Thanksgiving and Christmas Shopping!!!

I love Thanksgiving! I love the food, being with family, and usually it starts to snow so it makes it start to feel more like the Christmas holidays!! I am so grateful this year for so many things. I have a baby boy who I love so much, and I honestly can't believe or comprehend how much I love that little guy. I suppose I should say big guy, lol. He makes me smile everyday and for that I am grateful. I'm grateful for my husband, for all that he does for me. He makes me feel like the most special person in his life and I love him for that. We get along so well and I think are learning the parenting thing well together. He is such a good dad and husband. He is always willing to go the extra mile to help me out with whatever I need. I am grateful for my family. I love that whenever we are together we laugh and laugh and eat of course. Ha ha. I'm grateful that I grew up in such a tight knit family and that we have so many fun traditions that I remember doing from when I was little. I'm grateful for Billy's family, they are always willing to help us out in any way that they can. I always have a good laugh when I'm with them too, and am grateful that I feel welcome always in their homes. I am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. For the sacrifice he gave for us to be here on this earth. I'm grateful for the gospel and the knowledge that I have that allowed me to serve a mission!! I am grateful for Oregon and miss all those there and all that I still get to be in contact with regularly. I hope that we can all remember the real reasons for the seasons at this time of year!! The Shopping Crew

Amber, Andrea, Alicia

Mom, Mandi, Gran

I debated and debated whether or not I would go on the annual day after Thanksgiving shopping spree with the girls. I really wanted to, but I was afraid to leave Taggart all night, even though he would be with Billy. I finally decided he would be okay and I just pumped and left him enough milk to drink. He did great! He even spent most of the next day with Grandpa J. The only downfall was that I had to pump while we were there. Next time hopefully I won't have a little baby. I'm glad I went though cuz I don't think I had laughed that hard in a long time!

Taggart's Eye Scare and our New car

Good-bye stupid Sebring, Hello Malibu

So, we have hated having the Chrysler Sebring especially since Taggart was born. Trying to put a baby in the back seat of a two door car is a joke. The seats were shaped funny so his seat wouldn't even sit right, and I was constantly worrying about him being safe. We had the sun roof duck taped and it seemed like there were just tons of things constantly going wrong. One day we are all loaded in the car heading to Billy's school for him to do homework and Tagg and I were going to hit the library, and the car wouldn't shift. We got off the freeway and took it to Pep Boys they said it sounded like a transmission issue so we would need a transmission shop. So we found a place called Tanner Transmissions, ( they diagnose for free ). We were very grateful for that, we found out they were going to need a new transmission and the car wasn't even worth what we would put into it. Thankfully my dad was able to pull some strings with a guy he knew to find us something we could afford. It's not the nicest brand new car. But it's new to us and I LOVE it!! I love driving around now and taking Taggart with me because it is so much easier and he is so much happier. Maybe one day we'll be able to afford a car that's more new, but for now this car is perfect for us.

Our poor little guy has always had a clogged tear duct since he was born. Each time we've asked the Dr. about it he has said that it will clear on its own and there isn't much we can do for it. One night Taggart and I went to pick up Billy and I noticed that his eye looked super super painful. I got a warm wash cloth and tried to clear it for him and decided that if it was worse the next morning we'd take him to the Dr. So Friday comes Billy had to go to school all day, so luckily Torri could take us. I called the Dr. and they weren't in (weird I know it was a week day). So they suggested I take him into Urgent Care. So we did and they made me so worried. They acted like if I hadn't brought him in the infection he had could be deadly (cellulitis) They had to give him a shot with lidocaine in it, I cried. Taggart never cries and he was screaming when they did it. It broke my heart. They gave me a prescription for an antibiotic and said if it looked worse or double in size between then and the morning to take him straight to Primary Children's ER. He's such a trooper! Billy and our friend Cameron gave him a blessing and he was doing great. It completely cleared up before the week of antibiotics so we were grateful. One plus out of this was that his eye no longer gets goobers all the time,,,now if something could get rid of him spitting up so much!!

Waiting for the Dr. to come in

Carving Pumpkins and Halloween

Billy's family has a tradition of carving pumpkins every year. They always do the dirty work of scooping out the guts, which I'm grateful for. So we went over and had homemade stew and rolls, then carved our pumpkins. I think mine always turns out the ugliest, but I am just not that creative.Taggart's first Pumpkin Carving
Taggart with his pumpkin

Dad

Grandma Marci

Aunt Lori

Katy

Taggart's Pumpkin

The finished product, Lori, Bryan, Billy, Marci, Alicia Katy, Taggart's in the front

For Halloween night we went over to Grandpa and Grandma Burk's. They had friends over and we played Apples to Apples, ate mummy weinies, and "finger foods"( she had rolls that were shaped like fingers with nails and eye balls), and they had lots of different soups to choose from!! Taggart had lots of fun that evening but we knew when it was time to leave!

Our little Lion

My sorry attempt for a costume, lol Taggart looked at me like I was crazy!

Starting Solids, Selling Spuds, and Sending Chad on his mission :)

I couldn't decide if Taggart was ready for Rice Cereal. He is such a big boy that I felt like he needed more. So I decided to go for it. At first he didn't do very good, but is getting better and better.

All done and super cute!

Taggart being our mascot, too bad we didn't sell more. It was freezing!!

Taggart and Dad sleeping while I was getting ready for Chad's Farewell

Jayden at the luncheon

Taggart, Mom, and Dad

Me and my buddy Chad!

I am so excited for Chad to be going on his mission to the Philipines! I loved his talk during Sacrament Meeting. The spirit was so strong and I know that he is way pumped to be serving the Lord. Good Luck to Chad.