Turkey Bowl!

Last week was the annual Turkey Bowl... "the bowl to end all bowls". Brian and his friends have been playing this game for 8 years now. The game has changed a bit over the years... The first turkey bowl was played at 7 am after a night of partying when the guys snuck onto a high school football field to "throw the ball around". Now there are wives, kids, a ref, "rules", LOTS of build up and trash talk... but the premise of really bad football remains.

Brian gets Kirsten VERY excited about the Turkey Bowl each year. In kindergarten when her teacher asked what holiday was in November Kirsten yelled out "THE TURKEY BOWL!!!" Here is a picture of Brian and Kirsten getting ready for the big game.

...As I mentioned things have changed over the years. This is the only picture of have of the actual game. The spectators now watch the adorable children... not the actual game.

"Put me in coach!!" Matthew can't wait to play in his first TB!

What would a ballgame be without junk food?

Kirsten did a great job of organizing games for the little kids. There was lots of "Ring Around the Rosie" and hunting for bugs...

Brian and his fan club (it took about 6 tries to get the twins in the shot... as you can tell Kirsten is DONE with the photo shoot!)

The official TBVIII photo:

Brian wanted to put Kirsten in for a play this year. She was very excited and talked about it for weeks! In typical Turkey Bowl fashion she started picking flowers instead of watching the ball during her big moment.

Football + Flowers = A Happy Girl

Forever and For Always

TWO YEARS! It's been two years since we finalized our adoption. It was such a long road and such a terrible process... but that was the day that Brian and and I went from being a couple to having a FAMILY. (We'd certainly considered Kirsten "ours" long before the adoption but that was the day it became official!) We found out we were expecting three days before the adoption. We kept it a secret for a few weeks but I like knowing that our entire family was there that day :)

November 18, 2006

I just love this picture of Brian and Kirsten walking into court. Don't they just LOOK like they belong to each other??


We celebrated Kirsten's Christening two days later. Here is a picture of our beautiful daughter the day of her baptism.



We like to do something special to celebrate the anniversary of our family. Kirsten decided she wanted to go bowling and go to Dunkin' Donuts... I can't think of a better way to celebrate :)

I think this is such a funny action shot.


DELICIOUS!



It's surreal to think back over our journey with Kirsten. The two years before we finalized our adoption were so wonderful and so hard. That is when we found and fell in love with our daughter. We had to FIGHT for the finalization... but she was ours from the beginning. It's so cheesy but I just KNOW in my heart that she was born to be our daughter. I can say with great certainty that there is no little girl more loved than ours! Here are some pictures of our beautiful daughter over the past four years...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I Want To Remember

I'm creating this blog for a few reasons. 1.) I want to share pictures and stories of the kids with our friends and families. 2.) I've been TOTALLY inspired by my friends that have blogs. You'll see lots of stolen ideas if you visit the blogs of my friends Tiffany and Jenna :) (Their links are at the bottom of this page) 3.) I want to remember as much as I can about this special time in our lives. I've always meant to journal and scrapbook... but it never happens. This is a way for me to make a quick note of things I don't want to forget. So, if you are reading this and some of these posts seem very trivial forgive me.

Adorable moments of the week!
-Kirsten just announced that today is "a very special day! The whole world is excited today because it's TURKEY BOWL EVE!!!" (For those of you that are not familiar with the Turkey Bowl it's the football game that Daddy and his friends play every year... more on that later in the week)

-Three times this week one of the babies bumped his head and the OTHER baby immediately began rubbing his own head and came over for a kiss... Amazing "twin thing" or just a baby looking for attention? Hmmm...

-Danny began saying "Sissy" this week... but he won't say it when Kirsten is nearby (which is very frustrating to her!) He only says it if he sees her in the distance (like playing across the yard).

-Matthew had a tantrum this morning for TEN MINUTES because he wasn't allowed to climb on the sofas. (Someday that will be a cute, treasured memory right???)

-Danny tried to pull Matt out of my lap twice this week because he didn't want to share "Mommy Time". ...Not his finest moment as far as learning to share but it still warmed my heart :)

-Matthew began shoving a random toy at Danny when he tries to steal a desired toy from Danny. I like to think of it as a step in the right direction in learning to share.

FUNfest!

Today we went to the funfest at our church. We had SO MUCH fun! It was one of those perfect days when no one took a nap and everyone stayed happy! That almost never happens... when it does it's bliss:)
Here is my gang ready for fun!

Here is my Matty on the swing... Danny got nervous and wanted to get off very quickly... but Matt loved it! (I had to add the spotlight feature to catch those dimples... I love 'em!)

Here is Kirsten Matt and I on the Carousel. Danny and Grammy were right next too us until Danny got spooked... they moved off a horse and onto a little bench where Danny was much happier (thanks Grammy)

Me and my girl on the ferris wheel

Grammy and Danny enjoying some time together. All of a sudden the boys can't get enough of their Grammy! Grandpa watches the boys for me twice a week so I can work part time... They LOVE their Grandpa... but they run straight past him to fight for Grammy's lap these days (little stinkers)

Grandpa and Kirsten on the bumper cars... Kirsten took a turn with Grandpa and a turn with Grammy and declared Grammy the "CRAZY driver!"

I think this picture of Grammy and Matt is so cute! They had the sweetest little moment together... then Grammy came over and asked me which baby he was! (Sorry Mom I had to tell on you :) It was funny!

Me and my crazy gang... it's just not possible to get them all looking in the same direction!

My sunny little Danny

Kirsten lost her two front teeth a little over two weeks ago. This is the first really good picture of her GIANT space. The tooth next to the space is also loose... This girl is going to have some serious problems eating soon! ...And at only 40 lbs we need her to EAT!

...More dimples!

Church is only just over a mile from our house... this is how I found Matty when I got home. Unfortunatley that's how long the nap lasted... Otherwise a perfect day :)

Sweet Daniel,

My beautiful baby... Grandpa keeps asking how long I'll call you a baby for and I like to answer "forever". You are seventeen months old and just over 20 lbs. I am always amazed when people comment on you being "tiny". I think you are HUGE!

You are into everything these days. You make me crazy by climbing on the couch (which you are NOT allowed to do) then calling "ma ma!" while giggling. (Little stinker!)

This week you learned to say "bubbles" and you ask for them about a dozen times a day. You also like to sing which is SO cute. Whenever someone else is singing you sing "laaaaa laaaaa" in the sweetest little voice. You love to watch "Yo Gabba Gabba" on tv and jump and dance along.

You have a mischievous twinkle in your eyes when you giggle and you are always trying to get a laugh. At dinner the other night you took a big drink of water and then said "uuugggghhh" (fake burp). Your brother cracked up and then copied you to which you giggled and copied him. The two of you fake burped all through dinner. Your daddy was very proud.

You love to be held (by ME which I love) and you love to give Matt "snuggle attacks". You like to look at your books, play outside, and ride in the bike trailer. You love peas, yogurt, and anything in your sister's room.

You are so sweet and so much fun! I love you to the moon and back (and so much more!)
Love, Mommy

Don't Tell Santa...

The terrible twos have hit the Taylor household a little earlier than we expected. While my little angels are always precious, they are also a bit of a handful these days! Here are some pictures from this weekend... Yea, you can laugh YOU didn't have to contain these guys all weekend!!

Here is Danny trying to convince me there is nothing wrong with jumping on the couch


The boys "helping" with the dishes...

Matt helping with the laundry...

Danny clearing his tray...

Danny's snack on the floor

"SCORE!" Matt is thrilled to get his hands on my earing.

Danny rearranging his books

...Looking out the window

Matt discovering Kirsten's puzzle.

Yes. That is a shoe in the trash.

Danny hiding in the pantry.

Matt stealing Daddy's energy drink (Don't worry it was empty).

...And I wonder why I'm so tired at the end of the day!

Snuggle Bugs

Matt cuddling up to big sis before bed!

My Matthew,

Your little smile lights up a room. Everywhere we go people comment on your adorable dimples... and you're already learning to flash them when you are caught getting into mischief! (Grammy says you get that from your Godfather.) You are already a little clown and you make us laugh all day long! You just learned to play "Ring Around the Rosie"... you hum along for the first few words and then say "down!" and fall down laughing... so cute!

I just can't believe how big you are getting. You are seventeen months old and nineteen pounds right now. Your favorite foods are grapes and oranges and you have recently mastered the art of climbing out of your highchair. You follow Daddy around everywhere and cheer when you hear the door open at the end of the day because you know he's home.

You LOVE to dance and to be outside. Last week we were at an Octoberfest with live music. You stood on the edge of the lawn dancing and clapping... having the time of your life. It was so easy to imagine you as a teenager doing the exact same thing... scary.

You've started talking so much! Right now you are saying:
Mommy, Daddy, Yes, Thank You, There you go, Grandpa, Out, Bye bye, Baa baa, Banana (nana), Night night, Please, Up, Help, Hi, Yum yum, uh oh, and Yea. You are also repeating EVERYTHING we say. Our newest party trick is having you raise both arms and yell "touchdown!".

You are my joy little buddy. I love you more every single day!

Love, Mommy

Happy Halloween!

We had so much fun trick or treating last night!



I must say... I think I have the prettiest witch and the cutest little puppies around!


Matt was SO funny. He took off down the street and nothing was going to slow him down. His little tail was wagging so fast :) We all had quite a laugh at his focus and determination!

... Me loving Danny... Danny loving his lollipop

As you can see, Danny was not a big fan of the pumpkin bucket... He preferred to eat each piece of candy as he received it.

Kirsten and Matt at the end of a great Halloween!

It's sure hard to believe that this was only a year ago!