Monday, January 28, 2008

Brandy's Bloggy Designs!

My blog got a face lift! Isn't is amazing? It is all thanks to Brandy. She does amazing work and is so easy with. If you've been considering a bloggy makeover, visit her blog and I know she will do a wonderful job for you too! Thank you so much Brandy, I really appreciate you doing this!

Monday, January 21, 2008

Lipstick and Sickness...

Monday morning, I was in the bathroom getting ready for work. Normally during this time, Tayson likes to take EVERYTHING out off the cabinets and play! Well, it was time to feed him breakfast and I started to walk out of the bathroom, headed for the kitchen. He normally would just crawl right along with me, as he started to this time. However, by the time I got into the living room, he was no longer following me. I went ahead and went into the kitchen, thinking that he probably had just gotten distracted by something. (Man was I right!) From the kitchen, I started getting his cereal ready and yelling...Tayson...Tayson...come in here. After about 30 seconds, I thought, he must be up to something. I walked into my bathroom to find him with lipstick! He had it everywhere!!! On his face, on both hands, on his clothes, all over the tile, all over the bathroom wall and all over the carpet in mommy and daddy's room! I was really frustrated but at the same time, it was hilarious to see him with lipstick all over him! I ran and grabbed the camera to take pictures, but of course, the battery died right when I turned it on. So, needless to say, we have a redish tint of lipstick all over the carpet in our bedroom. I had no idea how to get this out of the carpet, so I called our carpet cleaner and he is coming today at noon to clean the carpets and hope that it comes up! Has this ever happened to any of you? Do you have any tips for how to get lipstick out of the carpet? I have a feeling that this is just the first of many stains to come!

On another note, I feel really guilty because I think that I jinxed Tayson when I wrote the post about him being one. In the post, I made reference to the fact that he has never been sick. I should've known better than to brag about that!! On Tuesday morning at about 1:30, he woke up, throwing up. I think he threw up 6 or 7 times. We went through 2 sets of sheets and 5 sets of PJs for Tayson and mommy before the morning finally rolled around. I stayed home with him on Tuesday and he seemed to be feeling a little bit better. Then, when I put him to bed on Tuesday night, it started all over again. So...I stayed home with him on Wednesday too! I think he is finally starting to get over whatever little bug he has been fighting, thank goodness!!! It is so horrible to watch your little one be so sick and not know what to do for them. When they can't keep anything down, it really makes it tough. We just prayed everyday for God to help him get better and take that darn bug out of his belly!

Friday, January 18, 2008

Things I want to remember about the BIG "1"

I have been thinking a lot lately about Tayson turning one and how fast this first year went by. It is so amazing to me how much he has grown and changed into the little guy that he is today. God is so wonderful for blessing us with him! I have made a list of things that I would like to remember about Tayson at his one year milestone. I know some of these things are rather boring but I wanted to put them down so that we can look back, years later, and remember this time!

1. You have 8 teeth, 4 on top and 4 on bottom!
2. You can't walk yet, but are an awesome crawler and can pull up on everything!
3. You can say kitty, kitty eeeeoooowwww (supposed to be Meow!), mama and babababa (we aren't quite sure what this is)
4. You are the happiest baby I have ever seen in my life. You NEVER cry and always have a HUGE smile on your face.
5. You have the most amazing blue eyes!
6. When you were born, you had a headful of dark, dark hair and now it is a blondish-brown color
7. You are such a mommy's boy and I LOVE IT!!!
8. You don't like to ride in the car unless we are listening to Baby Einstein CDs.
9. You love sweets and bread, just like your mommy! (Yes, I am guilty, I let my child try things that I am eating. I am not a nazi who thinks that children should only eat baby food and drink milk)
10. I am still nursing you! I never thought I would make it to 3 months, and look at us now!
11. You have never been sick! Once or twice you have woken up with a stopped up nose, but other than that, you have never had anything else! We are SOOOO very fortunate for this!
12. You love to stay with Grand and PaPa. They keep you everyday and next to mommy and daddy, they are your next favorite people!
13. I made your name up! It is a combination of Aunt Taylor and Aunt Ally's names. I didn't want you to have the exact same name as anyone else in our family but I wanted it to have some meaning. So...Tay (from Aunt Taylor) and son (from Aunt Allyson). Your middle name "Jac" is from daddy's sister...Jaclyn!
14. When I was pregnant with you, everyone on Grand's side of the family started a pool to guess which day you would be born. For $5.00 you could pick a day and time and whoever was the closest to your actual birthday and time, won the money! Guess who won? Grand (my mom).
15. You were due on January 27th. However, from the day I found out your due date, Grand told me that you would be born on the 15th. I never believed her but she thought because I was born 12 days early, you would be too! Man, was she right!!!
16. You LOVE electronics. Cell phones, cameras, laptops, computers, radios, etc. You have already broken PaPa's cell phone, my cell phone and Aunt Taylor's camera. I know we shouldn't have let you play with them, but we have a hard time telling you no!
17. You had surgery in Joplin, MO when you were 9 months old. You were born with a condition called hypospaedius and we had to have it repaired. You were such a champ! I think mommy cried a lot more than you did.
18. I know this one isn't a happy one at all but it is a fact. You attended 5 funerals/visitations in your first year of life. That is more than mommy had ever attended in her entire life, before this year. (Grandma June, Papa Roy, Erica, Randy Matthews and Uncle Justin Pinkley's Grandma)
19. You LOVE to take a bath.
20. You have always slept in the bed with daddy and I. We love having you in bed with us. People always tell me that I will regret this but right now, I'm loving it!
21. You have only spent the night away from me one time. One night daddy and I had to go somewhere and I let you stay with Grand and Papa all night. Don't worry though, I was there to get you at 7:30 the next morning.
22. You love to go on walks! We do this any time we have a chance and it is warm enough outside.
23. You LOVE Gymboree and all of the kids in your class. It is primarily boys, but you love just being there and playing.
24. You LOVE to listen to music. You are constantly trying to get daddy and I to turn on the radio in your room so that you can listen to your "If your happy and you know it" CD
25. You went on your first long road trip when you were 4 months old. We drove with Grand, Aunt Ally and Katie to Michigan to see RJ graduate from College.
26. You are the 5th generation on PaPa's side of the family. You actually have a Great, Great Grandma.
27. You were born on Martin Luther King, Jr. day. I know it has nothing to do with the holiday, but mommy thought this was neat because my maiden name is Martin.

I know there are so many other things that I would like for Tayson to know/remember about himself right now, but this is all I can think of right now. I hope I didn't bore you to death!

Monday, January 14, 2008

Taysons 1st Birthday Party!!!

Tayson's 1st birthday was a huge success!!! All of the fun started on Thursday night, when Aunt Jaclyn flew in from Atlanta. We went to pick her up and Tayson was so excited to have someone staying at our house with us. So excited, in fact, that he wouldn't go to bed! Don't you just love when they get off their normal routine, it seems like it takes forever to get them back on track!

On Friday, Aunt Jac watched Tayson while I worked. She took him to Toys R Us and Mondays Child. I think he loved getting to spend time with her because we only get to see her every three or four months. Then, they came and met me and we went to lunch with Justin's Aunt, Sally. Sally doesn't have any kids of her own so she tends to contribute to the spoiling! She bought Tayson LOTS of clothes, that I didn't even know they made for babies! Brands like True Religion, Joes Jeans, Burberry, Paul Frank, Juicy Couture, Ugg, etc. I am extremely appreciative and know that Tayson is so blessed to have so many people that love and care about him! I know that he will look like a little stud when we are out in public and he is wearing his designer clothes and mommy has on her Target shirt! ha ha...

On Friday night, Aunt Taylor came over and helped us get ready for the big party. We just hung out at home and put up decorations and waited for my best friend, Jessica, to get here from Dallas.

Saturday morning, Jessica and I took Tayson to Gymboree. Tayson and I go every Saturday but this was the first time that Jessica has gotten to come along and watch Tayson. She had so much fun watching him interact with all of the other babies in his class.


After Gymboree, we went and picked up the cake and balloons and got ready for everyone to come over! We had his party at our house. We had probably between 35 and 40 of our family and closest friends come over for dinner and help Tayson celebrate! Tayson loved having everyone around and trying to keep up with all of the other kids. He also LOVED his smash cake! My bathtub was all different colors by the time we got him cleaned up. He got lots of fun toys, including a mini 4-wheeler to ride around inside, a HUGE rocking fish (perfect for a bass fishermans son!) and a power dump truck. We have had LOTS of fun riding these around the house! Here are some pictures from the party, in no particular order...

























Tuesday was Tayson's actual birthday so I took the day off work. We went to lunch with Aunt Taylor, Grandma and Papa.

After that, we went and hung out with Aunt Taylor because she too, had taken the day off for Tayson's birthday. Tuesday night, everyone went to Chuck E. Cheese. Tayson LOVES Chuck E's!!! He has so much fun watching all of the little characters on stage and riding the rides for babies! All in all, I think this little Prince had a wonderful birthday and I just can't thank everyone enough for going above and beyond to make this such a special day!!! Here are some pics from our night at Chuck E. Cheese...




Friday, January 11, 2008

On the 8th, 9th and 10th days of birthday...

I know, I missed a few days but I have been busy trying to get ready for the big party! I know I say it in every post, but I cannot believe that my baby is going to be one on Tuesday. There are not words to describe how blessed I am to have him in my life. When I found out I was pregnant, I was upset initially because I am a big planner and this was a suprise! However, I know that God has a plan for all of us, and this was definitely the plan for us! Now looking back, I can't imagine my life without Tayson and I really can't figure out what I did with all of my time then.

Back to the days of birthday...on the 8th day of birthday, Tayson got this really cute photo album that says "Our Little Prince" on it. We fill up photo albums so quickly that it is always great to get a new one!

On the 9th day of birthday, Tayson got another new hat with matching mittens. It is red, gray and black striped. I haven't taken a picture of this yet!

On the 10th day of birthday, Tayson got a really cute black fleece outfit. It is pants and a pull over. It is a little bit too big right now so I don't have a picture of this yet either!

His birthday party is tomorrow and we have been trying to get him ready for it. Since the theme is "The Prince is turning one" I ordered a throne for him to sit in and a personalized crown. He loves to sit in the throne (for about 10 seconds) but he isn't too crazy about the crown! Here are some pictures that I took of him!

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

On the 7th day of birthday, grandma and papa gave to me...

Another thermal onezie and a pair of Target's version of Robeez. My mom saw these online at Target.com and decided that since they were half the price of Robeez, we might as well try them and see if they fit like Robeez. They are size 12-18 months so they are a little bit too big right now, but as soon as they fit we will try them out and see what we think!

I think I am seeing a trend between the Robeez and matching onezie! I have a feeling that it is about to change...



Tayson will be one a week from today! I think I am growing more and more upset as the days pass!!! When he was born, this day seemed so far away and now it is within a week...Where does all the time go?

Friday, January 4, 2008

The 15 days of Birthday!

Okay...so, I know it is a little cheesy but I always sing to Tayson. I am constantly making up songs about things we are doing, or places we are driving to...just whatever! Am I the only mommy that does this? Sometimes I worry, what if someone were to hear us, they would think I was a complete nut!!! Anyways...my mom and dad decided that for Tayson's birthday they were going to start on January 1st and give him a gift, everyday, up until his birthday on the 15th! So, again, I have made this into a song everyday, to the tune of "The 12 days of Christmas." My song is not nearly as good, but Tayson seems to like it!

On the 1st day of birthday, Tayson got a new pair of mittens! (He wasn't very happy that I made him model them! I grew up with 2 little sisters so Justin keeps having to remind me that Tayson doesn't like to play dress up!)

On the 2nd day of birthday, he got the hat that matched his mittens! Here he is modeling them in his PJs...

On the 3rd day of birthday, he got this really cute t-shirt that says "Birthday Boy!"
I haven't taken his picture in this shirt yet, but I will!!!

On the 4th day of birthday, he got a new pair of black Robeez! (On a side note, for all of you moms out there, if you have not tried Robeez, you must! They are absolutely the best invention ever! Tayson has really round little feet and I cannot get shoes on him for anything! However, I can get Robeez on without any problem, and he can't get them off!!! It is no exageration to say that I bet we have AT LEAST 20 pairs of them! We love them!!!)

These are the same style as the ones he got, but his are solid black!


On the 5th day of birthday, he got a thermal onezie and another pair of Robeez that have a giraffe on them!!!

On the 6th day of birthday, he got a personalized piggy bank that says Prince on it! It is so cute!


I will TRY and update the blog everyday throughout the 15 days of birthday, so check back to see what he gets!!!