&t The Taylor Family: February 2007

Wednesday, February 28

Exhausted

Though we didn't do too much most of the day we went to a movie in the park this evening. It wasn't our usual movie in the park though, this time it was in Sanford instead of Winter Park. There were much fewer people there so the atmosphere was a bit different but we still had a great time. Tonight they played the original Pink Panther. I had never seen it before so it was nice to see a classic for the first time. We met up with Michael and Angela and got some pizza just in time for the show to start. We didn't have to drive far to get home but by the time we arrived little Abigail was sound asleep. I changed her diaper, put on her jammies, and took her hair down and she never even opened her eyes. I guess she must be tired.

posted by We are the Taylors @ 10:26 PM   0 comments

Tuesday, February 27

Exercise

Peter stopped by the store on the way home from helping his mom today and surprised me with new bikes and a carrier for the girls!! He is so sweet. I had told him that I wanted to get bikes and ride the trails at the local parks and he told me that after we got our tax return we could find something cheap. Well we haven't gotten our return yet but we are expecting it in the next couple of days and he wanted to surprise me. What a great husband! I got a beautiful purple bike and Peter's is blue, we put the carrier on his bike of course so that I can just relax as we ride. We had to go and try them out right away so we headed off to the nearest park. We only did a couple of short laps around the soccer fields, it felt so nice to be riding again. I use to go jogging in the mornings but I always preferred biking. Since we went after 5:00 the weather was great and there was breeze and no harsh sun. Hopefully the cooler weather will stick around until I am too big to ride or until my DR tells me otherwise. Brye and Abbi loved riding behind Daddy, they laughed and squealed the whole time. I followed behind them so that I could keep a slow pace. We had a really great time and it was a nice and easy ride.

posted by We are the Taylors @ 6:22 PM   0 comments

Finally Finished

After Peter was done helping his mom again yesterday he picked up the girls plates since he was in town. I was so excited to see them. Both Brye and Abbi liked them. Abbi kept putting her hand on the painted one and Brye proceeded to tell us how she painted the entire thing, step by step.








They are so cute. I wasn't sure if I would let them use them or not but I think I am going to get some wall hangers and hang them l in the kitchen so everyone can see how artistic our girls are (okay so I helped Abbi a lot on her hers but Brye did hers all herself).

posted by We are the Taylors @ 12:39 PM   0 comments

Sunday, February 25

Bake it up

Peter had to go and help his mother again so while he was gone the girls and I decided to make a treat for our guests tonight, Michael and Angela. Brye and Abbi helped me make the most delicious brownies. They love to help in the kitchen (or anywhere for that matter). Brye poured in the ingredients as Abbi mixed it all up. Such great helpers and such a tasty treat!

posted by We are the Taylors @ 11:37 PM   0 comments

Saturday, February 24

Another Full Day

This morning we got up and met my friend Reba to check out her neighborhood garage sale. We weren't looking for anything, just browsing. It was so beautiful outside today so it was really nice to walk around for a while. After that we stopped by my Dad's house and saw all the latest upgrades on the house and then we were off to our friend's son's birthday party. Carlo turned 5 on Thursday and he had his party today. The girls had a great time. The party was pirate themed and there was a fish pond to fish in and then a pinata and of course cake. Brye had a blast in the fish pond and Abbi loved playing with the balls. They both had fun hitting the pinata even though they didn't do any damage to it. After we left there we had to go help Peter's mom out who was having car troubles. Both the girls were sleeping by the time we got home. It was definitely another full day.

Also, Happy Birthday to my sister, Janell!!

posted by We are the Taylors @ 9:43 PM   0 comments

Friday, February 23

Child Labor

Peter had to go out of town yesterday for work so I left Brye with Grandma when we went to paint ceramics. It was just me and my baby all day. Abbi and I had lots of fun playing with all her toys and reading books. After her nap she even helped me roll our coins so we could cash them in. And yes, she is putting pennies in the nickle wrapper but she is doing a really good job at it. We had a great time all day long but we were both tired out by the end.

Since Brye is still at Grandma's house Peter and I decided to go to dinner and the movies tonight. We took Abbi over to our friend Kim's house where she played while we were out. It was great to get out with just Peter again, it had been a really long time since it was just the two of us. I guess that happens after children, but they are SO worth it.

posted by We are the Taylors @ 11:20 PM   0 comments

Thursday, February 22

Such a good girl!

Yesterday I left Daddy and Abbi at home and Brye and I went to get Grandma so we could go to ceramics. My mom was almost finished with the haunted house she had been working on for months and I wanted to pick up the plates the girls did on Valentines Day. Well turned out the plates weren't finished but would be ready this weekend. No problem we still wanted to paint. My mom finished up her haunted house while I started a new one. While we were painting Brye was such a good girl! She sat in her chair the whole time and "painted" her coloring book. She played with all the paint brushes and then later her and Grandma walked down to get dinner for us all at Panera (just a block away). We were there for about 7-8 hours and Brye was so great the whole time! I was very impressed with her and also very proud that she was so well behaved. What a good girl!

posted by We are the Taylors @ 1:10 PM   1 comments

Wednesday, February 21

Happy Birthday Tyler!!

Today is my nephew's first birthday! My brother Steve and his wife Heather had Tyler a year ago today in Saracuse, NY. Not only is he Peter and I's nephew but he is also our God Son so we are particularly proud of this little guy. Happy Brithday Tyler wish we could share it with you but you will have many more to enjoy!!

posted by We are the Taylors @ 11:00 AM   1 comments

Tuesday, February 20

Sooo Buttons

When I graduated from high school my Dad and Judy gave me a three piece luggage set that I have use numerous times over the years. It is a simple black set so in order for me to identify it easier at the airports and when I am traveling I embroidered this Eeyore on the smallest piece and a different Eeyore on the largest piece. I have yet to embroider the medium piece since I tend to use the largest and smallest most often. It has been great when we just get off the plane and want to get out of the airport quick, we don't have to scrutinize every black bag that goes by. Of course now when Peter leaves for his trips he has Eeyores on his luggage, I don't know what the other guys think but Peter doesn't mind. Personally I think it's cute, I just love Eeyore (if you couldn't tell).

posted by We are the Taylors @ 12:32 AM   1 comments

Sunday, February 18

Stickers!!

Yesterday in the mail, the girls received sticker books decorated by my sister and Valentines Day cards with stickers in them. Both Brye and Abbi were so excited over the books, they just LOVE stickers! I helped Abbi by pulling the stickers off of the sheets and then she would put them in the book herself. After she put all the stickers in that Aunt Janell and Uncle Wyatt sent them she went around and tried to find more stickers in the house. Thanks for such a nice surprise Aunt Janell and Uncle Wyatt, the girls just love their books!!

posted by We are the Taylors @ 9:16 PM   0 comments

Friday, February 16

A trip to the hospital

Last night while we were at Peter's Aunt and Uncle's house I noticed that I had started to bleed. I immediately called my Dr and of course had to wait to be called back but it didn't take too long. I told him the whole situation and he told me that because I was far from his hospital I could either go to the nearest ER or go straight to bed and then come in first thing in the morning. Well we were about an hour and a half away from home so I decided to be safe and go to the hospital. I was really concerned for the babies and didn't want to wait another 12 hours before making sure everything was alright. We got to the hospital and had to wait for about a half hour before being called back and then they took blood and samples and did an exam and finally an ultrasound. In the end everything looked normal but there was no reason as far as they could tell that would cause the bleeding. The ER dr was nice but annoying, he really wasn't helpful and basically told me before he did anything that there was nothing they could do for me there. He said because I still early in the pregnancy that it is probably just a sign that I will miscarry. After the ultrasound though I didn't feel like I was at any threat so I wasn't very concerned. All the babies were jumping around as always and we found out the baby that isn't a twin is a boy! Also, he kicked me for the first time during the ultrasound so it was great to finally feel him in there. This morning I went to my Dr first thing and they did all the measurements and ultrasounds all over again. Once again we saw all three jumping away and being very active. After much coaxing we finally got one of the identical twins to reveal that she is a girl, meaning of course that the other twin is a girl! Everything looked perfectly normal but my DR told me that I had an infection and that could have caused the bleeding but it was no risk to the babies or the pregnancy just as long as I took the antibiotics I was prescribed. We went home after picking up the girls at my mom's house and then I took a really long nap and I have an ongoing headache that doesn't want to leave. I have just been taking it easy and Peter has taken great care of me so I that helps take any stress off. I think I am off to lie back down.

posted by We are the Taylors @ 7:10 PM   2 comments

Thursday, February 15

Visiting Family

Peter and I have been talking about getting together with his Aunt and Uncle for some time now but for whatever reason we never made the arrange-
ments. Peter's Uncle John called and asked if we would like to meet them for lunch and then a visit at their house this week. Of course we said yes and though we thought they lived much farther they actually only live about an hour and half away. From our house that is just a little farther than most places we travel daily. We drove to Mimi's Cafe near their town and had lunch with his Uncle John, Aunt Polly, and cousin Nicole. It was so great to see them again, we hadn't meet up since Christmas of 05 so it had been too long. Peter's Aunt Polly and I write emails and occasionally Peter talks to John on the phone but nothing compares to meeting in person. We had a great lunch and then went back to their house to talk and catch up. Brye and Abbi had a great time playing with all the Valentines stickies that go on the window and Polly also gave them goody bags with stuffed animals and necklaces and bracelets. It was so great to see them all again and we will definitely have to get together much sooner than last time. We had to leave unexpectedly but we had a wonderful time and really enjoyed their company. Thanks so much for having us over, we really had a great time!

posted by We are the Taylors @ 7:02 PM   0 comments

Wednesday, February 14

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Hope everyone had a great day with their loved ones today! Peter and I told each other that weren't going to do anything for V-day. Neither of us wanted to go all crazy or really had any desire for a gift so we said we wouldn't buy each other things. Well, I woke up this morning to Abbi coming into our room carrying beautiful Gerber Daisies. Right after she came in Peter followed her with dozens of roses for me! I was swimming in flowers. He is so sweet. When I got up I found even more Gerber Daisies on the table and I went to work putting all my bunches of flowers into vases. Peter said he bought me lots because I hadn't been feeling well lately and this way I could have flowers all over the house so when I wasn't feeling well no matter where I was I could see my flowers and be happy. He is so sweet!! We had plans to go to my Mom's for dinner. She had picked up Brye last night so we had to go and pick her up. We went into town early and did a bit of errand running. We started by going to couple music stores to find a gig bag for Peter's new guitar he just finished. Then we went to SkyCraft, a great surplus store that has all sorts of weird things. We met up with Michael for lunch near his work and then headed over to the mall. I was looking for some maternity clothes but I didn't really find anything that I liked there. After we left there we went to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought a new toaster because ours broke (I know, how romantic). We finally made it to mom's and after dinner we all headed over to the ceramic store to make a couple pieces, today they had a special where there was no Studio Fee so you just paid for the piece you picked out and paint. Brye and Abbi both made plates with their handprints on it and Peter made a really cool little bowl for his guitar picks. Brye is already a pro because she came with Grandma so she had the whole thing down. This was Abbi first time so I had to help her a bit (okay, a lot) but she had a good time and really had fun. The plates came out really good and I just love their handprints on the plates. Once they are fired we can use them to eat and even put them in the dishwasher. I can't wait to see how they come out. Now it's time for bed and we are all exhausted. Hope your Valentine's Day was a great as ours!

posted by We are the Taylors @ 11:51 PM   0 comments

Tuesday, February 13

Finally (again)


Yet one more guitar completed. Today I finished a seven string guitar I've been working on for a long time. I've had the wood for a couple of years and recently started working on this guitar again after a very long break. I'll add more (better) pictures in the next couple of days, but for now I thought I'd share. Enjoy!

posted by We are the Taylors @ 10:54 PM   1 comments

Monday, February 12

My Girls!

posted by We are the Taylors @ 7:30 PM   1 comments

Sunday, February 11

The more the Merrier

This evening our friends Kent and Jake and their baby girl Kendrah came over for dinner and a movie. Kendrah is about 5 months younger than Abbi but I think Brye had more fun playing with her. I think maybe Abbi was a bit intimidated having another baby her size in the house. She wasn't naughty she just kept quiet and to her self mostly. We hadn't seen Kent and Jake in a while so as always it was good to catch up on everything.

posted by We are the Taylors @ 10:58 PM   0 comments

Saturday, February 10

Brye's Best Friend

We did our regular routine up until nap time and after the kids were down Peter and I worked out in the yard. We dug our fish pond deeper so that the tub sat flush with the ground and then we put bricks around it. Okay, so Peter did all the digging and I mostly watched but at least I kept him company. Peter cleaned the tub all out so it looked like new and I rinsed the rocks and caught the fish (that was fun). While Peter dug I trimmed the bushes and clipped any leaves that were damaged due to the frost off my Hibiscis plants. It all took a long time but it looks great now and we are happy it is done. Chris came over for the evening and we just hung out. Brye gets so excited when Chris comes, we say he is her best friend. He is great with both Brye and Abbi and they never want to leave him alone so he can talk to Peter or so they can do what they are suppose to. Brye and Abbi are lucky to have Chris around, he is a great Uncle to them especially since their real Uncle's aren't nearby.

posted by We are the Taylors @ 11:30 PM   0 comments

Friday, February 9

So Pretty

Before we headed out for the day, us girls had to get nice and pretty. This was the first time Abbi has ever had her toes painted and she wasn't really sure what to think about the whole thing. She did really well though and held still for me and then didn't smudge them afterwards. Brye loves having her toes painted and is always so careful not to touch them until they are dry. Once we were all nice and pretty we headed to the Oviedo Mall where we said hi to our friends, Rachel, Cindy, Diane, Janet, and Melissa who all work in different stores there. We left there and got Brye new sneakers since hers have been too small for a while now. Later we met Peter's Dad for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. We hadn't seen Mike since before Peter's birthday so we wanted to go out and celebrate all together. On the way home we stopped at my Dad's house and saw him and Judy and all the latest work they accomplished on the house, as always it looks great!

posted by We are the Taylors @ 9:52 PM   0 comments

Thursday, February 8

Swinging away

A little bit ago my Dad and Judy gave us their hammock. The girls just love it. I think maybe when I am on bedrest I will just use the hammock to lie around in. It is so relaxing to just swing and lie down. Once we get our porch up it will be the perfect addition.

posted by We are the Taylors @ 7:19 PM   0 comments

Wednesday, February 7

Time to Sleep

Yesterday I was sick all day, nothing serious just basic pregnancy stuff. I had a terrible headache from the moment I woke up and then I got sick in the bathroom a few times. I didn't much more than lie around all day. Peter was home and he took great care of me and it was nice not to worry about making sure the kids were fed and such. This morning when I woke up I had the same headache but no nausea (thank goodness). I took a couple naps and then decided I had to get up and do something. We ended up going grocery shopping to get some essentials and then I started dinner when we got home. My head still hurts but I couldn't take lying around anymore. While I was preparing dinner the girls decided to take a "nap" on the couch. Brye set it all up and then I came out and took the picture. They so silly!

posted by We are the Taylors @ 7:40 PM   0 comments

Monday, February 5

Get 'em Goose

My brother Steve gave me Lucy (Goose) years ago and she is absolutely crazy! I have a ton of fun chasing her around the house and hiding behind things to jump out and scare her. She loves it! Steve later sent us a DVD that is made for cats. The one he sent is just a constant show of crows pecking on sides of the screen where there are ears of corn or something you can't see. The crows make a lot of noise and fight with each other and Lucy can't get enough. Usually she pretends she isn't watching if we are in the room but I hadn't put it on in a while so yesterday she got right up on the table in front of the TV. It was so funny, she never gets on the tables so she must have really been into the show. She tried to hit the birds a few times (without her claws) and then she looked behind the TV to see where the birds were coming from. It was hilarious. We put it on when Michael and Angela were here and they enjoyed watching our psycho cat too. Poor Lucy, she just wanted a birdie treat.

posted by We are the Taylors @ 6:27 PM   0 comments

Sunday, February 4

Happy Halloween!!

Alright, so it's not Halloween. I know, but I just painted this piece the last time I was at the ceramic shop with mom and I got it back the other night. When I ordered my pieces online I only ordered Halloween stuff so we are still working on finishing that up. It took me a few hours to finish this but it was worth it in the end. It is hard to see all the detail that I did in my paint job but it looks really good. I impressed myself, not easily done. It makes me want to go and paint some more pieces because I know I am getting a hang of it now.


This afternoon Peter and I went to town to pick up our oldest from Grandma's house, then we went to The Cheesecake Factory and got Peter a cheesecake (what else?) for his birthday, that is his absolute favorite so we couldn't skip out on that. We came home and got a call from Michael and Angela who were on their way over but were going to stop somewhere for food. We ended up meeting them at Chili's and then we all came back to our house to hang out. Michael loves cheesecake too so Peter dished it out. After the first bite Michael said he was having an allergic reaction and we waited to see how serious it would get. He is allergic to coconut so we think there may have been coconut oil in the cake itself, we called The Factory but they said there wasn't anything in it but Michael couldn't have anymore. We all felt bad for him and ate the Cheesecake so he didn't have to look at it (we are so nice) but fortunately the reaction didn't get too serious. It was really odd though because he said he has had that same exact kind before with no problems. We still enjoyed hanging out with them, as always. Hope you feel better soon Michael!!

posted by We are the Taylors @ 8:30 PM   0 comments

Saturday, February 3

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Today is Peter's 26th Birthday. He is still in Chicago until later tonight so I helped Abbi make a Birthday card for him. We put her hand prints inside with finger paint and she covered the front with stickers. We made some of her favorite things out of construction paper and glued them inside. She had fun putting the little papers in place. My mom has Brye today so she took her over to the ceramic store and they painted a piece for Daddy. The girls are so lucky to have such a great Daddy and of course I have the best husband ever! Happy Birthday Peter, we love you so much!!

posted by We are the Taylors @ 6:42 PM   0 comments

Tornados tear through Sumter, Marion, Lake, and Volusia Counties

Yesterday morning around 3:00 a.m. tornados touched down very close to home. I had taken the girls over to my mom's house after the movie in the Park Thursday night. Since Peter is still in Chicago I didn't really want to go home to a big empty bed. My mom and I had planned our short car trip and so we decided it would be easier if I just stayed at her house that night. When I woke up yesterday morning I was devastated to find the tornados destruction was covering the news. I called Peter immediately to tell him what happened and he tried to call one of our neighbors to see how Orange City weathered. My heart sank when I heard that Southern Deland was hit hard (borders N. Orange City, which is only 5 square miles) and that tracker trailers flipped off Interstate 4 right next to our exit. I saw the banners at the bottom of the News coverage giving emergency numbers for the Orange City area and telling of rescue teams going door to door. I couldn't imagine the damage that could be awaiting me at home but I thanked God right then that we were all safe at my mom's house for the night and prayed for all those who had lost everything including loved ones. The news footage showed so many destroyed homes and streets and told of houses that had already been condemned just hours after the storms. Finally Peter called back and said he spoke with our neighbor around the corner and was told that our house was fine and that our neighborhood hadn't been touched. Again I thanked God. My mom and I took our trip and I came home to our house last night. Everything seemed normal but once I saw the news again I couldn't believe how close we were to the destruction. As best as I can tell we are about a mile or so away from the damage. I thank God for sparing our home and also for having me be at my mom's house at the time of the storm. I can't imagine how scared I would have been hearing of the tornado warnings and being all alone with the girls to worry about.

I made this map as accurate as I could given the information I could find online. The Yellow counties are those that were hit the hardest from the storms. The Red line is the path of the storms that came from the Gulf and moved East. The Blue arrows are where tornados touched down, though there are more speculated areas. The Green is Orange City where we live. You can click on the image for a much larger view.

I want to thank all of our friends and family who called and sent emails hoping we were alright and asking how we managed. It is good to know that had we had damage we would have people to lean on. I even received a few emails from some of my caching friends who knew we lived in this area. So nice to have people who care about us so close. Thanks again to everyone (even if you did wake me up at 8 in the morning, you know who you are:)).

posted by We are the Taylors @ 2:28 PM   1 comments

Friday, February 2

Meeting up with Old Friends

My mom and I drove to the West coast today (FL's West coast not the US') and met up with our friends Ana and Cecilia. We had a great time catching up on everything and going through pictures and talking about old times. We hadn't seen them in easily 19 years or so and it was great to fill in the gaps. They really enjoyed Abbi and Brye (but really, who doesn't?). We had a great lunch and some snacks before heading back home. The drive was nice and scenic for the most part. We talked the whole way so it went pretty quick. As always it is great to see old friends again.

posted by We are the Taylors @ 11:10 PM   0 comments

Thursday, February 1

Go have some fun

After the girls wake up from their naps we are going to meet my cousin Laura and her two girls at the Sanford Mall where they can all run around in the play area (well I guess Kendall will just have to watch she is only 8 months yet). After they are done playing I am taking the girls to meet up with Michael and Angela in Winter Park for a Popcorn Flicks movie. Tonight they are playing The Muppets Movie, I know the girls will enjoy that. Since Peter is still gone we are going to spend the night at my mom's house just down the street from there and then tomorrow we are all headed off to see an old friend, Cecilia who we haven't seen in about 20 years. I am not sure exactly where she is but I know we have to drive a couple hours to get there. I am posting now because I don't know if I will be able to post later tonight but I will be sure to add pictures of the events today when I get a chance.

Later...We made it to the mall and then onto the movies. We were afraid that it was going to be rained out but they held off canceling it. It did sprinkle a little on and off but we had umbrellas so we stayed pretty dry. After about 30 minutes or so the rain stopped completely so we were able to put the umbrellas away. It was a great movie and the girls really enjoyed it. They served popcorn as always and even fresh made hot chocolate made from real chocolate squares. Can you believe it's all free? They also came around and passed out goody bags with sparkly wands and streamers and animal pens for the kids, also they got those glowy necklaces that they like so much. We were surprised to find out that Jim Hensen's wife and daughter were at the showing and his wife gave a little speech before the show. I guess she lives somewhere around the Orlando area. We had a great time and another viewer brought that huge Animal and let the girls say "hi," Abbi was scared of him but Brye gave him a hug. So silly. Can't wait until the next show!

posted by We are the Taylors @ 1:43 PM   0 comments