Christmas Fun...

We had a wonderful Christmas! This year, we stayed around Nevada and my family came to us. My family arrived at our house on Christmas Eve, just in time for mass. After church, we came home and had a big dinner and spent time opening gifts and chatting. Here are some pictures...



There is a tree behind us...we're just too big! haha!

My Parents!

This is where Marc planted himself for the evening!


We all agreed that next Christmas is going to be MUCH different with Baby Taylor around! We're so excited for that!


On Christmas Day, we enjoyed a big breakfast and lunch and then just lounged around the house with my family. Later in the afternoon, we headed to Ryan and Janelle's for the Taylor Christmas. We opened gifts and had a big dinner!!
Uncle Blair had soo much fun with Kayson. The two of them played and put new toys together! :)

It was a great Christmas! We had lots and lots of GREAT food! We're so thankful for our families!

Now we're just enjoying break- lounging, cleaning, and meeting up with some friends...oh, and waiting for baby!





Happy Holidays!

Well the holidays are quickly approaching! I can't believe it's Christmas time. I've been looking so forward to this Christmas. I think it has something to do with the break that comes along with it! :) This year will be a little different for us because we can't travel more than 30 minutes away, since we're getting close to baby time!! My parents and brother are coming to share Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with us. We're very excited that my brother, Marc, can make it. He and his girlfriend live in Arizona, so he has some traveling to do. It's our tradition to just eat, eat, eat! We always have lots of snacks during the day and our famous Christmas supper is steak and crab legs. YUM! We've been doing that now since Blair's been in the family...and it's a big hit! We'll go to Christmas Eve mass at our church in Nevada.
Christmas day we'll head to Ryan and Janelle's and have Christmas dinner and open gifts with the three of them and Mike and Jean Ann. Kayson, Blair's nephew, makes it so much fun. We love watching him open presents...and since he shares a birthday with Jesus he gets LOTS of them on Christmas. I believe Jean Ann is preparing a yummy Christmas dinner, so we're looking forward to that.
Now lets just pray that the weather bypasses us. I worry about our families being on the icky roads.

As far as Baby Tay goes.....We're at 37 weeks, the room is ready, diapers are stocked, bag is partially packed....he can come anytime!
I've still been feeling great, besides some back pain in the evenings. Dr. Gessner says that he's 'petite' and she's guessing we're going to have a 7 pound bundle of joy! We're getting so excited and can't wait to meet this little man!


Merry Christmas everyone! May God bless you ALL this holiday season. Safe travels!

35 weeks!

We're getting closer and closer! 35 weeks!! Someone told me today that I looked like I was going to explode..haha! Little do they know that I have a good 5 weeks left. Everyone comments on this big ol' belly!

Baby Tay's room is finished! My dear friend, Beth, sent me an Uppercase Living saying that I have to put on the wall yet..but after that I'll post pictures! My mom came this past weekend to help me with some last details. She is one excited grandma-to-be. I don't know how many times she opened his dresser drawers to pull out his little clothes or shoes. It's soo cute! The three of us worked on hanging some decorations on the walls.  My mom and I even put his name up, but Blair says were going to have to cover it up because we can't give it away! It just looks soooo cute in there! :) I love just going in there in the evenings to read in the glider rocker! I'm sooo ready....:)

We got our tree up and we're all ready for Christmas! We even got most of our shopping done! The nesting is continuing..I've been cleaning and organzing...driving the hubby NUTS!

Anyways...I don't have too much to say this evening, but I'll share a picture!

So very Thankful!

Well, I was sitting here tonight thinking about all the things I have to be thankful for! I have an amazing husband--I love him more than I can say. Tonight, I was taking a bath and he brought me in a new loofa that he picked up at Walmart today, and while I relaxed he folded laundry! Now thats a pretty amazing man--remembers that I needed a new loofa! What a guy!
I have an active baby boy growing inside of me!! I'm going to be a MAMA! I've wanted nothing more than to be a mom since I was a tiny girl.
I have awesome parents, a feisty brother, and the best in-laws. Also, I have lots of other loving family members. Family is everything!
I have the best friends anyone could ask for.
I have a warm, cozy house.
I have a job, and in this world today I couldn't be more thankful for that.
I am healthy and so are my loved ones.
Last, but certainly not least, I have a relationship with God.

Life is pretty amazing...thats A LOT to be thankful for!

I wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving!!

Love,
Mart

32 Weeks!

I decided I'd post a new belly picture! We're at 32 weeks! :)

Snow, Snow, Snow

Happy Monday! :)
I'm very excited to blog about our crazy weekend! We went to Emmetsburg for a shower that my wonderful aunts and cousins were throwing for us! Unfortunately, Emmetsburg was hit with a very LARGE snow storm and we ended up getting 14 inches! The shower was scheduled for 9am but we postponed it until later in the day. It was such a nice shower...my Aunt Jan, cousin Heather and her daughters, along with my mom had decorated the basement of the bank so nicely. The sad part is we ended up having the shower in the pitch dark--the power went out! I opened gifts by the light of a book lamp my mom had in her purse. I just feel bad for all the hard work that was done. All my aunts baked muffins and my aunt Jan made four pans of egg bake! I just want them to know that I probably ate about eight muffins...and they were GOOD!
It was still such a nice day and some family made it, including Blair's mom and dad all the way from Creston. I'm just thankful that those who live far away didn't risk it! Some of us had a sleepover at Mom and Dad's and of course we had lots of yummy food to eat thanks to my dear mom! My poor dad was stuck moving snow ALL day!!

On Sunday, I was able to catch up with some close friends, Amy and Sara. We had a nice visit...it was much needed!
Later in the day Mom, my aunt Darlis, and I went to a craft show. My aunt Danita makes the most awesome homemade cards. We had to go check out her stand!


Blair and I are so thankful for all the nice gifts that people have given us for both showers. People are so generous! We truly appreciate all the kindness and hard work!



Baby Tay update:
-He's very active!! What a cool feeling...I'm falling in love with the little dude :) Can't wait to meet him!
-His room is beginning to come together. Grandma and Grandpa Taylor brought his bedroom set last Thursday and we're slowly getting organized.
-He supposedly weighs just over three lbs!! Big boy! :)
-Daddy and I are starting to call him by name and are working on a middle name! We might have to wait and finalize that when we meet him.

Busy, busy...

Ok--So I have lots to post about tonight! We've been busy starting to get ready for this little man to arrive. Tonight Blair is cleaning all the carpets on the whole main floor! On Thursday, Blair's parents are bringing the baby furniture and they are going to work on getting that put together! The baby's room is empty and all ready to go. Tonight I washed all the mop boards and washed all the walls!

My dad has been putting in numerous hours at our house! He's been finishing a spare bedroom in the basement! I took some pictures tonight but I think I'll wait and post the finished product, once it's all set up!

Here's our project from tonight:

This is the mess in the sunroom! Ha!

ha!

Ok, What I'm most excited to post about is the shower that my wonderful sister-in-law hosted! It was so nice. It was the perfect size- just Blair's side of the family and some close family friends. My mom also came! We got lots and lots of great things.

The adorable diaper cake Grandma JeanAnn made.

Janelle, me, JeanAnn

Thanks for reading! Have a great rest of the week everyone! :)