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!

I've been tagged

Jeanie "tagged" me on her blog...to post the 6th picture in the 6th folder on my computer, and then to tell about the picture. This is a picture of my niece Bethany holding Kathryn at the Outer Banks in 2007. Kathryn was 5 months old at the time, and Bethany was very eager to help with everything she could. Kathryn is quite excited to see her big cousin "Beh-Beh" next week at Nana and Papa's house!

Contentment

"A Christian comes to contentment,

not so much by way of addition,
as by way of subtraction...
not so much by adding to what he would have, or to what he has,
not by adding more to his condition;
but rather by subtracting from his desires,
so as to make his desires and his circumstances even and equal."

I've recently been re-reading "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment" by Jeremiah Burroughs, which is so full of treasures like this quote. What a wonderful reminder, especially this time of year, that changing/increasing my circumstances won't bring contentment. Rather, when I lower my desires to my current circumstance, I experience contentment in all the blessings God has given me already.

It's Beginnig to Look A Lot Like Christmas

I have really been enjoying this Christmas season, way more than the last few years. I think it's helped that Kathryn is old enough to start noticing the decorations up and grasp a basic excitement for the Christmas story. Every morning we read from our Advent book, which is Luke 2 broken up into 25 passages, each one a door flap to lift up. It is really perfect (thanks, Nancy, for foreseeing my appreciation of this book!) Then we "act" out the story with Kathryn's Little People Manger set. She gets really excited pointing out all the decorations around the house: "Angels," "Tee" (Christmas Tree) "Doll" (my caroler dolls), "Dada's" (Nick's Nativity Display), "Angel on top!" (points to the Angel on the top of the tree), "Tocking" (stockings). I just love it.

After being inspired from some ladies at church, I decided to try and get as much shopping done early this year, which has been a huge blessing. I remember this time last year feeling very frantic, which is why we booked a last minute flight instead of driving for Christmas. But this week's agenda is pretty calm, which is amazing for leaving on Monday. I'm thankful that I've been able to slow down this month, enjoy meditating on the story of our Lord's birth, as well as enjoying some quality time with Kathryn. What a difference it has made!

Park Outing

I have been loving this warm weather, even though it's been pretty rainy the last few days. Nick and I took a little excursion to the park on Monday to enjoy some fresh air and give Kathryn some exercise. I've been slacking on my posting, so here are some pictures...

I love life through a toddler's eyes...everything is fascinating, including a plane in the sky, which is what she was pointing at in this picture.

Sittin' like a lady

Thanksgiving in Hilton Head

We just got back from a lovely weekend in Hilton Head at Gram's house (my mom's mom). We met up with my parents, my sister Margaret and her husband Josh, and my mom's sister Becky and her family. It was so fun being with extended family for Thanksgiving...lots of cooking, which is exactly what I was wanting. We actually had Thanksgiving dinner Wednesday AND Thursday to accommodate the different people coming and going. I contributed corn casserole, pumpkin bread, an egg and goat cheese fritatta, and sweet potato casserole. Can you tell I like comfort foods? :)

4 Generations- Mom, Kathryn, Me, Gram

Dad carving the turkey

"The Ladies:" Gram, Lauren (my cousin David's fiance), Lisa (cousin Jordan's wife), my mom, Becky (my mom's sister), and me. We threw a little bridal shower for Lauren on Thanksgiving morning.

Dad and Bill trimming the trees outside Gram's house so we could see the beautiful view of the golf course pond.

Here are some shots of the Salt Lake Marshes, part of the neighborhood that Gram lives in. It is just beautiful.

Gram (or "Gam", as Kathryn called her) and kathryn playing

Our 2008 Christmas picture

Stockings

My new project is making stockings so that we all have matching stockings (as well as future kids). So, opinion time...I'm trying decide if I should put just the first letter of our names on the stockings or figure out a way to write the full names across the top of the stockings. Thoughts?

Cooking

Kathryn has been really into "helping" me cook this last week. Every time I go into the kitchen, she drags a chair across to the counter saying, "I want to see" (well, it's more like "Ah seeee"). Then she pulls all of the measuring spoons out and "cooks" with me. I try not to think about kitchen sanitation as I put all the spoons she's sucked on back in the drawer. :) She's also been very into wearing an apron, which is so funny. I think I'm going to make her one for Christmas.

These are actually some of my sweetest times as a mother. I hope that Kathryn always wants to cook alongside me...I love having a daughter and hope the future brings lots of time in the kitchen together. What sweet times these are.

Playing

Well, I'm a little sad to see the beautiful weather turn into being quite cold outside (I know, it's not THAT cold compared with a lot of other places, but I've quickly become used to Southern climate.) We enjoyed a few days outside last week while the leaves were still pretty on the ground. And now more of our time has been spent inside, like trying out the new Elmo coloring book I got Kathryn at Dollar Tree. That is a great place to go for "art" stuff for 2 year olds, by the way. I love how concentrated Kathryn looks in this picture...I think she gets that furrowed brow from her mother. :)

6 Month Picture

Getting quite the pooch!

New Recipe

I like to try new recipes every now and then, and it seems like a lot of the ones I've tried recently have not gone over super well. But I think I found one that's a keeper. We had it for dinner 2 nights ago, and it was delicious! Healthy, too, which is always a plus. AND most of the ingredients (with the exception of the multigrain pasta) can be found at Aldi, even a bigger bonus!

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake

1 1/2 c. multigrain penne pasta, uncooked
1 pkg. (9 oz) fresh spinach leaves
1 lb. boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces (I used two small chicken breasts to save meat)
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 jar (14 1/2 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
2 oz. Neufchatel Cheese, cubed (could also use cream cheese)
1 c. (I used a little more) part skim Mozzarella cheese
2 T. parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375.
Cook pasta, adding spinach to boiling water for last 1 minute.
Cook and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat 3 min.
Add sauce and tomatoes; bring to boil
Simmer 3 min. or until chicken is done.
Stir in Neufchatel cheese
Drain pasta mixture; return to pan.
Stir in chicken mixture and 1/2 c. mozzarella (I used 1 c. for this), spoon into 2-qt. baking dish
Bake 20 min. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake 3 minutes.

Pregnancy Update

It's hard for me to believe that this week I'll be 6 months into this pregnancy! Did I say it's flying by? I'll wait til the end of the week to take a belly picture, but thought I would write a blurb about it first. Physically I've been feeling great, for which I'm very grateful. I think I'm nearing the end of running days for a while, but meeting Jeanie 3 days a week has been very motivating to get some exercise. I consider the second trimester the "glory days" of pregnancy for me, when I am not tired or too uncomfortable. So I've been enjoying this nice little window. :) Kathryn is kind of getting the idea of a baby in my stomach...we talk about it almost every day, although I'm sure she has no idea of how much her life will change in a few months!

As far as anxiety about the baby or about the transition to 2 kids, I feel like there's been much grace from the Lord on this front. I remember with Kathryn worrying a lot about whether she was going to be healthy or not, and I thankfully haven't found my thoughts going down that path very often. More and more, I'm just getting really excited to meet this little peanut inside of me, and although I know life will dramatically change, I have a feeling that it may be an easier transition for us than going from 0 to 1. I may be totally wrong about that, but it's been nice just trusting that God will give us wisdom and strength to handle adjustments as our family grows. We go in for an ultrasound tomorrow, and as of now we're not going to find out the sex. I'm actually kind of excited about waiting until March to know (sorry, I know it drives everyone ELSE crazy.) But we may have finally picked out our names, which is fun. And those will have to wait until Spring as well. :)

Baa Moo Farm

Our "playgroup" took a fieldtrip to Baa Moo Farm, a cute farm with lots of animals about an hour away. This outing led to an interesting outlook on how I handle such little trips. First of all, it probably wasn't wise of me to plan a long morning out on a day that I teach in the afternoon. Secondly, I already know that Kathryn doesn't really like getting close to animals, so I shouldn't have expected a farm to thrill her. And thirdly, I learned that I need to prepare myself on these outings to be armed with extra patience and understanding (and snacks for K!), as I am uniquely tempted to impatience in big outings like these. I'm still glad we went, and every morning since then, Kathryn has "talked" about the animals we saw (partly from my prompting). The one thing that cracks me up is when she's talking about the sheep, she'll say "BAAAA!" and then pretend like she's chewing, since the sheep we saw were eating. I continue to be amazed at the little things one-year-olds notice and can communicate in their own way.

CJ, Avery, Alathea, Savannah, Kathryn, Andrew, Wesley

Looking for an egg in the henhouse

"I'll just look at it from back here, okay?"