website updates

The blog has officially been moved to a new location (http://life.tayloredtruth.com). I know this actually happened a while ago, but I have now completed the various updates to point links to the right place (I hope). In addition, we have updated our photo album and moved it to a new location (http://www.tayloredtruth.com/album2). Hopefully, the transitions are smooth, but please let me know if you come across any broken links or other issues.

Crawfish Boil 2010

We had our annual crawfish boil this past weekend. We had just under 200 pounds of crawfish, 72 pieces of corn, 10 large loaves of bread, 5 large cartons of mushrooms, 2 big bags of potatoes, and lots of sausage. After everyone had their share, we were only left with 2 pounds of crawfish! Pretty impressive in my opinion. We had around 70 friends and family in attendance this year, which included almost 20 kiddos! We had so much fun visiting with everyone and watching all of the kids play. We had kick croquet and sidewalk chalk outside and all of Jackson and Audrey's toys inside. The sidewalk chalk was definitely a hit, and our downstairs playroom (originally intended to be a breakfast room) got put to good use.

We had fun showing Audrey off to everyone this year, and Jackson was a great host. He had fun running around and playing with everyone. By the end of the evening I think Jackson was a little overwhelmed to have so many people playing with his stuff, especially since he likes everything to have its place, but he shared very nicely. By the time he woke up the next morning everything was back in its place, which seemed to make him a happy camper. Audrey and Jackson were both well taken care of with all of their grandparents and their aunt and uncle around. I don't think we could have pulled the crawfish boil off this year with out them!

Unfortunately, our camera didn't take a single picture this year, so if anyone has some pictures, we'd love a copy!

We did get a picture of our adorable nephew while he was here visiting, so we'll share that instead.

Horses, Crawfish, and Fun!

We had a great weekend! My cousins, Bud and Meg, were in town. Bud is a horse trainer and was in town for a reining horse show in Katy, TX, and Meg made her way here to squeeze in a visit with both of us while she could. Saturday morning we drove to Katy to watch Bud show a couple of horses. We met up with Meg for a late breakfast before watching Bud ride. Jackson couldn't wait to see the horses! When we got settled in our seats they were dragging the arena and playing some good music, so Jackson decided to be the entertainment for those around us by dancing in his boots and hat. All of the ladies around us LOVED it! Here's a picture and a short clip of him in action.

Bud showed 2 horses on Saturday, and we were there for the first one he rode. I absolutely love watching Bud ride, and he did awesome! He ended up placing 2nd with the other horse he rode, but did really well with both! Way to go, Bud! Here are a few shots of Bud in action.

After Bud finished his first ride of the day, we made our way to the barn to visit a little and let Jackson meet the horses up close. He was actually a little nervous to meet them, which surprised all of us. This is the first time he's seemed scarred of anything! He did eventually pet one of them though and loved looking at them.

There are more pictures of the horse show in the album.

We didn't get to stay for Bud's second ride of the day because Jackson was in desperate need of his nap. Instead we spent our afternoon at a friend's crawfish boil. It was delicious! I didn't get to eat as much as I would have liked since Ross and I were splitting our time watching Jackson and Audrey. Fortunately, we had some "extra" hands that were willing to help out. I didn't get any pictures, but Jackson discovered his love of trampolines while we were there. They had a big trampoline with a net around it, and Jackson would run from one side to the other and throw himself into the net laughing hysterically. He also loved having the big kids bounce him and his friend, Maddie, around in the middle.

Sunday we went out for a walk in the neighborhood, and took a few pics of Jackson checking out a fallen, but still growing, tree.

On the way back we decided to stop at the park, and there was a huge jack rabbit sitting by a tree. We didn't get to stay and play at the park because Bailey was way too excited about the rabbit.

Sunday evening we had one of our former youth from church keep Jackson, and we took Audrey to dinner with us to celebrate our friends', Pam and Sara's, birthdays. It was great to catch up with everyone!

Audrey was pretty good all weekend. She, of course, cried through Bud's ride, but she was hungry! We're still working to figure out her routine. We've definitely been experiencing fussiness in the evenings, but that's to be expected at this age. She's doing great during the day and at night. Most nights she's already sleeping through the night (10 PM to 6 AM), and if she wakes up, it's only once! I'm hoping that continues! She's a strong girl and seems to be growing everyday, and yes, she looks exactly like her brother did at this age!

First Trip with Two!

Time is flying by. I have a little less than 6 weeks before I go back to work, and I'm wondering where the time has gone...

This past weekend we made our first trip to Shreveport/Ruston with both kiddos. They did great on the drive there. Of course, Jackson was ready to run around by the time we got there, but it was dinner time...we managed to get through a meal with Ross' Dad at one of our favorite restaurants, The Oyster Bar. Jackson was determined to try everything he could think of to get attention and possibly get out of his seat. Audrey just slept through the whole thing and decided to cry her little heart out later that night to get out her pent-up energy.

It's hard to believe, but Audrey is now over a month old! We spent her 1 month b-day in Ruston with family and friends. Audrey got to meet my Mamaw and Grandmother and Granddaddy. My Papaw passed away just a few weeks before Audrey was born, and this was the first time I've been able to see my Mamaw since I wasn't able to attend the funeral. Being there and seeing all the pictures of him around the house were a sweet reminder of how much he loved his family. I wish Audrey had been able to meet him. We did take some family pictures while we were there.

Saturday was also Carter's 3rd birthday, and he had a super fun dinosaur party. Jackson especially enjoyed the "dinosaur dig," which involved digging through a baby pool filled with sand for dinosaur toys. It was a blast! To add to the excitement, our friends Barbara and Heath announced that Carter will be a big brother around Thanksgiving.

There are a few more pics from the party in the album

After the party we made our way back over to my grandparents house for a delicious fish fry. All I can say is YUM! You just can't beat my grandparents fried fish, homemade fries and hush puppies, and chocolate cake!

We had a great weekend but are glad to be home. We've got lots of fun stuff coming up over the next few weeks, so we'll do our best to keep you posted.

Smiling

Audrey definitely smiled today, and it was adorable! I haven't been able to get a picture of a real smile yet, but I hope to soon. Until then, here's a picture from today (more in the album). Thanks to Kammy for the adorable hat!

Easter Fun!

It's been a fun Easter weekend. Nana spent the day with us on Friday. She got lots of good cuddle time with Audrey, and we all had fun at Jackson's Easter Party at school. There a lots of pictures of Jackson and his friends in the album, but are a few of him.

Saturday afternoon we made our way over to Pam and Brian's house for another Easter egg hunt and crawfish boil. All of the kiddos were 2 or under and had lots of fun finding the eggs and playing together. Jackson finally discovered that there is candy in the eggs if you open them...we'd been removing the candy after each of the egg hunts so far, but this time he decided to check them out as he found them. Fortunately, he still doesn't really know what candy is, so he just played with it by putting it in the eggs and taking it out over and over. He was pretty cool in his sunglasses too. He's decided wearing them is fun. Here are a couple of pics, but there are more pics of the egg hunt in the album.

This morning Jackson woke up to find Easter eggs hidden around the living room along with his Easter basket filled with fun surprises. It didn't take long for him to make a mess of things...

He's been turning everything into an airplane lately, so it was about time he actually had an airplane to play with.

He also got a fun drawing pad and slinky, as well as a punching balloon, which we're still working on mastering. It was a hit either way though since it's a balloon!

After getting ready for church we got a few pictures of Audrey and Jackson. He's still so sweet with her!

I'd like to pass this one off as a smile, but she's actually about to cry.

Of course, there are more pics of the Easter fun in the album.