garden gnomes and other interests

Today I bought something that very much excited me. It was a spesh that Scot said we could get for the new house. I'm very much into items that are a bit whimsical in nature and add personality to our home. However, because we're afraid someone would steal this beautiful treasure, I'm going to put it somewhere in the house. I haven't decided where it should go yet, but I'm thinking somewhere in the office or possibly in the living room. He does look very sweet on the grass though. He's such a little cutie! Any name suggestions?




We're still in the process of beautifying our home...




The shower has been completed, and the wallpaper is all gone. Scot scraped the popcorn ceilings off this afternoon, and we're well on our way to a completed bathroom! It's just going to be lovely! If you'd love to see the entirety of our home, maybe you should come see it...

In other news, Scot's busy season at work seems to be over. I've very much been looking forward to that! Friday evening, we watched a movie and ate chili that Scot made. He makes the best chili! It's not too spicy, but still flavorful. It's his secret recipe. We enjoyed just spending time with each other. Neither of us worked on stuff around the house, and it was a great time had by all involved. Sometimes, I wish we could just spend everyday all day together. I sure do love him!

Speaking of work, we've just completed a series of lessons at church on working and the purpose of it. It was very insightful, and prompted much discussion at the Jackson household. The last lesson in the series was this morning. He talked about the idea of your work not defining you as a person. Sometimes it's easy to get caught in the "Taylor: the photographer" trap. My work becomes so important, that I forget to be the person God created me to be. Although being a photographer is definitely what I do, it's not who I am. I AM a child of God, created to bring Him glory. If I can do that, then I'm fulfilling my purpose.

Something very random - right now, Scot is over speaking to our neighbor whose dog has been barking for about two hours straight. Can people not hear? We just watched "Marley and Me" this afternoon, and all of those warm fuzzy feelings that it gave about being a dog owner have been completely yanked away over the past two hours. If you can't keep a dog quiet, you don't need a dog.



It was a pretty amazing movie though. I cried a lot. Even if you're not a dog person, you should definitely rent this tear jerker.

I'm back :)

SO I haven't been the best blogger as of late. Lots of things have happened! I've been blessed with a job working for a church. Let me just say that I LOVE IT. Also, we moved...into a house :) Pictures of that are to come. Right now, we're still trying to put our heads back on straight. I'll give you a little teaser -- we're remodeling the bathroom:



Here's Scot destroying things with his hammer. So handy! I'm just glad that he does the heavy lifting. I'm in charge of removing the wallpaper :) We also are very safe in our home renovation, hence the gas mask. No lung cancer for us!



This is my favorite feature of the new bathroom! Our very own claw foot tub :) I thought I'd put a picture of me in it...then thought that would be a little inappropriate.







Nice right? Don't you just love wallpaper? That is why pictures of the rest of our house are to come. I'm not really an organizer and never have been. In fact, it kind of makes me feel slightly helpless...almost like a child, because my skills in this area are so inadequate. If anyone has any tips that would help me, I'd love to hear them. Having said this, it might be a while before you see the finished product. Maybe the end of the summer?

There are some MAJOR bonuses to having your own home. We absolutely love the fact that we are getting to make this place our own. We're picking paint colors, choosing vanities, selecting tile, and deciding on furniture placement. It's nice to finally not be scared to use nails in the wall or worry about our security deposit. We listen to music as loudly as we like and we are no longer concerned with what the neighbors will think if we're vacuuming at 6:00 am -- (we're weird.) I love this time in my life. However, things are very busy at the Jackson household. I know that people say that it will only become more busy with time, but I sure hope that's not really the case!

Milla the Hut

Here's the sweet Milla Josephine a few weeks after she'd had a chance to fatten up a bit. I designed these birth announcements for my sister to send out. They're pretty cute, but not as cute as her face!!

Milla the Russian dancer :)

I realize that I haven't been a good blogger as of late, but we've just been so busy with other things, that I haven't had a chance to sit down and write about the busyness. So here's a good post to give you baby fever. I'm introducing my newest niece, Miss Milla Josephine, to you. And no, she's not Russian. While many of you may have the urge to call her "Meeeela," I assure you, that is NOT her name :) Her name is Milla...such a sweet name for a sweet girl. She was born on New Years Eve - the perfect way to end 2008. She was 8.2 lbs. I guess that extra cooking time added a little weight. Poor girl came out so quickly that she broke her collarbone and has to wear a sling. My sister Amber said, "big girl + small mom = broken bones." She's still presh. I got to hold her for a little bit when Scot and I went down to visit them at their house. With her broken collarbone and all, I was a little scared. I didn't want to hurt her, poor thing. Here are a few sweetie pictures that I think you'll enjoy. She's such a cutie. Here's one of the first pictures I took. Look at those sweet foot prints!



While we were waiting to see Milla for the first time, Jonah was very excited. He loves the idea of a new cousin. Here he is peeking through the window....waiting for a glimpse of the sweet one.





We couldn't see her very well because she was at the farthest end of the nursery. She's that little pinky peach blob towards the back of the photo. Tessa's fiance Dustin was there trying to get the nurse's attention so that she would bring Milla over to the window. He wrote on a small piece of paper and started knocking on the window. That wasn't working, so Josh finally went back to the nurses station and let them know that about twenty people were waiting at the window to see sweet Milla. Finally, they brought her to the window...for all of thirty seconds. Here are the only two pics I was able to snap before they wisked her away!




Here's Major admiring his newest sister. I think he really likes the idea of being a big brother. He told me the other day, before Milla was born, that he was more excited than a school bus - whatever that means. But honestly, he's always talking about "taking care of the ladies." He's a good little man, and I think he'll be a sweet big brother.




After we had waited for a long time, we decided to do a bit of shopping and come back so that we could actually see Milla up close when they brought her back to Amber. These are definitely some of the sweetest pictures I got that day. Here's Mary Alice being such a good big sis. She loves to hold Milla and tell her things like, "You're so nice, aren't you? I just love you so much, you know?" It's very sweet to watch her love on the girl.



Milla kept wanting to suck on her fist or anything she could stick in her mouth. What a sucker...



Here are some sweet pictures of the Smith girls. I love how Mary Alice's hands look so much like Amber's. The way they are both patting the baby is just too cute. I think this will be a very special time for Mary Alice to be able to help out with the girl. She just loves taking care of Milla. Evidently, she gets really sad when Milla cries :(





Can you believe how good Amber looks after having a baby? What a pretty sister I have. Hopefully, I will look as good when we have kiddos. But honestly, I hope our kids are as sweet as these ones.



And here's a close up look at the girl. She's a sweet one...I think you will agree.



FEET! I think wrinkly feet are just about the cutest thing ever. She has especially beautiful ones. She kind of looks like she's dancing!



And here she is admiring her Aunt Taylor. She loves me already. I'm pretty sure she asks for me on a daily basis :)

a thankful heart

This Thanksgiving was so wonderful! The food, the fun, but mostly the family. I've always loved being a part of such a large and loving family. This year, everyone was there except Adam, Alisha, and their kiddos. They sure were missed by everyone! I drove in late Monday night and was joined by my hubs on Wednesday. Scot was sick the whole time, so that kind of stunk, but I never got it, so hoorah for preventive medicine! Now I'm getting back into the groove of things until we jet off to Tulsa for Christmas. Amber's baby is due in a few weeks, so I'm praying she comes a little early so I can be there. I'm also very excited to hear the girl's name. I'm sure it will be a sweet one!

Anyway, here are a few pictures that we took over Thanksgiving. Here's my mom not wanting her picture taken. She ended up laughing at a joke she told. This is SO my mom. Her meal was so delicious this year! My favorite is always the mashed potatoes.



Fresh rolls from the oven...Tessa seems happy!



The kids were so much fun this year! Mary Alice and I made these cute little cupcakes that looked like Thanksgiving dinner. I didn't have my camera at the time, but imagine mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and peas and carrots! My favorite was the mashed potato cupcake. Delish! Maj joined in with the big boys this year and played lots of ball.



Here's the beautiful centerpiece and table settings! I have always loved how my Mom makes everything special during the holidays. Setting out the china and laying beautiful linens....this is a tradition that I want to carry on in our family. I'll take china over paper plates any day!




Oh pies! My favorite! Mom's pies are the best :) I almost ruined all the pies this year because I put the wrong kind of flour in the flour canister. Luckily, they tasted just as good as they always do.




Aunt Barbara and Uncle Ken came down to visit this year which was so great! The kids thought Uncle Ken was especially funny. At first they didn't know when he was joking...but they figured out pretty soon that he was just silly.



Tessa and Dustin went to see "Home for the Holidays" at Bass Hall. I'm sure it was fantastic! Dustin had never been to the symphony, so we got Tessa all dolled up and took a few pics before they left. What do you think of her hair? Aunt Barb and I fixed it.



Last, but not least, brother Ben took a few pics of Scot and me for our holiday card. Any votes for which one we should use?




Hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving filled with lots of things to be thankful for!

pies + family = best time of the year

Hey all! My Mom is resting at home after her surgery and getting ready for chemo. Keep praying for her strength and that she gets plenty of rest. We picked up some very cozy pajamas at Soma for her to romp around in. I've never been in Soma, but after getting those pjs, they're going on my Christmas list! The past few weeks have been a blessing, even with the rough news, because I've gotten to spend so much time with my family. On Halloween, I got to trick-or-treat with all my little nephews and sweet niece--sometimes I call her my nice, cause she's just so nice--in their precious costumes. Mary Alice has been so concerned with her Gran (my Mom). She's such a caring and considerate little woman. Also, my older sister and I have been at my parents' house cleaning up and happily eating the delicious food many very sweet people are bringing to my parents. I love my family! We're getting so big that it's becoming hard to schedule holidays. Christmas is with Scot's family this year, but Thanksgiving will be in grand 'ole Cleburne. I'm so excited that (almost) the whole family gets to spend Thanksgiving together. Even my Aunt Barb and Uncle Ken are joining in on the fun! I just can't wait for this wonderful time to spend with my family.

On another note, I desperately need to clean my own home. It's a MESS! I guess this is what happens when I'm gone for a week ;) What would Scot do without me? Just kidding. But I really do need to clean up around here. I smell something funny. I think the kitchen is calling my name.

Cancer

God,

Today satan is trying to rock my world. I got a call this morning from Dad telling me that Mom had bad results from her colonoscopy and has to have surgery today. Cancer. Such a horrible word. It grounds even the most strong in faith. So as I type, my mom, my dearest and best friend, is having surgery. My Mom has always been one of the most amazing people to me. She seriously is so passionate about so many things. I just pray that right now, she's calm and remembers that we serve You, a good God that is loving and gracious and kind. I also pray that I'm not anxious in my thoughts and that I will continue to look to You for your comfort and calming Spirit.

In the Name of your precious Son I pray this very heartfelt prayer.