Merry CHRISTmas!

Merry Christmas from the Taylor family! We have had an eventful year. The birth of our second daughter Lauren last January has kept us busy. Jocelyn has been a great big sister and is very helpful. Things are getting more interesting though as Lauren starts to crawl. Lets just say Jocelyn's patience has been tried!

Levi went antelope hunting in Wyoming and also got a big buck this year (that will be his third deer to get mounted). They are however banished to the basement! Levi went to Nationals again this year. It was a fun trip to Oklahoma City and a bonus for me was that I got to see one of my best friends from high school.

We have had some dear friends from Nebraska move closer to us and are very excited about that. They are adjusting to being Kansans!

My brother and his wife are expecting a baby girl in early January. We are excited to have another niece. We will have two nieces and one nephew after this baby is born.

My family is going through a difficult time this year though as my cousin, Tysen, who is in his mid-thirties, was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. We have seen some amazing support in our hometown as they raised an amazing amount of money for Tysen at a benefit. We are very thankful for the amazing community of Nortonville!

We hope that you have an amazing Christmas with your family and that you experience the peace of Christ this Christmas.

In His Love,

The Taylors

Dave Ramsey tools

I have had several people asking me about budgeting lately. It is one of my favorite topics! I found some tools I could link to my blog. They are at the bottom. Please check them out :)

Our rough day

Jocelyn and I were calling Grammie today and I was allowing Jocelyn to hold the phone to her ear and that is when I noticed a tick attached inside the top of her ear. I HATE TICKS!!!!! I freaked out and asked Grammie (a nurse) what I should do. She said to put oil on it so that the tick couldn't breathe and might let go. After having Jocelyn lay her head on the kitchen table for about 5 minutes and no luck I called Jill (another nurse) and she suggested pulling it out with tweasers. After 3 attempts at that I loaded my crying two year old and my crying (hungry) 2 month old into the car and drove to Daddy who solved the problem! Thank goodness for Daddy! Then Jill (who stopped by Daddy's work to see if we needed help) and I went out for fru-fru drinks to calm my nerves! Thank goodness for friends! I admire all of you that have dealt with ticks on your own...this is just another example of my weak stomach and the fact that I am NOT a country girl!

Potty Training

Potty training is certainly an adventure. I never thought the words "Poop Party" would come out of my mouth together but when you are trying to convince an independent 2 year old that she needs to start going on the toilet you have to come up with some interesting incentives. :) Yesterday was a break through day for us. Jocee wore panties all day long and went on the toilet the whole day! My favorite quote is: "Don't get in here Mom. Cause I need space. I need space Mom." She is definitely independent and has been going sporadically on the toilet for a long time but it has always had to be her idea to go.
The potty trained child will be a different experience for me. I can already tell that my independence will be more limited at times like when I was garage saling with the girls last week and we had to rush to Daddy's office so Jocelyn could go potty. Or when we went 2 1/2 miles from the house to watch Daddy rope and I had to tote a potty chair along with us and yes, she did need it. I just hope that I can remember to take it with us when we might need it! To a new stage in life, at least for one of our kids! We are far from being finished with the diaper stage right now but are looking forward to only buying diapers for one child! :)

Lauren's one month pictures

My friend Dana took some awesome pics of our precious

little girl. :)

Jocelyn

Recent conversation with Jocelyn:

"You potty trained Daddy?" asked Jocelyn
"yes, Why aren't you?" asked Daddy
"because I don't want to!" was her reply

Hope that desire kicks in soon! She is definitely smart enough! Today she said that she shouldn't have to take a nap because it was "too late to take a nap" and it was an appropriate comment as we were late getting home from church and were trying to put her down at 2 pm!

KIDS! Gotta love em!

Captured a smile!

Mommy's grammar lesson

The other day I said, "Jocelyn Could you take this to the trash for mommy?" She responded, "I can, but I'm tired." Nothing like getting a grammar lesson from a two year old.

a few more pics of Lauren

Welcoming Lauren Grace Taylor

Make a Smilebox free scrapbook design

We are settling into life with two daughters! We love it. I can't wait to see the sister connection develop further. Jocelyn loves her sister. She is a good helper for mom most of the time too. Lauren is a good baby. She is eating well, sleeping 4-5 hour stretches at night and is usually a very content and happy baby. She will be one month old on Friday! She is starting to track things and also turning to look when she hears a voice or noise. Hopefully I will be able to post more pictures soon but I will admit, I am spending alot of time cuddling with Lauren :)