We are ready...

Well, we are very ready for Halloween. Today I dressed Taegan up in her orange gear so that tomorrow she can wear her costumes all around! I just can't wait for the day that she can look back at these pictures and see how stinkin' cute she was. Or will she totally hate me for dressing her like this? Oh well-she is adorable.

This is miss thing after her bath (aka spa). She loves to sit in her robe on her towel and smile and play. Here she is chewing on her brush which is preventing me from actually brushing her hair. Oh well-she seems happy!

This is her cute new spook hat that her godmother, Amy, got for her. We are so grateful that she has Amy in her life!! What a spoiled little girl Taegan is going to be...anything on her head does not bother her in the least. She does not even try to get it off-I hope it stays that way.

Well, I must say this picture looks like me growing up. I loved playing in the laundry baskets! I was trying to carry the folded clothes up from downstairs and Taegan wanted to come along for a ride. She loved it!!! Needless to say the clothes were not very folded when she got done in there.

I will post pictures of her in costume tomorrow or Saturday-stay tuned.

Happy 6 months Peanut!!!

It is hard to believe that six months ago at this time I was still feeling no pain and wondering if the little peanut was going to join us today or not!! And what do you know-she decided to come and in a hurry....She has been so much fun since the moment she arrived here with us. She has always given us a challenge and loves to smile and laugh. I can't think of another baby that is so happy and content all the time. This morning we all woke up together and were able to spend a few minutes together as a family this morning before we headed our different directions! It was really nice to have that time together with her.

Here is just a few things about Taegan at 6 months:

*Sleeps the entire night through(has done this since 1 and a half months old)

*Goes to bed at 8 and wakes up at 7.

*Eats 4 times a day

*Breakfast eats 6 ounce bottle and oatmeal(although not a fan of the oatmeal)

*Lunch 6 ounces bottle

*Dinner 6 ounce bottle and fruit or veggie(she loves everything she has tried so far)

*Bed 8 ounce bottle

*Is taking two naps a day

*Sits up on her own and will sit and play for a period of time

*Rolls all over the house-nothing is safe anymore

*She loves it when Justin "flies" her in the air-she giggles and giggles

*Loves it when you blow on her belly-laughs and laughs

*Has really become interested in the dogs and wanting to feel them

*Wants to sit at the table while everyone is eating so she can see everyone

*Recognizes mom and dad when we come in the room and smiles big

*Is starting to scoot around and move more

Overall, she is an amazing little girl! We love every moment with her and watching her next new adventure...what a fast 6 months it has been! We also got her 6 month pictures to view online today. If you would like to go see them you can go here:

http://www.joleespencer.net/

click on proofs

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password:Ross08

Enjoy them-they are wonderful!!!

Strength

WOW-my grandma is working overtime with me. She has given me more strength than I knew I had in me. I had one major breakdown right when I found out and a few minor ones here and there, but so far she is holding my head up high and helping me through. I can't believe it really. I am by nature a very emotional person, so this comes as a shock to me. The funeral on Saturday will be very hard for me, but I look forward to being able to honor her in the best way we know possible. She was such an amazing lady. Her obituary was in the paper today with her picture in it and I was so excited to be able to see her again-it brought a smile to my face!

Please continue to keep us all in your prayers, we will need them as we make our way through this weekend. I am thankful that I have an amazing set of parents and in-laws that are there helping us along. This is something no one is ever ready for, but one that we all have to face someday. Thanks for helping me stay strong Grandma-I owe you one!!!

I will leave you with a picture of Miss Princess being her cute self....

Grandma

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post. My grandma passed away this morning at KU Med. She had been fighting and fighting and she just got too tired. Dad, mom, Justin, Taegan, and I got the chance to go up and see her on Saturday. She woke up while I was in there and talked with me for about 10 minutes. She told me that she had been fighting hard and that she was getting tired. She asked if she could see Taegan and I had to tell her that I could not bring her in the ICU. I did promise I would give her a kiss for her and take extra special care of her. I also told her that I loved her and that she had been an amazing grandma to me. She raised her arm to give me a hug and I just leaned down and kissed her head and rested my face there. In my heart I knew that she was telling me she was too tired to keep going. She had fought her battle and she wanted me to know that she was tired. I told her it was okay-that she could be tired and let her body rest. I would be here for grandpa and help where I could. She was very grateful and did not want to stop talking to me, but she was too tired to keep talking. I just held her hand for a few minutes, told her to rest and that it was okay to rest. That I would stay strong and take care of things. She said she trusted me and loved me and I said goodbye.

She had a full weekend with all of her family going up to see her and be with her. She knew that grandpa would be there this morning to be with her. What a strong woman-I look up to her so much. We have amazing memories together that I will cherish until I get to see her again. I did not sleep well last night at all. I would wake every hour to memories of her and I together. She was in my mind all night. Taegan did not sleep well either and was needing extra love throughout the night. This morning at about 6:45 or so she cried out in her sleep, which she never does, and I knew that grandma was with her. I knew that she had come kissed Taegan and is now watching her. At about 7:15 Justin called to tell me Grandma has died. I do believe that was a sign. I am struggling quite a bit with this, but also know that she just didn't have it in her anymore. This was not the way she wanted to live and we all knew she deserved more. God was with her every step, and as hurt as I am now I know she is up there with him helping me get through today.....

Family Fun Part 2...

She loved the swing-she just sat back and let the wind blow on her face!

Where is Taegan? Her first pile of leaves fun!

Wow-all of these are for me Mom???

I am such a big girl that I can pick my own out!

Dad, have you seen this stuff before? Let me show it to you!!!

We could not get her to focus on anything but

this new texture! She was fascinated with it.

I picked this one out Dad and I am going to

sit here until you come put it in the wagon.

This was her first time in the high chair

and she was mad I was taking a picture instead

of feeding her! She loves the high chair.

Out shopping with Mom-can you tell that she

is kicked back and relaxed!

A fun family weekend...

What a fun time we had this past weekend. I wish I had all my pictures uploaded so I could show everything off. It was the first weekend that we did not have anything going on and so we did a lot of things. Friday we we hung out and relaxed, Justin was working the next morning so it was an early night. Saturday he went to work until about noon and then the fun started. We decided to take Taegan to the pumpkin patch and it was a ball. She had fun picking out little pumpkins from the pile and she loved the hay we sat her on. She was, however, very stubborn with her smiles. We tried and tried to get them on camera and she has decided to not let us catch them. Needless to say we have a lot of pictures of her looking away at the last minute.

We came home and started raking leaves because we knew they would soon start taking over the yard. Taegan just played in the driveway in her exersaucer. She was very content just being outside with us and watching us. We then thought it might be fun to put her in the pile of leaves-what a cute picture I got! The night ended with some ice cream and a warm shower!!!

Sunday we woke up early thanks to the early bird(Taegan) and I decided we needed to be motivated around the house. We organized the crawl space, put out all the Halloween stuff, mowed, edged, trimmed, cleaned the house from top to bottom, and started a pot of potatoes and ham. With all of this done by noon and a nap in the books for Taegan it was lunch time. We were really hoping for a good afternoon nap for Taegan-but she decided that she wanted to spend quality time with mom and dad. So we watched football and relaxed.

All in all it was a very productive, fun weekend. I was so glad to have a clean house and a great looking yard!!! It made for a great start to the week.

Pictures soon....

Are you kidding me???!!!!

I can't believe that this happened last night-but little princess decided she wanted to try sitting up!!! I was at a loss of words. We were over at my friend Colleen's house and she was just putting her between her legs in front of her and there she sat. I thought it was just a fluke since she had never done this before, but she did it again and continued to reach out for things!!! What a BIG day for her. I can't wait for her to get stronger and continue on this path-we could be in a for a moving girl here soon....stayed tuned.

Just havin' fun....

I am getting so good at this bottle holding thing

I can kick back and relax now!

Can you believe Mom got my hair in a ponytail-Dad

thinks I look like some sort of alien!!!

My first shoulder ride from Dad-this is really fun!

Can you believe what a big girl I am?? Holding this bottle

by the handles with NO help!

Bread-really....this is kind of fun!!!

Carrots???

Yes, you heard right! Our little Taegan is loving her carrots this week! Seems as though she can't get enough of them and is so eager for the next bite. I can't believe how much she has really enjoyed them. So much so that she is no longer interested in her oatmeal. I had decided that I would start trying oatmeal/cereal in the morning and then for dinner she could have some baby food. She started carrots on Sunday with Dad-which was very funny! Daddy loved playing airplane with the spoon and Taegan would just follow it and giggle!!! Before too long we were all laughing and there was carrots all over. So Monday morning I decided to try the cereal-NOPE. She was done with that-completely done. All she did was spit it back out and before too long would not even open her mouth-what a stinker. So she has had carrots every night before her dinner time bottle and is doing super.

As for me-I have been having a lot of pains in my stomach and ab area so they sent me yesterday to do an ultrasound. They told me that my CBD is dilated and I have an appointment set up with my doctor for Friday. We will see what the next step should be if anything. The CBD is the exit of the gallbladder and it should be at a .3 and mine is at a .8! So who knows-just want the pain to be gone.

For those of you out there that pray I ask that you keep my grandma in your prayers. We found out last week that she had cancer and she was transferred up to KU med to have surgery. We are waiting on the results of what kind of cancer it is and what the plan of action should be to deal with this. I was up there on Saturday with her and we just went up last night to see her again. She is up and talking to everyone who visits, but is in a lot of pain right now. We are waiting on her to be able to get a room instead of being in ICU so we can take Taegan up there to brighten her spirits. If you could please just keep her in your thoughts we would appreciate it. She is a strong woman and will fight through this-she just needs all of our support.

I know I promised pictures last time, but my computer is running super slow and would not let them load. So I will try again tonight-I have a great one with the carrots!!! Have a good Wednesday!!!

A nice fall day...

I love this weather! It makes me want to come home and play outside with Taegan and Justin. She loves being outside and is so happy to just hang out and do nothing out there. Maybe that is what we will do tonight. Go on a walk and enjoy this nice weather. I am ready for it to stay this way and put me in the holiday spirit. I also can't wait to start baking and getting decorations out. I hope that Taegan gets my passion for the holidays-although her dad loves them as well. I can't wait to start new traditions with her and keep them up. I can always remember baking with mom and loving those times we had together. I hope that Taegan and I can have those too. I know it will be awhile before she can appreciate baking and such, but it will be so fun next year at this time when she is actually able to make a mess out of the kitchen with me.

On a different note-little Miss Taegan is on the move. One day she is simply rolling back and forth one way and then back. The next day I put her on the living room floor and head to the kitchen for 5 minutes, come back and she has rolled herself across the floor and is stuck against the hutch!!! WOW-slow down. She has also learned how to put her ankles together, push her knees up and scoot to move herself when she is on her tummy. Am I ready for this??? I am afraid I have no choice right now. She has decided it is time! She continues to love the oatmeal every night for dinner and is doing awesome with it. It is now 1 ounce of her bottle that she is eating with her oatmeal. She continues to be more eager to hold her bottle and feed herself. So much so that she is saving Mommy a lot of time in the morning because she is feeding herself. This is a huge help! She loves being a big girl. I have pictures to show, but they are at home-I will get them on later. I will also post a picture of her very first ponytail!!! It did look a little silly, but so cute. I can't wait for her to get more hair for me to play with....until later have a good rest of the week!