What a heavenly day...

The day Tara and I had today might seem like any ordinary day to a lot of you moms out there...but to me, it's felt perfect. I had spent the better part of last evening cleaning, so waking up to a freshly scrubbed house was SO nice :) First thing this morning after seeing Sean off to work, I was able to get my shower before the baby woke up. Yay for mommy! Then, I got to work finishing what I had grown too sleepy to finish last night. Namely, vacuuming and cleaning baseboards. Yay, checked off the list. Then, Tara woke up and "helped" me finish cleaning in her own way. That pretty much meant getting into everything she could because mom was too busy vacuuming :) Then I felt like it was an oatmeal morning, so Tara helped me cook some. She helped pour in the oats, and felt like such a big girl while she helped stir the pot. While mom finished cooking, she kept running up behind me and grabbing my leg for kisses. I swear, there's nothing better than looking down at her beautiful upturned face with a big grin ready for mommy to plant a kiss on those sweet lips...After breakfast, we watched an episode of Calliou, and then read almost every book she could get her little hands on! I pulled out a new book we had picked up for her, and she just loved reading it! So many pretty colors, and pictures, such a sensory experience for her :) Then we got a call from my cousin Heidi, who wanted us to meet her at the playground down the street. So Tara played while mommy did her makeup, and we took off for the park. We got to meet Heidi's new baby Carter for the first time (boy, is he a cute one!) Tara spent the next hour or so playing with cousins Jack and Logan, and she actually climbed all over the play structure for the first time! This was a big deal for me, because up until now, she would only want to eat woodchips and watch the big kids. Today though, she was watching her cousins climbing past her; and going down the slide. She got upset, because she couldn't climb the structure the same way they could! lol So with some help from mom, she made it to the top. She went down that slide over and over and over again! Amidst all the playing, she called out to Logan by name!!! Heidi and I both heard her call out "Logan!", and I started smiling. Big mommy moment...Then we walked home for lunch, and along the way she wanted to stop and pick every single flower growing in the field between Heidi's house and ours. So we had quite the bouquet by the time we walked through the door! After half a peanut butter sandwich and half a banana, she was ready for her nap. So we read a few more books, and off to lala land went baby girl. Mom then had a break to have lunch herself, and just relax before starting in on three loads of laundry, and dishes. But what a beautiful morning it was...

Fast forward to right now, she's just spent the last couple minutes scooping up my favorite (and baby's favorite) plum-colored chenille throw blanket, and pulled it; along with herself onto the couch next to me. She promptly arranged the blanket over her legs "just so" and then pulled it over her head and laughed in delight...Her laugh is the most beautiful sound in the world. I get to hear it all the time! I can't believe how lucky I am...

Life is amazing.

My secret obsession...

So for those of you who don't know, I love photos of interior design projects. I think in my past life I was an interior designer...Anyway, I love finding photos on the internet of different designer's latest projects; and this is one of the most recent ones I've fallen in love with. I have mixed feelings about the bearskin rug, but I love the way it pulls the whole look together. I love the simplicity of the arrangement, and the tasteful yet elegant stylings of the decorator makes me think I found my soulmate :) What do you guys think?

Chasing Mommy

So Sean and I have been playing this game with Tara for these last few months where we start growling and chasing after her. She absolutely LOVES this game! She'll come up to us if we're busy doing something, and place her hands on our legs and make a growling sound and then run away. So we'll start growling, and then drop to our hands and knees, and begin chasing her around the room; and eventually into a corner where she'll start giggling so hard she's holding her stomach :) Today for the first time though, once I cornered her; she started coming after me! She growled her tiny little baby growl, and started toddling after me...so I ran to a corner, and acted scared. Once she got to me, I acted terrified that she was going to "eat" me. She just stood there, and started laughing uncontrollably. Then she got so proud of herself for scaring mommy back that she actually jumped up and down, and shivered with delight! She was SO happy...I love that girl!

Is it ever going to end...?

So I mentioned the other day that Tara has now learned how to open doors, including the refrigerator door. I went into the kitchen a couple days ago, and this is what I found...












She made an utter mess in there, and enjoyed every minute of it :)




*sigh*

"When one door closes, another one opens..."

And it hasn't stopped! That is the motto for our household right now :) Yesterday Tara learned how to open the door for the first time. Yay. So mommy had a very difficult day in keeping Tara out of things she shouldn't be into. This includes the refrigerator door. Fun stuff people...She's so proud of herself too! She walks away with this smug look on her face like "I just did something HUGE...didn't I?" It's funny, but frustrating. The biggest frustration was her opening the fridge door constantly while she was in the kitchen "helping" mommy make banana bread. I've seen people who have those huge honkin locks and bolts for their refrigerators, but that seems a little ridiculous to me. There's got to be another way...To all the mommies out there-any suggestions?

Her smile...

I want to tell the story of Tara's smile. When I was pregnant with her, I went in for an ultrasound somewhere around 7(ish) months. The ultrasound tech was moving the device around, when we heard her gasp and then say "aww...". She pointed to the screen, and there was Tara; with a gigantic smile on her face. She said "She knows her mommy's voice!" It melted my heart, and made me fall in love with her even more! The tech said that she'd never seen such a happy fetus, and it blew her mind that a child could be that happy even before being born. She wanted to test her theory that Tara smiled every time she heard my voice; so she asked me to talk to Tara. When I was silent, she would just roll around and do her own thing. But every time I spoke, whether to her, or someone else in the room; this beautiful smile would come across her face. It was a big ear to ear grin, and it made me cry every time. When the ultrasound was over, I was led to the exam room to wait for my OB. She came in, and immediately said "You have one happy little girl!" It made me so proud, knowing that Tara was happy in there. She was already bringing so much joy to the world, just by a simple yet extraordinary smile. Each ultrasound throughout the rest of the pregnancy, the same thing occured. Giant smiles the whole way through. It made it all that much harder to wait until the birth, we wanted to meet her SO bad!


When Tara was born, that first time she fell asleep in my arms; we saw that gorgeous smile that had entered our dreams; and filled every waking moment with anticipation of meeting this amazing little girl. It surpassed everything we thought it would be in person, and made our hearts knit together in love for this little angel. During the first months she was with us, her daddy and I spent so much time just watching her sleep. Our hearts would burn with love for her, and we would wonder how we got so lucky. This went on for months, watching her smile in her sleep. When she was awake, and would give us that enrapturing grin; her eyes would sparkle with joy. We hoped it would never end...

This last April, we were finally able to move our little family into a two bedroom apartment (YAY!!!). Tara was nine months old, and finally had her own room. Watching our little one sleep became more rare. Around her first birthday, I happened to pass by her bedroom one afternoon while she was napping. I noticed I had left the door open a crack, so I snuck in and watched her for a moment. My heart almost exploded when I realized that she still smiles in her sleep the SAME way she did when she was a newborn! The tender mercies of the Lord...

This morning, about an hour ago; I laid her down for her first nap of the day. As I was rocking her, I realized it was no ordinary thing. It was one of those moments that take your breath away. She wasn't acting like our sassy little toddler this morning. For those moments that I was rocking her to sleep, she reminded me of how it was when she was a newborn. Her face was void of her normal funny expressions, she wasn't jabbering on as she's prone to do (she likes to tell stories), and she wasn't shaking her head "no" as I offered her her sippy. Instead, her eyes were filled with that wonder of a tiny babe; awestruck by the look of mommy's face. Her mouth was in the shape of an "O", with the corners slightly upturned forming a faint smile. She was gazing at me, in absolute silence; eyes locked on mine. She would break the gaze for a moment, just so she could turn into me and look away shyly. Then she'd come back, and start gazing at me again; and she couldn't stop smiling at me! It was so unbelievably adorable how she would go from a slight grin into a full fledged ear to ear smile, as if she couldn't contain her happiness. This went on for about fifteen minutes, eyelids getting increasingly more droopy; until she finally crashed with a big grin painted on her face. As I laid her down, I thanked Heavenly Father for such a beautiful child; and for loving us enough to allow her to come into our lives. It amazes me contstantly, how blessed we are. His love for us is apparent in moments like that...

What's my name?

So...this last Saturday afternoon, we ran a few errands. At one point, we stopped home to grab a package of diapers that we had to return. We walk through the front door, I was first in the door. Sean follows behind with Tara, whom he sets on the floor so she can walk in all by herself. She runs up to me and as she's coming towards me, she says "Melissa" CLEAR AS A BELL! Sean starts laughing, and I'm speechless. We couldn't believe she had just called me that :) Fast-forward a few minutes later, when we're ready to head back down to the car again. Sean picks Tara up, and she points to the photos we have hanging on the wall off the kitchen, of the baby and I when she was ten months old. She points to the photos and says again, "Melissa!". We couldn't stop laughing! She's a smart one...

Coast Trip Pictures...

So this last Saturday, we took a trip to Newport with my in-laws and had a blast. Sean's mom and brother had driven in Friday night from Idaho, and stayed until Monday morning. It wasn't long enough, but we had a great time with them. I wanted to get some of my favorite photos from the trip on here for you all to enjoy, so here they are!





After stopping at Nye beach, we stopped at a couple more spots along the coastline, and all in all just had a great time. On the way back to Eugene, we discovered that there is yet another food that Tara loved, that surprised us all. The boys (Sean and his brother Jake) had bought a bag of Lay's Jalapeno Potato Chips, and Tara ate most of them! This girl has never let anything spicy intimidate her :) Daddy's little girl in more ways than one! We had a great time though, and it was so nice to see Jake and Becky again. Wonderful weekend!

Simple Thoughts...

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged. Don't get me wrong-the desire is often there. The energy is not...So that's how it's been about 9 months since I last blogged :) Tara's turned a year old in July, and it's still sinking in for Sean and I that we have a one year old. She's a toddler now, in every single way. She'll always be my baby, but she's growing up so fast right before our eyes. She's free-spirited, incredibly intelligent, funny as ever, and the most loving little girl! She's always going around giving kisses...to mommy, daddy, her baby dolls, the babies in her books, her favorite blankies. And it's baby kisses, so it's the drooly open-mouthed kisses with this sweet little noise she makes that resembles someone saying "aww...". So when her daddy and I are in the other room and hear that noise, we know she's probably found a toy she wants to play with. It's incredibly endearing...

She also makes the cutest little face now, it started about a week ago. She furrows her brows (as if she's concentrating) and her sweet little mouth forms a little o as she makes this sound that resembles a puppy whining. You know the one that breaks your heart? That's what she's been doing, and of course it always makes mommy laugh. I have no idea how it started, what she means by it, but when I start laughing after she does it; she breaks out in a little smile. So I figure she can't feel TOO misunderstood...I've determined she's simply testing out noises and expressions, and reactions to those noises and expressions. Either way, it's quite entertaining.

She has over twenty words in her vocabulary now, and most of it is just so fun to hear. She loves to go around and say "Uh oh..." with her palms upturned. So precious! She also loves to say "All done" when she's finished in her high chair, or when she wants out of her crib. This girl cracks me up. She also recently started mimicking when we tell her no no to something. She'll wave her little pointer finger back and forth, and walk around saying "No,no,no,no,no..." The funniest part is it's usually an indication of what sort of trouble she's about to seek out. Most of the time, it's on her way into the kitchen while heading towards the cabinet that holds our mason jars. She knows it's a no no, and heads there anyway. Cracks us up every time...

I love my little Tara. She's just the sweetest little angel, and such a light in our lives. Every day is so precious with her, just spending time with this special little girl; and feeling her love. She's so inquisitive, and loves to explore. I love watching her experience new things, and I love realizing how smart she is when she's mastered old things just like a big girl. She gets so proud of herself, and it just makes me want to cry! She's our sassy, sweet little girl; and we couldn't be prouder of her.

I'll be home for christmas...

So, we're back in Burley for christmas. Wow, I just realized that the last time I blogged was when we came to visit at the end of October! Two whole months guys, I'm sorry! Well, I'll just stick to the highlights: On November 19th, Sean had his 28th birthday :) I made him a birthday cake; pretty amateur, but he liked it. That's what the photo of the cake is all about...

Tara is learning so many new things; her latest is doing crunches in her bouncer. She's developing her abdominal muscles, and man; is that girl strong! She's still as vocal as ever, and getting more adorable every day. Her hair is starting to come in a little bit more. She's got this blond fuzz all over her head, and it's so precious :) Also, this last Saturday night just a few hours after we flew into Boise; we crashed at my sister-in-law's place, and we had Tara have some tummy time on the floor. Normally she prefers her back, and as soon as you put her on her tummy, in two seconds flat she's on her back again. But this time she not only stayed on her stomach, but she started to wiggle and scooch and attempt to crawl!! It was a proud moment for mom and dad, and I was so proud of her. It was actually a night of firsts for her...A few hours before that when we had been at the Boise Airport, gathering our luggage off the carousel, and loading up to head out; she amazed us with a new move. I had just snatched her car seat as it had come around the carousel, and I went to put her IN her car seat; and she was inches from it when she yelled out with complete intent, and did the splits mid-air! Her little legs were on both sides of her, and she would have been straddling the car seat had I completely set her down! So I scooped her back up and started laughing hysterically :) I got a glimpse of toddler hood-to-come...can we say "Miss Independent"?

Tara sat on Santa's lap for the first time-mommy and grandma Laurie took her to see him last Friday, and she had her photo taken with santa. I'll post it soon...She's good with strangers, and there was no crying; however, I didn't get the ear to ear grin that I was hoping for. She was so distracted by all the Christmas lights, and the people watching, and Santa's helpers, that she had this expression the whole time of "oh my goodness, so much to take in at once!" I just wish dad was there...but he had to work. I'm crossing my fingers that next year she'll take to him well. My cousin's husband was telling us though that with their two boys, the first year they're pretty little and just sleep. The second year they cry because it's not mommy or daddy holding them, and at around the third year you might start having luck with them taking to it better. We'll just have to wait and see with this little girl...

Speaking of my cousin-my cousin Heidi just moved to town a couple of months ago, along with her husband Jared and their two boys, Logan and Jack. Sean and I have been able to spend some time getting to know them, and it's been so nice. I've rarely had a chance to get to really know Heidi, because she grew up on the east coast; I was only born there. We've been over for dinner, we took Tara trick or treating on Halloween with them and their boys, and we've babysat for them a couple of times. Their boys are SO cute, and just plain entertaining. This last Friday evening, the night before we flew here to Idaho; we babysat the boys again. Logan's almost four, and Jack is not even two yet. Logan is a very smart boy, and he's at the point where he's very worried sometimes that he might not make it onto Santa's nice list. Sean and I had quite an entertaining evening with him, seeing as how every time he didn't listen, he would ask us "does this mean I'm on the naughty list?" or "Am I gonna get coal for that?" At dinnertime Logan kept sliding off his chair and getting distracted. We tried to keep him on track and at one point I told him that if got down one more time, he wasn't going to have the dessert that his mom had set aside for the boys if they had all their dinner. He said "Okay. I understand." He got down to the two last bites of his pizza, and about three sips of milk. He went to slide off his chair again, and scamper of to do something; and before I could say a word he slid right back onto his seat and said loudly "Oh yeah!" He finished his dinner without any more distractions :) About 45 minutes later it was time to get ready for bed. After about 20 minutes or so of asking him repeatedly to please get his pajamas on, and using every trick in the book to reason with this strong willed little boy, I discovered who I was up against. He had taken to hiding under his bed, and insisting that he wasn't coming out. His little brother had already had his jammie's on, and was brushing his teeth a second time while waiting on his big brother to come around :) I had just come back into the bedroom to reason with him (although I had felt it was a losing battle..) I said "Logan, Jack already has his p.j.'s on, and has already brushed his teeth. Because he's been a good boy and listened the first time, he's going to have a bedtime story. If you want a bedtime story as well, you'd better come out now and get your jammies on. At that point, Sean had just approached the bedroom door. We both heard Logan say from underneath the bed "well that's just not going to HAppen...." in a sort of mocking singsong voice. I simply said "okay" and shut the bedroom door behind me. It took everything we had to walk down the hall, and into the living room before Sean and I busted up laughing. After Heidi and Jared got home, and Sean was buckling the baby in her car seat; I was talking to Heidi. She and Jared could barely contain themselves when this earlier encounter was shared with them upon arriving back home. Heidi was telling me right before we left, that Logan is just one dramatic little boy. She said that earlier that afternoon, Logan had asked for a cookie. She said no, and he held his hands up to his cheeks and said "this isn't HAPPENING to me!!" Man, can you tell now why it's so entertaining when we go over? he he

Anyway, I'm exhausted. I'm waiting on the laundry to finish, but I think I'm just going to head to bed. I'm going to include real quickly just some cute photos I've taken over these last two months. If you guys don't know this about me yet-I'm a photo freak! I love taking pictures, and you're going to learn that soon enough. I'll always have cute pictures to put up, and most of them are going to be the baby :) Anyway, I'll write soon-goodnight guys!

Baby's First Vacation

So I forgot to mention the other day that this was Tara's first plane ride; the flight from Portland to Boise. She did fairly well, she was calm and happy the entire time. Then she decided to pull a trick on mommy halfway through the pilot's descent into Boise. I had her on my lap, facing towards me. She was smiling and cooing for us, and all of a sudden she erupted. Spit up was trailing down her onesie-completely normal one might say. She is a baby, and she does spit up; often in fact. But this time, it was a scheme to distract mommy from what she was REALLY doing. All of a sudden, I heard a "pop" and felt a movement around my waist. With her little foot, she had slyly unbuckled me. I looked at her, and she just grinned. Sean and I cracked up, of course; and I handed her to him so I could re buckle my seat belt for the remainder of the landing. She's such a sweet little girl...


On other fronts, vacation's been nice. Sean's family is really into cribbage. Since our arrival in Burley, Sean's played quite a few games with his brother; as well as his mom. However, the score between Sean and Jake still remains 0-0. Same with his mom, 0-0. That's because in this family, when they get close to losing; instead of watching their fate play out, they simply flip the board...First game of cribbage with his brother on Saturday night Sean was gaining on him, and all of a sudden Jake overturns the entire cribbage board. Sean starts laughing hysterically of course, as well as the rest of us. The same scenario tonight, except this time with his mom. It's hilarious...Sean's been know to do the same on occasion; it must be a family thing :)


So we're kinda sad that our vacation's almost over, not really looking forward to returning to the normal routine; ya know? However, we know that we'll be returning again in two months for Christmas. It makes leaving a little easier, knowing we'll be coming back so soon. Anyway, I'd better be off to bed. We want to get to Boise a little early tomorrow so we have time before our flight to hang out with Kayla and Rylee at their place for a while. See you guys soon~

Another fun-filled day in Idaho...

So today was kinda long, but nice...Sean and I spent most of the day taking care of Tara while chasing after our niece Rylee. She was kinda cranky all day, on and off; so it was interesting to see how Tara reacted to constant crying and screaming. She proved once again to be the most patient baby on the planet, she genuinely handled it so well. We got a taste of what it might be like with two little ones, and boy; we're happy with our one little baby right now :) Rylee's a sweet girl though, when she's calmer she's SO good with Tara. She'll keep walking over to her and saying "nice...nice..." because we have to continually remind her to be gentle with the baby since she can't defend herself. She can't exactly duck out of the way when Rylee's making a beeline for her head. Rylee's so cute though, the way she strokes Tara's face; and say's "Hi baby." They're adorable together, we've got some cute pictures of the two of them. I'll try to get them up here sometimes in the near future...


Sean's brother Jake got off work today at around 3:00pm, and drove the two hours from Boise to Burley. Tara got to finally meet her Uncle Jake. Later in the evening when she was getting ready to fall asleep again, Jake was holding her in his arms. She was making her googly eyes at him, and "talking" to him. It was so precious...

Well guys, I apologize; but I have next to no energy after today. I'm signing out, but I'll be sure to write again soon. Take care guys!

Low expectations...

SO this is our first post-yay!!! We have some friends who have been urging us for ages now to get a blogspot, so this is it guys :) It's true, myspace is dead. I'm brand new to this, so I'm still figuring it all out...So I beg of you, have low expectations of my blogging abilities while I set this all up; I'm not going to be on here every day, sometimes not even every week; but I will vow to do my best to never let a year go by without letting everyone know how we're doing. Are you ready for your first update?

We are in Idaho right now-Burley, to be exact. We flew in yesterday to visit Sean's side of the family. His sister met us at the Boise airport, and we drove the two hours to his parents house in southern Idaho. Sean's mom, his brother Jake, his sister Kayla and her daughter Rylee had come to Eugene for the birth of Tara. Our daughter however, decided to be a week late; and Jake and Kayla had to get back to Boise for school and work. Sean's mom stayed in Eugene with Rylee, and they ended up being there for the delivery; and then flew out the next day. So my mother in law, and our 1 1/2 year old niece haven't seen our baby since she was a day old; and Sean's dad, brother, and sister hadn't met her at all. So this was a great opportunity for them all to see her.

I can't believe she just turned three months old. It sounds so cliche, but I swear it seems like she was born just the other day. Then at other times she seems like such an old soul, like we've known her forever...But she's been such a blessing. Words honestly can't express how much we love this little girl, we couldn't have imagined how sweet an experience it would be. She's so advanced, and so strong; physically, mentally, and emotionally. In her three short months on this earth, she's shown to have more patience in her tiny little finger; than I have in my entire body. How is that? She's inquisitive, charming, sweet, loving, and unbelievably entertaining. We love her to death, and can't wait to see who she becomes. I know that there are some of you on here who haven't even seen her newborn photos yet, so I wanted to put just a few on so you could see them; and hopefully soon I'll be able to show you how much this little girl has grown...

So my apologies, but I must be off to bed. It's late, and I think my migraine is returning. Yay for me...Hopefully I can wish this one away?