Smiley Taylee

Taylee has really started grinning a lot lately. In church on Sunday she grinned at me most of the way through Sunday School. I love how she crinkles up her little nose and makes the cutest little cooing noises. It melts my heart every time.

A couple weeks ago Jeff's parents came up to visit. Marilyn was holding Taylee and talking to her. Taylee was smitten and couldn't stop grinning at her grandma. I grabbed my camera and got these shots.

She is such a little sweetheart. We are so glad she is part of our family!

Aiden & Taylee

I was worried how Aiden might react to a new baby around the house, but he has really surprised me with how gentle and loving he can be with Taylee. I say "can be" because he can also be a little rough with her. But what kind of big brother would he be if he didn't hit her over the head a few times with a bubble wand? ;) He asks to hold her a lot and right now is fascinated with poking her in the eyes.

Last week I had a little flower in her hair. He pointed to it and said, "princess."
See what a loving brother he is? ;)

Taylee: "Listen, if you try that again you'll have to answer to this fist."
I was doing the dishes last week when he took the dishwashing tablets. Next thing I know, he's telling me Taylee is a pirate. I turned around to see this:
A couple days ago Taylee was sleeping on my bed. Aiden heard her start to cry, so he ran in, jumped up on the bed and tried to put her binkie in her mouth while he said, "it's otay." I guess he can be sweet when he wants to be!

Sunday Clothes

My Grandma has made it a tradition to give her grandkids Sunday clothes for Christmas. She has continued it with her great-grandchildren. I wanted to get a picture of the kids in their new duds to send to her, so I took these last month. This was the best one of the bunch:

I just love Aiden's expression in this one:
And this one shows their true personalities coming out! ;)

And just because she's dang cute, here's one of Taylee from 3 weeks ago when she was 4 weeks old:

Swimming

Yes, it's the middle of the winter, but who wouldn't want to beat the winter blah's with a couple hours at the beach? Last week Taryn invited us to go swimming with them. She had the easy job of watching 3 little kids in the pool while I wrestled with the 2 babies on the sidelines. ;)

Aiden was so excited to get in the water.

Dustin was so cute to hold his hand and help him up the stairs for the slide.
I was surprised at how brave he was. That is until he went under the water and couldn't lift that king-sized noggin out of it. Taryn rescued him, but after that he was much, much more cautious!
It was little Camille's first time in the pool - she did great!
I was in big trouble when Jack and Makele caught wind of what we had been up to while they were in school. I sense another trip in our future with them tagging along! ;)

Jack's Birthday

Last week Jack turned 7. Isn't that cake awesome? ;)

He had the hardest time blowing out his candles. I think he tried about 10 times.
He was just a little excited about this wii football game that he has been asking for for what seems like forever!
We had a nice little party with my sister's family, then went to Chuck-E-Cheese last Saturday with Dustin. I can hardly stand the place, but the kids always have so much fun there. Aiden found a basketball game and hardly budged from it the whole time we were there. In fact, I was helping Dustin with one of the games when Jack came running over and said, "Aiden's in the basketball game!" Yea, he crawled under the bar and up into the place by the hoop to get to the balls. Fantastic!

Last week was parent-teacher conferences for Jack. He got a glowing report card. He is above average on his reading and math levels. His teacher says she never has to worry about him and that he always does what he is instructed to do. I asked her if she was talking about the same Jack I know. We've been having just a few issues with him tuning us out at home. ;)

A couple weeks ago, Jack received the trustworthy award at an assembly at his school. The first grade also sang a song. I managed to get a couple pictures while Aiden was running around wreaking havoc.

Don't you love the ring around his shirt? He has taken to chewing on his shirts lately. It drives me crazy, but I haven't been able to come up with anything to get him to stop. Anybody have any bright ideas?
With Jack there is never a dull moment. He is quite a smart little boy with a quick wit. Like his father he loves anything sports-related and is well on his way to learning every player in the NBA, including Paul Pierce. ;) We are so glad he is part of our family!

Valentines Heart Wreath

A few weeks ago my sisters and I got together for a day of crafting. It was so nice and just what I needed! I had seen this on pinterest and loved it. I don't normally go for the whole yarn-wreath craze, but this was different than what I've seen before. At the time there wasn't a tutorial, so I just kind of went with it, but there is a great tutorial HERE now.

Instead of a completely round wreath, I used one that is flat on the front. It took forever to wrap the yarn around it, but I really like the end result!
Makele keeps telling me, "we need to get ready for Valentines Day." I guess she thinks we need to decorate the house for Valentines Day like we do for Christmas. ;) Now at least we have something cute hanging on the front door!

Brenda Neuberger Design Creative Team Call

Requirements:

-Create 1 layout per new kit released, 3 layouts per month

-Upload layouts to at least 3 galleries - Funky Playground Designs, DST, Brenda Neuberger Design's Facebook Page

-Participate in CT forum

-Promote my products in ISO threads, social media, forum signatures, your blog, etc.

To Apply:

E-mail the following to brendaneuberger@gmail.com:

-Link to your gallery or 3 of your favorite layouts

-Your blog address if you have one

-List of other creative teams you are currently on

-Why you want to be on my team

Call Ends February 27th so get crackin! Good luck! I look forward to seeing your submissions!