Christmas Eve

The long awaited day, before the longer awaited day was finally here! The kids started out by taking advantage of our 2 feet of snow and building snowmen with Dad. This was really Zacks first experience in the snow. Please dont mind his pink flower boots...thats what happens when you have 4 sisters! They all loved it, and Katelin became quite the pro at snowball rolling! After they came in and warmed up with hot chocolate, we ate lunch and made cookies for Santa. The girls love to frost and decorate the Christmas shaped cookies. Then after watching "Elf", and having dinner, we performed our annual family rendition of the Christmas Story. This year, Mom was Mary, Zack (a neglectful) Joseph, Madison a shepherd, Katelin a wiseWOMAN, Alissa the angel, Dad the donkey and inn keeper, and of course, Brylee was baby Jesus. Zack wasnt having any of keeping his robe on, so he was a Joseph of the future. Then it was time for the opening of the Christmas Eve PJ's. Alissa was the most excited to recieve her new tinkerbell nightgown with matching slippers and a wand. Then finally it was time for baths, scriptures and off to bed. What a long day!

Random Pictures

Here are a few pictures from over the last month. Its been a busy one!

Katelin and Alissa visiting Santa.

Madi during her school music program. (Notice the kid behind her)

Zack sneaking the Ice cream out of the freezer and having a taste.

And of course, Brylee at two weeks old!

Four day fun

I was having a good time taking Brylee's pictures today for her birth announcements. Here are a couple I love, and the rest you will have to wait and see on the announcements. She is so easy going and happy as you can see! (Which I need, so its good) I know its probably "just gas", but she must have had a lot of it, because she kept smiling like this. Pretty good for 4 days old.

We just love her!

Welcome Brylee Joy

She's finally here! Brylee Joy Taylor was born into our family at 7:44 pm, Sunday December 7, 2008. She weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz, and was 19 1/2 inches long. Only 2 oz bigger than Madison was! I was so excited to see that I finally got one with my hair genes, because she has lots of dark hair! Lets hope she keeps it. We checked into the hospital around 3:00 pm, and overall I would say the labor went pretty well. Im happy to report that I was able to do it all naturally again, after being afraid I wouldnt be able to do it again.
Big sisters are all so excited she is here, and cant get enough of her. Alissa's comment in the hospital was that "she's soo cute and little...just like a kitten." They couldnt sleep last night while she was still at the hospital, because they missed her too much, and it was pure torture to Madison and Katelin to have to go to school today and wait longer to see her again. Zack is aware of the presence of a new baby, and is learning that he cant poke her eyes, sit on her, pull her out of her car seat and yank on her blanket when he wants to see her. It will be quite an adjustment for him. So far he is just having fun with it.
Mom and baby are doing well. Brylee does have to go back to the hospital tomorrow to get checked for jaundice and have her hearing screening re-done, since she failed it the first time. They said its probably due to the amount of meconium in the water before it broke. She was pretty full of mucus at birth. Its perfectly normal, but we are still anxious to hear a positive test result. Ever since we got home today, she has been sleeping. Of course she didnt sleep this soundly at the hospital, so Im pretty tired. But we promised pictures today, so here are a few. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support!
-Heather

Christmas Tag

Ive never done a "tag", but this looked fun, so here it goes...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? definitely wrapping paper, it takes longer to open thus prolonging the Christmas experience. Plus, the kids cant peek!
2. Real tree or Artificial? I love the smell of real trees, but they are pricey, and usually end up dying before Christmas and leaving a big mess all over the floor. So we opt for the cheaper fake ones, and go with a nice evergreen smelling candle instead.
3. When do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? Usually by new years.
5. Do you like eggnog? I love it, everyone else doesnt. So I get to drink the whole carton myself! YUM. This year, the first carton intended for Thanksgiving didnt quite make it, so I had to buy another one. It is yummy in Sprite too!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? A pony...Just Kidding. Thats what I always wanted, but never got, so I think the next best thing was either the ski's or the big box of Twix candy bars. I love chocolate!
7. Hardest person to buy for? Ryan by far! And then the parents.
8. Easiest person to buy for? My girls of course. They want everything! The hard part is narrowing it down to what they want the most.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Just a tiny glass one. I never know where to put it for fear it will get broken. Ide love a bigger one, but still dont know where it would go.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. C'mon people, dont be lazy! I love getting Christmas cards, so get sendin! (Although, I did send an e-mail Christmas update last year because it was an after thought. But the card with picture was in the mail!)
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? underwear, or that hideous sweater when I was little. (Sorry Mom and Dad!) Kids are so picky about clothes!
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, and the Santa Claus.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Fall
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes. Still new, never even used! Im not proud of it!
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Peanut brittle, toffee, homemade caramel, Dads Fudge. All very healthy, I know.
16. Lights on the tree? Most people think I am crazy, but I usually do about 10-15 strands. Ive been trying to scale back though. This year was a record with only 6 or 7. But I dont think it looks as good!
17. Favorite Christmas song? Hmm...all of them! Hallelujah chorus is nice. Oh, and the forgotten carols (Michael McLean). But they are all good.
18. Travel at Christmas time or stay home? Ive never really traveled, since weve always been close to family...until now. So I guess stay home for me.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? If I sing Rudolf...wait how many are there?
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Weve always had a star, but Im cool either way.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? The popular Christmas Eve Jamies the night before, and the rest on Christmas.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The crowds at the store! Thats why we try to get the shopping done early! All you black Friday people are crazy!
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? All of them.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? We always eat Egg Ala King (or egg toast as the kids call it), with bacon and hot cocoa for breakfast. Then ham, scalloped potatoes, jell-o and rolls for dinner. And of course, egg nog for me!
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? a pain free labor, without the epidural! Ha ha. But seriously...a new car!

Now I tag all of you who havent done this! YOUR IT!

Tree Time

Decorating the tree is one of the kids' favorite things to do. We always put it up the day after Thanksgiving, and they get to take turns picking which ornaments they get to put on. Then of course they fight over who gets to put the star on top. This year they all came to the decision that it was Madi's turn. If you ask Ryan, she is getting too big to lift up. He might turn into the designated tree topper in the next year or two. Zack loved all the pretty twinkling lights!

Zack got into dancing to the Christmas music!

The girls found the Santa hats and had to try them on

Bubble Blowin'

One of Zacks favorite things to do is drink from the cup with the built in straw, especially when it has milk in it. He blows through the straw until the bubbles from the milk touch his nose and spill over the side. Then he tries to pop them with his finger. Thanks to his sisters for teaching him the bubbles fun with this one!

Hairy contest

Ryan had a contest with his friends at work, to see who could grow the most facial hair in a week. By the weeks end, it started getting itchy and driving them nuts. On the last day, they all went to work wearing just their mustaches. Has anyone ever seen Ryan this hairy? Crazy men! I will try to get a picture of his mustache posted later, if its not too late! (Cheryl, I hope to see one of Doug too!) Personally, I kinda like the unshaven look, before it gets too long! What do you think?

Halloween

Well, here we are on Halloween. The kids enjoyed carving their own tiny pumpkins, and Zack liked to eat the seeds. Alissa still hasnt gotten into the mushy feeling of cleaning it out, but she loved designing her face. Afterwards, they got into their costumes. Just in case you cant tell, Madison was a spider princess, Katelin Tinkerbell, Alissa a butterfly fairy, and Zack a fearless dragon. I also caught Ryan goofing around with a beautiful Ariel wig on! Since they do trick-or-treating on Sunday afternoon where we live, we went to our friends house a couple towns over on the actual day. It was so warm and nice, the kids stayed out for about 3 hours and got a ton of candy! It felt much more like a normal Halloween this year, after trying to go with the flow last year. We all had fun.

Alissa's 4th birthday

Alissa celebrated her birthday on Oct. 8. She chose to have a butterfly cake which she enjoyed decorating herself (with help). We then had a little family party where she got to open her presents and eat her beautiful butterfly cake. During the weekend, she chose to celebrate by having a special date with Mom and Dad. She wanted to have dinner with the animals at the Rainforest Cafe, where she wasnt too sure about the sparkler in her ice cream. But the birds and fishes were great! Afterwards we went to Build-a-Bear workshop, where she picked out and stuffed her new furry friend, a very cute puppy; which she named cuddles. She topped off the night with what she does best, falling asleep on the way home. It was a big success!

Pumpkin Patch Party

Zack Katelin Madison Alissa

Here we are at our ward activity at the Pumpkin Patch. We ate chili and cornbread and went on a hayride...a dark hayride, through the corn field. It was really cold, even the "Hot Cocoa", but the kids had a blast! They especially loved picking out their own pumpkins to take home. What good little Monsters!

Checking out the animals while it was still light out

Katelin & Alissa trying to keep warm

Relaxin on the hayride

Zack with his pumpkin

Our First Big News!

Well, as the start of our family blog we would like to announce the most surprising upcoming event of our life...a new baby. Thats right, baby #5 is on the way and expected to arrive mid December. Believe me, this was as big a shock for me as anyone, but after many months of thought and reflection about the whole thing, I have finally started to become more accepting and excited about welcoming another little person into our family. Katelin has taken full responsibility for this one, since she claims she "wished for it" with the blow of a dandelion. Therefore, I am putting her in charge of all the night wakings and whether she likes it or not, the dirty diapers!

So our family has been shaking things up in preparation of the big day. We have been in the process of buying beds and re-arranging bedrooms. We have been trying to figure out how to fit yet another car seat into the Montero, or be able to afford a much hesitated necessity... a van. Yes, I said it, Im giving in to the whole van way of life. Im finally tired of climbing over the seats to buckle seat belts, and trying to stuff the groceries into any available nook and cranny I can find. My convertible will just have to wait, I need more room! Zack has also surprisingly eased into staying in the toddler bed at night. He was climbing out of the crib anyway! And as always, Ryan has been on the lookout for better paying positions/jobs to be able to accomodate. So thats the biggest life changing news for us right now.

After all, doesnt everything revolve around a new baby?!

Heres a look at #5.

Madisons 9th birthday

Madison celebrated her 9th birthday by having a Hannah Montana party with her friends. They made necklaces, painted fingers and hair, and put on temporary tattoo's in preparation to 'rock the house'. Then they each took turns singing Hannah Montana songs separately, and as a group until cake time. Madison received 4 new Webkins, which she loved. I think they had a blast, and they all looked great!
Here's some pictures of the fun!

blowing the candles

The whole gang with their "rock poses"

Madi, singing Kareoke

McKenzie, Mauri, Madi & Lauren rockin it

Her favorite new Webkin

Everyone dancin to the music

Thats our boy!

Zack makes up for being the only boy, by being ALL boy! His favorites include:

Putting all the trash from the garbage can into the toilet, and taking it back out again: thus creating a soggy wet mess all over the bathroom floor.

Moving whatever object he can stand on to wherever he needs it, to climb higher and get into more fun and dangerous objects.

Dumping all his food onto the floor in an effort to save it for later.

Playing in the mud.

Getting thrown as high as he can, especially during trampoline time with Daddy.

Writing on the couch and walls with markers, crayon or pen.

Eating cat food, and making it mushy by putting it into water.

Hiding behind curtains, and under blankets.

Taking off all the heater vent covers and dropping other objects down the vents.

Yard work; including mowing the lawn with Dad, shoveling dirt (with a taste here and there), raking, and squishing bugs.

Pulling out all the pots and pans and pretending to cook and make noise by banging on them.

Recently, aside from catching him on the counter with a knife in each hand; he was found with an open bottle of red food coloring. It looked liked he had been tasting it, and also practicing his fingerpainting on the kitchen floor (thank goodness it wasnt on the carpet this time)! Its a good thing I found him with the bottle or I might have called 911, since it looked like he was covered in blood!

Heres some pictures after I cleaned up most of the food coloring. Hes pretty proud of himself!