We've moved. We are in Oregon (but leaving again for a month of family visits). I like where we live. I like that everything we sold has been replaced (and most of it was free...thanks to family!) I like that we have stairs because I feel like I'm at least working a little harder to get in the house. And we live in this beautiful valley surrounded by lush, green mountains on every side. It really is so beautiful. And the drive out wasn't half bad! I had the 3 youngest in the honda while Ben hauled the van (which was PACKED!!) with Heidi. I expected the worst but the kids did pretty good for spending four whole days driving in the car. We made a stop at Ben's sister's house in Utah. She lives in the boondocks so the kids absolutely loved the freedom it gave them to play in such a country setting.
Turns out Daisy loves dogs more than I thought. She can't get enough of them and they have been the key to her potty training...if she poops in the toilet she gets to take them for a walk...so far she's doing well. At Kim's the dogs all get to roam around so Daisy spent the day chasing the dogs around in the road but because she lives in such a quiet place my kids could play in the road without any worries.
This is Blake and Bowen. They are two weeks apart but Blake is a tank next to him. And it was so nice to meet Bowen and meet a baby who is nice to people. He walked right over to me and sat in my lap and talked. It was such a stark difference to blake that I was somewhat jealous but also reaffirmed that I'm not bad at my job-Blake is just a difficult baby. Of course I dressed them the same and they had fun with the wagons. I like this picture of Bowen picking his nose (I think it is a Taylor thing because just today Kim said she wanted to pick her nose and eat it. Finally I know that all my kids' gross habits are from Ben's side!)
We pulled out Blake's little wagon and he loved being able to walk as far as he wanted on the road. I really enjoyed our time in such a quiet town. For once I didn't have to worry about the police breathing down my neck for letting my kids play.
Kim's house also has a little ditch running through it. The kids spent all morning pulling rocks out of the water. Seriously, they had so much fun just being kids. I loved it. I have this inbred desire for my kids to have the same childhood I had of just playing outside in the field and not having all these pressures of the parent having to be around to watch every single move. I want my kids to experience that sort of freedom and you just can't unless you live in a nice, quiet, remote town like Kim's. I loved it. Love, love, loved it.
And then Bowen had a blast splashing in the dog's water bucket. He was soaked by the end but he loved it. Blake was more excited to walk with his wagon than play in the dog water (that's my boy!) but it was cute to watch these little cousins playing together. On Ben's side we were the only family that had any kids until Bowen came along. And even now all the taylor couples are pregnant (besides us, thank goodness) and even when all those babies are born we will still have 50% of the Taylor grandchildren. There will be our four kids and four cousins. It will be fun to see them all grow together.
Kim's house also has a little ditch running through it. The kids spent all morning pulling rocks out of the water. Seriously, they had so much fun just being kids. I loved it. I have this inbred desire for my kids to have the same childhood I had of just playing outside in the field and not having all these pressures of the parent having to be around to watch every single move. I want my kids to experience that sort of freedom and you just can't unless you live in a nice, quiet, remote town like Kim's. I loved it. Love, love, loved it.
And then Bowen had a blast splashing in the dog's water bucket. He was soaked by the end but he loved it. Blake was more excited to walk with his wagon than play in the dog water (that's my boy!) but it was cute to watch these little cousins playing together. On Ben's side we were the only family that had any kids until Bowen came along. And even now all the taylor couples are pregnant (besides us, thank goodness) and even when all those babies are born we will still have 50% of the Taylor grandchildren. There will be our four kids and four cousins. It will be fun to see them all grow together.
