catching up part 2

we had a fun, low key, traditional Halloweena (as Zoe calls it) this year. we started off the night enjoying dinner with some of our neighbors and ended the night with trick-or-treating, of course. my night ended much earlier than Zach's and the girls'. i went home to take care of Boston while the trio bombarded our neighbors and each other for free candy. when they finally decided to call it a night they were so hyped up on sugar that i'm too embarrassed to admit what time they finally went to bed.

before the night festivities began, we carved a few pumpkins.

this was the best one of all.

do we get an "A" for effort? definitely.

the finished products

our little halloween skeleton with a pumpkin hat

(Avery thought it was a carrot :-)

our snow queen and ladybug

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

(on Decemeber 14th) better luck posting on time next year!

catching up is hard to do

especially when you're as far behind in the blogging world as i am. but we've had a lot going on lately that is definitely worth posting about. most importantly, the woman pictured below with the extremely swollen abdomen had a baby!

here she is all gussied up waiting for the arrival of baby boy Taylor. still swollen, i might add. but after all the drugs that modern medicine has to offer a woman in her condition, the baby made his much anticipated arrival!

Boston Callister Taylor arrived on 9/22/11 at 2:06 p.m.

7 lbs 3 0z 20.5 in. long

here he is fresh out of the womb

here should be pictures of Boston with his sisters but they're on my uncooperative phone. but we do have beautiful, professional pictures that were taken by my good friend, Carrie. she was more than patient with us as we had a fussy, hungry newborn who was done with photo taking 30 minutes into our session. luckily, she was still able to get some great pictures.

one of my very favorites

another favorite

a few weeks after this photo session, we had Boston's blessing.

we were lucky to have Zach's parents and brother join and support us. we really wish the rest of his family and my family could have joined us but we know they were thinking about us that day.

best we could do. just grateful Zoe was looking in the right direction. Boston looks a little uncomfortable though...

deep in thought or trying to hold up his heavy noggin'?

hungry baby

had to include this one for heart warming sake and to remind myself that she isn't always causing mischief

(just most of the time ;-)

movin' on up!!

to the First Grade!!!

i can't believe it!! she has such an enthusiasm for school.

that's what gives me the courage to send her off everyday. we miss having her around but she wouldn't want to be anywhere else!

our squishy peanut is growin' up!

didn't make much effort to get Zoe ready this morning...

at least she was herself for the picture- looking the complete wrong direction.

here's to another successful school year!

sneak peek

at baby BOY Taylor!

i had to include this photo because it reminded us A LOT of Zoe who gives us this "angry furrowed brow look" quite often. we think this little guy was just mad we were bugging him when he was trying to rest. it's a rough life in the womb...

Wanna Get Away?

Well, we did. Since we've been back from our trip to Utah, the temperature in Amarillo has not been below 95 degrees. In fact, I feel like it hasn't been below 100 degrees! So, we decided to escape the heat and take a road trip to OKC. Little did we know the heat would not only follow us but darn near cause us heat stroke!! To say it was hot would be an understatement.

our first stop was the OKC zoo. we knew it would be hot but we couldn't pass up taking the kids to such a fun place. we lasted only about 2 hours before i felt like i was going to sweat to death. nonetheless, we had a good time and managed to stay hydrated and alive.

disclaimer: as you will notice, Zoe is not looking at the camera in ANY of the pictures. this is just to point out to all of my fellow bloggers who's kids not only love the camera but ham it up! this is what i have to deal with.

Avery wanted her picture taken by this peacock that had perched itself on a fence by us.

this is the picture before the bird squawked...

after... scared her to tears!

Zach and i felt bad because we were laughing and i snapped a picture of the aftershock, but i couldn't resist.

after Avery recovered, we headed to the gorilla viewing room because it was next and was air conditioned. we were sitting watching them play and sleep when all of a sudden this giant silver back decided to plant himself by the window right behind us. quite the view, eh?

so, why not take a family photo with a giant gorilla in the background?

because he and I currently share some similar physical characteristics...

we spotted this picture of a baby monkey the zoo named Zoe.

can you tell we were still hot?

the next day we were smarter and went somewhere indoors: the science museum. this was a much more pleasant experience not being so hot. we spent most of the day there and had a great time. there was so much to do.

Avery even got a chance to ride a Segway

and Zach got a chance to take Zoe down an incredibly narrow kids slide.

it's obvious they both enjoyed the ride!

picture with Otto the robot. Zoe loved him...not.

this was as close as we could get her to him.

last, but not least, what outing would be complete without a Zoe tantrum?

or two? not this one!

on the last day of our road trip, we spent some time at the Oklahoma City bombing Memorial and Musuem. this was really neat (mostly for Zach and me). we weren't there for too long (once again, the heat was an issue) but the visit was worth it.

this was the first monument we saw. it reads;

"we come here to remember those who were killed, those who

survived and those changed forever. may all who leave here

know the impact of violence. may this memorial offer

comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity."

behind that monument is a reflecting pond. on each end is a wall.

one wall reads 9:01 the other, 9:03. the bombing happened at 9:02 so they wanted to capture that time.

symbolic chairs lining the walkway. each chair represents a victim of the tragedy. 168 chairs in all.

what an experience and what a trip! we had a great time!

(minus the close calls with heat stroke)

busy month!

As most of you know or are learning or have known for a long time, when you have school age kids May is a crazy, busy month! They're not only busy with end of the year activities with school, but with extracurricular activities as well. And since Avery is our only one in school right now, I know we just got a small glimpse of what the future is going to be like!

here is Avery at her end of the year dance recital. i have to say, i enjoy watching her more and more as she becomes more comfortable with performing. she did such a great job!!

and boy, can she shake it!!

she had us and the rest of the audience laughing pretty good!

Ave with her dancing buddy, Sydney

Avery felt so special when we gave her these flowers. she has been to several of her cousins dance recitals and watched them receive flowers. she was thrilled it was finally her turn!

(little did she know, we bought those at intermission!)

group photo! Zoe kind of felt left out in the flower department,so Avery was nice enough to let her hold one of her bouquets...

until we got in the car.

next big event was Avery's Kindergarten graduation program.

here she is receiving her diploma and me not capturing the picture fast enough and without the flash.

diploma in hand

as part of their program each kid was asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. Avery said a cheerleader. we're not sure if it was because it's what her bestie wanted to be or if Zach and I really need to push something that requires more academics.

but for now, we'll just roll with it...for now.

we are sooooo proud of Avery and can't believe she'll be starting

first grade next year!! crazy!