Let it snow!

I know a lot of people would disagree with me, but I LOVE snow! As I mentioned in my last post, I had a hard time the beginning of this month getting into the Christmas season without snow. There's just something magical about this white stuff and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside (at least when I'm watching it fall from the warm comfort of my house).

Anyhoo, today Taylor was obsessed with sitting on the sofa and watching the "no" outside. He kept begging to go outside, and even after opening the front door and letting him see how freezing cold it was, he still insisted he wanted to go out and play. SO, we both got all bundled up and trecked out into the white stuff. We walked about half way around the building when Taylor decided he was done. I tried to keep him entertained by making snowballs and stomping my feet on the sidewalk, but it was shortlived and we headed inside after being out for 10 whole minutes. Oh well... it was fun, Taylor isn't begging to go outside anymore, and I got some stinkin' cute pictures!




I can't wait until we get some packing snow and we can make a big snowman together. I hope everyone else is enjoying this gorgeous winter weather!

Catching Up

I know, I know - I haven't been posting very much lately, the public demands pictures of Taylor, blah blah blah. Give me a break people, it's the busiest time of year! I have a lot to do! It's cold outside! I'm lazy!

Okay, enough excuses. Here's my attempt to catch up on what's been going on in the Nichols household over the past month.

The day after Thanksgiving I broke out all the Christmas decorations and went to town. I got a great deal on a pre-lit tree at Walmart so we don't have to use our puny little tree we've been using since we were married. Taylor was absolutely amazed when we pulled it out of the box, and there was plenty of "ooh-ing" and "aah-ing" when we plugged it in. Whenever we have visitors, he is quick to point out our "pitty tee."



Another thing that Tay has really been into the last couple of weeks is drawing. His very favorite thing to do is draw on the white board when Mommy or Daddy is kind and patient enough to let him use the dry erase markers. He loves his creations almost as much as he loves erasing them when he's done.



I've been pretty bummed about the lack of snow this month, as was pleasantly surprised when a blizzard hit last weekend. Taylor loved looking out the window at the "no" falling, although it took us quite a long time to convince him it wasn't rain.


My online business - Tweedle Dee Vintage - has done very well this past week and I had a 5-day streak of sales that has really motivated me to keep going and buy more inventory. It's been a really fun side project, and I'm hoping sales will continue and my hard work will pay off.


Sean and I are really excited for Christmas this year. Although it's Taylor's second Christmas it really feels like his first because he'll be able to appreciate it so much more. We've had so much fun shopping for our little man (and each other too!) and I'm so excited to see Tay open his presents. It's also nice to have a holiday season that isn't overshadowed by health concerns; it was this time last year that Sean was diagnosed with cancer and it really ruined any Christmas spirit we had.

We are both so thankful to Heavenly Father this year for our health and for our beautiful son. I am so blessed to have such an amazing man in my life who takes such good care of me and is such an amazing father to our baby boy.


We want to wish all of our family members and friends a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year! We love you!!!

Cookie-faced

I was taking pictures yesterday and Tay wanted to get in on the action. He was on a crazy sugar high from a few too many chocolate chip cookies (most of which ended up ground into my carpet rather than in his belly) and he was hammin' it up like crazy.

I give you my nutty child:

Thankful.

Another holiday season is here and so much has happened over the past year! I absolutely love Thanksgiving, and not necessarily for the food. I love it because it gives everyone the opportunity to really reflect on those things that they're most thankful for. It's hard to focus on those things when we're going about our daily lives - in my case cleaning, bills, chasing a toddler, and attempting to eat right and exercise and all that fun stuff. I was telling Sean this morning that I always get a bit choked up at Thanksgiving time because I really do try to focus more on the things in my life I'm grateful for.

Last year I made a list of things I was thankful for, and thought I'd do it again this year.

Things I'm thankful for in November 2008:

- Sean. I don't know what I would do or where I would be without this amazing man in my life. I've never known anyone that was so forgiving, loving, and compassionate, and I thank Heavenly Father daily that he's given me such a wonderful husband. Sean has been through hell this year (pardon my French), and through everything - surgery, chemo, and ridiculously intense sickness - he tried to maintain a good outlook and continued to care for Taylor and I as much as he could. Due to my horrid housekeeping skills, Sean comes home on a regular basis to mountains of laundry, piles of dirty dishes, and a wife who may or may not still be in her pajamas. He's never once complained though, and he insists that my only job is to keep myself and our son alive and happy. Sean is the best hubby and daddy ever!

- Taylor. What can I say that I haven't already said about my sweet little munchkin? Taylor is like my personal miniature comic relief every day. I've never laughed harder or more often than I have this year. It's so refreshing and inspiring to see this little person show me so many examples of pure love, honesty, and compassion. He is the sunshine of my life, and I thank Heavenly Father multiple times a day for sending me this sweet angel.

- Mom. I have never needed my mom more than when I became a mom myself. She has helped me so much over the last year - more than I could ever repay her for. My mom is the most selfless, giving person I know and is always the perfect example of true charity. She's such an amazing grandma to Taylor and he absolutely adores her. I love her so much and am so grateful for all she has done for me and my family.

- Dad. I don't think I've ever given my dad the credit he deserves for helping to mold and shape me into the woman I am today. He is an amazing man with amazing advice and I know that I can always go to him with any complicated problem and he can help me solve it. He is a very spiritual man and has done an amazing job as the Patriarch of our family. I know that I have received many blessings in my life because of the prayers he offers in my behalf. He is an amazing father and grandfather, and I'm so thankful to have him in my life.

- Kristi. I absolutely adore my baby sister. She is such a sweet girl and truly cares for those around her. Even though she's one of the busiest people I know, she always takes the time to come visit us and spend time with her nephew. I love her dearly and always feel better after talking to her.

- Aunt Holly and Uncle Buba. My aunt and uncle have truly seen the very best and worst sides of Sean and I. No matter what has happened and what's going on in our lives, however, I know that they care for us and are concerned about our welfare. My Aunt Holly is such an amazingly strong woman and is such a great example to me of how to be a mother and woman in the gospel. We love them both so much and are so grateful to live so close to them!

- Friends. I have some incredible girlfriends in my life that are so supportive and compassionate and are always willing to chat when I need someone to talk to. Just a few I'm thinking about right now - Christine, Annalee, Cara, Bobbi, Jodee, and Sarah. I love you all so much!

I could name another hundred things I'm thankful for this year, but I think this post is long enough. I hope that everyone remembers to take some time this Thanksgiving to think of the things you're grateful for. We have been given so much, and I'm so thankful to Heavenly Father for all the incredible blessings He's given me.

I love you all, and hope you have a very happy Thanksgiving!!!

My current project

As many of you know, I have started selling vintage clothing on Etsy.com through my store Tweedle Dee. It's been a really great experience and I've decided to try to support other vintage sellers on Etsy (while promoting my shop as well).

So without further introduction, here is my current project:

www.vintagemovement.com

I'm so proud of this site and hopefully it will help a lot of Etsy sellers to get some extra traffic to their stores.

Yep, I'm still alive.

The last couple of weeks have been pretty hectic with the move, but we are pretty much settled in now and I thought I'd post a quick update.

First of all, Halloween was pretty fun this year! I took a break from packing to go trick-or-treating with Tay-bug and some extended family members. He was really confused as to why he was dressed as a dinosaur, walking around at night, knocking on stranger's doors, and getting candy without having to beg for it. After a while he caught on though, and he was running as fast as he could - dino tail swinging - to keep up with the bigger kids. It was lots of fun, and he got quite a big loot (which I promptly ate).

Here's Tay in his dino costume - he wouldn't keep the hood on:


And here is the most awesome miniature Snow White I've ever seen:


The next morning we were up bright and early to start the big move, and I was amazed at how many people came to help and how fantastic the weather was. We got moved in record time - it was the unpacking that almost had me suffering from an extreme emotional breakdown. Now that we're settled and (almost) every box is unpacked I feel a lot better and I love that Taylor has more room to run around and play. The best part about living where we are is that Sean is now literally 3 minutes away from work, which means I can take the car if I need to and we're spending a LOT less money in gas.

Thanks to everyone that helped and supported us during this transition to our new place!

Feeling nostalgic

My life pretty much revolves around packing for the upcoming move, and as I've been boxing up and cleaning up the house I keep thinking about all the memories we've made here. I know it sounds a bit mushy and sentimental, but I have really strong attachments to this house. This is where our family grew from two to three; it's the place I brought my newborn baby home to. I've learned a lot of patience, trust, and love here. I learned how to be a mother here.

This move will be really great for us - and it feels good to be moving into a bigger place - but this home will always hold a special place in my heart.

Here is one of my favorite photos of Taylor's first month home - sorry it's a little blurry:


And here he is with Daddy, almost a year and a half later:

Video only a mother could appreciate

I was giving Taylor a bath tonight and he was being so dang cute that I thought I'd get some video of him. He's been singing the ABC's with me a lot lately and I wanted to get it recorded. Well he got almost to the end and... well... the video explains it all.



Needless to say, I will be bleaching my tub tomorrow morning.

A Day at the Farm - One Year Later

Last year we took Taylor to Hee Haw Farms - a pumpkin patch in Pleasant Grove that has all kinds of fun things for kids during the fall season. Obviously we couldn't do much last year since Tay was only a wee little 5-month-old, so we were excited to take him back this year. After wrapping up a yard sale at my aunt's house yesterday afternoon we decided to go. Boy did we have fun!

Here are some highlights from the day.

Jumping on the hay trampoline:


In the petting zoo with mommy and a baby cow. He really liked looking at the cow but didn't want to be close to it or pet it. Apparently cows are quite petrifying.


He did however love the baby pigs and kept sticking his fingers in their pen. Here's a piggy smelling Tay's hand - he was in heaven!


On the big hay slide with Daddy. Taylor laughed and squealed all the way to the bottom, and as soon as they reached the bottom he asked very angelically, "Again?"


Tay and Mommy on the tractor train. We got the lamby car:


The main attraction - pumpkins! They didn't have much of a selection this late in the season, but Tay loved touching all the "buntins." I love this picture because it looks like he's hugging the pumpkin:


Here are some fun side-by-side shots of Taylor this year compared to last year. He's grown so much!

Doba Day

Every year in mid-October Doba (the company Sean works for) has a big celebration for the company's anniversary. It's a day for employees to dress up in green and black (the company colors), consume insane amounts of goodies, decorate their offices, and basically be as crazy as possible. They award prizes to the employees who do the craziest/most outlandish thing for Doba Day, and this year was no different. The higher-ups announced in a meeting last month that they'd be giving cash prizes to the winners this year - with 1st place receiving $250. It was at that moment that the gears started turning in Sean's brain.

Fast forward a month and Sean and I had an incredibly psychotic and elaborate plan in place. Sean would dress up as Doctor Deranged - the self-proclaimed Doba mad scientist - and "hijack" the company. On Thursday night we arrived at Doba with all of our supplies - cardboard, spray paint, duct tape, a strobe light, fog machine, jelly eyeballs, and miscellaneous glass measuring cups, vials, and containers. We started in the 2nd floor lobby, taping over the glass walls and doors with cardboard so that no light would come into the room. While Sean set up the strobe light I spraypainted the Doba logo along a huge 27' stretch of wall (on the cardboard, of course). I also scribbled a bunch of random scientific equations all over the remaining cardboard walls like it was a labratory white board. With the lights turned off, creepy music blasting over the PA stystem, the fog machine fogging, and the strobe light strobing, it made for quite the low-budget pyrotechnic show.

Going along with the theme of taking over the company, Sean used his geeky IT knowledge to change everyones computer desktop backgrounds to this:


He also put these up on all the tvs and projectors in the company:



As a finishing touch I transformed his office in to an evil laboratory, complete with beakers and measuring cups filled with a mysterious green liquid (okay, it was just colored water) and eyeballs (no, not real eyeballs)(but like you were thinking that). I put Christmas lights behind each container to give them a eery glow. Sean also worked with my uncle to build his own Jacob's Ladder, which was definitely the show-stealer on Doba Day.

We ended up staying at Doba until 2:30am Friday morning, but we were really excited with how it all turned out. After a couple hours of sleep, Sean got up bright and early Friday morning and donned his mad scientist garb, complete with crazy green wig, black and green striped tie, and giant black rubber boots.

Needless to say, everyone was blown away by everything we'd done. Sean suddenly became very popular around Doba, and he loved every minute of it. At 5pm Tay and I dressed up and went to Doba for their family Doba Day barbeque. It was so much fun to see everyone in their crazy costumes, and after dinner the winners were announced. For those of you still reading this post (boy, you must not have much to do!), yes - Sean won!!! Suddenly all our hard work and lack of sleep paid off.

It was an awesome day, and I think Sean will have a hard time outdoing himself next Doba Day.

A week (or so) in review

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. I have had so much going on lately that I haven't had much time for updates. Here is what's been going on this past week.

First of all, I got to go see Weezer in concert - my favorite band of ALL TIME. Yes, it's kind of weird and nerdy, but that's me! I've been listening to the Weez since I was 11, so needless to say this was something I've been looking forward to for a long time. They certainly did not disappoint, and by the time we left the E-Center I hardly had any voice and my eardrums were begging for mercy. Seriously - one of the greatest nights of my life. I ain't gonna lie.


The remainder of the week has been spent getting ready for a yardsale I'm having at my house tomorrow. I've been cleaning, sorting, and pricing piles of junk (actually it's pretty good stuff) and getting it all organized. For those of you who know what an organization freak I am, you know that this will not be any ordinary yard sale. I'm categorizing everything into groups on the tables, and the majority of the clothes I'm selling will be organized and hung neatly on rolling clothes racks. So, if you want some junk (uh - I mean - "pretty good stuff") for cheap, stop by tomorrow!


Right after the yard sale I'll be helping Sean work on a big project for Doba Day next week - this crazy day at his work where everyone dresses up in green and black and goes NUTS to celebrate the company's anniversary. And - of course - I'm working on all of these projects whilst still trying to pack for the move and keep my house somewhat clean so I don't lose my mind. Oh, I'm also desperately trying to find a home for our cat because we can't take her with us when we move. She's such a sweet, beautiful cat and we REALLY don't want to have to take her to the Humaine Society. If you or someone you know might be interested in taking her, let me know!


I have a feeling that by the end of this month I will have completely lost my marbles.



P.S. Here's a cute picture for those of you (okay, ALL of you) that only check my blog for pictures/videos/updates on Tay:


Yep - he loves playing in his closet, especially now that it's all cleaned out and he can drag his Elmo chair in with him.

The magic of Dr. Seuss

Now that Taylor is completely weaned, I have to get a lot more creative when it comes to getting him to relax before naps and bedtime. Last week I started reading to him before naps to try and get him calm so he could sleep. It seemed like just a funny coincidence at the time, but the only book he'd settle down to read (and eventually fall asleep to!) was Dr. Seuss' Horton Hatches the Egg. After a few days, however, I realized that he really wouldn't let me read any other book but that one, and after only reading a few pages he was out like a light.

Last night we had a really difficult time getting him to relax for bed, and by 10pm we were absolutely desperate. Sean suggested I try the tried and true Horton sleep therapy, and it worked! I read the whole book without him dozing off, but as soon as the book was over he climbed up and rested his head on my shoulder. I asked him if he wanted to go to bed and he said yes! I took him in his room, rocked him for about half a minute, laid him down in bed, and he rolled over and zonked out!

I don't know what it is about this book, but I have a feeling I'll have the entire thing memorized pretty soon. Yes, it's a pain reading the same book over and over, but when it comes to getting Tay to sleep, I'll do anything!

We're moving!!

Sean and I decided this last weekend that we wanted to move closer to my aunt and uncle in Orem and also closer to Sean's work. After a very brief apartment search we found a great apartment in a 4-plex just off of 8th North and Main Street. It's in a nice area at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac. The apartment is much bigger than ours and will give us a lot more room to stretch out. Taylor will have a much bigger bedroom to play in and I'll finally be able to set up my treadmill in our bedroom. Sean and I are both so excited and we're going crazy trying to get everything ready in just 3 weeks. We'll move in on November 1st, and I'll send everyone cards with our new address some time after then.

The hardest thing about moving will definitely be leaving our ward and our great neighbors. We've been here for almost a year and a half and have become really good friends with the people we live by. Luckily we won't be too far away and can still come and visit.

So the next few weeks will be a bit crazy for me, with trying to pack and get all the loose ends tied up before moving day. I'm so excited!!

Pooped Out

Taylor and I got back from playgroup this afternoon and he watched some tv while I worked on the computer and talked with my bud Christine on the phone. Well after a while I realized I hadn't heard him for a while, and looked over by the entertainment center to see this:


Guess he was more tired than I thought!

Our First Family Photos

Okay, so I have to give a 'Picture Overload' disclaimer. I had such a hard time narrowing down my favorites because there were so many great photos. Thanks again, Heather!!