Happenings over the last month or so :)

One night, Connie & Peyton came home with some cupcakes that had VERY blue frosting. As you can tell, Taysom really enjoyed it! The most hilarious part was the blue poop that was coming out of him for the next two days! Casey said it looked like he ate a village of smurfs! :)

Taysom & I went to Arizona for 11 days to visit Grandpa, Grandma, & Ashlynn. Casey wasn't able to come, so I was flying solo that whole time! I will be honest... it was HARD! My little boy is pretty high maintenance and doesn't love many people, so it was exhausting at times, but we loved being able to be there! Plus, Taysom was spoiled by them with toys and a teepee and new shoes! One day he will realize that grandpa will give him the world if he asks and we will be in trouble! 

Taysom's new tennis shoes from grandpa. :)

One of the first things Taysom decided to do upon arriving back at home was to fall down the stairs and get this nice goose egg! It was so sad... I have never seen him cry like he did! 

Taysom's favorite new play place is in the pantry... the cereal happens to be on his level and while I was doing the dishes he decided to dump Cheerios EVERYWHERE. Needless to say, he is no longer allowed to play in the pantry!

Taysom went to see Dr. Hoagland again for his last check up until he is 2! It's going to be weird not going to see him every few months. I guess this means my baby is officially turning into a little boy. As you can see, he is tall with a big head and the doctor said he is at a very healthy weight for his height. :)

We went to the King Family Reunion on the 4th of July this year. Bob & Connie put it together and Connie had the photo booth props there. It was fun to pose with them and get some fun family pictures. Taysom also had his first S'more while we were there (really all he had was some marshmallow and a little chocolate). 

Aunt Jaylen is officially here with us! Here she is with her new boyfriends (Emerson & Warren) at Lagoon. 

We went to a wedding reception on Friday and this is the outfit that I put together for Taysom. I love dressing him up all cute for things. I am kind of a vain mom and love having him look all cute for things. I care more about what he looks like than I do about what I look like. :) 

We've got a walker!

Taysom definitely took his time with learning to walk. We decided it's probably because of the fact that he has 4 adults who will carry him anywhere that he would like to go. On May 28th he started to take steps without holding on to anything! :) After that he took a bit of a hiatus from walking, but he has now been walking around a lot more. I am glad that he is because I will be honest... I was starting to worry that he wasn't walking. I've decided that raising a child in the Facebook/Blog/Pinterest generation can be hard. You sometimes feel like you're not a good enough mom or that something must be wrong if your little one isn't doing things as quickly as others. It's no bueno! Here's the video of Taysom taking some of his first steps for your viewing pleasure (and for our own documentation). :)

*I will post the video later...darn blogger isn't loving it for some reason*

His plan is always better than ours

For those of you that don't know me very well, I am a planner and I can be a control freak. Heavenly Father knows this about me, so he likes to throw a wrench in my plans and make me reconsider what i'm doing.

Flash back to this time last year... I was getting ready to go back to work after maternity leave and I knew I wouldn't be teaching sixth grade again this school year. I was very convinced that I would NEVER teach sixth grade again seeing as I had a horrible experience teaching sixth grade. I was happy to not go back ever again haha.

Last fall, I started teaching 4th grade, and like i've mentioned before, I ended up deciding to leave in the middle of the year so that I could work part time and be home with Taysom. I happened to get a job as a math tutor at Adelaide Elementary School and went on my way. Around February, I was walking through the school and I had this very distinct prompting. In that moment I knew that there would be a job opening up at Adelaide and that I would be job sharing with Kathy Wilkinson and teaching 6th grade (keep in mind I didn't hear anything about this job for about 6 weeks after this) I didn't really give it much more thought because I figured that it was going to work out eventually. Needless to say, I interviewed for the 6th grade job share position and I got it! I will be teaching 6th grade in the afternoons and every other Friday. I am VERY excited and can't wait! I have high hopes that it will be a positive year and I love the 5th graders that i've been working with, so I can't wait to see which ones I get to teach next year!

Heavenly Father has interesting ways of getting us to where we want to be. I know that I am supposed to be at this school and that I am supposed to teach these specific kids. I really don't think I would have ended up where I am if Casey and I wouldn't have felt strongly that I needed to leave West Point and be home more with our sweet boy. It's amazing to see how things always work out in the end. Heavenly Father's plan really is so much better than ours and I hope that I will be able to learn to turn my life over to him and trust that He will always take care of me and my family. It's a work in progress, but I think i'm on my way. :)

Some pictures of Taysom

The Easter Bunny made a stop by our house this year. He brought sunglasses, a towel, a floaty toy for the pool, and of course...the rocking triceratops! :)

A view of Taysom's Easter outfit and new kicks....if only he would actually keep shoes on his feet. The struggle is real people. It's karma...I never kept shoes on when I was little either. 

Our family Easter picture-By this point in the day Taysom was DONE. Sundays aren't our favorite days around here. He misses his afternoon nap and it's usually no bueno. 

Digging in the dirt with grandma...and eating the dirt too! 

Being a big boy...watching a movie with the cousins. 

These aren't pictures of Taysom, but they are from Women's Conference. It was so nice to be able to go and be spiritually fed and to be able to have a break from every day life. :) 

A view of some of Taysom's favorite things....The water table and the swing. We hang out in the backyard a lot and he loves it. :) 

Helping grandma plant flowers. 

It's crazy to me how big my boy is getting... I feel like he's grown up over the past few weeks and my baby has disappeared. What the heck!? He's such a joy and the age he is now is such a fun one. :) 

A Taysom Story

Since I have a quiet moment and Taysom is asleep for the night, I figured I would write something about him really quickly. 

That boy can put away food! Most nights, he eats as much dinner as I do! Tonight he ate two plates full of lasagna, cottage cheese, corn, and bread. He then drank his bottle of milk shortly afterwards. He can definitely eat! I have a feeling that he will be the teenager that is a human garbage disposal and is never full. :)

Quick update

Okay, guys... just don't plan on me being a consistent blogger. It's kind of embarrassing how horrible I am at this haha. I was talking to my mom and sister yesterday and they were harassing me for never blogging, so here is a quick update on our lives and what's going on!

Our family

• We are still living with Casey's parents, but we are planning on moving out in August. My sister Jaylen is going to be moving in with us and going to school... WOOT WOOT! PARTAYY! :)
• Casey & I watch my friend Kylee's little boy Beck 4 days a week. It's been good for Taysom because it's helped him to learn how to be more independent. 

Casey

• Casey is one busy man.... he watches two boys in the morning, then works 6-7 hours, then tries to do school work. Needless to say, school was a bust this semester. His plate was too full. He is going to be doing school this summer while I am home full time with Taysom. He will rock it! 
• He is still teaching Sunday School and seems to really enjoy his calling. 
• He turned 25 on March 21st! 

Me 

• I turned 25 too... I feel old. 
• I work in the mornings as a math aide at an elementary school and I have been loving it. 
• I am hoping to get a part time job teaching next year!
• I'm still in beehives. :)

Taysom 

Taysom has changed SO much since my last post... here are some of the things that have happened: 

• He eats everything we eat now and LOVES food!
• He drinks whole milk... bye bye formula! CHA-CHING!
• He turned 1!
• He crawls crazy fast, but has no interest in walking much yet. 
• He FINALLY sleeps through the night and puts himself to sleep!
• Since turning one he has been sick with an ear infection, amoxicillin allergy, yeast infection, stomach flu, and allergies. The poor kid cannot catch a break! 
• He still continues to talk about everything and occasionally says words that we understand (mama, dada) 
• His favorite toys lately are army men and his dinosaur that plays music. 
• We sure love this boy.... i'm sure i've missed tons, but that's at least some of the things that have happened since my last post. Here are a few pictures!
  

Taysom with daddy and his buddy Beck

The foyer at church... where we spend most of our time on Sunday. :)

This is what happens when Taysom takes amoxicillin.... :(

He LOVED his birthday cake!

You can't really tell in the picture, but Taysom ALWAYS crosses his fingers. 

Playing with daddy :)

Wow...it's been a while!

Hello again! It's been, well...forever. A lot has changed since I last blogged! Life has been so crazy busy that blogging is something I just haven't had time to do! I don't even really know where to start, so I am just going to do some quick highlights on everything that has happened. I'm sure I will miss a TON, but oh well right? Hopefully I will be better at this from now on!

Our family:

• We moved in with Casey's parents at the end of July to help save some money. It has been a tremendous blessing for us and we will be forever grateful to them for allowing us to be here! We have hopes to be on our own by summer, so we will see!

Casey:

• Most of this last half of the year Casey has been a stay at home dad. Taysom has loved having daddy around all the time! :)
• Casey just got a job at Alpha Graphics doing customer service work. He loves the people and the environment that he works in. It is so nice to have him be happy with where he is working and what he is doing. :)
• He is going to continue to go to school part time. 
• Casey is a Sunday School teacher at church.

Ashley:

• I began teaching 4th grade this year. Let me tell ya.... teaching 3 different grades in not even 2 years is enough to make a woman go insane. Not to mention the fact that I was pregnant for part of it and missing my baby the other part! That being said, we decided that it was time for me to work part time and be home more with Taysom. I had my last day of work yesterday. I know that we made the right decision because I feel so relieved and blessed to be home. :) 
• I have a job interview on Monday for a job teaching English to international students (adults!). It is part time... I would never have to work Friday or weekends...seems pretty ideal! Plus, I actually think I might like teaching adults...so we will see if I get it!
• I am currently serving in the young women's program at church with the beehives. It is pretty fun. :)

Taysom:

Taysom has changed so much since July! He now...

• crawls
• has two teeth
• stands up while holding on to things
• eats solids... he HATES pureed baby food, so he eats pretty much what we eat, minus a few things...he LOVES it!
• likes to talk a lot (not sure what he's saying, but he has a lot to say!)
• loves to laugh
• LOVES it when mommy and daddy are both home....he's just not as happy when one of us is missing...it's pretty cute
• he's still such a skinny little dude
• Does he sleep through the night? HA! That's funny.... NOPE! He must have a fast metabolism because he still thinks he needs to eat at least once a night! 
• Naps are hit and miss with this boy... one day they're 2 hours, the next only 30 minutes!
• He loves cell phones...basically any electronic device that he really shouldn't be playing with!
• He still loves the bath.. :) 

Here are some pictures of the last few months... i'm not going to post a ton, just some! :) 

I love his eyes in this one! 

Taysom was Charlie Brown for his first Halloween. :)

An outfit from Aunt Chelsea. :) I love it!

 

Baby church clothes are SO cute! He's always looking good at church....mom's a little vain and likes having a good looking boy. :)

Taysom loves his new cousin. :) 

Remember that cute baby boy I told you was coming last time I blogged!? Well he is here! Baby Krozby Jett Arnold was born on December 9th and we absolutely love him! I can't wait to go snuggle him in a few days. :)

There you have it.. although it's short, I think it gives an overview of our lives as of late... look forward to a post about Taysom's first Christmas! :)