Reflective

I have been really reflective the past couple of days and wanted to write some thoughts down.  I follow this blog: www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com faithfully and get so much out of reading Stephanie's inspiring words after all that she has been through.  Her last post "Critical Condition" has me thinking...a lot.  What she says is so true-when someone is in critical condition the world stops for them and their family, but the world goes on for everyone else.  She also expresses gratitude for her time of being in critical condition after her accident.  

All of us, at some point in our life will be in "critical condition", where we will be barely hanging in there.  Whether it's physically, emotionally or spiritually.  She shares her beautiful testimony of the Savior and his role in her life at such a critical time.

I have been reflecting on when I was in "critical condition" emotionally.  I never thought I would be grateful for that time of my life or that anything good would come out of it.  But i have been so truly blessed, in ways that I never thought possible.  They were the kinds of blessings that I never thought of as real blessings.  At this time in my life I depended on the Savior, the Spirit and my Heavenly Father.  I am so grateful to have a time in my life when I KNEW that the Savior was with me.  He was there until I recovered and is still there.  

My life stopped and the world just kept moving forward.  It was so hard to look around and think that no one cared and that everyone else was so happy.  My world stood still, and in that moment all I knew was that I was not alone.  I am so grateful for this time in my life and will never forget it.  It has made me a better person and has made me understand the atonement and our purpose here so much more clear.  

Now that I have made a "full recovery" and am living a dream I am so grateful.  Grateful for friends and family who helped me, grateful for my daughters who gave me reason to move forward, grateful for a testimony and faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  I am grateful  to have Chad, who has been so good for me and the girls,  and to have an eternal family.  I feel like I have come full circle-and more!  Life is good.

Counting

Had to capture this moment...Taylor just loves Chad and wants to always be with him when he is home.  She is so lovey and cuddly with him-it's adorable.  Here they are watching Monsters together

Taylor can count really well to 11, and she was doing it...then I pulled out the camera!  So frustrating!  She talks and talks until I pull out the camera, then she gives me nothing!  These are cute anyway, and this is what we got on tape...

Taylor's Real Birthday

Today is Taylor's official birthday and we headed to Park City to ride the Alpine Slide to celebrate.  It was REALLY hot, but the slide and rollercoaster were so much fun.  Katelyn was scared and hesitant at first of course, but when she was done she loved it!  Taylor on the other hand loved every minute of it and wanted to do it again.  

My dad pointed out to me that my last post of Taylor was not a happy one, and then I followed it up with how sweet she is!  But it's true, although she is going through her terrible twos, she is still my sweet Taylor.  Taylor was born at the perfect time in my life.  The Lord knew that I needed to have her when I did.  Taking care of her and Katelyn is what kept me going.  Taylor has smile that lights up the room.  I couldn't wallow in my sorrow when she smiled at me. I love her little voice and that she lives in her own little world and gabs and sings all day long. I am so grateful to have both of my girls in my life.  Happy Birthday Taylor!

When I stripped the bed for laundry this morning, the girls immediately jumped up on it and went crazy.  I just love it when they play and laugh together-I could listen to it all day long!  They love to play ring around the rosie..here's a video of it

Taylor's Family Birthday Celebration!

Yesterday we celebrated Taylor's 2nd Birthday with Chad' family.  I finally found the cord to charge my video camera, so I was able to get video!  It's been way too long and I barely have video footage of Taylor!  Anyway, I didn't get as many pictures because it's hard to work both cameras!  This was my first attempt at making the birthday cake and I think I did a pretty good job!  Taylor loved her ladybug cake and the cupcakes were a hit.

We sent the kids outside to inhale the cupcakes-red frosting on the carpet would not be good!  Here's Taylor all hyped out on sugar!  She ripped her pigtails out and ran around like a crazy girl!
We were SO excited to give her this!  I bought it 2 months ago and have been dying to give it to her!  She LOVES trampolines and this one is indoors!  It was priceless to see her face when she saw it, and she ran straight to it and jumped for 3 hours!  She slept well last night, needless to say!  This was the perfect gift, and Katelyn loves it too!

We sure do love our Taylor Bean!  She brings us so much JOY and is such a monkey!  That girl has so much energy for her little body, and is always busy talking, singing and dancing.  She lives in her own little world, and is happy in it!  We love you Taylor!

The Terrible Twos have arrived!

What happened to my sweet Taylor? Over the past couple of months, Taylor has gotten progressively worse, and the tantrums started coming. I was more prepared after dealing with this stage with Katelyn, but for some reason I was hoping Taylor would skip over it. I know-wishful thinking. Taylor is driving me crazy! She cries all day long, screams all day long, throws fits all day long, and she loves the words "No!" and "Mine!" She has also started hitting, and now she is the one picking on Katelyn! The time outs are now in full force, and her attitude is out of control. Let's hope it doesn't get worse at 3, like it did with Katelyn. I want my sweet Taylor back! Of course, she still has those wonderful moments, but they are few and far between!

Cherry Hill

Today we went to Cherry Hill with all of Chad's Family. I have fond memories of this place from when we would visit in the summer growing up.  The girls loved the lazy river, and Taylor wanted to float on her own without being touched...too bad she didn't have floaties!  So we had to buy her some.  The light switch with swimming just went on with Katelyn.  I looked over and she went under the water.  I panicked, and then she popped back up and had the look of joy across her face.  "I did it mom!  Did you see that?!  I can swim!"  Then she just kept swimming, only lifting her head to get some air and then back down she went.  This was monumental and a huge milestone.  Like all milestones with Katelyn, I feel like we will never get past them and Katelyn fights them with ALL of her might.  But then she finally moves over the hurdle and it's great! I can't believe I saw her swim today!

Chad took her on a raft rapid slide, and that traumatized her.  She came out bawling her eyes out (you can tell in the picture of her).  Then we tried to take her on another slide, where she could sit on my lap.  She said she didn't like that one either, but after doing it a second time she was hooked and I think we went on it 6 times!  Taylor has no fear and such an adventurous spirit.  She went on it with Chad 4 times.  I was paranoid the entire time since she had no floaties and I was afraid she would go under at the end, but Chad held her up everytime. 

It was a wonderful day with our family.

Family Pics

My brother Byron and Hayley came up yesterday and took these amazing pics of us!  I love about 50 of them and can't decide which ones to get blown up.  These are only a few of the ones we liked.  I am making a frame collage on our wall with 8 pictures, so I need to narrow it down.  Out of the ones I posted, which one is your favorite?

Taylor

I was in the foyer at church yesterday with Taylor, and she said the most funny and adorable thing.  She saw a picture of Jesus and I said, "Who's that?"  She said "Jesus!"  Then after a pause she reached out her arms and said, "I want to hold Him!"  I tried to explain that it was just a painting, but she got really frustrated and started screaming, "I want to hold Jesus!"  The people around us got a kick out of it, and I couldn't stop laughing.

Good Times with a Dear Friend

Yesterday we drove down to Cedar Hills to see my girlfriend Tammy and her kids.  Tammy was my roommate in college for two years and we have kept in touch and are the closest friends.  I love her dearly and am grateful to be her friend.  She has 4 kids under the age of 5 and I don't know how she does it!  So, needless to say it was a crazy day with 6 kids under the age of 5!  But it was so fun to just hang out with her all day.  

Then today we went to see the Lloyd family's (Chad's sister) new puppy.  She was adorable and the girls fell in love with her.  Now, they are begging us for one...there is no way we are buying one!  But I told them they could go and play with this one whenever they wanted.