Looking back.

Look at this cute little boy!  Taylor was just shy of 4 months in this video and doing his first smiling and talking.  So cute!!

Clapping!

Look what we learned this week!

Sunshine award

Here's how it works:

1. Include this icon in your post-

2. Link to the blogger who nominated you-
Shelly!

3. Answer 10 questions about yourself.

4. Nominate 10 other bloggers to answer 10 new questions.

5.  Tell the people that they've won.

Let me start off this post just by saying that I am HORRIBLE at picking "favorites".  Bear with me.  (Bear?  Bare??  Not sure...!)

1.  What is your favorite TV show?

Of all time....The Office.  At all times I am somewhere on the seasons of Office. 

 
2. What makes you happy when you're grumpy?

Lots of things!  Shopping, chocolate, coming home to clean house and/or cooked meal.

3. What is your favorite childhood memory?

All those trips we used to go on.  Especially the ones to Disneyland!

4. Who is your best friend? Why?

My hubster Paul.  It's like we're  just kind of supposed to be together.  We oddly have the same thoughts at the same time, we say the same things at the same times.  If I'm having a lazy Saturday in my ugly sweats, he's right there with me in an old t shirt and basketball shorts.  That's love :)

5. What's your "feel good" movie?

If I am all alone--no kids and no Paul--with a couple of hours to spare, I will turn on Pride and Prejudice.  I love that movie!  It's portrayal of love in simpler times is intoxicating to me.  I practically have it memorized.

6. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A ballerina.  I even walked around on my tippy toes and did split leaps down the halls of anywhere that had enough room.  I'm sure my parents were worried!

7. What inspires you?

This question caught me off guard.  I've thought about it forn an hour or so.  the best answer I can give you is that my goals inspire me.  They motivate me to keep on going.  What I want in life is my inspiration, and ultimately that is my family.

8. What is your favorite book?

Of all time, it's a tossup between Emma and Pride and Prejudice.  I'm such a girl!  I love the subtle romance.  My favorite book that I'm reading right now is The Child Whisperer.  I've learned a lot about what kind of child I'm raising, but I've also learned a lot about myself.    

9. Who is your favorite author?

Jane, of course.  

10. What is your favorite song?Right now it's Afternoon Delight...mostly because I've been watching Anchorman a lot lately!

Questions about me

My friend Roxanne answered these same questions on her blog and I thought I'd join in!  --Feel free to do the same :)

11 Random facts about me

1) If you had an unlimited amount of money to spend at any store of your choice, where would it be? Oh my goodness...the choices.  I'll have you know I thought about this question carefully before answering...and I still have 2 stores that I can't pare down.  First I'd have to say Lowes....think of the things you could do!  We'd add a second story and garage to our  house, new roof, repaint, new carpet, gorgeous bathrooms....mmmmmm

And then there's Pottery Barn.  nuff said.

2) Where's your favorite place to eat?
Right now...and you're going to laugh...I'm loving Sweeto's Burritos.  It's a food truck in Idaho Falls.  3 words:  Sweet.  Pork.  Burrito.  If you're in the area, I highly recommend it!

3) When not blogging, what do you do for fun?
I always make time for myself at the end of the week or weeknights to do something creative.  I will do ANYTHING crafty.  My latest project has to do with chalk paint!  Other than that, I love to sew, organize, and I love making the space I live in gorgeous.  I'm always switching out decor items so that my home is warm and beautiful.

4) Favorite print magazine?
Real Simple and Martha.  If I'm in a celeb-mood, I go for People.

5) Your life is going to be a script for a movie, who would you want to play you?
Ummmmmm...Amanda Seyfried or Anna Torv.  I think we look similar.

Amanda Seyfried

Anna Torv

6) Coffee or tea?
Bleh, neither.  

7) Book or movie?
Depends on what I've actually got time for!  I love to get lost in a book, but I like to be entertained by a great movie.

8) Camping or a luxury hotel? 
Hmmmm...if it's warm, I love to camp.  Winter camping...not so much fun.  Winter hotel-ing, however is AWESOME.

9) What is the worst gift you've ever received? 
Anytime someone gives me clothes or shoes that don't fit.  Whether they're too big or too small, I know I'll have to make a return :(

10) If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?
cereal...for the WIN!  I don't ever get sick of it.

11) What smell do you like the best? 
A clean home.  When I walk in and smell that mixture of laundry going, freshly bleached toilets, Windexed mirrors, and a bath and body works plug-in, I'm weirdly in heaven.  

Specific questions

1) What's one thing you're currently looking forward to? 

Our next date night!  Who knows when that will be...

2) What is your favorite post on your blog?

I think the tale of Taylor's birth was my favorite.  I love those first pictures of Hayden and Taylor together.

3) Who is your best friend and why? 

My other half, of course <3  I ask his advice about everything, including home decor!  And he does the same with me. 

4) Are you a spender or a saver?

I'm a spender...I'love learning about saving, and I think people that save are AMAZING.  I still don't understand how that all works though!  Ha ha

 

5) What's your favorite joke?

Why is 6 afraid of 7?  Because 7 8 9!

6) What's one hobby you'd like to learn but haven't? 

I love to sew but I'm not awesome at it yet.  I don't know all the tips and tricks.

7) What's your favorite part of the day? 

When I was a SAHM this summer, I loved afternoon nap time.  The boys would be in their cribs asleep, and I would hop into my cozy bed with new sheets and a comfy comforter.  I would open the window so that I could fall asleep to the "sounds of summer" underneath my off white, cable knit, bamboo throw.  Aaaaaaaaaaahhh heaven.

Summer from my window.

8) What's your favorite dish to order at a restaurant? 

Something I don't allow myself to have on a normal basis, like fries...cheesecake...pop...classy, I know!

9) You can go back in time and change one thing without negative consequences. What would it be?

Oh my there are so many things....one thing I would have done differently was take the $0 interest financing on my Sears card.  I chose to take $10 off of my purchase instead, thinking that we were going to put our washer and dryer on my card and then pay it off (we got it at a better price that way).  Well that didn't happen and our $850 set turned into a $1300 set.  Not a ton in the long run, but it SUCKS that I had to learn that lesson that way!

10) Who is your imaginary celebrity bestie? 

Lisa Kudrow, Courtney Cox, and Jennifer Aniston, duh!  Oh, and when they are busy, Jessica Simpson and I hang out and try to figure out what tunaFISH is, lol.  Well....then there's the Will and Grace bunch...I love them too....

WHY ARE ALL MY FAVORITE SHOWS OFF THE AIR?!?

11) What's the one movie you could watch over and over again? 

Pride and Prejudice.  You know...the one with Collin Firth.  AAAAAAAAAH, love!

I love you, Taylor

Keeping it short and sweet:

Hayden and I were putting a very sleepy Taylor to bed tonight when Hayden said the sweetest thing.  Whenever we put Hayden to bed, we say, "Night!  Bye, see ya!  I love you!".  So as I snapped the last few snaps on Taylor's jammies, Hayden said, "Night....Taylor.  I love you, Taylor!".

heart = melted.

Love you Tay <3

Life is going too fast!!

Ok, life is flying past me and I feel like I've been M.I.A.  It feels like all I do is go to work, put the kids to bed, and work on my degree if I have a spare second.  I don't remember the last time I cooked a nice dinner, or fully completed a load of laundry on my own.  

My poor husband!

In the words of Bob Wylie, "Look!....The fam!"--What About Bob.

Someday it will be over.  T minus 30 days.  ish.  Or hopefully less.  

Taylor and his Auntie Deena, almost 4 months.

Anyways, My big reason for my post tonight is to report some happy news on my best buddy Hayden!  Mr Hayden came to me tonight and said "potty?  pooootty??".  I've been trying to get him interested in potty training without making him do it.  He has a determined spirit and won't do something until it's his own idea.
  

ohhhhh look...NO ONE is looking at the camera!  Hayden and Taylor were sick with colds and ear infections.  They didn't feel good but we had planned family pictures.  So we did it anyways!  Someday...they might just thank me.  I hope.  And don't worry...I just got my hair done!

That being said... Hayden promptly ripped off his diaper and sat on his potty chair.  He's done this before so I didn't think anything would happen.  Then he went #1!  We were both so excited--there was a lot of clapping and laughing.  Then 20 minutes later, he came to me again, wanting to sit on the potty.  He did his business, and we clapped and clapped!  It was great to see Hayden so proud of himself!  

Hayden--2 years 4 months

I hope this success continues...we'll see what happens at daycare tomorrow!!

4 months and thriving! (about 2 months late, whoops!)

(Apparently I never posted this!  Sorry!!  For what it's worth, here it is from about 2 months ago, lol!)

Taylor just turned 4 months on June 6th, and Daddy got to take him to his well-baby appointment.  Hayden got to go along too to make sure his ear infection had cleared up.  It's gone and the doctor ended up basically giving Hayden a 2nd 2 year check up.  Whatev's.  They better not bill it that way!!

I don't think I ever got around to sharing Hayden's 2 year stats--I slacked off a bit because Taylor was born right after Hayden turned 2.  Better late than never??

This boy loves crackers.

A present from mommy on his 2nd birthday.

Hayden about a week after turning 2 holding his new baby brother!  Not too sure about it yet.

Here they are:

29.4 lbs  69%
34 in       42%
17.9 BMI

I'm going to list Taylor's 4 month stats along with Hayden's for comparison's sake.  Enjoy :)

Hayden:             Taylor:
14.8 lbs 50%                   13.4 lbs 18%
26 in 86%                        25.8 in 76%
16 in 14%  (head circ)      15.8 in 5%  (head circ)
BMI 15.4                         BMI 14.3

Taylor Michael Kirby-4 months.

Taylor on his blessing day.  He was about a week short of being 4 months.  My mom made his blessing gown and I made the tie.  Yes.  Gown.  Old school-like.  It turned out really nicely.

His favorite activity at this point-sucking on his arm!

Taylor is quite small, but he is absolutely thriving!  He's talking, cooing, laughing, and rolling over!  It's really fun to see him grow and change.  I feel like he's growing faster than Hayden ever did, but clearly that's not true, lol!

We're...uh...Playing! Yeah!

I caught Hayden interacting with Taylor this morning.  I'm not really sure what's going on though.  I'm going to say they were playing, and not trying to kill each other!

20 Things no one told us about raising a boy

I have been absolutely ITCHING to blog lately, but I feel guilty in doing so!  I have so many things that I could be doing (like the homework in order to finish my bachelor's degree within the next month).  I won't get into that right now though!  

Right now, I want to talk about raising little boys.  My friend posted this little...article(?) on Facebook called, 20 Things No One Told Us About Raising A Boy.  I found it amusing!  My boys aren't quite old enough to have experienced every single one of these, but I think I get it.  Here's my take on some of the these hilarious situations that will come to pass when raising boys (to read the full article, click here).  

• Boys don't stop moving:  They sure don't!  Hayden has a determined, active energy about him.  It's special and unique, and I respect that...but goooood night....if he doesn't get enough physical movement during the day he is not a happy camper.

Boys wear flannel.  And it is their favorite!

Boys will cuddle and snuggle.  Especially with their mommies!

• Clothes Shopping is Easy and Cheap:  Sure is!  Today I stopped at Kmart and bought Hayden a pair of shorts and a T shirt for 2/$5 and Taylor a polo/shorts onezie combo outfit for $4.77.  The kids needed something they could get dirty at daycare.  2 outfits under $10!  Pick their favorite colors and you're good to go.

Threw that onezie away!

That would be dirt in his hand...and what he's sitting in!

• You will love watching play with His Dad:  Heart melting.  Paul and Hayden have been getting into doing yard work together.  Paul took Hayden on his lap while mowing the lawn on our ride-on lawn mower and it was adorable.  And Yesterday Taylor and Paul were giggling as Paul made Taylor into a human swing (it's not as bad as it sounds, lol!).  

Fixing the Lawn mower with daddy.  (Hayden had to wear Taylor's bib that day.  I gave in!)

Classic I'm in the dishwasher photo.

• You'll want to mold him into the perfect boyfriend:  YES I DO!  I hope my boys turn out to be great men!  

Boys....into everything ALL.  THE.  TIME.

• Boys Love Their Moms:  For how active Hayden is, he loves to cuddle with mommy.  If I'm lying down on the couch, he'll climb on top of me and pull a blanket over us.  Sometimes out of the blue he'll ask for  "kissus".  And when he tries to say "I love you" he has my heart!

Tools.  Boys.  They go together.

Cuddly with mom since the very beginning!

Having never lived with brothers, this raising boys thing is new for me.  But I love it!
  

Baby Buster is growing!!

If you watch Arrested Development, you'll think our duck's name is hilarious.  Oh yeah...we have duck!  And two chickens!  I so feel like we're Joey and Chandler from friends.  It's so true...life imitates art!  

Anyways, the duck has grown so much.  I wanted to post tonight just to show everyone how big he's really gotten.  I love him!

Baby Buster is the one on the left (hopefully everyone got that, lol)

Parakeet Buster!

Holding Buster...Twilight style.

SEE?!?  He's HUGE!!!!!!

Baby Buster has grown faster than Taylor, I swear!  These pictures are only 2 weeks apart.  Crazy, huh?!?

Funny moment:  On the spur of the moment, Paul asked if he could go buy some chickens. I said "Sure...why not?!".  He came home with 2 chickens and 1 duck.  Apparently he's always wanted one!  Anyways, it was totally not planned.  The funny part out of all of this is that we had been watching all of the seasons of friends, and (I kid you not) on the day that we bought the duck and chicks, the episode where Chandler and Joey buy their duck and chick came on!  Talk about a giant coincidence.  In honor of that episode, we have named our red chick "Yasmine".

No name for the black chicken yet.  She's my favorite--any suggestions??

Quick pics

Mr. Taylor is a happy boy today.  It's Saturday so I am home to nurse him: his favorite activity.  

Look at his chunky little thighs!!

He also gets to spend time in just a onezie, as the summer weather has FINALLY made it to Rexburg.  

I don't often get too spend much alone time with Taylor (other than mid-night feedings), so we are having mommy and Taylor time while daddy is at work and Hayden is asleep.  

Taylor is a happy little goofball with a sweet little spirit about him!

This picture looks so much like Hayden to me!

Boy in a box

Looks like I've found a few moments to update the blog!  These next few posts will be from the past 3 months...ish.

Between 3 weeks and 8 weeks old, Taylor went through his first whiney phase.  Do you know the one I'm talking about?  It's where they don't sleep beccause their stomachs aren't big enough to hold enough milk to tide them over.  They wake up every 3-4 hours to eat then then are grumpy during the day.  Well somehow I got Taylor down for a nap so Hayden and I tried to spend a little time together just the two of us.

This is what we came up with:

Hayden in a box!!

Hilarious Moment

This picture really doesn't need any explanation.  Taylor was quite young in the photo (I'm going to say not more than a month old) and obviously baby and daddy were exhausted.   

 Yes...that is my boppy.  Anyone else's husband pull this one?!?

My life over the past month

It's been a long time since I've posted!  A lot of things have happened in the past little bit and I've been trying to just keep up with my own life!  

First of all, I got a job.  I had 2 weeks to find something before Paul would start school and reduce his work time to 2 days per week.  Wednesday at 5pm I applied for a job on craigslist.  At 6pm I got a reply back asking if I could come in for an interview!  On Thursday I interviewed (it went SO WELL!), and on Friday morning I was offered the job!  I am a receptionist for the Idaho Falls Dental Group.  (For those of you in the area, it's the dental office in the mall across from Old Navy.)  I knew my interview rocked, but I couldn't believe out of the 50 applications received, they chose to hire ME!  Awesome.  

One problem.  I had to start on Monday.  And I had no daycare set up.

Hmmmmmmm.....

After one VERY stressful day, I found a small daycare that could take both of the boys and wouldn't charge me an arm and a leg.  It's still expensive though!

Hayden cleaning his tray.  Even with the biting and scratching at daycare, I can't help but fall in love with this little boy!

Hayden has had a hard time adjusting to daycare.  He doesn't like to eat in public, and there are very few foods he'll eat.  He's been sitting at the table and waiting for everyone else to eat and get down before he will eat his lunch.  He also scratched, pushed,and bit the other kids his first day at daycare.  If they wouldn't do what he wanted, he reverted to scratching.  We're working on getting him to use his words!

Taylor has been doing really well.  I had been breastfeeding him and wanted to continue, so that means a lot of pumping.  Not the most fun activity to do (especially at a new job), but it's great for protection against all of the germs at daycare.  Hayden and Taylor have already got a cold and stomach virus, and guess who handled it better?  Taylor!  I totally believe in the protection that breastfeeding provides from germs.  Hayden was nursed for about 2 months.  Taylor is at 3 now!  

One more thing---I need to brag about my husband.  Paul has been playing "stay at home daddy" this week. He usually gets off hours before me and picks up the kids.  When I get home, the house is clean, dishes done, dinner is being worked on, and the kids are behaving.  He's amazing!

Quotable Quotes

Hayden in the bathtub last night:

"Er-da take a cwap."

Translation:  a Swedish version of "I have to take a crap".

...boys...

and yes...Hayden often sounds like the Swedish Chef.

                                            

A whole 2 months

Taylor is a whole 2 months as of Saturday!  My fellow moms out there know what that means...

SHOTS!

Taylor did so well today!  He was happy to let me take his clothes off to be weighed and measured.  He even let the Dr. examine him without complaint.  While waiting for the nurses to come in and administer vaccinations, he even fell asleep!  I love this baby.

Taylor at 3 weeks old.  This is the only picture I have to share of Taylor right now as my laptop with all of his pictures on it is broken.  My new LCD screen should be here tomorrow!!

Here's baby's stats:

11.3 lbs  (38 %ile)

22.5 in   (32 %ile)

14.8 in   (head...6%ile)

15.6       (BMI)

So...according to this I have a short, skinny, small-headed baby?!?  Ok, he really does have a small head, but he doesn't seem short and skinny to me!  Oh well.  He's cute, happy, healthy, and his nursing jaundice eyes are almost gone.  He has slept 8 hours straight through the past 3 nights, so this is about as perfect as it gets!

Spring Eggs

Deena and I were talking about our Spring home decor the other day and she asked me to do a blog post on my spring eggs.  So here ya go, Deena!

This idea came about when Deena told me about her Easter eggs.  They are wooden eggs that she painted.  I thought that could make a cute addition to my Easter decor (of which I had none!).  Two problems arose:

1. I didn't know where to find wooden eggs
2. If I did find them, they would probably be somewhat expensive

This is what I came up with:

Supplies and Cost:

• Plastic Easter eggs (Kmart, $.75)
• Acrylic Paint (Walmart, $.50 ea)
• Soft Paint Brush (Walmart, assorted package of 12, $3.00)
• Aleene's Tacky Glue (or finishing spray) (Walmart, $2.00)
• Scissors
• Old Toothbrush

Luckily I had everything on hand except the eggs and paint.  On this project, I spent $3.75.

Directions:

Break your eggs apart.  Most are connected by a little piece of plastic.  

Use a pair of scissors to cut the residual connector off.  If you can't get close enough, you may need to use an exacto knife.

Next you'll need to prepare to paint.  The paint brush you choose is EXTREMELY important.  You want a soft brush with long bristles.  If your brush is too hard, you'll scrape the paint each time you paint a new layer on.  See photos below.

If your brush is soft, you'll be able to bend the bristles all the way back with no resistance.  

If your bristles are hard, your bristles won't bend back far and there will be a lot (or some) resistance.

Ok, now paint!  The first layer will be very thin.  The 2nd and 3rd layers of paint will go on pretty thick.  I made sure my paint brush was moist with a little water so that the paint would spread a little easier.  Whatever you do, make sure your paint dries completely between layers or you risk destroying the previous layer.  

This photo shows an egg after 2 layers of paint.  As you can see, it's not quite opaque yet.  

Next step is to spatter.  Grab your tooth brush, dip it in white paint, and run your finger back and forth over the bristles so that paint splatters all over your eggs.  After the white dries, do the same with brown paint.  This will give the eggs a natural, robin's egg sort of look.

Now you're going to have to seal your paint job.  If you don't, the paint scratches off pretty easily.  I've tried a finishing spray but it wasn't my favorite method.  It got everywhere and took several coats. I would suggest brushing on a thin veil of Mod Podge.  When I made my eggs, I didn't have Mod Podge, and I couldn't find my finishing spray.  I did however, have some Aleene's Tacky glue on hand.  It's pretty thick but it dries clear.  All you have to do it water it down until it's thin enough to paint on your eggs and then just let it dry.  Works like a charm!

And the finished product: