our beautiful baby boy is over a month old now and we can't believe it! He was blessed on Easter Sunday by his dad and I am so thankful that Matt is able to hold the priesthood and do that for our kids. It means so much and he really did a great job. It was also really neat that it was Easter, so we took full advantage and had a get together at our house afterwards - egg hunt and all. It is so fun to have the kids growing up and able to play so well together. Here are some pictures:





















Addie had so much fun with her cousins Mercedez and Connor and we were happy to have our parents here as well as Matt's grandma. It was a beautiful day and we all had such a great time! Thanks everyone for a great day!

Growing Jackson and Silly Addie

Jackson had his 2 week appointment last week and he gained a pound! He's up to 7-6, and I'm not surprised because he eats ALL THE TIME! He's such a good boy! We're continuing to do well with our 2 kiddos. Addie is still better with Jackson than I ever expected, although she does get into a little mischief herself! Here are some pictures:

Here's Addie after pulling out all our plastic sacks:


You can't see it really well, but Addie had put on my makeup. She even got the eyeliner by her eyes! How pretty!


Well, that's the Taylor family update. We also got a new computer that works MUCH better, so maybe I'll even update my blog more often! We'll see!

Our New Baby Boy

He's here! Jackson Terry Taylor was born into our family on March 10 at 12:56 AM. He weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces and was a long 20 1/2 inches! He has a head full of blonde hair, a dimple in his chin, and is as sweet as can be. Everything went so well! We couldn't have asked for a better labor, delivery, and beautiful baby boy. Here are some pictures of our new man:

Addie loves her little brother. She wakes up every morning and comes in to see him, always softly whispering, "He's sooooo cute." She likes to help change his diaper and asks to hold him often. She has been very sweet, which we are very grateful for. Addie has also recently discovered that she likes bubbles in the tub. This seems pretty normal, but until now she has been deathly afraid of them. Here is a picture of her in the bath:

Eight Favorite Things Tag

OK Genessa, I don't know how I feel about this, but here goes:

8 Favorite TV Shows:
24
House
American Idol
Friends
So You Think You Can Dance
The Biggest Loser
The Amazing Race
Heroes

8 Things I Look Forward To:
Having our baby
Addie finally being potty trained
Eating cheeseburger soup for dinner
Having 3 months off of work
Winter being over
Going on vacation this summer
Taking our kids to Disneyland one day
Having time to scrapbook

8 Things on My Wish List:
A dual channel DVR
New skis
The Twilight books
Tickets to Ailey 2
My old dance performances on DVD
A new fridge
A new oven
A Wii

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
Went to McDonalds
Ate lunch with Addie and my mom at her work
Went shopping at Wal-Mart
Had another OB ultrasound
Returned books to the library
Made dinner (this is unusual for me)
Watched 24
Danced with Addie

8 Favorite Restaurants:
Wingers
Red Lobster
Applebees
Olive Garden
Johnny Carinos
Grecian Key
Jimmy Johns
Senor Iguanas

8 People I tag:
Jackie, Jill, Kendra, Brandee, Jennifer, Teresa, Amy, and Sarah

The Beloved Pony

Well, I know it's a little late, but we wanted to share our wonderful Christmas festivities with you. On Christmas Eve, Addie heard Santa's bells while she was in the bathtub and got out to find that he had left her a cute princess nightgown to wear to bed as she waited for Christmas morning. (She won't take the princess jamies off without quite the fight, even today!) When she woke up on Christmas morning, she found that Santa brought her just what she wanted- a pony!!!! She loves it! It was so much fun to have Christmas with an excited 2 year old. We opened presents at our house Christmas morning and then headed to Idaho Falls where Addie was excited to see Matt's family and play with her cousins. The next day we headed to my parents' house for more present opening. Addie loves spending time with her grandmas and grandpas. We had a lovely time. Addie was sad when we had to take down the tree and pack away her Rudolph movie, but she is having so much fun playing with all her new gifts. Today we were at Red Lobster and this cute little old man with a long white beard was sitting next to us. Addie pointed and yelled "SANTA CLAUSE!" and said, "thanks for the pony." She is so cute!
We hope you all had as wonderful a Christmas and New Year as we did!