Its the little things

Its the little things that bring me the most happiness.

Its walks in afternoon sun holding my husband's hand

Its in my two year old's zest for life

Its in his love of experimenting and learning what happens when he does this or that

Its in the gummy grins of my newborn

Its in the late night snuggles with my hubby

Its taking a nap and opening my eyes to this sight:

Its watching him gain self esteem

Its the fact that my lap is ever occupied

Its in fresh summery meals

Its in those quiet moments

when the babes are sleeping peacefully

Its in the giggles and screaches of excitment

its in the homefromwork greetings

Its in the self styled outfits

It comes from sweet babies, needing me

and walks in the warm summer air.

Its in those chubby cheeks!!

and in the memories we're creating

Its in having the best dad for my kiddos

and its in recognizing every day

(and thanking God)

 that I have been blessed with way more than enough to keep me happy for eternity.

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.

a peek inside

If you could take a peek inside our home,

You'd see toys scattered about-

somehow I never manage to clean up as fast as Beck cleans out.

You'd see a few (hopefully just a few) dishes waiting to be loaded.

You'd most likely see Penny curled up in the corner of the couch,

 or waiting patiently on the mat for crumbs to fall from Beck's high chair.

Beck would be running from one thing to the next-

I'm afraid we have officially hit the shortest attention span age.

 You'd occasionally see "Diego", "Blues Clues" or "Yo Gabba Gabba" on in the background.

Amidst the craziness and disorganization,

you'd catch glimpses of Daddy as "horsey",

and of course lots of wrestling and giggles.

You'd often sometimes see me straightening up, folding laundry, or preparing dinner.

But you'd also see me foregoing the daily to-do lists for snuggles, play dough, and songs on the floor.

As for this guy...

He pretty much runs the show around here.

All the biggest smiles in our house are due to him.

as are the biggest messes.

He fills his days jabbering in his own language,

singing songs,

and practicing all of his new words and phrases.

(vest lovingly made my Mimi)

He says "OH NO" in about five different expressions.

He says "no" when he is scared or turning down food.

and rather than saying "Yes" he prefers to say "OK!!" in the most excited voice.

His latest phrase of choice is "Oh man!!" and we laugh every time. 

Here is a video of his little expressions.

Please ignore my coaxing, I sound ridiculous!

He is getting more and more independent, which manifests itself mostly during meals

when he turns his nose up at food that we know he loves,

and insists on feeding himself with a fork-

or not eating at all.

But overall, Beck's personality is sensitive, curious, and super loving.

He still periodically stops playing and runs at us from across the room-

 just to give us a kiss on each cheek,

one on the lips,

then "noses"-for good measure.

We can't get enough hugs and loves from him and glad he is so expressive. 

He LOVES puzzles, and loves to take things apart and put them back together.

It is easy to forget that in just 10ish short weeks our lives will drastically change with the addition of another baby boy. 

But my ever growing belly constantly reminds us of the changes ahead.

(28 weeks)

Although I am sure our routine and rhythm won't resemble much of what it is now,

I am pretty sure that it will be better than we could imagine. 

Just our luck

I came across this quote on Pinterest early this week:

Those words definitely influenced my attitude this week.

Tuesday 9:00 pm:   

Chase blows a tire a block away from our house. 

Decides to change it the next morning when its light.

Wednesday 7:00 am

Successfully changed spare tire.

Realizes that the car battery is dead.

Beck and I drive down to jump his car.

4 new tires later:  $400

Thursday 1:00 pm

Chase makes a short work visit in a hospital and comes out to another dead battery

New car battery:  $115

Thursday 7:00 pm

Chase accidentally leaves his car keys in the office as he leaves for the night.

The office doors automatically lock and he can't get back in.

Beck and I drive 15 minutes there and back to his office to pick him up

...as well as 15 minutes there and back to take him to work Friday morning

Super fun car stuff.

Pretty stinky luck my man had this week huh?

Yeah the money (that we don't really have to spare) stinks the worst.

BUT! 

He could have dangerously  blown his tire on the freeway, since he is on it all day long.

Instead he was on a side road only a mile from our house.

When his battery died for the second time,

He could have been stuck in the hospital parking lot all day

waiting for one of the cars parked next to him to return. 

Even if I had driven the 40 minutes to jump his car,

I couldn't have done it because his car was pinned between two others.

Instead, the woman next to him returned within 10 minutes and helped jump his car.

He drove straight to a auto parts store to determine if the problem was the alternator or the battery.

alternator would have cost $400-$1000. 

Instead, it was just the battery. MUCH CHEAPER!

So really, life happens and it is sometimes expensive,

but I am so glad Heavenly Father was watching out for us this week.

Here is the quote I am going to keep in mind for this next week ;)

Source: addtheblog.tumblr.com via Leah on Pinterest

The dog days of Summer

First off,

Could someone please explain to me what that even means? 

onward.

It is Summer, and it is glorius. 

I've been an awful blogger,

but I don't really care!

Summer.

Mimi visits.

splash pad, cousins, snuggles with Mimi,

bubbles, play dough, singing and reading,

I think my mom and Beck have a secret language of babble

Beck sure loves his Mimi!

Girls Camp.

LOVE those girls!

 I should have counted the number of times another leader asked me where I was supossed to be.

"I'm a leader, I promise!!"

Preston and Quinn.

uncles! popsicles, Harry Potter, bagel bites,

"King, Queen, Pauper, Peon-aka Poopon"

Costa Vida. amazing performances, Lagoon,

to Provo and  back

Family.

baby cousin bathtime, BBQ's, goodbye's, cousins, Rodeo, cards, fresh bruchetta,

LOVE! Pizza Factory. never enough

Beck.

running, gabbering, signing, giggling, everything throwing,

hugs, high five and pound-its, early rising, door opening and slamming.

Chase.

toddler wrestling, dream chasing,
air conditioner missing,

wife snuggles, dish washing, softball.

Leah.

freckles and sunshine, laundry, chasing,

 cough cough coughing (ick!)

good book reading, free iphone!

Its pretty obvious that I have been HORRIBLE at capturing photos of our Summer.
I'm resolving to fix that!

That pretty much sums up summer so far! 

(Up until about a week ago that is)

We're just loving it.