Sledding Weather!

Finally we got some snow that lasted the whole day instead of just the morning :)  So we decided to find a hill and do it!  We found one in Herriman.  It was the perfect size!


Daddy and Anya


Claire and me


Anya was loving the snow!


She actually spent a lot of time on the ground like this, digging in the snow. It was cute :)


You like all the color combinations going on in her outfit?  Haha


The view from the hill.  There's Anya! It's getting darker at this point...


Claire and me


Edited this one lighter that's for sure! Haha  Claire is such a goof. She was having the time of her life!!!


Daddy and Anya


This was Claire's first descent.  She was a little nervous I guess--didn't know that until I saw this picture though because she didn't show it!  Later she even went down all by herself!!




Little cutie.


More little cutie.


Claire wasn't exactly "posey" that day.  There are a lot of pictures of Anya!


It was a fun day.  We lasted about 40 minutes but it was perfect!

Update on the Crazies...

So, this is how pathetic I am lately.  Anya JUST HAD her 12-month appt. She is almost 16 months.  And then I forgot the little packet thing that has the charts on it that says what her percentiles are, but I'm totally off anyway, since I don't have a 12-month stats thing.  This is a 16-month one.  Anyway:

Weight:  50th percentile
Height:  70th percentile

Can't remember the head, or the actual weight and height, but she's pretty normal.  But yeah, pretty tall for her weight I guess!  So annoying when it comes to her fitting into pants, but Claire was even skinnier so it is easier at least with Anya.

Here are some fun recent pics from my phone, so they're all crappy, let's be honest:

 The little couch potatoes at my in-laws.  I think they both of cups with ice chips in them.  Watching Dora, most-likely!

 Lipstick.  She just can't get enough of it.  And can't get it on her lips, for that matter.

Anya just being a cutie in her jacket.

Claire's favorite outfit, courtesy of Grandma & Grandpa Gollaher for Christmas.  She wears it almost every day.

Claireisms...

-Around Christmas time, we loved talking about Baby Jesus.  One night, during prayers, Claire was like, "Thank thee for Baby Jesus and Big Jesus too."
-Jordan likes to make shakes for the girls in the morning.  Claire wasn't really drinking hers and said, "Mom, you want mine?  Apparently, I don't want mine, so you can have it."

 -Going to get Anya from her nap (Claire likes to go up first a lot of times, to say hi to her, before I have the chance to go get her).  Claire says, as she's going up the stairs:  "No no, ghosts, you can't get me. I'm going to rescue Princess Anya, and you will leave me!"
-"Claire, what's your baby's name?"  Her answer:  "Baby Kern-pops"  Then she changed her mind:  "Baby Krispy."  Then she later said, "Baby Anya."
-In the car with Grandma Taylor:  "Grandma, I don't see your hands driving!  The car's just driving by itself!"
-Family Home Evening with Claire.... we did a lesson on the Holy Ghost, and I was supposed to put little objects into a sock for her to feel, describe, and not tell us what they are...because you feel the Holy Ghost, but can't see it. Anyway, she had a hard time not pulling the object out, and an even harder time finding words to describe things.  We'd have to say, "Is it hard or soft?"  "Is it scratchy or smooth?"  "Is it cold or hot?"  Etc.  Anyway, when I put a plastic bracelet in there, she finally said, "It's soft and braceletey!!!"  Nice.

 -Jordan was talking to Claire the other day, and said, "You know I just love you so much?"  And Claire said, "Yes, Dada."  And he said, "How does that make you feel?" And she said, "It makes me feel happy in the temple of my heart."  How sweet is THAT???
-"Dada, you're scratchy. You should shave yourself."
-"Hey, Claire, can you sing your ABC's still?"  It had been a while since she'd sung that song.  She says, "No, my brain doesn't work."  I said, "Where did THAT come from?"  She said, "The toy box."  Random.
-Claire likes to protect me from things.  She said the other day, "Mommy, I'll protect you from the dinosaurs.  They are afraid of me because I am naughty to them."

-Claire likes to sleep with her furry rice pad...this time she was feeling "sick" (who knows if this is reality??) and put it on her head :)

 -Of course, with my in-laws across the street, I say the word "in-laws" all the time with people. Claire the other day was like, " Are we going to my in-laws??"
-OK, so with Claire's latest eyebrow stitching episode, the other day, she was jumping on the couch at Grandma and Grandpa Taylor's house, and Grandpa was telling her to stop because he was worried she would fall and hurt herself.  She looked at him and very matter-of-factly said, "It's OK Grandpa. I cover my eyebrow."
-Claire likes to hold my hand when we cross the street or parking lot...so "I--not she--will not fall down or get hit by a car."  She protects me always.

-This is how Claire sleeps nowadays.  I LOVE IT!!  It's so cute how she puts her hands up to her cheek.  Hard to see, but there's drool too lol.

-Wearing my sports bra.  That's how she thinks she should put it on.  I'm OK with that.  She's three.

-The little monkeys being silly in the tub!

 -So this is funny.  I have Claire some butterscotch pudding.  She said, "Mommy.  This pudding makes me SO HAPPY!! I LOVE IT!"  I give a spoonful to Anya and right away it's as if I gave her arsenic.  She was gagging...in a scary way.  Guess she doesn't like pudding??  Does the same thing with frosting and whipped cream.  She is SO NOT my daughter lol!


Anyaisms...

-Anya likes to walk around with fish lips.  Too bad I haven't gotten a picture yet! It's so cute!
-We read a book about what babies say, and the only page in which she says anything is on the page where the baby is being naughty and she says "uh oh!"
-Anya loves saying "ouchie"
-The other day, we went to get a "baba" for her and as I opened the cupboard for the Quik, she said "I need coklate."  It was so cute.  She's obsessed with chocolate milk.  Claire is too. They have it every morning for breakfast :)

-Caught in the ACT!! I HATE IT when she pulls bows off the ribbons hanging in her bedroom!!  Worst idea ever to hang the bows...
-Anya does animal sounds.  She can do the duck, tiger (she's the best at the growling of course), and the cow (she says "mmmmm" for "moo" though)
-If Anya has anything in her mouth (food) and you offer her something different to eat that...well... MUST look better... she promptly unloads the food from her mouth all over herself so she'll have room for what you have to offer.  It's so awful!!

-More couch potato moments :)

-Anya absolutely LOVES giving "loves" to anyone and everyone.  Especially her big sis.  She does this by laying on top of her like so :)  In church she goes over and nuzzles her head in the chests of little babies, etc. to give them loves.  It's so cute...and a little scary when the babies cry lol.

-She's just a cutie.  What can I say? We just love our little Anya-poo around here :)  But I shouldn't call her Anya-poo because Claire likes to turn that one into a potty language excuse.  It starts going from Anya-poo to Anya poop to Anya poopie and giggles and giggles.  It's bad.

Until next time!

Resolutions...Just putting these out there for all to see

This way, I will be more inclined to do them??

1.  100% visiting teaching.
2.  BofM reading DAILY.  No exceptions.
3.  Gym three times a week.
4.  Fit into skinny jeans (yes, you know who you are, skinny jeans....)
5.  Stop procrastinating laundry.
6.  Temple attendance once a month.

OK, there you have it.  I've said it.  Did visiting teaching this month already. I figure that if I just stress over it from the get-go instead of at the end of the month, by the end of the month, I should have done it already haha!

Birthday for Like 2 WEEKS...

FIRST she gets utterly SPOILED for Christmas (and don't look at me.  I blame my in-laws...love you guys haha) and THEN her birthday is RIGHT AFTER Christmas.  Awful.  What was I thinking when I got pregnant in whatever month made me have her in January???  Seriously.  POOR PLANNING.

Anyway, I don't have any pictures of her actual birthday...maybe there are some on Jordan's camera, but we did celebrate it for many days.  She now has no concept that a birthday is just one day a year, really.  It happened on a Saturday, but we celebrated on Friday (sleepover at Grandma Taylors - pictures below), and Sunday dinner for her birthday too.  But anyway, here are some pictures of her being pampered for her birthday by my sisters in law, Katie and Jessica on Friday for her special night at Grandma's house:

 Absolutely Claire's favorite activity.  Getting her nails painted.  She also likes to pick the nail polish off afterwards, which makes mommy....oh so happy...

 A princess cake, of course.

 More pampering!

 Jess, why are these pictures so blurry? I thought you were a professional photo-taker?? :)  It's not like my kids MOVE or anything lol.

 As you can see, she is wearing her favorite outfit. The "Princess Ballerina" one from my parents this Christmas.

This is my favorite picture.  Seriously so cute!

Happy Birthday my Sweetheart!!!!

Yep, just posting Christmas

So, here are some Christmas morning pictures.  Glad church was still at 1.  9am church is....SO FUN. :)  And probably not awesome on Christmas.  Although I have to say, it was SO NICE to go to church on Christmas.  The whole Christmas season I was trying to pound into (gently of course :) the girls' heads that Christmas was celebrating "Jesus' birthday" and that it was about Jesus really, and that Santa and presents were just an "added bonus" :)  I wish we could go to church every Christmas actually.

Some fun pics:

 The cutest husband in the world.  Filming the event.

 Look at that little cutie!! In princess jammies, of COURSE.

 These are the gifts for us, the kids, and a couple in the back for Jordan's parents.  That's it!  Not too much!

The tree. I added the cool white netting.  These are lame pictures. I didn't do any editing. I'm too busy!

 I think Claire now has more makeup, nail polish, and lip gloss than all 2 year olds around the world COMBINED.  Seriously.  It was bad at Christmas, and then again for her birthday. Sheesh.

 Anya got like 2 things.  It was fun :) Cute jammies too!

So we decided to start doing just one present from Santa and it's always wrapped in red paper.  That'll be the tradition, I guess.

Jordan got "Carmex" for Christmas from Santa.  Yep, that's it.  We figured..."oh yeah, maybe Santa should get something for Mom and Dad too!" Problem is, Claire remembers we bought it for Jordan one day at Target, for Christmas.  Good thing she's still young and "out of it" :)  haha

I also got Jordan a new white shirt and some ties.  Problem is I let Claire help me wrap it.  She promptly told Daddy what it was "It's just a shirt and ties, Dad." He was like "She's worse than YOU honey, and that's hard!"  Sad :)

Anyway, then my parents came out a couple of weeks ago and they gave us the most AWESOME gift!!!  I hope I can do this for my kids one day.  They gave us a book on Temple worship and a check for $100.  This check is to be used to go to dinner, pay for a babysitter, and go to the temple.  They hope we can go to the temple monthly, and use the money when we go.  When it runs out, we can just ask them to send us another $100, and so on until the end of the year.  Sweet, eh???  We wanted to go on Saturday, and I was even thinking "Man, nothing has gotten in the way of the temple!  This is a first!"  Then Claire woke up at 3am Saturday morning and threw up.  Diarrhea the rest of the day.  We cancelled the sitter and have rescheduled...

And here is our door this year.  It as so nice to hear from so many of our friends and family!!

Did some Christmas Crafts this year:

 Jordan was a little upset I hacked a limb off our tree without any "correct pruning" experience lol... but it was for a good cause!

Crappy picture (these are from my phone let's be honest) but did a copycat wreath of one at Target that was so cute, but so pricey.  My awesome friend, Jacqui, got me these pine cones for FREE!!  Spray them silver, add some berries, and they're good to go!

Made new stockings this year.  They turned out SO CUTE!! Just don't look at the mistakes :)

My kitchen ledge :)

I was into a silver and white-only theme this year.  Boring, I know!

OK, well that's it for now!  Onto the next post!

Merry Christmas 2011

Here is our Christmas letter and card from this year:

 Dear Family and Friends, You know, my friends all make fun of me for writing a Christmas Letter every year. They say, "That's what my 80-year old Grandma does!" Well, I'm pushing 32, so I figure I'm practically a grandma, so, I'm just going to keep on writing these... This year has been a busy one but a great one as well. Jordan is currently working full-time still at ICU Medical. He is also going to school. He has a math class. That means I'm a single parent. Good thing for foreign language taking the place of my math requirements in college! The homework is insane! But he has done really well because unlike me, he has a left brain that actually works. Jordan is enjoying what he is learning and it's great that he is on his way to doing something he is really passionate about (Computer Engineering). Jordan also loves taking pictures with his fancy camera, and we have done quite a bit of that this year--pictures of friends' families, our kids, and our extended family. He is so good at it. We make a good team because he snaps and I Photoshop. Jordan is also teaching Sunday School to the youth and has a great group of kids.

I'm just going to write about myself in the first person. I've decided to be not-so-formal this year (maybe because I really don't want to sound like a "grandma" yet?), and let's be honest--you know it's the wife doing the Christmas letter. If it were up to my husband, there wouldn't even be a card. So when it comes to writing about myself, I am always stumped. Um, I change diapers, try to keep my kids happy, do laundry and clean the house all day. Throw in some Chick-fil-a and a trip to Walmart and you have my life. But I guess I also keep my sanity with doing all the homemakerish things like crafts, sewing, and i have also been doing some graphic design work for friends. I finished my fourth year of teaching Gospel Doctrine, and keep telling the Bishop I never want to be released. So far, it's working! It really is the best calling in the world. 

OK let's talk about the crazies now. Claire will be 3 in January, and is such a cutie. She talks a blue streak and it's hilarious to hear what she comes up with. she is obsessed with "sparkly" nail polish, lip gloss, clippies for her hair, and princesses. Help. She's also starting to wanting to do everything herself. Double help. But she sure is a sweetheart. We just love all of antics and the comic relief she can provide to any situation! Claire has also proven to be extremely accident prone. She has now gotten stitches 4 times in her life, including 2 times just this year within weeks of each other. She now sports scars in: The palm of her hand, BOTH eyebrows, and the side of her head. I seriously have PTSD every time she falls or hits her head...I automatically dread seeming some kind of ER-appropriate welt. But she takes it in stride and even says she wants to "be a doctor to help fix people and kids" one day.

 Anya (a.k.a, "Baby Sister") is now 15 months and very very busy! I can't get anything done while she's awake--at least not without her sticking her hands in the toilet, unrolling the toilet paper roll, taking ornaments off the tree, or emptying bookcases. Good thing she's cute. She loves doing everything Claire does but definitely has her own personality--and a strong one! Anya says Mama, Dada, story, and Dora. Yeah, sounds like we watch a lot of a certain TV show around here. In fact, one time Anya called out both Mama and Dada after a nap...and when we didn't come, she started calling for Dora. She is just a little cutie an dis happiest when she has a bottle of chocolate milk in her mouth and when she and Claire play the "slamming doors" game (yikes!)

 Well, that concludes the news! Thank you so much for your love and friendship. We appreciate you and wish you the best this coming year. May the birth of our Savior be at the forefront of this season as we strive to learn of Him and live His teachings.

 Merry Christmas,
 Jordan, Janessa, Claire, & Anya Taylor

New Family Pics

It has been so long!!! I've been busy. But not too busy to document our life in pictures, right??? The incredible Jodi, from A Yummy Life Photography did a session with us, and the pictures are perfect!! (but if only Anya would smile!! Good thing we've gotten some nice pics of her in the past...smiling) Claire on the other hand was a total HAM :) Thanks Jodi!