Kathryn's Birthday

Well, better late than never on the pictures, right? Here are a few pictures of how we spent Sunday night to celebrate Kathryn's birthday. We opted to not have a party for her this year, and just had the Lechners come over for dinner and cake. It was a wonderful evening, and Kathryn has loved playing with her new toys. We gave her some more play food for her kitchen, and I made her a little apron since she's always wanting to "help" me cook. :)

The finished creation before it was destroyed...

2 Year Portraits

I took Kathryn in for her 2 year portrait today...I haven't gotten her picture taken at a studio since she was 6 months old (where she picked at the fuzz on the table the whole time). I had a coupon for a free 8x10 portrait at Picture People, so I thought I'd give it another try. I was really happy with how they turned out, and I was good and stuck to my free portrait (the top one). Anyway, on to resting and organizing this afternoon....

Play Time

Thought these pictures were fun...Kathryn and I spent a good part of the day yesterday just playing together. I wonder if she suspects a change coming soon with the baby because she's needed a little extra "Mommy time" the last few days. It's funny, she really reminds me of myself sometimes with her emotions! I guess even little ladies sometimes cry for no obvious reason. :) But I certainly don't mind the extra cuddles before bedtime and hugs/snuggles during the day.

Pregnancy Update

Hard to believe there are only 7 weeks until my due date! Just a quick update...I've started going to the Dr. every 2 weeks, which is exciting. This baby is coming soon! Nick and I are slowly going through the house trying to organize things and get rid of what we can to declutter the house and make room for another bed and person (and all the stuff that comes with a baby!) I have discovered that having a baby is highly motivating to get projects done that I've been procrastinating on. For instance, I spent the evening filling frames in Kathryn's room that have been empty for more than a year. What a nice feeling to have them done! Next on the list is organizing my recipes a little better on the computer. Then finishing the stockings that never got finished before Christmas. And maybe making a bunch of nursing covers so I have some in stock already made. We'll see on that one. We'll also move some furniture around, moving the futon into the computer room and setting up a toddler bed for Kathryn in her room with the crib. I'll post pictures when we switch things around. But for now, it's 1 am and I must get to bed!!!

Christmas Pictures

I can't believe it's been a whole month since my last post. I admit that my time has not really focused on blogging recently, but hopefully now I can get back into the swing of things. This year for Christmas we took our annual 2 week trip to visit both families. We loved seeing everyone...here are a few pictures.

Our Christmas on Dec. 21 in Charlotte. Kathryn was very excited about her tea set we got her. She has also loved playing with her playdough, which was a stocking gift. I think I'll try to stick with one gift for Christmas for our kids and then fill out some "needs" with the stocking stuffers. That seemed to work well this year, and maybe it will change...we'll see.

First leg of our trip was Muncie, where we celebrated Christmas with the Swans on the 23rd. Our annual traditions- Pizza King Pizza at night, then Christmas Eve Breakfast with the Swan extended family. Here's a picture of Kathryn with her cousin Tyler.

Hmmm, not the greatest of us, but one of the only ones from the whole trip!

Looking so forlorn...I had to post it because I think it's so funny.

The Swans-Pat & Sarah with Tyler, Us, Dennis & Marilyn, Sean & Stacey

Next we headed up to Michigan, where we celebrated Christmas on the 27th with my immediate family. We enjoyed the new house on the Michigan House property, which was a great place for us all to gather at. It was certainly a different feeling being there in the winter, but it was fun. Then on the 28th we headed back to Wheaton to spend more time with my family. Of course, no Taylor Christmas would be complete without a trip to Seven Dwarfs Restaurant- a Greek, Family-owned diner famous for its shakes. They know my brother-in-law by name there since he frequents it so often when he's in town, even though he lives in Atlanta!

Our family picture keeps growing! My parents, 5 original Tayors, 5 spouses, 6 grandkids, and Gram. Total count: 19!

Lastly, we headed to Brown County, Indiana to see more of Nick's extended family. The added bonus this year was a new indoor water park, which was pretty awesome. Kathryn spent the first hour terrified of the water, not even wanting to get her toes wet. Here's how she looked after 3 hours...in fact, it was quite an ordeal when we had to leave- she was enjoying herself that much!