Time Is Just Flyin'

Wow!  It's hard to believe that it's been over a month since our last post.  It is amazing how the school routine just makes the time fly by.  With the return of the rain, we've been reminded that things are moving fast and the summer is definitely over now.

Since our last post, Jacob was baptized and I am happy to say that Scott can no longer him a pagan baby.  As you can see from the pictures, he was a very happy boy that day and wasn't bothered a bit by Deacon Pat pouring water on his head (although they do warm it).  Our friends Steve and Julie honored us by being his godparents.  There's a great pic of the three of them that follows.

Matthew and Tia

Jacob and His Godparents

Little Angels :)

Matthew is starting to like becoming a big brother.  He loves trying to make Jacob laugh and Jacob watches his every move.  It's amazing that the two of them are really starting to look alike.  It's eery.  

The Taylor Boys

Matthew is loving school and making lots of friends.  He is still working on building up his stamina since kindergarten is a full day, five days a week.  His class went on their first field trip to the Children's Theater in Seattle to see Cat in the Hat.  They are also planning a trip to the pumpkin patch this upcoming week.  They have been studying about apples and pumpkins in school and loves to tell us all kinds of little facts about them.  

Handsome School Pic

Farmer Matthew

Hockey season has also started for Matthew.  He had a bit of a bumpy start since he wasn't able to get in much ice time this summer with the arrival of Jacob.  But now he is really doing well.  He's even scored a few goals.  The coaches always speak so well of him and say he has an awesome attitude and doesn't quit.  Despite being one of the smallest and youngest kids on the team, it really is amazing to see how far he has come in a few short weeks.  Now I'm afraid to get on the ice with him because I know he'll be able to skate circles around me.

Well, that's all of the Taylor news for now.  I'm sure there is more to tell, but I've got to catch some zzzz's.  Jacob has decided to revert back to his newborn days and is awake every 1-3 hours at night.  Makes for one very tired mommy and daddy.
Take care.

Matthew's First Day of School

Well, today was Matthew's big day- his first day of kindergarten.  It's hard to believe that it is finally here and that the summer is over.  Very sad for us, but Matthew is so ready to start school.  He was a little timid at first, but was doing great by the time we left.  We didn't get many classroom pictures because it was a bit chaotic and we were trying to get Matthew settled.  When he was ready to sit with his friends, we decided to make our exit.  Scott tried to snap some pics of me shedding a few tears, but I wouldn't let him and I think he knew better :)  But here's some of the action from today.

 "It's toooo early"

   Ready to get moving now

 Putting on his uniform

Breakfast time 

 Ready to go

 What's going on??

 At School

 Matthew and Mommy

 The Boys

 Two proud St. Nick's Mommies

(Sorry Colleen, hope you don't mind :))

 Time to go home

 St. Nicholas Kindergarten Class 2012

One Happy Kindergartener

The Last Hurrah

Well, now that we're closing in on our last week before school starts, we've been trying to get out and enjoy the last days of the NW summer.  It's hard to believe that Matthew will be off to kindergarten in less than six days.  We will miss having him around all of the time, but he is very excited to be starting school soon.

We made a second trip to Alki Beach last week (this time with dad).  Matthew and dad had fun playing in the sand and seaweed while mommy and Jacob hung out in the shade and took a little siesta.   It was a lot of fun and made us long for a little Hawaii.

Jacob continues to grow by leaps and bounds.  He's now in 9-12 month clothing (at 5 months of age) and is bigger than our friends little guy who was born 3 months before him.  He is a giant baby.  Matthew is finding him to be a little more interesting now that he's able to respond to him and Matthew is able to make him laugh.  It's so heart-warming to see the two of them interacting and becoming brothers :)

We treated ourselves to a last minute trip to the mountains this past week.  We went to Crystal Mt. for one night and then went to Mt. Rainier and stayed in Elbe the next day.  Crystal Mt. was absolutely beautiful.  We took the gondola to the top of the mountain and were greeted with a breath-taking view of Mt. Rainier.  We could also see Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helen's from the top.

The gondola ride was very interesting for someone who has a fear of heights, but in the end it was fine.  Matthew actually thought that it was funny that I was a bit keyed up for the ride to the top :)

Yep, we're wayyyy up there.

Mt. St. Helen's

We had a new experience on this trip.  After we got to the top of the mountain.  We did a bit of hiking and found ourselves on a rustic trail that had some stunning views.  All was well until Jacob decided to have a huge blow out.  So we ended up using a big rock as our changing table and then a seat to feed him.  We joked that with all of the various outdoor activities in the NW, perhaps someone could come up with one like "high altitude baby care".  

Day two at Mt. Rainier...

We stayed in Elbe the second night and found a beach for Matthew to swim and play (on one of the last hot days in the NW).  

We found a very unique hotel in Elbe.  All of the rooms are refurbished cabooses.  Matthew was in heaven.  We told him about the hotel early in the trip and he was constantly asking "when are we going to the caboose".  The hotel restaurant was also an old dining car.  Hopefully, it will be an experience that Matthew will remember for a while.

In the caboose loft

We took a ride on the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad the last day.  Matthew had a blast, of course, and loved seeing a real steam engine at work.

And again, mommy and Jacob fall asleep.  Matthew is doing his best sleeping mommy impression :)