New Routines

Well it's been an interesting few weeks for us as we try to get back into the swing of things after all of the Christmas/New Year hustle and bustle. Matthew has had a change in his routine as he has started a new swimming class and now ice skating classes and we had a bit of a rough go of it. He cried almost all the way through his new swim class and then about 5-10 minutes of his first ice skating class. I sometimes feel like I'm torturing the poor kid, but I guess he has to learn to stretch his wings a bit. Things are getting better though. We figured out that he was cold during his swimming class. The Kinderswimmer pool was 88 degrees and the pool at the YMCA is much cooler and for the first class, they sit on the side rather than stay in the water and hold the wall. But we now have him dressed for success for that class...

He loves his new swim cap and suit and if he had his way would wear it all day, everyday. So that has certainly helped things. We also have a new swim teacher since his first class and she is really good with him.

Ice skating was also a bit of a challenge. He loves to go with Scott and I, but was not thrilled (to say the least) about getting on the ice without us. But by the end of class, he was taking a few steps on his own, was very close to getting back up after falling on his own and asked "can I keep skating?". So I think the next class should go better. Here's a clip from one of the times we went skating with him...

Well that's about all that's new in our world right now. Hope everyone is staying warm and out of the snow back east. Take care!

Daddy's a Star

This is the commerical for the opening of the new Good Samaritan Hospital. Pay close attention to the physician examining the little boy. I think that you might recognize him...

Happy 2011!!

Happy 2011!! This will be a short post, unfortunately, because I really don't have many pics to share. We got a new lens for our camera and all our recent pics have a terrible case of red eye. So basically, it looks like we're all possessed. I will spare you the fright until I figure out how to fix this.

We had a busy week between Christmas and New Years. It seems like we had something planned everyday with friends. There was the train show with the Sobbas, Zoolights with the Guys, the firing range with some of Scott's co-workers, New Year's Eve with Jacques and Irina- just to mention a few of the highlights. After the New Year, we took Matthew ice skating for the first time. He seemed to enjoy it and would only take a 1-2 minute break before there was a request to "Let's skate some more". However, I think that we were way more sore than he was the next day from trying to keep him up on his two feet. But it was fun and we look forward to more "Taylors on Ice".

Well that's all for now. Stay tuned for some more snow pics. Looks like we might be in for a big one next week, still waiting to see. Matthew's very excited to build another snowman, especially since he now knows how to sing Frosty the Snowman : )

Take care.

Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We hope that you all enjoyed your holiday. We sure did, but as usual, it was way too short. Scott had to work this year, so that certainly made things a little more complicated, but it was still wonderful. Matthew had a great day and was thrilled with all of his gifts because I think just about every one had wheels or something to do with trains, trucks or cars. The past few days he has just wanted to stay home and play rather than go out.

We had fun tracking Santa on NORAD Christmas Eve and left him the usual cookies and milk as a snack for his big trip.


We also threw out a few carrots and some magic reindeer food on the front lawn. Matthew was particularly impressed with the bite marks on the carrots the next morning.


Then he spent the rest of the day playing and playing and playing and playing...

Santa also brought some treats for the kitties...

The other toy that Matthew really liked was his new weed whacker. He decided that the tree needed a little trimming. He then moved on to mommy and daddy's hair. Thank goodness it's a toy : )

Well I must run for now, but we wanted to share some of our Christmas memories and wish you all a Happy 2011!!

Love,

Scott, Cheryl and Matthew

Taylor Elf Family

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Santa Pics

Vancouver and Winter Snow

Happy Advent! We hope that this post finds everyone enjoying their preparations for Christmas. I've been a bit behind on the blogging our new pics, so I hope to catch up a little this month.
We went to Vancouver a few weeks ago and had a wonderful time. I have to say that I love Amtrak! It was so easy to take the train and not have to stop several times between here and there and Matthew loves trains, so he was thrilled. We found a Thomas the Train at one of the hotels and of course he had to mug for the camera.



It's funny how travel is different when you have children. When it was just the two of us, we enjoyed trying out new restaurants, checking out the night life and basically trying to hit all of the destinations highlights in a few days. No longer. Now we just hang out with Matthew and enjoy whatever it is that he likes to do. This, of course, led to us spending several hours at the playground in Vancouver. Scott got to be a kid and join in the fun as well.

It was a great time and we look forward to our next visit north. Here's a few more pics from the park...

Also, a little something that we just decided to pick up while we were there ; )

The big news in our lives has been the weather. We had a pretty good wind storm a couple of weeks ago that knocked out our power overnight and made quite a mess of the yard. That was followed by a pretty big (big by Seattle area standards) snow storm. We lost our power for 24+ hours with that storm. I think a generator just moved up the priority list a bit. Matthew loved the snow and got to make a snowman, go sledding down the hill at the side of the house and play snow baseball.

The snow was gone a few days later, but I hear that we will likely be getting more this winter.

Well that's all for now. Stay tuned for Santa pics and all of our Christmas happenings.

Matthew's Version of Jingle Bells

Feline Comparisons

Fierce killer-


Or-

That's our Cleo, a.k.a. "the dog cat"....

Halloween 2010

Per usual, it's been a busy time in the Taylor household. I'm having a tough time keeping up with our blog. I have so many new pics, but I think for now I'll just stick with the happenings in the past few weeks.

Matthew has outgrown his toddler bed, so we bought him a twin, "big boy" bed a few weeks ago. He was thrilled, especially since he got to pick out his new sheets. Here he is watching them take a spin in the washer. He looks like he's pondering something.

We took a very belated birthday trip in October. Matthew was suppose to go to Great Wolf Lodge for his birthday, but was ill, so we took a rain check and went with his friends Jonas and Ronin. The boys had a blast. Even with a huge water park at his finger tips, Matthew said he favorite thing was "playing trains with Jonas at the hotel room".

I love this pic. It looks like Ronin is trying to get some cash from the ATM while Matthew is on the look out and Jonas is supervising. Those mischievous boys!

We made our annual trip to Scholtz Farms for our pumpkin this year. It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time.

Taking the tractor for a ride. Or so he thinks.

Woo hoo! We got one!

"Am I suppose to eat this?"

Matthew got to party hardy with his swim buddies Halloween weekend. His friend Brodi had a wonderful party and the kids had a blast making candy haunted houses, decorating pumpkins and just running around trying to burn up their sugar buzz.

Then there was the main event- Halloween! Matthew was so excited about painting his face green for his froggie costume. He wanted to paint his whole body, but we managed to talk him out of it.

We met some friends for pizza, to insure that the kids ate something that was somewhat healthy, before the big candy-fest. Then it was on to trick or treating in the harbor. It was a little crazy trying to keep track of 9 kids in the crowd, but it all worked out and they got some great loot.

Matthew Videos

I know it's been a while since I've posted. So I thought I'd post of few videos of Matthew's latest antics.

Puyallup Fair 2010 and Family Pics Preview

It seems so quiet around our house these days since we said goodbye to our last guest just a couple of weeks ago. I think that poor Uncle Doug is going to need a vacation from his vacation after chasing Matthew around for a few days. Although I do have to say, I was wondering who was having more fun as I watched them put together Hot Wheels tracks and race cars around- Matthew or Doug?

We made a trip to the market with Doug and our friend Irina. Matthew decided that he wanted to buy mommy some flowers (with a little help from daddy). They were beautiful. Thank you Matthew (and daddy)!

The big news in town the past few weeks has been the Puyallup Fair. We ended up going twice and Matthew and I are heading there tomorrow with our friends the Sobbas for round #3. Matthew had a blast on the rides, of course. He still continues to look longingly at the "big boy" rides and points to all the rides saying "I wanna go on that". He did, however, take a trip on The Scrambler this year, much to my dismay. But I think his favorite was the giant slide, which he must have gone on at least a half a dozen times. He decided to try his hand at some games this year, but mommy and daddy quickly put a stop to that as he started throwing the wooden balls from skee ball all over the place. We were trying to avoid him taking out a spectator or two.

With the busy summer coming to a close, we decided to get our family portraits taken. Unfortunately, with all of the unseasonably rainy weather we've had lately, we had to cancel our location shoot and went to our photographers studio instead. The pics turned out great though and we have some especially cute ones of Matthew. Here's a little preview....

The Ham