dancing queen.

Taylor now has 5 dance recitals under her tiny little belt!  This winter recital was exciting because it was her first TAP performance!  Two dances in one night was of course thrilling for this Mama, costume changes and all.
Side note: Costumes or lack there of, were very disappointing this year.  For some reason the studio decided not to order any this year.  That along with the same choreography recycled yet again was the reason I decided to switch dance studios after this recital.
That all being said, Taylor did a wonderful job!  I just love watching her grow in confidence and technique!  She has been waiting for over a year to be old to start tap dance and has had so much fun learning this new style!  Her girlfriend Cassidy (shown in picture above) is in her class and the two are so dang cute tapping away!
Ballet is still my favorite but Taylor is definitely showing interest in tap, jazz and ballet.  Now the decision of whether or not to let her do all 3 quite yet!? 
Although I was disappointed in the studio, Taylor had a great recital and we were thrilled to have auntie BF in town!  She and Neil came to see Tay's recital and Christmas concert.  Just love that they were here to see our dancing queen!

a new website and blog for jd designs!

I am getting super excited for my new jd designs website and blog that my very talented friend Annie is designing for me!  5 years ago when we moved to Oregon and I had the opportunity to start my own design business I threw a website together myself just to get something started.  Fast forward and that dang website hasn't had any attention!  I have been blessed with so many wonderful projects over these past few years and I am thrilled that people will finally get a chance to see those on the new website.  Annie was the one that suggested I start blogging for jd designs again...which led to me finding the desire to start blogging for myself again as well.  Today I posted this picture on what will be the new jd designs blog.  It is the one portion of this process that I can help with...Annie is doing all of the hard stuff with designing the website, and I am so thankful for that! 

I posted this pictures because I am always being asked by my clients to see what my house looks like.  I totally get why they ask, but I have never taken the time to take pictures of my own house!  Ryan snapped this one for me and I posted it saying "hello from the big" along with a littler blurb on my personal design style.

 

 

Yesterday another talented friend of mine, Jessie Street did a photo shoot with me at a project I recently finished here in town.  I had so much fun staging it for the shoot and getting things all set up...can't wait to see how the pictures turn out!  Of course...they too will be on the website. 

I literally packed up accessories from my own stash and from around the house.  Gone are the days of just loading up the car from the showroom at Black Goose Design...gotta get creative here in The Big.  Just thankful I have my own inventory! :)

our kindergartner.

Meet Mrs. Mielke.  She is Taylor's Kindergartner teacher and an amazing one at that!  We made the decision to have Taylor attend Heidi Ho this year rather than public school and we are so thankful we did.  She has a small class of 14, 11 of which are girls!  Taylor is excelling in school and we are so proud of the little student she is becoming.  She started reading this summer and has become quite the confident little reader...unless Mom tries to help her and then forget it.  I was so frustrated at first that she really didn't want me to teach her, but my Mom tells me I was pretty much the exact same way!  I am just thankful that she will let Daddy help her and she definitely lets Mrs. Mielke teach her! 
She and Mrs. Mielke have found they share a love for all things polka dotted.  The other night Glenda (Mrs. Mielke) messaged me and asked if Taylor could please wear her grey and white polka dot sweatshirt so they could be twins the next day at school.  Taylor felt SO cool and it totally made her day! This year has been a big one for Taylor with starting REAL school and I can't believe it's almost half way over!  Next year is still uncertain as to where Tay will be going.  We are trying to make the best decision for her and are tossing around a few options.  Some of which require quite a bit of driving.  We love our baby girl though and want to make sure we make the right choice!  Education is so important and we want her to know and understand that from an early age.
Love you Tay and proud of you!  Keep up the good work!

oh hi there.

April 2013?
9 months later and I decided to pick this blogging thing back up again.  As you can see from my last post, life had gotten hectic.  After recovering from surgery it has taken and is still taking time to get back to "normal".  If there really is such a thing.
We are still living life in The Big.  Taylor will be turning 6 in a few months and my handsome will be 3.  I mean...wow just wow.
So a full update would be next to impossible but since this blog is mostly for myself and the kids down the road someday...I want to try and keep a brief record of what we have been up to.  As I was looking at my old blog today I was finding myself feeling so thankful that I had been so dedicated to blogging in the past.  I don't remember so much...it is terrible.  Life literally has been flying by. Married almost 10 years?  What? So I promised myself right then that I would give this another whirl.
So....
December we celebrated an amazing Christmas here in The Big with both the Dearingers and the Nelsons.  I was so excited to finally be hosting and took the job very seriously!  I planned, planned and planned. Then promised myself to not freak out if nothing went as planned. 
We had a few "Griswold" family moments like when the garage flooded and all the gifts were in danger of being ruined. Or when the extra fridge in the garage decided it preferred to be a freezer and our turkey wasn't defrosting. We survived though!  We all really enjoyed ourselves and I tried to soak it all in! We were just so thankful that our family was willing to travel from all over..literally...Hawaii, DC, Vancouver and Cannon Beach.  It's a Christmas we will always remember. The BF and Neil made a visit out earlier in the month and were able to see Taylor perform in her dance recital and Christmas concert at school.  She had her first speaking line! "In Bethlehem town". So proud of her and so happy that the BF was here for it!

November was Thanksgiving at the beach and that meant time with BABY JAXON! Love that little man.  Nephew number #2 for this Auntie.  The weather was abnormally nice and we all enjoyed time on the beach which literally never happens in November.  We also replaced all of the windows on our house that month. Quite the project but one that really needed to be done.  Along with the new windows came black trim for the exterior and I am loving the difference they make on this old house!  As I like to say "stepped things up a notch".  Also, Ryder moved into a BIG BOY BED! I was sad to make the transition because he really was quite happy in the crib.  We had the opportunity to buy matching beds for the kids and I decided to just go for it.  Of course the handsome loves his big boy bed and thankfully still treats it like a crib!  He doesn't get out of it without calling for me to get him.  Keep that up baby boy! Lastly, we had a quick visit from Monica & Sophie which we always love.  They were here to witness the great Scenty massacre that occurred in my family room....I can't talk about it. Just still traumatized.

October was BUZZ LIGHTYEAR and JESSIE and lots of fun Halloween festivities!  Annie came to visit which was so much fun!  She and I dressed up like witches and along with Ryan had had a blast taking the kids around town and to campus for Trick or Treating.  Before that Back and Papa came out to The Big.  Of course Dad worked on some projects for us which is always appreciated and Backa had lots of fun activities to do with the kids.  Earlier in the month Ryan and I left the kids with Dan and Glenda in Vancouver and we flew to Arizona for a wedding!  It was so nice to have a brief little getaway and meet up with so many of our friends.  We also caught a Seahawks game while there! The very beginning of the month brought the BF out and she and I went to an event called Shabulous.  It was a vintage buying show...amaze! 

September of course meant our baby girl started KINDERGARTEN.  I still can't believe it.  Ryan started his 5th year at EOU which also doesn't seem possible.  This year he is up for tenure and is working on publishing his book.  Ryder started music classes. Taylor started tap and continued with her ballet classes.  The BF was in The Big again and we harvested peaches!  Ryder saw his first drive-in movie which was a blast, Planes!  Oh and me, I was incredibly busy working and being a mama. 

August was a fun month!  Ryan ran the Hood to Coast for the first time with his buddies from GFU. They had a blast and did a great job.  It was so much fun to be there at the finish line! Prior to that we were camping at Wallowa Lake with Papa and Backa which has become quite the tradition.  Camping with a 2 year old...not for wimps. Taylor rode her first horse and the kids both learned to love the paddle board.  We made a trip to Seattle but it was cut short when I broke a tooth!  I know. The worst luck ever. This was a really busy month for JD Designs...but I will talk about that on my other blog. :)
The BF and Neil stopped in The Big as they finally made it back to Oregon!  They had been on a roadtrip all over the states since May! 

July we celebrated 9 years of marriage.  Crazy that we have been married that long although it really does feel like a lifetime ago that we said "I do".  This month we made a visit over to Boise to see the Wolfs and as always had a blast.  It is so much fun seeing our kiddos play together.  Taylor scored her first goal in soccer!  It was for the other team...but we still count it!  Big moment!  Monica and Soph came to visit and we had a great time relaxing and catching up.  The 4th was spent at the beach of course.  This year was special because we had BABY JAXON there and BABY CALVIN!  Both of our nephews which was so much fun!  Bryan, Courtney, Dan, Glenda and Courtney's parents rented a beach house in Arch Cape which made for a perfect location to watch the fireworks.  Joel and Ash were in town as well and we all had such a great time.  The parade is always a highlight and Ryder got to drive Papa's new "bopbop" with him in the parade.  It was a major moment for that little man. 

June took Taylor, Ryan and I to DC to celebrate Calvin's first Birthday!  Ryder stayed behind with Gram and Grandpa and had a blast playing with them.  We also got to see Taylor B and CK while in DC which of course completely thrilled me!  They had just moved to DC and we were so excited to see their new digs and spend time with them!  The Taylors were so stinking cute together. Ugh I wish we still lived close! We always pick right back up though...true friendship.  Right before leaving for DC we welcomed BABY JAXON to the Nelson family!  Ashley is a rockstar Mama and I am so proud of how great of a Daddy by baby bro is.  Sister flew home to try and catch Jaxon's birth but the little man decided he wasn't ready yet so she just barely missed him.  That meant we got to steal all of her time which of course was great. Oh and the twins (Ryan and Bryan) turned 34!

May was t-ball, dance recital and preschool graduation for Taylor.  Ryder loved going to Tay's tball practices and is counting down the days till he is old enough to play.  Ryan and I celebrated my 31st bday is VEGAS!  It was so nice to finally be feeling better and to get away just us two!  We also said bye to the BF for the summer and played at the zoo for a bit with her before she left town.

April is always a crazy month for us because we had two babes that month and it means PARTIES!  Taylor's party was Hello Kitty...of course. A major obsession for her and for most 5 year girls really.  Ryder's party was Buzzlightyear...he was and still is totally in love with all things Buzz.  At this point I was still requiring help while recovering from surgery so we had the BF here and Gram and Grandpa to help with the parties!  Later in the month the kids and I spent some time in Boise so Luke and Ang could help me with the kids while Ryan had to be out of town for work.  Again, the kids loved seeing Payten and Ryker!  Oh we also celebrated Easter with Papa, Backa, Joel and Ashley! 

March was a crazy and challenging month. For me, I was in bed recovering...again.  We had so many people out to help that month.  BF, Gram and Grandpa, Monica, Backa.  As I mentioned in an earlier post...we literally were surrounded with love and support to make it through that crappy experience!  The kids and Ryan were troopers.  Ryan kept the kids busy as did our visitors. 

February started out on a good note.  We had a fun Valentines Day with the kids.  I got to be the "room mom" for Taylor's party and made some darling treats for the kids.  We made it a special day all about the love we have for our babies.  Ryder was in music class, Tay was still doing ballet and preschool and both kids were in swimming lessons.  The end of the month was spent in the hospital and you kind of the know the story from there! 

a challenge.

Since my last post a lot has happened...and that truly is an understatement.  Actually the very next day after the snow pictures were taken I began having complications related to my surgery.  I received treatment locally for scar tissue but by mid February I was having severe pain and had a elevated white blood count which led to a CT scan.  I knew something was very wrong and was just praying that this time someone would figure it out quickly.  They did.  I had trapped air on the outside of my abdomen which meant there was a tear somewhere. 
I was in emergency surgery within an hour.  It all happened so fast I didn't even have time to get scared.  I woke up to the news that my internal incision from my hysterectomy had tore open completely and the "treatment" I had received previously on what we thought was scar tissue actually was my bowel.  It has been cauterized and was completely adhered to the incision and falling thru.  I had multiple infections throughout my body, the worst being ecoli.  After 4 1/2 days in the hospital I was sent home to begin another 6 week recovery. 
Long sigh.
Once again our families and friends jumped to action and within hours my Mom was on her way to help, followed by our besties Monica & Sophie.  Dan & Glenda made numerous trips out as did my parents and both sets of Grandparents took turns having the kids for a week at a time.  The BF was here two different times over the 6 week recovery and helped with the party preparation that was happening throughout all this!  Our friends Laura & Steve helped so much with Taylor and set up a months worth of meals for us with the help from all of our great LG friends.   
There were a few big setbacks along the way with infections, full bed restrictions and horrific medications.  BUT...we made it.  I made it.  The 6 weeks is over.  The road to recovery continues and I still have a lot of healing to do...but I can now begin to resume my "normal" life. 
It has been an incredible challenge for our little family to endure and Ryan has had to take on all of the parenting responsibilities.  He has been a diaper changing, bath giving, meal making, errand running, Mr. Mom all while still working.  I am so thankful for the help and heartbroken that this year has taken me away from my kids and family so much.  We had to cancel a trip to DC to visit our nephew and family and a surprise trip to Disneyland we had planned for the kid's birthdays. :(
There have been a lot of sacrifices made by everyone throughout this nightmare and I just pray that this is truly over. 
I am determined to be healthy.  To move on.  Throughout this process I kept finding myself feeling like I didn't have the strength to do this anymore.  I was so overwhelmed.  This was my reminder that I wasn't alone.
Isaiah 41:10
Don't be afraid for I am with you.  Don't be discouraged for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. 

Thank you to everyone for your prayers, your gifts, your thoughtful notes.  I am seriously overwhelmed with the love that has been poured on our family throughout this past year.   We have felt it and soaked it in.  We appreciate and love each of you.

a white january.

january.

january has brought one thing...snow...and a lot of it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

a holy jolly time.

december was a busy month...but isn't it always!?

taylor had her holiday recital which was amazing of course.  she and her friends danced to "you've got a friend in me" and melted all of our hearts.  i mean look at that little hat! 

christmas was spent at the beach this year and was a magical time.  sister came home from hawaii, joel and ashley were there, grammy & grandpa who both turned 91 this year spent the holiday with us. mom and dad hosted a beautiful christmas and dan and glenda joined us.

a merry christmas was had by all.