Taylor's Blessing Day

Well, our little Taylor has been blessed!

Isn't she sweet?!!!

Sunday was a beautiful day, as we were all surrounded by loving family and friends. The blessing was very special, and we quickly wrote down all that we could remember, so we can share those things with Taylor when she is older. (She doesn't seem to quite get what we are saying now--maybe she'll appreciate it in a few years. :o)

I want to thank all of you that made the trip to be a part of Taylor's big day--I know a lot of you helped so much in pulling our celebration together! Thanks! Also, I know not everyone who wanted to be here could actually make it...thanks for your replies & well wishing!

These wonderful people that came for Taylor's Blessing (and Mikey's Baptism) are a part of my family: My Mom, Anita (she's holding Taylor); my little sister, Mary & her daughter, Mykenzie (her cute little Porter didn't make it into this picture); my Dad, Gary; and my oldest daughter, Kelli! It would have been nice to have my other siblings here as well, but that's life. :o) Just know I thought of you all!

Here's Mary's little Porter. He's such a cutie, and started walking around recently! It would be so nice to have Mary closer! I love hanging out with her!

I was so glad my Mom, Dad, & Sis could come & stay with us! We had so much fun talking, laughing, walking, & making memories--not to mention playing chicken-foot! (No Dad, we aren't going to post the scores. :o) I'm just going to savor the sweet victory by myself!) By the way--If anyone is interested in learning an addicting game, let me know! We'll invite you over for an evening of fun!

Taylor & her Mom (that's me!)

She loves giving solemn looks. :o) She must be thinking hard.

Here's a picture of our gathering after the blessing. I didn't think all that food could be eaten, but it did! The picture shows Shauna (Mark's mom) bringing my Dad some water. Also in the background is Sarah (in the pink), and Helen (my old college roommie--she's at the window). I was so excited to see Helen again! The last time I saw her was when Mikey was about 20 months old, and I was pregnant with Kelli--due in a couple months. It's been a while! I'm excited that at least some of us roommates are here in Utah now!

Here's a sweet one of William, Sarah's boy.

He was so cute, jabbering away about Taylor (I'm assuming). He kept crawling closer and closer to her, 'talking' all the while...Looking at me while talking, then looking at her, and finally patted her on the head (quite gently), then jabbered a bit more, and crawled away. :o) Such a happy little guy! We kept telling him to give her kisses, but he never quite got his face in close enough.

I thought this picture was so sweet. What else is a blog for, if not too bore everyone with a thousand pictures of the same baby?!!!

I love those little legs! Believe it or not--those shoes are a little over a half inch too big!

I loved this picture, because it shows what a puff-ball her little 'do' is. :o)

On Monday, when Taylor officially turned 3 weeks old, she celebrated the milestone in an interesting way. I had just turned my back on Taylor for a few seconds when she screamed out in pain. I whirled around, to see if anyone (meaning Addie) was poking or pinching her, but there was no one. She was screaming like she was getting a third PKU test done (boy, do those tests bring tears to a mother's eyes!), so I raced to her side to see what was wrong. You know how babies' hands ball up into little fists when they cry hard? Well, Taylor was doing exactly that, only she had a fistful of hair & was pulling on it as she tried flailing her arms! Poor girl was pulling her own hair! I felt awful that she was in pain & crying so hard, but how can you not laugh?!! Don't worry--I unraveled her hair from her fingers, & she calmed right down. :o)

I don't know what's going through her mind, but she looks concerned! Maybe she's worried someone is going to pull her hair again. :o)

Thanks to everyone who posted their vote on our Taylor look-a-like poll. The results are in--check it out on our side bar. (It looks like Mikey won). I've since decided that my vote has changed--I no longer can make up my mind as to who she looks the most like! Different faces she makes reminds me of all my kids...that may be attributed to the fact that they all looked so much alike! Oh, well. It'll be easier to see their similarities/differences as she gets older. :o)

Have a great day, everyone!!!

We're proud of our Mikey

Today was a very special day for Mikey and our family. I was able to baptize and confirm Mikey today. He was pretty excited and said he felt good after the baptism. We are excited to have family and friends visit here with us today.

I definitely don't feel old enough to be baptizing my own son, but I'll get over it. He had to miss his soccer game today - Definitely a more important event than playing for the Red Dragons this week (That's right - no more raspberries, thank goodness :)

Grandma and Grandpa Harker with Mikey and I

Grandma and Granpa Sherwood made the treck down from Garden Valley, Idaho to be with the grandkids.

Tomorrow is Taylor's blessing day. What a big weekend! We're loving it! (We understand all of you who can't make it because the blessing will be happening right before the Jazz game. That's right, Jake - you're kids are sick is the best excuse you've got? Go Jazz!)

Mikey had his birthday last week and had a great time. He's been cruising around on his new scooter all week. He wanted fruit again with his birthday cake, so he got a trifle. Joy does a great job with the kids cakes - she's very talented. This is Mikey's Star Wars "cake" (can't you see in candles the resemblance to light sabers?) If you look close, you'll see Luke Skywalker & R2D2 standing on the mountain of strawberries in the center. I've posted some other cakes that Joy has make in the past couple of years for the kids.

Kelli's 2007 Princess Castle cake

Mikey's 2007 "Pancakes" birthday cake

Kelli's birthday cake in 2007

Mikey's Dinosaur birthday in 2006

Taylor's Goin' Cordless!!!

Wow! That was fast! Taylor is officially cordless! It came as a total surprise on Monday, just hours before she was officially a full week old. It seemed too soon for me for my newborn to have a full-fledged belly-button. Where has the time gone? Anyone else thinking of the song, "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof? Surprisingly, Taylor was completely indifferent.

Well, I hope the pictures aren't too gruesome...yes, we have thrown out the shriveled umbilical cord, so no, you won't be seeing it in pictures again. :o)

Taylor also had her first opportunity to be a bathing beauty, with a baby-sized tub full of water. She loved it! (Don't all babies appreciate a real bath after being scrubbed down with just a wet washcloth a couple times, and no warm water to relax in?!! And we dare call that "a bath?")

Well, that's all for now--and a first for me! I'll try to keep up on this as well as Mark has, especially since he'll be going back to work before long (paternity leave is wonderful!).

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

Joy

Run for your Life!

No, Taylor is not walking yet. No, Mikey is not driving yet. No, Addie is not looking for someone to practice cutting hair on. (And no, a giant dinosaur is not chasing after you.) This weekend (especially Saturday) was an exciting one full of running and runs for our family. It has inspired the first posting not dedicated 100% to Taylor (though she's still at the top of our attention - she's so cute!). Saturday morning I attempted to bring back my running days and ran in the Salt Lake City 5K race. I was several minutes slower than the high school days, but I improved by almost a minute (about 21:40, though I haven't seen my official time yet) over last year's race, so I was pleased with the race. (Although I remembered today how painful racing is!)

Coming down to the finish line at the Gateway. That's me in the bright orange tee shirt our firm had us wear since they sponsored us to enter the race.

Mikey did his share of running on the soccer field. He had his first soccer game Saturday and really enjoyed it. He was a little concerned when he went to his first practice this week and found out the exciting news... he is the only boy on the team. We knew it was a co-ed league, but we figured there would at least be some other boys on the team... No such luck. What made it worse - the girls voted on a team name. Yeah, you guessed it- "Raspberries". They had to veto the red dragons, and went with the raspberries. First item on the agenda for Tuesday's practice- change the team name. That's what the coach told Mikey at the end of the game, at least. Mikey did great! He was a lot more aggressive than I was in youth soccer and seemed to catch on quickly. This is his first year playing soccer, but the coaches can hardly believe that. He was one of the fastest on the field. Mikey's team took on the blistering winds and the bright yellow opponents and came out with a 2-0 victory (it might have been 3-0, not sure they really even keep track of records in this league). He had a blast. If anyone would like to come to see Mikey at a game, email me, & I'll send you a copy of his soccer schedule.

My mom and dad (Harker grandparents) have been running everywhere this weekend supporting us - They came to watch me run the 5K Saturday morning, went to Mikey's soccer game, then my mom ran the kids over to a children's play in the evening to give us a break. Very nice.

Kelli and Addie have been running races around the house.

Joy hasn't been doing much running, but getting some much deserved rest.

As for Taylor's runs... well, it seems like she has the runs with how many diapers we've been changing :) She's been eating very well and has been a great baby. She hasn't been overly fussy- just cries when she's really hungry or messy.

We tried hard, and finally caught one of Taylor's sweet smiles while sleeping. I wonder what she's dreaming about?

Hi. Nice to meet you.

Yeah, she's loved. Mikey spent some time just staring at Taylor while she was sleeping today.

Taylor Comes Home!

Today's important post comes from Mikey. He wrote this in his second grade class on Wednesday:



Needless to say, our fears of Mikey being scarred for life over being the only brother --or rather, the only boy--in the family are currently appeased.



This picture was Addie's idea: "Let's say cheese & take a picture, Mom." She actually doesn't have such a 'cheesy' smile as usual--she's improving!









Taylor's first look at herself in the mirror - what a cutie I am!



Heading home from the hospital - hooray!

"This is my mad face - I haven't shown this too often, but I do know how to cry a little."

"I love my Mommy"

Sweet girl

Taylor - Day 2

Just a quick update on Taylor. I added a poll to the blog, so make your vote as to which of our other kids she looks most like. I put newborn pictures of Mikey and Kelli below to remind you of what they looked like. She's doing wonderful and is eating well. Joy is recovering and getting some rest still at the hospital. We enjoyed having all of my sisters come and visit us at the hospital today. We're planning to bring Taylor home this afternoon. Here are a few updated pictures.

Taylor at about 1 day old

Taylor at about 1 day old - not sure how much she wants to be awake


Mikey as a newborn

Mikey as a newborn

Kelli as a newborn

Kelli as a newborn

Addie as a newborn

Addie as a newborn

Ambree and Drew, the proud parents... I mean, the proud aunt and uncle.

Aunt Melissa with her hairy competitor

Aunt Carrie is loving the new little one.

Mark and Joy with our little angel

Aunt Sarah and Melissa with Taylor