Thanksgiving break is always one of my favorites! Which is surprising... because I don't like turkey! I  just love shopping with my family and getting in the mood for Christmas... which is by far my favorite holiday. Last Thanksgiving was not an awesome one for me, we had JUST lost a baby to miscarriage.. and my husband worked... so I spent time with my family in California. This year was much better! We ALMOST had the entire family together, which rarely happens anymore now that we are all getting older and starting our own lives. 

 On Friday, most of us went out and about shopping, and we had a great time!! Jason and Milan got to test my new Britax B-ready.. which is quickly becoming my favorite item as far as baby gear is concerned. I never realized how terrible my other stroller was HAHA! Obviously, Milan isn't complaining either... 

Jaxon and mommy got to take pictures in front of the Christmas tree at the mall! Obviously, he is thrilled...

He was however VERY excited to see the train taking kids around... if you have met him personally... you know why. BUT, when the line was too long that train left him to wait until the next round... it hit him hard! Poor boy!

Luckily, Uncle Brock was able to console him long enough for him to finally get his turn! 

 

Welcome Milan!

My lovely sister welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world last week! We were lucky enough to drive down to North Carolina to meet her this weekend!! Jaxon was so sweet, it makes me even more excited for him to meet baby Taylor! 

Welcome Koda

The Taylor family has a new furry member! Introducing Koda, Jaxon's new best friend. 

Not going to lie... not most excited about this one. We started our family life we two dogs, and weren't able to give them a good quality of life, so we found a new home for them and it was very hard for me. Mylo and Ivy were a big part of my life for many years... and I have a little guilt that they are no longer in our family. But now that we have a home with a backyard, there is much more we can provide for a dog. And now that Jaxon is bigger, he has so much more fun with puppies and dogs. 

We shall see... 

We have a toddler on our hands!

Yesterday we celebrated our big boys second birthday! I can't believe it has been TWO YEARS! And since my son was blessed with a birthday during the best time of year, we had another pool party/BBQ at Pocahontas State Park. It was a hit :) All our friends were awesome enough to join us! And my cute preggo sister Whitney and her hubby Michael drove up for the weekend from North Carolina. I wish I had more pictures... but my dropbox filled with the first 100... so I will update it later! :P

Day at the amusement park!

Being in a new place can really be a lot of fun! You get to explore places you have never been before! This past weekend, we were able to visit King's Dominion amusement park! Which also happened to be Jaxon's first time at an amusement park! He LOVED it! Can't wait for it to warm up so we can venture onto the water rides! 

Twenty Thirteen

Twenty Twelve was a big year in our family... We became a family! Colton and I got engaged in the last week of Twenty Eleven, we were married on March 3, 2012.. and We welcomed and wonderful new baby boy into our lives on June 17, 2012. With all the new exciting things going on... it was so easy to blog! After we got settled in our happy new lives, I got lazy!

But that is not to say that Twenty Thirteen was not just as excited and huge for our family! We had a lot of wonderful moments.. including celebrating Jaxon's FIRST birthday, my parents moved across the country to Virginia, we found out were expecting baby number TWO, I miscarried, and we decided to take the plunge and follow our family to Virginia!!!

I am so excited for the rest of our lives as a family. We learn and grow so much every year, and I cannot believe I didn't take more notes on our experiences in Twenty Thirteen. But, I did get a lot of pictures! so pardon me while I share a years worth of memories in one post!!

If you haven't seen the Lorax, we did a Lorax party for Jaxon's first Birthday. He has ALWAYS loved that movie. Thank goodness for Pinterest! I think it turned out so cute! We used striped straws and yarn for the truffula trees on the smash cake and the cupcakes. I then made large trees for the tables out of washi tape and feathers. 

We did it at our apartments pool with a Barbecue. We just had close friends and family. It was really fun! Jaxon loved his little floaty. And he has always loved the pool, thank goodness... because in AZ it is a must!! 

Then of course, my sister Whitney got married!! So Jaxon and I went to North Carolina for the wedding!

 It wasn't long after we got back that I started to think I was pregnant. I have always been terrible with keep track of my cycles... but it had been a while and my face was breaking out like crazy!! So we took a test.. and much to our surprise I was expecting!! However, after 2 or 3 weeks of trying to get the baby on the ultrasound, doctors determined that the pregnancy was not successful. After weeks of waiting for my body to miscarry on its own, I had a D&C in December. I would have been 12-13 weeks at the time.

But at least we got some nice family pictures....

Just weeks after my surgery... we decided to move to Virginia!! So we packed out bags, quite our jobs, and off we were! So we never ended up spending a Christmas alone! In fact, we got to see my brother Brock who has been in the Marines since he turned 18 in July.

Sick ):

Poor Jaxon has croop... Sad day.
Thats what happens when you have a baby around lots and lots of people this time of year.
But the good thing is that though it is sad, at least he got it when we still have health coverage for him. So he gets all the necessary care he needs to get better.

Wrap your babies up! Even is AZ! It is still way to cold out there for there tiny little bodies. 

Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Well... little late. But that's okay. Jaxon is 5 months now, growing like crazy!

We had family from my mothers side come to town for the weekends AND my dads side, which means LOTS of people to spoil Jaxon... he loved that. And he got to see Morgan, my aunts little girl who is just weeks older than Jax. It is so amazing how different 2 babies the same age can be. Jaxon is not in daycare, so I never see him around babies his age. He LOVED her. the first time he saw her he practically pounced her in her car seat. He also love his great-great-grandma, who would sit next to him in his little toy and talk with him for hours.

All I have to say, is out of all the very many things I am grateful for, the fact that I have blessed with such a sweet little boy is number one. He is so well tempered and he is so smart. He teaches me and my husband, and he has brought us so much closer together. Second I am thankful for my husband, who goes above and beyond to love me and my son. Times for us aren't easy, for most people they aren't, but he holds my hand through it all and we fight the fight TOGETHER. And third, I am thankful to be an environment that is safe for my family to grow. Even though we aren't rich, we are much better off than most; with family and a good neighborhood and strong values... that is a true blessing.

We just past the anniversary of when I found out I was pregnant last year... and I keep thinking to myself where my life would be if some small events in that time of my life DIDN'T happen. And it physically scares me. I loved my life before, and though I knew eventually everything would work out the way it was supposed to, I was afraid of loosing the life I had. But now, I am afraid at the thought of loosing what those changes have brought me. I would change a single thing about the last year of my life. I love my husband and I love my son, they are the best thing that has ever happened to me.

Halloween

Jaxon was Woody. It was absolutely ADORABLE. I am kind of a party pooper with holiday stuff, mainly because I am broke and not very social. But we did go to a friends Halloween party that weekend and spend the day of Trick-or-Treating with grandma and auntie Izzi.

(In case anyone is wondering where I got the costume... the Disney store! and it was only like $40)