Our little Grey

More beautiful pictures by Jalene, although the beautiful child is provided by me ;)

This little angel has blessed our lives for almost 4 weeks now.

un.bah.leave.a.bull.

Seriously, where does time go?

Little Greyson is so wonderful to have around.

I remember reading on a friend's blog 

that her second baby just fit into the family so well and they hardly remember life before her.

I feel the same way. 

and really, newborns seem so much easier compared to a two year old!

The most difficult part so far has been making sure that big brother doesn't smother him to death with love.

I still can't set Greyson down unattended because 

Beck will drop whatever he is doing to give loves to Greyson.

"Hi baby"

"Oh baby" (in a sing-songy voice)

"cute!"

all while hugging, and kissing, and holding his head.

Then comes the whines from Grey.

"Baby sad?!"

"Baby crying!"

and the attempts to pick him up or shove a binky into his mouth.

Of course, 

its a delicate balance because we don't want to discourage him from showing love for his brother,

but want the poor baby to get some undisturbed rest every now and then :) 

(Greyson's eyes say it all don't they?)

I am so glad Beck loves his brother

but we are hoping his "enthusiasm" starts to wain a touch in the near future.

As far as temperament goes, Greyson is a pretty mellow kid

He eats every 2 1/2 to 3 hours but is a speedy nurser, which I love.

He has just started getting a little bit gassy and spit-uppy after feedings, 

but as long as we burp him well it doesn't bother him much.

We are getting more and more smiles out of him each week.

Last night Chase and I were talking to him while he was sleeping.

I told him his momma loved him and a huge smile erupted in his sleep.

We laughed and then Chase added that he loved him too

and once again, another huge sleepy grin.

Although most wouldn't consider him to be "chubby" 

he is so much chubbier than Beck as a newborn so we love to pinch his little rolls.

Add caption

Although he is bigger than Beck was as as newborn, 

his hands and feet are itty bitty compared to Beck's

He has the same little swirly callic that Chase and Beck do on the back of their head.

Little Greyson loves to snuggle

He likes a binky but could live without it.

He still sleeps a lot but we are getting more and more periods of awake time during the day.

He loves to be swaddled, 

and will calm instantly with the sound of Chase's voice or my soft "shhhh" sound in his ear.

He is still fitting in most of his newborn stuff and a few 0-3 month clothes as well.

 We've been working on the sleep, eat, play routine

He is a total milk dud after eating and we have a hard time waking him up enough to play after nursing.

The only thing that will definitely get him up (and angry) every time is changing his diaper. 

He still hates that, but I don't really blame him.

We are just so in love with our two boys.  

Watching your oldest become a big brother strengthens your love to levels you didn't realize were possible.

and then adding another babe to the family just expands your heart that much more.

Its amazing how much you can love a little creature before they've even shown you who they are inside.

Greyson is just so precious. 

I can't wait to see what the world has in store for him.

He fits into our family so perfectly already.

We are happy in the Taylor household today.

I have my cake and eat it too.





I was extra lucky this Valentine's Day.  I had not one, but TWO Valentines. 

The littlest one spent the day with me, and the handsomist one spent the evening.

This year I had a new kind of love to add to my Valentine's Celebration, thanks to this little man. 

One that includes someone needing me for survival, although I feel like that need is reciprocal. 

      

The Mister and I had a delightful evening enjoying Pei Wei Shrimp and watching this girl in Hairspray. 
(What a great show!)
After sending the babysitter home we reminised about how we fell in love-
and there was some tickling and giggling involved.
I love this guy so much.
We also talked about how we are so happy.  In our marriage, in general with life. 
Happy Valentines Day Tom Love!

day 1,462 of eternity together

Today is a special day.

It marked the first day of our Fifth year together.  Four years ago on October 21, 2006 Chase and I were married. What a great adventure it has been.  Lots of ups and a few downs, but it definitely has been a wonderful ride.  Chase is a great husband.  I never have to question his love for me. I never have to question his desire to become the best man he can become.  We just have so much fun together.  I love that he has the same quirky humor that I do-even if other people don't really think its funny.  I love that he provides for our family and doesn't complain.  Watching him become a father has expanded my feelings for him like a balloon connected to an air pump.  To see him as such a tender, involved Dad just makes my day, every day.  Each time he gets up in the night and tries to calm Beck down, even though he knows there is a 90% chance that nothing but nursing will work, my love grows deeper.  He wants to be there for each moment; even the poopy diapers and tired nights. 

That makes me want to stick by his side. 

 For eternity. 

October 21, 2009

Have you ever woken up one morning and just felt something different in the air?

We had been married three years. Three wonderful, happy, capacity expanding years.

I first sensed it when our baby boy patted me good morning from the inside. I realized that this would be our last anniversary as just "us". ...a little bitter sweet, but mostly sweet.

Then I felt it again when I was driving to work-and this is what I saw.

I could feel it. With this sunrise came change.

I thought I was going to another day of work, and then we'd go to California to celebrate a sunrise in my sister's life, and we'd come back and I'd go to work again and Chase and I would keep living our lives...and it would change day by day, bit by bit.

I like change, I really do. But I like to anticipate it.

I like to ponder it, prepare for it, ready myself.

Then let the change ease itself in...

and its always a little hard leaving the old behind,

but the new is so exciting...a new adventure that brings more growth.

Sometimes it doesn't happen that way though.

Sometimes its sudden, and shocking, and it feels like you've got no control.

That kind of change is a lot harder to deal with.

But then you realize that you have a Heavenly Father who has a plan.

Not just for all of his children. for MY family. for ME.

He knows what is in store for us. And it is always wonderful-

better than we could choose for ourselves. Better than we can imagine.

But it is hard to give up that control sometimes. At least for me.

Sometimes we have to take a step forward.

into the shadows,

knowing that I don't have to see what is ahead

if I step in the direction Heavenly Father wants me to step.

So we did. Chase and I decided that it was time to be willing to do what Heavenly Father wanted...which we were always willing to do.

BUT we had to be willing to follow Him without seeing how it would work out.

Where will we live?

Where will Chase work?

What about the wonderful family we have in Boise?

What about the job/internship we have here?

What about our apartment in Boise?

Health insurance?

and on and on and on.

So we gave up trying to answer all of those questions before making a decision.

We had to excersise FAITH

and it was scary.

One day I was sitting in my office in Kyle's garage,

thinking of the redbox we'd pick up that night and what groceries I would buy for lunch.

The next day I was in Salt Lake City with no idea what we were doing or how it would work out.

But I knew that it would.

And it did.

Within three days I got a well paying job in Salt Lake that couldn't be more perfect,

we worked the details of leaving our Boise job with our wonderful boss (my brother),

Chase got hired at a Commercial Real Estate firm with salary and benefits (YAY!)

we've got a roof over our heads,

all the bills got paid,

and lots of family who love us.

But most of all, a Heavenly Father who blesses us

with more than we could even think to ask for

Life is good. Change is scary...

but so worth it.

Goodbye to our happy six months in Boise.

We loved living by and working with family

We loved the late, light summer evenings playing softball

We loved dinner and football at Mom and Dad's

We loved ditching work to swim in the pool

and watching Penny and Bear wrestle all day.

We loved watching Tayler grow and being around to help her do it.

We loved learning what we learned.

We'll be back to visit soon.

Thanks for everything Mom, Dad, Kaela, Kyle, Jade, and Tayler.

Love you, miss you.

Goodnight to yesterday,

Good morning to the sunrise

and a new day.

What do you get when you've got nothing to make for dinner?

...TOM-LOVE SOUP!

The other day I was distracted until I realized my stomach was growling.

 It was 7:30pm and I had nothing prepared for dinner...

...and we might not have been grocery shopping for over a week...

I know I'm a "horrible wife".

So I decided to get creative.

I put some chicken broth in a big pot.

a bag of frozen broccoli,

frozen corn,

cut up a frozen kilbasey that I had in the freezer, and

some quick homemade noodles.

Oh yeah, and I added some spices at my leisure...

fennel, thyme,

bay leaves,

a little cream,

and of course some Tony's .

I was so proud of myself because I thought I had been so creative and had created a masterpiece.

Its not that it was bad, it just wasn't that good.

You know, too many combinations of flavors...

Its ok though, because it included a game.

Chase had to search his soup for the two "special noodles".

I know, we're crazy. Ya gotta mix life up a little sometimes you know?

P.S. The "Tom" part of this culinary masterpiece comes from the "T" noodle. Tom is the nickname that Chase and I both call eachother. Thats a story for another day...

2 lovely years!

Yesterday was our 2 year anniversary and we are just as madly in love as our wedding day.

What a wonderful two years it has been! Here are some pictures:

(Sorry some of these pictures aren't very good quality for online, but you get the gist)

Our cruise was planned for our anniversary

so we just did sweet-thoughtful things for eachother rather than spending money.

Chase wrote me a very sweet love letter.

Included in it was a list of "Fun memories" from the past two years.

Here are a few that he listed:

-Getting a Penny

-Trip to NY (flying trapeze)

-Six flags trip for track meets

-Christmas with the Enzlers

-Discovery of "Tom" (this one is an inside joke-story for another day)

-You were my nurse on Halloween

-Your graduation-shaking hands with Elder Perry

-Romantic Anniversary Inn (that was last year's anniversary getaway)

-Working all Summer with you selling pest control-you are so tough!

-Being two years married to my best friend!!

Can't wait for another billion trillion years of happiness together!!