Two Special People

This is a very special picture to me. This was the last family picture we all had together. This was Christmas 2005, and Grandaddy died the following February. He and Big Mama are in the bottom left corner. We lost Big Mama early this morning. They were two very special and gentle people, and they will both be missed.

Big Mama

Mark's grandmother, Big Mama, is not doing well. They don't expect her to live through the day. I would like to ask prayers on the behalf of her and her family. We would like for her to be comfortable today. And, we would like prayers for the family during this time. Thanks.

First Day of School

We had a big day today - the first day of school! Everyone was up bright and early, eager to get off to school. We all had a good day and a good start to the school year! The class that I am doing my student teaching has a couple of rowdy kids! I will surely be challenged by a couple of little first graders. Things went really well for everyone today.

Here is a picture of the three most beautiful children in the whole world on their first day of school!



Here is my big 5th grader! She was quite nervous this morning about finding her home room, getting her locker, etc. When her and Mark got there they found out that her schedule had been slightly changed. She had a new home room teacher! Her rotation of teachers stayed the same, and she was happy because she has more friends in the new home room! She got her locker, and she even worked her combination! She was worn out, and she is already in bed (@7:30 p.m.)!

Haleigh was all ready for 2nd grade. She thought she was really cool because she got to go down the hallway before the rest of the kids since I had to be there early. She really likes her teacher. She knew her from last year because she was her Battle of the Books coach. She is very young - as you can see from her picture - she looks like she's still in high school!

Jacob was really excited to go to pre-school too. He wore his "basketball" outfit and had his Lighting McQueen lunch box. I don't know if you can really tell from this picture, but his Star Wars backpack is about the same size as him! He had a great day at The Learning Ladder! I get to see him when I get to my paying job in the afternoon - I work the homework room at The Learning Ladder. His teacher is the owner (Anna), and I would like to ask for you to pray for her and her husband right now. He has been fighting cancer for some time now, but they got a bad report from the doctor today. His cancer has returned, and he will be starting chemo. tomorrow. Please keep them in your prayers.

Anyway, we all had a good day today. Hopefully everyone will enjoy this school year and learn a lot - even me!

Time of Change

We have been very fortunate with our children in school to be blessed with wonderful educators (for the most part). We had our first bad experience last year, but that problem was resolved. Anyway, I love teachers. I think that they have one of the most important jobs in the world. I am thankful that my girls have been influenced by some amazing women over the years. Some of their teachers have been members of our church which is an amazing blessing. Tonight we met Haleigh's teacher, and Tuesday night we met Morgan's teachers (she has three this year). We will be meeting Jacob's pre-school teachers from The Children's Place (at our church) next Tuesday night. He will be attending the school district day care M, W, and F where his teacher will be Anna Nicholas (from our church). I am so thankful that while he will be out of my daily care at home during my student teaching that he will be with christian women. What a peace of mind that will give me! Having said all of this, I would like to ask that you, as my friends and family, would offer up a prayer on behalf of my children and their teachers. Morgan is nervous about starting at a new school with many new things such as lockers, changing between classes, 3 teachers, etc. Haleigh is going to be at her school by herself without Morgan for the first time. Jacob will no longer be with me during the day, which will be a big change for him. I just ask that you pray for their time of change and that they will be comfortable in their new environments. Pray for me and Mark as well since we are both going through big changes too. Mark began his new job 2 weeks ago, and he really seems to like it so far - an answered prayer. I will be starting my student teaching on Monday - I am a little nervous. Please pray that I will learn a lot and be able to do a good job. Thanks in advance for your prayers.

My Little Man Jacob

This blog is about our third child, Jacob Christopher Taylor. He came to us very unexpectedly - we were always wanting to have another child, so finding out we were pregnant wasn't a bad surprise - he just came earlier than we had planned on having our third child. I still don't know how Jacob is here since we were using birth control, but I think that God knew we really needed him! He made our family complete, and he was a BOY! A man always wants a boy, so Mark was beaming when we found out he was a boy. I was a little worried since all I knew was girls, but he won my heart eventually...the moment he was born. I never thought I would enjoy having a boy, but he has made me eat my words. Words cannot express what Jacob has meant to me in my life. He loves his mama...he is not a sissy mama's boy, but he is a mama's boy none the less. He loves his sisters like they were his other mama's rather than his sisters. He can be "girly" at times, but he just wants to be like his girls! Don't worry, he is very manly - he fishes, loves sports, wrestles and tackles, etc. He just makes us laugh every day, and none of us can even remember what life was like before he came along. Here are a few pictures of Jacob that I just love. Keep in mind that some of these pictures are a couple of years old - he doesn' still wear diapers!

______________________________________________________

With this family he had to learn to fish as soon as he could walk - of course, he was observing much earlier than that - from his stroller! You have to kiss the fish before throwing it back!

This was a picture from our old house of Mark and Jacob mowing. Whenever Mark was mowing, Jacob would want to help for a little. He just did this the other day too, so I guess he still enjoys mowing. I wonder if he will still enjoy it when Mark passes this chore onto Jacob when he is old enough to do it alone! Mark can't wait for that day.

Jacob has been our most sickly child. He has had to take breathing treatments since he was an infant. He has a lot of allergies and asthma, so this is a picture of a common occurrence for Jacob. The older he is getting, the less he has to do this. That being said, he has been taking some here lately, but not as frequent. Look at his face - don't you just feel sorry for him. He just LOVES this soooo much.

Jacob has had two sets of tubes already. His second set came just after he turned two, and he also had his tonsils and adenoids removed. These next pictures are the before and after pictures from that particular surgery. The doc said that Jacob had the largest adenoids he has ever seen, so we were glad to get those out. He had an ear infection about a month after his second set of tubes, and I was really discouraged. However, he did great after that. His tubes fell out about a year ago, and he had an infection right after that, but he hasn't had one since. So, I think we are okay in the ear department. He has been doing great - his speech improved dramatically after that second set, so we are very pleased. He talks just fine now. In fact, he talks and sings ALL THE TIME.

These next pictures are of Jacob sleeping. He can fall asleep anywhere. I guess he had to learn that trick quickly since we were on the move since he was born. That is what happens when you are the third child! He can be playing hard one minute and asleep the next...these pictures prove that. I have found his sleeping in the funniest positions and the funniest places.

This picture was in the girls room but in his chair. He brought his chair to their room (I guess that is where he thinks all the fun is because all of these pictures are in their room). He crashed hard, and this picture just cracks me up.

Here he is again crashed head down. The thing I love about this picture is that his pants are half way down. This was after church one Sunday...we laughed so hard when we found him this way.

This picture is soooo cute. This happened one day when the girls were at school. He was watching a movie in their room and fell asleep in Haleigh's bed. He even had her dog...he misses the girls when they are at school. They start in 5 days, so he's going to be lonely for them again.




This one was in January. We had just gotten our dog Tanner, and he was sleeping in this kennel in the girl's room. Jacob thought it was funny to get on top of the kennel and play. On this particular day I found him with Morgan's pillow and blanket, asleep, on top of the kennel. I wish I could sleep anywhere like he can!

This picture is of Jacob's first black eye. The was February of 2006, so it took his 2 1/2 years to get his first! He has had one or two since then also. I don't even remember how he got this. I'll have to ask Mark if he remembers...anyway, his first among many I'm sure.

Here is a picture of him in the bath - he is just so stinkin cute. He loves the bath. In fact, he fell asleep in the bath the other night. I should have taken a picture of that, but it scared me. He was falling asleep on the recliner, but it was only about 6:30, so I didn't want him to take a nap that late in the day. Solution - put him in the bath because that will wake him up. I sat him in the tub while it was filling up and went to go start a load of laundry. When I came back he was laying on his back asleep. The water was about to his chin when I got back, and I freaked out. Mark assured me that he would have woken up when the water got to his mouth/nose, but I felt like a terrible mom because I almost drowned my son in the attempt to keep him up...so I didn't get a picture.

Like I said earlier, I guess Jacob thinks all the action happens in his sisters room. These pictures are of him watching a movie in their room. You'll notice from the second picture that he wathces a little too close! I love these pictures because of the visor. He thinks he is really funny. He is.

Here is a picture from Halloween last year. I don't really think he's a scary pirate - he's too cute. He's trying to be scary in the second picture, but it still just comes out like a cheesy smile. We will get there!

We don't see snow a whole lot in Texas, so he was excited when there was loads of snow in Colorado at Christmas. We went sledding a lot, but we found this huge snow ball someone made. It was the perfect resting spot for Jacob and Carson (my nephew) at the bottom of the hill. They chilled there for a while watching people sled.

Anyway, there is Jacob. I say that he came to me when I needed him most. I was having a really hard time in my life the year before I found out I was pregnant with him dealing with an anxiety disorder/depression. I had, what I refer to, as my "breakdown" the previous Thanksgiving. I really needed Jacob. I had a really difficult pregnancy - difficult enough to NEVER do that again. It was a good thing he wasn't my first pregnancy because we would only have one child! God must have felt sorry for me because he gave me the easiest baby/toddler/little boy. He really has been easy since he was born. He has been a blessing in our life. He completed the Taylor family, and I am very proud to share him with you.

Shipwrecked

Our preacher has been doing a series of outstanding lessons over the book of Acts this summer. We are finally reaching the end of the series, and Rick gave an outstanding lesson yesterday about Paul's shipwreck in Acts 27. Through his lesson he paralleled the many ways that we as Christians can find our life wrecked - through sudden loss of a loved one, through financial ruin, through broken marriages, etc. Many people flock to religion because they think that they will be safe from "shipwrecks" in their life, but Rick reminded us that happiness and success in life is not a guarantee just because we are children of God. In fact, it is not a question of "if" we will encounter a shipwreck but rather a question of "when" we will encounter one. There is always going to be situations that arise in our life. The question is, how will we handle them? This started me thinking about how much am I not like Paul? He spoke of an angel in v. 23 that spoke to him and told him that no life would be lost - only the ship. He held fast to the truth, and he persuaded the others on the ship to believe. Just as the angel had spoken, no life was lost. I have to ask myself - do I seek God through my storms, and do I praise Him through my storms? Me and my sisters, my brother, and my parents are going through a "hurricane" right now. How can I change my heart so that I can make it through the storm and still praise HIM? I need to be more like Paul! I will be blaring my Casting Crowns cd!

CASTING CROWNS LYRICS

"Praise You In This Storm"

I was sure by now

That You would have reached down

And wiped our tears away

Stepped in and saved the day

But once again, I say "Amen",

and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls

I barely hear

Your whisper through the rain

"I'm with you"

And as Your mercy falls

I raise my hands and praise the God who gives

And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm

And I will lift my hands

For You are who You are

No matter where I am

Every tear I've cried

You hold in Your hand

You never left my side

And though my heart is torn

I will praise You in this storm

I remember when

I stumbled in the wind

You heard my cry

You raised me up again

My strength is almost gone

How can I carry on

If I can't find You

As the thunder rolls

I barely hear You whisper through the rain

"I'm with you"

And as Your mercy falls

I raise my hands and praise the God who gives

And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord

The Maker of Heaven and Earth

My Sweet Haleigh

I posted about Morgan already, and now it is time to talk about my second child, Haleigh. Have you ever wondered what it might be like to raise yourself? Weird question, I know, but I am learning what it must have been like for my parents to raise me! Haleigh is lovingly referred by many of my friends and family as my "mini me". I feel like I am raising MYSELF. I mentioned in the blog about Morgan that she is SO much like Mark. Well, Haleigh is a lot like me. It can be quite frustrating to raise a child that is just like you, but it is also very rewarding! Haleigh has many unique characteristics! She is one of my favorite people in the whole world, but we also butt heads a lot (just ask Mark). I truly do see myself in her - the good and the bad! Here are a few pictures and thoughts about my sweet daughter Haleigh.

__________________________________________________________



This picture cracks me up - Haleigh has a special love for ears. She has loved ears since she was born! When she was an infant she would find an ear and rub on it. Every year when her birthday is approaching she says "when I turn 4 I will stop holding ears"..."when I turn 5 I will stop holding ears"..."when I turn 6 I will stop holding ears". Well, she never stopped. When she was about to turn 7 she said "I am never going to stop holding ears". She just decided it wasn't going to happen! Everyone except me, Mark, Morgan, and Jacob thinks that it is soooo cute. We can't stand it!!! She will drive us so crazy holding our ears that we just started telling her to hold her own ear - and she does. She holds and rubs an ear when she's tired, but sometimes she just does it without even knowing it. Her hand will just go there automatically. I never knew a child to do such a thing, and I thought that it was unique to Haleigh until Jacob was born. He, from the moment he was birthed, holds and rubs lips. (They are so weird!) He does to someones mouth what Haleigh does to someones ear. This picture was taken when Jacob was about a year and a half old, so Haleigh would have been 4. This was a common occurrence when they laid together - Haleigh holding and rubbing Jacob's ear while Jacob holds and rubs her lips!





Here is a picture of Haleigh and me doing one of her favorite things. She was a natural on ice skates - she can skate much better than I can. After she mastered ice skating in Colorado at Christmas, she had her birthday party at an ice skating rink in Grapevine (an indoor rink, of course).

This is one of my favorite pictures of Haleigh because it captures her goofiness that most people don't get to see. She is only this goofy around us or her close friends, but it is her "true self". This kind of behavior is a daily occurrence in our home. She definitely has more spunk and energy than the rest of us combined! This silliness and fun nature is one of the reasons she has so many friends. When we were having her 7th birthday party, she had a list of 30 friends she wanted to invite. She said this was her list of "close friends" that she just had to invite. When we were getting ready to go on their field trip last year at school, this little girl from her class came up to talk to me. She told me that everyone likes Haleigh because she is so nice to everyone. How sweet for another first grader to notice such a character trait! I am really proud of her "individuality".

Here are two pictures of her from one of our Christmas card photo shoots. She looks so different with her bangs. (What a nightmare it was to grow those out, but she wanted to be like Morgan - much to Morgan's delight!!!!) Doesn't she just have the prettiest eyes and the cutest freckles? I love the second picture of her because, again, it shows a little of her silliness.

This was a picture from this summer on our family trip to Colorado - that is my brother in law Brian in the background. It's amazing how dark her hair is in the fall/winter (last pictures) compared to how light it gets in the summer - she has some natural highlights. She looks so big in this picture. It kind of breaks my heart that my kids are growing up so fast. She is about to start 2nd grade, but it seems like just yesterday that she was born.


Even though Haleigh can be a challenge for me to raise (2nd child thing - I can say that because I am one too), she is one of the loves of my life, and I could not imagine life without her. Contact me in 10 years after she's been a teenage for a while to see if I still feel the same way - just kidding. Haleigh is a great kid - everyone tells us that. Even though the whole ear thing can drive us crazy, it will drive us more crazy when she's grown and out of the house and not holding our ears anymore. There is a glimpse at Haleigh; I hope you enjoy getting to know her better.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Mark and I are celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary on Saturday, August 11th. I cannot believe that we have been married for that long - sometimes it feels like forever while other times it feels like the time has just flown by! I could not have asked to spend my life with a better man. Mark is a terrific husband and father - so much better than I could have ever imagined or hoped. I think back at how young we were when we met, and I am amazed at how far we've come- I was only 18 and Mark was 21. We were SO young when we dated and when we got married. I had JUST turned 20 when we got married and Mark was only 22 1/2. A lot of my friends from high school (and their parents) didn't think that we would last since we were "too young" (according to them) to get married. Not only did we make it, but we are still making it! Marriage is not easy, and we have definately had times when we didn't really like each other very much! But, we have had a wonderful ride so far, and I can't wait for the next 12 years and even more. I don't really know what my ideal was for marriage, and I know that there is no such thing as a perfect marriage, but I feel very lucky to be able to share my life with Mark. I feel like we are quite a team, and I have enjoyed being married to him, having children with him, and sharing happiness, saddness, illness, loss, etc. with him. I wouldn't have wanted to share it with anyone else!

Here is a picture of us when we were dating - we were in Colorado for Thanksgiving so that Mark could meet my family. We look so young - especially Mark.

Here is a picture of us now - we are much older, fatter, we both have glasses and less hair! I guess a few years will do that to you!

Here are a few of our wedding pictures. Our photographer lost the roll of bridal pictures he took, so this is one of the two bridal shots I have. I can't believe how long my hair is. I haven't had it that long since then.

Here is a snapshot someone took of Mark while he was waiting for me. He sure looks anxious!! He does look really handsome in his tuxedo too!

Here is a picture of us right after our ceremony - Mr. and Mrs. Mark Taylor!

This is one of my favorite wedding pictures because you can see all the flowers and the candles. It was all so lovely...one of the best days of my life!

On Saturday, we are going to our friend Craig's parents 50th anniversary party. We happen to share the same anniversary date with them - they just have a few years on us! They have been a wonderful example of how to make it to 50 years! I hope that we are as happy as them when we make it to 50 years. I know it will be a tough journey, but it is one that I am happy to take with the love of my life!

Lake Arrowhead State Park

We spent this past weekend on our annual camping trip with a group from our church. Usually we go to Lake Texoma, but this year it RAINED AND RAINED IN TEXAS. Lake Texoma got a lot of water, and our camp sites got flooded and are STILL underwater. We found an alternative sight this year at Lake Arrowhead State Park in Witchita Falls. We had a good time boating, tubing, and fishing. Here are a few pictures from our weekend camping at the lake!

Here is a picture of Jacob tubing with some teenagers from church

Lynzee and Jaci. He loves the teenage girls!

Here is Morgan (one on the left) with Will and Allyson - I love the hair!

Haleigh (on left) with Justin and Kylie - this was Justin's

first time on a tube - he was a real trooper - and a little scared.

Here is Haleigh again with Lynzee and Jaci - she doesn't like to

go very fast and wasn't thrilled with the girls sitting instead of

laying beside her, but she did great. Mark made the mistake of

going over the wake - Haleigh was not a fan of that!

Here's Morgan with her best friend Allyson - the got a little

adventerous and stood up, but I didn't have a very good

picture of that. Morgan is wild on the tube - she likes to go fast

and go over the wake - she doesn't usually fall off either.

Mark's ride was definately the funnest one to watch.

He got really worn out after only one ride!

This is one of my favorite pictures -I get one like this every year

of Morgan's feet. Her and her friend Allyson were in the water

for the same amount of time, but Morgan wrinkles right up!

Allyson's feet (left) are nice and smooth; Morgan's feet look like

raisins. Kind of creepy, huh?!

All about Morgan

We recently celebrated Morgan's 10th birthday at The Olive Garden. I cannot believe that she is 10. It just seems like yesterday that she was born...I know that everyone says that, but it really is true. I am really proud of her. she is really such a sweet young lady. We took a few of her friends out to eat and to see a movie. She only wanted to invite three friends - 2 could go, 1 was grounded! At least she has her brother and sister to go too! That is how Morgan is - she is "friends" with a lot of people, but she really only has a few close friends that she wanted to come.

They came and sang to her - she was horrified. She wouldn't stand up, so they sang to her while she just sat there blushing! She is so shy at times.

Here she is with her dog Tanner. Sadly, Tanner was killed on Memorial Day. Morgan has such a tender heart, and she was completely devistated. She cried hysterically - similar to the way she cried when her goldfish she had won at the fair died several years ago. What can I say, she has a heart that loves all people and things!

Here she is (#2) playing basketball. Mark has coached her since kindergarten. She loves having him as her coach. They are SO MUCH ALIKE.

This is when we were in Colorado for Christmas. She is such a little daredevil. Many people may not know that about her, but she loves a good thrill. She was a nut on the sled. The first picture is her with my little sister.

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone get to know Morgan a little better. She really is a real joy in my life. We were so young when we had her - I was 21 (almost 22) and Mark was 24. We had no idea what we were doing, so I think God blessed us with a sweet daughter. She has such a good heart - always thinking of others. She is a true leader with her friends. She is so smart - straight A's. So loving, so caring...everything I could ever want in a daughter. She is following in her dad's footsteps...she loved Camp Deer Run. She went for her second time this summer. She was best camper (in her age group) for first session. We were really proud of that. She is just a real joy, and I wanted everyone to know how proud I am of her and how much I love her - and love being her mom.

I will write about Haleigh and Jacob too - soon.

Just a little picture of us a long time ago in one of those photo booths...isn't she cute?