Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday, so I'd like to start off by saying Happy Birthday, Mom!! I hope you had a great day, and we love you!!

Yesterday was our garden club day over at Alisha's house. Alisha had a sprinkler set up that the kids could play in. The older kids greatly enjoyed it, but T & N didn't take too well to it. Taylor however thoroughly enjoyed being able to freely roam all over the backyard, and she found Mimi's candy stash. ;-) Kenadie was a good sport and hung out in the shade the whole time, and Carden, of course, found a pet snail and named him "Snailey." Alisha's yard is so beautiful already that not much needed to be done, but as usual, we enjoyed having time to visit with each other.

Alisha said she's biased over how adorable Kenadie is, and I have to admit that I'm pretty biased about my little girl as well (it's a mom's prerogative, right?). I just think Taylor is the most gorgeous thing ever, and I love all of her facial expressions!

Later that evening, Jared and I went over to Neal and Sarah's house to celebrate my mom's birthday (Neal had to work today, so we celebrated a day early). We were in the backyard enjoying the outdoors; the kids were enjoying the trampoline and the roller coaster, and then, it happened.... the collision. I went inside for a few minutes, and all of a sudden, Jared comes walking inside holding Taylor, and she is crying uncontrollably. Apparently, my mom was helping Bryson ride the roller coaster, and she thought Taylor was with Jared. Well, after Bryson took off, Taylor went running towards him, and he ran straight into her. It took her legs out from under her, she fell forward on top of Bryson, and they headbutted each other. When Jared brought her inside, she had a bloody nose.

Jared tried to get a picture of her bloody nose, but she wasn't much in the mood.. haha It was hard to see anyway because it wasn't like gushing blood or anything. She cried for a while, and Jared claimed that she was "milking it" and told me not to baby her (not that he's insensitive or anything, but his philosophy is just to get her laughing and playing as quickly as possible to get her mind off of it). I informed him that I totally have the right to baby her if she is genuinely hurt! I was just really glad that I didn't see the collision happen because it would have scared me to death! My mom and Jared both were surprised that Taylor's legs weren't hurt at all. There's no bruising or anything today, and she seems to be doing perfectly fine. In fact, she was probably over it all within 15-20 minutes.

After the dramatic collision, we had a delicious dinner and the best chocolate cake ever from Costco. Then, after mom opened her presents, we went to another one of Bryson's t-ball games.

Tonight, we went with the Bastins (some very close family friends) to eat dinner at Mezza Luna (a new restaurant in the Target shopping center on Carl T. Jones), and then we walked over to Coldstone to get ice cream!! We had a great time (Thanks, Sherry & Danny!), and my mom deserves many, many days worth of celebrating for as much as she does for us! Taylor thoroughly enjoyed the ice cream and ate a little bit of everyone's ;-)

SOLD!

On Saturday, we had a couple come look at our house, and our realtor called me either Monday or Tuesday to let me know that they wanted to come back for a second look on Thursday. The first words out of her mouth were, "Don't get excited...." which we really took to heart because this isn't the first time someone has come back for a second look. It's happened before, and nothing ever came of it. Well... this time was different!! The couple came back last night, and our realtor called first thing this morning. I knew that meant it was good news!! She said they were bringing over an offer to her office, and she would call me when she received it. Of course, they low-balled the offer, but Jayne told us to counteroffer. She said they were here at the house for a while last night, had brought other family members to see it, were really excited, and really wanted the house. That was definitely good to hear. So, we counteroffered, and then they counteroffered, and then we came back again pretty much accepting their offer but with a little change. SOOO.... assuming paperwork goes through and all of the other little details get worked out, our closing date will probably be June 27th!! Then I can really breathe a sigh of relief.

Overall, I think the house selling process has gone pretty well. Our house has been on the market for about 3 months which I think is a reasonable amount of time, and we weren't in a huge hurry. I didn't stay stressed out all the time like I thought I would (only on a few occasions when I knew someone was coming to look at the house and I didn't have much time to get it cleaned up!). I'd have to say that I'm not the best at cleaning, and having our house on the market has really forced me to keep up on the housework. I'm hoping I can continue that once we move into our new house. I'll try anyway! It's been nice having a clean house the majority of the time but a real pain knowing that the house HAD to be clean everytime we left because someone could call at any time and want to come look at it.

I must admit that I started getting sentimental again today thinking about leaving this house. I guess the plan for now is that we'll start looking for a house, and in the meantime, we will move in with my mom sometime before we have to close on this house. I know it's going to be so rough on my mom having to see us every day, especially Taylor! ;-) So, everyone be expecting us to call on you to help us move sometime within the next 3-5 weeks... haha!

Family Happenings...

First of all, I want to congratulate Cari & Chris on baby #2! Last week, we got together for our usual Garden Club day, but it was raining, so everyone went to some plant nurseries and then to lunch. When I showed up, this is the shirt Noah was wearing. I was like, "Um... are you trying to tell us something, Cari?" haha It was a very cute way to deliver the news!

And Noah was very excited!!

After lunch, we went over to Granny & Grandpa Mayfield's house. Taylor kept wanting to get up on the bench and look out the window. I loved watching her and Grandpa together.

On Saturday, we went to watch Gavin's soccer game. Unfortunately, I forgot to charge my camera battery, so I wasn't able to take many pictures. I did get a picture of him as he was about to score right before my battery died though. He scored about 4-5 goals this game. There was a boy on the other team who was very, very good, and that boy's dad walked over to James & Sarah after the game and said his son had finally met his match! Go Gavin!

Hey! You've Got to Hide Yourself Away...

So, one of Taylor's favorite things to do nowadays is to grab something I'm convinced she KNOWS she's not supposed to have, take off running, and find a hiding place. Most often, it involves the plug-in air freshener that's in the outlet next to the couch, and then she crawls behind the couch. I cannot tell you how many times she's done this and how many times we've told her "NO!" What's the trick to getting her to stop? She also has a tendency to get into the garbage can and pull stuff out of it. One night we had told her "No!" several times, but then, she started to walk towards the garbage can again. Jared again told her "No!" so she slid in between the garbage can and the door, like she was hiding, and just peeked at us from behind the garbage can. I swear even when we're trying to get on to her and discipline her for something it's just so hard not to laugh and smile and think how cute she is!

We also have to keep our bathroom door shut so she cannot get into the drawers, toilet, toilet paper, etc, but usually when I go in the bathroom, she has to go in the bathroom. Then, she always ends up stealing our toothbrushes, a bottle of my perfume, or anything else that she can get her hands on. Then as soon as I go after her to take it away, she takes off running! As you can tell, she seems to be very mischievous! Watch out, everyone! We may have another Emma on our hands!!


Taylor loves our cell phones. She loves to push the buttons and has even gotten to where she will hold the phone to her ear and "talk" to someone. She has even given kisses over the phone. I usually don't let her play with my phone because she has been known to call Mexico (or some other foreign country) and 411- which costs money! Also, it is very embarrassing when she gets into my phone book and calls an old friend that I haven't talked to in a while, and then I have to explain to them that it really wasn't me who took the time to call but that my daughter accidentally called them.

Taylor also has a pair of shoes that she has recently started putting on her hands and walking around the house wearing them like gloves. Unfortunately, she also likes to chew on them.

On a more positive note, the first thing that Taylor does when I get her out of her crib in the morning is give me a kiss (or kisses!), and I usually don't even have to ask for one!! She's been giving out kisses pretty freely lately, and I've been eating it up. I forgot to mention that she was very generous with the kisses on Mother's Day. Jared says it was part of his gift to me. ;-) Taylor has also gotten to where she will actually watch TV a little bit. It's usually not for long, but it does give me some time to do other things. She will usually sit and watch for a few minutes, then come find me to see what I'm doing, then go back and watch TV, and so on. She just brightens my every day. I love that little girl with all my heart!!

..... AND only one more month until she goes into nursery at church!! Woo hoo! I'm counting down the days until I don't have to chase her around for all 3 hours! It'll be somebody else's job then.. haha

Mother's Day Weekend

The Saturday before Mother's Day, our ward planned a temple trip/Primary activity. (For those of you who aren't members of our church, our church is divided into "wards" according to where you live, kind of like schools being divided up into districts and kids going to a certain school according to where they live, and Primary is like Sunday School for children ages 3-11.) We asked my mom to babysit Taylor because we had to be at the Birmingham Temple by 8:00am! We figured 1) we would have to wake Taylor up too early and 2) that would too long of a trip there and back for us to take her with us. So, we took Taylor over to my mom's house on Friday night, and she spent the night. Her first time spending the night with Grandma! Yay!

At the temple, the Primary teachers stayed with the kids in the Gardendale ward building next to the temple while their parents went inside. (Jared and I teach 4 & 5 year olds. Well, Jared really does all of the teaching because I spend all of my time chasing Taylor around.) The Primary leaders talked to the kids about the importance of the temple, how we can go there to feel the Holy Spirit, learn about the Savior, and receive strength to overcome worldly temptations, and that we can be with our families forever. Afterwards, we took the kids outside to the top of the hill behind the temple (where Jared proposed to me) and took pictures. At the very end, everyone had a picnic lunch before heading back home.

When Jared and I got back to Huntsville, we went to pick up Taylor. She and my mom were at Dreamland eating lunch and celebrating the birthday of a very close friend of ours (I guess I will not disclose his name because I have not asked permission) :-) My mom said Taylor had been a very good girl and slept all the way through the night. Yay for my big girl!

After we picked Taylor up, we went by our house real quick to change clothes and then headed to HGHS for the Hazel Green Alumni soccer game. The current highschoolers were playing against guys who played soccer while they were in high school. Taylor was ready to cheer on Daddy before the game even began. Her onesie said "Baby MVP. Making Daddy Proud" I actually bought it a long time ago for a "future son" (because it's really a boy outfit), but I figured, hey- throw some pig tails in her hair and no one will know any different (or say "oh, HE's so cute!).

As the game was starting, Taylor and I sat on the bleachers as the lone Alumni fans, and then much to my surprise, a whole slew of Mayfields came rolling in. Mom and Dad Mayfield, Alisha, Carden, Emma, Nathan, and Kenadie, Sarah, Gavin, Georgia, Ava, and Sarah's parents and brothers came to see James, Nate, David, and Jared play. The kids had a blast playing under the bleachers in their "laboratory." Taylor enjoyed munching on chicken nuggets and french fries that Emma decided she was not hungry enough to eat. Then, Sarah's brother went and bought ice cream cones for all of the kids- even the BIG kids ;-) It was a HUGE hit! We all had a great time. Unfortunately, the Alumni didn't pull out a win like they did last year. They lost 1-2, I think, but I'm sure they will be back even stronger (and in better shape) next year! :-)

(The last two pictures are at home after the game. Taylor loves to pick and "blow" dandelions, and she was showing off the cute sandals that Aunt Mimi bought her)

Georgia was a wonderful little cheerleader. She stood at the rope and yelled and yelled for her daddy until he finally turned around and waved at her. She also put some beautiful lipstick all over her face ;-) Kenadie was quite comfy and cozy snuggled up to Granny while taking a nap, and Ava thoroughly enjoyed using Sarah's mom as a jungle gym. Notice how I don't have any pictures of the other kids? That's because they were in their secret laboratory the whole time. For more stories and cute pictures of the kids, see Alisha's blog.

For Mother's Day, Jared got me a beautiful card and wrote a very sweet note inside, and he bought me a Willow Tree figurine. He said he looked all over for one that had a mother holding a little girl, but the only one he could find anywhere was the mom holding a little boy. He said we could keep looking for it and exchange the one he got me if I wanted to. I would love to have the one that he originally was looking for, but I also love the one that he ended up getting me. The name of it is "Love," and on the box, it says, "Love, everlasting and true." I just thought that was beautiful. He also gave me a day free of diaper duty! Aaahh... it's so nice not to have to argue over who is going to change the poopy diaper.. haha We also had my mom, Neal, Sarah, Bryson, and Rylan over to our house for dinner that night. They all do so much for us and are constantly having us over to their houses for dinner, and I wanted to do something for them for a change. I hope they know how much we appreciate them!

I hope you all had a wondeful Mother's Day!

The ABC's of Me

A- Attached or single: Attached to my good-looking, understanding, patient husband
B- Best Friend: Jared
C-Cake or Pie: depends on what kind, I guess. Anything chocolate is good, but I'm more of a chocolate chip cookie kind of gal.
D- Day of Choice: Not really sure... the days kind of all seem to run together since I stay at home now. I guess Saturday because if I'm lucky I get to spend the whole day with Jared AND Taylor. Sundays are always good for a nice spiritual uplift and relaxing time with the family
E- Essential Item: Hmm... probably my computer, camera, and/or cell phone.... oh and to steal Cari's idea-- SLEEP.. and food. I'm pretty cranky without those two things- just ask Jared.. haha
F- Favorite Color: Green!
G- Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Sour gummy worms. I really like the sour ones that are shaped like an octupus.. haha.. anyone else had those? It's been a long time since I've had some.
H- Hometown: Hazel Green, AL (I consider Huntsville my hometown, too, because if we ever wanted to do anything, we pretty much always had to go to Huntsville, and I was born in Huntsville) ;-)
I- Indulgence(s): Cuddling with Jared, cookie cake, Pineapple Surf smoothies from Smoothie King
J- January or July: July... I'm not a big fan of cold weather.
K- Kids: Taylor- almost 17 months
L- Life is incomplete without: My family and the gospel
M- Marriage date: December 21, 2005
N- Number of Siblings: 1 biological brother but now I have 1 brother, 7 sisters-in-law (soon to be 8) and 6 brothers-in-law.
O- Oranges or Apples: Apples. I like oranges but they're a lot of work.. haha
P- Phobias or Fears: Losing the ones I love.... and I'm pretty claustrophobic- it's only a mild case though ;-)
Q- Quote: This always changes. You can always find good quotes. All good quotes can be summed up into this: "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Matthew 22:37-39. Just a couple of my favorite quotes are: "You cannot lift another soul until you are standing on higher ground than he is. You must be sure, if you would rescue the man, that you yourself are setting the example of what you would have him be. You cannot light a fire in another soul unless it is burning in your own soul." Harold B. Lee and "Whenever you feel "short" or in "need" of something, give what you want first and it will come back in buckets. That is true for money, a smile, love, friendship.... Whenever I feel that people aren't smiling at me, I simply begin smiling and saying hello, and like magic, there are suddenly more people smiling around me. It is true that your world is only a mirror of you."Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
R- Reason to Smile: loving someone and being loved in return; fun times with family and friends; looking at all of God's beautiful creations; just about everything Taylor does makes me smile- even when I want to be mad at her, I can't help thinking how stinkin' cute she is!
S - Sappy or Adventure Movies: I like Mom Mayfield's description the best. I always cry at "sappy" movies, but it seems like it's gotten worse as I've gotten older. I think I just really immerse myself into the situation and think about how I would feel if I were that person. I'll cry if someone is sad or even if they are overly happy about something. It's really strange the things that I've found myself crying over lately, and I can't help it!
T- Tag: Anyone who reads this who hasn't already done it.
U- Unknown Fact About Me: Hmm.. not sure. I think there are some unknown things about me that I'd like to keep that way.. haha.. but seriously, I don't know if this is an unknown fact or not, but I'm a really insecure person. I wonder a lot about what people think of me. I'm always afraid that my actions don't make me out to be the person that I am on the inside (or at least the person that I WANT to be) and don't show how big my heart really is. I'm afraid of people judging me for something I've said or done without knowing my true feelings and intentions. I hate confrontation, but I would rather someone confront me about something and get my side of the story than to just assume things or harbor bad feelings without trying to work things out. I guess basically I have a fear of being misunderstood and/or not forgiven for past mistakes.
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: Neither. I'm definitely not a vegetarian, but I wouldn't say that I'm an "oppressor of animals" just because I like to eat meat.
W- Worst Habit: Taking too long to answer questions??? That's probably what Jared would say; being indecisive, procrastinating, being late
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds; X-rays are usually not good things, but it's wonderful getting a peek at a growing little baby
Y- Your Favorite Food: I have a hard time with this because I really love food, so it's hard to narrow it down. I love lasagne, chicken and black bean salsa, roast with carrots and potatoes, pinto beans and cornbread, chicken casserole, asian food, breakfast foods, cookie cake, pineapple, chocolate chimichangas from Casa Blanca, O'Charley's rolls, popcorn, chocolate ice cream cones. It would really be easier to tell you things that I don't like, tomatoes for example (unless they are cooked).
Z- Zodiac: Cancer

My Better Half

How long have you been together? married for 2 years but we started dating back in 2000
How long did you date? almost 3 years before his mission, and it was two months before we got engaged after his mission
How old is he? 25, about nine months younger than me
Who eats more? He does, but I can put away some food when I'm really hungry although these days I'm usually too busy trying to get Taylor to eat.
Who said "I love you" first? I was the first one to ever say it, but I said it online through an instant message and was kind of tricked into it by a friend... haha (it was right after high school, okay!) He was the first to say it after his mission. I was too scared!
Who is taller? Jared
Who sings better? Um... we're probably on about the same level. Hopefully our kids will have more talent than we do ;-)
Who is smarter? We're a good balance, I think. He is smarter at business and finance and that kind of stuff and more practical everyday things, and I'm better at english, science,math-- although that is starting to diminish...
Who does the laundry? Usually me, but Jared will sometimes.
Who does the dishes? Pretty much always me.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you're looking at the bed, Jared sleeps on the right side.
Who pays the bills? I pay the bills, but he makes most of the money.
Who mows the lawn? He does. I've done it once.
Who cooks dinner? We're pretty equal on this one. I probably cook most days, but he actually does cook a lot.
Who is more stubborn? Hmm... not sure about this one.
Who kissed who first? He kissed me... but I kind of pressured him into it.. haha
Who asked who out? He asked me. In high school, he had asked one of my friends to prom, and I went with them when they went to go pick out his tux. Afterwards, he ended up asking me to go with him to watch one of David's soccer games. I did, and we just kind of started hanging out a lot after that. We pretty much ended up doing a little switch-a-roo on the prom dates... haha (it was their idea, not ours!)
Who is more sensitive? definitely me!
Who has more friends? I'd say we have about the same although I'm probably better at keeping in touch with more friends than he is, but he's a guy.
Who has more siblings? definitely Jared
Who wears the pants in the relationship? Not sure about this one either. I think we are pretty even.
Who are you tagging? Anyone who hasn't already done it, but I'm probably the last one.