More Boob Tube Talk!

I am FINALLY catching up on my TV shows! :) 

Once Upon a Time... yes, one of my new addictions and last night's episode was incredible. It is so weird because Ethan and I were just sitting here chit-chatting about Rumplestilskin's past and lo and behold.. we found out about it tonight. Rather interesting to see what humble man he was at one point in time.. and who he is now! Anybody think he still has the dagger? and perhaps Emma Swan will come upon it? I'm not sure! But I do know he's her enemy now. I still wasn't really sure why she threw herself under the bus at the debate. She didn't tell him to light the fire, you know? But oh well, she won! What did you all think of Sunday nights episode??

As for Teen Mom.

Jennelle drives me UP THE WALL. I literally want to stop watching because she makes me so mad. "I'm so sad because Kieffer won't talk to me." GOOD. What the heck has he done to make you cry for him? Goooood lord! I just want to smack her!

Chelsea-- I know what it is to want to keep your family together, but SERIOUSLY. He is a DOUCHE to you. Drop that sorry excuse for a man and find someone that will love you and Aubree like you deserve it.  Gah. Adam makes me so mad. Help your girlfriend move. Screw being tired. That's what NAPS are for.

As for Kail. I think she did the right thing by getting child support, BUT I think she could have went about it a bit better. Jo is tempered, so I think she should have discussed it with him and not just left him a message saying, "I filed for child support, so bye!" I mean, I know she needs it (poor thing and her whole car situation) and I know she doesn't have any one to count on really, but I think she went about it the wrong way. Especially when she was trying to reconcile with Janet. I'm sure that didn't help.

I'm so happy that Ali is good! It is good to hear that there is hope for her to walk and all of that! I am so happy for that little family even though I know they don't last (Leah and Corey I mean...)

What did you think of the two episodes last night??

And Pretty Little Liars.

I knew Lucas was going to end up being tied to things, but jeesh-- talk about a creeper last night. And seriously-- I know Hannah was the one that hit him with the car, but why was he trying to kill her? He had to know that all of the girls were on it, so why single out one of them? That doesn't make sense. And is he really "A" or is he just a puppet in that person's hand?

What do you guys think?

NEW BLOG!! :)

I wanted to let all of you readers out there know that I am a part of a new blog that I think you should ALL check out :) I will still be blogging on here about my sweet Tayler and all of the goodness that comes with her, but a few of my friends and myself decided to join together and make a blog about crafts, cooking, relationships, married life, children, dating, friendships... anything a woman might be interested in reading! There is a good diversity in these women. Some are single, some are engaged, some are recently married, and some have been married for years. Some have children, some do not. Some are crafty, some love cooking, and some just love talking (me, me, me!) Be prepared to see some great recipes, awesome home decor ideas, and some rants and raves about life as we know it. We are the C Times 4 girls. Hope you'll enjoy this blog as it continues to unfold :)

www.ctimes4girls.blogspot.com

Tayler's First Birthday

I am seriously THAT mom.

I've said that phrase over and over again, so I guess I'm just cliche, but for real. 

81 days until Tayler's birthday.

I know, it is UNREAL that I know that. But I really did just sit down and count. I've been thinking about her '1st' birthday for quite some time now, but 81 days just sounds soooo close for some reason. Fortunately, her birthday falls on a Saturday, so you best believe we are partying it up on that day! 

As for right now... I'm trying to get all of my ideas together. I have never hosted a 'first' birthday before, but with every other party that I have ever hosted, I know that the date sneaks up on you.. and fast! So, I figured I'd get a head start that way everything can go as smoothly as it can on a first birthday. I'm not saying it will be perfect (because Lord knows she will probably be cranky or fall asleep during it, haha) but I still want the pictures to be bangin', ya hear??

If you hadn't heard or guessed already, the theme we are going with is:

YO GABBA GABBA.

Why? Oh, because we have only seen every episode 1,234,234,343 times. That's alright. It's entertaining, educational, and fun! EEF ;) Oh, we use mneomics around here folks! :)

I am seriously addicted to pinterest. Don't believe me? Check that bad boy out:

http://pinterest.com/sweetlyssa05/

And I have pinned every single thing you could ever imagine about a Yo Gabba Gabba birthday. 

http://pinterest.com/sweetlyssa05/tayler-s-1st-birthday/

You could say I'm a bit obsessive and of course, EXCITED! Because, come on, how many times does your kid turn 1, right? :)

So, anyways... the cake has been decided and we just have to submit the design to the lady that will be designing it, so at least that is taken care of! After that, it's all up in the air. But I have a few ideas! 

Bright colors will definitely be incorporated. Good news is we should get our taxes back right before her big day... so, we are going all out! I want to paint the Yo Gabba Gabba land for a nice back drop behind the food. And for behind the cake and other sweet goodies, I want to get a few boxes and cover them with the colors of the characters: yellow, red, pink, blue, and green.. and tape their eyes and characteristics on them. Then pile those suckers on up! Plus, we HAVE to have a banner that says 'Happy Birthday Tayler!'

Plates and cups will be colorful too! And I want some name tags that says 'My name is ______. I like to dance.' If you watch this show, you should appreciate that, haha! Tayler lives for those moments... and the 2 minutes Hector Jimenez is on there. I have no idea who he is, but she giggles the whole time he sings 'Jumping Jelly Fish.'

My mom is going to design her outfit. She's super excited about this (as am I!) And she wants to get us all shirts made. I have requested a shirt that says 'Don't bite your friends!' :) Maybe I'll be crafty and make one?? ;) (doubtful, haha!) 

So there is an overview of what I want to see.... I'm sure I'll update everyone with the progress and OF COURSE, pictures will posted after the party!! :)

What did everyone do for their kids first birthdays? Care to share any pictures?? :)

Boob Tube Chat!

I haven't updated about TV shows here lately. I know, pathetic right? It's just laziness... and the fact that I'm finding Teen Mom 2 rather boring here lately. I'm not even sure why. I'm just not that into it. Okay, sue me. I'm a sucker for drama. And there isn't any really. Of course, Jennelle and her mom have their issues, but what's new, right? I don't think it would be a 'Teen Mom 2' episode if they didn't argue about Jace (or Kieffer) at least once. Although I have to say, I am pretty proud of every person in Jennelle's life that told her NO on getting Kieffer. Good call. He just drags her down. Maybe things will get more interesting in the upcoming weeks and I'll have more to talk about.

Oh. Like the fact that Leah is pregnant by another guy that she's engaged too!

Where the heck is this crap at? Oh, I know.. because we're seeing stuff from LAST FRICKIN YEAR. Get to the new stuff. Can I get an amen? haha :)

In other news...

Our shows are returning. Yes, we have a line-up!

Sunday nights, I'm a loyal fan to 'Once Upon a Time' and 'Desperate Housewives.' So stoked to watch these this week. I'll try and chit-chat about this Monday if I can squeak in some time! 

Monday nights, 'Pretty Little Liars' and 'Lying Game' are back on! We don't currently have that channel, but we watch them on Tuesday nights after they have already aired, so you'll have to stay tuned to that update on Wednesday.

Tuesday nights, of course, is 'Teen Mom 2'.... And we don't have that channel either, so I watch that on Wednesdays while E is at work because he could really care less ;)

Wednesday nights--- AMERICAN IDOL IS COMING BACK ON THE 18TH. Holy frickin' cow, I cannot wait. It's crazy to think that I was watching American Idol last year the night I gave birth to Tayler. I can't believe it's went full circle.. Also, I plan on continuing my love affair with 'One Tree Hill' Wednesday nights too! I've been a faithful follower for many years now and can't wait to see Brooke's babies :)

Thursday nights-- 'The Office' and 'Person of Interest' are on our list! Any of you LOVE those shows? We are addicted!! 

So there you have it! That's our TV line-up for the week. How about all of y'all?!

One Year Ago Today

One year ago, we got an ultrasound done to determine whether Tayler had down syndrome or not. It was something that they had been telling us for 9 weeks (ever since I had an ultrasound at 18 weeks.) After many calculations, they found that there was entirely too much fluid around her and that she had chloroplexus cysts on her brain. 

I was a wreck. Week after week, I just sat and rubbed my belly wondering if my baby would live to be an adult? Would she struggle with different things in life? Would she make it through the birth? I had no idea what to expect. I remember going through all of the ultrasound pictures and just looking at her, trying to figure out if she 'looked' like she had down syndrome. I would google ultrasound pictures of babies that were also diagnosed with this. It was a bit morbid, but as a mother, I wanted to just be prepared. I did not want to be caught off guard anymore.

On December 26th, 2010 they declared me 'high risk' and my doctor's office no longer took me in as their patient. The only way they would do it is if I got a clean bill of health on our appointment at the OSU Medical Center on January 7th, 2011. 

That morning came. We had to be there at 745AM, so we had to get moving rather early! I remember throwing up 3 times before we even left the house... not really out of morning sickness... out of nervousness and fear. We got there and I filled out all of my insurance information. They did a physical examination and then it was the moment of truth.

I remember walking into the ultrasound room. There was a nifty little chair for me to sit in and there were plenty of chairs around it for my mom, dad, and husband, Ethan. I know they were just as nervous as I was. The ultrasound technician squirted the gel onto my tummy.. and we were off. 

At first, she confirmed that Tayler was indeed a girl. We'd already known this since I was 16 weeks pregnant, but it was still good to hear :) She showed us Tayler's lungs, her heart, her kidneys, her feet, her legs, her face... everything. She wanted to check all parts of her body to determine that everything was as it should be and most importantly--- that they were all healthy. As she check-marked down her list, the very last one was THE BRAIN. This was the scariest part. She flipped to one side of my stomach and you could see the top of our sweet Tayler's head. She started showing the different ventricles and what made up her brain. And she said those words, "If she does have chlroplexus cysts, you will see black circles right in this area." I could have sworn I saw them and my stomach sank. I thought I was going to vomit. We were all on pins and needles just waiting for the word. And the technician then said:

"I don't see anything. She is perfectly healthy."

THANK YOU JESUS!

We had been praying for SOOO long about this situation. We were all worried, but we knew all that we could do was put it in God's hands. He designed Tayler and He could take care of her better than any of us could. 

It was such a relief. I remember hugging everyone and crying. After that, we met up with my brother who lives near there for breakfast to celebrate. We are SO blessed and SO thankful that God hears our prayers and takes care of our loved ones! I would have loved and taken care of Tayler regardless, but I am just so very thankful that she is as healthy as she can be!

Prayer is powerful and that proved it to me! 

The following are the ultrasound pictures from that day. Enjoy the miracle of God :)

We love you, our spunky Tayler! :)

9 Months Old

My kid loves the snow.

True story.

It finally snowed here! (Well, enough to see it on the ground!) So, we took Tayler out for her FIRST adventure in it. I didn't know if she would like it or not because she HATES being cold, but she actually thoroughly enjoyed it! Since I'm trying my hand at this 'photography' thing (I'm still learning all of the neat things-- ISO, aperature, etc.) but I think this turned out rather nicely! I cannot wait to make a cute collage of them in our living room!

Isn't she the cutest?? 

All the others look something like that.. lots of crawling around and looking up at momma and daddy :) We had SUCH a good time... until she got cold LOL Then it was like immediate dislike. But it was fun while it lasted :)

Speaking of this 9 month old...

She just had her check-up this week. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's our 9 month old:

HIHUGYUFBKHLKIU

Adorable, right? :) I'm a little biased.. but she is tooo stinkin' cute! She is starting to learn how to stand up on her own.. without us holding her! Whoo-hoo! She already learned to pick stuff up and eat it (she LOVES pancakes!) She can pull herself up on things. She waves bye-bye now. She is just becoming such a big girl! As of today, she is 40 weeks old! 12 weeks until her first birthday!! :) 

I think we are doing a 'Yo Gabba Gabba' themed birthday! I will definitely share all of the pictures for you guys  to see :)

As for this 9 month old: she is 22.3 pounds (92nd percentile) and 30" long (97th percentile.) Yes, she's a big girl and we wouldn't want it any other way! He said she's very well proportioned.. whoohoo :) 

Mommy loves you Tayler!!

First Try at Christmas Lights :)

So.

I have a nice camera that my hubby got me forever ago and I'm just now trying to 'learn' how to use it. I've been reading a lot about ISO, Aperature, Shutter Speed, etc. I'm slowly learning what all of those mean and how to use them to 'perrr-fect' a picture. It'll take me awhile and I do not profess to be a 'photographer' by any means. I just want to learn how to take a great picture, you know? I really want to learn to take my children's picture and actually be able to utilize them in our home :) 

I tried my hand at taking a few pictures of my brother and his fiance's Christmas tree. I read a TON about how to make the lights look big and bright. These are not sell-able shots, but I think I'm slowly getting the hang of it....

I know I have a lot of improvements to make, but I was really proud of these two shots. :)