Skinna Marinky Dinky Dink

No words neccessary... they are my heart stealers... i've been robbed by a pair of two foot bandits...

skinnamarinky dinky dink from Taylor Lane on Vimeo.

28 weeks

We are almost 29 weeks, but I liked this update...

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

I can't believe how big baby's gotten! Shim has been kickin' chicken inside of my tummy this week and last night was the most amazing acrobatics routine I've ever seen! I sat there and watched as it kicked and rolled and moved around in my tummy! Unbelievable! Right now the feet are on the way left side of my tummy and arms a little right of center.I can't believe it has stretched out so much! I wish we could see another sonogram of this little thing!

We are still feeling great! Tying shoes is a little harder than it used to be and riding in the car for very long is getting difficult. Otherwise, we are both feeling awesome!

Things I love and Pregasaurus Cravings

There are a few things I am just LOVING today! And yes, these are listed in order of importance and levels of love!

#1 Most Lovable....

She is just THE BEST. All caps because she deserves it! I have the GREATEST sister in law! We had a lot going on yesterday and I bailed on stopping by their house on my way home.... shortly after I got home, she pulled up in our driveway bearing gifts! She is so sweet and thoughtful and I just love every inch of her!

Want to know what gift she was bearing????
#2 Most Lovable

Yup! That's right! A whole pan full of Rice Krispie Treats!  About 8 months ago, i fell into a slight... okay, severe rice krispie treat addiction. I could not get enough of them! I hadn't had them in years and made them one night. It awoke the sleeping demon and I had to have them all the time! Literally last week, I was standing in the grocery store debating if it was worth $5 for a box of cereal to make myself some treats. I voted no and left. Yesterday, the lady in position #1 showed up with two hands full of my favorite goodies! Whoo hoo!

#3 Most Lovable

Honeycrisp apples. If you haven't ever had this type, do yourself a favor and pick one up at the grocery today! They are the best apples! Sweet and tart and crisp! I have one a day at least! (keepin' the doctor away!!) Thanks, Tara, for this beautiful introduction!

Just so I remember later on, this is what I crave the most in this ever so in tune time of life....

 

Syrup and cinnamon. Are those weird cravings? I can't even walk down the syrup isle at the grocery because I have to pancakes or waffles as soon as I leave! And I've added a little cinnamon to anything sweet I've eaten lately! Yumm!

I also like hot dogs more than I used to, but I don't crave those. I used to think hot dogs were yuk, but now I've grown to love them!

Funny kids!

Powers and I went the Rhea's to visit and celebrate Charley's anti-braces smile Tuesday! All our readers were probably affected the same way we were, but the bottom fell out ALL DAY LONG Tuesday. It rained, and rained, and rained (and rained and rained and rained)....

The bright side to the torrential down pour was that Lizzy and Caden pulled out their raincoats!

Look at those little feet poking out!! :)

 The greatest thing... Elizabeth's rain coat had little beach balls printed on it and Lauren explained to us that earlier in the day the kids kept coming to her bedroom and 'throwing' her balls to catch. She had no idea what was going on and realized they were running back and forth picking the 'balls' off of Lizzy's jacket and would throw them to her! They did it for Powers and I while we were there! It was awesome! Watching their little imaginations in action is so fun! They would go pick a ball of the jacket, ball their little fists up, call the name of whoever they wanted to throw to, then chunk their imaginary ball to us! They were very into it and it was a great moment to watch! Reminds you of the fun and freedom of being a kid!

Of course, being the bad influence that I am... Elizabeth wanted my camera right when I walked in the door! Since they both were interested this time, we taught Caden how to take pictures! It is so funny to watch them pose and shoot their objects! Please find below a combination of pictures by Caden and Elizabeth... Caden making his blogger photographer debut!

 

(You know Elmo made the cut!!)

We're working on getting faces... Stay tuned! 

SHE'S JUST BEAUTIFUL!!!

My precious, smart, loving, gorgeous neice, Charley Bug Rhea, got her braces off this week and she looks GORGEOUS!!!

I can't believe how old and grown up she looks! We went to see her Tuesday night to celebrate and this beaut is what opened the door...

Oh my. We're all in for it. She is drop dead beautiful.

We are all so excited for her and her new grin! She has been a trooper the past few years but now can chew as much bubble gum as she wants... and trust me, she's off to a good start! :)

I LOVE YOU CHARLEY BARLEY!

26 weeks!

We're 26 weeks and the length of an English Hothouse Cucumber. That's funny! Baby can now hear conversation, so my email said it can likely hear Daddy talking now too! Between Daddy and Mommy blabbing all the time, Baby may have signed up for more than it's ready for!! We are feeling great and now have a for sure protrusion popping out of this belly :)

Spoons and elmo feeding time

Powers and I ate dinner with the Rhea's a few weekend's ago and got a few cute pictures of them while we were there...

We wanted to see if the kids could balance spoons on their noses again since we didn't get pictures of the original display. Lizzy could get it! She was SO FOCUSED. We all went crazy when she balanced her spoon and she just sat there. Didn't crack a smile. Still as a statue. And held it for while! It was great! Caden thought it was way too much fun and couldn't quit giggling long enough for his to stick!

So Serious...

Here are the kids feeding their elmo's. Lizzy obviously understands a picky eater. She just pried elmo's mouth open and shoved that 'food' right on in!

Welcome to the Soap Opera Chicken World

Here are a few updates from the chicken world...

Meet Leonidas:

We have reason to believe that Leonidas murdered Bully a few weeks ago, thus slashing our chicken count from 7 to 6.

Now, meet Crow. Crow is apparently terrified of Leonidas. After 'the incident' Crow stopped sleeping in the coop. All the chickens would go to bed and shortly after dark, Crow would mosey right on back up to the house and find a spot to nest in our carport! We found him a few nights in a row! The picture below was by far the funniest!  Powers walked outside, started dying laughing and called for me to come look. This is Powers's smoker. Crow was DEAD asleep on top of the smoke stack!

 

 A few nights later Powers saw Crow coming back towards the house to go to sleep so Powers went out to cut him off and send him back to the coop. Crow dodged and weaved and Powers said he was practically running football plays in the yard trying to keep Crow from coming to the house! Eventually Powers headed him off and sent him on his way to sleep with the other chicks. Poor thing has a spot way above where the other ones sleep so he can be alone and safe :(

Other news, here is our new chicken coop! It's ENORMOUS!!! It also was free, though, so I LOVE IT!
It is sitting in our yard trying to figure out how it is going to move it's heavy self to where it belongs! Good luck, hubbers!

Lastly, we officially have a rooster! (That apparently won't shut up!)  Powers and I were brushing our teeth yesterday and heard this LOUD 'cockadoodledooooooooo!' Then we heard it over, and over, and over, and over again! Yup. Dinner is served!

I don't have one single picture of our rooster (cheetah). I'll get a video so you can share our pain!

I think that's all in chicken world!  :)

A bright future in photography...

We have made major progress with the twins in the past two weeks! We have this great event called Kid's Clubhouse at our church on Sunday mornings. It is for the whole family, but it's geared towards younger children. It is loud and colorful and funny and there is a LOT of fun dancing! Caden and Liz have been more 'observers' until last week! Woo hoo!!! Caden hopped down during the last song and just danced his little heart out! Liz was not ready to jump in just yet... until this week! Yay!!! Here's a precious video of them doing the movements that our step team on stage is doing! They are really spot on, if you could see the actual dance!
Finally Dancing!! from Taylor Lane on Vimeo.


Somehow during the Kids Clubhouse skit, I introduced Elizabeth to my camera and taught her how to take pictures. She took at least one hundred pictures in 5 minutes! It was so funny! She would call your name, point the camera at you, say cheese, then shoot away! We were all dying laughing because she was taking pictures of everyone! Here are a few of the keepers from her newly developed portfolio!

 

 

She even figured out how to use the zoom function! Not bad for a 2.5 year old!!

Other big news....... CHARLEY BUG GOT HER BRACES OFF TODAY!!! I can't wait to see her gorgeous smile! She has been so excited to get them off and I can't wait to celebrate with her! Ill get some pictures tonight and try to post her new grill tomorrow!

Baby Bump at 25 wks

My mom, among others, have been anxious to see this growing belly so I had a friend take a few pics today... Here goes... this is rather humiliating, Ill have you all know!

 

Im claiming bad angle on this one. Or stripes. Whew. There, that's done. you are all just going to have to see me in person from here on out because this might be as big as it gets for the ole family blog!