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!