Grandma Came to Visit!!

Grandma Ria came to visit us the end of August and we had soooo much fun with her here! When she got in the car at the airport, Taisley was so excited! It was really cute. These two spent a lot of time together back in AZ while I was working full time. 

Unfortunately, Trav was busy with school the whole week so my mom and I had to venture out on our own. 

We made it up to Montauk Point and went up in the lighthouse. We had to take turns because they wouldn't let Taisley go up in the lighthouse. It was a warm day so when we got down to the beach we tried to cool off in the water a little bit without getting too wet...Taisley just wanted to dive right in.

Here is the view from the top of the lighthouse...it was beautiful!

Mom and I were able to go to the city while Trav stayed home with Taisley (what a nice guy).

I was a little nervous to go without Trav since this was only my second time in the city but Mom and I figured it out and luckily didn't get lost, haha. The subway system is a little tricky but once you figure that out and have a map with you, you're golden! 

We were able to see PHANTOM OF THE OPERA on BROADWAY!!!! It was amazing!!!

It was in the "Majestic" Theater 

The beautiful Manhattan Temple

Mom in Time Square

We ate lunch at the 'Shake Shack' just a few blocks from Time Square...it was delicious! 

Right outside of Central Park

It was so much fun running around New York City with my mom! We had a blast! 

 Taisley turned ONE!!!!! 

We were so lucky to have my mom here to celebrate with us.

I think Taisley enjoyed her cake....what do you think?

Haha We love this silly girl!

She had fun opening all her gifts and playing with all her new toys. 

It was sad to see Grandma go when Taisley and I dropped her off at the airport. We had so much fun with her and were glad she could come stay with us. We love you Grandma Ria!

Here is Taisley girl just having fun.

This is her new favorite spot...she pulls everything out and in she goes.

Then she will play peek a boo with you. haha.

This is how the living room looks for most of the day. She loves to pull every book and toy out that she has and then play play play. We pick it all up at night and she is back at it in the morning!! 

This is at the mall playground. Taisley is usually the popular one and all the kids follow her around. Of course she loves the attention and has a grand ole time. 

Trav started school and is loving it so far. He is busy studying all the time but he does great at balancing everything out. This is the 1st day of school. When I told him I had to snap a picture he said "I'm not in first grade" haha. Hey, I think it's a big deal :)

Fun Fun Fun!!

This was the last week before Travis started school so we tried to fit a lot of fun things into our agenda.

 We were able to head over to the North Shore of Long Island and let me just tell you....it is GORGEOUS!!! The houses are beautiful, I felt like we were in a movie driving along the roads.

This is Teddy Roosevelt's home. It is a 23 bedroom mansion that was purchased for $17,000 in 1885. 

Unfortunatley, the inside of the home is closed for rehabilitation for the next 3 years...bummer! But the outside was awesome too. 

This was a huge porch on the back side of the home and it was dreamy. The home sits on 95 acres of land on top of a hill.  

It started pouring rain while we were there so we hid in this barn on the property. 

Taisley patiently waited for the rain to stop while sitting at the edge of the barn. 

Our next stop was the "Old Westbury Gardens" on the North Shore. It is a huge mansion that sits on 160 acres of beautiful land. It was built in 1906 and was owned by the Phipps family. It is now open to the public and the inside remains virtually as it did when the family lived there. It is furnished with English antiques and decorative arts. On the 160 acres there are beautiful gardens that you can walk through. The pictures below don't do it justice. 

This is the front (that's Taisley roaming free)

This is the view from the back

These are some of the gardens 

Taisley was sooo exhausted she fell asleep on our stroll through the gardens.

We were able to go to a minor league baseball game....The Long Island Ducks! We got seats behind the visitor dugout and it was really fun. Taisley loves that kind of environment...she claps and cheers and has a grand ole time. Oh and of course she made friends with the people sitting in front and beside us. :) 

She wanted to give kisses to their mascot "Quacker Jack"

We have experienced a couple crazy storms while being here but this one was pretty SCARY!!

We have never seen or heard lightening and thunder that big! We kept receiving urgent text alerts about a tornado warning and that we needed to "take shelter now". I was really scared. Amazingly, Taisley napped through the whole thing. A tornado did hit about 15 minutes away from us...it went about 4 1/2 miles long. Crazy!! I tried to snap some pictures to show how much rain came down, not sure if you can really tell.

Trav and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary on August 7th. Luckily our friend was able to watch Taisley for us so we could go to dinner. :) 

The rest of the pics are of Taisley girl. She is so hilarious and fun! She has really been into her "accessories" lately. Haha, we love her to pieces! 

New York State of Mind

Well it's been a long time since we have posted on here. Quite a bit has changed. Travis made it into PA (Physician Assistant) school in Long Island, NY and we made the big move a couple weeks ago. Travis drove out here with his parents and uncle and they made really great time. 4 days and 2500 miles later, they were in Bay Shore, NY on Long Island. Taisley and I flew out with Taisley's aunt, Lacy Jo, 5 days after they started their driving adventure. Lacy Jo and Trav's mom, Becky, were able to stay out for another week longer so we got to do some fun stuff right away!

(This is our new home. It is a duplex home so it's basically 2 apartments in one home. We live in the upstairs. Once you walk in the front door, there are separate door entrances to the down stairs and the upstairs. We love our new place. ) 

(Our downstairs neighbor has a 3 yr old son so Taisley has a lot of new fun toys in the backyard. Including a trampoline :)) 

It has been so great so far. Travis starts school in about 2 1/2 weeks and he couldn't be more excited. It's been really nice having this time to spend together before he starts because we all know he will be a very busy student real soon! The weather has been awesome! Mostly 70's and 80's. Some days get kinda warm with the humidity but it sure beats the the 100 degree temps in AZ right?  We have a beach about 10-15 minutes from our house!!!! There have been lots of cloudy days but we have spent the sunny days sitting at the beach. Who knew we would come to NY and get a nice suntan? We were really surprised with how nice the beaches are here. The sand is so soft...it looks and feels like brown sugar. Of course little Taisley loves to eat it so we have to keep a pacifier in her mouth...that usually does the trick...at least for a short while anyway :)

One of the first things we did with Lacy Jo and Becky was go to Fire Island. It's a skinny island that runs along the south shore of Long Island. There are a lot of houses on there...nice houses....but no cars are allowed on the island. You have to take a ferry to get out there. It's a great vacation place with beaches and lots of fun shops and places to eat. Taisley, being the friendly baby that she is, made friends with this group of young Asians on the ferry ride out to Fire Island. They were just in love with her. We kept running into them on the island in different areas and they would stop and take pictures of her and laugh and Taisley was just eating up the attention the whole time. I wish we had taken a picture of them taking pictures of Taisley because it was hilarious! One of them even asked if she could hold her and of course Taisley was all smiles and went right to her, haha. She kept saying thank you for letting her hold Taisley. It was like they had never seen an American baby before. They were very sweet.

(taking the ferry out to Fire Island with Lacy Jo and Becky)

We were also able to go to the city the first week here as well. Bay Shore is located 45 miles east of Manhattan along the south shore of Long Island. You don't dare drive your own car into the city so it's about an hour train ride each way. Once you get into the city, you take the subways to get around. It's kind of overwhelming the first time you go to the city...tons and tons of people everywhere. You are not really sure where to start. It can be a difficult trip with an 11 month old too :) Really though, Taisley has been awesome this whole time. Poor baby...she has done more things in the past 2 weeks than some people do in there whole life time :) We definitely have to go back to the city to see everything. We were able to see Madison Square Garden, Time Square, Central Park and the 9/11 Memorial at ground zero. That was so awesome!! It was kind of surreal to be standing in the exact spot where the twin towers used to stand and just imagine how everyone must have been feeling and to actually see it happen. There is still a lot we can do and see in the city but we have plenty of time to do that.

 (The 9/11 Memorial opened on the 10th anniversary of the attacks. There are 2 pools set in the footprints of the original Twin Towers. 30 foot waterfalls descend into a center void.) 

 (the names of all the victims are inscribed in bronze around the pools)

(Time Square)

(Taisley running around in Central Park)

(Taisley on the train ride home from NY city)

Yesterday we drove out to Montauk Point, which is the farthest east point on Long Island. With traffic it was about a 2 hour drive. It's a beautiful drive though. Green, green and more green. So many beautiful flowers too! On the way there you drive through the Hamptons, where a lot of wealthy people live. Lots of nice homes, cars and lots of shopping. It is a beautiful place to live. Montauk Point has a lighthouse that you can walk around and go up inside too. The town Montauk has a lot of nice beaches and was a fun little trip to take.

We have really enjoyed our ward so far. It's very different to what we are used to, or I should say what I am used to in AZ, Travis served his mission in Boston, MA so he has seen the church on the east coast. It is really neat though. The first Sunday in sunday school everyone clapped and cheered when we said we just moved in. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming. We really like the all around diversity of cultures and almost everyone is a convert. The enthusiasm that these members have is quite amazing. It almost makes you feel like you have been taking the church for granted in your life when you hear their testimonies. It's very small compared to what we were used to back in Gilbert, AZ. The primary has about 10-15 kids and the nursery has 5-6 kids.

Taisley is such a fun baby! She is always smiling and having a great time. She is walking all over the place, she started walking at 9 months so she is basically running now, haha. She loves to wave hi and bye to everyone she sees...It doesn't matter if it's on an airplane, in a grocery store, on the beach or walking down the street. Travis says her motto in life is "Just smile and wave boys" (what the penguins say in the movie Madagascar). It's really funny. It's very hard to get upset at her when she just gives you that grin from ear to ear...I think we are in trouble for the future, haha. We are just having a blast with her. I'm so thankful I get to stay home with her every day now while we are in NY. She is such a busy body...sometimes, ok a lot of times, it's hard to get her to stop and do something as boring as eating food or drinking a bottle. She literally brings so much joy into our home and we love her so much!!!!

Picture Update....

Taisley was blessed by her Dad on October 23rd. It was such a special day. 

Her uncle Kenric is on a mission in Jackson, Mississippi. He sent her this adorable dress that a lady in his ward made. I love it! I can't wait for Taisley to meet Kenric in a little over a year. :)

She LOVES bath time! 

These two are best buds! This is her cousin Kamden, he is 3 months older than Taisley.

Taisley and Kamden on Halloween night. She was an ASU cheerleader.

She wakes up every morning full of smiles!! 

We love our baby girl so much, she brings so much joy into our home! We couldn't imagine life without her. 

Baby Taisley has Arrived!!

Our sweet baby girl finally arrived on August 25th at 7:36pm. She weighed in at 8 pounds 2 ounces and 21 3/4 inches long. We are just so in love with her!

 The delivery experience was a little stressful but we are so grateful that everything worked out so well in the end. Every time I had a contraction her heart rate would drop and take a while to come back up again. To make a long story short the Dr. and nurses explained to us that we were probably going to have to do a c-section and Trav had to get all scrubbed up and ready for the operating room. Needless to say I was an emotional wreck after discussing the matter with the doctor. But in the end all we cared about was getting Taisley here safe and it didn't matter which way it needed to happen. It's pretty amazing the unconditional love you feel for your baby before you even hold them in your arms. The doctor wanted to continue to wait it out and see how her heart rate continued to do throughout the contractions. We figured out that she did a little better if I was laying on my left side. So we waited and waited and waited until I was finally dilated to a 10 and we were ready to push. At this point I was so nervous because if her heart rate didn't do good in contractions than I thought for sure the pushing would make it worse. Surprisingly she did great with the pushing. We pushed for an hour and not once during that hour did her heart rate drop again. 

It was the most amazing experience, you cannot describe the feelings that come when they place your baby on your chest for the first time. Travis and I are so grateful that everything worked out so well and that she arrived here to us safely. 

It is a huge adjustment having a baby in your home. It is so exhausting trying to get the hang of breastfeeding and the constant feedings and sleepless nights but it is so worth it and I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

Travis and I love little Taisley so much!!! We want to thank all of our family and friends who have helped out so much, we love you and appreciate you! :)

This is the last prego picture taken at 40 weeks! She came 2 days late.

Our sweet baby girl. She looks just like her dad's baby picture!

This is her trademark position. Even in all of her ultrasounds she would always have her right fist up next to her face.