Good tidings

Lots of love to you on this merry Christmas Day! 

Hopefully it's full of comfort and joy....also, food and naps. 

Thanks to awesome friends who made this card happen. Laura Stephens, dear pal and former roomie, designed it and knocked my socks off. Erin-I've mentioned her before- took this sweet photo of our family. Also, hats off to my dudes for smiling long enough for this to happen. 

3 cheers to helpful friends and cooperative husbands and kids!

Merry Christmas friends! 

May you find comfort in your relationship with those you love and joy in the birth Jesus Christ our Savior! 

family photos

our favorite photographer, Erin, came over to capture our family

exactly 1 year-to the day-after we took JRs newborn photos.

Judson Ray 8 days old

Judson Ray 1 year 8 days old

although I groaned and moaned, along with my brothers, when my mom made us take family pictures...i'm so glad that she made us.

and i will force the tradition on our family.

i do think it is important to capture everyday, candid and casual, non-staged photos of your family.

but i also LOVE having some "formal" photos of our family as well...making the effort to get everyone spiffied up and looking in the same (general) direction with a skilled photographer. 

and luckily, Erin is awesome and captured all of these images in 45 minutes!

which is amazing with a super busy 1 year old.

do you see his little right hand?

oh lands.

we are so happy to have these moments captured

especially this last one.

if you wish to have some family photos this good, contact Erin Stokes

here

or here

thanksgiving recap and a team Taylor update!

i'm slowly arising from my tryptophan coma (2 weeks later).

 at least that's the excuse i'm using as to why this thanksgiving post is rather tardy, as we are very quickly approaching the next holiday.

( from the wonderful UrbanDictionary.com- 

 1. tryptophan coma: A fallacy that is perpetuated by people as an excuse for their lazy behavior following their diet-crushing Thanksgiving meal.)

...i got it.

-----

we left early in the week for a Thanksgiving in Austin, in order to capitalize on time with family and friends in Texas along the way.

after stopping to stay in Huntsville (GTs parents house) for the night, we met up with some of our good friends and their littles in College Station.
We could only manage a lunch, but it was completely worth the stop and so needed!!!

Judson and and a potential future Mrs. J.R. Taylor.

the whole gang...Larry, Rachel and their sweet kiddos!

then, what's a roadtrip without a stop at the taxidermist?!?!

my kid loves, i mean LOVES, deer mounts. 

so, this was his kind of heaven

who knew?

moving on down the road.

we arrived at Kim and Matt's (GT's sister and her hubby) late Wednesday afternoon and didn't leave again until Friday.

it was lovely and well spent with the fam.

the majority of my time was in the kitchen- prepping, cooking, talking, eating, reheating, snacking, feeding JR, cleaning, washing, chatting and LOVING it.

since all of that included my sis-in-laws, mom-in-law, aunts and grandma (in-laws).

and i seriously enjoy every single bit of their company.

sure, there were guys in and out of the kitchen....

....but, not if we could help it. 

just kidding. calm down.

this turkey joined in to carve the -um- turkey

the joy of Thanksgiving comes with having no agenda.

at least it does for me.

sure, we hustle and bustle around the kitchen hoping everything is ready around the same time, making sure the tables are set and everyone has a seat. but, really, no one is on any kind of schedule.

(except for the few years that I had to work on Thanksgiving, but those were a different kind and they were good, too)

the good stuff comes from plopping down on the couch next to someone and just nestling in for a nap, chatting away as you both rest your eyes or peek at the football game. 

grabbing a chair on the deck and going over recent events

or being the only baby and getting a crazy amount of loving attention

and matching your uncle Ty

and finding out that he is going to be a dad!!!!!

Chelsea is having a baby!!! and we are thrilled! 

(don't let our faces fool you)

sweet little little is due next summer!

and what baby doesn't want to join this bunch?

preggers leading the crazy train

you're welcome, Chelsea.

this is a good bunch of people.

i'm so thankful i get to be part of the Taylor crew!

Chelsea and Ty will be the best parents!

i know this because they are incredibly wonderful people, the best siblings and friends, and loving aunt and uncle to JRay. 

cheers to good people bringing life into this world!

go Team Taylor!

treat yo' self (and your marriage)

the man and I haven't been on a bonafide date in...i can't remember.

(sung to the tune of most parents of littles. same story)

we I really like to stay at the house in the evenings, 

GT travels quite a bit, I have school work, blah, blah, blah, excuses.

instead of squeezing in a few hours for dinner and a movie, we decided to get out of town.

best move ever.

we drove 2 lane, backroads the whole way there.
 held hands, listened to music and sports, sat in silence, talked about nonsense and some good sense.
and stopped to check out this place

we landed at a quiet resort a little bit out of Natchitoches tucked in the beautiful fall foliage.

i booked the "Romantic Getaway Package"

that's right.

schmancy

pretty sure the strawberries on a doily were the only "up-grade" for romance.

we arrived around 4pm, looked at each other, realized no one else was at the hotel and there was zero things to do. it was cold and rainy outside. nothing within proximity to the hotel. 

so, we watched a movie, ate an early dinner and called it a night at 830.

boo-yah!

typically, when we go out of town i pack our toothbrushes and the toothpaste.
as we prepared to leave the house for out little date, GT found his toothbrush (unpacked) and mine was already packed.
he said this was indication enough that we were in need of this trip.
ha!

this not-so little fella creepin on us

the next day continued on with the cold and rain....

a really beautiful place, i just wish the weather would've allowed us to sit outside for a spell.

or maybe we should've just toughened up 

nah.

after another movie and some delish breakfast, we hit the road to Natchitoches for some meat pies at Magee's

better by a country smile.

 "treat yo' self"

 we will.

and we did. thank you very much

although our little 24 hour jaunt was super low-key, it allowed us to have some downtime just visiting, focusing on one another and laughing at movies together.

that's some good, simple medicine right there.

indeed, i did pack BOTH of our toothbrushes for our thanksgiving trip!

nonsense

1. our toilet has been getting clogged up. and not at times when you'd expect it to be stopped up (you get my drift?). so, for a month or so, we'd plunge away until it would get unclogged and carry on.

well it happened again the other night and we were like, "seriously, what is in that toilet?!?!". clogging for no apparent reason.

so, we ignored it. naturally.

GT plunged it this morning and lo! and behold!

the culprit surfaced.

a toothbrush.

an accurate portrayal of life with a toddler

2. school is almost over for the semester and i am feeling the end-of-semester anxiety (this term is used lightly...i am not a typically anxious person)

in one night i had 3 anxiety related dreams

dream scenario A: show up for a basketball game with mismatched uniform. green top, white bottoms and no sports bra

dream scenario B: show up for class and can't remember my locker combination, where my classes are or my homework

dream scenario C: GT and I are in a tiny galley kitchen and I have no idea how to prepare a meal. so, i attempted some type of beef and mayonnaise concoction. p.s. i hate mayonnaise.

needless to say, i am experiencing some feelings of unpreparedness in my life.

good patient.

3. i hope that the Elf on the Shelf fades by the time Judson reaches the age appropriate for that shin-dig.
bad parent? you make the call. or don't. don't judge me. or do.

4. thankfully, I have a dear helpmate.

he agreed to drag the tree out of the barn before we left for Thanksgiving in Texas.

oh giddy goodness!

he even gave in to my idea of stickin' the tree in a tin bucket.

he found a block of wood in the barn, drilled a tree sized-hole in it and Wah-La!

secured tree...or so it is for now. 

that guy!

Judson talked to it for a few minutes, nodding his head and pointing at the branches, i suppose telling it the house rules. He then squatted down and checked under the hood.

it might stick around until March.