Gingerbread Houses

On Monday we all got together to make gingerbread houses. It was a lot of fun for the kids! I do have to say that I think that I need to take a class because I was so frustrated. Everytime I would fix one wall the other would fall down. Any tips let me know? Brody, Logan, and Carter's looked great and withheld the test of time. Regardless, we had agreat time and it was great to spend time together.

I couldn't resist!

This is what I found when I came home from the grocery store this morning.

Connor We love you!

Annual Tree Trimming

Every year my parents have a tree trimming party. Now my mom's tree is amazing. She straightens out each branch so it is always so full. There are always tons of lights and of course ornaments. You can't forget the ornaments! That is what we are all for. My mom and dad have boxes of ornaments. They have saved every ornament that we have ever made or they have ever been given. We all helped put the ornaments on and then the fighting began. Yes.. that's right who is going to get to put the Angel on the tree? It is the fight that happens every year. We have so many children now in our family, but it really boiled down to Abby, Maggie, Sean, and Kate. Connor was out because I am pretty sure that my parents wanted their tree standing when we were done. You would have thought that World War 1 broke out in my mom and dad's living room. They were all fighting. My mom ended up having Maggie put the angel on the tree, Sean turned off the lights, and Abby got to turn on the lights! In the pictures below you can see that Kate was not happy about this. She was trying to escape out the front door. She survived! The tree was lit and it was beautiful as always! Merry Christmas!

The Light Parade

Every year we go see the APS Light Parade. This year was no different. We headed down to Kelly's for the pre party. All the kids were so excited. Kelly and Jay are always so great in letting us come over. They even go down to the parade earlier in the day to put chairs out. We always have such great seats. The parade started and Kate loved it. Connor did too. I had put him in the stroller so he was contained. He sat the whole time and did not move. He waved and laughed. Kate sat on the blankets and yelled, "Merry Christmas!" We all had hot chocolate, watched the parade, and rang in the holiday season. Thanks again Kelly and Jay for another great year!

The Polar Express

A few weeks ago we took a trip up north to Williams. In Williams they turn the Grand Canyon Railway into "The Polar Express". Kate, my mom, Kelly, Jay, Abby, Maggie, and Sean all went. We truly had a great time. It was so much fun to see the magic on the kid's faces. They were so excited to get dressed in their new Christmas jammies!(Thanks Grandma!) We got on the train and the kids were so excited. When we finally got to see Santa they were SOOOOOOOO happy. THey each got a bell and let me tell you by the end of the trip we all had a huge headache:)! The kids were so happy and you could truly see the magic of Christmas in their eyes! We all had such a great time and made so many great memories. Thanks Grandma!

The Nutcracker

The day after Thanksgiving we had the chance to go see the Nutcracker. My mom got us all tickets to the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre to see it. It was part of their children's theatre series. It was fabulous! Kelly brought Abby and Maggie and I had Kate and of course my mom was there. The girls all got dressed in their Christmas outfits and they had so much fun. They got to eat off the buffet and got to hear the story of the nutcracker. Kate loves this story so she was super excited. Thanks so much Grandma for taking us to the play and for loving us so much!

Disneyland!

Okay so I know that I am way behind in this post, but things have been crazy! We went to Disneyland for Kate's birthday. We left on a Friday morning and came back on Monday. It was the most amazing trip. My parents came with us and I would not have had it any other way. I am so glad that they were able to experience the magic in Kate's eyes. That is something that I will never forget. We had a blast. As you all know Kate gets so excited about everything and it was no different here. She was so excited to see Mickey and all of his friends. It was not crowded at all. We walked on to almost every ride and we could not have asked for anything more. On Saturday Aunt Kerry and Uncle Todd came over to Disneyland. We had such a great day with them. They were able to celebrate Kate's birthday with us at Ariel's Grotto. This was such a great experience. We were able to have a great lunch and Kate got to see all the princesses up close. They walked around to all the tables and met with each child. We took pictures and the memories are priceless. We sand happy birthday to her and just like every year I started to cry. It is always just so bittersweet for me on birthdays! I have a 4 year old and I can't believe it. We really had a great time! We missed Connor dearly but he was in excellent hands! Between Lindsey, Aunt Kari and Unlce Kevin, and Aunt Kelly and Uncle Jay they managed. I know it is a lot but that is why you have family right? We are so grateful to my parents for coming with us and everything they did to make this trip possible. Thanks Aunt Kerry and Uncle Todd for coming as well and for getting Kat eher first pair of ears! The whole trip was great except for the fact that the diamond to my wedding ring fell out- more on that later!. Enjoy the pictures. They always tell a much better story!

Hang on Connor.

While we are at Aunt Kelly's house Kate decided to take Connor for a ride. It was just so cute to see them together and he was actually sitting still. Don't worry mom he was buckled in:).

Kate's Pre Birthday Celebration!

Kate is turning 4 on Saturday. I can't believe it. We are taking her to Disneyland. Because it is just us and Grandma and Grandpa we decided to get together with Abby, Maggie, and Sean, (our cousins) to celebrate since they will not be there. We thought it would be great to go to the Children's museum. We get there and all is going well. Kate, Connor and I are playing in the bottom part of the museum waiting for Aunt Kelly and the kids. I get a call from my sister asking us to come to the front because Sean is laying on the ground crying. Now Sean does do this a lot, but this time he was really sick. Poor guy he just looked miserable. Then it happened... Yes he started to throw up. Luckily Kelly got him out the front door. HE was then just laying on the sidewalk with his pillow. I am laughing as I write this because thinking about it now it was pretty funny. Kelly and I were switching car seats and adults were just walking up to him and saying, "Oh poor boy are you okay?" I think they thought that he did not have any parents there. Kelly ended up taking Sean home and I kept the girls with me. In we went to the museum. We had a ton of fun. It really is a great museum. The kids loved exploring everything. It got really crowded though. When we left there was not a spot in the lot left. Now I was really tired at this point. Connor was all over the place and I was just ready to go. I get all the kids in the car and I am trying to tighten Abby and Maggie's car seat. This is not going as planned, it is taking much longer. This woman had been waiting for my spot and then finally speeds away like she is really ticked off at me. It is really hot and Connor is screaming and I can feel my blood beginning to boil. I am about halfway finished when I see a head pop in my car and say, "Um, are you going to be a while?" I look up at her, sweat pouring down my face, engulfed in anger and say, "What does it look like?" I mean give me a break people, it was not like I was just hanging out in the spot talking on my phone. Well we finally got everyone buckled and we were off. I decided that I would take them to McDonald's but before I did that I wanted to drop Connor off at my sister's so that he could take a nap. Well my sister lives at Central and Camelback. Today was the Veteran's Day parade. Every street I needed was closed. So I finally found a way that I could get there and I have to talk to this cop about making an illegal turn to get down Kally's street. I say to the officer. "Hi mam, I live at 3rd St and Pierson could I just turn down here to the get there?" Abby then yells from the back, "You don't live there Aunt Chrissy, We do." I just smile at the officer and off I went. Kids can be so truthful. I dropped Connor off and we went off to McDonald's. The kids had a blast. They played and ate till their heart's content. We picked up an extra toy form McDonald's for Sean since he was still sick at home. We picked up some cupcakes at the store and we went back to Aunt Kelly's house. We all sang Happy Birthday to Kate and had yummy cup cakes or as Sean calls them "pupcakes". We played outside for a few hours. It really was a great day. I am so glad that Kate got to Celebrate with Abby, Maggie, and Sean. And thanks Aunt Kelly for allowing us to invade your house- you are always so great to us.

Dance All Your Worries Away

At the children's museum the kids were playing in the climbing area. At the back is a big open space and a radio. I am sitting there watching them and then all of a sudden I look and the four of them are all dancing. It was so funny. They were all twirling and happy. Dancing the way kids should. Not caring about a thing in the world. It was magical. The kids for just a split second reminded my of the worries that we should all not have. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just dance them all away?

Halloween

Let me start off by telling you that this was one of the best Halloween's that we have had. We went to my parents house like we do every year. My sister Kerry came in town and so it was great to see her and have her with us during trick or treating. Kate was so excited to put her Bell costume on. She had decided to be Belle months before and for those of you who know her, you know that she does not stop talking about things. So to say the least we were so excited that the day was finally here:). We got her dressed and she was the most beautiful Belle ever. We then got Connor dressed. At first Connor did not like his costume. He was fighting to get out of it. He as a lion which we tried to pass off as The Beast to go with Belle. Once we put his hood on he was a different kid. He loved it and looked soooooo cute. We were off! We went trick or treating around the neighborhood. Kate was so great. She knew exactly what to do. As soon as she said, Trick or Treat" she put her bucket out and in the candy would go. She then would continue to keep it out there and we would have to pull her away. She would say Thank you and run to the next house. Connor. Did not get it quite as much. He would walk up there with his bucket but was more interested in going in the house then getting the candy. It was just a great Family night. We had a lot of fun. It was great to go around with my mom and sister. I know that Kate and Connor enjoyed spending the time with them. We then went back to the house where my dad had dinner waiting for us. It was a great night.

It has been a while.....

Okay everyone.. Hang on. It has been a while since my last post. With work, kids, house stuff, and my master's program I feel like some days I can barely keep my head above water. Hang on as I get you up to date on what has been going on in the tax family!

Connor's 1st Harcut!

Okay so I know that you are reading this title and thinking...Oh my gosh his first haircut, but he is 16 months old? I know I have prolonged it for too long. I have been dreading this day because I knew that it would not be good. I could not let anyone else put his hair in a pony tail (Jillian and Lindsey:)). Here are some before pictures that we took.




We got to Snip and Snap (that hair place for kids) and Connor began playing. A very rude child came over and scratched him and slapped him in the face. As you all can imagine I was furious at this point. The mom did not even care she just continued on with her phone conversation. After I cleaned up the 3 finger claw mark on his chest and neck and calmed him down it was our turn. We put Connor in the seat and he thought the car was pretty cool. We popped Wonder Pets into the DVD player and we thought we were smooth sailing. Boy were we wrong! Once Connor heard the sound of the clippers it was over. The noise was enough to make him go crazy. The stylist began buzzing his head and we did all we could to keep him still. There were times that the flyboat in the movie would catch his attention, but not for long. I do not have very many pictures because it took both of us to keep him in the chair. We just told the woman to cut it very short, and I am glad that I did because I do not want to go back for a very long time. The finished product is adorable and he is just so handsome. Our little Connor always making every adventure fun.

Race for the cure.

This past Sunday my family and I participated in Phoenix's Race For the Cure. This is a event in downtown phoenix that races money for breast cancer awareness. Let me just tell you that this was a 5k walk. Now my friends Lindsey and I drove down and could not find a parking space anywhere so we ended up parking 1.5 miles away from the start line. We were running a little late so we decided that we needed to hurry. We threw all 4 kids in the two strollers and started to run. I am not kidding you, I thought I was going to die. It is one thing to run 1.5 miles but while you are pushing 2 toddlers it is not so easy! So by the time we got to the start line we were sweating and had to chug a huge bottle of water. We were now ready to start the race. By the way after walking 3.2 miles in the race walking back to our car was not any easier. We met some funny characters on the streets on downtown phoenix at we strolled back to our car.

We did this walk for the first time all together last year in celebration of a near and dear person. This wonderful woman is now a survivor of breast cancer. She is the strongest, bravest person that I know. She faces life's challenges head on and relies on her faith and family to get her through them.

It was so great to all be there again this year with more members of our family and friends with us. We walked together, standing strong against this horrible disease. We talked, we laughed, we even ate Krispy Kreme donuts (Thanks Kelly). My family does lots of things together, but we do not do anything like this. For one morning we gave of ourselves to help find a cure for breast cancer. We gave of ourselves to take a stand and show people how family comes together. Young and old were there that day. It was truly a day to remember. As we were getting ready for the walk I was loading the kids in the car and I said to Kate, "Do you know where we are going?" She says, "Grandma's walk." I said, "That is right Kate." She then says, "Because she is so strong and brave." As I held back the tears I said, "You are so right Kate." Now I had not told her why exactly we were walking, but I did tell her all the great things about her grandma and she remembered. She walked the whole way 3.2 miles (well almost) along with the other grandkids who were there-Connor, Abby, Maggie, Brody, and Logan. It was great to see not only us but our children as well taking part in such a great event. As we crossed the finish line we each tapped the banner and were renewed with the strength that we are so fortunate to have the blessed life that we have.

My mom is truly an inspiration to me. She does not like to be in the spotlight, but I just wanted her to know how much that I live her. She truly is an amazing woman and I am so thankful everyday that she is here with us. She is the person I run to in time if panic, doubt and joy. She has taught me to be the mother that I am today. As the chinese proverb says,"You can never truly appreciate the love of your parents until you raise children yourself." I have learned so much from my mom and I have such a deeper understanding of it all since I have had children. Thanks mom for always being there and for always showing me wisdom through your strength.

(The song that is playing right now is a song that we chose in a video we did for my parents and since then it always reminds me of her!)

To The Flyboat!

Connor got a Wonder Pets flyboat ball pit at the store. Now those of you who know him know that he LOVES the wonder pets. He gets so excited. He is always such a happy boy, but when he sees the wonder pets he just gets so happy. He stayed in the flyboat all night and just laughed and played! This was a cute moment between Kate and Connor. (Turn up your volume for this one!) Kate is singing her little heart out and Connor is dancing away. And yes that is a pair of Kate's underwear that he is dancing with. It was too priceless, I could not take it away from him. He has so much fun with her and it is so great to see their relationship grow everyday.

The Baby Switch

So last week I was on my way to Jillian's house to drop my children off so that she could watch them. From the back seat I hear, "Mommy?" I said, "Yes Kate."(who was watching a movie at the time.) She replies, "I would like to switch." I say, "Switch movies?" "No" she says, "Switch Connor." I then pulled off to the side of the street and looked back and said, "What?" She says, "I want a baby sister not a baby brother." I asked her where she thought I would switch him at and said, "The baby switching store." I then holding back my laughter had to explain to her that Connor is part of the family and that we could not just take him to the store and exchange him. She then says, "Mommy I love Connor, but I want a baby sister." I said, "Well it does not always work like that." She then says, "I will talk to Daddy." And that was the end of the conversation because I could not go any further with it. She has said things to her Dad and he just walks out of the room! This should be an interesting one!

Time with our cousins!

We recently got to spend two weekends in a row with our cousins. The first was at the Kids Fare, and I am not going to tell you about the experience other than, DON"T GO! There are a few pictures here of the kids with different characters, but that is all that I would like to share about that experience! Last weekend we went to the Phoenix Zoo. We got there very early so it would not be so hot. We started off at the Fisher Price race track since it was Fischer Price day! Kate had to have the pink mustang! (are you surprised?). She got in the car and rode it all the way around the track. She was so proud when she crossed that finish line. She told me to take a picture of it so that we could send it to Santa. (I hope Santa is Reading this post!) We then went to the Giraffes and the kids were so excited. We walked the entire zoo and the kids had so much fun. My sister Kelly and I were dying, walking around with a double stroller and a double wagon is no easy task! Abby, Maggie, Sean, Kate, and Connor had so much fun looking at all the animals and making all the animal noises. As you can tell by the pictures, the kids enjoyed their snow cones and were so proud of their colored tongues. We ended our day at the zoo at the Gullah Caverns Splash Pad. The kids had so much fun! They were running in and out of the caverns going down the rock slide and playing in the water. They were so hot so it was a great way to cool off! We had a great day with our cousins!

Connor Cooling off

I wanted to share a picture with you of our very funny son. Every time we open the fridge, he climbs in and sits on the step inside. He is hilarious. He begins to talk and talk and talk. He just loves it in there! He always keeps our kitchen nice and cool.

Connor taking a ride!

Okay so not only does Kate have therapy so does Connor. He gets therapy right after Kate. Yes our house is a revolving door when it comes to therapists. Connor does not participate very well in his session. He is all over the place and poor Miss Betty chases him all over the house. He is so quick. Today she finally found something that he likes. Connor loves to be pulled around on his blanket. He just paid back and relaxed. It was so funny. Every time she would stop he would sign "more". Then as she was dragging him around the house he would say, "go, go go.!" Yes this is truly amazing because this really is the first word that he has said unprompted in the right context. It was a great day for accomplishments around the tax house today! Connor loved his ride and he was sad to see Miss Betty go. The next thing that we will work with Connor is why he has to lick everything. We find him frequently in the fridge just licking the milk jug. Weird!!! We love you Connor!

A little glimpse of our therapy life!

So as you all know Kate is receiving Occupational Therapy (OT) for a variety of issues. Mainly for her sensory issues, some fine motor planning, and most recently her overwhelming OCD! Today Miss Betty came to our house like she usually does on Wednesday afternoons. Kate is always so excited to see her. She ran to the door yelling, "Miss Betty! Miss Betty! She's Here!" She came in and they got right to work. One of Kate's goals is to participate and tolerate messy play. We have worked with play doh, silly putty, tape, glue, and many other "messy" things. Today was going to be the big test. Now Kate had already had a hard day. From last night to this morning she cried her eyes out because she did not want to wear her pajamas to school. You see it is spirit week at her preschool and today was pajama day. Why they have spirit week with days that you have to wear odd things to school, at a special needs preschool where many kids deal with transition issues is beyond me. (Okay I feel better now!) Jillian was able to talk her down and was able to actually get her to wear her pajamas with the help of Carter! They changed int he parking lot! By the way she came home and immediately ripped the pajamas off! I was nervous on how this therapy session would go. Today was the ultimate test. It was SHAVING CREAM DAY! Okay so to most parents I can see that you now have a big smile on your face and you are saying to yourself, "How fun!" Not so much! You see Chris and I looked at each other and knew that this would not be good. Kate does not like to be dirty and does not like to have things on her hands. We came into the kitchen and Miss Betty showed her how to spray the shaving cream from the can; which she thought was pretty cool. The cream was out of the can and on her hands. Chris, Miss Betty and myself all stopped, took a breath, and waited..... a smile came across Kate's face. She began to laugh and say this is silly. What!!!!!!! This was amazing!!!




Miss Betty and Kate began to play with the shaving cream. They were making letters in the cream and shapes. Kate was doing a great job.



We thought we were in the clear... then it happened. Kate stopped making the letter "t" and said, "I have to go wash my hands." Miss Betty turned to me and said, "sensory overload," We were able to talk to Kate and Miss Betty was able to take some cream off her hands. That sufficed her for a little while. They began to play some more. Every three minutes Kate would say that she had to go wash her hands. Each time Miss Betty was able to take the cream off with her hands and she was okay with that.


After about 15 minutes or so Kate got off the chair and stood up and said. "I have got to go wash my hands!" She ran to the bathroom and started scrubbing. She came out and surprisingly enough got right back up on the chair and began to play again. You can see in the pictures when she got it on her face. That did not go over so well. Kate lasted for about 20 minutes with the shaving cream washing her hands frequently in the end. We were actually very proud of her. 6 months ago if you asked her to touch shaving cream she would have started screaming. She would have put 1 finger in the cream and then freaked out. Today Kate put both hands in the cream and was digging around. Miss Betty was very proud of her and said that she did a great job! We were all smiles at the end of the session with her. Kate has made some real progress in OT. Kate brings so much joy to our life and she always does things a little bit differently than most, but boy do we love her! If we could just get her to stop lining everything up we would be doing great!:)

Connor does the funniest things!

I decided to share with you one of the funniest things that Connor does. I am sure that you all have seen him do it. Whenever we say No or he is trying to hide from something he does this! It is so funny! I just happened to have my camera when he did it at Grandma and Grandpa's. He is so cute!!!!!

Kate Graduated!!!!

Just a quick note to let you all know that we had something super exciting happen on Sunday! For the past 2 years our life has been filled with speech, occupational, and physical therapy for some developmental delays that Kate has encountered. This has been truly taxing on both her and the rest of us. Going to three therapies a week plus working and preschool, and just being a kid has been hard work. And to top it all off Connor also recieves 3 therapies a week. Somewhere along the line I guess I was not taking enough prenatal vitamins or something! Well our list has been cut down to 7 therapies a week to just 6. YEAH!!!!!!!!!! Although we really do love Ms. Mary Jo we are so excited for Kate's progress. When she started 6 months ago she scored a 81, on Sunday she scored over a 100!!!!!!!! We couldn't have been happier! I actually started to tear up because in the year and a half that we have been doing this we have never had a therapist tell us that she has met her goals! She can now target throw a ball, swim, ride her bike, and walk to the park. Just to compare when we started this she could not climb in and out of the car by herself. No she jumps in and out! We are so proud of her! She was so excited on Sunday!

Vacation 2008!

We went on vacation to San Diego with our good friends Ed, Cara, and Adam. We had an amazing time. The first half of the week the kids were home with different people and we were actually able to sit and enjoy ourselves. Although at time I am not sure we knew what to do with ourselves because we felt like we should be chasing someone or changing a diaper or breaking up a tug of war over a toy! It was amazing. My brave sister flew the kids out on Tuesday and they were with us until we all came home on Saturday. We had so much fun. Kate loved the water and the sand. Connor was so funny. Everyday I would take him to the beach and everyday he would eat the sand! He never learned from the day before that it did not taste good. We pretty much just sat at the beach all day for a week! We stayed in a house that was about 15 feet from the sand. The rest of my family arrived the day we were leaving. Chris and I both had to get back to work so we could not stay another week. It was great to see everyone and let Kate play with her cousins. Enjoy the pics!

It all Began

Well I have officially joined the blogging world. What a better way to start if off then take you all back to the beginning. I have been married to my wonderful husband Chris for 6 years now. We are high school sweethearts. We have been together for 10 years and I am in love with him more and more everyday. I truly found my soulmate in him. We have had many a journey together and I could not have asked for a better partner along the way. We got married and of course after a few years decided to add to our family. On November 15, 2004 we gave birth to our beautiful daughter Kate. She is now 3 1/2 and is so full of life. I think when you have children of your own you can truly appreciate all that you parents did for you. I think that unconditional love is felt at that very moment. Not only for your new child but for your husband. I remember thinking and telling my sisters that Chris would be passed out on the floor when Kate was born. Boy was I wrong. He turned into this amazing coach. He was so focused and was so involved that I could not help but tear up. I knew even more that day then I had known before that he truly is my best friend. Kate has brought so much joy into our life. She has had some bumps along the way but has managed to become such an amazing little girl. When Kate was two we decided that we wanted to have another baby. On May 25, 2008 we gave birth to our son, Connor. It was such an amazing day because our Anniversary is on May 25 as well. What a way to celebrate. Connor came home and our family has been complete ever since. Connor is such a bundle of energy! You teachers out there watch out! He is our little guy who has the best smile and gives the best hugs. He is now walking and climbing on the couch! They grow up two quick! My heart is so full of love for my children. I enjoy so much just sitting back and watching my children interacting with each other or watching as they run to daddy when he gets home from work! The little things that children do are what it makes it all worth while at the end of the day. Like Connor right now thinks it is really fun to play in the toilet (yes I know what you are thinking, what a bad mom) He just stands there and thinks it is okay to put his hands in there. He can open all the doors and lift all the lids. When I tell him no he just shakes his head and laughs. But at night when he wants mom and lays his head down on my chest and gives me a kiss it seems to make that headache go away. This is hoe we started and I am so excited for the journey to come! We are surrounded by friends and family who love us. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful family and so many wonderful friends.