Time flies when life is good!

I can not believe my baby is fixing to be two in a couple of weeks. I have been running around like a crazy woman trying to figure out the best thing to do for her birthday party. I still dont have my plans in stone and her party is in less than 2 weeks. I better get my mind made up SOON! She's so much fun right now and has so much personality. She just recently started doing flips all by herself and her vocabulary is growing so big! She loves reading and helping me cook and clean. She's my everything and makes my life so happy and complete!



Les and I ran a 8k race this past Saturday. It was so much fun but so tiring. We both survived but held up the back of the line pretty well. We both finished in under an hour which was my goal and I made it Les' goal too! I finished 2 minutes ahead of him so I ran back to meet him, after I crossed the finish line, and forced him to sprint back. When I say force, I didnt have to push him over the line or anything, it was just more of a mental force. I kept saying "Les, you gotta finish in less than an hour. You've got 30 seconds left. Youve got to sprint!" He would respond with "Im going as fast as I can." I knew he wasnt so I just kept bugging him and he sped up awfully quick and finished it in less than hour! WOOO HOOO! I know now that he'll be passing me in the next race because I think he has the running fever.

Living a life for God...

Proverbs 22:6 states, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." I love this verse. It is a constant reminder to me that it is never too early to begin teaching a child about the love of Jesus Christ. Even before Taylor was born, I would read her a Bible story every night before Paul and I went to bed. I wanted her to know the Word and be able to turn to God when she got old enough to fully understand the love and power of a relationship with her creator. Once she was born, I continued to read stories to her each night. I know that right now she doesn't understand who this wonderful Jesus is that she prays to before we eat or who she reads about each night, but one day she will know. She will know because Paul and I have the responsibility to teach her and train her in the ways of a Godly life and not the ways of this world. She will know because each Sunday we have her in church. She will know because she is surrounded by a family who not only loves her more than anything in this world but loves God foremost.

It is so sweet and humbling to see Taylor initiate prayer before our meals each day. Sometimes, in the busyness of life, I do forget to ask God to bless my food, but she is my little reminder to pray. She will put her sweet little hands together and look at me and say "pray." I just thank God for my baby who is my little reminder even when I forget. Taylor knows when we pray and she knows what you're supposed to do when you pray. Even at Grandma's house, when we are about to leave, she grabs our hands and says "pray" because she knows we always pray with her before we leave. It is such a blessing to see my not yet 2 year old growing in the Lord.

Christ is not only the cornerstone but he's the foundation. He's solid, mighty, powerful and He died for us, all of us. In our Bible study at church we are reading through the entire Bible together. We have made it to the New Testament and are reading about the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ. Reading about how those "important" leaders mocked and beat Jesus make my insides quiver. He was hung on the cross and treated like a criminal and He was PERFECT! But it had to be done for me and everyone else. It had to be done so that our sins would be forgiven and so we would live eternally in Heaven. The least I could do is give my life to Him and make sure my child is "trained in the way (s)he should go."

A 2 year old's dream!

We ventured out yesterday afternoon to take Taylor to the SC State Fair! This was her second year going but last year she was too little to eat too much of anything much less ride any of the rides. Paul got off work at 2:00 so once Taylor woke up from her nap, we were on our way! I love the fair so I think I was the most excited! We stuffed our bellies with corn dogs, french fries, strawberry lemonade, donuts, chinese chicken, and cotton candy. Taylor wasnt big on eating (she never is) but she LOVED the rides. Each ride uses 2 tickets and we sometimes had to pay if one of us rode with her and we used 39 tickets. We rode around 15 rides with Taylor. Her favorite seemed to be the things that went the fastest, shook her the most, and went the highest. That child is not scared of anything. She ended up putting her hand in the hair and saying "weeeee" like the big kids. So cute! We also rode on an elephant. She loved watching his big ears flopping right under our feet (or maybe I did and tried to get her to keep watching them). This was a first for Taylor and me both! She also loved looking at the animals and petting the ones in the zoo area. It's so much fun having a child. They bring so much more joy to the simple things in life. Going to the fair has always been fun but now with Taylor its adds so much more to the experience. Life isn't lived for just me anymore, its all about Taylor and doing things for her and seeing the joy in her life.

33 minutes 8 seconds

It was quite chilly outside this morning and took until mile 2 before my blood was flowing and my bones thawed out. At mile 1, I was asking myself, "why in the world did you sign up for this? Im never racing again!" At mile 2, I felt great and was ready to sign up for the next run in Columbia. At mile 3, the end was in sight and I picked up my speed to what I call a sprint! I crossed the finish line at 33 minutes and 8 seconds. I was so proud. My initial goal was 38 minutes and then I changed it to 35 minutes while talking to another runner this morning. Her goal was 25 (she was a seasoned runner) but I was like geez I cant tell her my goal is 38, that sounds wimpy compared to her goal so I shaved off 3 minutes. The run was great and there was a huge turn out for the event. They actually had to close registration early because there were around 1300 runners. Paul, Taylor, Mom, and Les came out to cheer me on and were waiting for me at the finish line! All Taylor was interested in was Cocky! She kept wanting to follow him around everywhere...too cute!! A true Carolina fan in the making!

5k Race--HERE I COME!

If you remember, I posted a long time ago that I would be doing a 5k race and for everyone to hold me to it. Well, the time is near! My race is Saturday, and I am so excited. I picked up my registration packet today and got my pretty little number to pin on my shirt! 755! Watch out all you other racers....EAT MY DUST (remember, thats my self-comfidence taking over)! I've been running for a few weeks now trying to get ready for this race and I dont think Ill ever feel ready but there's nothing more I can do now. I have been running a few days a week and having a lot of problems with my right knee. Its such a bummer to be running and feeling good but feel like you cant keep going because you have a crazy pain in your knee. It literally feels like my knee cap is going to pop out of place. Im going to run today with it wrapped and see if that helps any. I have a goal to finish in 38 minutes. I looked up times of other female runners and thats the range they finished 5k's in. I know some of them are more seasoned runners and it wasnt their first 5k but I didnt think it was too fast anyways. I hope I can make it! Ill post about it after the race (and I promise not wait a month).

She's growing up way too fast...but not getting any bigger

I was looking back at pictures from last Halloween out our church Fall Festival, and I couldn't believe how much Taylor has grown this past year. She doesn't weigh much more than she weighed last year, but she's not a baby anymore. I attached two pictures below for you to see.

I am very excited about the Fall entertainment this year. We have so much planned for our little Taylor in the next three weeks. We are going to the fair, two or three Fall Festivals, Pumpkin Patch, and Boo at the zoo. She is going to have so much fun. She loves going to new places. A lot of these places, we will be going to with my great friend Lisa and her little man Cameron. Cameron and Taylor have developed such a great friendship too! They are so cute together and they have such a sweet love/hate relationship. One day they are hugging and kissing and the next day they are pushing each other. Lisa and I work together at the gym so they get to see each other almost every day.

Taylor went to the doctor again this week for a follow up and once again...BAD NEWS! She's lost 10 ounces. She is a whooping 20 pounds 6 ounces. My little peanut is so tiny to be almost 2. We go back in 4 weeks, so please pray for her. She's not interested in food too much so its a battle everyday trying to get her to eat. We give her those Nestle Boost drinks which has all her vitamins and nutrients that she needs but its still not putting weight on her. Im just waiting for the day when she'll gobble up a big ol cheeseburger or an entire chicken nugget happy meal!

Cuteness

Sore throats and popsicles...

Taylor went to the doctor today and she has another sore throat. After not going to sleep this morning until 4:00 AM, I figured something was majorly wrong. I am worn out! Thank the Lord she doesn't have an ear infection but now these sore throats seem to be taking over. It's not strep but her throat just gets irritated and gets these little blisters on it. AWWW...more poor sweet baby! After the doctor we went to get popsicles and other treats and after her nap we did all her favorite things- Play-Doh, bubbles, water, and popsicles!

Taylor was trying to squirt me with the water outside. I paused for one second to take a picture and she got me (as you can see)!

Blowing bubbles!

Taylor with her popsicle (this was number 3).

Popsicle #1 and she stole mine -popsicle #2

5K

Ok, listen up everyone....
As most of you know I will not be doing the triathlon sprint in Sept for numerous reasons. The main reason is expenses. I never realized how expensive it would be to take part in a sprint. First, I would have to travel to the beach and rent a hotel room for one night. Then I needed all the gear to successfully compete in the race. I was looking at well over $300 so I decided, no thank you!

I am going to be doing a 5K run in Oct. Please everyone that reads, hold me to this. I am going to go ahead and register in the next week or so and Im going to train and WIN (I doubt it, but what's wrong with a little self confidence?) Anways, I plan to post about my training and then the race itself, wish me luck! This time, Im really going to do it!

Ahhhhh....Vacation

Paul and I have both been in weddings, but we have never been in one together (except our own) until about two weeks ago. Our friends, Brent and Nikki, were married at our church on Aug. 7. It was a beautiful wedding and we had lots of fun! The week after the wedding, we headed out on our much needed vacation to the beach. We stayed in a house in Ocean Lakes. We were very grateful to spend the week with some of Taylor's grandparents (Meme, Pappy, Papa, and Nana). Taylor loved having some of the people she loves the most all around her for a full week. She had a great time and loved everything about the beach. I was a little worried that she wouldnt like the all the beach sand because it would stick to her and create what she calls "mess." My child is a neat freak and does not like anything out of place or on the floor. She says "mess" over and over until someone cleans up. Anyways, back to the beach....The first part of the week was not so good. Mom and Les' vehicle started having some problems on the drive down and it ended up costing them well over $1000. Les and I both got the stomach virus for two days and were not feeling up to doing much of anything. I have never thrown up in so many random places in my life (on the side of the road, on a tree in our beach house yard, in a seafood restaurant...lots of fun!) Luckily, we both recovered quickly and no one else got it! The rest of the week was a blast and we cant wait to go back.




Taylor saying "cheese" for the camera. She had just woken up!
Paul and me at the wedding.

My sweet baby watching the waves.

Family pic at the beach!

Taylor helping Daddy wash the car before going the beach. She has to help do everything!

Happy Anniversary To Us!

I can't believe it has been 21 days since I have last posted on my blog. How shameful! Time flies when you are enjoying it! Today is mine and Paul's 4 year anniversary. We have had a great 4 years of marriage! Yes, there have been times that I want to choke him, but I do love that stubborn man more than anything! He is not only a wonderful husband but is an extraordinary father! We are going out this weekend to celebrate and Nana and Papa are keeping Taylor. I'm not sure what we are going to do yet, but it's going to be great to just have adult time and adult conversation.

I have so much to catch y'all up on....

First of all Taylor went to the doctor and she was finally.....20 pounds! Hip Hip Hooray! It was 20 pounds on the dot! Paul and I were so excited that within those next two days, we had researched car seats and made the big purchase. Taylor loves being turned around now but her head flops around real bad when she falls asleep. It doesn't look comfortable at all but she's never in the car for long periods of time so I guess we can live with it! We are still having to go the doctor for weight follow ups so about a week ago, we visited Dr. Greenhouse to check on her weight and (drum roll please).... My baby was 19 pounds and around 13 ounces. OH MY GOODNESS! She's not 20 pounds anymore. But, no we did not put her back in her rear facing car seat. We go back in a few more weeks for another follow up, we will see how that goes!

I got to finally meet my new nephew, Hudson, last week. Sarah (my stepsister), Corrie (niece #1), Avery (niece #2), and Hudson (nephew #1) came to Columbia to visit with Mom and Les for a week. They came by the house one of those days and spent an hour with Taylor and me. The kids had fun playing but definitely have a lot to learn when it comes to sharing. Taylor and Avery who are just a few months apart don't quite understand that concept yet. They just want what each other has. Hudson is a very cute baby and so sweet! Corrie and Avery are growing so fast and Corrie really seems to love being a big sister to Avery and Hudson. I just cant believe there are three of them now and they are all 3 years old and under! Can you believe it?!? Sarah is crazy! :)

This past Sunday, we had a baptism service at the lake. As most of you know, my father in law is the pastor and so it was done at his house, which is on the lake. It was HOT but it was powerful. We had 11 baptisms. Paul gave a mini sermon on baptism and he did such a great job! It is amazing how Paul is given so much knowledge and wisdom from the things he reads in the Bible. God is truly using him in our ministry and in the lives of others. I am very blessed to have a Godly husband and a spiritual leader in my home.

And last but definitely not least, Paul got offered a new job this week. It is a blessing for him to be able to take on this new experience. There are many more perks to this job and a nice pay raise! We have been praying for a change and God definitely opened that door for Paul. Please pray for him as he finishes up these two weeks with Canteen and moves on to his new job.

Taylor trying out her carseat in the store!HudsonMarie (A lady at our church)

Sherri (my sister in law)Paul -giving his sermon on baptism

Family and Fireworks

We had such an eventful 4th of July weekend! Paul and I were both off on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday so we got a lot of great family time together. On Thursday, Paul and I decided to take on the project of cleaning out our garage. We have a lot of "stuff" in the garage and its very unorganized and half of it is junk that we just can't get rid (I know everyone knows what I'm talking about). Anyways, we pulled EVERYTHING out and threw away some stuff, put a lot by the road for trash scavengers (it was all gone by the next day), and stuck the rest neatly back in the garage. On Friday, we went to a people festival. It was really a balloon festival but there wasn't much balloon action going on! Because of the wind they didn't inflate the balloons until we were about to leave--what a bummer. A lady referred to it as a people festival because that was all that was really going on, people just walking around. Mom and Les went too. It was actually their idea. They told me they were going and I said "oh we want to go too!" So, whether they wanted us to or not, we went! :) We had a good time playing with Taylor and chasing her around everywhere! She definitely liked the balloons!

On the 4th, we went to the lake for our annual gathering! For the past two years, we have invited our church family to come up and celebrate the 4th with us. This year there were so many people there. All the family was there--including our niece Emilee (who now lives here with her Dad! We are so happy to have her home!) and one guy whose presence was very special. My brother in law Jamie has been in Afghanistan for the past 9 months and was able to come home last week for his 15 day leave. It was so great seeing him. He is a wonderful guy and a wonderful husband and father. It's amazing the strength these guys have to be able to leave their comfort zones and go to an unfamiliar area, away from all the things that matter the most. We all love Jamie and appreciate the work he does! My sis-in-law Sherri has been on cloud 9 these past two weeks. She can't seem to take her eyes off him! Jay and Breanna are also just ecstatic to have him home. They seem complete now. Jamie leaves again tomorrow to finish up his year there. Please keep him and Sherri and the kids in your prayers. He will only be gone for about 8 weeks before he gets to come home for good but it will be a hard 8 weeks for them all. e can't wait to see him step off that plane for good in two months!

Paul and Pappy watching the balloons inflate

Taylor and Meme at the People Festival

Our garage project

Paul and Taylor watching fireworks. It was late, Taylor was sleepy

Jamie and Sherri watching fireworks (a great picture after 3 tries!). See that smile...her face has been stuck like that for two weeks!

It's Been A While...

I told Les that I'd write on my blog probably everyday so he needed to check it everyday. I guess I told a small lie! It's been a while but I've been so busy and it's time consuming to sit and figure out something to write that will be worth reading. I do have great news though that I should have updated on sooner but Taylor's labs came back all clear! She's a perfectly healthy, super active child with a high metabolism! Hey, I think it's great that she's small! Hopefully, she won't have any weight issues in the future if she continues to have a high metabolism. I still have to give her high calories foods such as Carnation Instant Breakfast Shakes, Pnut butter, yogurt, etc. and we have to go back to the doctor in a month for a follow up. I did take her to the doctor on Monday because she has a cold and I wanted to make sure it wasn't an ear infection. Thankfully, no ear infection and she had gained 7 ounces. She is now 19 lbs. 13 ounces! Praise God! My baby is almost 19 months old and still faces backwards in her carseat. It's a good thing though because the guidelines have changed and they want you to keep your baby facing backwards until they turn 2 or completely grow out of their carseat. Once Taylor hits 20 pounds, we will probably turn her around. She's getting close to 2 and she wants to see what we see while driving down the road. She's always sitting up, stretching her neck as far as it will go to see where we are and what's going on. She's so sweet and cute!

I officially won worst mother of the year award on Sunday. We were at church and we have a cry room. Its set up like a nursery but we dont have a nursery worker. We take our kids in there ourselves when they get fussy and sit with them. They have a tv in there that broadcasts what is going on in the church, so I still get to watch the service. Anyways, church was almost over and they were getting ready to pray. Taylor always wants to get in the crib, so I put her in the crib to play while I picked all the toys she had pulled out. I would pick up a toy and then go stand with her. She's never tempted to get out of the crib or even lean over the bars, but for some reason on Sunday she decided to flip out of the crib. I turned my back to pick up a toy and heard "thump." I turned around and my baby was on her back on the floor. The crib isnt that low and I really didnt think she could come out of it but she's starting to climb and I think she just got her foot on a perfect spot on the bumper pad and gave herself a little push over. I freaked, Taylor freaked, and everyone in the church freaked. She cried so loud, people started coming in there to see what was going on. Paul came rushing in there and grabbed her from me and just started praying over her because at that point we weren't sure if she was hurt or not. After a while, she calmed down and we realized she was just fine! I think it knocked the wind out of her and scared her. I know it scared me and so congratulations Melissa---you've earned yourself worst mother of the year!

Them Tigers STINK! Go Gamecocks!

Happy Father's Day

It has been such an exciting and busy weekend for us! Yesterday, we went to my nieces 2nd birthday party. She is such a cutie pie and is growing up fast! We had fun watching her open her gifts and eat her cake so properly with a fork. I think she has a small obsession with Dora so my sister in law, Brandi, had Dora EVERYTHING for the party. Dora decorations, Dora chair, Dora cake, Dora playing on the TV. I think I've had enough Dora to last me a while! :)

Last night, our church had a pig picking at Thomas and Lynne's house. The food was amazing but the real fun was playing football. We played a touch game in the front yard. It was a great mix of people playing. There was the old (my brother in law, Lin...haha), the young (Tristan), the girls (Nikki and me), the hot one (my husband), the catcher (Byron), the host (Thomas), the tall/lanky guy (Brent) and the all around big guy (Jonathan). We also had a wondeful cheerleader (my sis in law, Sherri). With no broken bones and no major injuries, my team walked away the winners! Hopefully, we will get challenged sometime soon to play again. I think we will be changing the sport to baseball though.

While all this fun was going on, Taylor was at her Meme and Pappy's having some fun of her own! She sorta kinda spent the night off for the first time! Paul and I ended up staying at my moms too but we let them put her to bed and get her up this morning when she woke up. Taylor didn't even know we were there and she did wonderful besides the going to sleep part. She's a little difficult to put to sleep but after some walking, riding in a car, and then rocking she was finally asleep and slept until 8:00.

Happy Father's Day to all you wondeful Father's out there! I didn't get a chance to see my dad today because he's at the beach for the weekend. I did give him permission to go this time but I dont think Ill allow him to do it again next year! :) It just wasn't the same not seeing him! Because he was out of town, we spent the majority of the day at the Lake. We had a great time swimming and playing with our nieces and nephews and chatting with all of our siblings.

While at the lake, Taylor broke out in these hives all over hiney. It scared me so bad. I called the nurse and she told me that it was probably a reaction to her vaccines and that I needed to bring her in to the doctor on Monday morning. She said they probably would not go away anytime soon and that I needed to keep an eye on her. Paul took Taylor down to his grandma's and she prayed over Taylor. Can you believe that within the hour, they had completely cleared up!?! Isn't God good!?! I'm so blessed to have a praying family and a God that loves and heals my child.

19 pounds and 3 ounces

Taylor went for her 18 month well visit on Friday and it was terrible. Let me take you back a couple weeks and even months to get you all caught up...

Two weeks ago, Taylor had to go to the doctor because she wasn't feeling well. She was running a fever, fussy, not sleeping. I knew it was an ear infection and I just needed that confirmed by the doc so that she could put her on medicine. She definitely had an ear infection in both ears. At that appointment, the doctor noticed that she hadn't gained ANY weight in two months. The doctor gave me food ideas to help fatten Taylor up. I went to the store and bought all the foods and drinks she suggested. I made sure Taylor was eating even if I had to have food in my hand the entire day so that she would take a bite every so often. We went back to the doctor a week later to make sure her ears were clearing up and she had gained 10 ounces! We were so excited. We were only three ounces away from turning her around in her car seat! I continued feeding her like I had been the week before and knew she would be 20 pounds for her 18 month well visit. We arrived at the appointment, they called her back, and we stripped her down to her diaper for the weigh in! She stood on the scales and it read......19 pounds 3 ounces (the same weight she's been for over two months). She had lost the 10 ounces she had gained in less than a week. The doctor immediately became concerned and after her THREE vaccines, sent us to a lab to get blood work done. By this point, Im freaking out as Im hearing Dr. Greenhouse tell me that she wants to make sure her kidneys, liver, and thyroid are functioning properly. The doc is being very optimistic and hoping that Taylor has an extremely high metabolism. Taylor is not really carrying any of the symptons of thyroid problems or any other organ problems so we are praying that everything is just fine. My child is just active in a good way. She's listens well, she's sweet, and she's just playful!

The results will be in tomorrow. We've prayed about it and we have put it in God's hands.

"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever."

This was the quote by Lance Armstrong I was staring at and repeating over and over this morning at 5:30 AM when I was taking the RPM class at Golds Gym. If you aren't familiar with RPM, you can check out this website to learn more about any of the classes by Les Mills--www.lesmills.com. This is my new favorite quote because it definitely kept me going and encouraged me to not give up and to keep coming back! 5:30 is early, but it works best for my family. Taylor doesn't have to go the gym more than once a day and it doesn't interfere with the hubby time. Working out is addicting, especially if you are doing something you enjoy so I have decided to train for a triathlon sprint. This consists of about a half mile swim, 15 mile bike ride, and then a 3 mile run. I think the biking I can handle, running is achievable, but swimming is my weakest area. Paul is a great swimmer so hopefully he can help train me in this area. I plan on doing the triathlon toward the end of the summer. Hopefully, I will stick with this goal and continue to work hard to meet others that I set for myself.

Toilet time with a book...

I thought this was just too cute to not share. Yes, Taylor did poopy again today on the toilet and yes, she is reading a book! It helped time pass as we waited!

Nothing Sweeter...

My child is a genius! If you read my post yesterday, you know that she peepee'd on the toilet for the first time two days ago. Well, yesterday she actually pooped on the toilet! I sat her on her little seat right before putting her into the bath, like I always do, and she wasn't doing anything but sitting. I said, "Taylor, you got to go ughhhhh (that's me making a grunting sound)." She then responded with, "ughhhh" and definitely left a small present! I couldn't believe it! Instead of making a big deal out of it, I just sat there and looked at it. I was in shock for a moment. Now looking back, I should have jumped up and down, screamed and shouted, and given her high fives! That's such a big accomplishment! Now, if only I could get her to do it all the time! We'll work on it!

Taylor had a great day at work today. I've been putting her hair in pigtails so I've attached a few pictures for you to see.
Taylor loves getting into the baby swings at work. She's definitely too old for them but not too big for them.

She's an Angel!

Coloring with the big kids at work!

Smiling really big for the picture

Sitting on the front porch. So sweet!

It's Summer and Its HOT!

Taylor's "Funny Face"

Taylor with her bunny that Papa bought her

but no the bunny did not come home with us!

I can't believe it is already summer time! I used to look forward to being out of school as a kid and teenager and look forward to long days when the sun didnt set until 9:00. Playing outside, going to the beach, and aggarvating my brother....oh those were the days! Playing in the pool, jumping on the trampoline, and getting sun burnt! I loved the smell of fresh cut grass and rain when it hit hot pavement. I loved peeling my skin once the burn had set in and it became tan. I loved spending time with family and friends! Once I graduated from high school and then college, my excitement for the summer still did not change because I of my profession- a teacher. I still had my summers off! Man, did I chose a great career or what?!? This summer is the first summer that has begun without me ending a year of being a teacher or student! Paul and I decided it would be best for our family and especially for Taylor (or really Me) if I stayed at home with her. I started this journey once I finished the 08-09 school year. It has been a fantastic year. I have watched my sweet angel learn to sit up, crawl, walk, and say her first words, which were dada by the way. I have been there for it all and haven't missed a single thing. Now that's what I call blessed! There is nothing in this world greater than being a mother. I prayed for a sweet, healthy baby and God went above and beyond! He definitely showed out when he created Taylor! I prayed every morning for God to give my baby the gift of love. She definitely has it. She is loving, kind, playful, intelligent, and God's gift to our family. She makes life so much more meaningful and I am so thankful for her!

Paul is working some really odd hours at his job and we have enjoyed having him home a lot more during the day. On Mondays and Wednesdays, he goes to work at 4:30 in the morning and gets off at 10:30 on one day and after 1:00 on the other day. The rest of the days he works from 8 to 4:30. Its been rough on him because he can not get a good sleep schedule going. Its hard to go to bed early when its not really a routine. He's just a great father and husband to do what he does so that I can be home. They should have a minor in college for being a housewife. I could learn to be a little more organized and neat! Im not dirty at all but Im not the kind of person that has a place for everything, like my husband does. He is the most organized person in the world. I guess us being so opposite keeps it exciting!

Its almost Friday and I am so excited! I love the weekends! And your probably thinking, isnt everyday a weekend for you? Absolutely not! Taylor and I did get a little bored being home all the time, so I picked up a part time job a while back. I work at Gold's Gym on Forest Dr in Kids Care three days a week. Taylor, of course, gets to go with me and she has so much fun! She loves playing with all the kids in there. Its teaching her great socialization skills and its teaching her to share! She's pretty good at that most of the time. But anways, so back to my weekend. Paul and I have started a Friday night tradition. Every Friday, we go to the meat market downtown and pick us out two steaks. We come back home, fire up the grill and sit in the backyard grilling and just being a family! Taylor loves playing in the backyard and so its a win win situation. Good family time, good food, and good mosquitoes trying to nibble at us the entire time! I love having family traditions and cant wait to figure out more!

Oh by the way, Taylor is 18 months old (as of Tuesday) and she peepee'd on the potty for the first time yesterday! YAY for Taylor! Ill keep you updated on her progress! Thanks Meme and Pappy for letting me borrow the potty seat until I get to Target to get her one!