Miscellaneous

Jared and I often close all of the doors in the house just so Taylor can't go in and get into things like she always does, but every now and then, I will leave the door to her bedroom open because I figure there's not much damage she can do other than spread toys and clothes all over the place. Well, one day, I noticed that she had gotten really quiet, so I go look to see what she's up to, and there she was hiding behind the comforter that we have covering the window (to keep the light out so she can sleep better). Now, she does it all the time. She just likes to go behind the comforter or other curtains in the house and play. It's so funny how babies entertain themselves.

Jared, of course, is starting early trying to get Taylor interested in soccer.

Taylor's teeth- she has four on top, a third coming in on bottom, and two top molars coming in

silly girl!

*Check out the post from Noah's birthday to see videos that I forgot to add before.*

Sleepover & House Stuff

Jared and I had not been to the temple together in so long, so finally, we set a goal to go this past Friday. Misty was gracious enough to babysit Taylor AND to keep her overnight. I spent a couple of nights away from Taylor when I took my trip to North Carolina in February, but it was her first time away from both of us. When Jared and I went to the soccer game in Nashville, my mom kept Taylor and put her to bed before we got back, but Jared and I spent the night, too, so we were there when she woke up. In June, Jared may go to New York on a work trip, and if he does, I am hoping to go with him, and we will hopefully find someone who will watch Taylor while we are gone. So, I figured it was time to test the waters to see how she'd do spending a whole night away from us. We dropped her off with Misty, and Jared had a $50 gift card to Macy's, so we headed down to Birmingham early to do a little shopping before going to the temple. I was able to get a beautiful purse/diaper bag (one that's a lot more stylish than my previous diaper bag) that was very expensive, and I would have never bought with my own money. It was on sale, and then with the $50 gift card, we spent less than $4 on it... not too shabby. We were so glad to finally be able to go to the temple. We weren't in a rush to get home since Taylor was spending the night with Misty, so we stopped to get some fast food. We were trying to choose between Wendy's and Arby's, and then, we decided to get a little crazy, so we went to Wendy's for junior bacon cheeseburgers AND we went to Arby's for fries. You don't really get to do that much when you have a baby in the backseat crying every time you stop the car... haha

Cari and Chris finally sold their house, so we were supposed to help them move the rest of their furniture to their new house on Saturday. We met at their old house where Misty and Taylor were already waiting. Apparently, they had already been there for a little while, and she and Noah had a great time playing. Dawn has some great pics of them on her blog. Of course she had a huge smile on her face when she saw us (that's the best feeling in the world!). She gave us some love and then went right on playing. Misty said that Taylor did great. She said she cried just a little before she fell asleep, but then, she slept all the way through the night and woke up in a good mood the next morning just talking and carrying on like she normally does. Yay, Taylor! That was very comforting to hear. As we waited around for Chris to show up with the moving truck, I was able to take a few photos of T & N. Taylor was lying on the air mattress just trying to drink her juice, and Noah kept trying to steal it. Of course, she had no problem telling him "no, no, no!"

Just wanted to give everyone a little update on how the house selling is going on our end. Our realtor did an open house on the 20th. We had one couple come, and they really loved the house. Their dad is a realtor, and he wasn't with them, so they said they wanted to come back with him later to look at the house again. Our realtor called me a few days later and said, "Don't get your hopes up (she really emphasized that), but they want to come back today to look at the house." So, they came again that day. Their dad loved the house, too, and our realtor still encouraged us not to get our hopes up but that she thought we might be getting an offer on the house. She didn't hear from them the next day, so she called them. The woman said her husband had just started a new job working nights, so she asked her to call back the next day. The next day (Friday), Jayne called again, and they said, "Well, we want to take the weekend off from thinking about houses." So... they could still come back and make an offer on the house, or that could have been their way of saying "No, thanks." So, that's where we stand right now. That was the third time someone really loved our house and might possibly choose to buy it, but alas... no offers yet.

Mayfield Garden Club

My mother- and sisters-in-law just recently started a garden club. Each week, someone will be the host and have us all over to work in her garden, and then, we'll rotate around. I know absolutely NOTHING about gardening, so when Dawn suggested this, I was very excited. I am hoping that I will learn a lot from their expertise ;-) Our first meeting was at Mom Mayfield's house, and we basically just planned where all of her plants needed to be planted and put them in place. I, of course, just stood around and watched and helped carry a few plants because I'm absolutely clueless... haha Maybe one day I will know a little something about gardening...

A Day of Play

Last week, Alisha, Natedog, Kenadie, Taylor, and I all spent a whole day together. I met Alisha at her house, and then, we headed to Bennett's Nursery. We made a stop at McDonald's for lunch first because we figured the kids would be happier if their tummies were full. (can you see the greasy handprints on the window in the picture directly above?) Bennetts turned out to be quite a work out for Alisha and me as we chased the kids around (it was like a maze to them) and tried to keep them out of the plants. Taylor and Natedog had a few wrestling matches- well, actually, Natedog was just trying to give her love/hugs and ended up tackling her in the dirt. She made sure he kept his distance the rest of the day.. haha

K was such a good sport- just quietly sitting in her stroller the whole time and even letting both of the older ones have a turn at pushing her.. with Alisha and me close by, of course. After we left the nursery, we headed back to Alisha's. All of the kids fell asleep on the way, so we put them down for naps and then worked on organizing Alisha's craft room.

Jared's work put together a co-ed softball team, and they had a game later that evening. He ended up calling me from work and said that all of the women bailed on them for the night and asked if I wanted to play. Well, I was a little hesitant because I wasn't going home before the game and didn't have proper clothes or shoes with me. I love playing sports though and never really have the opportunity to play much anymore, so I agreed, and Alisha let me borrow some shorts and shoes. Nate and Alisha kept Taylor while we played, and they even brought all of the kids to watch. James is also on our team, so Sarah, her mom, and their kids came to watch, too. The game was a lot of fun even though we ended up losing like 17-16. Better luck next time!

Thanks, Alisha, for a fun day!

"Easter" on Monte Sano Mountain

Easter came early this year, so the Mayfields ended up doing our family get together for Easter on April 19th up on Monte Sano Mountain. We cooked hot dogs and all sat around a picnic table (with extra chairs and blankets-- like we could all fit at one picnic table!) for lunch. The kids had a blast playing on the new playground. Ty and Emma especially seemed to have some good times together- as usual. (See Dawn's blog for details) I, surprisingly, didn't take as many pictures as I usually do, but I got a couple of cute videos of Taylor.




Taylor learning to slide



exploring the playground

Happy Birthday, Sarah(s)!

April 16th was Sarah M.'s birthday, and April 17th was Sarah D.'s birthday. I hope you both had wonderful birthdays!

Jared, Taylor, and I went over to Sarah D.'s to celebrate her birthday along with her dad, stepmom, and my mom. My mom bought a "roller coaster" for the boys not long ago, and all of the kids had lots of fun on it. Taylor also enjoyed jumping (it was more like barely bouncing) on the trampoline for the first time.

We had a delicious dinner. Neal cooked tilapia and crab legs, and for dessert, you guessed it- we had cookie cake! After dinner, my nephew Bryson had a t-ball game, so we all went to watch him. Bryson is a "Roll Tide" fan, but his t-ball uniform is orange and blue, and their team name is the Tigers, so of course, Jared had to give him a hard time about that... haha Bryson's team came back at the end of the game after one of his teammates hit a grand slam, but the other team had another turn at bat, so they ended up regaining the lead. We enjoyed a fun night with the family!

singing Happy Birthday to Sarah

Bryson hitting the ball

The BG's

We made another trip to the Botanical Gardens earlier this month. Taylor LOVES, LOVES, LOVES being outdoors. This trip was a little bit warmer than the last one, but it was still pretty windy. Taylor's favorite parts of the gardens are the bridges and anywhere where there is water. She loves walking back and forth over the bridges and sticking her hand in the water every chance she gets. I look forward to our future visits to see how things evolve as everything gets greener and prettier. Thanks to all of our friends who meet us there to have lunch and hang out!

Happy 1st Birthday, Noah!

We had Noah's birthday party on Friday, and Cari did a fabulous job! She made little signs that had pictures of Noah from each month of his first year, and she made one of the most awesome and creative cakes that I have seen someone- who is not a professional, mind you- do. Come on, Cari- can you at least rub off some of your creativity on me? ;-) We all had a great time and enjoyed spending time with all the family. Thanks, Mom & Dad Mayfield, for letting us crash your house! I hope it wasn't too much of a disaster after we left and that there wasn't too much dirt and mud tracked in the house. (Jared tracked mud all over our carpet when we got home that night!) Noah racked up on presents, too!! I just can't believe how big our babies are getting!

singing Happy Birthday to Noah

Noah eating/playing with his cake

Taylor enjoying Noah's birthday presents (he shared really well!)

Jared taking on Ty, Emma, and Gavin all at once

Miss Independent

Yesterday, Taylor and I met up with aunts and cousins at Madison Square Mall for lunch and a fun day at the mall. I wasn't really sure how Taylor would do playing around all the other kids. I figured she would want me to be right by her side the whole time, and when other kids got close to her, I figured she would cry or whine. It turned out just the opposite. It took her a few minutes to warm up, but then, she was all over the place. The older kids were running around her, bumping into her, jumping over her, but she didn't let them bother her. She just kept on going. I even had one mom come up to me and ask how old she was. I told her 15 months, and she said, "Wow! She's so independent. She must have an older brother or sister." I told her no and that I was actually quite surprised myself at how well she was doing. I'm so proud of my big girl! I think she especially loved the bridge that you could slide down, but she always laid down on her stomach and slid down feet first ;-)

Also, yesterday was my nephew Noah's 1st birthday, but we're having the big 1st birthday celebration tonight. Happy Birthday, Noah!

Videos

Just some extra cute videos of Taylor... (I'm not sure why she's almost naked in all of them. She really doesn't walk around the house wearing a diaper- or less- very often. Maybe that's just when she is the goofiest!)

I love how she picks up the baby, hugs it, and then slams it down into the stroller!

All of the water had just drained out of the bathtub, but apparently, she was not done having fun. She has gotten where she really likes lying on her stomach in the bathtub. She also likes to try to look down the drain.

In this one, she was just being goofy and laughing like a mad woman. This is only a glimpse of it. She was actually a lot crazier before I started videotaping.

Easter

March 21st was my brother's birthday, so we got together at my mom's house for dinner to celebrate and to dye Easter eggs since Easter was just two days later. The boys had a lot of fun dying the eggs, and I'm glad that Taylor was content just sitting in Grandma's lap and didn't feel the need to get up and get into all of the dye.



Can you tell that our family LOVES cookie cakes? We'll use just about any special occasion or holiday as an excuse to get one ;-)












Taylor looked very cute on Easter. Unfortunately, I didn't get any really great pictures of her. We didn't have time before church, and then afterwards, it was really cold and windy plus it was time for her nap so it just didn't work out. Taylor did get an excellent nap that day though. She usually falls asleep on the way home from church on Sundays, and then, we just pray that she'll stay asleep for a little while once we get home. It usually doesn't last long, so Jared and I have started skipping lunch and trying to get a short nap in while she's asleep as well. My mom was going to come by to bring us Easter baskets, and I figured Taylor would be awake by then. Well, I woke up to the sound of my mom knocking on the door and was surprised that Taylor had not already woken us up because I think it was already after 3:00pm. In the second row of the collage, you can see the picture of Taylor all sprawled out in her crib. Her left foot was even stuck between the railing, but she didn't seem to mind it too much. Mom brought lots of toys and candy, all of which Taylor has thoroughly enjoyed. (Taylor got a little preview of the chocolate when Mom babysat her while we were in Nashville). She got a cute little baby doll that Taylor loves to carry around, hug, and give kisses to, and she got a stroller to go with it. She got her a coloring book and crayons, which I thought Taylor would be all about because she has been really interested in my pens and wanting to write on stuff, but at this point, Taylor is more interested in trying to EAT the crayons. She also got two little toys that play music. One is a bear that puts its hands together and says a bedtime prayer and is actually quite sweet. The other one is a chick in an egg that plays "the chicken song" (you know- the one that they play at all sporting events and people flap their arms like chicken, shake their butts, and clap). Yeah- that one gets a little annoying after a few times... haha.. thanks, Mom! Taylor loves it though. Maybe when it gets warmer, we'll be able to go outside somewhere and take some better pictures of Taylor in her Easter dress.... and seriously, THANK YOU, Mom, for everything!

Trip to Nashville

For Jared's birthday, David bought him a ticket to a soccer game in Nashville on March 20th. That day, David, Jess, Jared, and I drove up to Nashville and went to one of the malls there. We browsed around some of the stores and ate dinner and then headed to the game. We had to walk across a big bridge to get to the stadium, so I was able to get some pictures of the stadium and downtown Nashville. The U.S. played Canada to qualify for the Olympics. We won 3-0! Jared was pretty happy because he's been to a couple other U.S. games, and in one of them, they tied 0-0 and the other one they lost, so it was nice to see a game where they played well and won. There is a video below that shows some of the highlights from the game.

Free Day at the Botanical Gardens!

Last month, Cari found out that the Botanical Gardens was having a free day for the public. I had never been before because it's not cheap, so I thought this was a great opportunity, and I had been dying to get outdoors and do something! We met up with Misty and the girls that she nannies and some other friends. We quickly ate lunch around some picnic tables and then let the kids go explore. It was a little chilly and windy, so we couldn't sit still for long. The only thing that Taylor was really interested in was walking around in the dead grass. I don't know if she liked the feel of it or liked how it crunched or what. She had grass all over her- and ME! I think Jared is proud to have a girl that likes to get dirty ;-) We've heard that the Botanical Gardens does a free day every month, so I think we'll try to make it a regular thing. The next free day is April 8th. Anyone who wants to join us is welcome to come!! Hopefully the weather will be nice (and a little warmer this time!). Thanks, Cari, for letting us know about this!