Go Hawks!

We always support the Hawks...  win or lose.  Even an ugly loss.  The Bowl game was a loss, but the basketball team had a win today.  

Kayson was cheering on for the football team - uniform and all!  (a Christmas gift from Taylor Grandparents).

Hut Hut Hike!

Daddy had to try the helmet on!  ahha.

The full uniform!!  - even has a chin-strap, but he wouldn't wear that!

Christmas

Of course we had a nice Christmas.  Of course we were all spoiled too.  Especially Kayson.  WOW.  3 days later, we are still trying to figure out where the heck we'll put all these toys!  The toy box is no longer an option...  actually, that hasn't been an option for several months!  We are talking about getting some sort of storage unit/toy area to put downstairs...  I sure hope we can get that accomplished soon.

We spent Friday and Saturday with my family in Clarion...  we actually only got to see my sisters and their families for a short time Friday night...  then Christmas morning we were able to be at home with Kayson.  That was nice...  he played hard for a couple hours, then we headed to Creston and stayed til Monday afternoon. 

Here are some pictures from the weekend...  as you can see, Kayson did well and had fun!

Yes, 90% of those gifts were for Kayson.

Big Bird puppet!

Nerf Gun...  yes...  ha.  it's fun!

The vacuum he's wanted for months!

More big boy underware!

Table & Chairs for his room!

My son is 3

Happy Birthday to my beautiful, smart, ornery, caring, funny son, Kayson...  on Christmas Day.  (I'm a little late).  We weren't around our computer...

I can't believe he's 3...  we've been talking about him being THREE for several weeks now, especially with his birthday party last week, it does seem to just 'go by' and happen too fast.  When I look at him now, rocking with Ryan and looking at one of his several new toys, I'm amazed.  I'm simply amazed that we have a 3 year old.  He challenges us every day...  every.single.day.  As Baby Center says - "Having a 3-year-old can make you proud and completely nuts all at the same time."  RIGHT ON.  But with all of those challenges, I love this little boy with all my heart.  A hug and his smile can make an entire difference in my day.  He's perfect.  

Happy 3rd birthday to Kayson Michael!!!

Volunteer & Lights

Today was the start of my "Christmas Break"...  simply meaning, I don't have to go back to work until Tuesday of next week.  I'm thrilled!

Today I spent the day... entire day volunteering at Valley West Mall.  My good friend, Colleen, has been wrapping gifts at the mall for 7 years now with 4 of her other friends...  this year, they invited me along.  We started at 8 am, and 'wrapped up' at 5 pm...  leaving more wrapping for the next group of volunteers.  I'm not going to lie... it was a long day, however, knowing we were doing this for charity, made it all worth the while.  99% of the people were very thankful for our wrapping abilities and making their gifts look so nice.  We had a good time...  catching up with each other, snacking a little, and some of the girls finished their own shopping!  I will definitely be doing this again next year!  I'm so glad I was asked to join!  :)

Tonight we decided to go the Jolly Holiday Lights at Water Works Park.  First - what a HUGE park!  I had no idea that curved and went around THAT far!  It was very neat...  next time we'll let Kayson just sit on my lap so he can see just a little bit better...  but we think he got the jist of it!  

Tomorrow Ryan and I will be hanging out and doing some random things...  then we'll head up to Clarion to see my family for Christmas... back here Christmas Eve night so we can wake up Christmas morning here.  Then on to Creston Christmas Day afternoon through Monday.  Busy - but looking forward to it.  Pictures and more to come!  

Happy Holidays to all our friends and families!

Taylor Christmas

Here are some photos from the Taylor Christmas!

Duke & Kayson were BUDDIES all day!

Lots of Family pictures!

Cousins!

Opening gifts --- Alphie - what a great gift!

3rd Birthday Party

Yesterday, Sunday, we held Kayson's 3rd Birthday Party!  We had a crabby boy to start off the day, but we knew this would happen going in to Sunday...  the day before, Saturday, we spent all day in Creston for the Taylor Family Christmas.  (Pictures in the next post) We had such a great time... hanging out, playing and eating lots!  Kayson played hard, I mean H.A.R.D for pretty much 10 hours straight!!  And we were feeling it by Sunday morning!  He honestly did great, but just gets 'off' and super crabby when this happens.  After a pretty good nights sleep, it was time for the party.  My family and then Ryan's immediate family joined us for food, cake and gifts... and more playing.  Kayson got some wonderful gifts, as always...  he's a very blessed child. 
A short nap was taken late in the afternoon... even Ryan and I layed down.  Man, a party wears me out!  Then more playing and early to bed to TRY to get Kayson back on track.  I sure hope he wasn't a bear at daycare today!  :) 

Here are some great photos of our little boys birthday party.  

a VERY cool Bulldozer!

Loves his new Baseball Trainer

Easel!  Loves to draw circles!

Happy Birthday to you Kayson!

Santa!

Our beautiful son was brave and sat on Santa's lap Thursday night.  He was so excited beforehand - talking about Santa's big buckle and what he was going to tell him... 

We stood in line for what seemed like forever, he did pretty well - antsy like any almost 3 year old, but good.  Santa even came around and talked to us for a short bit - Kayson gave him HI-5 too!  Then we waited a little longer, and when we got to be 'next.in.line', Kayson thought throwing himself to the floor would be fun.  NOT.  He did it though - he was brave and gave his fake smile and all.  I'm very proud of him - even with all of those emotions.  :)

Happy Holidays!

Wow... Another week

Another week has passed... really?  I used to get on this laptop every night (I know it's been 'out of order' for a couple days, but still!!!)  I guess with the holidays around the corner, there's not much time to just sit and catch up on emails and blogging.  We've had some pretty 'calm' and not busy weekends lately, but for some reason that still doesn't mean that I've gotten much done.  I'm marking that up to laziness.  So then now I'm panicking.  :)  Lovely. 

I can say now, though, we are 99% done with our Christmas shopping.  We have one more gift to get and that's gonna get done THIS WEEK!  I've got probably 50% of the gifts wrapped and under the tree, the rest of the gifts should be shipped to us by the end of this week.  Next year, I am making a vow to NOT PROCRASTINATE like this... I don't like it.  ha.  

Kayson is good... he's almost 3... and he's busy.  He's a challenge more than not lately, but that's just the way it goes, I think!  (Or at least, that's what we have decided!)  Meltdowns are very VERY common in our house...  most of the time they are quite embarrassing, if we were to have company over!  ha.  But again, I guess we are dealing just fine with these.  :)  We still love him and he still loves us... even when he tells us to "Go away!"  Let's go back to the fact that he's almost 3.  3 years ago I was uncomfortable and a nervous wreck!  I just can't believe it!!  Time just flies by!!  

Here are a few recent pics.  Can you see the ornery in his eyes?!

We put 'window-clings' up...  such fun!

This week we'll be prepping for Kayson's birthday party next Sunday.  Bring on the busyness!  :)

Our Weekend

Well...  where should I start.  Our weekend started out ok...  Saturday morning was a quick hair cut for Mr. Kayson, which he did great... then we headed up to Boone to ride the Santa Express.  It was raining and cold Saturday morning (no snow here), and so therefore, it was pretty darn cold in that train car too!  Brr!  Kayson had a good time...  a Christmas story was read, we had hot chocolate and a cookie AND to top it off, we went to the North Pole and Santa was there!  Santa gave Kayson (and all the other little boys and girls) a silver bell to ring.  Kayson did really well - Santa surprised us, but it was really quick and he smiled at him and even said "Thank you"!  That was more than I thought it would do, I was thrilled - that definately brought a smile to my face.

There's Santa!!!  YEA!

Saturday evening we stayed at home...  (we actually were home the entire weekend, which was good).  This is where the weekend kind of went sour...  We were all playing and Kayson wanted to look at our iPod (we have some Apps on there that he plays with).  Well he wanted to sit on my lap and we were listening to some songs and he was being goofy (bouncing around and bopping his head all around too)... and then his head came back HARD into my left eye.  Instantly...  I had collapsed to the ground crying hard...  holding my eye.  I couldn't really concentrate on anything else by myself (which stinks, but good thing Ryan was home)...  Ryan looked over Kayson as he was crying hard too...  and then it was time to look at me.  My eye was instantly swollen and my head was pounding.  I applied ice for a long while... and just waited...  within an hour, I had a small purple mark directly under my eye.  We just kept watching it...  then Sunday morning arrived --- and it was 10 times worse...  my entire left eye (under) was dark, DARK purple and still swollen.  OMG. 

With no make up at all...  embarrassing

So that was the start of our Sunday...  me = crabby!!!  ha.  Then the domino effect happened.  Kayson woke up crabby and continued to be an absolute bear Sunday...  man, he should have probably stayed in bed!  It was a not fun morning with him...  AND THEN - we realized that our computer got two big viruses!  Another OMG.  I feel like we've had nothing but bad luck with computers/technology lately...  it makes me so frustrated, sad and angry too.  Ryan's going to have it looked at by a tech guy this week...  it just stinks.

After a much needed nap from Kayson, Sunday evening turned much better.  Blair, Martina & Tate came over to get their family picture taken, and then we ordered pizza and played.  It was a good visit...  and the boys had fun together.  Martina and I have decided though, we need to have some adult time, because we don't really get much talking in because we are tending to the kids or Kayson is just talking non-stop!  ha.  :) 

Here's to the start of a new week...  black eye and all!  :)

This & That

• I think I have a cold...  or at least the start of one...  flemmy cough, runny nose... and exhausted.  Knocking that up to a cold.  Boohoo.
• It's Friday - Thank god!  This coming weekend is a 'free' weekend for us...  then it's busy busy and Christmas' will be starting.  I've got to make a point to get to the mall sometime this weekend!
• Kayson and Hawkeye, the Elf, are doing well...  Kayson talks to Hawkeye a little - tells him 'Good morning', tells him 'Good bye'...  and a couple times has told him that he still wants a vacuum for Christmas.  (Yes, a vacuum!)  ... and he will be getting one from Grandma Cheryl (or Santa)!  :)
• The cold weather was a little shock to me yesterday - brrr!  I know it's Iowa, I know it's December, but not.mentally.ready!  We are supposed to get a bunch of snow tomorrow - which I'm actually not dreading... simply because we plan on being around home...  and it is always nice to SEE the snow from inside! 
• We do plan on taking Kayson to ride the "Santa Express" at the Boone Scenic Valley Railroad Saturday morning...  we rode the "Thomas" one last summer and it was a hit, so I'm hoping the same for this ride...  Pictures to come I'm sure!  :)
• My coworker and dear, dear friend has gotten a new job (here at PFG), but she won't be here with me every single workday...  while I'm very happy for her, I'm also being a tad selfish and know that I will miss seeing her every day...  Workouts and lunches are a must to keep us in touch!  :)

Hawkeye, the Elf

There he is - perched on our kitchen window...  he won't be there tomorrow morning!

We have started "the Elf on the Shelf" story in the Taylor household!  Hawkeye, the Elf has been with us for 2 days now and Kayson has talked to him a little, but Hawkeye doesn't seem to have an impact on helping the naughtiness!  haah.  :)  But that's ok...  I think it's fun and I think Kayson is really starting to believe in Santa and the Elves.  Which, is way cool, in my opinion.

And Ryan and I did NOT choose the name - Kayson did.  He started with options of "Daddy", "Kayson"...  and then threw out "Hawkeye".  :)

Thanksgiving Break continued & Christmas in St. Joe

To continue our Thanksgiving holiday...  we headed down to Creston Friday afternoon (after the awful showing of our lovely Iowa football team).  Papa and Grandma got Kayson some great little games to play Friday night...  he's at that age where we can play silly games and also some board games and teach him winning/losing.  That'll be a challenge I'm sure!  ha.  But these games were great - and he had a blast!

Saturday we headed out early to see Aunt Maagie and extended family in St. Joe, MO...  always a nice time to see them and spend time with them.  Christmas came a little early for all of us... and Kayson & Tate loved it!  K got some clothes, a grocery cart (loves it!) and some puzzles and board games.  Thanks to Aunt Maagie, Susan & Ashlei and Jimmy & Diana!  Great gifts!!

We got back late to Creston...  all of us very tired.  We decided to stick around the rest of the night instead of driving home...  The little boys played and finally hit the sack around 9ish...  This morning we got up and headed back to our house early...  we wanted to have a little time at home today - gotta get caught back up on laundry of course!  And Kayson really sat down and played with his new toys, so that was super nice.   Tonight we are going to see Disney on Ice with Mike & JeanAnn.  I'm sure hoping Mickey Mouse shows his face a lot!  :)  

As always, we had a nice long holiday weekend...  makes me sad that we have a full week of work ahead of us!

"Don't Spill the Beans" was a hit!  Look at that face!!

"Candy Land" and "Chutes & Ladders"

and the grocery cart - too funny!

Blog Catchup

So the other day, I included some pictures to catch up on the blog... now I will include more pictures and some writing!  ha.  I feel like I just haven't had much time to sit down and write about what we've been up to.  

So...  first - Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family!  We had a very nice holiday, thus far... and more to come for us too!  Wednesday evening we headed to Clarion...  played hard and then played some more Thursday with my sisters and their families.  A great meal was prepared by my Mom and Dad...  yum, and we vegged a little and then the big kids played a round of Phase 10.  That's always a good card game to play...  such the luck of the draw type game.  We all have a little different competitive spirit in us!  Lots of laughs were had! 

We then headed back to DSM Thursday evening when it was bedtime for Kayson...  and then this morning (Friday), I did the laundry to get caught up and have been watching football...  last Iowa FB game.  We are hoping for a win of course.  

This afternoon we'll head to Creston... then to St. Joe, MO tomorrow morning.  I'll give details on that later!

Here are a few pictures from our time at the farm.  

Lil' Ryan, Kayson & Max (Ashley's boyfriend) playing dominoes!

Lindsay & Kayson - being silly!

Cocoa & Kayson

And Kayson has his own Christmas Tree in his room! 

We've had some challenges with Kayson lately...  I personally think he's just plain tired.  However, he sleeps great and takes pretty good naps still.  But he has just been whiny, talking back more than normal... and crabby.  When I'm that way - I'm tired!  haha.  :)  I couldn't imagine taking his nap away from him.  Oh lord!  

Anyway, Papa Dick is doing better...  as of today, he's still in the hospital, which is ok.  We need him to be as strong as possible before he goes home.  

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday...  God bless you all.

Picture CatchUp

Our internet is up and running!  Whoohoo!  

Here are some recent pictures of Mr. Kayson...  how handsome is he!??!

He loves the Christmas tree as much as I do!

Concentrating to get an ornament on!

Trying on his new snow-pants and snow-boots!

The famous footed PJs are back!!  Love them!

Oh that face...  my sweetie.

Real Quick

First - our internet has been down for 5 days... REALLY!!?  GRR!  Of course the times when it's down like this, I have a huge list of photography stuff to do.  So, we made a trip into Ryan's work tonight so I could get some things done... and they are done.  Thank goodness. 

Second - Great Papa Dick is doing amazingly better...  he came out of sedation yesterday afternoon (Saturday), and was breathing on his own... and attempting to talk...  It was amazing.  It gives me chills just thinking about it.  I think he still has a ways to go, but all of these signs are great and just such an improvement.  Keep the prayers coming though!

Just wanted to give an update on Grandpa... and hope for a smooth, short, GREAT week.  I'm looking forward to the short work week especially!  I hope to be back online SOON!

Prayers for Great-Papa Dick

Over the past week or so, Ryan's Grandpa (Great-Papa Dick to Kayson) has been in the Creston hospital...  with some breathing problems.  This morning he stopped breathing briefly at the Creston Hospital... so therefore, he was life-flighted to Methodist Hospital here in Des Moines.  The best place for him. 

All of the immediate family was at the hospital tonight...  with each other and supporting Grandma Janis.  Papa Dick is currently in ICU and is sedated to help him get some much needed rest...  then tomorrow will be a new day - in hopes to have the breathing tubes removed and he will begin breathing on his own.  We need lots and lots of prayers for him and the rest of the Taylor family.  This man is a very special man.

Tate & Kayson

We got to spend pretty much all day with Tate today...  While the big boys (Blair, Ryan, Mike & even Uncle Scott) went to Iowa City for the last home football game, the girls and little boys played and hung out...  

This is my very handsome and happy nephew!

Love you Tater Bean!

Words of Advice

Don’t take life for granted. Not to count on tomorrow, when your world can change in a heartbeat today.

Do not live with regrets. Do not forget to say "I'm sorry" and "I love you", because you can never be certain when you might lose that opportunity.

Love with wild abandon. Laugh. Hug those close to you. You might not be able to tomorrow.

And hug your kids. Tell them you love them. And while you're at it, hug your spouse, too.


This is all something I need to do - every day. 

Catching Up

It's been over a week since I've blogged...  that's somewhat unlike me!  We've been busy...  most evenings after Kayson is asleep, I'm either messing with more photography stuff, or doing laundry or quite possibly just wanting to sit for a bit. 

Things have been good...  Kayson's doing great - such a big boy.  I think we can officially say he is potty trained!  (Besides bedtime - still diaper for that).  We are going on 4 weeks of big boy underware and he's done wonderfully amazing - only 1 accident in that entire time!   He even has been going #2 on the potty for about a week and a half too!!  WHOOHOO!  AND last week he wore his underware for naps!  OH MY GOODNESS - he's growing up!  He apparently had a fit when Ms. Jeanie (teacher) tried putting his Pull-Up on him for nap last week (by our request)...  so she said she wasn't going to fight him and he woke up dry!  And he continues to be dry after naps at daycare and at home too!  We are so proud of him!!

Last Thursday afternoon I took off work early - I had some appointments, then prepped myself for a full day of shopping with friends on Friday!  Nikki and Nicky (we have a lot of Nicky's in our lives) headed over to Williamsburg Outlet mall...  it was a great weather day and a great day to do some damage!  We had such a great time... and have decided it's only best to do this twice a year, right?!?!  ;)  We'll see how our wallets do with that... but it sounds like a wonderful idea to me!  Such fun!

Saturday Ryan and his Dad headed over to Iowa City for a great, nail-biter football game!  K, myself and JeanAnn hung out all day at home...  did an errand and then really sat around.  I haven't done that for what seems like a long time... and it makes me SUPER tired!  ha.  Martina and Tate made a quick visit as well...  That Tate is such a doll - and wild man!  He's at such a fun age!

And Sunday we headed to Clarion to see my family...  a busy day, but great to be home.  I needed that.  We planned our "Hardy Grandkid" pictures...  and they were a success.  I may be bias, but I have BEAUTIFUL nieces and nephew (and son)!  They are such great kids - they don't complain about this at all - they have fun together and it's just a great thing...  it truly brings tears to my eyes knowing how much they love each other and are my family.  We are so blessed.

Tate sat for about 30 seconds - long enough for Kayson to assist him with his bottle!

My beautiful family

Beggar's Night

Once again, I'm living through my child with all these fun things to do!  We had so much fun tonight for Trick-or-Treating!  Colleen, Mike & Cali joined us for some snacky foods before Beggar's Night officially started...  then we headed out right at 6:00!  It was chilly, but man, those two kids kept us busy!  Cali & Kayson did SO GREAT!  They would go up to the doors all by themselves - knock and say "Trick-or-Treat" (sometimes Kayson would add "Smell my feet" - Nice Daddy).  :)  They'd say "Thank You" and we'd move on!  It was a ton of fun!

Here are some great pictures of our little Fireman!

"I'm a FIREMAN"

All bundled up... and Lovin' it!

Friends - Fireman & LadyBug

They did SO GREAT!

Testing out some of the candy he got!

Kayson = Challenging

This week has been by far the most challenging week with Kayson and me.  He's been tired, he's been crabby, he's been hungry, he's been happy, he's been sad, and he's been whiny.  I know, I know - he's almost 3 years old!!!  Well, I understand that... however, I anticipate things being better when Ryan is actually home.  And it wasn't!  Ryan got home Wednesday night...  K and I talked about it Monday and Tuesday night, he was excited...  however, when the time came, K was NOT excited.  Man, we struggled this week.  We argued, we didn't listen (of course, him, not us!).  

According to BabyCenter.com's comments for his month (a 34 month old) - we are right on schedule with "Bossiness" and "Temperaments".  (and that's supposed to make us feel better!?) :)  I guess he's a normal toddler!

I'm glad tomorrow is Friday, just so we can be at home and concentrate on Kayson... and get some time at home alone...  however, I do think to myself - "Is Kayson going to drive us crazy this weekend?!?!"  Probably!! ...but that's what happens when you are parents right?! 

Please give us patience!  :)

My Favorites

I've decided to share a few of my favorite images from the past month or so of photo shoots.  I'm learning more and more at each shoot...  some have been super challenging and some have been so fun and relaxing, it makes me want to do this more and more!  I've decided I still have a ways to go, but I'm slowly starting to get more comfortable doing this...  

I'm also starting to apply some really neat 'effects' as I call them... it just kind of enhances the images.  Some people don't like it, some people love it...  that's another thing I'm learning - my favorites are not necessarily my client's favorites! 

Enjoy!

Taken by my SIL, Martina - Great shot & eye!