chatty

Someone is chatty tonight!

Cute

Taylor knows just how cute she is!

Family Time

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

Never Fear New Posts Are Almost Here!

We will have some new videos posted by this weekend and some pretty cute pictures too!!!

Talking with Daddy

Having a Sunday afternoon chat with my Daughter.

Johnson Creations

This weekend we went down to Richards to hang out by the pool and let Laurie, Morgan, Stephanie and Carter get some quality Taylor Time. While we were there a couple fantastic things happened. First of all Taylor went for her first swim in a pool! As you can imagine she was doing laps very quickly, even if it was in her mom's arms. Pictures to come (thank you Steph!).

Also while we were there, Carter had something very special to give Taylor. Before you watch the video below here is a little background. Carter came up to Stephanie and told her she wanted to make a book for Taylor. On Saturday when Carter gave Taylor the book, she sat down and read it to her! The video here is one that Stephanie shot at her house before coming over. Great job Steph and Carter!

Catching up

The last few weeks have been very busy for our little family. I apoligize for not updating the blog and please bear with me as I create several updates today.

The Horrell family made the treck up from Missouri to come and see Taylor. Ken and Melanie were here for 2 weeks, Melanie here the whole time, Ken had to still travel for work. We were then joined by Kevin, Ashley and Chris for a couple of days. They all went home on the 10th. It was sure good to have the whole Horrell clan up here. This is the first time they have all been up here at the same time. Taylor got lots of lovin' and experienced her first boat ride! We did a lot of visiting, showing them some of our favorite things to do in Milwaukee and were able to spend one of the days at Lake Geneva to enjoy the perfect weather we were having.

As if that was not enough going on. Kelly went back to work on Monday! Taylor is now spending her days with Kim, our daycare person that does daycare out of her home. Taylor is taking it better than her parents are. We are still trying to get used to her not being home with Kelly durring the day. Taylor has also started sleeping in her crib (she has been in the bassanet). Again, the seperation anxiety is all on the parents side :).

More updates to come, but Taylor is hungry and I have to go feed her. Shocking I know.

Spread the word

There is a world wide campaign to raise awareness about the hurtful use of the r-word. I have made my pledge here, will you?

4th of July

Well Taylor made it through her first 4^th of July w/ flying colors!

We spent the day relaxing with beautiful weather. Ken and Melanie were still in town and were able to celebrate with us. We went down to the Waukesha Parade, found some shade for Taylor, and spent a few hours down there. Then we came home and Ken grilled everyone some outstanding ribs.

No fireworks this year as we figured it would be just a bit too loud for the little one’s ears. Maybe next year!

Well said

I would like to share an article that Rich (Kelly's Father) shared w/ us. While I don't always agree with her as a politician, and would probably never vote for her, I am impressed with her message here.
Take a look!

Holy Time Warp Batman!

Today marks Taylors 2 month birthday. I can't believe that it has been 2 months already! While it is already difficult to remember what life was like BT (before Taylor) it still seems like we brought her home just a few weeks ago!

Taylor has not exactly been idle these last 2 months either. She is doing very well mastering her exercises, and it really shows on her muscle tone. I swear she gets stronger everyday. Soon we will have to start testing her formula for steroids or creatine.She is also growing like a weed! She is already at 9lbs and 22i long! Her other accomplishments include looking cute as hell, the ability to make complete strangers coo at her, filling diapers at lightning speeds and developing a pen pal in Germany.

This weekend we are very happy to welcome Ken and Melanie back to our house. They will be staying with us for the next couple weeks to get some quality Taylor Time (seeing us is just an added bonus). On the 7th we will also be joined by Chris, Kevin and Ashley who will come up to see Taylor for the first time!

Time is sure flying, seems like we learn something new everyday about Taylor and ourselves and what it means to be parents. Before I know it we will be writing this update for her 2nd birthday!

Fathers Day

Today marks my first of many Fathers Days to come. I am currently sitting in my living room, watching the news as my daughter sleeps in my lap. It seems unreal that my life could have changed this much since this time last year.

While I am looking forward to the years that Taylor will help me celebrate this day, I couldn't think of a better way to start my first Father's Day. Last night, I was thinking about what I would write today, and came up with some witty sayings and was determined to find some great quotes. However, nothing I could come up with or find online could truly express the fierce Love, gratitude, and humility that I feel today.

So I will just leave it at this. Happy Fathers day to all the Fathers out there. May you live up to your title as protector, champion and hero of your children.

I'm A Big Girl Now

When did our baby girl get so big? Taylor is now 8 pounds, 3 ounces! Goodbye newborn clothes, hello size 0 to 3 months.

We were guessing that she has been going through a growth spurt when she started to eat every other hour and fuss a little more often.

You would think that eating all the time would keep us up all of the night, but...Taylor is sleeping pretty much through the night! We are only waking up once in the middle of the night to feed her and it is fantastic! Erwin is pretty happy about it too since he wakes up every time we get up to feed her.

Tears

Today I cried happy tears.

It is the first time since Taylor has been born that the tears have been out of joy.

There have been tears of fear from hearing her heart rate drop during labor.

Scared tears after finding out that I was going to have an unexpected c-section.

Tears of utter grief after learning immediately that Taylor has Down Syndrome.

Tears that ripped my heart out from thinking about all the dreams and hope that we had for her were going to change.

Tears of heartache thinking that people might look at her differently instead of just a normal baby.

There have been the tears of frustration because I was tired from waking up in the middle of the night.

Tears of feeling like I wasn’t doing a good enough job.

There were just so many tears.

But today, they were happy tears.

Because I realized just how many people love her.

Because she amazes me every day with how much she can already do.

Because I love her more than I can ever put into words.

Because when she looks at me, I feel like this is what my life was meant for. To be her mommy.

Because my life feels so much more complete.

Because she is so beautiful.

Because my hopes and dreams for her haven’t really changed, just tweaked a little bit.

Because I get to spend the rest of my life being in utter and complete love with Brian and Taylor.