Gobbles is in the Oven

Posted on November 26, 2015 by justeeni

Paul woke me up early this morning so I tip-toed downstairs with my Bible and had a nice quiet time in front of the fireplace before taking the turkey out to rest. By the time Dan came downstairs, morning prep was almost finished and we enjoyed some nice snuggle time with Lydia before the others got up.

Now the kids are fed and running around to burn off their breakfasts before our big turkey dinner. They’re excited for the turkey (only because we’ve hyped it up so much), the dessert (because every tooth in each of their little mouths is sweet), but mostly for the friends we’ll be seeing today and that Daddy has the day off from work.

We are looking forward to a day together to rejoice and reflect on all that God has done for us in the past year. He has been so kind. Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and the blessings of the Lord on your day, your meal, and your year ahead.

#Thankful365

Posted on November 19, 2015 by justeeni

A year and a half ago I started a project that I called “One Year of Thankful”. It was so good. Every day I chose one thing that I was thankful for, and I took a picture. I kept those pictures in an album on my Facebook page and still look through it to remember what went on that year. It was hard to believe when the year ended (on my 27th birthday) and I didn’t “have to” keep taking pictures.

Day 366 I told Dan, “Do you know what I’m thankful for today? I’m thankful that I don’t have to edit or upload any more pictures!”

Yes, the project was great, but the uploading pictures was so time consuming that I couldn’t keep it going.

Well, November hit and suddenly everyone was talking about Thanksgiving. I love hearing what people are thankful for. I love it even more when there are pictures. And, as wonderful as this season is, I don’t want to limit my thanksgiving for this month alone.

Seven months have passed since “One Year of Thankful” ended and some things have changed. Namely, I have a smartphone. I’m so old-school I’ve never even had texting, much less a phone that doesn’t flip or slide open! But I recently discovered a new phone plan that cut my bill in half and with it I got my first smart phone. So I set myself up an Instagram account and I’m taking advantage of my new technology to launch a new thankfulness project, #thankful365. Starting on Thanksgiving Day, I’ll be back to posting my thankful pictures (almost) every day. I’m not committing to every day right now because, well, life happens, and I’m going to go ahead and let life take it’s priority over blog projects. Also, I’m not putting a one-year limit on this one. AND, I’m not necessarily going to try to do this alone.

I’m inviting you to join me. Post what you’re thankful for and give it the #thankful365. I’d have so much fun seeing your pictures too.

So here we go, one more week until Thanksgiving day with all it’s goodies, and one more week before I start another journey of becoming more thankful. Will you join me?

Little Treats

Posted on November 5, 2015 by justeeni

Lydia is getting old enough now to have discussions with us. We had one recently at breakfast about “treats”. She has come to associate treats with dessert and I was trying to explain to her that a treat doesn’t have to be a small, sweet, edible snack.

A treat is anything that you enjoy, that you don’t get very often.

We listed some examples of treats and went on with our day. Since it’s November, I thought the conversation was pretty fitting. It’s fun to focus and watch other people focus on things for which we are thankful.

Of course, one of the things I’m grateful for, well three of the things that I’m thankful for are my kids. Today for your own little treat, I’m going to share some of the cute things the girls have been saying.

Abby doesn’t say much yet. At least, not enough to get a quote from. But she does have one quoteable moment from the past week. After breakfast we were having our daily “Bible time”. I asked the girls, as I always do, what they were thankful for that day. Lydia has a handful of items she often repeats: bubbles, bread, seeing friends, and Grandma. Abby always says the same thing: Pizza (which sounds more like “Pita”). But one morning Abby surprised me with a new one, “Anju”. I asked her if she meant her friend from church and she nodded.

“Aww, Abby, that’s so sweet”. And she added “and Jesus.”

Now that it’s harder to sneak treats without sharing with Lydia, our family has learned that she also has inherited our sweet tooth. One night when we had finished dinner and were getting ready for Bible study, Lydia informed us that she wanted a “sweet treat” and when she didn’t think we had understood her, she insisted she wanted “a little somethin’ somethin’.”

After our vacation last month, we had some leftover apple cider sitting in our fridge. Lydia consistently asked for some hot cider every single day. One evening when it looked like she wasn’t going to get any she walked up to Dan, who was sitting in the living room. She very gently put her hand on his arm, lay her head on his shoulder and looked up at him with the biggest eyes imaginable as she cooed, “I love you Daddy…” She probably did get some hot apple cider that night.

Several weeks ago I was sitting in the living room. Lydia was on the floor playing with a doll when she looked up at me and asked, “Mom, did God, like, put glue on my head and put my hair on?”

The other day I was having a comical conversation with Lydia trying to ask her to do something and she was not following. “Lydia,” I insisted, “use your brain.” She responded cheerfully, “Ok, but I don’t know where my brain is.”

Two Foods, Two Teeth, Two Months

Posted on October 22, 2015 by justeeni

In the midst of our vacation and other end-of-summer activities (and trying to keep up with my three busy little Munchkins) I missed Paul’s 6-month update.

But that is most certainly not because we were failing to enjoy Paul’s sixth month! Little Man is getting close to sitting up (already?!?) and can push himself up higher and higher with those arms. The most fun part of this month, though, was that Paul started learning to express his opinion.

One evening, I was sitting on the floor holding Paul in my lap and playing with a couple of baby toys. He’s learning to grab and he would reach out and try to get his fingers around the toys as I moved them around. Suddenly he started crying a little and I realized that I had set down one of the toys which he obviously preferred. It’s so fun to see him pick his favorites now and let his voice be heard. He especially likes things that crinkle and grabbing people’s feet.

I had gotten into the habit of letting Paul play in his exersaucer (we just call it the Standing Toy around here) during lunch. One day, without really thinking about it, I put him in his Bouncy Seat (it’s actually a rocking infant seat but we still call it the bouncy seat…even though it doesn’t bounce) and, to my surprise, he started crying. I was puzzled at first, but then wondered, “he couldn’t possibly want to be in his Standing Toy, could he?” Yes, he could. As soon as I moved him he smiled away and started playing. I guess you just don’t mess with the Big Guy’s routine.

Paul is a little night-owl and, sadly, has started waking up during the nights again. It’s usually just once or twice, and we’re all surviving for now. He also doesn’t like to go to bed at night. Most evenings I’ll tuck him in and he’ll go to sleep only to wake up half an hour later. Dan will run upstairs to get him and come down with Paul, wide awake and smiling. He just loves to party with Mom and Dad after the girls go to bed. Some nights we find ourselves, tired and ready for bed, sitting up with a perky baby waiting and waiting for him to get sleepy enough to finally call it a night.

Oh, and for the record, Paul came in at 16 pounds and 3 ounces at six months old. Big Guy.

By month seven, Paul was up to 17 pounds and 12 ounces (gotta keep these weights on here for the Baby book!). He’s huge. Also, he made this the most monumental month by far with two major achievements: first solid food and first two teeth!

Paul loves to eat. What he really wants is bacon, or at least a burger, but we haven’t introduced those just yet. 😉 Avocado and peas don’t quite do it for him, but he still slurps them down as well as a new eater can. He never looks particularly interested in the food at hand until we stop feeding it to him, then he whimpers like a puppy and pulls the bowl, our arm, the spoon, or anything else he can reach, toward his face. He will be a much more content little boy when he can figure out how to properly chew and swallow, or maybe more importantly, use his own fingers to put the food in his mouth.

Also, Paul got his first two teeth. He drools like a faucet and has for several weeks. We even invested in some better waterproof bibs that snap on so he can keep them on to catch all that drool anywhere we go. He loves to chew and suck, and so far teething hasn’t been a problem in any way (other than the endless drool).

He’s sticking to his easy-baby reputation in the second half of his first year. Our only complaint is that it’s going by too fast. Many evenings I think or even tell Paul that I just want to hold him while he sleeps a few more times before he really gets squirmy. So far he’s been agreeable, often falling asleep in my arms at church or Bible study. So I snuggle him while I can and enjoy the not-quite-toothless grin whenever he is awake, even if it is late at night when we should really all be sleeping.

Windy Sunsets

Posted on October 15, 2015 by justeeni

Ok. I finally finished going through pictures from our trip, but some of the best ones turned out terrible because I was using Dan’s phone. I’m including them anyway because the memories behind them are just too good to leave out.

Where to begin? The views, the views. I wouldn’t normally use the word “delicious” to describe a sight, but that’s what kept coming to my mind as we drove along the peninsula, stood outside our room to watch the whitecaps, or played on a playground overlooking the beach. The wind was cold, but we just soaked up the Northern Michigan beauty.

On our first day up North someone mentioned something about apple cider and it became a quest throughout our week to buy some. Sadly, we were just a bit early for apple season and we couldn’t find the cider anywhere. Not a day went by when someone didn’t mention hot apple cider. And each day we failed to find any.

I took Dan along one of my favorite trails in all of Northern Michigan, close to the house where I grew up. The girls were baffled as to why we wouldn’t let them in the freezing water, but we sat on a bench and enjoyed the view for a while despite their protests.

We didn’t actually get to Northport until Tuesday, although we enjoyed some visits on our way out for the first part of the week. Once we made it to our vacation-home, the fun really began.

We packed most of our food for the trip, special meals we don’t get to eat very often. Then we splurged with little treats here and there.

Wednesday morning we treated the girls to a normally against-the-rules sort of treat: doughnuts from the famous local bakery. If you ever make it up to Northport and you want a sugary treat, you must try a baked cinnamon twist from Barb’s. Take Abby’s word for it.

A quick outing in the morning, and then we make our way back to home-base for lunch and naps. Yes, naps. Every day. It was one of my stipulations for making it a successful vacation. I insisted on naps; Dan insisted on treats, and the whole gang was happier than ever.

In the afternoon we took it easy and played with bubbles. As simple as it may sound, bubbles really made the day with our munchkins.

Then bath time, and another special treat: baseball in bed. After the kiddos were in their pajamas we snuggled together for a couple of innings on Lydia’s giant bed.

Then it was early to bed for another early day. Dan tried sneaking Lydia off for a Daddy-Daughter doughnut date, but Abby woke up and Lydia invited the rest of us to come along too. Despite the very cold wind, we stuck to our plan to visit the marina. It was one of the things we just had to do so I could get a picture to go along with the one of us walking the marina on our honeymoon. 🙂 We walked the whole marina, although it wasn’t actually fun because it was so cold. We stubbornly enjoyed it anyway before rushing back to shore and letting the girls play on the playground for a while.

We enjoyed another day of bubbles, yummy meals, traveling around Northport, enjoying the views, and naps. Yes, I loved nap time. Afterward I stayed in the warm room while the girls played outside with Dan.

Our last night in Northport we came up with a Grand Finale activity. We ate an early dinner than bundled everyone up in their pajamas and drove to an overlook to watch the sunset. This turned out to be pretty hilarious. Everyone was freezing and it felt like the sun took forever to set. When it finally did there wasn’t much to it. No pretty colors, just a big, blinding ball of fire sinking below the horizon. But it made a great memory that we can already laugh about.

Friday was the day we had to leave Northport, which was sad for everyone. But, not to rush things. We wanted to enjoy every moment of our trip so we planned a grand outing for Friday as well. We hung out in our old stomping grounds, letting the girls run around on the train playground at F and M park. Then we walked the downtown stretch, stopping to sample goodies at Cherry Republic (where we also received free apples in honor of “Apple Days” weekend, but alas, no cider), and stopping again to eat at the supposed best pizza place in town.

As you can see, this was a special treat. Lydia was practically in awe of her own personal pizza which was twice as big as her stomach and much bigger than her face. Before the night was up we made one last grocery store stop to find…

Apple Cider! And at that moment the trip officially became a success.

We had a wonderful week. Every memory is pleasant. We have never seen the girls, especially Abby, so happy ALL the time. Paul was as cooperative as ever. And Dan and I got to revisit our honeymoon location. As we were about to leave I was feeling a little sentimental as I looked out over the bay and thought about how crazy it is that we hadn’t been there in so long. Five years and three Munchkins later…Dan came up behind me and just started praying, thanking God for the past years and committing the next ones to Him again. Maybe that, and not the cider, was my favorite moment of the trip. 🙂

Our Abby-Girl

Posted on October 9, 2015 by justeeni

Our family had a wonderful vacation last week, our last hurrah before I finally submitted to Fall’s arrival. I’m excited to share some memories from our trip, but first I need to sort through all my pictures. In the meantime, I’ll give you all an update on our two-year-old.

Abby is an enthusiastic, all-or-nothing sort of girl (gets it from her daddy). When she’s happy, her smile beams from ear to ear. When she’s tired she snuggles up with Dan or me and holds her hair while she sucks her thumb. When she’s mad, she lets everyone know it (and despite her early arrival two years ago, those lungs of hers work very well). When she plays pretend, it’s just adorable. When she wrestles she never gives up. You get the idea.

She is very much her Daddy’s girl. When Dan comes home from work she runs through the house yelling “Daddy! Daddy!” Sometimes she realizes part way through a weekday morning that Dan is gone and she will cry and pout, “Daddy?” I think half the reason Abby loved our vacation so much was that Dan never left us. But, I can’t really blame her since I am very much the same way. 🙂
When Dan brought Abby her birthday flower, she was smitten with it. She carried it around the house for twenty minutes refusing to put it down. It was precious.

And if the pictures don’t make it clear, yes, she is our little red-head. She’s a little blue-eyed-red-head with a huge smile and even bigger personality. She is very much a homebody who prefers spending time with Mom and Dad above anyone else, and when she does get out it takes her quite a while to open up and be her charming self. But if you do get the privilege of winning Abby’s affections you will be sharing in a sweet treasure indeed.

Back to Northport

Posted on September 22, 2015 by justeeni

“Hey Paul,” Lydia said as she lay on the floor looking at her baby brother, “we’re going up North next week. We’re going to see Grandma and Grandpa and go to Nana and Papa’s, and Daddy’s not going to work for a whole week but Ford is still going to pay him!”

That’s Lydia’s explanation of why I won’t be posting next week. We’re busy down here getting ready for our first family vacation on our own. We’ve gone “up North” many times to visit family but this year we’re taking a few days to revisit our honeymoon town, this time with the Munchkins. We’re planning some fun times relaxing, visiting the beach, and maybe watching a sunset or two. I’m excited to go back up where we had our honeymoon and, like Lydia, spend a whole week with Dan.

See you when we get back!

Almost Two

Posted on September 10, 2015 by justeeni

Tomorrow our little Red-haired Munchkin turns two! In honor of two years together, we filmed a short video to show you all how adorable she’s gotten along with a few of her latest learning accomplishments. Happy early birthday Big Girl. We love you!

Just for fun, go ahead and watch the video again paying attention to Lydia instead of Abby. And then once more watching me, just to see how I rub my nose when I’m thinking. 🙂

Tummy Lovin’

Posted on August 18, 2015 by justeeni

Would you believe it if I told you Paul weighs over 15 pounds already? We love having such a big boy, well, big for us at least. Paul is about the size that Lydia and Abby were around one year old, but he’s only five months old. Although, it’s hard to believe we’ve had him in our home for almost half of a year already. This month Paul started showing more of his personality and preferences.

First of all, I mentioned last month that Paul had rolled from his tummy to his back. A few days later, Paul rolled from his back to his tummy and he’s been all-tummy-all-the-time ever since. No matter where you put him, he immediately flips over onto his tummy and holds his head up. When we lay him down for a nap or at bedtime he flops onto his belly and goes to sleep. On top of tummy-loving, Paul is a finger-loving baby. He loves to suck and chew on his chubby little fingers and hands. Sometimes it’s a thumb, sometimes a middle and ring finger, sometimes a whole fist. Paul doesn’t seem to have a favorite finger-sucking combo, or even a preference for his right or left hand, but he does love to suck.

He’s still our happy Little Man. Paul is the most content of our babies so far. He spends a lot of his days on a blanket on the floor, or in a bouncy seat, or his jungle (when he’s not napping) and he’s usually just fine with that. BUT, if someone will hold Paul and talk to him a little, his whole face will just beam with delight. He’ll “talk” your ear off, carry on long conversations with coos and squeals, and get anyone laughing with his cute little chuckles. At nighttime, while he doesn’t always go to bed as early as we’d like, he sleeps like a champ all night long. When he does wake up before morning, he’ll just suck on his pacifier and go back to sleep. I usually get him up at 7 to feed him and he’ll keep his two-hour nap routine, but he doesn’t always want to eat at the two-hour mark anymore. During the evenings he’ll stretch out the schedule, because that’s when he gets held the most and, if he’s being held, he’s extremely content and will hold off on eating for hours. Sometimes lately he’ll get into a “chill” mood where he just wants to sit with Mommy, not eat, just sit and look around and relax.

Last night I tucked Paul in for the night and came back downstairs only to hear him cry and cry. Finally I went up to get him. He wouldn’t eat, so I just held him in my arms and he just stayed there quietly staring at me for several minutes. I soaked it up, knowing my days of snuggling him might be limited…I’m not sure he’s going to wait until 21 months to walk like his sisters! But part of me thinks (and hopes) he might just always be a snuggler and that’s ok with me! With his big eyes and charming smile Paul is overwhelmingly cute and delightfully sweet. We just love our Little Man.

A Glimpse of Our Garden

Posted on August 13, 2015 by justeeni

Well, the week is rapidly winding down, and I’ve been really busy with our Munchkins, but thought I’d share a little glimpse with you all of our family’s first attempt at gardening. We’ve wanted a garden for several summers now but it’s never worked out until this year. It’s been far more work than I anticipated, but we’re enjoying the fruits of our labor. The picture above was taken just after a lettuce and kale harvest so the greens are looking a little pathetic. They usually look much nicer: bigger and fuller. We’ve gotten a lot of salads out of this garden.

On our deck are some flower boxes that we filled instead with dill and baby greens this year. They’ve done amazingly well and we’ve gotten three harvests out of the baby greens already.

Green beans have been our easiest and most rewarding endeavor. I pick them three times a week now and we’ve been enjoying lots of cooked and raw green beans. I’ve even made some baby food for Paul…for when he’s ready.

This is my favorite part of the garden. Back in the spring we were given several organic bell peppers. I pulled out some seeds, just for fun, and planted seeds from red, yellow, orange, and green peppers. And just look, they’ve done beautifully. This picture is about a week old and this morning I counted at least eight little baby peppers going strong. Now we’ll just see if they change colors. 🙂

That’s about it, other than Lydia’s sunflower patch. But, as I hardly have enough time and energy to keep up with weeding the vegetable garden, I’ve let that go. Surprisingly, the first flower bloomed this week, and was on a mammoth sunflower that had fallen down during a storm. Lydia and I propped it back up and are hoping that’ll be the biggest flower of the summer. If they do well, maybe I’ll put up a picture for you all in a few weeks.

MI Taylor Family

We live in Michigan.

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