So, these past three days have produced two new hairstyles in our house. First AnnaBelle had her first haircut ever on Saturday. I was soooo proud of her as she sat perfectly still for Misty (of Misty Dorman Salon). Although she was still and very well behaved, she was silently crying the whole time as big huge tears rolled down her cheeks. It was so precious, I was almost in tears! I couldn't tell if she was scared or sad to be cutting her hair. She never did tell me. But I'm so happy with how cute her hair turned out. I had it all in curls for church yesterday. It was absolutely beautiful! Unfortunately, I did not get pictures of it then. But here are some of her before, during and after her hair cut. BEFORE DURING AFTER Isn't she ADORABLE!?
And then there's me!! I'm so excited because January means new wig for Brandy!! So I went with long, wavy, and red this time. I love it! We figured a wig every year saves us at least three to four hundred dollars a year when compared to the average spending a gal with average hair spends per year on cuts, color, and styling. Since I'm not an average girl with average hair... I've been chomping at the bit to get my new wig for the last few weeks, and finally I have it!
My Aunt Sue sent this video to me in a fwd email. I am amazed at how perfect the timing of this message is for me. My life is so full of blessings, but sometimes when the food gets thrown at me, or the room I just cleaned is trashed 30 minutes later, or I get screamed at in my face because she doesn't want the blue cup she wants the GREEN!!!!! one, it's easy to forget what I'm doing this for. It's easy to let thoughts of frustration, guilt, and depression stay and move out the thoughts of gratitude, divinity in my job, and understanding of my young children's LACK of understanding. Thank you Sue for sharing this with me. It has boosted my spirits and confidence in my abilities and role as a mother. As I hope it does for any parent, teacher, or mentor who sees it here. This is the link to it on Youtube if the video isn't working on my blog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YU0aNAHXP0
So, I went shopping today. With prices being on the rise and the economy totally bombing, it can be hard to live on a food budget. But I'm excited to report that I have a store in my area that saves my food budget life all the time. Imagine what you might spend on the above lot of groceries at say walmart, or safeway, smith's, and so on. I have come out of walmart with about the same items having spent about $120 or more. Yay for me that Buy Low is around. I know a lot of people around here think that Buylow is "slummin' it shopping" but next time you get exactly everything here for less than $75 bucks, call me. That's right $75!!! I'm blown away every time I check out there that my bill is always at least $20 to sometimes $40 bucks less than what I'm expecting. LOVE IT!!!!
We hope you find many new joys to be grateful for this year. This past year was quite a whirlwind of activity and growing for us.
Bart has been successful at work, winning several awards and prizes for work well done. The biggest award was a paid trip to Las Vegas (I got to go too) with The President's Club (top performers in sales and sales operations in the company worldwide). Way to go Bart! He continues to be an awesome husband and father. He is very helpful to me and excellent with the kids. His favorite times are the times when we have all been able to play together. Just wrestling around on the floor or reading stories or singing songs with the kids makes all of the blah of work fade away. He is our hero!
I spent half of the year pregnant and the other half getting to know our new baby Alex. What a joy he has been. I've also really enjoyed spending time with my friends and singing every chance I get. Some highlights, seeing New Moon with Heather, and Avatar with Bart, (thank you Witworths!), singing at a bunch of Christmas parties and in each other's wards with my singing pals -Crystal, Tarin, Camille and Jan, adding our awesome piano player Camille to that group, play group with the gals from my ward, and Dancing with the Stars night each week with Jan! I've been working hard trying to find the balance between a tidy home and a "well lived in" home. 3 kids 3yrs and under people! Cut me a little slack. Finding ways to re-organize and get rid of stuff has become my favorite thing.
Genevieve has moved out of toddlerhood into kidville. Her biggest accomplishments span from potty training (since Alex was born a bit of a struggle but still...), she makes her own bed, puts away her folded clothes, has letters and counting down, she can figure out any puzzle under 50 pieces by herself, and has I don't know how many songs memorized! She's really funny too! She makes up stories and finds humor in just about everything. Still she's a girl and can be moody such as... She and I were walking down the stairs and I started to run my fingers through her hair. She waved my hand away and said, "ugh, Mommy stop!" So I said, "Sorry, I just like playing with your hair." To which she sighed and said, "Mommy, my hair is NOT a toy." Gotta love her! In one word... Strong-willed.
AnnaBelle has made great strides in her maturity. She speaks almost as well as Genny and can count to twenty and sing her ABC's along with several other songs she has memorized. Showing a lot of interest in using the potty, she does very well at asking when she needs to go. She helps with any chore I let her. She is definitely my shadow. No matter where I am in the house, if 5 minutes go by and I'm not in the same room with her, she finds me. She has really enjoyed learning and playing in Nursery at church. She gets a little anxious still when we drop her off, but finds a teacher to hang with and feels better. She is not as independent as Genny. But I love her hugs and cuddles. She'd rather sit and be held than play with toys any day. I've come to realize she's more like me than I knew. Very affectionate, emotionally driven, thrives on attention, slightly insecure, but ultra loving, she also looks like me... put a blonde afro on her head and she looks exactly like I did when I was her age!
Alex has had a wonderful first five and a half months. He has been showered with love and cuddles by all of us. And he has given us sunshine injections straight to our hearts in return. He has the biggest smile! Alex is a very happy baby who has reminded me why I love being a mother. Such an easy and smiley baby, he has learned to laugh, coo, roll all over the floor, he's close to sitting up (not quite there but soon!), and he is onto fruits, vegetables, and formula. No more nursing!!!! Freedom and sanity are returning to me. Hallelujah!
Again, we hope your new year is full of love and laughter, and that you carry with you all the joys of the last. God Bless! Much love, The Taylors
