The Taylors

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Getting Lots of Love

We have so many precious pictures of Clara's first few days...so bear with me as I catch up on posts :-) The following pictures are from her first afternoon in the hospital. She has very, very proud big brothers!

Biggest Brother Mac

Big Brother Drew

Getting a closer look...and touch

Mac wanted Clara to lay down and rest with him

Drew is now officially a "Big Boy" and don't you dare try to call him "baby." You will quickly be corrected!

CeCe and Clara

PePaw definitely knows what to do with little girls!

Giving hugs

Such a sweet, content little thing

Love my big brothers!

Clara Mae Has Arrived!!!!

Sam and I were thrilled to welcome our sweet Clara Mae on Monday, January 27th at Cox Hospital in Springfield, MO. Minus my last few weeks, this pregnancy was incredibly easy and uneventful and for that we were so blessed! Words cannot begin to express how truly blessed I feel to have three beautiful, healthy children.

7 pounds, 4 ounces and 21 inches long...pure sweetness!

Mac and Drew seeing Clara for the first time. Mac was enamored from the first look...Drew took a little time to warm up to her but was soon giving hugs and kisses as well.

The boys watching as Clara got her first bath, which she loved.

Passing the time with the help of a little technology and Angry Birds

PePaw and CeCe excited to love on their sixth grandchild!

Mac really was so sweet. He said more than once, "I never want to leave her."

Group pic in the recovery room. I took that picture myself, and I'm quite proud considering the amount of pain medicine I was taking! :-)

Daddy's girl already

Waiting to be told they can come see Clara for the first time

Giving hugs

The nurse let Mac listen to her heart

We are so excited that Clara Mae is finally here with us! Bring on the pink!!

Thursday, January 16, 2014

A Hunting They Will Go

This is one happy PePaw...You see, he has a passion for hunting and always has. But also has three daughters, who never caught that passion. However, he now has four grandsons and one granddaughter who all love to "hunt" with PePaw :-) (that's right, I said one granddaughter...I reckon Ellie just couldn't help it having two brothers! Princesses to deer, she loves them all!)

My boys were especially excited to go to Mississippi over the Thanksgiving break because it would be their first hunting experience. PePaw had been telling them about it, and they were ready to see what it was all about! We actually originally had not planned for Drew to go, but he caught the fever and sweetly said, "I big now. I go huntin with PePaw." I mean, how do you say no to that?? So on Black Friday while the ladies shopped, the boys plus Ellie went hunting.

Don't miss that pink hat peeking out over Sam's shoulder. That would be Ellie :-)

The first "huntin" trip consisted mostly of riding 4-wheelers and scoping out the land

And of course Drew had to bring the Pirates of the Caribbean gun. He would proudly say, "I shoot five deer."

Potty break in the woods!

Uncle Caleb so kindly took the camera and captured some shots for the mamas waiting back at home

Riding the Ranger

Helping PePaw get all of the gear ready for the trip

How Many Pictures Can You Handle??

We had our fill of pictures over Thanksgiving break!! But I always believe it's worth the trouble because you end up with good pictures and memories...even if its just one good photo for the trouble! The week of Thanksgiving we split with visits to Sam's family and mine. And we took pictures at both spots :-) Our boys were pictured out for sure...and so was Sam! haha

A long overdue picture with Sam's family...our last one was before we had any kiddos!

Every group photo calls for a silly pic!

Mim and Pop with Ardsley, Mac and Drew

Trying to look happy despite frigid temperatures outside!

My sweet babies

Mac does not sleep or travel without blankey and Doggy, and he was insistent upon taking a picture with them

The whole crew at my parent's house...all of the Singleton Clan, Martino's, Momo and Papa, and Uncle Chuck.

My grandparents with all the grand and great-grandchildren.

Singleton Crew

After this the boys had had about all the saying "Cheese" they could stand

After all those pics, we celebrated by combing the Black Friday sales and coming up with our game plan :-)

Christmas PJ Tradition Still Going Strong

The year 2013 would not have been right if our Christmas pj tradition was not a part of it. So what do you do when the whole family can't be together for Christmas (for like the first time ever)?? That's right, you get them ready early and wear them over Thanksgiving! And that is exactly what we did! Lia picked out super soft pjs for the girls, Jess made super cute shirts for the kids, and the guys pulled out their usual attire from the bottom of their dresser drawers :-)