A recap of the last month

I feel like I'm falling short in so many areas of my life... keeping my blog updated is just one of the many things I'm failing at. Sometimes I just don't feel like I can keep up with working 10 hour days, trying to have dinner made every night, keeping up with house duties, bills, laundry, dishes, etc., trying to fulfil my church callings, trying to be a good wife, a good mother, a good friend. I just feel like I'm falling short. I don't want this part of Taylor's and Joel's and my life to "disappear in the wink of a bloodshot eye." I feel like there's never enough time, enough sleep, enough money, enough anything. Sometimes I think we do each other a real disservice by acting like our lives are so put-together and perfect. We go home thinking, "Wow, so-and-so really has it all together. I wish my life were so charmed!" not realizing everything that everyone else struggles with. I really appreciate my friends whose blogs are incredibly honest. I think it's so brave of them to share not only the wonderful things about their lives, but also their heartache, depression, struggles, you know- the good the bad and the ugly of life- because it makes me realize that I'm not alone. I was going to say "normal" but... that might be stretching it a bit. I feel a tremendous amount of guilt for not being a more consistent blogger- mainly because Taylor's grandparents live 3,000 miles away from us. So here I am on a Thursday night updating my blog with pictures from the last month. Be prepared for picture overload because I have to make up for some lost time here.

So.... what HAVE we been up to the last month?

Taylor is obsessed with watching kids' videos/songs on YouTube. Yes, I have created a monster. The other day she said, "Mommy, sing five little monkeys!" and so I started singing it and she stopped me and said, "NO MOMMY! On the Keeber (the computer)!" OK.... So here she is before bed tonight watching "The Wheels on the Bus."

This girl LOVES to play outside. I think she would live outside if she could. Every day when we get home she says, "Mommy, I go outside!" So when it's nice outside she goes in our back yard and plays with dirt and sticks and rocks while I make dinner. It's wonderful! I want to get her a little play yard with a slide for her birthday in a few months. I'm a little worried that she'll never want to come inside though!

Yeah- she discovered dirt doesn't taste very good. Yum!

We took her back to the Farm at Martinez Park. She LOVES it there. When we got there, the first animals we encountered were the chickens. She ran up to them and said, "Hello chickens! What doing?" as if they were going to answer. She greeted ALL of the animals in a similar fashion. It was so cute. She even chased the squirrels all the while yelling, "Come here mouse! Squeak squeak! I hold you!" Luckily for us and the squirrels, she never caught any of them, but she did give them a run for their money.

There is also a little play area at The Farm which Taylor enjoyed...

We snuggled.... a lot.

And discovered that other peoples' shoes are fun to try on too

"This year April had a blizzard just to show she did not care and the new dead leaves they made the trees look like children with gray hair." Yes, we had a big snow storm and Taylor couldn't wait to get outside and play in it.

On days when it was raining out we stayed inside and played....

And snuggled some more...

And we had many, many baths to wash off all of the dirt from playing so hard. The other night Taylor was in the tub and pointed at her nipples and said, "Look mom, one, two hippos! Where are your hippos?" I laughed so hard. This girl is such a joy! She makes everything that is so crazy and hectic in our lives much more crazy and much more hectic, but so much more worth it. As John Gorka said of parenthood, "In the little bit that I give up, it's all coming back 100 fold. It's not lost if it goes to love round you out so you can roll. Extra eyes to watch your back- keep you honest and cut you slack!" I love being a mom. (And I'll try to be a better blog updater!)