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!

Halloween 2011

So... a quick post about Halloween.  Claire was a Fairy Princess.  It took her a while to realize that, sometimes saying she was Tinkerbell, sometimes, a ballerina.  At any rate, she had a tutu and wings already, so that's what happened :)

We went to the ward party.  Claire walked in the little parade.  I had her hold hands with Marshall...her super cute friend.  It was so cute :)

Katie and Lenore

Me and the Kiddos.  Jordan was working, so....  Cute little kitty cat, Anya :)

And now for Trick-or-Treating.

And the worst-taken pictures known to man. They of course wouldn't hold still, and I wasn't very into taking pictures, so this is all we got...

My sister, Heather, and her husband Jay, kids, Lauren and Quinn came down to Trick or Treat. It was so fun!!  Lolo was the CUTEST Minnie Mouse ever!!!  And Quinn was a cow--recognize the costume from last year...when Claire was a cow?? Thing I realized later was the fact that Quinn is a boy, and cows are...well, female...so it's a little weird, right?  Bull next time, Heathe!

Afterward, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Taylor's for dinner.  Lenore made "Dinner in the Pumpkin." It was SO GOOD!!

And she made brownies with chocolate skeletons on them.  It was really cool, especially since no one in their house even likes brownies :)  Haha

Claire definitely enjoyed her Halloween candy, and also all of the fun toys.  She was wearing vampire teeth all night!!

Anya is walking like crazy!!  Yep I suck at trying to take pictures of the kids haha

Are you Freaking KIDDING ME??

It was 11:30 p.m.

I was downstairs.

Doing what I always do at night...clean up all the crap we got out during the day.

When I hear a loud thud.

I knew what it was.  

This has happened before (click here to see how it happened before!)

So I know that sound well.

Then there is the scream.

I race up the stairs to find Claire on the floor next to the bed.

I do a quick scan of her head (sadly, I always immediately perform this step...too often I find blood).

And there it is...

Her right eyebrow split wide open.

Just a few months ago, she split her left one open (click here to see how her left one split open!)

Called Jordan.

Called my father-in-law. (to sit at the house while Anya slept.)

Went to the ER.

AGAIN.

(Except this time, our insurance is worse, so it cost $50 more...)

*LOOOOOONNNNNGGGG SIGH*

Here is is, pre-stitches.  YIKES!!!  (Like the wad of gum in her cheek?  We were running out of ideas on keeping ourselves entertained.  She LOVED watching us blow bubbles and especially when Jordan popped one on his face, all over his "scratchies!" (whiskers).  She just laughed and laughed).

The upside is:  Claire was an absolute angel.

The downside is:  It was so bad, a plastic surgeon had to be called.

The upside is:  Claire was really brave.

The downside is:  She had to have like 6 shots of the numbing solution in her "owie"

The upside is:  She was very numb.

The downside is:  We were there for 5 hours.

The upside is:  HOLY COW.  I'm always calling the plastic surgeon.  He was amazing!!  He did a running stitch including some dissolvable stitches inside and an amazing blind stitch on the outside. (I asked him if he'd blind stitch my quilt bindings from now on)

The downside is:  Stitches will be in for 3 weeks or more.  We have family pictures in two.  Good thing for Photoshop!!
The upside is:  Claire held so still, closing her eyes, she was acting more like she was getting a spa treatment done than getting stitches applied.
The downside is:  Claire was wearing cow PJ's that are like 10 sizes too small and her hair looked like a grease pit since she'd put lotion in it earlier.
The upside is:  Nobody cared.  (except for me lol)

The downside is:  We felt like really horrible parents throughout.  STUPID nightstand!!!

The upside is:  They didn't call in Child Protective Services to handcuff and haul us away...

The downside is:  The nurse actually ASKED if we had given her some kind of sedative, she was so calm! LOL! (might have to do with this being her 4th time getting stitches...it's old hat around here)

The upside is:  They were stitching up her eyebrow...not her eyeBALL.  This could all have been worse.

All in all, a very eventful evening.  She was a trooper, and has since had fun pretend stitching up her cousin, Lauren, and Mommy and Daddy too, of course.

Some more pictures from Jordan's phone:

With the numbing stuff on it.  She was pretty happy :)

And was excited to have a bracelet on her leg!

A little blurry.  She was moving waaay too much.  The plastic surgeon put Iodine all over that side of her face, but then removed it after he was done.  But he put some on her nose so that when she'd look in the mirror for the first time, she'd look at that and not be too shocked over the stitches (let's be honest, this girl wouldn't be...).  Thought that was cute!  He was an old man that was so amazing at his job.  It is impeccable!  The steri strips are above her eyebrow because they are holding the dissolvable and the regular stitch ends so that he wouldn't pull the skin by tying them.

The doctor had me tell her a couple of princess stories while he did the stitching.  The nurse was so funny.  She was like, "You need to publish those!"  I was like, seriously.  Dumbest "plots" known to man.  Haha! I'm no JK Rowling!  But I guess good enough for a 2 year old.  The doctor actually did tell us that he could tell that we are very good parents and that we are very very good with her.  I thought that was nice.  Much to our expecting-to-be-chastened surprise that night :)