He's Here!

We had more snow here and this time we were able to enjoy it!
Sunday morning we woke up to inches of beautiful white powder snow. We suited up and headed to Chris and Brandi's house to make a snowman, have a snowball fight, and take a walk around the neighborhood. We had a blast and I took lots of pictures which I'll load a little later. After we enjoyed the outdoors for a few hours we headed in to switch on the fireplace and drink hot chocolate. It was a perfect winter day :-)

Tuesday started out as any normal day: snoozed as long as possible, finally got up, went to work, counted down the hours until 5 pm, and then started my drive home. This is where things changed. When I was on the bus (the one that takes us to the lot where our cars are parked) my phone apparently rang but my ringer was so low I didn't hear it. I got off the bus and saw I missed a call from Brandi, so I called her back. Chris answered and I told him I was returning a call from Brandi. He was kind of quiet and I asked if everything was okay. He said Brandi had gone into pre-term labor at 33 weeks. Corvallis wasn't equipped to handle a baby that early so they transported her by ambulance down to Eugene after giving her medicine to try and stop the labor. I headed down to Eugene with Chris and we got there about 8 pm. At first the medicine seemed to work, but at about 5 am on Wednesday she was progressing and little Austin was on his way! He was born at 10:19 am on Wednesday and was 3 lbs 15 ounces of perfection. He cried right away which we weren't expecting since he was so tiny, but it was a wonderful sound. They even laid him on mommy's stomach for a minute which I know she loved. I was able to take tons of pictures so they could show their family. The original plan was to have both their moms come out early so they could be there for the delivery since all their family is in West Virginia, but Austin had other plans. I know it was hard not having her mom there so my hope was to help her as much as possible. I felt honored to be there for his birth, there is nothing like a new little life entering the world. This was my fourth delivery that I was present for (I was there for all 3 of my sister's births) so I think I'll be getting my badge soon ;-)
Austin is doing great, he came out pink and crying and didn't have to be hooked up to oxygen, he was breathing on his own. He is still doing great and mom is also doing wonderful, considering. Brandi definitely recovered fast and was making to do lists for when their moms get here, today.

She was amazing through the whole thing and I am so happy for the new mom and new dad. James Austin Taylor is absolutely beautiful, you did good :-)

New Table!

We found our table and purchased it just last night. I am more than thrilled to have a nice and sturdy dining room table. Brian and Chris went to Costco after work last night and loaded up the 5 boxes in our small Mazda truck. It is definitely bigger than our other table that is for sure, and the fact that it is counter height makes it look even taller. It was a little overwhelming at first, I think because we are so use to our little nook table. But I do really like it and can't believe what a great deal it was. I didn't think we'd be able to find a 7 piece table within our budget, but Costco came through :)
Alright, here are the before shots with our little country table:

Notice the mismatching chair, looks good.

Not an ugly table, just not what we need.
Here she is! Big and beautiful
Yep, she fits in nice around here :)
Just one more, these are the placemats my mom got for us in Singapore (Singapore right mom?), they match our decor perfectly.

So I snapped a few pictures before work Friday morning because I knew the snow would all be melted when I got home, and sure enough it was. Here is a picture of our backyard:

We enjoyed the snow while it was here that is for sure. MJ was a little hesitant at first, probably because she gets lost in it ;)

Brian had to work today but just for a few hours so he'll be home soon. Then we have the rest of the weekend to relax and hang out with friends. Brandi and Chris came over last night and helped us set up the table. I felt baby Austin kick and have the hiccups, it was adorable. I could barely feel the hiccups, but the kicks were strong and you could see her belly move.

Alright, well I am going to finish my coffee and get ready for the day. Enjoy your weekend!

Let it Snow!

We got snow! I was very excited to drive home and see our neighborhood covered in a blanket of white snow. Salem didn't have any which I thought was weird since it is 1/2 hour north of Albany, but oh well. Brian and I took a walk with MJ last night to take advantage of the beautiful winter weather. Usually we just get lots of rain in the winter so snow is a wonderful relief. Good thing I put my winter tires on :)

I am very excited that it is Friday. Brian is not going to the training in California next week, it has been postponed until March, which I am thankful for. By that time Lance (my bro) will be living with us and then I won't be scared at night. Did I mention Lance is moving in with us? He is moving back from Boise the beginning of March and he is going to be occupying our spare bedroom. We are excited to help out family and have Lance live with us. We are looking forward to helping him decide what he wants to do. 18 is such a hard age, there is pressure to go to school which means you have to pick a major, which means you have to pick a career you are going to be at for the next 40 years. So we are hoping to help (not pressure) him research different areas that interest him. He will be living with us temporarily until he figures out where he wants to go to school and has saved enough to move out on his own. His goal is 6 months, but we won't kick him out if he still hasn't decided ;)

Work went really well this week (there was a lot of W's in that sentence). It goes up and down (or maybe that's me!) and I am so grateful when I have a good week. I felt productive and didn't dread coming into work each day, a great relief from the norm.

I still have been awful about taking pictures, but we are just so boring that I never think to take the camera out!

Car Maintenance, done

Since I had the day off yesterday, and the nice people at Lube Express and Les Schwab did not, I took the opportunity to get my oil changed, car washed, and winter tires put on. Yes, I realize it's already January and I am just putting my winter tires on, but oh well. It was a popular day for oil changes and tires changes, that's for sure! It took about 3 hours to do those things, but at least they are done and I can check them off my list.

I also did some laundry, cleaned our bathroom and took MJ for a walk. It was blue sky and beautiful yesterday, but it was about 2 degrees outside. So our little walk was mixed with jogging so I could try and stay somewhat warm. I enjoyed 2 cups of hot chocolate throughout the day to try and stay warm, which helped very much. MJ is doing very well, her bum is looking so much better. She doesn't need the cone anymore, and I just put the diaper on after we put the cream on, and because I pretend she's a baby, hehe :-) I also read a lot, I can't remember if I posted what I am currently reading, The Other Boleyn Girl, set back in the 1500's about King Henry VIII. I am really enjoying it although it is taking me a long time to read. Mainly because it is 700 pages of tiny print, but also I am not reading it as often as I was the Twilight series, which is a good thing, trust me!

Speaking of the Twilight series, I will give you one guess as to where they are filming Twilight. Portland, Oregon baby!!!! Can you believe it?! That's not even the best part, they are taking applications for extras!!! This is one of the few times I am thankful to live in Oregon :-)

Brian did lots and lots of homework this weekend. He is definitely overwhelmed with working full time and taking 2 classes, he is of course handling it better than I would. He can attest to the fact that I would throw myself on the floor in a 5 year old tantrum when I was going to school and things got stressful. He spent all day Sunday at the library and then came home and went right to the computer to do more. I was able to help him with his accounting homework so he could retire from school work at 8 pm and watch The Amazing Race with me :-) Work has been busy for him as well, he is suppose to go to a training next week in California. I am so happy he loves his job so much, I think that is what is keeping him sane right now. And of course the loving supportive wife he has :-)

I have been horrible about taking pictures lately so my posts are visually unappealing. I will make it a goal to take some, even if they are just of us lounging around. Alright, well I better get back to work.

MJ's bum and Birthday wishes

Poor little MJ, her scent gland in her bum got infected and exploded. Thursday morning Brian let her out to do her business and when she came back in she had some #2 remnants. We went to clean her off and I almost screamed, it looked like a hemorrhoid! What do I do? Google: dog hemorrhoids. Apparently dogs and cats can't get hemorrhoids (according to one Dr.) but it could be a rectal prolapse and to take them in right away. Well that freaked me out, so I call Brian and he made an appointment for 9:30 that morning with the vet. He took her in and they said one of her scent glands had bursted. They had a technician come in to hold her while the other lady cleaned out the puss and blood (gross, I know). Brian said it was a good thing I wasn't there because MJ was shaking and crying so loud that he almost had to leave the room. Bless her little heart. Our instructions are to give her 2 pills a day and inject an antibiotic cream in her wound twice a day. Then go back in a week so they can make sure it is healing properly. She has to wear the cone so she doesn't attempt to lick it. Guess she's preparing us for kids huh? :-)
Brandi and Chris (our neighbors) handed us a little diaper so we could try that out last night. It worked for awhile but I woke up at midnight and she had wiggled out of it so the cone went back on :( I hated leaving her today and almost took half a day, but Brandi generously offered to watch her and I am so grateful. I feel so much better knowing she is hanging out with Brandi and Malise (their dog) today.

I am so happy I have a 3 day weekend, I wish Brian did too but that's okay because I can use Monday to do chores and pamper MJ. I am excited for tonight because we are going to dinner with Trav & Sarah and Jeff (my co-worker from Allied Waste) and his girlfriend Maria. Then we're gonna head back to our house and play some games. We invited Brandi and Chris so hopefully they come as well.

Today is a special day, it's my sister's birthday!
Happy Birthday Jenny!!!
We are overjoyed she moved back here. I know she loved Bend and was sad to leave, but her family (and more importantly-her husband) is thrilled to have her back. Jenny is one of the most likable people I know. When people who know Jenny find out I'm her sister the first thing they say is, "Oh my gosh, I LOVE Jenny! She is just so sweet." It's true. I am so proud to say I'm her little sister. She is a very giving person and will do anything for the people she loves without a second thought. I love her so much and want to wish her a very happy birthday.

Loving this Blog thing

So I have to say, this blog thing is really nice. Anytime I need advice or recommendations I know I can count on comments from the wonderful people who read our blog, thank you so much for all your advice. I feel like I'm cheating or something when I get all these fabulous ideas from everyone :)

Sundays are bittter sweet for me. On one hand I love them because I am usally productive and get a good chunk of chores done, we have a good dinner together, plus we watch America's Funniest Home Videos and The Amazing Race (courtesy of our rockin' bunny ears). On the other hand I almost feel sick thinking about going back to work and being locked in a cubicle for 8 hours out of the day. That's life though, and my job really isn't that bad, it would just be wonderful if I got to work with my co-workers from the Credit Union, hands down the best group of people ever!

Alright, enough complaining. Brian began installing our outside lighting that my Dad and Anna got us for Christmas. We need about 100 more feet of cable, but 2 of the 5 trees have spotlights in front of them and they look great. We are really looking forward to this summer when we can sit outside and enjoy our illuminated trees.
Speaking of summer, Brian had an A/C guy come out to give us an estimate on A/C. I know you're thinking we're crazy because we just received a bunch of bills this month, but we wouldn't do it right now, we would just like an idea of how much it would cost if we decided to get one. His estimate (keep in mind our house is already plumbed for A/C): $4300. Are you kidding me? I am no expert but I thought that was outrageous, as did Jaime. So, the search continues :)

Friday night we had a great time at a restaurant/bar called Sean's. My Mom and Randy invited us to go there because they were going with some of their friends. Brian called up Jenny and Kyle and layed the guilt trip down on Kyle. Brian and Kyle love to fight over the #1 son-in-law spot and Brian told him to come and see how #1 is done, they are pretty funny together. We had a great time, everyone went out on the dance floor and we had a blast. Rarely is Brian in the dancing mood so I was thrilled that he was dancing with me!

Alright, I need to begin my chores:

• Laundry
• Sweep hard wood floors
• "Mop" hard wood floors
• Clean kitchen
• Decide what to make for dinner
• Make dinner
• Help Brian with his Accounting class-pretend to know everything since your occupation is an Accountant!

House Projects

Gotta love house projects. So when we first moved in we did a good job of painting and getting each room set up. Now I am feeling like every room (except the future nursery which is used as a storage for all the baby stuff Jaime gives us) is about 75-80% done, which is really getting on my nerves. We have been so adamant about paying off debt that we leave no money to buy the last few things to complete each room.

Dining room:
We are in dire need of a dining room table. We currently have the light wood table with white accents, which is cute but doesn't go with our stuff.

However, that is the least of our worries, I can make my peace with the mismatching dining room table. The real problem is that the chairs are breaking, we currently only have 3 chairs and soon it will be 2. I am fearing for the safety of our guests that sit in them, we are going to have a liability claim if we're not careful! So, a new dining room table just got pushed to a number 1 priority. I would like something simple like this:
Brian was wanting something more quality and nicer: $$$$$ I would love that as well, but how important is it that we have the best dining room table as opposed to one that does it's job and still looks nice. Plus, when we have kids that table will take some beatings and I could stomach a $300 table getting dents but not a $1,000 table. After I explained that I think he saw my point and agreed, 1 for Lindsey ;-)

Living/Dining Room:
Second on our list would be curtains. Since we've lived in apartments we've never put any up in a living room and I would love to add some red curtains to the living room window and dining room window.

Living Room:
Lastly would be the rug for the living room. This would really help complete the downstairs area (living room, dining room, and kitchen). Of course we would love to get rid of the big tv and replace it with a flat screen above the fireplace, then add a chair, but that stuff isn't exactly necessary and I don't think I could justify those purchases right now.

So, I would love recommendations for places that have good deals. The search is officially on. We are still of course going to be putting a good chunk towards debt, but each month we'll put aside some money for these finishing touches.

Christmas Photos

Last night I uploaded some Christmas photos and I thought I would post some of them.

Here is my mom reading Jaidyn's goals, like I said this is one of my favorite things we do :)

Kyle and Brian being weird of course.

Us 3 girls with our wolverine brother! I can't believe my little brother can grow facial hair! My height in this picture is fake, I have my tall boots on :)

Love that dimple, I hope our kids get it!
Porter showing off his new jammies, such a ham.
Jenny and Kyle, Jenny's back in Corvallis again, yay!!!
Family picture with a 2 year old. That's his "cheese" face.

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before? Bought a house

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't think I made any last year, and I didn't make any this year. Just goals.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Cinnamon-to baby Scarlette :-)

4. Did anyone close to you die? Brian's neighbor passed away, I wasn't personally close, but his family was very close to her.

5. What states/countries did you visit? Hawaii and California (Shasta)

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? Confrontational skills.

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

February 28th-The day we closed on the house
September 7th-Jenny and Kyle's wedding

8. What was your biggest achievement? Buying a house

9. What was your biggest failure? Didn't pay off the Visa and didn't continue exercising.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Fortunately, no.

11. What was the best thing you bought? The house! Aside from that, our couch and washer and dryer.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Brian's-he went into management! Lance's-He graduated high school!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The employee at work who harassed me, truly evil.

14. Where did most of your money go? Debt and mortgage.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Our trip to Hawaii for Jenny and Kyle's wedding, buying our house, and Brian saying we could try sooner for a baby (he later went back on his word).

16. What song will always remind you of 2007? Carrie Underwood's So Small.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? Happier

b) thinner or fatter? about the same

c) richer or poorer? Richer, mainly because we have less debt (not counting the house as a debt since that's an asset)

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Reduced our debt

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Stress.

20. How did you spend Christmas? Christmas Eve-The mom's Christmas Day-The Dad's

21. Did you fall in love in 2007? With my husband, more and more each day (corny I know, but so true)

22. What was your favorite TV program? Amazing Race and AFV (America's Funniest Videos)

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I was going to say my co-worker who made my life pure hell for the first few months of this job, but I'm over it, mostly, sort of, I try to be. Plus, I try really hard not to say hate.

24. What was the best book you read? TWIGLIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? I wish I could answer this, but I got nothing.

26. What did you want and get? A beautiful house that we love.

27. What did you want and not get? A rug for the living room, but that's okay.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? Gosh, I don't think I have one.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 24 and we went to dinner up in Portland at a delicious Fondue place with Nate and Amy, and Trav and Sarah.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Find a job I like so that I could be more patient about starting a family.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? A struggle. I would say I'm a conservative fashionable person. Nothing too out there, but still aware of the styles.

32. What kept you sane? Brian and Jaime.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Jennifer Anniston, I love her.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? The War

35. Who did you miss? Lance

36. Who was the best new person you met? Our neighbors Brandi and Chris, as well as my blog friends-it's amazing how much I have in common with them!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007. Financial issues are going to happen, focus on the positive-the health of you and your loved ones.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
You had a bad day You're taking one down You sing a sad song just to turn it around You say you don't know You tell me don't lie You work at a smile and you go for a ride You had a bad day (This applies to work situations)

I love Stephanie Meyer!!!!

I finished the series. I LOVE THESE BOOKS!!

They were absolutely amazing and I am so sad I am done reading them.
But there is still the movie to look forward to, thank goodness! I love the actor they have chosen for Edward, Robert Pattinson,he is perfect. I have decided that Edward and Bella are by far the best love story ever, better than Romeo and Juliet in my opinion. I told Brian we're going to be vampire's for Halloween, particularly Edward and Bella, I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm crazy ;-)
I loved that some of you have or are reading these books. Julia-Hollywood premiere, count me in!!!
So, if you haven't read these books by Stephanie Meyer, I highly recommend them!

It's Monday and I am very tired, wishing I was still in bed. We went to my cousin Mitch's reception (technically he's my second cousin) in Tualatin Saturday night with my Mom and Randy, and Jenny. There were a lot of distant relatives I have not seen since I was little, talk about a blast from the past! I saw Cami, who is my second cousin and also a fellow blogger. It was fun to talk with her for a little bit and see her adorable kids, they all have gorgeous brown eyes.
After the reception we decided to get some dinner at Outback which was a lot of fun. We got home and I of course went straight to reading :-)

On a random note, I've decided I don't want to get the mail for the rest of the month. In the last few days we have incurred the following expenses:

1. The Management Group-We broke our lease at the townhouse we lived in (a year ago) and that has finally caught up to us.
2. Our property taxes went up
3. Brian's classes (he's taking 2 this term)
4. Car insurance (we pay every 6 months)
5. Neighborhood association dues

Basically this means we won't be putting a huge chunk towards the credit card as planned. There's really nothing I can do about it, but it's a little discouraging. But that's life, it could be a lot worse so I'm not complaining.

Alright, I'm boring myself in this post so I'm gonna stop while I'm ahead :-) Have a great Monday, hopefully this week goes fast!

Happy New Year!

A 4 day weekend is absolutely wonderful! Last night I was having a hard time thinking that we had to go back to work, at least it's only a 3 day week. We had a really nice weekend. Saturday was chore day, I cleaned and cleaned while Brian put up another shelf in our garage. He was overjoyed to use his Makita drill and very proud of his shelf, as am I. He went out in the garage many times to admire his work :-)

Sunday I read, and read, and read, and then I read. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer is now my favorite book ever. I finished Sunday night at 12:30 am (I didn't have to work Monday) and couldn't wait to get the sequel, New Moon. If Target was open I would've gone and bought it, seriously! Since they weren't open and we left for the beach on Monday, I got it yesterday. I am absolutely obsessed with this book, thank you Jaime for recommending it, and thanks Mom for getting it for me for Christmas! I am overjoyed that they are making it a movie and you know I will be the first one to the ticket line :-)

We had a good time at the Bauer's beach house for New Year's Eve. We played games, drank rapsberry bellini's (blended raspberries and orange juice with champagne) which were simply delicious! Then we watched Super Bad until the ball dropped at midnight. It was a great new year's and are grateful to have such wonderful friends!

Yesterday we went to Brandi and Chris' (they got back yesterday) and the guys watched the Super Bowl. Half time was spent playing tennis, Wii tennis. They got the Wii for Christmas and man that is a fun game! I've heard so many things about it but I hadn't ever played, I am hooked! We played tennis and boxed so needless to say I am sore today. It was well worth it!

I struggled to get out of bed today, I was tired and had no motivation. I'm having a hard time focusing today, mainly because I want to read my book! I was so bad about taking pictures on Christmas, but I got a few from my mom's camera.

Enjoying dinner!

Jaime, me, and Jenny

Kailey and Jaidyn with their favorite aunts' ;-)

Well, I better get back to work!