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Kate is 8 months old

Becoming good buddies!

Standing up!

A Party Girl, A Superhero & A 7 month old

This weekend was MiniLaps, the biggest fundraiser of the year for Addison’s school, The Little Light House.  The theme was Happy Birthday, Little Light House, celebrating their 40^th birthday.  Addison was a “party girl,” and was so excited she ran her lap around the track this year.  It is amazing to see so many kids who have been through so much in their short little lives and who have been able to accomplish things that people said they’d never do.  They reached their goal of $325,000 in the last few hours before the event.  Thank you to everyone who donated to Addison’s efforts.  That money goes directly toward operation costs for the school.

We’ve had a few other things going on lately as well.  Austin had his first day of preschool  a few weeks ago.

 Austin turned 3!  We had a superhero/princess birthday party to celebrate.  All the boys wore capes & masks and ran around playing- all except Austin that is.  Of course, he wore his cape & mask around the house for a week before, but would not wear it at the party.  He was grumpy because he just wanted a cupcake.  Cupcakes make me happy, too, I guess.

Kate is now 7 months old and crawling.  She has her first cold, which isn’t fun for anybody, but even with that she’s still a relatively happy baby.

First Day of School, First Day of School

 So we’re a month in to our new setup.  Wes has fully embraced his new career & is doing a great job as Mr. Mom.  We’ve all enjoyed having him around more.  I think we both are gaining a greater appreciation for what each other does everyday. 

            Addison started school last week & is loving her new class!  She’s in Purple this year, where there is a heavy emphasis on teaching kids the things they’ll need to know in school- how to carry a tray, how to write their names, how to wait in line, take turns, etc.  When we pick her up in the afternoons, she tells us what she’s done that day, talks about her friends & answers our questions appropriately- progress even from the end of last year!  We’ve raised almost $2500 toward our goal of $10,000 for MiniLaps, & are constantly amazed at the generosity of family, friends & strangers alike.

            (last year's first day!)

Beach Bums & Baby Kate

Wow- where to begin?  We have been everywhere but Tulsa lately!  The kids and I spent some time in Waco while Wes went fly fishing & camping in the mountains of New Mexico, then we came home just long enough to unpack, do laundry & repack.  Then it was off to the beautiful beaches of Florida for a week.  Flying with 3 small children is a good way to draw attention in the airport.  You get lots of looks.  Some are the oh-what-cute-children looks, but many are the you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me-they’re-on-my-flight look or the better-you-than-me look.  All in all, we fared very well.  We did employ the services of the iPad a time or two, but we made it with no major meltdowns or drama.

Here are some highlights:

Kate's first food

chillin' on the beach 

Maybe the start of a bad habit, but the kids LOVED "pushing" BopBop in the water!

 Kate turned 6 months

Big Blue Eyes

MiniLaps, Here We Come!

Well, friends, it’s that time again.  I love Mini Laps because, not only is it an excuse to brag on Addison and all of her accomplishments, but I also get to tell everyone I know about The Little Light House and what a difference they’ve made in our lives.  This will be Addison’s last year at TLLH, as she will be going to Pre-K next year alongside typical kids her age.  While preparing for school is the ultimate goal of TLLH, it is bittersweet to think about this milestone for Addison.  Over the course of the last year, Addison’s speech has exploded.  It has been so fun to finally get a window into what is going through her little mind!  She has learned to spell her name and can recognize the first and last names of all the students in her class.  Her singing skills have also taken off lately, though I don’t think she’ll be making a career of it.  Her favorites include “Happy Birthday” (although, she doesn’t need a party to belt out this favorite) and “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story.  She is running, jumping, riding a scooter and even roller skating!  I don’t know that many people roller skate anymore, but she would have been well-prepared for childhood in the ‘80’s!

         As most of you are well-aware, The Little Light House develops an individualized plan for each student, including speech, physical & occupational therapies at no cost to families.  Though it costs roughly $26,000 per student per year to provide these services, the school chooses to receive no government funding or United Way support so that they can continue to be a Christian school.  Their Bible-based curriculum has actually been the foundation and model for several international schools for children with special needs.  The school is supported entirely through private donations and corporate donors.

Mini Laps is our chance to help TLLH raise some of that money. Each child will make one lap around the TLLH track to celebrate the accomplishments they’ve made over the last year.  Our job is to get sponsors for Addison’s lap to support this invaluable school.

A lot or a little, your money is going to a good cause for a very special girl. TLLH is a 501(C)(3) organization, so all contributions are tax deductible. If you’d like to donate, simply click here, or go to www.littlelighthouse.org, click Events, then Mini-Laps, and search for Addison Taylor. Thank you for supporting our little girl and her friends at this amazing school.

Five Months

Kate’s 5 months old!  We said early on that she seemed to have Austin’s features and Addison’s mannerisms.  We’re finding that statement to still hold true.  As Kate continues to grow and starts to do more, I’m reminded often of Addison as a baby.  She has started “talking” when she’s falling asleep or nursing sleepily.  Kate is constantly smiling & laughs a lot.  She laughs almost every time I change her clothes or give her kisses, when I squeeze her legs or tummy, and a lot of times when we just talk to her. There have been several times lately that I’ve thought how nice it is with #3 to not have to make certain decisions on how to do things- naps, feedings, sleep training, etc.  However, even though we’ve done this a couple times before, there are still new experiences and the same amazing wonder at her little life.  She sucks her thumb now when she’s hungry or sleepy, & it is one of the cutest things I think I’ve ever seen.  She sleeps- a lot- which is something I wasn’t aware that some babies actually do at this age!  She loves her brother & sister & gets plenty of entertainment sitting between them in the back seat. 

Addison & Austin are a great big sister & brother.  Austin often says in a high-pitched sing-songy voice, “Hi baby girl.”  And the other day I found Addison sitting on the floor by Kate, leaning down to her face & saying, “Aaaa-boo.”  Then she’d sit back up and do it again.  They both have been doing swim lessons this summer & have gone from choking when they went under to being able to pick up a dive stick off the bottom of the pool & bring it up.  It’s been incredible to watch & so fun to see their confidence grow!

Rollin' Right Along

We’ve had a lot going on at the Taylor house this month.  Kate has started rolling over both ways, though she’s a lot better at going from her back to her tummy.  I was lucky enough to have my camera right there when she rolled the first time, so I got a picture of the aftermath.  Okay, it was actually her second roll.  Her first was a few days before this in the middle of the night.  I had to go up and turn her back over so she’d go back to sleep.  No pictures of that one.    

 ERgent Care had a 4^th of July party for employees & families, so we got to go have hamburgers & hot dogs with them.  We would have had a great view of the fireworks on the river, but we have 3 small children who would not have been happy staying up until 10:30.  We decided there will be a day again that we actually get to go to a party and not leave early.  Just probably not for a while.

We went to Waco for the 4^th & hung out with family there.  It was too dry for fireworks, but we still managed to have a great time.  We did lots of swimming, eating, chatting and baby holding.  We went to visit Grandma at rehab.  (I should go back and change that sentence, but I’m leaving it because I think it’s funny.) She fell a few weeks ago & broke her hip, so she’s doing lots of PT to try to get back on her feet.  At 97½, I’m sure that’s more work than most of us could endure. 

And this weekend we have more family in town just because we can.  It’s been so fun for the kids to run around and play together.

Kate will be another month older next week, so I’m sure I’ll be posting again soon.  If it weren’t for those monthly pictures, I may never update this thing!