Grillin' Fever

After several terrible attempts at charcoal grilling that ended with Sean catching the grill on fire (see photo), we finally gave in and bought a gas grill. We were going to buy a cheap-o one at Walmart, but after reading reviews on the one we were looking at we decided against it and invested a bit more money so we could get a quality grill. The one we finally chose was a Char-broil designer series with a side burner. HOLY MOLY what a difference! It was so much easier to use and because we bought one pre-assembled we were good to go as soon as we got home. We ended up making chili cheese turkey burgers and they were - in the words of Rachael Ray - YUM-O. While the burgers were cooking Sean played with Tay and pushed him in the swing we bought him for his birthday. The weather was perfect and it was a great night to dine alfresco. The best part about it was that we got a hot meal without the house getting hot too. We'll definitely be doing a lot of grilling this summer.

The infamous cheesy smile

Taylor is such a ham sometimes, and lately his favorite thing to do is give us this silly cheesy grin because he knows it makes us laugh. Well yesterday my mom came over and was working outside when Tay started grinning at her over and over again. It was so hilarious and I ran inside to grab the camera to capture the sheer goofiness of my child. This baby cracks me up...

Thanksgiving Point

Sean and I took Taylor to Thanksgiving Point this last Saturday for his birthday. It was so much fun to see his reaction to all the different farm animals they have there. Our first stop was the cows, and one of them was a bit too friendly with Tay and almost bit the poor boy's toes off. Taylor had absolutely no idea what to think of these giant animals sniffing him. He also wasn't too sure about the loud noises they made. After the cows we went and peeked at the goats before going on a pony ride. I'm really surprised that Taylor was okay the entire time, although he kept making nervous little whimpers the first half of the ride. He was really excited to pet the pony afterward though. Next we moved on to the chickens and peacocks. Taylor wasn't sure what to think about the loud roosters, but was pretty excited with the giant turkeys and peacocks. The horses were pretty amazing too, and I think I was more excited to pet and feed them than Tay was. We also saw llamas (which Sean kept referring to as Kuzko from Emperor's New Groove), goats, and sheep. Taylor really seemed to like the sheep until a few of them started "baa-ing" a bit too loud. Honestly I think his favorite part of the whole trip was washing his hands when we were done.

All in all it was a fun trip, and I look forward to him getting a bit older and not being so scared of everything. Maybe next year we'll take him to the dinosaur museum too!

A boy and his cat

My dad bought Taylor a stuffed cat from Deseret Book a little while back and Taylor adores it almost as much as our real cat. He snuggles it and drags it around all over the house. I call it "ugly cat" because it's... well... ugly. Tay loves it though, and every time he sees it he crawls over, picks it up, and meows at it. It's the cutest thing ever, and I'm glad that he'll have it even after we get rid of our real cat. Unfortunately we recently found out that Taylor is allergic to cats, so we'll have to say goodbye to our kitty soon. It'll just kill Sean and I to do it, but obviously Tay comes first. Hopefully he won't miss her quite as much since he still has his cuddly cat from Grandpa.

I pity da fool who don't wish me a happy birthday!

Sean and I learned a bit of random trivia yesterday that we thought was pretty funny. But first, a bit of background so this all makes sense to you. For several months now one of the nicknames we have used for Taylor is Mr. T and we joke around by saying things like "I pity da fool who don't change my diaper!" and other silly Mr. T-isms. Well, as it turns out, Taylor has the same birthday as the REAL Mr. T! That's right folks, according to Wikipedia.com, Laurence Tureaud (a.k.a. Mr. T) was born May 21, 1952.

Coincidence? I think not.

Happy birthday, kiddo!!

Taylor is officially one year old! We've had a pretty uneventful day, considering the fact that it's raining and Tay and I both have colds, but it's been a good birthday nonetheless. Sean and I gave him a Little Tykes outdoor swing that we'll hang from a tree in our backyard as soon as the weather is nice again. We also may stop by Macey's grocery store tonight and get a free cake (like I need more junk food in my house).

Happy birthday baby! I love you!!!

Tay's best friend

My best friend Christine comes over every week with her daughter Skylynn for a play date. It's really more for us mommies than the babies, but they are starting to interact with each other more and more every week. Today when Christine came over Taylor sat right by Skylynn and tried to talk to her and share his toys with her. He hasn't been around many other babies and I was surprised how gentle he was with her. I think they'll grow up to be really good friends.

My little spaghetti face

Last night we had spaghetti for dinner, and I decided to let Taylor have some too. He dug right in and really enjoyed being able to feed himself. It's great for Mommy too, because it means she can have a hot meal without being interrupted by hungry grumpy baby.

Here is another photo from last night - the first really good shot I've been able to get of his little tooth:

One!

Taylor's first birthday party was a success! The weather couldn't have been nicer on Saturday and most of our family came to help Tay celebrate. He was a little groggy and weirded out by all the on-lookers as he opened his gifts (he never smiled once) and ate his cake, but he was in a good mood which is really all I hoped for. The cake and cupcakes turned out really well and I was proud of myself for actually pulling it off. When it came time for Taylor to dig in to the cake, there was a lot less digging and a lot more picking. The majority of the time he just used his little thumb and forefinger to pick at the cake, sampling it while trying to stay as clean as possible.

It was a really fun day, and when we got home he insisted on playing with each new toy, even though he was practically falling asleep sitting up. I can't imagine how much that kind of excitement wears out a little person.

Part of me just can't even comprehend the fact that my baby has already been with us a year, and another part of me can't even imagine life before he came into our lives. Taylor is the most incredible little boy, and the level of love and adoration I feel for him is something that only another mother could understand. He is the absolute sunshine of my life and I have loved watching him grow and learn this past year. He's such a curious little person and always wants to know what things are and how they work. He is also a boy through and through, spending his days making car and dinosaur noises, getting into mischief, and craving the outdoors. He is also very compassionate and always gets so concerned when someone is hurt or upset in any way. Although he is very independent, he also loves to snuggle (something Mommy loves, too!) and give hugs and kisses.

I absolutely love being a mother. Yes, it is hard. And yes, sometimes I feel like I need a break. But at the root of it all, motherhood has helped me develop so many attributes that I lacked before - patience, understanding, confidence, and self worth to name a few. I think it's true that as much as we teach our children, we learn more from them than they'll ever learn from us.

Thanks to everyone who came to Tay's party! Taylor loves you all! His official birthday is the day after tomorrow, when I can officially say I have a one-year-old!

Party Preparations

Taylor's first birthday party is tomorrow afternoon, and I've been working like mad this last week to get everything prepared for it. I made a ton of chicken salad last night, and today I baked 4 dozen cupcakes and made millions of tiny white chocolate dots to "polka-dot" the cupcakes.

Taylor helped by stealing my oven mitt and trying to fit it over his foot, arm, and the cat.

I need to finish frosting the cupcakes and bake Taylor's cake tonight, and then tomorrow morning I'll frost his cake while my mom and aunt help set up for the party.

I was really stressed out for a while, but I'm finally feeling like everything is falling into place and I'm just looking forward to having a fun day with Taylor tomorrow. I can't believe my baby is almost a year old; it's a little bittersweet because he's growing up so fast, but I love watching him learn new things and look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with him.

Also, I want to thank Sean, my mom, and my Aunt Holly for helping me so much, even when I've been stressed out and ornery. I love you all so much!

Grandma's Motorcycle Baby

I have the most awesome mom in the whole world, and part of her "coolness factor" comes from the fact that she's always driving something awesome - if she's not burning rubber in her Mustang she's cruising around on her Harley. Yep, she's a motorcycle mama. Well the other day she came over to our house on the Harley and we wondered what Taylor would think about it, so Mom took him outside and let him sit on it. He was all grins and giggles and Sean got some cute pictures of him. He's such a doll!


And yes, my mom is way cooler than your mom.

Do you want cheese with that?

Tay has been doing this cute little cheesy smile lately that just melts my heart. He scrunches his little face up and gives you this sweet little grin that you can't help but laugh at. I tried to get it on video this morning and he did it a couple of times but he was still pretty sleepy. You get the general idea though:

You can't always get what you want...

Taylor has never been so interested in the kitchen now that we have a baby gate up to keep him out. He gets so mad when the gate is shut and I'm in the kitchen. Not that I blame him; the kitchen has lots of fascinating things to explore - cabinets full of heavy cans and toxic chemicals, tasty cat food, and a smelly liter box. It's so cute when he crawls over, pulls himself to a stand, and gets up on his little tiptoes trying to somehow defy the laws of physics and fall over the gate and onto the linoleum floor of the kitchen. Once he even crawled over to the gate while I was doing dishes and started meowing like a sad little kitty. As much as he begs, the kitchen will continue to remain off limits for his own safety and my sanity.

My first official Mother's Day

Yesterday was my first Mother's Day as a mommy and it was great! Sean attempted to make breakfast for me (hey, it's the thought that counts) and he and Taylor gave me a cute card and a flirty apron (that's really what they're called) from University Mall. We had a fun time visiting with family and it was fun to have everyone wishing ME a happy Mother's Day this year.

Here's a picture of me in my apron, rolling my eyes at grumpy Taylor:

I just love being Taylor's mommy. I've never laughed and cried more in my life than I have the past year and I'm enjoying every second of it! Okay, so maybe not EVERY second, but pretty dang close.

Silly, silly boy

Taylor was playing on Sean's laptop and Sean turned on the webcam. Taylor thought it was so amazing to see himself on the computer screen and started babbling non-stop. It was so funny and Sean was able to record him through the camera for all to enjoy. So, without further introduction, my silly kid:

Houston, we have a tooth!

Well after almost 9 months of teething on and off, baby Taylor FINALLY got his first tooth! It cut through the gums on May 1st, just 20 days before his first birthday. He's still pretty miserable because the other bottom tooth is coming in as well, but Sean and I were so excited to finally see his tiny pearly white poking out. He's no longer our little gummy piranha, and we won't have to buy him dentures for his birthday.

My first 5k

As most of you know, I was signed up to participate in the Rex Lee run earlier this year and couldn't go because I injured my foot and was told by my doctor to rest it. Unfortunately my "recovery" time turned into just plain old "lazy" time and I stopped training all together. Luckily I have an uncle who is an avid runner and invited me to run with him in a 5k that a co-worker of his put together to support the deaf community. I didn't have much time to train, but with his encouragement (okay, it was outright abuse) I was able to run almost the entire race and finished in just over 34 minutes, an average of about 11.5 minutes per mile, which is pretty good for me.

Amazingly that was the push I needed to get back into running, and I'm now running an entire 3.1 miles every day. I set a goal to run a complete 10k by the end of the summer, so I really need to start getting serious about training every day. It makes me feel much better and helps work off any tension or stress I have. I love it!

Doba Dot

Sean works for a company called Doba, and every month they give out "Doba Dots" for exceptional service to the company. In order to get a "Dot," three or more employees must nominate you for that particular month. Well this month Sean received 4 nominations and was awarded his first Doba Dot at their all-team meeting on Friday. Sean has worked really hard at Doba and was so happy to receive recognition for the effort he's put forth, even during his chemo treatments. I'm so proud of him!

CONGRATS HONEY!!!

ps> Yep, his hair is growing back. Yay!