A tribute to my hubby

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The baby t-rex

Taylor had to show off for Grandma and pretend to be a dinosaur. I imagine this really hurts his throat, but he doesn't seem to mind it. He's so dang cute!!

Our silly little monkey

Taylor has been doing the cutest things lately! He has got such a silly personality and I love watching him learn new things every day. Here are some of Taylor's recent antics:

- He has started learning to make new noises. His favorite is this weird fake cough thing. I can't even describe it, so here's a video:

- He's beginning to learn what certain words mean. When I ask him "Where's kitty?" he immediately scans the room until he finds her. He does the same thing when I ask "Where's daddy?" except he looks up at the ceiling because Sean is so tall. He's also learning what "hi," "bye-bye," and "no" mean. When I say "hi" to him he gets a big grin on his face and yells "HA!!"

- My mom started us doing this thing where we say "How big is Taylor?" and then we put his hands up and say "SOOO big!" Well now when we say "How big is Taylor?" he throws his hands in the air and squeals. It's so cute!

- He also turns into a little ham when I pull the camera out now. He gets so excited and starts squealing at me when I take a picture of him. Here is one of my favorites:


- Taylor holds his blanket up over his face and when I say "Where's Taylor?" he pulls the blanket down and laughs at me.

- He dances to any song that he hears now. He rocks back and forth on his bum, and if he's really excited he'll get his arms into it too. It's so adorable!

Taylor is such a doll and I love him more and more every day. Motherhood is definitely frustrating at times, but it's SOOOOO worth it. I love my monkey!!

An update (finally!)

I know it's been a while since I updated everyone on Sean's condition. His second round of chemo started two weeks ago and it was absolutely awful. He was so sick to his stomach and was having terrible hot flashes where only parts of his body were hot and the rest of his body was freezing cold. He also had a difficult time eating and drinking and ended up getting severely dehydrated, which added to his sickness.

On top of that, Taylor and I were both really sick with colds that entire week. I was miserable and got way behind on housework and poor baby Tay hardly slept at all because he was so congested. I ended up having to sleep in the nursery almost the whole week so that Sean could get some sleep; it also made it easier for me to get up when Taylor woke up over and over again crying. By the end of the week my house was a mess and Sean and I were at each other's throats. This has been the absolute most trying time for our relationship in the nearly 6 years we've been married.

On Tuesday Sean went in for his weekly shot and ended up having a horrible reaction to it for some reason. He was in so much pain that he was shaking uncontrollably and screaming at the top of his lungs. He honestly thought that he was going to die. Luckily we were able to get in touch with the clinic and he was advised by his RN to take the strongest pain killers he had and try to get some rest. He had some Lortabs left from his surgery in December and thankfully they kicked in quickly and he was able to rest.

My mom came and stayed with us Tuesday and Wednesday to help around the house so that I didn't lose my mind in a sea of garbage. She really helped me get my house back in shape and it was nice to have the company too. I love my mommy! Sean had to stay home from work Wednesday as well, but was able to go back to work on Thursday and worked a full day Friday. He was regained a lot of his strength and we were able to have a pleasant weekend cleaning the house and visiting family in Salt Lake. Today it's pretty much back to life as usual, which is great.

A week from today Sean will start his last round of chemo, and two weeks after that he'll have another CT scan to see if it worked. If not he'll have to have surgery, followed by more chemo and possibly radiation.

Thank you to all of our family members and friends that have given us so much support. We know that you are praying for us and we appreciate it more than we could possibly say. Hopefully this will all be over soon and we can put it behind us, having learned so many lessons about love, life, and faith.

Best cubicle prank of ALL TIME.

I needed a good laugh today and when I checked my email I wasn't disappointed. So without further introduction, the BEST office prank I've ever seen:

Chemo: Round Two

Sean started his second round of chemo on Monday and has actually been better this cycle than the last cycle. We did a lot more planning for this week and it's definitely paid off. We're both a lot less stressed out and Sean has a bunch more energy too, which is FANTASTIC.

And what is not so fantastic? Taylor and I are both sick. He started getting kinda sniffly on Sunday night and by Monday night he had full-blown croup. He's got a yucky cough, runny nose, and a sore throat. I was up with him all Monday night and ended up sleeping in his room to make sure Sean could get some sleep, which would have been totally doable if I hadn't gotten sick too. I have a terrible cold that I'm afraid is turning into stomach flu.

Miserable baby + miserable mommy = not a good time.

Luckily my mom's coming up to visit and help me around the house today, which will be wonderful. I don't have the energy or motivation to clean at all, and it will be nice to have her watch Cranky McGee while I take a much-needed nap. I'm also excited because I'm getting my lifetime award at Weight Watchers tonight. You get that award when you've reached your goal weight and maintained it for six weeks. It also means that I only have to weigh in once a month and can go to meetings forever for FREE. Woo hoo!!

Thanks to everyone that has been bringing us meals, groceries, and lots of help. Sean and I both really appreciate all the sacrifices our loved ones have been making for us right now, and we look forward to getting back to normal life and being able to give back to all of you. We love you!

Our online photo album

Well it took me about a billion years, but I finally have an online photo album. I know a lot of you love looking at pictures of Taylor (and maybe Sean and I from time to time), so I've put together a bunch of pictures for you to see and print if you want.

Click here to see it.

I've also made a permanent link under our picture to the left so that anyone can get to it at any time without having to hunt for this post. I will try to update it at least once a month - if not more - so keep checking it. Enjoy!

Going, going, GONE!

Sean has had serious issues lately with... well... shedding. Yesterday he rubbed his face while he was sitting at his computer at work, only to end up with a hand (and a keyboard) full of hair. Since it doesn't hurt to pull the hair out of his face and head, he came up with a creative way to remove it: duct tape! It was incredible how easily the tape pulled out all of his facial hair - it was the easiest, closest shave he's ever had! Then when he was done he of course couldn't stop there, so it was on to his head... literally. Since his head was buzzed it was a bit harder to get the hair to pull out, but he did succeed in making "train tracks" down the middle of his head. Since he looked absolutely ridiculous like that, we decided to just go ahead and shave his head. Sean has never shaved with a razor, so I broke out my pink Venus razor and Skintimate strawberry tangerine shaving cream (so manly!) and went at it. Sean's hair is really thick, so it took us almost an hour to do, but he is officially Baldy McGee. Since the duct tape pulled out his hair from the root, you can still kinda see the "tracks" down the middle of his head, but it'll go away after a few days when the rest of the roots fall out.

He thinks he looks silly, but I love my Mr. Clean. ;)

Teething and sickness and separation anxiety, oh my!

Poor little baby Tay is going through a lot right now. This last weekend he got a cold that he's still trying to get over, he's teething really bad, AND his separation and stranger anxiety has kicked in full force. Needless to say, we've had some pretty sleepless nights and pretty clingy days. He wants to be held constantly and if I go out of his sight for one second he starts screaming at the top of his lungs. Ah the joys of motherhood... if he wasn't so cute I think I would have sold him by now.

Having a no hair day

Sean's hair started falling out in the shower yesterday, and when he woke up this morning his scalp hurt really bad, so we decided to shave his head. I used clippers, so it's not a really close shave, but it will be less painful to deal with until his hair completely falls out.

Although we anticipated it, it's been pretty emotional to deal with the loss of his hair. He thinks he looks funny (although I think he's pretty dang cute myself) and I don't think you realize how attached you are to hair until it's gone. We know we'll get through it though, and in a few months his hair will grow back and things will be back to normal.

Six things to be thankful for

On one of my message boards on BabyCenter.com we have a ritual every Monday morning where we post 6 things we're thankful for. I think it helps everyone get through the Monday slump and really helps us all to focus on the good things in our lives.

I've been feeling very blessed lately, and thought that I'd post my list for the week:

1. I'm so thankful for the beautiful funeral that was given for our beloved prophet Gordon B. Hinckley, and I'm thankful for our newly appointed president Thomas S. Monson and his two counselors Henry B. Eyring and Dieter F. Uchdorf.

2. Sean is almost one third of the way through his chemo treatments and I'm so thankful that the time is passing quickly and that we'll get back to normal life soon.


3. As an early Valentines Day gift, Sean is taking me to see Riverdance on Friday night and I'm SOOOO excited!!!

4. Sean and I are hoping to buy our own house or condo by this time next year.

5. My aunt gave me the book "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" and it's helping me so much to get Taylor to sleep better at night and take longer naps during the day.


6. The Giants won the Superbowl!!! Man that was an awesome game.

There's my list for the week! I think everyone should do this! :)

Taylor's Travels: The Treacherous Fishy Tunnel!

Baby's log: 2:00pm. I traveled over the sandy carpet of sleepiness toward the treacherous fishy tunnel of doom.

Just before I reached the tunnel I collapsed from sheer infant exhaustion and received aid from Mommy to travel the rest of the way.

Once I arrived in the tunnel, I peeked out to insure that Mommy was still there in case I encountered any danger.

I then examined the interesting ancient fishy hieroglyphics carved into the sides of the cave.

In order to see the carvings more clearly, I pulled out the tool that no explorer should be without: my handy dandy whisk!

After I studied the inside of the cave, I decided to travel through to the other side of the tunnel, where I encountered a furry, ferocious beast!

Luckily I am highly trained in the handling of such dangerous, wild felines, and the beast turned and ran away with a simple yank of her tail.

All in all, it was an incredible adventure. I wish I could have explored the treacherous fishy tunnel further, but I had to get home in time for my nap. Until next time, this is outback explorer Baby Tay, signing off.

The frustrations of mommyhood..

So the past few nights have been really difficult with Taylor. He'd keep waking up screaming and arching his back and we had no idea what was wrong with him. Last night was the worst - I was up with him constantly from 10:30 until almost 4:00 in the morning! I slept with him on the sofa since he would wake up so constantly that it was keeping Sean awake. You end up sitting there trying to come up with all the things that could be wrong - Does he have a cold? Is he cutting teeth? Is he constipated? Is he just fighting sleep? Finally at almost 5:00am a lightbulb went off in my head and I took his pjs off. I pulled his legs out and they were soaking wet with sweat; same thing with his arms. Once he was down to just his diaper and onesie, he grabbed his feet, gave me a big smile, stretched out on the sofa, and was OUT. I wrapped him up in his blanket, laid him in his crib, and he didn't budge at all. He slept perfectly the rest of the night (or morning I guess) and is a happy little clam now.

I'm glad I figured out what was wrong, but it's pretty ridiculous that we had to go through several sleepless nights when all we had to do was take his hot pjs off. Oye... oh well... maybe I'll get a nap today so I'm not a total zombie all day (yeah, right).

Oh, and just an update on Sean - he's still doing really well. He's still more tired and weak than usual, and he has to watch what he eats really carefully so that he doesn't get sick, but it's nothing like the weeks he has chemo. We're really looking forward to having some quality time together before he starts round two. We're also celebrating Valentine's Day early since he has chemo that week; he's taking me to see Riverdance next Friday night! I'm soooo excited.

Anyhoo, I'd better get back to His Majesty the Baby. hehe!