News at the Taylor House

We have had quite an emotional rollercoaster of a week at our house. I'll start with a little tribute to our Golden Retriever, Riggs, who passed the past Wednesday. It all happened very quickly, which we are so grateful for, but it made it very difficult to deal with, especially with having to make the decision we ultimately chose. Riggs was not himself on Tuesday night, which Brian first noticed when he didn't scarf down his dinner in less than 30 seconds, as he does EVERY meal. He began drewling quite a bit and was very lethargic. I ended up at the emergency vet late Tuesday night, and they found Riggs' lymph nodes swollen all over his body, the largest in his neck which made it difficult for him to eat or drink. We decided to leave him overnight so that he could see the internist the following morning, and upon her exam, she found that even his spleen was enlarged, which indicated stage 4 Lymphoma. Brian and I made the decision to take Riggs to our regular vet and let him go.

Riggs was the perfect dog for us! He was a great running buddy for Brian; loved camping and hiking with us; and most importantly, was the greatest companion you could ask for. He truly was "Man's Best Friend". He allowed Charleigh to crawl all over him and tug at his ears, and he was equally as fond of her as she was of him. We will miss Mr. Riggs very much, but we're so thankful that we had the 4 wonderful years we did with him!

Here are some of our favorite pictures of Riggs with Charleigh.

A rollercoaster always goes back uphill, and it did for us. Charleigh is going to be a big sister! God definitely threw us the best kind of surprise we could have asked for! We had our first ultrasound this past Friday, and Baby Taylor #2 has a great heartrate and things are looking good so far. We're due February 24...it'll be here before we know it!

Here are a few fun pictures of Charleigh from around the house recently that I wanted to share:

  Charleigh had some fun in the tupperware cabinet!

Playing with some balloons after her party

This is SO fun!

Pizza is yummy!

I found Charleigh in this position during one of her naps.

Charleigh has become very attached to a sweet stuffed dog from Great Aunt Wendy. It goes everywhere with us now, and it receives numerous hugs and kisses on a daily basis!

We'll keep you posted as the pregnancy progresses, and hopefully we'll have some pictures of Charleigh walking soon! We're headed to visit Brian's family this weekend, so I'm sure we'll have plenty of pictures to catch up on when we get back!

Charleigh's First Beach Trip

We travelled to the Outer Banks of North Carolina the week of July 4 for my cousin's wedding in Kitty Hawk. Charleigh was a part of the wedding, riding in a wagon down the aisle on the beach. She was amazingly well-behaved, playing with baby Luke in the wagon the whole time. She even danced during one of the solo's sung during the wedding, to which everyone found very humorous. She was a beautiful little flower girl, and we were so proud of her good behavior...not that we have much control over her behavior at this point! :)

We spent the remainder of the week in a little beach town further south called Salvo with my parents, sister, brother in-law, and nephew, Kohen. There's not a whole lot to do there (we had to drive 20 minutes for the nearest grocery store and seafood market), so we spent most of our time around the pool at the house or on the beach. We couldn't have asked for a more relaxing vacation (well, as relaxing as it gets with a 13 month old)!

Charleigh loved the ocean! She's spent enough time at the lake on the shoreline with waves crashing up around her and playing in the sand that she was prepared for the ocean...but not the saltwater taste! It was so cute how she learned to "spit" it out. She enjoyed the pool time, as well, splashing her hands and throwing balls in the water. We enjoyed watching her have so much fun on vacation!

Family picture before the wedding ceremony

Charleigh and Daddy watching tons of pelicans fly by...

she's fascinated by birds, so these were pretty cool ones!

In the wagon during the ceremony

Hanging with Daddy after the ceremony...by this time it was 7:45, about an hour after bedtime for Charleigh. Notice the thumb in her mouth! :)

Charleigh enjoyed some time with Uncle Mark and Aunt Laurie this trip (they had to hold her hand down so she wasn't sucking her thumb in the picture)! They spoiled her with lots of attention, walking the pier, and yummy snacks.

Charleigh and Daddy in the pool at our rental house

Chillin'

Bubbles don't taste very good!

Playing in the sand

Charleigh loved jumping the waves with daddy!

She also enjoyed the freedom to crawl in the waves!

The cutest sandy toes ever!

My sister, Meghan, took some pictures of us out on the beach one late afternoon. After some work on them, she sure made us look better.  She needs to start charging a fee! :)

Probably my favorite...

Before we left the Outer Banks on Saturday morning, we stopped at the Wright Brothers Memorial. They had a great museum with replicas of the gliders they tested between 1901-1904. Charleigh and I are at the end of the field where they landed the first successful flight from the top of the hill behind us, Kill Devil Hill. 

Brian and Edith at the top of the hill by the monument.

Charleigh Turns 1!!

It's so hard to believe that Charleigh is a year old! Where did the time go? I know it's a month and a half late, which means we now have a 13 month old, but I wanted to share with you some fun pictures of Charleigh from her first birthday party.

A quick update on Charleigh: She's still crawling, and she's quite fast at it now, but her preferred mode of travel is walking while holding a grown-up's finger. She blows kisses; signs "please", "more", and "all done"; pitches fits when she doesn't get her way (complete with the back arching, straightening her arms to get out of your grasp, and crying); and generally just loves life. She's such an easy, fun little girl, and I say little girl because she's turning into one it seems overnight. It's wonderful to see her learn language and know that she's understanding so much of what we say now, even though she can't say much back to us, but it's also so sad to know those baby days are gone. She's very affectionate; Charleigh will stop mid-playing to crawl up to you, pull herself up to standing, and lean in for a kiss, which is a wide open mouth! It's precious, and we treasure everytime she does it, as there will come a day when she won't do that anymore, or at least not as often. We are so thankful for such a happy, healthy little girl!

We had a wonderful group of family and friends to join us in celebrating Charleigh's first year at our house for hamburgers, hotdogs, and backyard games. Charleigh woke up from her morning nap with a house full of people, and she LOVED every minute of it! She's certainly come out of her shell and loves to entertain people, but she does still have her shy moments when she just wants "Mama" or "Dada".

Charleigh wore her "Birthday Girl" tshirt to her party.
She started out the party by showing everyone her toys.

Burgers, Dogs, Pasta and Fruit Salads, Chips, and Mac n Cheese

The Cake! I had a dear friend, Kimberly, make the cake for Charleigh's first birthday party. I gave her a few ideas, but ultimately told her to surprise us...and did she ever! The garden of daisies, completely with Charleigh's name and her "own" daisy to dig into, turned out beautifully...and tasted AMAZING, too!

The party favors

Charleigh snuck in a sweet kiss and hug for her mama! She is the sweetest baby, always giving affection!

There's that priceless smile!

Charleigh enjoyed some time with Ms. Kaye and Kimberly (she's the one that made the awesome cake).

She also enjoyed her lunch...hotdogs and Mac n Cheese!

And the pictures you've been patiently waiting for...the cake! I think she was more interested in all the people singing to her than the fact that the cake was on fire in front of her! We were surprised that she tolerated everyone singing and gathered around her. She didn't seem the slightest bit overwhelmed by it. Notice the pretty, clean face...

Then came the first taste...

Then a little more...

And a little more (the handfuls are getting bigger, too)...

Yeah, the sign of pure satisfaction...she LOVES cake and icing!

What a ham!

Then she opened her gifts. To say this little girl loves books is an understatement. Combine a book with bathtime...priceless!

The cards were fascinating, as well.

Wait, everyone, I need a drink!

She ended her party with some fun time in the backyard swinging!

We're so excited to see what the next year brings for our sweet Charleigh!