Papa turned 95 this month!

My beloved grandfather PaPa had his 95th birthday this month! I can't believe that! 95 years old! He is doing great and it sounded like he had a wonderful day! He got close to 30 cards and they had the monthly birthday party at the nursing home ON his birthday so he thought they had thrown him a party! He was thrilled! i love my grandfather! He is a wonderful, sweetheart of a man and I am so excited that we are able to share another year of life with him!

How cute is he really? 

Bubbles Beard

Cutest thing! London has had a stopped up nose this week so we've been giving her menthol smelling bubble baths again. A few days ago we were taking a bath... playing like normal... and I turned around to look at her and she looked just like this...

I was cracking up but noticed that she kept leaning over and sticking her face in the water.... she's started eating the bubbles! We've had a couple of bubble baths since then and every time... she eats her bubbles! It is the cutest thing! Love this little munchkin!

Practicing

London is close to 9 months old and doesn't seem the first bit interested in either crawling or walking. She is as happy as a little lark just sitting and reaching for things! Not that Im complaining, i love having a happy, immobile child that I can just plot down and let play without worrying if she's getting into anything! BUT, in the name of progress, we have been practicing both crawling and walking a little just to get her used to the motions! She is just a doll, i tell you! Happy little thing and is a load of fun!Yes, she loves to shake pill bottles, so that was our enticement to get her to move in our direction! 

 She's getting really good at standing! Oh, and she can feed herself now... like a champ! I am so proud of all of these little improvements! Way to go my sweet one!

This is our family halloween picture. We didn't dress Lulu up cause I figured she wouldn't remember anyway, so we saved a little cash. We went to a little halloween festival down the street from our house and just strolled around. It was lovely! 

Charley's Halloween

Barry has some great pictures of his family on his phone, but I've promised to get him a gadget to get them off his phone and on my computer so I can blog them, but I keep forgetting! Im writing a reminder on my hand so i wont forget!

Here's a super beautiful picture of Charley all dressed up and ready to go for halloween! She is so beautiful! We didn't dress tiny up this year, she was kind of a puppy dog one day, but she would have been none the wiser, so we saved our money! Elizabeth was a princess and Caden was a logger! So cute!

Life

I have learned so much about my personality lately. I just went back and read some of my old blog posts. I was so happy and upbeat and excited about everything! Sometimes I think life just runs you a little ragged and joy gets put on the back burner. We have been investigating day care facilities lately and its just been an emotional mess for me! I was worried about putting her in, but when I went to visit a few places, they look like fun! So, now Im great with her being in day care. However, day care is EXPENSIVE. Wow. So, I have gotten totally overwhelmed and let myself get stressed to the max and I've just sucked the joy out of everything lately.
I pleaded with God to speak to me this morning. And low and behold, He did! Not audibly today, but through the voice of his servants... all day long. An email this morning that just rocked my world, a conversation with mom that was just of the best kind, a hopeful phone call from a friend that is fighting for me in motherhood, a picture from my husband, coming through just when I need him.
I have so much to be thankful for... topping that list, her.

8 months ago, I was praying for God to just give us one day at a time with her. Wow. He's given us 8 months in which everyday has been overflowing compared to the last! What a blessing! 

I recommitted myself to just TRUST God today. Sometime's that's a tough thing for me to do because I think I should have this supernatural ability to see into the future so I can plan for it. Sometimes I can't stand my personality. It's so annoying. God reminded me today that HE IS TRUSTWORTHY. And when I seek Him, I will find Him! He is not hiding! He is not far off! He is just waiting on me to come to Him and talk with Him! Today I am renewed and refreshed and re-amazed that God is exactly who He always has been... an ever present help when we are in need. Today I lay down all of my worry and rejoice in God for being God. Huge. Awesome. Constant. Ever Present. He amazes me. I am so very thankful. 

Beautiful

Post on graceful parenting. I cried... Im an emotional mess, but I cried non-the-less!

Click here to read.

Love all you momma's out there...

Ants in her pants

and she likes to dance! We've figured out dancing and she does it all the time now! She seems to have rhythm which she must've gotten from dad! She dances to anything with a beat i.e. the rhythm of me brushing my teeth, the horrible rap song she heard at the ghetto park I took her to this weekend, everything!
Here she is giving you a little taste but then she gets distracted by pulling the camera strap! I love her!

ants in my pants from Taylor Lane on Vimeo.

Colorado Visits Mississippi

Fun Uncle Barry and his wife Doreen came to visit last weekend for Uncle Barry's high school class reunion. We are only able to see Barry and Doreen once per year so there was no way we were missing our chance! Most of the family was able to all meet at Din Din's for lunch on Saturday afternoon to catch up! It was so great seeing them! Once a year is NOT enough! As close as we all live to each other, it's a shame we don't see each other more. My family is so funny and they always keep me entertained! I love them and wish we were able to get together more often! Here are a few pictures from our visit!

Din Din and London

Precious Hollis- my cousin Katie's beautiful child! He is just perfect! He's 364 days older than London. I can't believe she'll be that big so quickly! 

My cousin Katie with London and my other cousin Andy's girlfriend, Bethany... who is a sweetheart!

Uncle Barry and Aunt Doreen! We love them! 

So good to see you guys! Please come back soon! London wanted me to tell you she loves you and was thrilled to finally meet you! :)

Overbooked

We always love our summers because its our slow season... Serenity comes to live with us for the summer and we LOVE it! We vow to stay off the road and just enjoy our time with her! During the school year she moves back and we all turn into road warriors again. Last weekend was one of our weekends and we just honestly packed too much in. We were all tired and worn thin by the time we got home. I threw my back out somehow and it took a week to recover from just trying to do too much. (How old are we?!?)

Don't get me wrong, our weekend was AWESOME! London and I spent Friday night with my best friend Tara, then Saturday we went to a baptism and brunch for Brad, Sophie, and baby Ella (couple best friends) then had a date night with Brad, Sophie and another best, Leslie. Sunday was church for Powers then visit with another friend and a super quick trip to the fair while i visited my old roomie- best ever- Georgia. Whew. We packed it all in! And somewhere in there we had just a minute to visit with my in laws and serenity! I don't think we'll try that again anytime soon, but it was GREAT to see all of our old friends! They are so loyal and irreplaceable! I love them all!

Here are a few pictures from the 10 minutes we were actually in the house!

Smells Like Holy Spirit

Chris Harris, Pastor of Clearwater Community Church wrote this blog post this morning and I LOVED it. What beautiful, sensual insight.

Smells Like Holy Spirit

The human body has five senses. None is more potent than the sense of smell. Ralph Lauren or Polo becomes reminiscent of my old high school "glory days" and conjures memories of once familiar, now faded faces...think I'll Facebook 'em. The scent of freshly cut grass calls to mind football in the fall...and the whiff of the sea breeze takes me back to the family's first spring vacation at the beach. So when Paul writes, "...we are the aroma of Christ..." I have to wonder what I smell like to those around me. Of course, I know that t is not my job to get people saved or transform the human heart. No. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. My role is to be aromatic with His love...to become a puff of incense that fills the the heart with a desire to taste and see that the Lord is good. Let this be my pursuit...my longing. But know this foolish heart of mine. I cannot fill my mind with garbage and become the "aroma of Christ". Garbage smells like garbage. If I want to have the scent of a rose, I must pursue the Rose of Sharon. Today is a good day to freshen my breath as I exhale my sin and inhale my Savior...let my heart beat in cadence with His...and become His sweet, sweet scent..."among those who are being saved and among those who are pershing."