The Taylor Trio

I'm gonna miss this....

2010-09-08T12:08:00.001-07:00

So I took a long blog hiatus......I didn't plan to, but that's what happened. I so want to do better. I want this blog to help me remember, I want to post pictures here.....I hope I can do it.

Today was Brakston's first day of preschool. This is his teacher, Mrs. Hamm. I've worked with Mrs. Hamm for the last 8 years, she is a wonderful teacher. As much as I enjoy watching Brakston grow up, my heart was a little heavy today. I read a blog the other day that summed up my feelings of late. It was all about "I'm gonna miss this" and that's exactly what I've been thinking lately. I hate the hustle, bustle of everyday life. I have to remember to take time to read, and play playdough, and just run around outside. There's always so much to do.....I have a bad habit of letting life get in the way of having fun, of just being "together" because I know, this time goes by so fast. I don't "wanna miss this." There are so many that would give anything to spend more time with their children.

I found out today that a 16-year old student in my former high school passed away this morning. I went to school with his dad. I didn't know Brandon, but I had read about his fight with leukemia on facebook. One of my very best friends (since we were three years old) has a 9-year old fighting leukemia. She'll be having a stem cell transplant in a few weeks. I think about them and pray for them constantly.

I can't express my feelings adequately. I am, however, changing how I do things. I will read one more book at night, even when I've read it three times already, I will play playdough before doing the dishes, I will color with markers instead of watching tv, because I know, one day, probably sooner than I'd like, I'm gonna miss this.

So.....it's been a long time......

2010-02-15T13:47:00.000-08:00

One of my new year's resolutions was to write on this blog more.....I haven't been doing a very good job, but since I had a request to put up an update, I'll try to do better.

The above picture is from one night last week. Brakston was in the basement with daddy and I was doing laundry in our bedroom. I thought I heard a noise, and this is what I found on the dining room table. Brakston had poured both the "white milk" and the "chocolate milk" into a bowl and said he made "cereal." He even put the lids back on the milk and put both milks back in the fridge. He was quite proud of himself.

In Brakston news, his language skills are amazing. He's learning how to use negatives. Last week, I made him mad and he said "I can't love you" to me. I didn't expect that from my two-year old, I thought I had a few years before that happened. Then, last night, I made him mad when I made him go to bed and he informed me "I don't love you." Sigh.............I told him that wasn't nice and he then replied, "I sorry, I do love you."

We're getting a little stir crazy with all this snow. He put on his boots earlier and said "I'm ready to go by bye now." We've had fun playdough filled mornings and Aladdin filled afternoons. I finally talked him into a different movie today, Beauty and the Beast Enchanted Christmas, except Brakston calls it "Booty and the Beast." Cracks me up every time.

Yesterday, he told me to "shut up," I turned around and said "excuse me" and the look on my face must have scared him because he said "oh, excuse me, I so sorry." It's really hard not to laugh at him.

I promise, more pictures soon.

Something I'd thought I'd never see.....

2009-09-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

Changes

2009-08-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

I guess I should start explaining the above pictures. This is Brakston's Halloween costume for this year. Brakston loves rooster and chickens right now so when I found this yesterday at Old Navy, I went ahead and bought it. It was too cute to pass up.

We have been experiencing many changes around here. First, Brakston has two new cousins. Erin and Bret finally got to bring Grace home from China after four long years of waiting. She is an absolute doll and we can't wait to meet her. Bret's sister Rachel gave birth this week to the newest addition to the family, Drew Michael. He's a little small, but adorable. We can't wait to meet him too!!

We have finally found a use for what was our "cat room" at the front of the house. After Sylvie passed away, LT had the great idea to move the laundry room upstairs. I absolutely love it. When I finish it, I'll post some pictures. We also moved the twin bed out of Brakston's room and put it in there as well so it's the laundry room/guest room. (funny story, Brakston actually thought that the twin bed was my bed and that's why he wouldn't go to sleep without me being in the room, he now understands where mommy and daddy sleep and goes to sleep without me in the room without too much fussing!!). When Brakston stops sleeping in the crib, we will turn it into a full bed, and put it in the guest room and get rid of the twin bed. We also moved Brakston's car bed into his room. He doesn't sleep in it yet, but he really likes it.

We also added a dog door to what we call the "breezeway" room. It's been nice to not crate Harley when we leave. We've been leaving he and Cassey blocked off in the breezeway and it's been working great. Brakston likes the new dog door too and uses it when I'm not looking.

I went back to work full time for the first time since we brought Brakston home. It's been a transition. We were so blessed to find a great place for Brakston to stay during the day. We started him in daycare last year, but took him out in November due to frequent ear infections. Sarah, who has watched him since he came home, stayed with him during the morning, and Bridget came in the afternoon. It worked out great and he got to be at home all day. This year, Sarah is going to ISU and her mom, Lora, is watching him at their house. Lora home schools her two younger girls, Evie and Lydia, and Brakston loved going over there. He never cries when we drop him off and it has taken the stress of leaving him away. It's been such a huge blessing.

I'm enjoying being back at work full time. I'm in two new schools, one I supervised in the last two years, but this is my first year of actually being there all the time, and the other school is where Margie used to teach at so a lot of them new me already. It's been crazy busy, moving stuff out and in, but I'm really comfortable.

The next few weeks are crazy, with lots of stuff going on, but I'll try to post more often.

In Memory of Sylvie

2009-07-16T15:17:00.000-07:00

Today's been a hard day. I had to put Sylvie to sleep. Even though I knew it was coming, it was still hard. She was 17 and 1/2 years old, which is really old for a Persian cat. She was originally Lacy's cat, but when she was 3, I ended up with her. She's lived everywhere that I've lived in the last 14 years so she made a lot of moves!! I've never had to put an an animal to sleep. When Morgan died, I was there, and that's not something I ever want to repeat. While this was a little easier, it was still hard to say goodbye. I'll miss you Sylvie.

Life Lesson #1 with an almost 2-year-old

2009-07-08T18:08:00.001-07:00

Important life lesson, never leave the gigantic, Sam's Club size Parmesan cheese container on the kitchen counter and run to the bathroom. (Boy knocks it over, dog breaks it open, and chaos ensues). All I heard from the bathroom, with the door open, was "uh oh, mommy."

When I was on the phone with my dad, I said, "Brakston was bad" and he looked at me and said "doggies bad." Sigh.............he's just too cute, even when he's in trouble.

Disney World

2009-06-27T10:10:00.001-07:00

Here's a quick update until I can take the time to write a longer one. Disney World was a blast, we had a lot of fun and Brakston is still talking about "mouse," "Buzz," and "bus." (For those of you who don't know, he really enjoyed riding the buses to and from the parks).

This picture was taken while we were standing in line to meet Buzz and Woody from Toy Story, it was a big hit with little B!!

Mother's Day Photos

2009-05-08T12:50:00.001-07:00

We had a great photo shoot at Portrait Innovations today. I wanted to badly to get one picture of Brakston kissing me (he puckers up so cute), but of course, he refused to do it. We'll be giving away pictures for Mother's Day, these were two that didn't make the cut.

Why I shouldn't leave things on the oven...

2009-04-23T12:25:00.000-07:00

Happy First Gotcha Day Brakston!!

2009-04-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, one year ago today this beautiful boy was placed into my arms forever. The day has been harder than I thought. I have so many emotions running thru my mind, so much happiness, guilt (there are many that still don't have their children home), sadness (for the tough choice his birth mom had to make and for the huge loss his foster family had when he came home)....and many others. It's hard to put into words. I've just felt overwhelmed the last few days.

This past year has been amazing, watching Brakston grow and change. He's a wonderful, loving child. God sent us the most precious gift and I often wonder what I ever did to deserve it.

Brakston's new favorite word is "bump." He likes to bump his cars into everything. He's starting to put two words together and he imitates everything. He eats just about anything and his favorites are chicken, sausage, ham, and gerber puffs. He loves chips and "dips." Dips can be anything from salsa, queso cheese, oil for dipping your bread into, butter, or salt. (and don't ever forget to give him his dips if you're having them, I have to fake putting salt on his food before he'll eat it if he sees me use it on my food)

Happy Gotcha Day Brakston, I hope you'll always know how many people love you. I am proud and beyond thrilled to be your mama and I can't wait to see what you'll do next.

Brakston's first Easter!

2009-04-10T18:08:00.000-07:00

It dawned on me today that we are approaching the last of our "first's" this week. This will be Brakston's first Easter at home. These pictures are from last year at Easter in Guatemala. Easter in Guatemala is amazing, they have huge parades and the men all dress in purple and white robes.

Monday will be our first "Forever Family Day" celebration. We got Brakston on 4/13/08 at the Westin in Guatemala knowing that we never had to give him back again. I can't imagine how much is foster family has to be missing him. I have a much larger post planned for Monday, I have many thoughts running through my mind, it's just hard to get them down. Life with an almost two-year old is crazy!!

One year ago....

2009-03-03T13:56:00.000-08:00

One year ago today, we were in Guatemala. Around 1:30 Guatemalan time, we got the call that we were out of PGN and Brakston was ours.......I can't believe how fast time flies. I don't know how I could have left him without the knowledge that we were returning in just a few short weeks.

At times, I can't believe that I traveled not once, but twice, to Guatemala last year. Me, who really doesn't like flying and had never been out of the country. That first visit trip was just amazing. I can remember seeing the moutains for the first time from the plane, I remember walking into the Westin and seeing Brakston for the first time in the lobby, I left LT at the desk and practically ran across the room., I remember feeling like a "mom" for the first time when I finally got to hold him in my arms. I can't believe that I have been blessed with such a wonderful son and husband.

Brakston is a joy. We have so much fun together as a family. ( I just asked him if I could have a couple of his fish crackers and he shook his head "no.") We have been so blessed.

Good Dog!!

2009-02-22T12:35:00.001-08:00

Harley is such a good dog, he just loves Brakston. This is Brakston watching his new Thomas "sing-a-long" video from Ma Pat and Boppa, he loves it!!

Happy 10 months home Brakston!!

2009-02-16T08:56:00.001-08:00

Today Brakston has been home for 10 months!! We are spending the day watching Thomas videos in my office as I try to list a bunch on eBay. You can't really tell it, but Brakston is actually sitting on Harley in the one picture, poor Harley.

It seems like Brakston has changed a lot in the last couple of weeks. He talks non-stop (except when I want him to talk to someone) and really seems to understand stuff now. He now goes to bed much easier, he tells me "night night" and then I can leave the room. I think he understand that I'm still there, just in the other room. His new thing is that he says "bye bye" (or "die die" in Brakston speak) and then says "See ya." I guess I must say that a lot. Today while we were at Kroger, he kept saying "arm arm" and I look down and his arm was stuck in his coat sleeve, I didn't even know that he knew the word arm.

His favorite thing right now is carrying around picture frames. I'm going to make him his own photo album this week. He names everyone in the pictures, including himself, which is "baby." He calls cousin Grant "baby" too.

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful son. He brings us so much joy.

We went to the children's museum last week, me, Brakston, KK, and Yoce (Joyce). How many kids have the 3:1 ratio when they go out? We had a blast and I took lots of videos. He loved digging in the dinosaur area, he had a brush and kept brushing the kid's hair that was next to him. He liked the slide in Lego Land the best. He's going back in March when he spends the weekend with KK and Joyce. They have so much planned, I don't know when he'll sleep. They have schedules of their friends and Bonnie and Mel, Nona and Joe, and Aunt Lacy are all coming over to play with him. He won't want to come home after all of that!!

And the journey begins....

2009-02-09T11:50:00.001-08:00

So, I met with the trainer again today, to start this journey of weight loss and getting healthy, and he tried to kill me. Seriously, I got light-headed and had to lie down a minute. I did eat before I went, I guess I had better add some protein to breakfast next time. I go back Friday at 8:00, wish me luck.

Boomer has been hitting the gym 4-5 times a week for almost a month now. We're both really concentraing on living a healthier lifestyle. I'll leave you with a picture of Brakston on his trampoline.

Brakston's first attempt at pudding

2009-01-30T13:51:00.000-08:00

OK, this is my first attempt at adding a video using the new video camera that Boomer got me for Christmas. This is Brakston enjoying his sugar free, fat free pudding last week. He loved it, as I'm sure you can tell. His hair is much shorter now, it was getting so long.

2009-01-30T13:21:00.000-08:00

OK, here's my first attempt at adding a video from the new video camera Boomer got me for Christmas. This is Brakston enjoying his fat free, sugar free pudding from last week

Happy 18 months Brakston!!! (and a snow day)

2009-01-28T06:37:00.001-08:00

Today Brakston is 18 months old. That just seems impossible. This is a picture of how we are spending our morning since I don't have school today (in case you don't know, that's Thomas we're watching). As you can see, we have lots of snow here (10-12 inches).

Brakston is really starting to understand a lot more. He now goes to the fridge and asks for "milk," he says "eat" when he's hungry and usually tries to climb in his high chair, and the other day, he was signing "more" to me and I said "what do you more of?" and he then said "cheese." He's a bright little man. He finally says "Harley" which comes out without the /r/ or /l/ sound so it's kind of funny to hear. He has learned "cold" and says it when he touches his window or is close to the open fridge door. He says "nana" when he wants a banana and he has learned to says "pops' (grandpa Larry). He's adding new words every day and I have to really watch it now. Yesterday morning, I got up and was a little mad and said "oh no, Harley pooped" (in the house, yuck!!). Brakston then said "poop." Now it's become a favorite word.

He has two new bottom molars, his two eye teeth are coming in, and now, he has two top molars coming in as well. When they all are in, that's 14 teeth!!! We have also been bottle free for two weeks!!

Happy 1/2 birthday Brakston, mommy and daddy love you so much!!!!!!

Big Day

2009-01-14T20:31:00.001-08:00

Wow, two major things happened tonight. 1.) Brakston went to bed WITHOUT a bottle for the first time ever. Yippee!! 2.) WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD FOR A WHOLE WEEK IN JUNE---YIPPEE YIPPEE YIPPEE

I got an email from our adoption agency this afternoon that they were sponsoring a trip for their families, right now there are over 60 families going....I'm so so so excited. It's June 13th-20th. My friend Nichole and I are driving down on the 12th with Brakston, and Boomer is flying down on the 16th and will drive back with us. You cannot beat the prices right now (stay four nights, get 3 free, buy a 4 day hopper pass, get 3 more days free, which the park hopper passes don't ever expire.) We also got a discount for going with a group. I can't wait to meet other families that used our agency. Now I'm so motivated to keep eating healthy and working out (six pounds gone, many more to go)

Yippee!!!! And a two hour delay tomorrow, makes for a good day!!

What's wrong with this picture??

2009-01-08T14:19:00.001-08:00

I was working in the office yesterday. I had the gate closed so I could keep an eye on the children (Brakston and the dogs). All of a sudden, I noticed it was very quiet, I turned around, and my son had strung six pairs of plus size thong panties around his neck like necklaces (I was getting ready to list them on Ebay in case you're wondering). Hope it doesn't scar him for life.

8 months

2008-12-15T14:53:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow it will be 8 months that we've been home with Brakston. I reminded Boomer of that on Saturday (the 13th is our Gotcha Day, when he was placed into out arms forever) and he said, "why are you still counting, it's indefinite now." I guess he has a point, but I'm going to keep counting until we hit the year mark, and then we'll celebrate our Gotcha Day every April 13th. In just two weeks, he will have been home longer than he was in Guatemala. That seems amazing to me. I've found myself crying a lot lately, not out of sadness, out of sheer, overwhelming joy. I love Christmas and having Brakston home this year has been wonderful. He opened presents Saturday with Nana and Pops and he understood what to do and soon as he saw the box of trains, he was asking for us to open the box. He's a smart cookie!!

The two of us went shopping on Friday and had lunch at Chick-fil-A. It was fun just the two of us. On the way home, he would say "mama?" and I'd say "what?" and he'd just laugh and a few seconds later I would hear "mama?" We played until he fell asleep. I don't think there's anything I like hearing more than "mama", even if it is a hundred times a day!

I don't think I have words to express how thankful and grateful we both our this holiday season. Brakston has brought us so much love, joy, and sheer happiness. He amazes us with something new everyday. On Friday, while we were out, we were in the Target parking lot and he just started belly laughing (I had just driven over a speed bump) and I thought, surely that wasn't funny, but then I went over the next one, and he did it again, and then signed "more." Boomer went out with us later that night, and he took him back to the Target parking lot and he did it again. I think we have a future daredevil, roller coster loving, thrill seeker on our hands.

Brakston now signs more, eat, drink, please, thank you, and all done. He has added cookie, cracker, horse, quack, moo, cheese, nana, boppa and many other words to his vocabulary. Every time he sees me pick up the phone, he says "boppa?" I guess he thinks I talk to my dad all the time. He picks up his phone and says "hello" and yesterday he was playing with his phone and said "hello.........boppa?" It was just too cute. His favorite thing in the world is Thomas the Tank Engine and will only watch Thomas DVDs, nothing else. I think his favorite word is "hot." He doesn't tolerate anything hot in his mouth, he prefers his food luke warm at best. He's learned to apply hot to different situations and says "hot" when he gets too close to the space heater in my office. Brakston also loves to dance, I think his cousin Grant told him what to over Thanksgiving because he dances just like Grant.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Holiday Season,

Heidi

Random thoughts....

2008-12-14T14:22:00.000-08:00

First, I still don't have pictures from the Gatlinburg trip. They are on Boomer's camera and we're in the process of switching computers so he hasn't uploaded anything, maybe after the holidays. Gatlinburg was a blast and my dad finally got to hold Brakston for the first time (Brakston had been scared of him). We had a lot of fun and tried many new restaurants and went to a petting zoo. Brakston loved the goats!!

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. We stayed in French Lick for two nights at the hotel and Brakston enjoyed swimming and spending time with all of his cousins in French Lick and Bedford.

We have been getting ready for Christmas around here. There's not a lot on the Christmas tree this year, Brakston likes to take off the ornaments he can reach, so we have a few up high. It makes for a funny looking tree.

We have started packing for Florida. We leave the day after Christmas and return on January 4th. We're going to Disney World, I can't wait. And, it's 70 degrees in Daytona right now, much nicer than here!!!

The pictures are from our latest photo session. Brakston did great!!

Happy Holidays

Gatlinburg bound!!

2008-11-06T06:50:00.000-08:00

Well, we're leaving in a few minutes for a trip to Gatlinburg with my parents. I'm exhausted already from packing. Boomer came home last night and packed in like 10 minutes, are you kidding me??? I've been packing stuff for hours. It's funny, we flew to Florida in May, but Brakston was still a baby then so toys took up less room, and we shipped his baby food and diapers down. It's crazy how much crap we have to take.

*fish cracker, check
*cheerios, check
*fruit snacks, check
*cereal bars, check
*bottle, check
*bottle brush and dish soap to clean the bottle (used only at night), check
*sippy cups, check
*diapers, and overnight diapers, check
*toys for the car, check
*toys for the room, check
*new portable DVD player that daddy just ordered, check
*new Thomas DVD, check
*clothes, lots of them in case of spills, check
*pajamas, two pairs, check
*pack n play, check
*sheets for pack n play, check
*glow seahorse, a must have if you want B to sleep, check
*new favorite stuffed dog, check
*jacket, sweatshirt, check, check
*Tylenol and motrin, just in case, check
*wipes, check
*batteries, check
*musical toy for car, check
*table toppers, check
*spoons, check
*puffs, check
*books, check

Anyone else tired from reading?? Now that he's a toddler, Brakston has quite the mind of his own, so his favorite things are a must to pack. For example, he's very into playing with cars, trucks, and trains, he's all boy!! Snacks are a must when we eat out so he has something to do until the food comes, he can sit at the dinner table for a long time, but, why chance it?

The picture of Brakston in one of two from Halloween. He just wasn't too into trick or treating on the square, maybe because there was like 1000 people there and it was crowded and hot. He did make the cutest lion. I'm glad we went to the zoo because it was so much fun.

Look for new pictures after we get back from the trip on Sunday. We hope to take my parents to our favorite petting zoo. B will love it.

Cutest Lion Ever!!!

2008-10-27T13:59:00.001-07:00

OK, so I might be biased, but, I think Brakston is the cutest lion ever!! We met cousin Grant and his parents, Bret and Erin, at Zoo Boo yesterday. Gramma (Penny) came along too. We had so much fun. Brakston really enjoyed riding on the train. He insisted on walking towards the end and refused to hold my hand, Mr. Independent. There was such a difference then when we took him to the zoo on Labor Day. He paid a lot more attention to the animals and while looking at the penguins, he kept signing "more" because they would swim by us so fast. It was too cute. We're going trick or treating downtown in Greencastle early on Friday and then Boomer and I are going out to dinner for his birthday without the little guy.

Happy 6 months home Brakston!!

2008-10-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

Today marks 6 months since we brought Brakston home, that doesn't even seem possible. I can't put into words how wonderful it's been and how blessed we are to have such a wonderful son. He has brought us so much joy and we love him so very much. The three of us spent the afternoon together at the Covered Bridge Festival. Brakston was great and enjoyed the nice day. When we were getting ready to leave, Boomer stopped to look at some cars and Brakston signed "please" and kept saying "please please please" and pointing to the cars and trucks so, he came home with three, two little trucks, and one monster truck. He's already got daddy wrapped around his finger.

My Babies.....

2008-10-06T11:47:00.001-07:00

Aren't they the cutest things ever??? Harley and Brakston are best buddies, they have so much fun together.

Check out Brakston's hair!! It's going to be trimmed on Friday, it's getting out of control!!

What a wonderful day....

2008-09-28T09:35:00.001-07:00

Before I begin, the first picture is proof that Brakston still makes the "crazy face" and the second picture is from his birthday party with Aunt Erin and Uncle Gordon back in July. (Boomer finally loaded his camera pics onto my computer)

Yesterday, Brakston and I went to Greenwood for his very first band contest. This was special to me, that's how I grew up, spending countless Saturdays going various places to contests, it was awesome as a child and I loved it. I didn't know how he would react, would he be scared, timid....no need to worry, he absolutely loved it and provided entertainment to everyone who was there. I took his walker with us, which used to be my nephew Aidan's (I bought it years ago at a garage sale for $2.00, Aidan loved it, and now we are using it until Noah is old enough) and he spent almost an hour chasing Aidan around the parking lot. Aidan was great with him, and tried to share the walker with him, but B would have none of that and when Aidan wouldn't let go, he growled at him (that's what happens when you spend a lot of time around dogs I guess). When it was close to the time of the performance, we went up in the stands. My mom was holding Brakston, who wouldn't stop dancing when the band started. I finally let him down to stand at the railing and the kid just went nuts. He danced and danced, making everyone around him laugh out loud. It look like a "booty" dance, as he held onto the railing and shook his butt for the whole world to see.

I cried, it was so perfect, which sounds a little silly to some I guess, but I loved seeing him be a part of something that defined who I am. Boomer calls me a "band geek" and I laugh. I loved every second of it, am proud of it, and miss it like crazy. It's forever a part of who I am and watching Brakston enjoy it was just the best feeling....He had so much fun yesterday and I loved watching him explore new things. I was reminded once again how God chose the perfect child for us.

I read other adoption blogs and it just seems so crazy to think that some of these babies aren't even home yet. Our recovery nurse is traveling this week to pick up her second son from Guatemala and he's one day older that Brakston, a day older, and still not home....I often wonder why we got so lucky.....Brakston is the love of our lives and I can't remember life without him. Someone asked me yesterday "how motherhood was treating me?" and I just found that to be a really odd question. Did she think my answer was going to be something other than "it's wonderful?" Yes, life is good here and Boomer better watch out, I think we have a future musician in the making..........

Where did my baby go?

2008-09-23T11:04:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness, who took my baby and replaced him with this crazy toddler????

You would never know today that he had the "snip snip" surgery yesterday. This kid has been into everything today, it's 2:20 and I'm exhausted, good thing Grams (Penny) is coming tonight. He has taken a great interest in my keyboard and does everything in his power to get to it, moving everything that I use to block it out of his way. He walks with his walker everywhere and hardly ever crawls. Now, he just needs to let go. As you can see, he loves his Harley, that poor dog takes a lot of abuse from B. Today Brakston threw my books from my bookshelf all to the floor, everyone that he could reach. He loves cassette tapes. I found some that I forgot to put in the garage sale and he has great fun opening them and closing them...whew we just had a tug-of-war as he's trying to move a storage container away from the computer so that he can reach the keyboard.

He now says "Cassey" for both dogs, we're still working on Harley. He says "no," "mom," "dad," (with a huge emphasis on the final D), "fish," "please," and "yes." He signs "more please" when he wants something. Using two signs together is a huge step, I've very proud of him for moving on to two-word phrases so quickly. (On average, typical children start using two-word phrases between 20 and 24 months) He signs "more" and/or "please" every time he wants something now, we just don't always know what he wants.

We've now been home over 5 months, that doesn't seem possible. He's such a blessing, but boy, I need a nap!!

Oh, the lion picture is us practicing for Halloween. He loved his costume.

New Pictures

2008-09-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

I finally got Brakston's one-year pictures taken. There was a 9.95 special at a place in Metropolis and I posted a few of the ones from the CD we received. The other pictures are from Brakston practicing his spoon skills at dinner last night. I guess I should have paid more attention to him, and less to cutting out my coupons.

For my wonderful husband....

2008-09-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from our first family trip to the zoo on Labor Day. Don't my men look cute!!

I just wanted to take a minute and blog about my wonderful husband. I was talking to my grandma this week and she said that she thought that parenthood and really "changed" LT. I disagree, I don't think it's changed him, I just think he shows his softer side more now that Brakston's here.

The reason for this blog is because LT and I had a conversation this week that really made me think. It was about a couple we know and how it seemed like the husband wasn't thinking of his wife's needs, or safety and I said "there's never been a single time that you haven't taken care of me" and I think my poor husband was absolutely speechless (amazing, I know)......but it's true. LT has this tough exterior,but inside, he's a "fixer." He wants to make everything right. I remember when I had to testify in court a couple of years ago and LT didn't like how my car sounded so he rented me a car for the day because I had to drive all the way to Martin County to the courthouse. When Morgan, our beloved white boxer, died right before my birthday two years ago, he searched the Internet until he found a black boxer puppy because he knew that I had always wanted one, and he drove to Missouri to get him (he told me he was taking our friend to pick up his Harley, which was true, and that's how Harley got his name) and he surprised me when he got home. He put up with me during Brakston's adoption process, he probably deserves a medal for that. He arranged a babysitter on my birthday without me knowing and we had our first dinner date without Brakston since we had come home from Guatemala. He decided a Mini Cooper was just too small for the three of us, and too hard to lug a baby around in, and bought me a new car (He now drives my truck). Most of all, he always, always, keeps me, now us, safe.

It's funny, when my mom met my dad in highschool, she decided that he was it, she found who she was going to marry, and that was that. That's exactly what I decided after my first date with LT. He was it, I knew it immediately. He was what I wanted, and I'm stubborn and usually get what I want. We had a couple of breakups, but I just knew.

I love life right now. I love watching him with Brakston. I love being a family of three.

It's amazing to me that LT and I met 11 years ago and will soon be celebrating our 9th wedding anniversay. Time goes by so fast. So, this blog is for my beloved husband. I'm pretty sure Brakston thinks he's great too. This morning when he got up, he signed "more" and then said "dad." I thought maybe it was a fluke, but at lunch today when I went to take his plate away, he signed "more," so I gave it back and he continued eating so I think this morning he really wanted more of his dad (LT usually gets him up, but since he was sick, I was at home and LT was already at work.)

Sick again!!

2008-09-04T13:10:00.001-07:00

We had a scary night last night. At 9:30 when I was putting a cranky Brakston to bed, I realized he was hot!! We took his temp and it was somewhere between 101 and 104 (those ear thermometers are worthless). I called out doctor at home, who's luckily a friend of ours, and after talking with him, Boomer went off to the store. I gave him Tylenol at 10:30 and then when I woke him up at 12:30 for the Motrin, the fever was gone and it stayed away, until this afternoon when it was back to 102. Ugh!! Brian told us to come in this morning at 9:00, which we did, and he has an upper resp. infection, but his ears looked good. Two weeks ago it was a double ear infection. It seems like as soon as the antibiotics were done, he was sick again. Oh the joys of daycare!! I hope when he wakes up the fever is back down. I made the mistake of not giving him any medicine after the doctor visit because his fever was back to normal. Guess that wasn't a good idea.

The pictures are from last weekend. We had dinner with Pops, Nana, and LT's stepsister Paula and her boyfriend Nick. Paula hadn't met Brakston yet. They got along very well as you can see from the photos. (Pops=Larry, Nana=Margie).

UPDATE: His temp is down again, thank goodness. Hopefully it stays that way.

One year ago today.........

2008-08-17T07:13:00.000-07:00

One year ago today, the day before my birthday, we received our referral of Brakston. Our coordinator worked all day to get the paperwork ready so she could call us before my birthday (it was on Saturday last year and the office is closed on the weekend). There's a part of me that can't believe it's been a year, but there's another part of me that feels like the year took forever. I did not realize until this summer, and even now as school has started and I'm back to work, just how depressed and unhappy I was last year. When Guatemala changed the laws mid-stream, there were a lot of days that I really didn't think Brakston would ever come home. The stress level was unbelievable and there were many days when I didn't get out of bed. I asked our psychologist friend why she didn't say something, and she said I wouldn't have believed at the time just how bad I really was.....I know she's right. I tried to pretend that everything was just fine, but inside, I was a wreck, and the funny thing, I didn't even tell Boomer how many bad things I had read on the internet, I just kept them to myself....I didn't want to stress him out too.

What a difference a year makes......I'm not even on blood pressure medicine anymore, and when I went to the doctor last week, it was 120/72, and that's with the start of school, Amazing what a baby can do. Since we were gone on vacation over his birthday, I've really taken some time the last few days, as the referral date came closer, to think about his birthmother, and thank and praise God that she made such a difficult and courageous decision to let someone else raise her baby, someone she didn't even know and would never meet. Brakston is the most precious gift in the world. I can't believe how happy he makes us, how much both Boomer and I smile now, and how much we love him. It seems like I waited a lifetime to become a mom, but the wait was so worth it. Life is good at the Taylor household.

So when you read this, say a prayer for Silvia, who was brave enough, and strong enough, to give up her son because she wanted a better life for him than she could provide.....I can't even imagine, but we're forever grateful.

Heidi

Brakston's new toy???

2008-08-14T16:01:00.000-07:00

Boomer wouldn't tell me where he was going yesterday. I knew he went to pick something up, but he wouldn't tell me what is was.....when I came home from school today, I saw two new arcarde games in the garage. The one the two of them are plaing is "Cruisin' USA.' Brakston and Boomer played it while on vacation and Brakston loved it. So, I don't know who the game is for, Boomer, or Brakston??? Either way, it's just too cute!! I have two such handsome men, I'm so lucky!!

We survived our first day of daycare!!

2008-08-11T14:51:00.001-07:00

I say "we" survived because it was hard on me too. I didn't want to leave him today. Since he didn't know what was going on, he didn't cry when we snuck out, but when I returned with his shoes 15 mintues later (who knew......it's a state regulation that they have to wear shoes over the age of 1), he was really crying, and he didn't even see me. He was SO excited when I picked him up at 3:00. I don't start work until Wednesday, but I have to move my office and I didn't want us both to start on the same day, so that's why he started today. I know tomorrow is going to be bad, he'll know what's going to happen. It's harder than I imagined. I just hope he'll understand that we're not leaving him too. He's been thru a lot, first he lost his birth mother, and then his foster family. I know he had to be scared today, and that just eats at me......but, I have to work, at least a little.

Here's a couple of pictures from his birthday party in French Lick last weekend, he had a good time, he's still scared of my dad, which is so awful, but I hope that if we make an effort to get down there more, he'll get used to him.

A day of firsts....

2008-08-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

Well, today Brakston made his first attempt at finger painting and I made my first attempt at a cake. I've posted pictures. As soon as I get Boomer to upload his pictures, I'll post pictures from vacation and Brakston's first birthday in Virginia Beach. He really, really loved his giant cupcake from Aunt Erin and Uncle Gordon. He did a really good job eating almost all of it!!

Happy 3 month anniversay Brakston!!

2008-07-16T10:10:00.001-07:00

Well, today marks 3 months since we've been home with Brakston, that's just unbelievable!! I posted some pictures of him "reading." (of course, the book is upside down) To celebrate, I got out one of my Language Scales that measures the abilities of children under the age of three. I'm happy to report that Brakston falls in the 15-18 month age range for Language Comprehension and Language Expression, not bad for someone that's getting ready to turn 1 and heard a completely different language the first 8 months of his lift. I guess our all day speech sessions are working (just kidding, but I do feel sorry for him, it seems like I'm always asking him to do something.)

Brakston now dances on command (a must see, it's just too cute) and signs "more" when he wants something, spontaneously. The other day I was getting him up from a nap, and he's signing more like crazy, turns out, he wanted a snack. He imitates every animal sound known to man and is starting to say them when I ask him "How does a ________ go." When he hears the dogs bark, he says "dog," or "woof." He can also sign "ball" now, but it looks a lot like "more."

It's been a wonderful 3 months, and I'm so happy that I've gotten to stay home this summer. I'm already dreading going back to school, but, at least it's only 3 days a week. The joy Brakston brings to our lives is amazing, I don't think I've ever seen Boomer smile so much. We are truly blessed beyond measure.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2008-07-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been busy the last week. We went out to my aunt's campground on the 4th of July and had dinner with KK, Joyce, Nona, and Joe. Brakston slept on the way home and then stayed up for the fireworks, which he watched for 30 minutes. He got scared twice, but otherwise, really enjoyed it. Of course, we did the redneck version of fireworks and pulled down the tailgate of the truck and watched them from our driveway. I took my camera to the campground, but forgot to take pictures. On Saturday the 5th, we went to a birthday party/reunion for Uncle Vick in Bedford. Brakston's cousin Grant really enjoyed Brakston's book (i.e., he kept trying to steal it away and Brakston would yell, it was quite funny). I again took my camera, and didn't take any pictures. I have to get better with the camera! On Monday this week, we went to a Lion's Club meeting at the fairgrounds, and I did take pictures this time. Brakston looks thrilled, doesn't he? Today during lunch, I asked Brakston if he wanted more tomato soup, and he immediately signed more with no assistance from me. I asked him later what a cat said, and he said, "meow." I was shocked. He probably gets really tired of having speech therapy all day long!! He even signed more for daddy at dinner, which is huge since he does all of this stuff with me and then refuses to do it in front of others. I think LT thought I was making it all up. I forgot to mention that on Sunday the 6th, we ate lunch out at LT's new store with Aunt Pammie. Brakston truly enjoys french fries.

Now we're trying to get ready for a garage sale on Saturday and then the fair starts on the 18th, and we leave for Virginia on the 26th. Brakston will be celebrating his first birthday with Aunt Erin and Uncle Gordon in Norfolk. We're looking forward to it.

First Hair Cut Pictures

2008-06-28T13:28:00.001-07:00

This is the crazy face (left side)!!

Melissa gave him a sucker for being so good!!

Here are the pictures of Brakston getting his hair cut today.

Happy 11 month Birthday Brakston....

2008-06-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

Today, Brakston is 11 months old and he had his first "official" hair cut this morning. (Before Aunt Erin's wedding, he had his sideburns trimmed, but today was a real, all over hair cut). I'll post pictures of it as soon as I can, my camera is being difficult at the moment.

I'm going to post some more pictures from the last two weeks until I can get the new ones up. He did amazing at the salon today. He never cried. My friend Melissa let him hold a comb the entire time and he just sat on my lap with a cape on and flirted with everyone. We had a whole group watching us, a former co-worker and her two girls and one of Melissa's friends who came in just to meet Brakston. Melissa gave him a sucker when he was done, I only let him have a taste before I threw it away (that didn't go over very well with him, of course).

Brakston can now say "mama" and he signed "more" for the first time last night. He is such an amazing little guy and we love him so much.

Happy Birthday Brakston!!

Help!!

2008-06-24T07:33:00.001-07:00

Can anyone tell me how to edit the pictures once I've got them on a blog post, I can't seem to rotate that one picture and it's bothering me. Any help would be appreciated!!

The Madness has begun.....

2008-06-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

Guess who has finally decided to crawl, finally!! Saturday night after we came home from a long trip to French Lick for a birthday party, Brakston decided it was a good time to crawl. He's still in the commando crawl stage, but it's getting better. He has already tried to dismantle the air conditioning vent in the living room and poor Harley's toys are no longer safe, although Harley has been very good about sharing. Here's some new pictures, Brakston can now sit in his jeep too. He loves to honk the horn!!

Our new Blog

2008-06-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

Well, after much peer pressure, (yes, you, Erin Hawkins), I am starting a blog. We'll see how this goes, I may need help from all of you who blog since I have no idea what I'm doing. Now everyone can keep up with all of Brakston's milestones without me bugging everyone with a long email. So, I'll try and post a pic and write something more interesting later.