Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Happy Fathers, Birth, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, 4th of July etc.etc. Day to Jordan :)

Because, Jordan got a new camera :) A way expensive one, of course (hence the reason it provides a gift for him for all of the holidays combined until the end of his life, haha! jk honey :) but a really good one.

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The Canon 50D. Then he had to get lenses. Yeah, those are pricey!!

But you shall see the fruits of his expenditures (I mean, "labors") very soon when we post pictures he has taken at the cabin next week :) He is definitely teaching himself a LOT about photography and has gotten really good! And I have vowed to get better at Photoshop so I can help him polish the pictures he takes.

He has been so funny with this camera, like a kid in a candy store. Sure love you honey. You are so talented, and I'm so glad you put those talents and abilities to use!! You dabble in SOOOOOO many things, but I wouldn't have it any other way!! (Except for the time you dabbled in World of Warcraft...could've done w/out that, haha)


I mean, really, these things can be so technical I want to shoot myself when he talks about all the zooming and autofocusing and millimeters, so I'm just happy he's the one doing the research and working the camera! (but he wants to shoot himself when I talk about the latest celebrity scandal, so...)


ps. Sorry that on Father's Day I didn't do breakfast in bed or (apparently) wish you Happy Father's Day or do really "anything" for you...does this post make up for it?? I love you, OK?

Eclipse!

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SO, I have to say it feels GREAT to have your name drawn when you enter to win ANYTHING...and that's exactly what happened a couple of weeks ago at Kneaders (only the BEST bakery EVER...the french toast breakfast...there is no comparison...) for tickets to see Eclipse.

Jordan couldn't go, so I HAD to ask one of my bestest buds, Natalie...especially since TODAY is her bday! Kneaders rented out a theater and they had popcorn and sodas for all of us. It was a fun time, even if both of us preggers needed to pee through the whole movie, we made it through...

Thought the movie was great actually!! It was definitely of a higher calibur than the first two (esp. since the second book was a total snooze..... and the third (Eclipse) was probably my fave) and it had a good combination of action, romance, etc. etc. Romance was a little cheesy, like all chick flicks, but you gotta have some cheese in your life, right?? Makeup was a lot better, action was really good, and Bella didn't bug the heck out of me like she did in the last movie.
Has the dad...Carlisle....always had that weird almost English accent? Maybe I didn't notice it in the first two films. Who knows....

Monday, June 21, 2010

Update Update Update... of Claire, of Course!

I have to say, it's hard to just take pictures of Claire. She is just so fun and so talkative, I want to take video ALL the time! Caution: SUPER long post... seems like I've been doing huge not-as-frequent posts lately...ahhhh....

Here's a little summary of some funny things she's been doing lately:






And here's her first time at the McDonald's play area:






And finally, here she is on this makeshift "slide" Jordan devised in our living room one day (it's a shelf). She had a BLAST.






Other funny things she's been doing:

* Lots of times when we wake Jordan up for work (since he sleeps during the day), it's hilarious because she insists that he put on his "whap-tee" first thing. Those are his "glasses." Haha! It's like he isn't Daddy unless he has his glasses on, so she'll keep saying "whaptee, whaptee, whaptee" until he concedes.

* Claire is a master of animal sounds. In fact, the other day, I'm on speaker phone with my mom and she won't say "hi" to Grandma, but when I ask her what a tiger says, she has no problem growling for Grandma. It was really funny. She also growls for bear and lion. She calls Elephant "Ellie" and does the "sssss" sound for snakes (which she LOVES to see at the zoo!). She also of course, continues to make the appropriate sounds for pigs, cows, ducks, horses, sheep, and birds. Grandpa Taylor also thinks it's fun to get her to say "baboon." She says it so cute :)

* Claire loves reading books. Seriously, I want to get more books just because I AM so sick of them!! She gets upset when we're done reading books and need to brush her teeth.

* When I put her to bed, I sing her a couple of songs... if she's upset about the fact we aren't reading books still, "Baby Beluga" and "Going to the Zoo" songs (Raffi) totally make her happy :)

* Every night we say prayers. That also always makes her happy if she's upset about going to bed. I sit beside her crib, put my hand through the bars, and hold her hand. She repeats a lot of the things I pray for, like "thank thee for grandma and grandpa, mama and daddy, Jesus, etc." She is soooooo cute.

* Jordan taught her to say "uh-oh" when she drops something. Now, she says it all the time, and it's ADORABLE. She'll repeat it over and over again until she can pick it up or someone picks it up for her.

* Jordan also taught her what it "sounds like" when you go nigh-night :) She now is a pro at making SNORING noises!! It's so funny. I'll have to get that one on video--and uh oh too!

The beginning of the terrible 2's:

So, apparently, they begin at 15 months, according to my Toddler 411 book. Good thing...I thought Claire was just jumping the gun!!

* Notice how I said "if she's upset" at like every transition point in her routine? Haha... yeah, kids this age have a hard time with transitions. It's a fact, and Claire is definitely no stranger to it :)

* It's tantrums a plenty at our house... she freaks out when I put her pants on--pants, skirts, shorts, etc. Even when I give her options, like they say in Love & Logic. Any suggestions?

* Things she used to eat...well, it just depends on the day!

* Playing with other kids...she's still trying to get the sharing thing down. When a kid is smaller than she is, she bullies them, and when that kid is bigger, they generally bully her. Guess it's the age!

* Claire used to like to brush her teeth...now it's like I have to pry her mouth open! Ah! But you know, it's just one of those non-negotiable things!

Well, I needed to record her "terrible" behavior so I have her gratitude one day for putting up with it, haha...jk. Just keepin' it real!!

She really is SUCH a sweetie though...despite any tantrums or "bad" behavior...she is loved 100% and every time we say prayers at night, I just can't help but think about how grateful I am for her.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Creamy Yogurt Chicken

Had some chicken, some plain yogurt, and yadda yadda yadda...found this GREAT recipe. I have to say, this was pretty delicious!

Creamy Yogurt Chicken

□ 4 chicken split breasts, skinned (or I think 6 or 7 regular 1/2 lb. chicken breasts work!)
□ 4 tbsp. butter
□ 1/2 c. chopped onion
□ 1/2 c. chopped celery
□ 2 tbsp. cornstarch
□ 1 c. chicken broth
□ 1 c. low fat yogurt
□ 1/2 c. white cooking wine
□ 2 tbsp. lemon juice
□ Coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
□ 1 c. sliced fresh mushrooms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a shallow baking dish; place chicken breasts in the pan. Bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, over low heat, saute the onion and celery until tender in the remaining butter in a saucepan.

Dissolve cornstarch in chicken broth and add to sauteed mix, stirring until thickened. Add yogurt, wine, lemon juice and pepper, stirring until blended. Remove pan from oven. Turn each chicken breast and cover with sliced mushrooms. Pour sauce over all.

Bake, uncovered, for another 30 minutes or until chicken is done. Makes 4 servings.

Note: The chicken breasts I used were pretty thin, so I only baked them for 20 minutes, and then after pouring the sauce over them, another 10 minutes. I don't like overcooked chicken! I also found I had TONS of sauce (I did 4 regular chicken breasts) and that it went GREAT over some delicious basmati rice! Yummmmmmm.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

AND more....

OK, and here are some photos of just our family....and the CUTEST one ever of Claire with Grandma and Grandpa :)

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Um, love Claire's legs sticking out in this picture, haha!

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Claire's dress is SO CUTE!! (Thanks Chloe and Lauren, for passing it down!!)

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All I have to say is ANGEL FACE!!! Too bad she doesn't ACT that way all the time, haha, but she is a cutie. Very cute with Grandma and Grandpa, I must say :)

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Claire's position of choice during the shoot :)

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Playing peekaboo. So cute :)

More Photoshoot...how about the reason we got together?

This is the reason we had family pictures :) The lovebirds, Jessica and Joe :)

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Joe is half polynesian (Samoan), so they did a pretty traditional polynesian reception, wearing the flowers and everything!

Taylors Come To Town! (Photoshoot!)

At least, the rest of them! Jessica, my little sister-in-law (I say little because when I met her she was 13 and has been frozen in my mind at that age, of course!!) and her fiancee, Joe, decided to ELOPE in Vegas a few weeks ago! SO, good for us, Jordan's sister, Camille, and brother, Ben, HAD to come to town for the reception :) But, first, we had a nice little family photoshoot with the amazing photographer we had do our little family pictures in October, my friend Jodi (http://www.ayummylife.com/).

She did a fantastic job, as usual! Here are some of the best shots--SOME because there were so many good ones, it would fill up the blog entirely if I didn't edit! I look a little on the "chubby" side, I'll be honest, but I expected that, being 5 months pregnant! Oh well!! But I think they turned out great :)

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I think this one turned out the BEST of the entire fam!
Left to right (top row): Joe, Jessica, Katie, Camille, Ben, Janessa, Jordan
Left to right (bottom row): Lenore, Claire, Dan

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But these are just fun :)

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Claire was laying on the sofa like that on her own accord...she kept climbing up on it and laying there--mostly with her head turned the other way so she could look through the little gap in the back of the sofa! As you can see, she is sooooo spoiled. We all kinda love her :)

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LOVE Joe's smile in this one, haha!

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The siblings!

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They wanted to take one with Claire, but she protested, and Grandpa had to save her :)


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I think this is the CUTEST picture EVER. My little sisters!! (I can say that bc I'm older than all three of them :)


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The BOYS.

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Giving the new in-law a hard time :)

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The GIRLS!

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Too many pictures to put in one post!! More to come!! Glad I married into a family of such hotties!