For Tae's Birthday

We had planned on doing a BBQ at my parents house. With her birthday being in the middle of the week, we decided the best thing to do would be to wait until Saturday. My dad was scheduled to be out of town for work on the 9th, so we looked at the 16th. That wasn't good either, so we are looking at the 23rd. [I still need to send out invites...]

Anyway, that left us wondering what to do on the actual day. I took her to my Cinco de Mayo lunch party at work. She loved it. We decided to just spend the evening together doing some type of activity, dinner, presents and cake. We were really excited when we found out Colton and Shay were going to be in town for Shay's track meet. We had planned on going to the aviary while waiting for Colton and Shay to show up. Who knew they closed at 6? We ended up hanging out in the back yard. Kind of lame, I know, but we had a good time and I'm including a sideways video to prove it! Pay attention to the first when she calls for Jon (aka 'da') to come walk with her.

We also decided to give her one of her presents while we were waiting. She loved it! Just in case the picture isn't enough, let me include the video. Yeah, I know, turned the wrong direction again. Dang me!

She played so hard that she was asleep when Colton and Shay got there. Colton sure had a hard time being patient until she woke up! After she woke up, we fed her (we ate while she was sleeping), then let her open her presents. She loved the wrapping paper, but it took FOREVER! She tore the paper apart one little piece at a time. Quite a slow process.

Here is a picture of her opening her beach towels (one piece at a time). Not necessarily a fun gift (towels), but they will come in handy with this (from Colton and Shay): She also got a bike helmet so that she can ride to work with me. She loved it...can't you tell? These pictures are from the next day when we made it to the aviary before they closed.

Happy Birthday Tae!

Taelyn loves:
mom and dad
coming home at the end of the day to find 'da'
being outside
pointing-at everything
sharing food
sharing toys-but only if you hand them back
clapping
waving
people watching
interacting with people-especially when we are in a store
walking on the sidewalk in the back yard
Brainy Baby (apparently Baby Einstein didn't make the cut)
bedtime baths
bottle when she goes to bed
nuk
socks-not wearing them but chewing on them (?)
wearing shoes
her new blankey from Grandma
brushing her teeth if mom or da are brushing theirs
her frog and bunny
being tossed into the air
feeding cows with Papa G

Taelyn's favorite foods:
water-she drinks more than I've ever seen a baby drink
green veggies (peas, asparagus, broccoli)
lasagna
strawberries
grapefruit
yogurt
cheddar cheese
rice and milk with cinnamon sugar
oatmeal
cheerios
gold fish (colors)
ice cream
chocolate (oreos, cake and brownies)
anything mom and da are eating

Taelyn hates:
tuna fish
gates-she cries when we put the gates up, even if we are in the same room as her!
having her nose wiped
eye drops
grass

This last year at a glance:

Chastised

So Terri called last night and chastised me for not posting a video of Tae walking. She informed me that because she is in North Carolina, she is missing Tae growing up.

I have been neglecting the blog, for which I apologize.

So, here is Tae walking. The first video is when she first got the hang of it (first part of April). The second is from April 30th. Sorry it is turned sideways. I always forget, and I don't have the software to change it. If it really bothers anyone that much, they can opt not to watch it-promise it won't hurt our feeling any.

So Glad it's the Weekend

Have you ever spent 3 weeks on a project just to be told that your data is "iffy at best"? It leaves me wondering why I was told to use lidar data if it is so questionable. I'm also wondering why I spent so much time looking up permits for culvert data when we had the plans the whole time.

If I had to come in tomorrow, kid you not, I'd have a breakdown!

Because I'm Lacking in Posts This Month

And because I totally love this song. I think it is my new favorite.
LOVE STORY (Taylor Swift) meets VIVA LA VIDA (Coldplay)-arranged by Jon Schmidt

Thanks, Katy, for posting it!

Promenade Pictures

A friend of ours fixed Taryn's promenade pics that didn't turn out. Now you can actually see something! Here they are. THANKS SO MUCH NICOLE!

Taryn's First Prom

Union had their prom this last weekend. We went home partly for prom, mostly because we were going to go home for General Conference and Easter-but my getting pneumonia kept us from going home for either.

I'm glad I was there. Mom got so stressed on Saturday. She needed to bead the capped sleeves she had made to fix Taryn's dress. She couldn't find the beads she bought. Jon said it was the most stressed he'd seen my mom. I convinced her that we could use what we could find. We sat down, she stitched and I found what she needed next and put them on her needle. It went fairly fast (for bead work-that is).

ADDED NOTE: I have had several people comment on the 'sleeves'. Sleeves vs. wide straps can be debated. If you really want to discuss sewing set-in sleeves on a strapless dress, email me. Just kidding. Don't email me. It doesn't sound like a very exciting email topic...
And now, back to my original post:

Taryn looked beautiful. I still can't believe she is old enough to go to prom. She turned 16 in October. Rich asked my parents if he could ask her to homecoming. Homecoming was 1 1/2 weeks before her birthday. The final decision (and, believe me, it was hotly debated) was no, because of the principle of it. I think Dad being bishop played into it quite a bit. I'm bringing this up because Rich asked Mom if he could ask Taryn to prom. She explained that now that she was 16, it would be fine.

Anyway, I'll apologize now for how many pictures I took to document the event. What can I say; she is my only sis (and I still totally believe I prayed her into existence!). I'll only post a quarter of the pictures I took!

Mom helping Taryn get her shoes on: Cute shoes: Photo Shoot: My personal favorite: When Rich arrived: Promenade pictures that didn't turn out: Side story about above pictures: Rich is on the baseball team. The team decided to do bleached mohawks. Rich told Taryn he would cut his off before prom. She told him he didn't need to. Apparently that made her cool. Anyway, when Rich picked her up in the morning, Dad saw said haircut. He was fit-to-be-tied! We convinced him that it was OK because Rich would be wearing a hat. The 2nd pic of the promenade was when Rich took off his hat and threw it into the crowd. Dad was not happy. To make matters worse, the MC then commented on his hair. Pretty funny! [I'll add in that the mohawk wasn't that bad. His hair had grown out about 3/4 of an inch and the mohawk was only 1/2 inch or so longer. Rich-if you read this-I totally stuck up for you! My bro's did crazy things in the name of team unity when they were in high school, too.]

A few pics in the Union Commons after Promenade: I was sad the picture above turned out blurry. Sure am glad the next one turned out!
On a final note, I was SO impressed at how modest all the dresses were. I would dare say that 90% of the dresses that we saw at promenade had sleeves. There were none that I saw that shocked me because of how much skin was showing. All the girls looked so beautiful and I left feeling so impressed with today's youth.

Feeding Herself

We have been letting Tae feed herself 'safe' items for some time now. Items we label as 'safe' include: cheerios, crackers, cheese, strawberry chunks, peeled and cut grapes, craisins, mini marshmallows (cut in 1/2), baby carrots, and red pepper slices. Safe, in this case, applies to cleanliness more than non-choking hazards (though we watch her carefully to prevent choking sized pieces from getting in her little mouth). Last night we decided to let her feed herself. It was a very messy meal, but she sure seemed to enjoy feeding herself. Unfortunately, I think she also put together that getting really dirty during dinner means fun in the tub afterward...
[Sorry for the excessive amount of pictures. I can't help it-I think everything she does is so blasted adorable!!]

What I Learned Last Week:

*I hate being sick.
*I would rather be sick, than have Taelyn be sick.
*It is possible to lose 8 pounds in 1 week.
*It causes a whoppin' headache.
*Pneumonia is worse than any illness I've ever had.
*Sick leave is good...until it runs out!
*Jon is a great single parent...if house-keeping skills are not graded.
*More than I ever realized, I set the mood and spirit in our home.
*Not being able to talk increases thoughtfulness and contemplation.
*This can be good and bad.
*Taelyn can miss me, even if she sees me every day.
*Jon missed me more-even though we talked every day.
*I learned how to humble myself and ask the RS for help.
*Life goes on, and at some time you have to force yourself to get back into it...even if you still feel like staying in bed.

Last April Fools

...I got a call from Taryn. She was frantic. Her and a friend wanted to go to the movies, but none of their parents were available to take them. She told me that they decided to drive. On the way they hit a pedestrian. They didn't know what to do, so they kept driving. She was crying. They didn't know what happened to the kid they hit.

I fell for it.

I asked how fast they were driving, where they were when they hit him, etc. I then told her they needed to call the cops and go back. She started freaking out and asking questions about what would happen because neither of them were licenced.

Jon realized what was going on and grabbed the phone from me. In a calm, concerned voice, he asked for details. He played along, then asked if there was a gulch close to the location of the accident. It confused her a little, and she said yes. He then told them to go back, get the body, and throw it in the gulch.

Jon, thanks for helping me save face on that one! I tried to get Taryn back, but Mom refused to play along. I wanted Mom to tell her that I had been in a car accident and miscarried. Probably some wisdom in mom's refusal...