The Weather Outside is Frightful!

Well the weather in Idaho was quite cold, but we sure enjoyed our time in Pocatello visiting all of the Taylors. Jack wasn't sure what to think of that cold air at first... we had to bundle him up just to get to the car. He would try to uncover his face to feel the cold air but then it took his breath away so he liked to stay nestled under the covers.




While at Grandma's, Jack gave some of his best grins, laughs, and coos. He loved all the attention!




And his cousins showed him so much love too:)





It was wonderful to spend Thanksgiving with family. We count our blessings every day and appreciate all the love and support we receive from friends and family:)


... and it was nice to land in San Diego with blue skies and 65 degree weather! Ahhh... sunny Southern California! We won't be here for Christmas, but any one is welcome to come thaw out in January!

What? Babies cry?

Jack is really starting to settle into life, and we couldn't be more thrilled. For awhile there we thought we might have a colicky baby (but then we believe anything we read on the internet). One night during a "Jack Attack" Jared stumbled across a website selling the best gripe water out there for colic ... so he bought four bottles and had them overnighted. Below is a picture of what the stuff looks like.

Needless to say to all parents the stuff really doesn't work. And we now realize our little man doesn't have colic; he's just a baby and has fussy periods. Fortunately for us though his fussiness is starting to go away and that sweet little boy we brought home from the hospital is returning, and we are adjusting very well to our new lives.

Blessing Day

At six weeks we blessed Jack. It was a special weekend with grandparents, Aunt Aimee, Uncle Jason, and cousin Avery to share in the memory. Jack was a perfect angel and was quiet for the whole blessing ... except for a couple of sneezes:)

We've really enjoyed having Jack in our home and each day is getting easier understanding what his needs are. Last night he even surprised us with sleeping all through the night (7 hours). We hope he keeps this up!

To view all of Jack's pics, you can visit our Picasa web album of Jack, http://picasaweb.google.com/johnsonkristina/JackTaylor?feat=directlink.

Jack Randall Taylor

So we finally have returned to somewhat normal life after our arrival of Jack last Sunday. Here are a few stats and pics of our little guy, and we promise to post more of a story next time. As of now, we are all home doing well and being taken care of by grandma Johnson for a few more days.

Jack Randall Taylor was born on Sunday, September 20, 2009 at 11:47pm. He weighed 7 lbs 1 oz and was 20 inches long. We came home from the hospital on Wednesday and have received lots of love and support from family and friends. We all feel very blessed!

Waiting for our little Cougar!

We were all ready for our little Jack to arrive for BYU's first game of the season, but unfortunately he is taking his time to come out.  In anticipation of his arrival, we've kept his game day outfit ready to go in his crib waiting for him.  Maybe next weekend he will be able to enjoy BYU's second game with his parents.

The real update from the doctor is he could come any day now.  On Friday, September 11th we will see Dr. Jones again if he hasn't arrived and set up a date to induce.  I'll suggest that afternoon:)  So really he should be here in less than two weeks!

We are all ready for him to arrive.  The past few weeks have been spent putting his room and all his gear together.  Jared LOVES his second job of a handyman:)  

Really everything is ready to go, and I wake up every morning disappointed that I didn't get to wake Jared up in the middle of the night to tell him, "it's time"!  I find both Jared and me walking into Jack's bedroom often surveying the scene in anticipation for our little boy to occupy his new environment... if he only knew how much better life is on the outside!

So to keep ourselves busy we've been trying to enjoy some favorite pastimes.  Last weekend we took in another Angel's game with seats right behind the Angel's dugout!  It was an awesome game being so close.  You could hear each crack of the bat and each strike hit the catcher's glove!  So glad they are having a great season.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

Well it is the end of August and I am just now posting something to give an update on what's been going on this summer.

I was very excited to go home for a week to see my family. Cathryn, Teresa, and I all decided to make a vacation back home at the same time to see everyone, so it was extra fun. What I thought was going to be a cool relaxing week at home turned out to be a scorcher! Yes, Seattle was experiencing a very unusual heat wave the week I decided to go up there. When my plane landed the pilot announced a record-breaking 103 degrees for Seattle that day. Most may say big deal it's summer... but not in Seattle when only 15% of the population have A/C, and my parents aren't in that population. Needless to say at 7 1/2 months pregnant I was quite uncomfortable, but really the heat can't stop the fun.


It was great to be home and do my favorites... ferry rides, site seeing in Seattle, Iver's Fish & Chips, The Blue Angels, Mt Rainier, and cards with the family!


When Jared arrived for the weekend, I took him up to Mt. Rainier. I spent many weekends hiking around Mt Rainier growing up. It was a lot of fun showing him around. I wish I could have hiked more. We went up to Paradise where there is a visitor's lodge and short little trail heads around the parking lot. We can't wait to go back and do some hiking.







While at home, my sisters, Aunt Sue, and good friend, Laura, took me out to lunch and showered Jared and me with some fun baby gifts! It was so fun to be around all these wise ladies and hear the good advice that I need plenty of.








As fun as it was to be home with family, it was great to get back to the cooler temperatures of life by the beach:) The next couple of weeks were hectic as I wrapped things up at work, but August 17th was a great day to transition all my responsibilities to a new HR manager. I haven't had too many withdrawals of giving up working yet... and I don't really expect to. I had a great career for 10 years and now I'm focusing on new and better things!

This past week I went in for a 37 week appointment and all is looking well for our arrival of our little boy. The doctor did another ultra sound to find him head down and ready to go. The doctor doesn't think he'll change positions again... unfortunately for me because he is sitting heavy on my sciatic nerve, which makes walking VERY difficult, but he should be here shortly.

4th of July means... Company!!!

This 4th of July we were able to celebrate with Jared's mom, Shauna! We were so excited to have company--especially Shauna--come visit for the weekend.

We picked Shauna up from the airport on Thursday and went out to Coronado for lunch at the Hotel Del. The weather was finally nice and sunny for us here in Southern California and we enjoyed touring around Coronado and then up to my favorite shopping mall--Fashion Place:) They have every store you could possibly need except for Pottery Barn Kids, which we specifically went to the mall for. So of course we made our chauffeur (I mean Jared) take us up to the mall in La Jolla so we could look at some nursery decor:)

The next day we stopped at Babies R Us for some more shopping. Shauna was great and bought us a stroller and pack-n-play for junior coming soon. Jared was great and put both together right away so I could see how they looked.... I'm so ready for our little bundle to come!

After shopping we attempted the San Diego County Fair (The Puyallup doesn't hold candle to this county fair)! The lines to get into the fair were hours long and so we decided to go with our back up plans and hit a few other tourist spots.

First up, the Cabrillo Monument. The Cabrillo National Monument is located at the southern tip of the Point Loma Peninsula. This is where the explorer San Juan Cabrillo landed and discovered San Diego Bay in 1542. Up on this point are great views of San Diego.

On the other side of the point are tide pools with some more spectacular views. Up above the tide pools in the rocks are artillery batteries built to protect the harbor of San Diego from enemy warships.

We then hit Balboa Park and saw the Bodies exhibit. This was amazing. I especially liked the part about the babies:) Fascinating!!

It was fun to tour the park again, as this was were Jared and I had our engagement pictures taken. I thought I would let Shauan pose with Jared this time around:)-

We had worked up an appetite to eat at Miguel's Cocina! This is a great Mexican restaurant in Point Loma for anyone coming to visit. It has an amazing white cheese sauce to dip chips in... I know it doesn't sound very Mexican, but man is it tasty!

The next day we decided to attempt the fair again, and this time it was a lot less popular for everyone else in San Diego. I love the fair... the pigs, the cows, the crazy people and of course the food... the funnel cakes, corn dogs, kettle corn, and lots of other fatty fried food.

It was a great weekend of lots of walking and eating! We were able to cure our feet with a little R&R at a local nail spa!