Saturday, October 12, 2013

9 months.


This girl....

Length: 29.25 inch (96%)
Weight: 19 lbs 3 oz (67%)

This girl is long and lean. Except those thighs. Gotta put her chunk somewhere, amiright?

Milestones this month:

  • That tooth is half way in and I am on the edge of my seat for another one! 
  • You ONLY say "mama" and you stick your bottom lip out when you do. Sorry, Daddy! We're working on it, I promise!
  • You are a PRO at waving "hello" and "bye bye"! I don't even have to wave first... you just do it! When I come to get you in the morning, I open the curtains and you wave outside because I used to say "hello world"... cutest thing.
  • You love to clap and "dance" (a type of scoot bounce...you know) to any song, but especially Bubble Guppies (can you tell it is all that we watch).
  • You are FINALLY putting yourself back to sleep most nights! (*** key: most. I have finally come to realize that sleeping is not a milestone... when I chose to become a mom, I chose to give up sleep forever. Or at least until they're all out of my house... maybe.)



Things you like this month:
  • You LOVE shells and cheese and anything green but you're not a huge fan of fruit! That's Jason Taylor's child right there. Def not mine. 
  • You love the ol' toss-ya-in-the-air trick. 
  • Your favorite toys right now consist of a penguin puppet, your stand-up music table, and the elefun ball shooter (score for $4!). Mommy's favorite toy is your cat piano/mic/thing. :)
  • You have to get up and walk EVERYWHERE. I guess this is more of a milestone, but you fully enjoy "finger walking". You can get there WAY faster!
Things you don't like this month:
  • Strangers. Hello, separation anxiety.
  • The vacuum. Not the coolest task of the day.
  • Changing after bathtime. Laying on your back + being cold for any matter of time = fussy fussy fussy! 
  • Teething. Duh.
Special memories:

  • Watching daddy's first Kansas MS 150 ride! 
  • Wearing two piece pajamas (milestone or memory? Either way, I'm crying.)
  • Our first trip to Nebraska Furniture Mart and Louisburg Cider Mill.
  • Having Ampa & Amma visit our new house!




Love you sweet girl! Can this month drag on please? I'm not ready for double digit months. That means I have to plan her TEA PARTY birthday party! There is no better joy than this (besides Jesus...duh).

Side note, Jason and I have decided to shorten the "possesions" month of 7 and go right to "media" month. More on this after the media month :). I will not be on facebook, Instagram, blogs, etc. And if you do see me on there, tell me to go read a book! 



Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Our weekend in pictures.

We had the best weekend with my in-laws! They were our first visitors in our new house (hello motivation to get the guest room done)!

It also happened to be the very first fall-ish weather. We had to turn on our heat! Hallelujah! So obviously there were so many snuggles:::


And intense Bubble Guppy watching:


These two are twins, I tell ya. Both babies and they could talk your head off. 


Best candid:


Best "give me that donut" face:


And some family pics: (but I can't show you the best one... it's christmas card material)




uh, I die:




So happy fall y'all! Go get some cider donuts and hot, fresh apple cider! 
Andie is 9 months old! More on that coming soon! 


Sunday, October 6, 2013

a simplified life.

I forgot to publish this post a few weeks ago! Whoops:::

We are almost entering our third month of "7"!

Let me just tell you how we're doing: If I were a teacher, I'd give us an "F". If we were getting paid for this, we MIGHT have a couple dollars. If we were already living and adapted to a third world country, we'd be knocking this thing out of the park.

But we're Americans. Living in America, drinking American water, coping with this 21st century American society. So Jason basically hasn't even participated in the 2nd month (which is clothing, btw).   My first month with food basically went:

Eat the 7 foods for about 2 days, by the 3rd day, I've cheated, and by the 4th day, I've switched one of the foods out with something else. Ha.. so I'm a failure.

HOWEVER.... Our effort doesn't reflect our gain. Our spiritual, emotional, and mental gain from TRYING. It is now a constant thought in my head every day: to live more simply. So far, I've actually loved only wearing 7 items of clothing. It takes up so much less time in my day deciding on what to wear, I haven't ONCE thought "I have nothing to wear" because I have my 7 clothes. I know what I have and every morning, I just chose an outfit.

I mean, I wear the same outfit to bed and then again the next day all the time (it's a mom thing;)), so clothes really wasn't too hard. I did realize how much I could get rid of!

A significant question Jen Hatmaker asks in her book is about identifying yourself with these THINGS.

"What in my life, if taken away, would alter my value or identity?"

I try and think about this whenever I'm questioning keeping something, buying something, or giving (something I've been doing more of) something. Even things I get for Andie! It breaks my heart sometimes going into her closet knowing all her clothing needs are met and so much more, when a lot of children don't have any clothes at all!

So I'm off to go sleep in my Nike shorts and gray gap tee. Again. for the 4th day in a row.




Tuesday, September 17, 2013

8 months


I feel like Andie has done more in 8 months than I ever did before her. And sorry, I know she was 8 months on the 7th, so a little behind :)))

But I feel like I am now on her birthday countdown. I mean, I start listening to Christmas songs in September, so I can definitely start planning her birthday, right???
Hint: it's a tea party theme! I'm so excited!

All right, baby girl. This is you, now:

Weight: TBD
Height: TBD (but freaky tall)

Milestones this month:

  • You have your first tooth!!! Finally! It happened on the 9th... I thought I saw a speck! Sure 'nuff... it's past the gums!
  • You are saying "mamamamama" all the time! It's kind of my favorite thing! I know you aren't calling for me, but it's still too sweet to hear. 
  • You are a speedy crawler, but you are wanting to "walk" ALL the time! You take a GIANT step with your left foot and catch up with your right. Ha, it's kind of precious. You can pull yourself up on anything, which has resulted in countless bumps and bonks.
  • You are eating more and more "finger foods". Meaning, we bought the first (of many) boxes of Cheerios! You really can't get enough. But don't worry, you are eating PLENTY of veggies and fruits! Especially watermelon... you really are my child.
  • You can clap your hands! It makes you smile so big!
Things you like this month:

  • Sleeping in our bed after your 5 am feeding..... so sorry (or not? because it's precious?) that I started this. Hopefully you grow out of it by the time you go to college.
  • Your paci... another thing I'll have to break. Every time you see it, in your mouth it goes!
  • When daddy comes home, you know exactly where to look and you get SO happy!
  • Puffs, rice cakes with bananas (or just plain and a day old in the bottom of your carseat... those are usually winners, too), cheerios, grapes, avacado... you LOVE them!
  • Seeing your Nana and Papa! They make you laugh like no one else. So glad we can see them whenever we want to!
  • When we clap for you... makes you smile so big!
Things you don't like this month:
  • teething. :(
  • When I walk too far away. So the nursery this week should be fun....
  • When you are full or didn't like something, you just stick your whole tongue out. It's hilarious to us! 
  • When Papa cheers to loud while watching football. It's gonna be a loooooong season. 
Special memories:

  • We went to your first family reunion in Pratt, Kansas. 
  • You also met your adorable baby cousin Knox, the only baby so far you can boss around :)
  • You got your toenails painted for the first time.


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

September Weekends

How am I so so far behind in blogging?! Sheesh!

Let's grab this set up from Little Baby Garvin and recap life:

1. For Labor Day weekend, we went to a little town called Pratt Kansas.
Pros: Andie got to wear a bandana and not for fashion, for cooling her hot body down. This is real life country. Aunt Shelby took a bunch of the most incredible film pictures I've seen in a long time and Andie was in 90% of them. (Thanks a million). Cons: Andie is teething and had snot all over her face the entire weekend, mixed with sweat. It was so pretty.
3. Old Settler's Day is Olathe's Fair, so of course we HAD to go!
Pros: I bought fudge. And chevron leg warmers. Duh. Cons: Our cousin Kennadie (3 years old) decided she neeeeeeded to go potty! 

2. We took ANOTHER road trip, this time to Oklahoma.
Pros: Thank God for DVD players.

Cons: Andie was NOT having it being in the car again. Her attention span to the DVDs only lasted about 10 minutes.


3. We got to go meet baby Knox and hang out with his teeny little bod. Pros: Obviously smothering him with love.


Cons: Andie might have gotten a little jealous.

4. We got to see the rest of the Taylor fam! Pros: The 3 month gap between Emie and Andie is DEFINITELY not as obvious as it used to be! It is so fun seeing them grow out of the infant stage and into the almost-toddler stage together!
Cons: She had a terrible night the 2nd night and I let her sleep in our bed for the first time EVER. I know. I'm terrible. 

5. We got to sneak in a visit to the Brown family! Pros: While we were there to celebrate Barrett's 2nd birthday, his awesome mom went ahead and made me the most amazing lemon bars for my birthday! I could have eaten all 2 plates right there. Cons: Totally not enough time to catch up with your best friends. 



Let's also note how monstrous my baby's legs are in this picture.




Finally, one more weekend of activities and we are FREE!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

The petting zoo is rated R.


So crazy how life comes in a full circle. My parents took me to Deanna Rose Farmstead when we moved to KC and now Jason and I take Andie. Things like this get way more fun when she can enjoy and engage, rather than us adults walking in the pig-scented heat pushing a sleeping baby...

Here's the story in pictures:

1 & 2: this dinosaur of a goat just clobbered his way up the fence to say hi. Freaked this mother out, let me tell ya. 
3: sleeping pigs make Andie smile. Or she knows what to do in front of a camera
4: this, my friends, is the picture of the week. I covered the head of this goat with my finger because I was so wigged out. Get this::: it's breeding season. The male goats have a harness with chalk in the chest area. It's color shows when the lady goat will give birth. Guess how you know which goats are impregnated? Disturbing goat picture in your mind? You're welcome.
(That goat is indeed pregnant)
5. Family. Can't beat it.
6. Jason bathing. 
7. He wants to pump his own water all day long.
8. My favorite people 
9. I know, little guy. Life's rough. Hakuna matata. 


Wednesday, August 14, 2013

7

Okay... So what is 7? 

If you think its basically 7 months of eating dry chicken and wearing the same pants, you're not that far off.

Jason and I recently read the book '7' by Jen Hatmaker, and if you read it, I'm sure your mindset about life changed or was challenged just a bit. I've read books like this before but this one actually inspired us with something we could DO. 

Basically, it's a challenge to live a little simpler. We are doing this in hopes to realize just how "rich" we are, how we take such vital things for granted, and to reduce ourselves so Christ can increase.

Here's the format: every month you give up something/change the way you're living. Month one is food. We are eating 7 foods for the entire month (with a ton of justifications, I mean carefully considered options). This might not be hard for a lot of people, but when you've eaten DRY chicken and spinach and sweet potatoes with no "fixings"... It gets old. 

Regardless, we have already learned and realized a lot about our American habits, such as how we can so easily just go to the store and buy whatever we need. And whatever we don't need. I always pick up way more food than I intended on buying and I always end up throwing away more than I am okay with (aka like NONE). 

We also took notice of how much we look forward to each meal, like we feel entitled to special food that makes us feel comfortable/happy/fancy/better. And by "we" I mean "I". 

So, pray for us on this journey because I have to reassess why I'm doing this 7,431 times a day. :)



Wednesday, August 7, 2013

sevenmonths.

Wait, didn't I just type the six months post? 
Seriously, that one month needs to last a little longer. It's like... I need more time to realize the first half of her first year is actually over. She is now closer to turning a year than she is to the day she was born. WHATTHE.





Milestones this month:

  • Started drinking water in her bottle at mealtimes! You LOVE water!
  • When you wake up, you have been looking at your hands, grabbing your fingers and just studying away! So precious to see you do this!
  • You've also discovered the details of the face. You grab all over ours when we hold you! I mean, it hurts, but it's all in the name of growth & discovery, right?
  • You are TRYING so hard to do different things with your mouth! You've watched us blow raspberries and you just suck your lips in and don't know where to go from there. You love it when daddy pouts his bottom lip out. Of course it's another thing to grab for you!
  • Crawling on our stomachs! (So I guess that's scooting?) Baby girl, you are MOBILE! If you want something, it doesn't stand a chance! 
  • We can wear hair clips! Your hair is long enough to clip something in! I still prefer headbands, but having options is great :)
  • We've upgraded from plain ol' rice cereal to apple cinnamon oatmeal and you LOVE it! I can't get it in your mouth fast enough!
Things you like this month:
  • Anything "peek-a-boo" and "where's...?" You never fail to laugh and it's so entertaining!
  • Your voice! You only use consonants when you're tired or fussy, so no real "mamas" or "dadas" yet... but you loooove to yell and "sing".
  • Sleeping on your little blankie (I hate the word 'lovie', but that's basically what it is). You sleep on your tummy and always put your head near your silky blankie!
  • Your walker and bouncer! I can get a good 20-30 minutes of entertainment for you right there!
  • Seeing me open the car door! You smile so big every time you know I'm going to get you out of the car!
  • Banging EVERYTHING! All these new noises make you so happy. About to start calling you "bam bam".
  • Seeing me walk into the room. I love that I can make you that happy! 
Things you don't like this month:
  • Being in your car seat. I mean, you were screaming bloody murder for a while. It's gotten better, but I think that's because I've figured out how to distract you.
  • I can't think of anything else but mangoes? You were not a fan of those... 
Other memories:
  • Your first trip to Kansas City! You are going to love the farmer's market and going antique shopping when you get older! Training you now :)
  • We are crying it out OFFICIALLY. After 3 months of my wishy washy ways and giving in to feed you because that meant sleep for both of us, I've decided to bring in the big guns: daddy. For the past 2 nights, he has been the one to go in and give you your pacifier and let you fall asleep on your own. After an hour and a half(!!!) the first night, you did MUCH better last night! It also rained, so that helped :) Lord help us this week. You and I both need our first 7 straight hours of sleep......
I love you so much, baby love! You are my world and I thank God for you everyday!


Obsessed with fall!

You know that time in August when one day you wake up and you are OBSESSED with everything cinnamon/pumpkin/warm/twiggy/sweater-y? 

Yeah I'm there.
Except I've never been that pumpkin-crazed one who camps outside starbucks the night before their pumpkin spice lattes hit the menu. Maybe I'll try one this year. 

For my husband, he's obsessed with the fact that Carrie underwood is singing the Sunday football song. #overratedanyone?

Anyways, so what do we do when we feel like this? We make Pinterest boards... Like we haven't made any fall ones the lat two years. And then we get REAL excited because we realize it will be our babies' first fall and she can be in cute pictures with pumpkins bigger than her. Oh I can't wait. Lets not even start with baby Halloween costumes...

And the other thing we do? Duh... Color our roots. Welcome to the dark side, Jordan! 


Hey, Andie was feelin it:)

Let the pumpkin bread and Caramel Apple Cider (OMG I DIE) flow freely!! 

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Weekend in KC

This Saturday, we FINALLY made it down to explore downtown for the first Fridays weekend. 

I love Kansas City. I'm talking antique shops (it took us all day to get through just 2), food trucks, farmers market, the cutest coffee shop KC's ever seen (way to go Quay) and not to mention, we had killer weather.
This mama scored some winners

(Cat not included)

Also, Andie was an absolute GEM. I can't complain that our favorite store (Bella Patina) has a baby room to change and feed your baby in! Hallelujah!


Shelby wanted to try being mama 

I gotta mention how cool it is seeing your wedding picture on the wall of a public building! 


Also, I failed 7 today. If you're like "what the heck is 7?", then come back soon! I'll post about it later :)

Have a great week! 

Monday, July 29, 2013

Breakfast at Andie's

This little girl....

is teething.

Our nights have been so screwed up. She falls asleep at sometime P.M. and wakes up whenever she wants A.M.  Not to forget all the many times at God-its-too-early-A.M. Last night, I ended up feeding her every single time. I just gave up. What she is lacking in teeth, she has in attitude right now. I will never pull this tooth out of her mouth. We have worked way too hard for it! It will stay in there, I tell you! This, obviously, is the downfall of the 6 month stage.

HOWEVER...

There is good! She is crawling, people! One night when she was wide awake at 9:45, she saw some popcorn she spilled on the floor and took her first crawl! Jason and I were so excited, you would have thought it was Christmas morning! We posted it on Instagram, so go follow me :)


Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Day at the Lake

Whoops... found this post from a couple weeks ago saved as a draft:::

What do we do with a couple hours?
Take the canoe out. 






Note: the shore. That's about as far as they got ;)





Whaddya do without a table and chairs? Eat in the canoe. Duh.