Nonsense, Poopy Pants!

*WARNING* Reader discretion is advised. Content may not be suitable for those with weak stomachs!

After we got home from church today, I changed Taylor's clothes and let her crawl around on the floor and play for a while. After a few minutes, I noticed that she had a poopy diaper (her 3rd one of the day), so I went to change her diaper. I pulled off her pants, which she usually likes to play with while I'm changing her diaper. I undo her diaper, and well, her poop wasn't as formed as it usually is. It was a little loose, so needless to say, it was all over her bottom. Well, she apparently thought it would be fun to throw her pants into her poop, so I quickly grab the pants, but then, she sticks her hands down there and gets poop on her hands. As if that wasn't bad enough, she then goes to stick her hands in her mouth, so I try to grab her hands, and she starts kicking her legs and feet, getting poop everywhere, so naturally, I yell... "JARED! HELP!" Jared comes running in the room, and he has to help hold her down while I wipe her down literally from head to toe and clean off the changing table. It was quite disgusting.

Later on, as we tried to put Taylor to sleep, she decided to fight it as she usually does, so I just laid her in her crib and decided to let her just cry herself to sleep. Well, after a few minutes, she started getting pretty worked up, and I was going to go check on her, but Jared said to give her a few more minutes, and if she didn't fall asleep, then he would go get her. Well, then, we hear her coughing like she is choking like she sometimes does when she is crying pretty hard, so I told Jared to go check on her just in case she spit up. Jared walks in the room and says, "Debbie, come here...." I go in the room, and sure enough, she has thrown up ALL OVER her sheets and pajamas, and apparently, she rubbed her face in it, too, because it was all over the side of her face. We gave her some cereal with some carrots mixed in before she went to bed, so her throw up was bright orange. Huge clean up #2. We changed the sheets and her pajamas and cleaned off her face, and then Jared was finally able to get her to go to sleep. You know, I absolutely love when Taylor just sweetly falls asleep in my arms (or Jared's). I just find it very comforting- for me and for her. It just breaks my heart to have to let her cry herself to sleep sometimes, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. Otherwise, they might never sleep!

Kids definitely make your life interesting, and I am sure I will have lots of interesting, funny, disgusting, etc. stories to tell in the future! What a messy day!

"..Seek ye out of the best books..."

So, I remember when I was younger I LOVED to read. In middle school, my favorite books were the Fear Street books by R.L. Stine and Sweet Valley High books. Once I got into high school, everything changed. Between cheerleading, other extracurricular activities, and the reading that I HAD to do for school, I just never had much time to read for fun, and I got out of the habit of doing it. That continued through college... once again, I usually had so much required reading to do that reading for fun was just not an option for me. Pretty much the only time that I have read for fun over the last 5+ years is during the summer, and that was probably just when I went on a week long vacation to the beach or something. I started a book last summer (that was actually really good) that I still have not finished if that tells you anything.

Well, this past Tuesday, I went with some women from church to see the movie Becoming Jane about Jane Austen, and although I can't say that I'm a huge Jane Austen fan, simply because I haven't taken the time to read her books, I was motivated to start reading more. Jared got me a couple of books for Christmas last year that I just started reading this week. I read a book and a half in three days. I know it is unreasonable for me to keep up that pace between taking care of Taylor, doing medical transcription work, doing housework, and spending time with Jared, but I hope that I can continue to take more time to read. I admit that I do love to watch TV, but even if I do nothing but read all day, I still feel more productive than if I do nothing but watch TV all day. Just reading a couple of books over the last few days has helped me to remember how much I do enjoy reading.

So, if anyone has a favorite book or a good book that they have read recently that they would recommend, let me know!

My Thoughts Exactly

I wanted to share part of a post from my friend Heidi's blog because I think it is hilarious, and I think any mother can appreciate it!

"one thing i have discovered since becoming a mother is that perfect strangers love to give advice. so i have learned to lie. about most anything. i find it is perfectly acceptable for me to tell people that don't matter that my child is fine, he/she never throws tantrums, eats everything on his/her plate, crawled at 3 months and walked at 6, has shown a propensity for speaking in full sentences at one year and has never EVER needed a perfect stranger in the line at sam's club to scold them for bad behavior. that is my job thank you very much!

"list of things i would like to say to people who needlessly give me advice:
1. yes, i know she is only two weeks old, but i have too much to do to stay at home and cloister her from all the germs in the world.
2. he doesn't want to be held by you because you are a stranger, that doesn't mean there is something wrong with him.
3. yes, i am aware he is yelling my name over and over again. if i could stop it i would.
4. no, pacifiers do not give you orthodontic problems. but you might have some after i punch you in the mouth.
5. she's a girl for crying in the night! she's wearing PINK!
6. just because we have a boy and a girl does not mean we are "done". i don't see how that is your business anyway, mrs. walmart checker!
7. yes, all of our clothes have stains on them. we are not blind. we are just busy.
8. you're kidding, my son is running down the aisles of the grocery store? goodness, your children must have always walked in straight silent lines. please teach me how to do that!
9. yes, i know that she has no shoes on. it is freaking july in alabama!"

... and here is one of the comments she received:

"The big one I get is when we are out for walks, 'The sun is in your baby's eyes. You need to put a hat on him.' Yeah, so he can rip it off and throw it on the ground like he did the last 5 times I put it on him before you came along."

You gotta love it!

A Bad Case of Bed Head

So, when Taylor woke up this morning, I went to get her out of bed and couldn't help but laugh. Her hair was sticking straight up! What also made the morning great is that Taylor went to sleep last night at 7:30 and didn't wake up until 6:00 this morning! Between 7:30 and midnight I heard her wake up and whimper every now and then, but then she would fall right back asleep. I went to bed at midnight and didn't hear anything else out of her until 6:00. Then I fed her, and she went back to sleep for another hour and a half.

Amazing!! Sleep has been very precious and rare around here since Taylor was born. She has never slept well through the night, but now that she has been sleeping in her big crib in her own room for the last few weeks, I am hoping that she will get better. The last few nights haven't been so bad, so we'll see how it goes...

Also, I mentioned in the last post that Taylor had pulled herself up on my legs, but I was there the whole time to support her and help her keep her balance. Well, today, I was sitting at the computer, and she was playing on the floor. All of a sudden, I look over, and she is standing up holding onto the chair!!! This time she really did do it all by herself! I wanted to get a picture of her standing up holding onto the chair, but it's a swivel chair, so if I wasn't sitting in it or holding on to it, it would turn and make her lose her balance.

The past couple of days she has also started really crawling. She can only do it for a few "steps" at a time, and then she falls back to her stomach and army crawls again, but she'll get the hang of it quickly, I'm sure!

It seems like she has grown up sooo much just in the past couple of weeks!

I Belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Today marks 6 years since I was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am very grateful for the blessings the gospel has brought into my life. I can't imagine what my life would be like now without the gospel. Not that I was a bad person before or anything, but I think I have made some great changes and better decisions with my life. Yes, I still make mistakes, but that is where Jesus Christ comes in. He is my Savior. If I hadn't gotten baptized and joined the Church, I would not have come to know Him the way that I do now. I have learned so much since I joined the Church. I have really come to know my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and I have felt their love for me. My faith has grown so much. I have really come to appreciate the importance of family. I have learned how to better deal with the obstacles, heartaches, trials, disappointments, difficulties, etc. that we face every day in life. I have learned about the power of prayer. I know that we are not alone and that God does answer prayers. I have come to enjoy reading the scriptures, and I have felt the Holy Ghost so strongly in my life. I know that God is a God of order, and amidst all the chaos of the world, we can find answers to so many of the questions that we have. I have come to better understand the words faith, hope, love, and charity and their meanings. These are only a small portion of the blessings I have received. I feel that I have made a change for the better over these years, and I hope that I can always try hard to actually LIVE the gospel so that my family and friends can see that.

I realize that to others our church seems a bit peculiar. I hope that others can see through the "strangeness" and realize that ultimately we all have the same goal- to strive every day to live our lives so that we may return to live with our Heavenly Father, our Savior Jesus Christ, and our families forever. To anyone who may read this who is not a member of the Church, please feel free to ask any questions that you may have, and I will do my best to answer them. Sometimes we just listen to "hearsay" instead of trying to find out the truth. I have been guilty of that myself at times. I would love to be able to talk to others more about the gospel so that we can all better understand each other and basically share our love of God with each other.

Once again, I am grateful for all the blessings Heavenly Father has brought into my life. I am grateful for my family and the happiness that they bring into my life. I am grateful that we will one day again see our loved ones who have already passed away. Knowing that our families can be together forever gives me the motivation I need to get through every day.

In My Daughter's Eyes

So, I always thought Taylor would be a big Daddy's Girl which was a little intimidating, but at the same time, I was a Daddy's Girl so I know what it's like. There is something very special about a Daddy/Daughter relationship. However, Taylor has turned out to be quite a Mommy's Girl. That may change through time, and it might just be because I'm the one who is with her all day, but it has really made me feel special. I just love when I pick her up, and she wraps her arms around my neck. She has even started following me around the house. She hasn't quite gotten the crawling thing down yet, so she just "army crawls" or pulls herself around with her arms. A couple of days ago, I was sitting on the couch, and I swear she came over to me, grabbed my pants, and pulled herself up until she was standing. Of course, I put my arms around her to help her keep her balance, but she did it! She hasn't done it since, so I guess she just happened to get her feet up under her just right that time. Also, the other day, I was lying on the couch, and she was lying beside me. I thought maybe she was tired and would fall asleep, but no.. she just lay there and watched TV with me. It reminded me of when I used to lie on the couch beside my dad and watch TV. It brought back great memories. I won't mind if Taylor ends up becoming a Daddy's Girl. I just hope that she and I will always be close and have a special relationship with each other.

You're all I need to get by

I think becoming a mom is the most rewarding thing that I have ever done. Taylor brings so much happiness to my life. It is amazing to feel so loved and needed by someone! I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures of Taylor just to give you a glimpse of the happiness that I get to experience every day!